Objective. To develop, implement, and evaluate a co-curricular activity in which second-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students developed an idea for a new clinical pharmacy service. Methods. A brief co-curricular activity based on the television series SharkTank was developed to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Second-year pharmacy students worked in assigned teams and were allowed one hour to develop an innovative clinical service to solve a pharmacy-related problem. Students then "pitched" their idea to a panel of four faculty members who served as the "sharks" and graded the teams using a rubric. The rubric which was employed was mapped to the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Educational Outcomes. A pre- and post-activity survey was administered to students to gather information about changes in their perceptions of innovation and entrepreneurship in pharmacy. Results. Student groups received higher scores on their ability to present background information and the need for their clinical service and lower scores in areas such as tracking outcomes and predicting challenges. On the post-activity survey, 96.7% of students agreed that the activity gave them a better understanding of pharmacists' roles in establishing new clinical services, and 86.7% stated they intend to actively seek out new clinical pharmacy service opportunities in their future career. Conclusion. Results of the survey demonstrate that students understand the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in pharmacy practice, and almost all students felt that the activity gave them an even better understanding of the pharmacist's role in clinical service development. This activity can serve as a blueprint for schools of pharmacy looking to incorporate creative and fun methods of exposing PharmD students to innovation and entrepreneurship activities.


Previous studies have shown that exponentially growing Escherichia coli can detect mild acidity (~pH 5.5) and, in response, synthesize enzymes that protect against severe acid shock. This adaptation is controlled by the EvgS/EvgA phosphorelay, a signal transduction system present in virtually every E. coli isolate whose genome has been sequenced. Here we show that, despite this high level of conservation, the EvgS/EvgA system displays a surprising natural variation in pH-sensing capacity, with some strains entirely non-responsive to low pH stimulus. In most cases that we have tested, however, activation of the EvgA regulon still confers acid resistance. From analyzing selected E. coli isolates, we find that the natural variation results from polymorphisms in the sensor kinase EvgS. We further show that this variation affects the pH response of a second kinase, PhoQ, which senses pH differently from the closely related PhoQ in Salmonella enterica. The within-species diversification described here suggests EvgS likely responds to additional input signals that may be correlated with acid stress. In addition, this work highlights the fact that even for highly conserved sensor kinases, the activities identified from a subset of isolates may not necessarily generalize to other members of the same bacterial species.


Ada Agada is one of the most vocal voices of the Conversational School of Philosophy (CSP). In Consolationism and Comparative African Philosophy: Beyond Universalism and Particularism, Agada aims to provide clarity on the philosophical tenets of Consolationism, his project on system building that is central to the future direction and development of African philosophy. The book is divided into three parts: The first part focuses on the universalism-particularism conundrum in African philosophy, the second part is concerned with explicating the basic preoccupations of Consolation philosophy, and the third part focuses on cross-cultural and comparative philosophy which is one of the central themes of conversational philosophy.


Artificial cover objects (ACOs) can be useful for surveying an area for snake abundance.  However, very little is known about the correlation between environmental conditions, time of day, and ACO capture success rates.  We studied the effects of time of day, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and sky cover variables in relation to ACO sampling capture rates of two colubrid species, Thamnophis butleri and Thamnophis sirtalis.  We found that time of day, temperature, and sky cover best explained capture with a quadratic function of temperature being a significant variable.  An optimal temperature of 26°C with increasing cloudiness was found to produce the highest ACO sampling capture rate.  These observations provide some of the first quantitative information regarding temporal and environmental correlates of ACO methodology, and may help improve the efficiency of the ACO technique for surveying snake abundance.


Railway systems cannot be apart from the rapid evolution of wireless communication systems. The Long Term Evolution communication system for Railway (LTE-R) is believed to be the normal evolution for current Global System for Mobile Communications Railways (GSM-R). One of the essential targets of LTE is to provide seamless and fast handover from one cell to another to achieve a strict delay requirement while, at the same time, keeping network management as simple as possible. Hence, the decision to trigger a handover is very important in the design of handover process. For handover to be successful, it requires to choose handover parameters correctly and optimize their setting. The LTE-R system uses two parameters to decide handover triggering: Hysteresis and Time-to-Trigger (TTT). The handover triggering is highly depended on the train speed, which means that as the train speed changed, the handover triggering time is correspondingly varied. To determine a more accurate handover triggering point is a critical issue. Too late handover triggering caused by train speed change will lead to handover failure. In this paper, we propose a new handover triggering algorithm called Power-Distance Algorithm that assets to avoid this problem. It eliminates the dependency on the train speed, also, reduces the system processing power. This Algorithm depends on the distance between the two base stations and power received from them. At a certain (predefined) point, the handover triggering must occur. This triggering point is the same for all values of train speed i.e., it doesn't change as the train speed changes. The change occurs only when the Hysteresis value changes.


Access to finance by the poor is one of the world's biggest problems. The poor people are in no position to increase their income nor improve the livelihoods of themselves or their families. Studies show that poor people in developing countries cannot access the financial market due to lack of information, and contract enforcement problem relating to loan payback. Muslims who form part of the majority of the world's poor tend to avoid using financial services due to their strict compliance to religion, as interests which are one of the key features of fi nancial services are not shariah-compliant. At present, many Islamic Banks have been established around the world including in Thailand. Thailand's first Islamic financial institution is the Islamic Co-operative of Pattani Limited (ISCOP) founded in 1987, whereas the Islamic Bank of Thailand (ibank) was established in 2003. Although Islamic financial institutions in Thailand have made great stride in the last decade or so, study into Islamic finance in Thailand is limited. There exists a gap of study into the actual needs for fi nancial services for Muslims who are poor for the purpose of strengthening community enterprise, and into requirements to be eligible to get those services which are important factors in evaluating the ability to access by the poor and small enterprise. This research therefore seeks to examine the demand side on one end and on the other hand, rules, regulations and criteria set by financial institutions in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.


According to 'Le Memorial de Sainte-Helene', Napoleon was born precipitately in his parents' house in Ajaccio on a carpet that displayed heroes from the Iliad and ancient mythology. This episode well-known during Napoleon's lifetime may be read as an ironic or even burlesque inversion of the 'Herrschaftszeichen' royal carpets have traditionally been. Picking up the myth concerning Napoleon's birth, this paper pinpoints the transformations of the art of tapestry during the 18th century and shows how it adapted literary topics taken from mock heroic epics. On the other hand, it investigates representations of the art of tapestry in 18th century literature. – The short birth narrative remains fascinatingly ambiguous, provoking Chateaubriand, Napoleon's self-made twin, to rewrite it in a burlesque way.


Abstract This article presents original documentary material discovered at the Public Records Office, Northern Ireland, relating to the RUC's position in June 1966 on what was referred to as the 'Paisleyite Movement'. According to the documents that were sent by the RUC Inspector‐General to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the 'Paisleyite Movement' was an organisation made up of the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee, the Ulster Protestant Volunteer Division, the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Ulster Defence Corps, the Ulster Protestant Action Defence Committee and the militant Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). We know that these documents were seen by the Prime Minister, Terence O'Neill, and the Minister of Home Affairs, Brian McConnell. These documents appear to have partly informed the cabinet decision to ban the UVF at the end of June 1966. The documents confirm the scale and significance of the threat presented by extremist Protestantism to the stability of the state in the eyes of the RUC and the government at that time and suggest that the starting date of 'the Troubles' in Northern Ireland should be back‐dated to 1966.


A collective model of leisure demand, generalised to the production of a household public good, is estimated on the British Household Panel Survey. The sharing rule is identified by using an original parametric framework based on the change of family status: from single-living to couple or from couple to single-living. Womens' ratios of private household expenditures are 40% on average. The level of intra-household inequality appears highly dependent on the intra-household wage gap. Omitting household production in the model would overestimate the ratio by 7 percentage points on average. Copyright 2007 The Author(s). Journal compilation Royal Economic Society 2007.


ABSTRACT Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) SOX2 overlapping transcript (SOX2OT) has been shown to play an oncogenic role in diverse cancers, generating eight transcript variants. SOX2 is located in the third intron of SOX2OT. However, the biological function of SOX2OT in cervical cancer and implication with SOX2 remain to be further explored. In this study, we screened the expression pattern of different SOX2OT transcript variants in cervical cancer cells. Interestingly, both high-expression levels of SOX2OT transcript 7 (SOX2OT-7) and SOX2 were detected in C-33A (HPV−) and SiHa (HPV16+) cells. Thus, C-33A and SiHa cells were conducted to investigate the effects of SOX2OT on cell growth, migration and invasion. Finally, rescue experiments were performed to confirm the role of SOX2 in SOX2OT-mediated regulation of cervical cancer progression. The results showed that knockdown of SOX2OT suppressed cell viability, arrested cell cycle and ameliorated migration and invasion ability of C-33A and SiHa cells. Ectopic expression of SOX2OT-7 exacerbated cervical cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. In addition, we found that the expression levels and protein stability of SOX2 were positively regulated by SOX2OT. Inhibition of SOX2 could block the malignant phenotypes of C-33A and SiHa cells by SOX2OT-7. In conclusion, these findings indicate that lncRNA SOX2OT contributes to the growth, migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells by modulating SOX2. Importantly, we demonstrate that the transcript SOX2OT-7 may be a novel and promising biomarker for both HPV− and HPV16+ cervical cancer.


