Background
Diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) help to identify unusually high dose levels in
medical procedures involving radiation. This will subsequently, stimulate
quality control. There are legislations and guidelines requiring the Member States of
European Union to adopt DRLs. While about 72% of European countries, as
well as the United States, have complied, and with subsequent reviews
demonstrating significant dose reductions (16% – 30%), no evidence links any
African country to replicating the same.
Objective
This work briefly reviewed the progress of Nigeria with regards to diagnostic
reference levels (DRLs) and with particular attention to efforts by radiographers.
Methods
Google search was made with keywords of 'diagnostic reference levels' as well
as 'radiation dose in Nigeria.' Over forty works were retrieved but only twenty-two
which had specific relevance to the focus of the review were archived and
read. The works were subsequently scrutinized to piece together the trend of
DRLs globally, and locally.
Results
Publications on x-ray, mammography, fluoroscopy and computed tomography
dose abound in Nigeria. Doses had wide variations in all modalities. There was
no accessible evidence to indicate that any regulatory agency in Nigeria had
keyed into the imperative of dose investigation, monitoring and reporting.
Conclusion
In conclusion, diagnostic reference levels in x-ray, mammography and
computed tomography have been recommended by independent researchers in
Nigeria. Regulatory agencies are urged to summon the will to give guidelines
on implementation of these DRLs in order to improve optimization of
protection for patients.


In this paper, we postulate that a balanced input from R&D and marketing improves the entry strategy selection process. While doing so, we focus our attention on two dimensions: magnitude of investment and timing of entry. On the basis of the literature and empirical studies, we have developed a conceptual framework and defined measures for the desired level of the R&D/marketing interface. This framework contributes to the literature on the R&D/marketing interface by spelling out the interaction between the R&D/marketing interface and entry strategy decision on new product performance. It also adds to the literature on new product introduction by focusing on the determinants of entry strategy and their impact on new product performance.


The establishment of Village Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) is the spearhead of Indonesia's development.  However, not a few of the Bumdes programs are not running optimally.  Lack of understanding of bookkeeping and program development in Bumdes is a problem that is often faced by village-owned enterprises.  Therefore, together with students team in Nglele Village, they have helped improve the BUMDes Buana Sejahtera program in Nglele Village.  Through the E-catalog registration program for MSMEs in Nglele village and also the bookkeeping assistance program is a form of developing the Bumdes program towards the era of digital marketing.
Keywords : The Role of BUMDes, E-Catalog, UMKM


We examined how [Pb] affects the growth of the bacterium, Colwellia psychrerythraea as well as the bacterium's ability to produce extracellular polysaccharide substances (EPS). In addition, we explored the potential binding capacity of EPS and [Pb] through freezing trials that included both ice and liquid phases. Earlier studies have explored the effects of EPS on other bacteria or algae. In these experiments we focused on bacterial growth and the impacts on EPS production using the phenol-sulfuric acid method of Dubois et al. (1956) to measure EPS, an ICPMS machine to measure [Pb], and a series of freezing experiments to examine selective retention of EPS or lead in ice. The growth data suggests that there may be a threshold or "tipping point" between 0.1 mg/L and 1 mg/L of [Pb] up to which there is more EPS produced than when there is no lead present. However, at a high lead amount (1 mg/L), the culture was completely unable to grow or produce EPS. At low levels of lead (0.1 mg/L) there was possible binding activity between EPS and the heavy metal. This effect was not evident when 1 mg/L of lead was introduced to the system, which we attribute to as an oversaturation of the EPS such that no binding could take place.


Mammalian reoviruses are ds RNA viruses that are not associated with any specific disease process in man. They can cause disease in mice where the type I (Tl) and type 3 (T3) viruses exhibit markedly different tissue tropism and virulence properties. The different disease patterns of these serotypes are due in large part to the viral cell-attachment protein, σl, specifically targeting the virus to either neuronal cells (T3) or ependymal cells (Tl). The main aim of this project was to locate the cell-binding domain of protein al in order to further characterise the virus-cell attachment process.
The Tl and T3 σl proteins were expressed in vitro from cloned DNA copies of the respective SI genes. In vitro translations were carried out in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system optimised with respect to salt and si RNA concentration to maximise the efficiency of translation. The simRNAs were poorly translated in the lysate (in agreement with in vivo and in vitro studies of other groups). Two different methods were therefore employed to effect an increase in the synthesis of the respective al proteins: (i) Oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis of the cloned Sl-1 gene was utilized to simultaneously improve the weak sequence context of the σl initiation codon and reduce the length of the 5' untranslated (leader) region. The resulting "mutant" transcripts possessed a leader sequence of the same length as those synthesized in vivo, (ii) The inclusion of 2-minopurine in the in vitro translation reactions improved the efficiency with which σI of both serotypes was synthesized. This was due, presumably, to an inhibition of the RNA dependent protein kinase, PI/elF- 2a, which is involved in the control of protein synthesis.

A cell-binding assay was developed in which oligomerization of type 3 σI was found to be critical for its ability to bind to monolayers of L-cells. It was found that the formation of oligomeric species required an in vitro translation temperature of 37°C instead of the standard 30°C. Protein al-l was neither able to oligomerize or bind to cells. Specific, saturable binding of σl-3 was demonstrated. These studies also revealed that the Tl and T3 virus probably bind to different receptors on L-cells.

Deletion mutants of σl-3 were created by oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis as a means of locating the cell-binding domain of this protein. None of the mutant proteins were found to be capable of binding to L-cells. However, a conformational effect could not be discounted as the primary reason for their inability to bind, as opposed to the removal of a critical binding domain.