Recombination is an important evolutionary mechanism responsible for creating the patterns of haplotype variation observable in human populations. Recently, there has been extensive research on understanding the fine-scale variation in recombination across the human genome using DNA polymorphism data. Historical recombination events leave signature patterns in haplotype data. A nonparametric approach for estimating the number of historical recombination events is to compute the minimum number of recombination events in the history of a set of haplotypes. In this paper, we provide new and improved methods for computing lower bounds on the minimum number of recombination events. These methods are shown to detect a higher number of recombination events for a haplotype dataset from a region in the lipoprotein lipase gene than previous lower bounds. We apply our methods to two datasets for which recombination hotspots have been experimentally determined and demonstrate a high density of detectable recombination events in the regions annotated as recombination hotspots. The programs implementing the methods in this paper are available at www.cs.ucsd.edu/users/vibansal/RecBounds/.


F or a long time it seemed that they existed only in the minds of theoretical physicists – black holes. But since at least a year ago now, we finally have clarity: they really do exist. On September 14, 2015, gravitational waves caused space-time to oscillate to a measurable extent in the American LIGO detectors for the first time. The detection of the undulation of space-time predicted 100 years earlier by Albert Einstein (1879 to 1955) is simultaneously deemed to be experimental proof of the physical existence of black holes. The first measured signal GW150914 originated from two black holes with 36 and 29 solar masses, respectively, that used to orbit one another in a kind of binary star system until they finally merged into one object with 62 solar masses. Only a few months later, the researchers registered gravitational waves of source GW151226 from a similar system. These events gave the space-time structure a violent shake – and provided impressive confirmation of the existence of the mass monsters. (MaxPlanckResearch 2/2016, page 78 ff.)


Common car-following models for microscopic traffic simulation assume a time advancement using fixed-sized time steps. However, a purely time-driven execution is inefficient when the states of some agents are independent of other agents and thus predictable far into the simulated future. We propose a method to accelerate microscopic traffic simulations based on identifying independence among agent state updates. Instead of iteratively updating an agent's state throughout a sequence of time steps, a computationally inexpensive "fast-forward" function advances the agent's state to the time of its earliest possible interaction with other agents. We present an algorithm to determine independence intervals in microscopic traffic simulations and derive fast-forward functions for several well-known traffic models. In contrast to existing approaches based on reducing the level of detail, our approach retains the microscopic nature of the simulation. An evaluation is performed for a synthetic scenario and on the road network of Singapore. At low traffic densities, maximum speedup factors of about 2.6 and 1.6 are achieved, while at the highest considered densities, only few opportunities for fast-forwarding exist. We show that the deviation from purely time-driven execution is reduced to a minimum when choosing an adequate numerical integration scheme to execute the time-driven updates. Verification results show that the overall deviation in vehicle travel times is marginal.


One analysis of the outcome of 159 cases of head injuries was based on patients' admission Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), score, age, CT scan findings and uniform protocol of management. Fifty-three percent of the patients were children below the age of 10 years and 70% of all patients were Saudis. Eighty-point-five percent (80.5%) of the patients had a GCS score of 8 or more and their outcome was favorable. By contract, the 19.5% who had an initial GCS score of 7 or less tended to be older and had a worse prognosis (mortality 68%). A high initial GCS score, old age, associated multiple injuries and a shift of more than 4 mm of the midline structures on CT scan of the brain are useful prognostic indices in predicting the outcome of head injury.


January 19, 2015. As the Congolese Senate was about to pass controversial election legislation, unrest broke out in most Kinshasa neighborhoods, lasting for three days in spite of a violent crackdown. The scope of these protests was exceptional and led the Upper Chamber to back down. This surprising mobilization, part demonstration and part riot, derived from a way of exercising power which generated a series of unavoidable constraints for the means and forms of protest. Thus, destruction and looting must be considered as alternative political expressions within the context of thwarted demonstrations. This revolt testified to the popular appropriation of the principle of party changeover in a democracy.


Advanced techniques for trapping ions provide a route to probe the stability of superheavy elements. The existence of superheavy elements, those with many more protons than uranium (proton number 92), was predicted more than 40 years ago. Their increased stability against nuclear fission originates from nuclear shells that are filled with protons and neutrons, similar to the electron orbitals in an atom. For specific combinations of the number of protons and neutrons, so-called magic numbers, a more strongly bound system is formed that also has a longer half-life. The superheavy elements are predicted to populate an "island of stability" located around proton number 120 and neutron number 184. Several groups have sought to pinpoint (1–4) the location of this island, and along the way (5), several superheavy elements have been discovered, the latest being ununoctium with 118 protons. However, concluding whether this is the heaviest element cannot be done, and we are still far from knowing what the heaviest possible element could be. A critical point is understanding the nuclear shell effects that underlie the existence of the heaviest elements. On page 1207 of this issue, Minaya Ramirez et al. (6) shed light on such shell effects by "weighing" isotopes of the heaviest elements in an ion trap.


Selection of the optimum production stimulation strategy depends on the given reservoir and well parameters, with their uncertainties. This study proposes reservoir property-dependent profitability (RPDP) plots as a tool for stimulation treatment type selection. These plots helped to define acid fracturing as an optimum stimulation strategy for hot carbonate reservoirs, which are described in case studies.
 The presented case studies describe implementation of an advanced approach to acid fracturing design and execution. The advanced approach consists of three key components. First is use of a single-phase retarded acid to achieve longer etched fracture half lengths, decrease volume of the treatment, and mitigate the potential for anhydrite precipitation. The second component of the approach is employing linear gel as a pad to minimize water breakthrough risks but, at the same time, provide adequate viscosity during the fracturing process. The third component is implementation of an advanced acid fracturing simulator, which can model complex acid-rock interaction and transport processes.
 The combined advanced acid fracturing approach was applied to the design and execution of 15 acid fracturing jobs in Uzbekistan. Post-treatment production results showed that 300% productivity index (PI) increase was achieved for the entire set of wells. In comparison with the existing standard approach, the same PI increase was achieved with 70% less fluid pumped, and water breakthrough risk was successfully mitigated by optimization of fluid volumes in an advanced fracturing simulator.


Two new triterpenoids, 2alpha,3beta,11alpha,13beta-tetrahydroxy-12-ketooleanan-28-oic acid(1) and 3beta-hydroxy-12-keto-9(11)-ursen-28,13beta-olide (2) were isolated from the leaves ofPhotinia serrulata. Their structures were identified by spectral methods. Compounds 1 and2 were assessed for cytotoxic activity against three human tumor cell lines (A-549, HCT-8,and BEL-7402), and they showed no cytotoxic effects at concentrations up to 5microg/mL.


Doubled haploid (DH) technology is widely used in crop breeding programs. Colchicine is the most frequently used chemical agent in the DH inducing. However, colchicine has disadvantage of high poisonousness. It is necessary to find some non-toxic or low toxic substitutes that should have the same effect as colchicine. In this study, two anti-microtubule herbicides, amiprophosmethyl (AMP) and Oryzalin, were used to double the haploids under different treatment conditions, and the doubling effects were compared with colchicine. The results showed that the highest doubling rate induced by APM is about 45% in the condition of 20 μM 24h. We calculated the actual doubling rate (survival rate × double rate), 38.23%, 20.64%, and 19.4% are the highest actual doubling rates induced by APM, colchicine, and oryzalin, respectively. Although both APM and Oryzalin can induce maize haploid doubling, comparing with the actual doubling rate, APM is better than colchicine. In addition, soaking seed had been proved the best way to operate and obtain the highest doubling haploids in all conditions. As a low toxic mitotic inducer, APM is a good substitute of colchicine in doubling maize haploids, which is suitable for application in the DH‐based breeding pipeline.


In our method of determining depths from aeromagnetic profile data, several sampling intervals adapted to the possible ranges of depths are used for a preliminary analysis of the profiles. This step detects and locates all the anomalies. We then study each anomaly in detail, using several structural hypotheses such as bottomless prisms (dikes) and thin plates. In this way, we produce a series of theoretical structures for each anomaly; only the best‐fitting ones are kept. Our results are shown as a distance‐depth representation, with the symbols plotted so as to indicate the probable degree of realiability. The complete processing is done automatically by a computer and a plotter.


Power system simulations that extend over a time period of minutes, hours, or even longer are called extended-term simulations. As power systems evolve into complex systems with increasing interdependencies and richer dynamic behaviors across a wide range of timescales, extended-term simulation is needed for many power system analysis tasks (e.g., resilience analysis, renewable energy integration, cascading failures), and there is an urgent need for efficient and robust extended-term simulation approaches. The conventional approaches are insufficient for dealing with the extended-term simulation of multi-timescale processes. This paper proposes an extended-term simulation approach based on the holomorphic embedding (HE) methodology. Its accuracy and computational efficiency are backed by HE's high accuracy in event-driven simulation, larger and adaptive time steps, and flexible switching between full-dynamic and quasi-steady-state (QSS) models. We used this proposed extended-term simulation approach to evaluate bulk power system restoration plans, and it demonstrates satisfactory accuracy and efficiency in this complex simulation task.


Global warming has caused a significant decrease in sea ice coverage in the Arctic. This is having far reaching implications for the ecosystems, as well as dramatically changing the way that humans interact with the Arctic environment. Climate models predicted that a similar decrease in sea ice would occur in the Antarctic. However, since regular observations began in 1979, the sea ice extent in the Antarctic has been increasing. We review current research that identifies numerous atmospheric and oceanic factors that are influencing sea ice trends. These factors have helped to explain some of the changes observed in sea ice extent at a regional level, but still do not accurately predict sea ice trends for the Southern Ocean as whole. A significant anomaly in sea ice extent that occurred in the austral spring of 2016-17 has confounded scientists, and highlights the limitations of current science and climate models to foresee the trend in sea ice in the Antarctic. Furthermore, we explore the potential implications for Antarctic ecosystems through a review of current literature. This emphasises the critical role of sea ice in the life history of a vast majority of Antarctic species, making them extremely vulnerable to changes in sea ice extent. Finally, we consider the implications for human activities in the Antarctic through a series of case studies. These identify the organisations and industries that will be affected by changes in sea ice, and who will rely on the development of accurate models and predictions to safely plan their future activities in the Antarctic.