A method has been devised for measuring functional residual capacity in the intact killed animal or absolute lung volumes in any excised lung preparation without changing the inflation pressure. This is achieved by titrating the absolute pressure of a chamber in which the preparation is compressed until a known volume of air has entered the lungs. This technique was used to estimate the volumes of five intact rabbit lungs and five rigid containers of known dimensions by means of Boyle's law. Results were found to agree to within +/- 1% with values determined by alternative methods. In the discussion the advantage of determining absolute lung volumes at almost any stage in a study of lung mechanics without the determination itself changing inflation pressure and, hence, lung volume is emphasized.


OBJECTIVE
To discuss the suitable surgical approach and the internal fixation of unstable pelvic pelvic fractures.

METHODS
From May 2010 to May 2015, 45 patients with unstable pelvic fractures were treated with different approaches and fixations, including 38 males and 7 females with an average age of 45 years ranging from 21 to 61 years. The course was within 2 weeks. According to Young-Burg classification, 23 patients were lateral compression injuries, 6 patients were vertical shearing injuries, 16 patients were anterior-posterior compression injuries. All patients had hip pain and limitation of motion, the X-rays showed the pelvic ring fracture.

RESULTS
All wounds healed well without complications, 45 cases were followed up for a mean period of 13 months (ranged 9 to 21 months). Patients with hip pain had a good postoperative pain relief. The post-operative X-rays showed the reduction was satisfied and the pelvic ring shaped well. According to Majeed standards, the final follow-up score was 93.5±11.6, 35 cases got excellent results, 8 were good, 2 were fare.

CONCLUSIONS
The unstable pelvic and acetabular fractures are always with compound injury. Beside the reduction, to decrease the second surgery trauma should take into consideration as well, the intra-articular reduction and the stability of the pelvic were especially valued, so combined the different approach with minimal invasive technique can get good clinical result.


Sentiment classification refers to the act of putting in for natural language processing and text mining strategies to distinguish subjective textual data. Due to the huge availability of online data that coincide with the growth of social media, there has been a big interest from researchers in sentiment analysis and its applications. In this paper, we review the state of the art to determine how the previous researches have addressed this task. we also introduce an empirical study on two annotated datasets; 25,000 IMDB movie reviews and 25,000 tweets, where we used nine supervised learning models, the next step was to implement a voting ensemble classifier using the top four models we get from the previous steps. In the end, we outline a benchmark evaluation, the results show that the ensemble classifier outperforms all the machine learning models.


In recent years, improving of power factor and reducing harmonic distortion in electrical instruments are needed. In general, a current conduction mode boost converter is used for active PFC (Power Factor Correction). In a PFC boost converter, if a duty ratio, a load resistance and an input voltage are changed, the dynamic characteristics are varied greatly. This is the prime reason of difficulty of controlling the PFC boost converter. In this paper, a robust digital controller for suppressing the change of step response characteristics and variation of output voltage at a DC-DC buck converter load sudden change with high power factor and low harmonic is proposed. Experimental studies using a micro-processor for controller demonstrate that this type of digital controller is effective to improve power factor and to suppress output voltage variation.


The contactin-associated protein (Caspr) family participates in nerve excitation and conduction, and neurotransmitter release in myelinated axons. We analyzed the structures and functions of the Caspr family–CNTNAP1 (Caspr1), CNTNAP2 (Caspr2), CNTNAP3 (Caspr3), CNTNAP4 (Caspr4) and CNTNAP5 (Caspr5), Caspr1–5 is not only involved in the formation of myelinated axons, but also participates in maintaining the stability of adjacent connections. Caspr1 participates in the formation, differentiation, and proliferation of neurons and astrocytes, and in motor control and cognitive function. We also analyzed the relationship between the Caspr family and neurodegenerative diseases, multiple sclerosis, and autoimmune encephalitis. However, the effects of Caspr on disease course and prognosis remain poorly understood. The effects of Caspr on disease diagnosis and treatment need further investigation.


The protective efficacy of a recombinant Taenia ovis vaccine antigen, 45W, was compared in sheep vaccine trials with antigen expressed by the full length 45W cDNA and by incomplete copies of the cDNA. Vaccine trials were also carried out using antigen expressed by a cDNA (45S) having a sequence similar, but not identical, to 45W. Stability of the 45W antigen expressed in Escherichia coli was found to be increased after deletion of cDNA sequence encoding 19 COOH‐terminal amino acids. This truncated form of the antigen was designated 45WB/X. Vaccination of sheep with antigen expressed by 45W, 45WB/X, as well as full length 45W and 45S cDNAs, induced high levels of protection. Vaccination with antigen expressed by an incomplete copy of the 45S cDNA clone did not induce protection. Comparison of deduced amino acid sequences for these clones suggests that the host‐protective epitope(s) of the 45W antigen occur on either or both of the 23 and 9 amino acid peptides at the amino and carboxyl termini of 45W, respectively. Antibody binding epitopes of 45W were investigated in ELISA using overlapping 9 amino acid peptides. Protection was found to correlate with the induction of antibody to two 9 amino acid peptides.


In this paper we describe a real-time rolling stock rescheduling model for disruption management of passenger railways. Large-scale disruptions, e.g., due to malfunctioning infrastructure or rolling stock, usually result in the cancellation of train services. As a consequence, the passenger flows change, because passengers will look for alternative routes to get to their destinations. Our model takes these dynamic passenger flows into account. This is in contrast with most traditional rolling stock rescheduling models that consider the passenger flows either as static or as given input. Furthermore, we describe an iterative heuristic for solving the rolling stock rescheduling model with dynamic passenger flows. The model and the heuristic were tested on realistic problem instances of Netherlands Railways, the major operator of passenger trains in the Netherlands. The computational results show that the average delay of the passengers can be reduced significantly by taking into account the dynamic behavior of the passenger flows on the detour routes, and that the computation times of the iterative heuristic are appropriate for an application in real-time disruption management.


Transcriptome engineering technologies that can effectively and precisely perturb mammalian RNAs are needed to accelerate biological discovery and RNA therapeutics. However, the broad utility of programmable CRISPR-Cas13 ribonucleases has been hampered by an incomplete understanding of the design rules governing guide RNA activity as well as cellular toxicity resulting from off-target or collateral RNA cleavage. Here, we sought to characterize and develop Cas13d systems for efficient and specific RNA knockdown with low cellular toxicity in human cells. We first quantified the performance of over 127,000 RfxCas13d (CasRx) guide RNAs in the largest-scale screen to date and systematically evaluated three linear, two ensemble, and two deep learning models to build a guide efficiency prediction algorithm validated across multiple human cell types in orthogonal validation experiments (https://www.RNAtargeting.org). Deep learning model interpretation revealed specific sequence motifs at spacer position 15-24 along with favored secondary features for highly efficient guides. We next identified 46 novel Cas13d orthologs through metagenomic mining for activity and cytotoxicity screening, discovering that the metagenome-derived DjCas13d ortholog achieves low cellular toxicity and high transcriptome-wide specificity when deployed against high abundance transcripts or in sensitive cell types, including human embryonic stem cells, neural progenitor cells, and neurons. Finally, our Cas13d guide efficiency model successfully generalized to DjCas13d, highlighting the utility of a comprehensive approach combining machine learning with ortholog discovery to advance RNA targeting in human cells.


Control of risk factors for coronary heart disease secondary prevention is still very unsatisfactory. This study assessed 104 patients referred by cardiologists to discover how carefully National Cholesterol Education Program II recommendations were being followed. Average age of the cohort was 60.9+/-10.8 years, and 67.3% were men. A total of 57(54.8%) experienced a previous myocardial infarction and 83 (80.3%) a revascularization procedure. They saw their doctors 4.4+/-2.9 times a year and had blood tests 2.8+/-1.7 times a year. Blood pressure was >/=140/90 mm Hg in 57.8%, body mass index >/=25 kg/m2 in 62.5%, and the weight-to-hip ratio >/=0.95 in 42.9% of men, and >/=0.85 in 47.0% of women. Total, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride values were 222.9+/-47.3 mg/dL, 144.9 mg/dL, 44.8+/-11.5 mg/dL, and 176+/-119.41 mg/dL, respectively. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was <100 mg/dL in 8.1%, and <130 mg/dL in 47.1%; the total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio was 5.1+/-1.5 (>/=5 in 51%). In these patients, the control of major risk factors like high blood pressure, overweight, and high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was poor.


Instability of eukaryotic DNA in constructs propagated in prokaryotic hosts is a frequently observed phenomenon. With the exception of a very high A+T-content and the presence of multiple repetitions, no general rule at the basis of this phenomenon is actually known. The intergenic spacer located between the pi and alpha(D) chicken alpha-type globin genes is frequently deleted from recombinant phages and plasmids. Here we have cloned this DNA fragment using a specially designed bacterial strain (SURE competent cells, Stratogene). Comparative analysis of DNA of recombinant clones bearing deletions and clones containing the intact genomic DNA fragment has revealed two important DNA sequence motifs that contribute to the unclonability of eukaryotic DNA in prokaryotic cells. First, the similarity to bacterial transposons (i.e. the presence of repeats flanking a several kilobase DNA fragment) may cause the loss of the fragment during propagation of the recombinant DNA in E. coli. Second, a high content of rotationally correlated kinkable elements (TG*CA steps) may result in non-clonability of the DNA sequence. Interestingly, the latter type of "unclonable" DNA sequence motifs identified in the globin gene domain is unstable (frequently rearranged) also in the eukaryotic chromosome resulting in a local polymorphism. In the chicken domain of alpha globin genes this unstable DNA sequence seems to be partially protected by interaction with nuclear matrix proteins.


The development of technology demands Islamic education institution as the actor of islamization of knowledge project to increase its quality through management of teachers. As the key for achieving school's vision, teachers must be managed well. This research investigated the process of management of teachers conducted by SMA PGII 1 Bandung. This school was chosen since it evidently could achieve its vision and have competitive alumna showen by their success in getting scholarschip to Germany. This was a case study with qualitative approach. The instruments were interview, questionnaire and observation with teacher, vice of headmaster and chief of administration as respondents. The results show that this school has serious efforts in protect the teachers' professionalism since recruitment process. The founding program, performance analysis, giving appreciation and sanction become the strategies in increasing the teachers' quality. This shows that by a comprehensive management of teachers, a school could achieve its vision.


The overall configuration of the LHCD system for ITER has been substantially outlined during the EDA phase. A following first detailed study has been performed in the frame of ITER tasks and contracts. In the actual configuration the proposed system has a working frequency of 5 GHz and couples to the plasma an overall RF power of 20 MW through a launcher based on the passive active multijunction (PAM) concept. Specific microwave components couple the output rectangular waveguides of the RF sources to the circular waveguides, excited in the low losses, TE/spl deg//sub 01/ mode, of the main transmission line (MTL) and to split it again in rectangular waveguides, at the end of this line, to adequately feed the PAM launcher. Selective TE/spl deg//sub 01/ mode filters are included in the MTL to eliminate unwanted modes that could be accidentally originated in the discontinuities of this line, such as the 90/spl deg/ bends used to follow the optimized path between the RF sources and the launcher. Ceramic windows (BeO) separate the launcher, at the same pressure of the vacuum vessel of ITER, from the MTL. Most of these components have been recently revised and have been object of a more accurate analysis. In same cases alternative components have been ascertained and studied. The paper gives the actual status of the system.