This paper describes a novel finger mechanism that enables a robot to perform a gentle and dexterous motion. This finger contains three joints, in which the proximal (PIP) and distal intraphalangeal (DIP) joints are coupled rigidly, and the metacarpophalangeal (MP) joint has a multidirectional passive compliance that is adjustable as in humans. In the MP joint, two kinds of silicone-rubber cushions (A-SRC and B-SRC) are placed between a motor-driven disk and an output link. A-SRC plays three roles: 1) transmission of the rotational motion from the motor to the output link by the friction force between the surface of A-SRC and the motor-driven disk; 2) absorption of external forces from multiple directions by its elastic deformation; and 3) sensing the directions and magnitudes of external forces with the change in inside pressure. B-SRC adjusts the characteristics of joint compliance by pressing A-SRC against the motor-driven disk. We investigate the basic performance of this finger module through several experiments.


Ten previously healthy patients, ages 3 to 26 months, developed recurrent episodes of deep-tissue Haemophilus influenzae type b infections from 4 to 191 days (median = 28 days) after the last day of antibiotic therapy given for the first episode. None of the patients had a persistent focus of infection and eight were considered to have had adequate therapy for the initial episode. Bacteremia, without evidence of relapse at the site of the original infection, was documented in eight of the ten recurrent episodes. The ampicillin susceptibilities of the HITB isolates changed between episodes in two of the patients. Blood or CSF isolates from both episodes in seven patients were examined for biotypes and outer membrane protein subtypes. Concordance of both biotype and OMP subtype was present for all seven paired isolates, including the two pairs in which the HITB ampicillin sensitivities had changed. These data imply that some patients become reinfected with their original HITB isolates and that OMP and capsular antigens do not always elicit protective immunity, even after natural infection.


Small intestine submucosal (SIS) membrane used in this study is a decellularized, naturally occurring nanofibrous scaffold derived from a submucosal layer of porcine small intestine. It is predominantly composed of type I collagen fibers. Here we studied the bio-templated growth of hydroxylapatite (HAP) bone minerals on the SIS membrane from a modified simulated body fluid (1.5 SBF) at the body temperature, namely, under a near-physiological condition, in order to evaluate its bone bioactivity, the capability of the membrane in bonding with bone tissue once implanted in vivo. Minute HAP crystals were successfully nucleated on the SIS membranes from 1.5 SBF at the body temperature. The crystals were preferentially nucleated along the collagen fibers constituting the SIS membranes. HAP was the major crystalline mineral phase formed during the whole period of time and a minor crystalline phase of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) appeared after the membranes were incubated for 96 h. We also found that the mineralization for 8 h most significantly promoted the osteogenic differentiation of rat mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) by evaluating the formation of osteogenic markers in MSCs including alkaline phosphatase (early stage marker) as well as osteocalcin and osteopontin (late stage markers). Hence, SIS membranes show excellent bone bioactivity and once mineralized, can significantly promote the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs.


The introduction of new and the evolution of existing social media technologies have enabled efficient and broader communication through online social interaction. Today consumers' thinking has shifted towards their trusted network for guidance rather than simply accepting what organisations tell them. With the advent of social interaction, knowledge management paradigms are being stretched beyond their ability to deliver useful results, which is forcing change within organisations globally. Using only transactional and internal data will result in mistaken conclusions or missed opportunities. Social media helps organisations acquire and manage massive amounts of data to better understand their customers, products, competition, and markets and make better decisions using Big Data solutions. These solutions enable organisations to decide on the basis of evidence rather than intuition. This chapter introduces Big Data, Big Data technologies used for capturing knowledge from social media and discusses Big Data Solutions for organizations. Social Media and Big Data: A Conceptual Foundation for Organizations


Abstract Leadership and the leaders in Africa have their own special characteristics following mostly from the historical and cultural determinants. It is claimed that Africa is suffering from a crisis of leadership and lack of good leaders. However, an example of the South African leaders (Jan Smuts and Nelson Mandela) contradicts this generally binding thesis and can make an exception that confirms that rule. Their political leadership results from specific personality traits and education. They constitute positive examples of fulfilling the leadership role in the national, African continent's and global dimension. Keywords: Political leadership – South Africa – Jan Smuts – Nelson Mandela ----- Bibliography: Żukowski, Arkadiusz: Political leadership of South African statesmen: Jan Smuts and Nelson Mandela, PCS, 2-2013, pp. 146-157. https://doi.org/10.3224/pcs.v4i2.19802


Ensuring sustainable territorial development is one of the key tasks for developing regional industries and increasing the level of food security of the regions and the country in general. The solution to the problem of developing and implementing a competitive mechanism for territorial development should be based on the principles and methods of modern strategic territorialsectoral planning with a focus on the maximum use of the resources of the existing local potential. This study analyzes modeling as an effective management tool for integrated regional development. To that end, approaches based on constructing multivariate regression models are utilized. Based on the results, the main problem of management systems for the integrated territorial development is associated with an incorrect assessment of their starting capabilities, which results in the low performance of the implementation mechanism. A reliable methodological basis here can be an approach to managing territorial development using a system of linked indicators that consider more than just the parameters of social development. The list of priority areas (blocks), which should serve as a fundamental basis for developing concepts for the integrated development of regions, must include natural and climatic, technical and technological, infrastructural, and marketing characteristics.


In standard motor applications, traditional mechanical bearings represent the most economical approach to rotor suspension. However, in certain high performance applications, rotor suspension without bearing contact is either required or highly beneficial. Such applications include very high speed, extreme environment, or limited maintenance access applications. This paper presents a novel bearingless motor concept, in which full five-axis levitation and rotation of the rotor is achieved using two motors with opposing conical air-gaps. By leaving the motors' pole-pairs unconnected, different d-axis flux in each pole-pair is created, generating a flux imbalance which creates lateral force. Note this is approach is different than that used in previous bearingless motors, which use separate windings for levitation and rotation. This paper will examine the predicted and achieved motor performance of a prototype bearingless system, which was sized for a high speed flywheel energy storage application.


Abstract In this paper, two models of long-run development are constructed, one for a unimodal agricultural structure and the other for a bimodal agricultural structure. The process of the evolution of state institutional capacity under these two structures is analyzed. Capacity is measured by the ability of the state to extract revenue in return for which services are provided. The development of such capacity is seen as the key factor in providing the human capital and infrastructure necessary for the shift from inward- to outward-oriented development. Latin America and East Asia are used as examples of these two modes of long-run development.


Objective Our goal was to assess the interobserver variability in staging non-small cell lung cancer using CT and MRI. Materials and Methods As part of the Radiologic Diagnostic Oncology Group (RDOG) study of lung cancer staging, the CT and MR examinations of 40 patients suspected of having non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma were blindly interpreted by four expert observers. The primary tumor and lymph node stages in the 40 study subjects were similar to the final proportions reported in the RDOG study. Assessed abnormalities included the presence of a lung nodule, chest wall invasion, mediastinal invasion, bronchial involvement, lymph node metastasis in specific node stations, and T and N classifications. Percent agreement and α-values were calculated for each of these determinations. Results Depending on the finding assessed and the method of analysis, average agreement rates ranged from 58 to 90% for CT and from 61 to 96% for MRI. Average α-values were largely between 0.40 and 0.60 when dichotomous analysis was used; weighted α-values were similar. With a single exception, no significant differences were found for α-values calculated for CT and MRI. Conclusion Although interobserver agreement rates are good for determining T and N classification in patients with lung cancer, variability in image interpretation is frequent, even among experienced observers.


Christian Probst was a distinguished medical historian well-known for his meticulous work especially on late 18th century medicine. Readers of Sudhoffs Archiv will also remember him for his many profound reviews. The present paper was written as an imaginatory post mortem discussion with Christian Probst.


Laboratory signs of iron overload syndrome in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases have been studied. It has been revealed, that patients with this syndrome have higher levels of hepatic enzymes activity reflecting the presence of the syndrome of cholestasis. A frequent (50 %) sign of iron overload syndrome is low content of haemoglobin in eritrosites with the combination of a normal level of blood haemoglobin.


Abstract M-CSA (Mechanism and Catalytic Site Atlas) is a database of enzyme active sites and reaction mechanisms that can be accessed at www.ebi.ac.uk/thornton-srv/m-csa. Our objectives with M-CSA are to provide an open data resource for the community to browse known enzyme reaction mechanisms and catalytic sites, and to use the dataset to understand enzyme function and evolution. M-CSA results from the merging of two existing databases, MACiE (Mechanism, Annotation and Classification in Enzymes), a database of enzyme mechanisms, and CSA (Catalytic Site Atlas), a database of catalytic sites of enzymes. We are releasing M-CSA as a new website and underlying database architecture. At the moment, M-CSA contains 961 entries, 423 of these with detailed mechanism information, and 538 with information on the catalytic site residues only. In total, these cover 81% (195/241) of third level EC numbers with a PDB structure, and 30% (840/2793) of fourth level EC numbers with a PDB structure, out of 6028 in total. By searching for close homologues, we are able to extend M-CSA coverage of PDB and UniProtKB to 51 993 structures and to over five million sequences, respectively, of which about 40% and 30% have a conserved active site.


Several studies have explored the four categories-socio-psychological, economic, political and demographic-of the antecedents of consumer ethnocentrism. The current study is the first to look at antecedents of consumer ethnocentrism from digital native and immigrant perspectives. The purpose of the study is to examine whether digital natives and digital immigrants differ in their sensitivity to foreign products. We hypothesize that digital natives are less ethnocentric in comparison to digital immigrants and digital nativity has the same effect on the consumer as cultural openness and world-mindedness, which the consumer can acquire through traveling and living abroad. This is because the digital native has greater access to the world from an early age through the Internet. The study uses an instrument called the Consumer Ethnocentrism Scale (CETSCALE), developed by Shimp and Sharma (1987) to measure the ethnocentric tendencies of consumers towards buying foreign products rather than locallymanufactured goods. A sample of 340 respondents has been reported in the study. A test for the homogeneity of variance called Levene's Test was run, as it is used whenever an Independent Samples T-test in SPSS is preformed to discover patterns of ethnocentrism among two categories of people. We found that digital natives are less ethnocentric compared to digital immigrants and they have positive attitudes toward foreign products. Also, early age exposure and access to the Internet was found to produce the same effect as world-mindedness and cultural openness, as if the person lived abroad or has travelled. This study also suggests some managerial implications.


The current advances in cloud-based services have significantly enhanced individual satisfaction in numerous modern life areas. Particularly, the recent spectacular innovations in the wireless body area networks (WBAN) domain have made e-Care services rise as a promising application field, which definitely improves the quality of the medical system. However, the forwarded data from the limited connectivity range of WBAN via a smart device (e.g., smartphone) to the application provider (AP) should be secured from an unapproved access and alteration (attacker) that could prompt catastrophic consequences. Therefore, several schemes have been proposed to guarantee data integrity and privacy during their transmission between the client/controller (C) and the AP. Thereby, numerous effective cryptosystem solutions based on a bilinear pairing approach are available in the literature to address the mentioned security issues. Unfortunately, the related solution presents security shortcomings, where AP can with ease impersonate a given C. Hence, this existing scheme cannot fully guarantee C's data privacy and integrity. Therefore, we propose our contribution to address this data security issue (impersonation) through a secured and efficient remote batch authentication scheme that genuinely ascertains the identity of C and AP. Practically, the proposed cryptosystem is based on an efficient combination of elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) and bilinear pairing schemes. Furthermore, our proposed solution reduces the communication and computational costs by providing an efficient data aggregation and batch authentication for limited device's resources in WBAN. These additional features (data aggregation and batch authentication) are the core improvements of our scheme that have great merit for limited energy environments like WBAN.


In this paper we contend the traditional view of a knowledge portal as a centralized repository for accessing large-scale corporate resources. Instead we argue there is a need to consider approaches that are more open-ended. Open-endedness does not necessarily mean to surrender the control over the content of knowledge repositories. We use this concept in terms of being end user centred and lightweight.

The core of our argument focuses on data interpretation, and argues that ontology for interpreting data is too restrictive if used for structuring the KM portal. Our approach aims to enable interpretation of data and access to documents from essentially any relevant resource existing in the Intra- or Internet. Rather than pulling the user to the knowledge portal, we suggest giving KM a task of enabling the user to pull appropriate and semantically relevant knowledge from wherever they currently are, yet using the rich and potentially restricted organizational resources.


Integrated constraint-based metabolic and regulatory models can accurately predict cellular growth phenotypes arising from genetic and environmental perturbations. Challenges in constructing such models involve the limited availability of information about transcription factor—gene target interactions and computational methods to quickly refine models based on additional datasets. In this study, we developed an algorithm, GeneForce, to identify incorrect regulatory rules and gene-protein-reaction associations in integrated metabolic and regulatory models. We applied the algorithm to refine integrated models of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, and experimentally validated some of the algorithm's suggested refinements. The adjusted E. coli model showed improved accuracy (∼80.0%) for predicting growth phenotypes for 50,557 cases (knockout mutants tested for growth in different environmental conditions). In addition to identifying needed model corrections, the algorithm was used to identify native E. coli genes that, if over-expressed, would allow E. coli to grow in new environments. We envision that this approach will enable the rapid development and assessment of genome-scale metabolic and regulatory network models for less characterized organisms, as such models can be constructed from genome annotations and cis-regulatory network predictions.


Background: During pregnancy, the fetal stores for any nutrient are dependent on the maternal's status for that nutrient. Maternal anaemia is associated with adverse birth outcomes along with maternal morbidity and mortality respectively. Similarly, elevated Hb levels may lead to diminished fetal and placental nutrient and oxygen supply resulting subsequently in fetal, placental, and maternal complications.

Objective: To explore (a) the relationship between event of fetal distress during term labour and intrapartum maternal haemoglobin level; (b) the relationship between mode of delivery, the reason for instrumental delivery and short-term neonatal outcome with maternal haemoglobin; and (c) Identify the factors influencing maternal haemoglobin level during the intrapartum period.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital set-up of a rural district at Karnataka, India. Data were obtained from women who underwent parturition during the 2017-2018 period respectively. A total of 7173 gravidas were included. Multivariate regression models with intrapartum Hb as the main independent variable of interest was used to determine the likelihood of fetal distress to occur in relation to intrapartum Hb level dependency wherein Hb was used as a continuous value. The likelihood of Instrumental Vaginal Delivery (IVD), cesarean section (CS), 5 min Apgar score <7, and umbilical cord arterial pH 7.05 to occur was analysed using a similar procedure. In addition; linear regression analytics was done to identify factors influencing intrapartum Hb level.

Results: Data of 7173 patients were analysed. Intrapartum Hb did not contribute to the prediction of the likelihood of fetal distress, IVD for non-progressive labour, CS for fetal condition, 5-min Apgar score <7, and pHa ≤ 7.05. However, there was a unique statistically significant contribution of Hb to the prediction of the likelihood of IVD for any reason and IVD for fetal distress and CS for any reason and CS for non-progressive labour. IVD for fetal distress was related to a higher intrapartum Hb level, whereas CS for non-progressive labour was related to a lower intrapartum Hb level. Factors identified to influence the intrapartum Hb level were maternal age, ethnicity, parity, fetal sex, and birth weight.

Conclusion: The risk of fetal distress and the adverse neonatal outcome is not correlated to intrapartum Hb levels. However, on the other hand, our data suggest that intrapartum Hb is a detrimental factor for a mode of delivery.

Keywords: Maternal haemoglobin; Fetal distress; Instrumental delivery; Neonatal outcome; Obstetric labour


Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) is a perceptual disorder reported to affect 1–3 per cent of the population, usually in childhood. Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is associated with similar symptoms to AIWS, reported into adulthood. ASMR is also thought to stem from a heightened sensitivity to external stimuli. Despite similarities, there has been limited research investigating the link between these two phenomena. We sought to establish a link between AIWS and ASMR. Our findings show an increased presence of AIWS symptoms amongst a population who are aware of experiencing ASMR. We described a predictive relationship between the visual symptoms of AIWS and the age of onset of ASMR. ASMR has an increasing presence and is suggested as an intervention for a range of disorders. Despite this, there remains little understanding of its causation. These findings provide an important basis for establishing the causation of ASMR as well as furthering understanding of AIWS.


The interactions between methylene blue (MB) and zeolite nanocrystals in water suspensions are investigated. The zeolite nanocrystals (diameter of 40–70 nm) with BEA-, LTL- and LTA-type framework structures with pore size of 7.3, 7.1 and 4.1 A, respectively, are chosen to evaluate their effect on the stabilization of the MB (7.0 × 16 A) in their pores and on the crystals surface. It is found that the MB molecules enter the channels of the LTL-type zeolite nanocrystals, while the BEA-type zeolite is partially filled by the MB due to the presence of organic agent (tetraethylammonium cations) in the channels. The highly hydrophilic surface of the LTA-type nanocrystals with pore size smaller than the size of MB is strongly modified, but no MB molecules in the LTA-zeolite channels are present due to pore size restriction. The UV-vis characterization of the suspensions containing zeolite nanocrystals and MB (samples LTL-MB, BEA-MB and LTA-MB) reveal a shift in the absorption maximum (581 nm) with 16.5 nm for BEA, 15.5 nm for LTL, and 13.5 nm for LTA zeolite crystals. The absorption maximum in the three suspensions shifts to shorter wavelengths (blue shift) with time, and only the LTA-MB sample returns to 581 nm after 8 minutes that corresponds to the original wavelength of the free MB molecule in water. The observed blue shift for samples BEA-MB and LTL-MB is explained with the penetration and stabilization of MB molecules in the zeolite pores. The zeolite nanocrystals in the presence of MB show high stability in water suspensions, which make them a promising matrix for preparation of water-soluble photopolymers. Photopolymers for full colors holography with expanded wavelength sensitivity range based on addition of more than one sensitizer (MB, erythrosine B and acriflavine stabilized in zeolite nanocrystals) are under development.


Abstract : Under this grant University of Oslo (UiO) has covered the annual fee for AFRL s all-sky imager at the Kjell Henriksen Observatory in Longyearbyen. On request UiO we have provided AFRL optical data from our instrumentation at Ny- lesund, Longyearbyen and Andenes, North-Norway, and TEC and scintillation data from our NovAtel GSV 404B GPS receivers located at Oslo and Ny- lesund. The primary objective has been to obtain a better understanding solar wind impacts on the polar ionosphere which are of central importance to current space research and of relevance for space weather applications. The science problem complex is related to the formation of polar cap patches, transport of patches across the polar cap, and plasma instability mechanisms associated with polar cap patches. This project has contributed to 13 peer review publications with UiO co-authorship. The report is organized as follows. Section 2 provides key information about the UiO optical instrumentation. Sections 3, 4 and 5 specifies the time intervals our instrumentation was operated the winters of 2010/2011, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, respectively. Section 6 summarizes the science production (titles and abstracts for the 13 papers). Section 7 states that we have made no inventions, and Section 8 lists the core UiO personnel during this project.