Just under 0.1% of births in England in the decade since 2000 resulted in injuries that led to NHS paying out for damages, says the NHS Litigation Authority.1

In total, compensation claims linked to maternity care led to £3.1bn (€3.9bn; $5bn) in payouts—the most for any specialty—with the largest share of awards (40%) being paid out for cerebral palsy.

In its report the authority said that junior doctors and inexperienced midwives were often involved in the labour of the 5087 cases that resulted in claims and that they had not had adequate assistance from senior clinicians.

Having more senior staff available during labour, together with a better understanding among junior staff …


Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) has evolved to become an important tool for the non-invasive examination of the small bowel, which hitherto had been relatively inaccessible to direct visualisation. VCE has been shown to play a role in monitoring the activity of small bowel Crohn's disease and can be used to assess the response to anti-inflammatory treatment in Crohn's disease. For those patients with Crohn's disease who have undergone an intestinal resection, VCE has been assessed as a tool to detect post-operative recurrence. VCE may also aid in the reclassification of patients with a diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unclassified to Crohn's disease. The evolution of colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) has expanded the application of this technology further. The use of CCE to assess the activity of ulcerative colitis has been described. This advance in capsule technology has also fuelled interest in its potential role as a minimally invasive tool to assess the whole of GI tract opening the possibility of its use for the panenteric assessment of Crohn's disease. VCE is a safe procedure. However, the risk of a retained capsule is higher in patients with suspected or confirmed Crohn's disease compared with patients having VCE examination for other indications. A retained video capsule is rare after successful passage of a patency capsule which may be utilised to pre-screen patients undergoing VCE. This paper describes the use of VCE in the assessment of inflammatory bowel disease.


Parenterally administered Shenmai, made from constituents of Ginseng Rubra Radix and Ophiopogonis Radix has, confirmed by modem pharmacological studies, the function of increasing cardiac hypoxia tolerance and anti arrhythmic and antibacterial properties. However, parenterally administered Shenmai is also prone to cause allergic reactions, which is clearly a safety issue. NCCSs combine elements from case-control and cohort studies. HIS data provides real world clinical information on the use of parenterally administered Shenmai. To explore suspected allergic factors this article compares specific information of those who showed allergies to those who didnt in the real world clinical application based on HIS data from 20 nationwide hospitals. Data includes age, gender, severity and type of allergic response, dosage, solvents used in the medication's preparation and drugs used in combination with parenterally administered Shenmai. Whilst this methodology is a possible route of exploration, ultimately pharmaceutical experiments and prospective clinical studies are required to identify and confirm factors related to allergic reactions.


Background:Estimates of the relative contributions of physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and nurse practitioners (NPs) toward rural primary care are needed to inform workforce planning activities aimed at reducing rural primary shortages. Objectives:For each provider group, this study quantifies the average weekly number of outpatient primary care visits and the types of services provided within and beyond the outpatient setting. Methods:A randomly drawn sample of 788 physicians, 601 PAs, and 918 NPs with rural addresses in 13 US states responded to a mailed questionnaire that measured reported weekly outpatient visits and scope of services provided within and beyond the outpatient setting. Analysis of variance and &khgr;2 testing were used to test for bivariate associations. Multivariate regression was used to model average weekly outpatient volume adjusting for provider sociodemographics and geographical location. Results:Compared with physicians, average weekly outpatient visit quantity was 8% lower for PAs and 25% lower for NPs (P<0.001). After multivariate adjustment, this gap became negligible for PAs (P=0.56) and decreased to 10% for NPs (P<0.001). Compared with PAs and NPs, primary care physicians were more likely to provide services beyond the outpatient setting, including hospital care, emergency care, childbirth attending deliveries, and after-hours call coverage (all P<0.001). Conclusions:Although our findings suggest that a greater reliance on PAs and NPs in rural primary settings would have a minor impact on outpatient practice volume, this shift might reduce the availability of services that have more often been traditionally provided by rural primary care physicians beyond the outpatient clinic setting.


All emergency departments (EDs) have an obligation to deliver care that is demonstrably safe and of the highest possible quality. Emergency medicine is a unique and rapidly developing specialty, which forms the hub of the emergency care system and strives to provide a consistent and effective service 24 h a day, 7 days a week. The International Federation of Emergency Medicine, representing more than 70 countries, has prepared a document to define a framework for quality and safety in the ED. Following a consensus conference and with subsequent development, a series of quality indicators have been proposed. These are tabulated in the form of measures designed to answer nine quality questions presented according to the domains of structure, process and outcome. There is an urgent need to improve the evidence base to determine which quality indicators have the potential to successfully improve clinical outcomes, staff and patient experience in a cost-efficient manner—with lessons for implementation.