Background: According to age, history and physical examination findings, there are different diagnoses including anatomic lesions for abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). In these conditions, hysteroscopy can be performed as a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure. Objective: The aim of this study was defining the diagnostic value of hysteroscopy in evaluating uterine cavity in patients with AUB compared to pathologic findings. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective descriptive-analytic study in which hysteroscopy was performed for 105 patients with AUB .The patients were in reproductive and perimenopausal (86.7%) or postmenopausal ages (13.3%). Hysteroscopy was done and biopsy was taken from any pathology. After removing of hysteroscope, dilatation and curettage were done. Both samples were sent for pathologist. At the end, reports of hysteroscopic findings were compared with pathologic results. Results: Diagnostic value of hysteroscopy in evaluation of uterine cavity showed 100% sensitivity, 80.5% specificity, 88.9% positive predictive value (PPV) and 100% negative predictive value (NPV). Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of the procedure for endometrial polyp were 93%, 100%, 100%, and 95.4%, respectively. These results were respectively 100%, 96.4%, 88% and 100% for submucosal myoma, and 25%, 89.7%, 12.5% and 93.3% for endometrial hyperplasia. Conclusion: The results of this study show that hysteroscopy is a reliable method for evaluation of AUB, especially in benign lesions such as endometrial polyp and submucosal myoma and it can be used as the first line diagnostic method for these abnormalities. However hysteroscopy without directed biopsy has insufficient value for diagnosing endometrial hyperplasia.


We studied the course of a primary HIV infection in a 54-year-old woman. Probably the source of infection was sexual intercourse, since other risks, such as i.v. drug use, acupuncture and transfusion were excluded. On admission she presented with fever, a maculopapular rash, and moderate enlargement of nuchal lymph nodes. At that time the anti-HIV 1,2 enzyme immunoassay was negative. However, the HIV-p24 Ag test, which was performed in every HIV screening in our laboratory, was positive. The suspicion of an acute HIV infection was supported by a positive HIV-cDNA-PCR and confirmed by Western blot after seroconversion. As additional finding, the blood smear showed abnormal white cell differential count, indicating viral infection. Aminotransferases were slightly increased, and antibodies to hepatitis B surface and core antigens demonstrated former hepatitis B infection. It is concluded that in this case the HIV-p24 Ag test proved its suitability for early diagnosis of an acute HIV infection. In case of testing blood donors, none of the compulsory serological screening methods would have detected the HIV infection.


This section summarizes state-of-the-art lattice calculations of the leptonic kaon and pion decay constants and the kaon semileptonic-decay form factor and provides an analysis in view of the Standard Model. With respect to the previous edition of the FLAG review [1] the data in this section has been updated. As in Ref. [1], when combining lattice data with experimental results, we take into account the strong SU(2) isospin correction, either obtained in lattice calculations or estimated by using chiral perturbation theory (χPT), both for the kaon leptonic decay constant fK± and for the ratio fK±/fπ± .


Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technologies are widely accepted as the center piece of ubiquitous wireless interconnects for next generation Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN). It finds potential exciting applications in high-connectivity and high interoperability multimedia consumer products within personal operating space, such as wireless home video distributions systems, and high-speed, high-mobility cable replacement solutions, such as Wireless Universal Serial Bus (W-USB) and wireless IEEE-1394 Fire wire. Many active academic and industrial works have been dedicated to the implementation of UWB transceivers, however, a monolithic UWB radio expanding across full 3.1– 10.6 GHz UWB spectrum is yet to be accomplished. Targeting Multi-Band Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MB-OFDM) UWB, one of the two major competing industrial UWB standards, this paper focuses on system and circuit co-design of a fully integrated CMOS direct-conversion Mixer with emphasis on architectural issue, and circuit topologies of its RF front-end. In this paper, a CMOS Ultra-wideband mixer was designed and simulated. Specific architecture has been selected Mixer implementation of an Ultra-wideband communication system. The basic architecture of the Mixer maintains a gain of 15dB over the band of 3.1-10.2GHz. The Mixer achieved a Noise figure ranging from 9-9.5dB over the same band of operation.


This article makes an assessment of Argentina's human resource skills in the field of information technology (IT);. In various of the country's government, business and academic domains the quality and potential of domestic human resources in this area is taken for granted- a belief based on the country's rich, yet contradictory IT history, but not founded on an analysis of the corresponding skills. This study aims to develop and apply a methodology to evaluate the skills of IT workers and highlight their problems and potentials, using the results of an electronic survey. The current features and heterogeneity of those human resources are interpreted in the light of the progress and setbacks experienced by the activity during the course of its evolution.


Aim: We aimed to determine C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with intervertebral disc disease (IDD) and to evaluate these patients' radiological and clinical characteristics. Material and Methods: A total of 102 patients were divided into four groups according to lumbar MRI results using the Macnab classification: bulging, protrusion, extrusion-sequestration, and normal. Straight leg raising test (SLR) and visual analogue scale (VAS) were used for clinical evaluation. Patients with bulging and protrusion were treated with conservative therapy within 5-10 days and bed-rest. Blood samples, SLR values and VAS scores were obtained from these patients before and after conservative therapy. The extrusion-sequestration group underwent lumbar spinal surgery. Medical treatment was not applied to this group and blood samples were collected only preoperatively. Individuals with normal MRI findings and no spinal complaints were evaluated as controls. Results: CRP levels were found to be 6.61 ± 7.78 in controls, 6.62 ± 5.28 in the bulging group, 11.50 ± 21.71 in the protrusion group and 17.18 ± 48.22 in the extruded-sequestration group (p=0.321). CRP levels were significantly decreased after treatment in the bulging group (p=0.001). Positive correlations were found between post-treatment VAS scores and pre-treatment WBC in the protrusion group, and with CRP levels in the bulging group. Conclusion: Although no statistically significant difference was determined, we observed higher mean serum CRP levels in the surgical group (extrusion-sequestration). We believe that further studies must be performed to determine whether serum CRP levels can be used as a prognostic marker in surgical decision making.


In this paper we review the works related to muscle synergies that have been carried-out in neuroscience and control engineering. In particular, we refer to the hypothesis that the central nervous system (CNS) generates desired muscle contractions by combining a small number of predefined modules, called muscle synergies. We provide an overview of the methods that have been employed to test the validity of this scheme, and we show how the concept of muscle synergy has been generalized for the control of artificial agents. The comparison between these two lines of research, in particular their different goals and approaches, is instrumental to explain the computational implications of the hypothesized modular organization. Moreover, it clarifies the importance of assessing the functional role of muscle synergies: although these basic modules are defined at the level of muscle activations (input-space), they should result in the effective accomplishment of the desired task. This requirement is not always explicitly considered in experimental neuroscience, as muscle synergies are often estimated solely by analyzing recorded muscle activities. We suggest that synergy extraction methods should explicitly take into account task execution variables, thus moving from a perspective purely based on input-space to one grounded on task-space as well.


One of the pain that often occurs in human is low back pain, usually occurs in adults aged 33-55 years. According todata at regional hospital Lampung Tengah in 2006, there were 32 patients with low back pain, and increased in thenext two years. Majority of patients were computer operator. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect ofsitting position and duration on low back pain. This study was cross sectional study of 120 computer operators inBandar Jaya Disctrict of Lampung. The results showed that 27/65 (41.5%) on good sitting position groupexperienced low back pain, while in the bad sitting position was11/12 (91.7%), with p = 0.011 and risk value 15.481times. In> the >4 hours sitting duration group, 37/63 (58.7%) experienced low back pain, whereas in <4 hours groupwas 1 / 13 (7.1%), with p = 0.006 and risk value 18.497 times. Combination of -sitting position and duration has asignificant effect on low back pain (p = 0.017 and 0.010) and gave 21.400 and 24 607 times risk. In conclusion, eachsitting position and duration has influence on low back pain, and is a risk factor. Combination of sitting position andduration increase its impact and risk. [ MKB. 2010;42(3):123-7]. Key words : Low back pain, seating duration, seating position


Ever since plate tectonics revolutionized Earth science, university courses presenting Earth processes in the framework of plate tectonics have become as plentiful as earthquakes. Consequently, this segment of the textbook market, which includes popular classroom classics such as Keary and Vine's Global Tectonics, is heavily contested. Condie's book attempts to secure a portion of the pie by targeting advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and specialists "who want to keep abreast of scientific advances in this field," as stated in the preface.


The software artifacts developed in the early stages of the development process describe the proposed solutions for the software. For this reason, these artifacts are commonly used to support communication among members of the development team. Miscommunication through software artifacts occurs because practitioners typically focus on their modeling, without reflecting on how other software development team members interpret them. In this context, we proposed the Directives of Communicability (DCs) to support practitioners analyzing characteristics that affect the artifact's content on communication via artifact. We conducted preliminary studies in a controlled environment with our proposal. However, we noticed that new studies are necessary to evaluate the DCs concerning practitioners' perceptions before transferring them to the industry. In this paper, we present two studies performed aiming to transfer the DCs to the software industry. In the first study, we evaluated the practitioners ' perception about the DCs. In the second study, we evaluated the feasibility of the DCs in a software development team. The studies' results indicated that DCs have the potential to support improvements in artifacts' content to reduce miscommunication via artifact. To facilitate the use of our proposal in the software industry, we created procedures that support the adoption of the DCs and checklists for the application of each directive in the software artifacts. We noticed positive perceptions of practitioners about the application of DCs in software artifacts. We hope that our contribution support software development teams that use artifacts in your projects.


Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive malignant disease defined by abnormal expansion of myeloid blasts. Despite recent advances in understanding AML pathogenesis and identifying their molecular subtypes based on somatic mutations, AML is still characterized by poor outcomes, with a 5-year survival rate of only 30%-40%, the majority of the patients dying due to AML relapse. Leukemia stem cells (LSC) are considered to be at the root of chemotherapeutic resistance and AML relapse. Although numerous studies have tried to better characterize LSCs in terms of surface and molecular markers, a specific marker of LSC has not been found, and still the most universally accepted phenotypic signature remains the surface antigens CD34+CD38- that is shared with normal hematopoietic stem cells. Animal models provides the means to investigate the factors responsible for leukemic transformation, the intrinsic differences between secondary post-myeloproliferative neoplasm AML and de novo AML, especially the signaling pathways involved in inflammation and hematopoiesis. However, AML proved to be one of the hematological malignancies that is difficult to engraft even in the most immunodeficient mice strains, and numerous ongoing attempts are focused to develop "humanized mice" that can support the engraftment of LSC. This present review is aiming to introduce the field of AML pathogenesis and the concept of LSC, to present the current knowledge on leukemic blasts surface markers and recent attempts to develop best AML animal models.


This study was conducted to measure and compare the concentration of iron, manganese and hardness of the river and groundwater and to determine the effectiveness of iron and manganese removal by using natural biosorbent which is banana peels. The samples of river and groundwater were collected at riverbank filtration site at Jenderam Hilir, Dengkil. Based on the water quality investigation, the concentration of iron and manganese in the samples of groundwater have exceeded the drinking water quality standard which are 0.3 mg/L for iron and 0.1 mg/L for manganese. The removal process of the iron and manganese in the groundwater was done by using 2, 4 and 8 grams of banana peels activated carbon. It is found that with higher amount of activated banana peels, the removal of iron and manganese is more effective. The ranges of percentage of iron and manganese removal are between 82.25% to 90.84% and 98.79% to 99.43% respectively. From the result, banana peels activated carbon can be concluded as a one of the most effective low-cost adsorbent for groundwater treatment.


Groundwater is a valuable natural resource whose quality is threatened by natural and man-made pollutants. This study aims to perform a hydrochemical characterization of groundwater resources used for domestic and irrigational activities in Melong (Littoral Cameroon). Thus, 26 subsurface water samples were collected in the dry season (six sampling points) and rainy season (seven sampling points) of the years 2019 and 2020. Physical water quality parameters were measured on the field while ionic constituents and bacteriological parameters were determined in the laboratory. The main findings revealed that the pH of the water samples was slightly acidic to neutral, fluctuating from 5.3 to 7.1; electrical conductivity ranged from 0.03 to 0.33 µS/cm and turbidity varied from 0.5 to 33.7 NTU revealing that the water is weakly mineralized. The ionic constituents were such that Ca2+ > K+ > Mg2+ > Na+ for cationic constituents while anions appeared as HCO3-> NO3- >Cl- > PO43-. The major ions fell within the acceptable limits of World Health Organisation (WHO) drinking water standards. Bacteria indicators of faecal pollution were identified in all the water samples, including Enterobacteria, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus, Salmonella, Shigella, Staphylococcus and Vibrio. This indicates an exposure of water sources to unhygienic conditions that may place consumers at risk of water-borne diseases, hence necessitating basic treatment of the water before consumption.

 Key words: Hydrochemistry, Melong, groundwater quality, bacteriological analysis, Littoral Cameroon.


A value-based automated transmission system planning model is presented in this paper and the impact of the various network representations on the results of the model is discussed. Value-based integrated resource planning provides a "societal cost" (utility operation and investment costs plus customer outage costs) minimizing composite generation-transmission system expansion plan. The model trades-off and compares the costs and benefits of alternative generation and transmission resources using a consistent economic and engineering criterion in order to determine an "optimal" resource expansion plan. The generalized Benders decomposition algorithm with "importance sampling" used to solve the problem enables the model to estimate certain average information about scenarios or contingencies by examining only a very small fraction of all the scenarios or contingencies. The impacts of system resources upon both real and reactive power can be analyzed when using the AC power flow equations. It is concluded that for transmission system planning where reactive power flows and voltage constraints are important, it is imperative that an AC power flow model be used. The combination of AC power flow and linearized power flow models, with linearization about the solution of the AC power flow model, was found to be a promising compromise between accuracy and computation time.


This is a summary of the presentations addressing approaches and achievements to reach the goal of eliminating cervical cancer as a global public health problem that were delivered at the 7th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research at the 10th Annual Consortium of Universities for Global Health Meeting in March 2019. Dr Princess Nothemba Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women, Children and Adolescents, World Health Organization, gave an introduction to the World Health Organization–led Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative and the emerging conceptual framework and targets that will shape the global 2020 to 2030 strategy. Subsequent presentations shared experiences from national programs in Rwanda (Agnes Binagwaho), Latin America (Patricia J. Garcia), and Senegal (Babacar Gueye and J. Andrew Dykens. Successes in intensified human papillomavirus vaccination and screening with follow-up treatment of early and advanced lesions detected are highlighted as well as the challenges and obstacles in achieving and maintaining high coverage in Africa and Latin America. With strong political leadership, commitment of national stakeholders, and the use of proven and cost-effective approaches to human papillomavirus vaccination, screening, and treatment, the vision of a world free of cervical cancer and saving women's lives every year by preventing deaths from cervical cancer will be achievable in the next generation in all countries.


This article presents a general description of the author's course «Spiritually-oriented Pedagogy and Psychology», intended for undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral students in «Theology», «Philosophy», «Psychology»; for educators and psychologists teaching in universities, that implement the «Theology» training direction; for school teachers leading the courses of «The Fundamentals of Religious Culture and Secular Ethics», as well as for the members of the Association of Psychological Assistance to Muslims who work with religiously oriented clients. The article also reveals the reasons of the course creation, its goals and objectives, specifies the course structure and provides the results of its approbation.


The Earth orientation parameters (EOP), the regular products of IERS Earth Orientation Centre, are computed at daily bases by combination of EOP solutions using different astro-geodetic techniques. At SYRTE we have developed a strategy of combination of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) techniques at normal equation level using Dynamo software maintained by CNES (France). This approach allows to produce the EOP at the daily bases, which contains polar coordinates (x,y) and their rates (xr,yr), universal time UT1 and its rate LOD, and corrections from IAU2000A/2006 precession-nutation model (dX,dY), and in the same run station coordinates constituting the terrestrial frame (TRF). The recorded EOP solutions obtained from GNSS and VLBI combination at weekly bases is recently maintained by SYRTE.

The strategy applied to consistently combine the IGS and IVS solutions provided in Sinex format over the time period 2000-2021 are presented and the resulting EOP, station positions (TRF) are analysed and evaluated, differences w.r.t. the individual solutions and the IERS time-series investigated.


The dynamic models of asymmetric ice-coated conductor and simulation of three most widely used anti-galloping devices were conducted with finite elements methods (FEM) in ANSYS program. Fist, three anti-galloping devices, i.e. airflow-spoilers, detuning pendulums and interphase spacers, were applied in 110 kV and 220 kV high-voltage overhead experimental transmission lines. Then the FEA models of the transmission line with anti-galloping devices were built in ANSYS program. The simulations were performed under the condition of three different wind velocities to compare their behaviors. Furthermore, observed field data of the lines pre and post damping were gathered to verify the proposed simulation model and the effectiveness of the control approaches. The simulation results agree with the on-field observation data.


The automation of power networks with all means that are available today — better known as "Smart Grid Approach" — has been the topic of many research activities for almost one decade. However, the degree of distribution system automation is rather low in today's networks. The authors believe that many modules, which are designed to solve the detailed problems of each focus area, need to be embedded into one holist but even more general concept. Based on this general hierarchical approach this paper focuses on different modules that can be used at different stages of the distribution grid


1 Introduction As commonly recognized, the era of modern corpus linguistics is approaching the half-century mark. During the past 50 years, we have witnessed a series of important landmark events in this field, ranging from the early attempts at mechanolinguistics by Juiland and Busa in the 1950s, to the pioneering work on computerized corpora in the 1960s and 1970s, involving first written material in terms of the Brown Corpus and the LOB Corpus, and later spoken material in connection with the London-Lund Corpus; in the 1980s, we have experienced the large-scale corpus projects of Cobuild and the Having now entered the 21 st century, it is clear that there are new challenges ahead for the corpus linguist. In terms of standard corpora, for example, we know that the American National Corpus (ANC) is under development, a parallel to the BNC with 100 million words of transatlantic English (e.g. Ide et al. 2002), and there is also a great deal of work going on with sophisticated varieties of learner corpora and multilingual (parallel) corpora (e.g. Botley et al. 2000; Granger 2004). However, the biggest challenge of today is undoubtedly the growing body of text-based information available on the World Wide Web (henceforth the Web). While originally intended as a pure information source only, this material forms in fact the largest store of textual data in existence, and as such it constitutes a tantalizing resource for various linguistic purposes. Let us look at some initial figures. As regards the size of the material on the Web, a rough estimate indicates that there are currently (December 2004) about eight billion Web pages available (cf. containing perhaps as much as 50 terabytes of text: at a generous average of 10 bytes per word (cf. Kilgarriff and Grefenstette 2003), these figures suggest a body of no less than five trillion (5 000 billion) words in one form or another. 26 Out of this massive multilingual collection of texts and text fragments, it appears that about two thirds are written in English (e.g. Xu 2000), although the proportion of non-English texts seems to have increased in recent years (e.g. Grefen-stette and Nioche 2000). This means that there is probably something in the range of 3 000 billion words of English to be found on the Web, forming a virtual English supercorpus ready for use by enterprising linguists in all manner of language research (cf. Bergh et …