Interferons display a wide range of antiviral, antiproliferative, and immunomodulatory activities on a variety of cell types and have been used to treat many diseases including hairy-cell leukemia and hepatitis B and C and have also been applied to other therapeutic areas. To improve the pharmacological properties of interferon (IFN) alpha-2b, a long-acting pegylated form (PEG-IFN) has been developed [PEG, monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) with average molecular mass of 12 000 Da]. PEG-IFN is a mixture of pegylated proteins with differing sites of PEG attachment. To identify the major positional isomer in the pegylated material [PEG-IFN(His-34)], NMR studies were conducted on a subtilisin-digested N-acetylated peptide of the major positional isomer [PEG-IFN(His-34)dig], synthetic peptide analogues containing His-34, as well as unmodified IFN and PEG-IFN(His-34). Our studies reveal a novel interferon-polymer attachment site as a histidine-linked interferon conjugate. We show that the major component of PEG-IFN is pegylated in the imidazole side chain of histidine-34. Chemical shift data suggest that pegylation occurs mainly at the N(delta)(1) position in the imidazole side chain of this residue. This positional isomer, PEG-IFN(His-34), comprises approximately 47% of the total pegylated species when PEG-IFN is synthesized under the current experimental conditions at pH 6.5 with an electrophilic derivative of PEG, succinimidyl carbonate PEG. The reversibility of the histidine modification was examined. The PEG-imidazole adduct in the intact protein, PEG-IFN(His-34), is labile but much more stable than in the peptide, PEG-IFN(His-34)dig. Apparently, the tertiary structure of the intact protein protects the His(34)-imidazole ring from depegylation.


Background: Foreign bodies in esophagus come as an emergency to otolaryngologist and needs to be removed at the earliest to prevent complications. The objective was to share our experience with esophageal foreign bodies removal in Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Bangalore, India.Methods: Study of 84 patients admitted with the final diagnosis of esophageal foreign body during September 2011 – September 2018, for sex, age, diagnosis on admission, estimated duration and site of impaction, type and number of foreign body removed.  Results: Over 7 years period, 84 patients (48 males and 36 females) of different ages, youngest being 02 years and oldest being 92 years were admitted with the diagnosis of esophageal foreign body. Fifty percent of patients were five years or less in age at the time of admission. 32.1% were between 5 to 14 years and 17.9% were between the age range of 60-92 years. Seven patients (2.9%) had a history of esophageal anomalies requiring operation. Different types of foreign bodies ingested most common being coin. Majority of foreign bodies (75/84, 89.2%) were located in the post cricoid and upper esophagus followed by the mid-esophagus, and only 3 cases involved the lower esophagus.Conclusions: The most common foreign bodies in children are coin and toys. Sharp foreign bodies are difficult remove but need to be removed carefully at the earliest to prevent dreaded complications like - retropharyngeal abscess and mediastinitis. Loose fitting dentures are common foreign body in elderly patients.


Alistair Dobson performs in the Broadway to Australia Orchestra in this unique concert experience. Broadway writers and producers Lyn Arhens and Steven Flarety feature live on stage speaking about and performing the work that has made them famous. All three performance also feature vocal performances from Australian performers Christopher Parker, Kellie Rode, Julie O'Reilly and Adrian Li Donni.

Melbourne Recital Centre - Melbourne: City Recital Hall Angel Place - Sydney: Wrest Point Casino - Hobart


ABSTRACT Motivated by agency theory, we investigate the effect of board size on corporate outcomes. To address endogeneity, we exploit the variations in the director-age populations across the states in the US. We argue that firms with access to a larger pool of potential directors tend to have larger boards. Consistent with this notion, our empirical results show that firms located where the size of the director-age population is larger have significantly larger board size. Because the director-age population represents broad demographic trends outside of any firm's control, it is unlikely related to firm outcomes or policies and should be exogenous. Using the director-age population as our instrument, we estimate the effects of board size on firm value and profitability. Our approach is less vulnerable to endogeneity and is more likely to show a causal effect.


Unstable superoxide radicals (ga=2.010, gb=2.064, gc=2.049, and gd=2.006) and CO3- hole centers (gx=2.017, gy=2.011, and gz=2.002) were stabilized in CaCO3 when the inorganic material was crystallized from radical solution. The radicals surrounded by the lattice give strong electron spin resonance (ESR) signals at room temperature. The signal intensities of superoxide and CO3- radicals generated in H2O2 solution and doped in CaCO3 are much stronger than those obtained by adsorption. The color of radical-doped CaCO3 is different from that of the radical-adsorbed one. On heating the samples, the spectrum and the color of the radical-doped CaCO3 powder changed. The effects of impurities on the spectrum of radical-doped inorganic materials are studied. Some doping experiments have been conducted using other inorganic materials.


Trophicity it's an important characteristic of forestry resorts. The trophic potential of non – degraded natural ecosystems can be explained by the potential global trophicity index. The objective of the presented work is to show the influence of forest vegetation, represented by Douglas of 40 year old and Sessile oak (Quercus petraea) of 70 year old, on the global potential trophicity of a epihipostagnic luvosoil from the area of Tinca Forest District, U.P. 3 Gepis. The humus quantity is higher in case of Sessile oak than in case of Douglas all depth long of the profile, with 0,14 – 11,94 % an exception being the clay accumulation horizon of Btw argic. The degree of basic saturation is superior on the profile under Douglas compared to the profile under sessile oak with values between 2,11 % and 4, 31 %. The ratio between the edaphic amount represented by soil amount, less than the soil occupied by skeleton and the amount of tree roots and the amount of the analyzed soil was appreciated of 0,9. If in the first two horizons the two soils are included in silty sandy loam textural subclass, in the ElwBtw transitional horizon will pass from the silty sandy loam to the silty loam and in the illuvial argic horizon Btw go from the medium clayey loam to the silty clayey loam. Estimated bulk density values according to textural classes of the soil horizons are between 1, 30 g/cm in the bioaccumulation horizon A for both soil profiles; and between 1,37 and 1,39 g/cm in the horizon of accumulation Btw clay. The analyses of the soil were made by the "County Office for Pedological and Agrochemical Studies Oradea" in accordance to the "Methodology of Elaborate Pedological Studies" – The Research Institute for Pedology and Agrochemistry, Bucharest. The potential global trophicity index it has the value of 54,65 in case of profile under Douglas and 56,70 under sessile oak. The differences between the two profiles are not essential, both of them being characterized as mesotrophic soils. Indicele de troficitate potenţială globală are valoarea de 54,65 în profilul de sol de sub duglas şi respectiv 56,70 în profilul de sub gorun. Diferenţele dintre cele două profile nu sunt esenţiale, ambele fiind caracterizate ca soluri mezotrope.