By utilizing observational data from a 325 m tower of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on March 19-29, 2001 and August 11-25, 2003, a comprehensive study was conducted on the vertical dynamical and thermodynamic characteristics of the urban lower boundary layer (ULBL) and its relationship with aerosol con-centration over Beijing. Firstly, a comparative analysis was made on the gradient data (wind, temperature and humidity), ultrasonic data (atmospheric turbulences) and air-quality observa-tions at different tower heights (47, 120 and 280 m). Secondly, a diagnosis was made to reveal the major features of normalized variances of velocity and temperature, turbulence kinetic energy as well as their relationship with aerosol concentrations. Furthermore, the characteristics of the ULBL vertical structure and the TSP concentration/distribution variations during a sand/dust weather process were also analyzed. The outcome of the study showed that under unstable stratification, the normalized variances of velocity ( σ u /u * , σ v /u * , σ w /u * ) and temperature ( σ T /T * ) at 47 and 120 m heights fit the Monin-Obukhov similarity (MOS) framework and the fitting formulas were given out accordingly. According to the stratification parameter ( z ′/ L ), the stable ULBL could be divided into 2 zones. With z ′/ L z ′/ L >0.1 and the normalized velocity vari-ances tended to increase along with higher stability, but it remained constant for normalized temperature variances. At daytime, the near-surface layer includes two heights of 47 and 120 m, while 280 m has been above it. The ULBL analysis in conjunction with a sand/dust weather process in Beijing in March 2001 indicated that the maximum concentration of Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) at 320 m reached 913.3 μg/m 3 and the particles were transported from the upper to lower ULBL, which was apparently related to the development process of a low-level jet and its concomitant strong sinking motion.


Shells of one of Physa Draparnaud, 1801 species, inhabiting the rivers and reservoirs of the North Azov Sea coast clearly fit the re-description and figures of North American Physa skinneri Taylor, 1954. The illustrated description of the species from Ukrainian populations is provided here; some data on its distribution in Ukraine and in entire Eurasia are discussed. It is quite possible that these Eurasian conchological «twin» for Ph. skinneri should be attributed to one of the Old World aborigine species. To solve this problem the type materials for most common European Physa species, as well as their variability, anatomy and other characteristics should be studied.


This article examines the domestic legislative responses of three of the five social-democratic Nordic states: Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This exploratory study attempts to answer the question: Why do the social-democratic Nordic states differ in their legislative responses to terrorism? It analyzes state membership in supranational bodies (NATO, EU), [domestic] political climate, the number of 'high-profile' terrorist attacks on [domestic] soil, and the perceived level of threat. The field lacks significant comparison between states, specifically the Nordic states. The main differences between these Nordic states are their counter-terrorism policy responses towards law enforcement, immigrants, gun-control, and their levels of Europeanization.


Welding has been widely used in industry for hundreds of years, and pursuing higher weld quality requires a better understanding of the welding process. The x-ray imaging technique is a powerful tool to in situ observe the inner characteristics of the melt pool in the welding process. Here, current progress in in situ x-ray imaging of the welding process is concluded, including the experiments based on the laboratory-based single x-ray imaging system, the laboratory-based double x-ray imaging system, and the synchrotron radiation tomography system. The corresponding experimental results with the in situ x-ray imaging technique about the formation and evolution of the keyhole, melt pool, pore, solidification crack, etc., have been introduced. A new understanding of welding based on the current progress in in situ x-ray imaging of additive manufacturing is concluded. In addition, the future development trend of applying x-ray imaging technology in the field of monitoring the welding process is proposed.


The study of boundary layer flow has gained considerable interest owing to its extensive engineering applications. Thus, this numerical study aims to investigate the stability analysis of unsteady flow in the hybrid Al2O3-Cu/H2O nanofluid past a shrinking permeable cylinder. The impacts of suction and unsteadiness parameters are considered in this study. The partial differential equations are converted into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by selecting suitable similarity transformation and solved using the bvp4c code in the MATLAB program. The findings revealed that the existence of dual solutions is visible. The skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt numbers of Al2O3-Cu/H2O increase with the inclusion of the suction parameter. The presence of the unsteadiness parameter actively promotes heat transfer degradation on the shrinking cylinder. Stability analysis indicates that a stable and physically realizable solution appeared in the first solution, whereas the second solution is unstable.


We propose SmartEscape, a real-time, dynamic, intelligent and user-specific evacuation system with a mobile interface for emergency cases such as fire. Unlike past work, we explore dynamically changing conditions and calculate a personal route for an evacuee by considering his/her individual features. SmartEscape, which is fast, low-cost, low resource-consuming and mobile supported, collects various environmental sensory data and takes evacuees' individual features into account, uses an artificial neural network (ANN) to calculate personal usage risk of each link in the building, eliminates the risky ones, and calculates an optimum escape route under existing circumstances. Then, our system guides the evacuee to the exit through the calculated route with vocal and visual instructions on the smartphone. While the position of the evacuee is detected by RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) technology, the changing environmental conditions are measured by the various sensors in the building. Our ANN (Artificial Neural Network) predicts dynamically changing risk states of all links according to changing environmental conditions. Results show that SmartEscape, with its 98.1% accuracy for predicting risk levels of links for each individual evacuee in a building, is capable of evacuating a great number of people simultaneously, through the shortest and the safest route.


Background Challenges related to the cross-organizational access of accurate and timely information about a patient's condition has become a critical issue in healthcare. Interoperability of different local sources is necessary. Purpose To identify and present missing and semantically incorrect data elements of metadata in the radiology enterprise service that supports cross-organizational sharing of dynamic information about patients' visits, in the Region Västra Götaland, Sweden. Material and Methods Quantitative data elements of metadata were collected yearly from the first Wednesday in March from 2006 to 2011 from the 24 in-house radiology departments in Region Västra Götaland. These radiology departments were organized into four hospital groups and three stand-alone hospitals. Included data elements of metadata were the patient name, patient ID, institutional department name, referring physician's name, and examination description. Results The majority of missing data elements of metadata was related to the institutional department name for Hospital 2, from 87% in 2007 to 25% in 2011. All data elements of metadata except the patient ID contained semantic errors. For example, for the data element "patient name", only three names out of 3537 were semantically correct. Conclusion This study shows that the semantics of metadata elements are poorly structured and inconsistently used. Although a cross-organizational solution may technically be fully functional, semantic errors may prevent it from serving as an information infrastructure for collaboration between all departments and hospitals in the region. For interoperability, it is important that the agreed semantic models are implemented in vendor systems using the information infrastructure.


The aim of this study is to illustrate what culture specific content is used in textbooks for English teaching and how this content is used to further inter-cultural understanding in students. The method is a critical discourse analysis of the biggest selling textbooks and workbooks for English teaching in year 9 from Sweden's largest educational publishers. The approach is to map out content that is culture specific into four categories of 'culture', and assess how the content is used to further inter-cultural understanding, using four aspects of inter-cultural education. The results are that the countries generally seen as representing culture in English speaking countries are England, the USA, India and Canada. The culture specific content is generally literature, i.e. poems, novels and short stories, traditions, life and customs, history on important cultural figures, social systems, social classes and some ideology, and cultural linguistics such as idioms and similes. The conclusion is that all textbooks help furthering inter-cultural understanding to different degrees, but in order to actually develop inter-cultural understanding the teacher is needed to make more connections to the differences between cultures.


ing this condition, at the present moment, insertion of the valve is the test. In the UK economy where surgeons are so hard pressed this may be a preferable means of determining likely treatment for patients with large ventricles than using CSF conductance to outflow studies, a test where the name of Eckstedt deserves a mention. In conclusion the initial doubts felt about a textbook of this kind have largely been resolved in this reviewer's mind. It seems a sensibly discussed and unextreme statement of modem US practice in the surgical treatment of this fascinating and unremittingly difficult disorder. BERNARD WILLIAMS


By using 't Hooft's brick wall model, the corrections for a massless quantum scalar field to the black hole entropy are studied in rotating U(1) X U(1)-dilaton black hole space-time. The free energy and entropy for this case are calculated, and in Hartle-Hawking states, the derived quantum entropy is composed of the geometric part and the non-geometric part which is logrithmically divergent. It turns out that the logrithmic part is related to the characteristic quantities of a black hole.


We analyze the structure of fluctuations near critical points and spinodals in mean-field and near-mean-field systems. Unlike systems that are non-mean-field, for which a fluctuation can be represented by a single cluster in a properly chosen percolation model, a fluctuation in mean-field and near-mean-field systems consists of a large number of clusters, which we term fundamental clusters. The structure of the latter and the way that they form fluctuations has important physical consequences for phenomena as diverse as nucleation in supercooled liquids, spinodal decomposition and continuous ordering, and the statistical distribution of earthquakes. The effects due to the fundamental clusters implies that they are physical objects and not only mathematical constructs.


A statistical mechanics canonical spherical energy-enstrophy theory of the super-rotation phenomenon in a quasi-2D barotropic fluid coupled by inviscid topographic torque to a rotating solid body, is solved in closed form in Fourier space, with inputs on the value of the energy to enstrophy quotient of the fluid, and two planetary parameters radius of the planet and its rate and axis of spin. This allows calculations that predict the following physical consequences:(A) two critical points associated with the condensation of high and low energy (resp.) states in the form of distinct super-rotating and sub-rotating (resp.) solid-body flows, (B) only solid-body flows having wavenumbers l = 1, m = 0 tiltless rotations are excited in the ordered phases, (C) the asymmetry between the super-rotating and sub-rotating ordered phases where the sub-rotation phase transition requires moreover that the planetary spin is sufficiently large, and thus, less commonly observed than the super-rotating phase, (D) non-excitation of spherical modes with wavenumber l > 1 in barotropic fluids. Comparisons to other canonical, microcanonical and dynamical theories suggests that this theory complements and completes older theories by predicting the above specific outcomes.