Introduction With an increasing elderly population we are more frequently having to address treatment of colorectal cancer in those over 80. Despite this, there is relatively little published UK data for these patients. North Wales has a significantly higher than average elderly population and our aim was to evaluate the treatment of colorectal cancer in those 80 years and older. Method This was a retrospective observational study. Data from the north wales cancer registry was used to identify all patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer from January 2009–July 2014. Patient case details were then cross referenced with local coding data, clinical/histopathological records and imaging records. We analysed diagnosis, treatment including operation (open versus laparoscopic and elective versus emergency). For those operated on we include 30 day mortality and length of hospital stay. Data for those aged 80 or over was compared to those under 80 using SPSS software. Results There were 942 total patients, of which 243 were over the age of 80(26%). 102 of 243(42%) were female. Age range was 80–110(Mean = 85). Significantly less of those over 80 underwent cancer resection (64% vs. 80% p = 0.0000). This was despite no significant difference in disease severity at diagnosis (p = 0.198). Overall 30 day mortality post surgery in the elderly resection group was worse when compared to the under 80 group (12.8% vs. 3% p = 0.0000). Of elderly patients undergoing elective surgical resection, 46% were laparoscopic compared to 52% in the under 80 group. 30 day mortality of the elderly laparoscopic group was significantly worse when compared to the under 80 group (10% vs. 2.6%) p = 0.015, however this difference was less sizeable than in open surgery category. Significantly more of the over 80s presented as an emergency (16% vs. 12% p = 0.008). Three quarters of the elderly emergency patients underwent surgery, for which the 30 day mortality was 23% compared to 6% of the under 80s (p = 0.0001). Length of stay was significantly higher in the over 80 group (p = 0.0001) with the average length of stay at (18.2 days vs. 13.1 days). Postoperative stay in elderly group was significantly more in open procedure than laparoscopic (Mean no days 21.0 vs. 14.4 P = 0.001). Conclusion Patients over 80 years old form a quarter of our colorectal cancer burden, and are more likely to present as emergencies and require longer hospital stays post operatively. Despite the perceived increased risks in this age group our data demonstrates we are performing resection surgery for a significant proportion with acceptable outcomes. Our data also supports the benefits of laparoscopic surgery in this age group. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


Background HIV prevention success requires a number of sustainable, specific and inter-sectorial actions, among which is expanded access to inputs such as female condoms. Female condoms expand the strategies to fight the feminization of AIDS and unplanned pregnancies. Brazil has increased the purchase of these condoms from 2 million per year to 50 million units per year. Considering the importance of adapting strategies regarding female condom use to Brazilian reality, a qualification and awareness-raising process for the use and distribution of female condoms to users and professionals was developed in 2012 with the purpose of reducing gender inequalities and ensuring sexual and reproductive rights. Methods Pilot workshops were conducted in three Brazilian state capitals (Porto Alegre, RS; São Paulo, SP; Brasília, DF) using focal group methodology and participant observation. The groups consisted of: managers and professionals from government programmes, young and adult female users of basic healthcare units, young and adult women living with HIV/AIDS, sex workers, and injectable drug users. This study attempted to obtain information for the formulation of a communication strategy for promoting and increasing accessibility to and usage of female condoms, while concurrently training participants in the implementation of strategic actions based on their own experiences. Results Some of the strategic issues concerning female condom adherence pointed out by the groups were: knowledge of the input's effectiveness, the need for men's participation, erotization strategies, and use by older women (who also aided in the development and promotion of information materials). Conclusion The groups organised were essential for improving female condom access and usage strategies and in promoting women's human rights, especially with regard to the exercise of their own sexuality.


Jackson, G. D., Alford, R. A., and Choat, J. H. 2000. Can length frequency analysis be used to determine squid growth? – An assessment of ELEFAN. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 57: 948–954. Current scientific literature presents two viewpoints regarding squid growth. One view suggests that squid have long life spans and asymptotic growth. This viewpoint exists primarily as a direct consequence of researchers fitting asymptotic growth curves to squid length-frequency data. The second view arises from statolith ageing and culture studies, which have produced a divergent description of squid growth, specifically, a rapid non-asymptotic growth pattern that is linear or exponential in form, with short life spans. We revisit this controversy by producing and analysing a computer simulated squid length-frequency distribution. Our computer program produced a series of 30 d length frequencies based on biological parameters of an exponentially growing tropical near-shore loliginid with a sub-annual life span. We then analysed our computer generated data with the ELEFAN software program which produced asymptotic von Bertalanffy growth curves and life spans of up to 35 months for our simulated squid which had a life span of <200 d. This demonstrates at least 2 points; (1) that length frequency analysis is an inadequate means of describing growth for a rapid growing organism with multiple cohorts and (2) ELEFAN is not suitable for application to exponential growing organisms as it assumes a wrong model of asymptotic von Bertalanffy growth. 2000 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea


Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease, characterized by extremely rapid loss of motor neurons. Our studies over the last decade have established CD4+ T cells as important players in central nervous system maintenance and repair. Those results, together with recent findings that CD4+ T cells play a protective role in mouse models of ALS, led us to the current hypothesis that in ALS, a rapid T‐cell malfunction may develop in parallel to the motor neuron dysfunction. Here, we tested this hypothesis by assessing thymic function, which serves as a measure of peripheral T‐cell availability, in an animal model of ALS (mSOD1 [superoxide dismutase] mice; G93A) and in human patients. We found a significant reduction in thymic progenitor‐cell content, and abnormal thymic histology in 3–4‐month‐old mSOD1 mice. In ALS patients, we found a decline in thymic output, manifested in the reduction in blood levels of T‐cell receptor rearrangement excision circles, a non‐invasive measure of thymic function, and demonstrated a restricted T‐cell repertoire. The morbidity of the peripheral immune cells was also manifested in the increase of pro‐apoptotic BAX/BCXL2 expression ratio in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of these patients. In addition, gene expression screening in the same PBMCs, revealed in the ALS patients a reduction in key genes known to be associated with T‐cell activity, including: CD80, CD86, IFNG and IL18. In light of the reported beneficial role of T cells in animal models of ALS, the present observation of thymic dysfunction, both in human patients and in an animal model, might be a co‐pathological factor in ALS, regardless of the disease aetiology. These findings may lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches directed at overcoming the thymic defect and T‐cell deficiency.


The effects of titanium content on the properties of silica-titania films by the sol-gel method using γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GLYMO), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and tetrapropylorthotitanate (TPOT) as the starting materials have been investigated. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), ellipsometry, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy have been used to investigate the optical and structural properties of the films. These results showed that crack-free and high transparency (in the visible and near infrared range) silica-titania films with a thickness of 0.75 µm could be obtained by a single spin-coating process after a heat treatment at 500 °C. The hardness and Young's modulus of the films were also characterized by a nanoindenter and showed a linear dependence on the titanium content. Hardness as high as 9.0 GPa was achieved in a high titanium content film at a heat treatment temperature of 800 °C.


Metastases to the uterine cervix are infrequent (1–3). Except for cases of endometrial primary carcinoma, the most common origin of neoplastic dissemination to the uterine cervix is the ovary, followed by the breast (1,2). Primary gastrointestinal tumors are rare, and in most of these cases cervical metastases are associated with adnexal bilateral masses (Krukenberg's tumors) (1).


Research uses of human bodies maintained by mechanical ventilation after being declared dead by neurological criteria ("heart-beating cadavers"), were first published in the early 1980s with a renewed interest in research on the newly or nearly dead occurring in about last decade. While this type of research may take many different forms, recent technologic advances in genomic sequencing along with high hopes for genomic medicine, have inspired interest in genomic research with the newly dead. For example, the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) program through the National Institutes of Health aims to collect large numbers of diverse human tissues with the eventual goal of elucidating the genetic bases of common diseases through a better understanding of the relationship between genetic variation and gene expression.


Background : The attainment of the 6th Millennium Development Goal to halt and reverse the effects of malaria and other diseases by 2015 depends on the accessibility of Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) which is now the first line antimalarial therapy for uncomplicated malaria. The main Objective of this study was to assess the availability and affordability of ACTs in Secondary Health Care (SHC) facilities in Lagos State and community pharmacies located within 200 meters of these facilities. Method:  Two SHC facilities each were randomly selected from four (4) geographical zones and the only one (1) in the fifth zone was selected, making a total of nine (9) facilities which were surveyed. The eleven (11) community pharmacies located within 200 meters of these health care facilities were also used for the study. A modified HAI was used for data collection on medicine price and availability was used for the study. Results:  ACTs (artemisinin/lumefantrine) were prescribed 90% of the time as first line antimalarial. About thirty seven percent (37.5%) of the hospitals did not have the drug in stock at the time of visit and drugs had been out of stock for upward of three weeks. Private partnership pharmacies do not stock antimalarials as a matter of policy, since the drugs are supposed to be obtained free from the hospital. This first line antimalarial cost about six hundred and forty naira (N640) in the private community pharmacies. Conclusion:  ACTs are not always available in the hospitals in Lagos State; patients therefore depend on community pharmacies and patent medicine stores for their ACT supply. Since 93.9% of Nigerians live in subjective poverty, the cost of first line ACT antimalarial remains unaffordable and inaccessible. Keywords : Accessibility; Antim alarial;ACTs;Community Pharmacies; Secondary Health Facilities


We propose a general framework to simulate stochastic trajectories with arbitrarily long memory dependence and efficiently evaluate large deviation functions associated to time-extensive observables. This extends the "cloning" procedure of Giardin\'a et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 120603 (2006)] to non-Markovian systems. We demonstrate the validity of this method by testing non-Markovian variants of an ion-channel model and the Totally Asymmetric Exclusion Process, recovering results obtainable by other means.