Analysis of some extensive individual-record data using a demographically informed model suggests constructing a general population model in which the lifetime of a person, beyond a certain threshold age, follows an extreme value distribution with a finite upper bound, and with that upper bound randomized over the population. The resulting population model incorporates heterogeneity in life-lengths, with lifetimes being finite individually, but with extremely long lifespans having negligible probability. Our findings are compared in detail with those of related studies in the literature, and used to reconcile contradictions between previous studies of extreme longevity. While being consistent with currently reported analyses of human lifetimes, we nevertheless differ with those who conclude in favour of unbounded human lifetimes.


New challenge in all industries is to catch up with the digital revolution. There are some pioneers and some followers in all industries but it is inevitable that digits catch every company by its claws. Our research aims to put forward the dynamics of the digital era or in other words new economy. Companies with a good level of digital maturity and thus high digital quotient become the leaders of their industries. Of course it is in some sectors digitization has become more obvious compared to others, but it is a rising trend in every industry, one can appoint. Banking sector is casts a great example how digital quotient and its factors come into play. Our research tries to define the new concept of digital quotient and illustrate a good practice by evaluating the strategies of a leading bank in Turkey.


Grapes are among the most popular fruits globally, and various fungicides are widely applied to grape crops. As such, the presence of multiple fungicide residues and dietary risks in grapes has become the focus of significant attention. In this study, an easy-to-implement and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS approach was developed to simultaneously determine pyraclostrobin, dimethomorph, cymoxanil, cyazofamid and its metabolite of CCIM in grapes via QuEChERS. This approach achieved 78.1-106.0% recovery and a 0.01 mg kg-1 limit of quantitation (LOQ). Field trials revealed that these compounds had degradation half-lives ranging from 0.9-14.4 days. And their terminal residues ranging from〈LOQ to 0.94 mg kg-1 were below the official maximum residue limit (MRL) in China. The short-term risk for each tested fungicide was below 54%. The long-term risk of individual chemicals ranged from 0.0086% to 2% and their cumulative risk was 3.3%. Results indicated that the dietary risk of these fungicides in grapes was minor.


This guide will assist you with your research into nuclear power; finding out how it works and what the advantages and disadvantages of it are compared to generating electricity from fossil fuels or other renewables. During your research, you will need to What are the arguments against nuclear power?


INTRODUCTION
In Hungary surgeons perform approximately 24000 cholecystectomies per year. Nowadays the choice of treatment of uncomplicated cholelithiasis is laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The advantages and popularity of the procedure are well known; otherwise the exploration of the abdominal cavity is not so complete than during open surgery. In the course of laparoscopic surgery the surgeon has minimal chance to find the preoperatively not diagnosed tumour.

AIMS
In our retrospective study we analysed those complains and clinical signs, when we suspect the presence of a pancreas tumour.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We analysed the clinical data of patients who were operated on with pancreatic tumor and before the surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy had been performed in the previous 24 month.

RESULTS
In the period of 1996-2003 we operated 1515 patients with pancreatic tumor, at our clinic. 21 patients (1.39%) had laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the last 24 month, before the surgery. The age of the patients was between 50-78 (average age 65), the rate of the female and male patients was 15/6. Most of the patients had weight loss (in 11 cases it was considerable, 5.4 kg in one month) and the uncertain abdominal pain, feeling of discomfort, meteorism was also characteristic of these patients. In 16 cases (76%) the blood glucose level had been elevated. The ultrasound examination before the cholecystectomy in these cases was focused to the gall bladder. After the cholecystectomy, complains did not disappear definitely and further diagnostic steps verified the pancreatic tumour. The average time between the laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the open surgery was 10 month. In 4 cases we were able to remove the tumor, but in 17 cases only palliative operation was performed.

CONCLUSIONS
If the patient is over the age of 50, especially if he is male, has weight loss and if the symptoms are not characteristic of gallbladder disease, further diagnostic steps are necessary before cholecystectomy. Complains remaining after laparoscopic cholecystectomy must be indication for urgent diagnostic steps. The life expectancy of patients with advanced pancreatic tumor is very poor.


Abstract Little is known about the way in which different loyalty program attributes underlie consumers' intentions to participate in such a program. Based upon equity theory, the current study distinguished between consumer inputs (personal data release, participation cost, purchase frequency, participation exclusivity, and participation efforts) and outputs (program benefits, number of program providers, and program duration) as underlying attributes potentially affecting participation in a loyalty program. Using conjoint analysis, we explored how different levels within each of these eight attributes affect consumers' intentions to participate. The study holds major implications for the design of successful customer loyalty programs.


SipA is a major effector of Salmonella, which causes gastroenteritis and enteric fever. Caspase-3 cleaves SipA into two domains: the C-terminal domain regulates actin polymerization, whereas the function of the N terminus is unknown. We show that the cleaved SipA N terminus binds and recruits host Syntaxin8 (Syn8) to Salmonella-containing vacuoles (SCVs). The SipA N terminus contains a SNARE motif with a conserved arginine residue like mammalian R-SNAREs. SipAR204Q and SipA1–435R204Q do not bind Syn8, demonstrating that SipA mimics a cognate R-SNARE for Syn8. Consequently, Salmonella lacking SipA or that express the SipA1–435R204Q SNARE mutant are unable to recruit Syn8 to SCVs. Finally, we show that SipA mimicking an R-SNARE recruits Syn8, Syn13, and Syn7 to the SCV and promotes its fusion with early endosomes to potentially arrest its maturation. Our results reveal that SipA functionally substitutes endogenous SNAREs in order to hijack the host trafficking pathway and promote Salmonella survival.


Background and objective: Periodontitis is one of the most widespread oral diseases in Kurdistan. Saliva can be used as a noninvasive diagnostic fluid to measure chemical biomarkers released during oral disease, so this work is directed to focus on the study of salivary fucose (a glycoprotein component) and its related parameters in periodontitis, to assess the possibility of using them as indicators for the disease and its progress.
Methods: The present work included 79 individuals. They were grouped into healthy (32), advanced periodontitis (20) and moderate periodontitis(27) subjects. Their age was ranged between (20-60) years. Unstimulated whole saliva samples were collected from all the groups. The samples were used for the estimation of salivary; total fucose (TF), protein bound fucose (PBF), protein bound hexose (PBH), lipid associated fucose (LAF), total protein (TP), total calcium (TCa), zinc (Zn), and salivary magnesium (Mg).
Results: Salivary TF, LAF, FF, PBF, TP and TCa were significantly increased in both advanced and moderate periodontic groups comparing to healthy individuals, while there were no significant differences in salivary PBH, Mg and Mg/Ca levels in periodontic groups when compared to normal. Salivary TF/TP, PBF/TP, PBH/TP and FF/TP ratios and salivary zinc were significantly reduced in periodontic males.
Conclusion: On the basis of the above results, it can be concluded that these biochemical parameters, may be used as indicators for the extent of periodontal tissue damage, thus they can be used in the identification of periodontitis progresses and treatment follow up.


Nicolas Louet arrived in Paris from his native Chaumont on 11th July 1789 and lived through all the tumultuous events of that month. The originality of his diary, in which he describes all his experiences, lies in the fact that it portrays the effervescence of the period from day to day, in particular life in the street. Crowds gathered rapidly at the slightest alert — the third estate particularly around Palais Royal and the «fourth » at the place de Greve and the Hotel de Ville — to read the wall posters and follow the latest rumours. We see the misery of the poorest, which led to the execution of speculators as well as officials on the «Greve », followed by popular processions brandishing the heads of the criminals.


Rhodium-catalyzed diverse tandem twofold C–H bond activation reactions of para-olefin-tethered arenes have been realized, with unsaturated reagents such as internal alkynes, dioxazolones, and isocyanates being the coupling partner as well as a relay directing group which triggers cyclization of the para-olefin group under oxidative or redox-neutral conditions. The reaction proceeded via initial ortho-C–H activation assisted by a built-in directing group in the arene, and the ortho-incorporation of the unsaturated coupling partner simultaneously generated a relay directing group that allows sequential C–H activation at the meta-position and subsequent cyclization of the para-olefins. The overall reaction represents C–C or N–C difunctionalization of the arene with the generation of diverse 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran platforms. The catalytic system proceeded with good efficiency, simple reaction conditions, and broad substrate scope. The diverse transformations of the products demonstrated the synthetic utility of this tandem reaction.


Background: To study the effect of oligohydramnios in pregnancy and its value in predicting adverse perinatal outcome. Methods: A prospective case control study of pregnancy outcome in 100 cases with ultrasound diagnosis of oligohydramnios at term compared with 100 controls with no oligohydramnios. The study was done over a period of 3 years at SSMC Tumkur, India. Results: Oligohydramnios at term is associated with poor perinatal outcome. Significant increase in abnormal foetal heart rate, meconium stained liquor, delivery by cesarean section, low Apgar intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), increased admissions to neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) were seen in study group, however perinatal mortality was more in study group but not statistically significant (P=0.31) Conclusions: AFI <5 at term is an important fetal surveillance methods to identify poor perinatal outcome and thereby makes possible intervention so as to reduce perinatal morbidity and mortality.