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Background Pain detection and treatment is a major challenge in the care of critically ill patients. However, in addition to the risk of analgesic undersupply, there is also the risk of overanalgesia. In the perioperative context, the measurement of the nociceptive flexion reflex threshold has become established for measuring the level of analgesia. To date, however, it is unclear whether measurement of NFRT can be usefully applied to noncommunicating, ventilated, and analgosedated ICU patients. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether NFRT measurement correlates with the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS) in critically ill, analgosedated, and mechanically ventilated patients and whether it can also detect possible overanalgesia.Methods In this prospective, observational, single-center study, 114 patients were included. All patients were admitted to the surgical Intensive Care Unit of the University hospital Ulm, Germany. First measurements of the NFRT and the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS) were conducted within 12 hours after admission. In the further observation period, a structured pain assessment was performed at least twice daily until extubation (Group A: BPS + NFRT, Group B: BPS). Univariate analysis was performed to evaluate possible associations between NFRT measurement and baseline characteristics. Furthermore, mixed linear regression modeling was used to evaluate possible effects of administered analgesics or sedatives on NFRT. Results NFRT correlates negatively with the Behavioral Pain Scale. NFRT was almost twice as high in patients with a RASS of -5 compared with patients with a RASS ≥ -4 (RASS -5 - NFRT: 59.40 vs. RASS -4 - NFRT: 29.00, p < 0.001). By means of NFRT measurement, potential overanalgesia could not be detected.Conclusion The NFRT measurement reliably correlates negatively with the Behavioral Pain Scale in critically ill patients. In patients with RASS scores ≤ -4, in whom analgesia level is often difficult to assess, NFRT measurement provides guidance in the assessment of nociceptive processes. However, in order to detect possible overanalgesia and to derive therapeutic consequences, a defined stimulus threshold must be determined for the critically ill patient, above which the absence of pain can be safely assumed.Trial Registration Retrospectively registered at German Clinical Trials Register, registration number DRKS00021149, date of registration: March 26, 2020. https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00021149


The background of this article is about the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at PT Sharp Electronic Indonesia. This paper examines the process of implementing CSR programs. The methodology used is a qualitative literature study. In this case community and environmental empowerment is part of PT Sharp Electronic Indonesia's commitment. The results of the analysis show that the concept of CSR is indeed good, but unfortunately, until now there are still many companies that have not implemented it properly. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out an evaluation related to the implementation of the CSR Program so that the program can be implemented in a sustainable manner and can empower the community. So that in the development of the company                    PT Sharp Electronic Indonesia increasingly raises the pros and cons.


Background Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease, which destructs spine. After ivnolvement of sacroiliac joint, inflammation usually spreads from lower L spine to C spine. But it is hard to evaluate radiographic changes in T spine due to air in lung by X-ray. Objectives We performed this study to find out how many patients have radiographic changes in T spine at first visit and if bone spurs of vertebral bodies are associated with radiographic changes in facet joints in spine. Methods We enrolled the patients who were diagnosed as AS by modified NY criteria in Kyung Hee university hospital at Gangdong in Seoul, South Korea from Mar 2008 to Dec 2015. After diagnosis, we performed a whole spine CT in each patient according to the routine protocol of our clinic to evaluate the radiographic involvement of spine. Total 1,170 patients were enrolled and analyzed. We examined the presence of bone spurs in vertebral bodies (VB) and radiographic changes of facet joints in L and T spine and costovertebral joints (CVJ). Results Of the 1,170 enrolled patients. 920 were men (79%) and 85% were HLA B27 positive. Incidences of past history of peripheral arthritis and uveitis were 29.0% and 30.6%, respectively. Mean age was 33.0 ± 10.0 years and mean disease duration was 10.5 ± 9.5 years. 34.1% of patients had at least one bone spur and 26.3% had at least one lesion in facet joints in L spine. In T spine, 47. 2% of patients had already at least one bone spur, 28.2% had at least one lesion in facet joints. 32.8% had already at least one lesion in CVJs. Each radiographic change is associated with one another (p=0.00). These all radiographic changes were significantly more frequently observed in the patients with old age and long disease duration at the point of diagnosis (p=0.00). The lesion of CVJs and facet joints in T spine were observed more frequently in male than female significantly (respectively p=0.02, 0.00). 19.2% of the patients had radiographic changes in T spine without in L spine. Conclusions At the point of diagnosis, many patients already had radiographic changes in T spine. We suggest if radiographic change of T spine is included in radiographic progression score system such as mSASSS, we can more sensitively detect radiographic progression even in a short interval. Disclosure of Interest None declared


This work proposes a general iterative method to synthesize non-blocking supervisors for a class of generalized Petri nets (GPN), called G-systems, modeling flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). When given an uncontrolled G-system prone to deadlocks, an iterative deadlock control method is presented by utilizing reachability graph (RG) analysis. Meanwhile, the concept of a global idle place (GIP) for an original uncontrolled net system is developed. At each monitor computation step, a GIP is introduced to simplify the RG computation of the uncontrolled net system. The GIP will be finally removed when the non-blockingness of the controlled G-system is achieved. The proposed method in general provides an optimal or a near-optimal solution of the non-blocking supervisor. Finally, an illustrative G-system is utilized to verify the applicability and the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Abstract The dual risk model assumes that the surplus of a company decreases at a constant rate over time and grows by means of upward jumps, which occur at random times and sizes. It is said to have applications to companies with economical activities involved in research and development. This model is dual to the well-known Cramér-Lundberg risk model with applications to insurance. Most existing results on the study of the dual model assume that the random waiting times between consecutive gains follow an exponential distribution, as in the classical Cramér-Lundberg risk model. We generalize to other compound renewal risk models where such waiting times are Erlang(n) distributed. Using the roots of the fundamental and the generalized Lundberg's equations, we get expressions for the ruin probability and the Laplace transform of the time of ruin for an arbitrary single gain distribution. Furthermore, we compute expected discounted dividends, as well as higher moments, when the individual common gains follow a Phase-Type, PH(m), distribution. We also perform illustrations working some examples for some particular gain distributions and obtain numerical results.


Dr. Flucke, chief dental editor and technology editor at DPR, breaks down the products that blew him away this year.


Accurate power-dissipation analysis and correct supply net sizing are crucial aspects of the design of high-quality and low-cost integrated circuits. Information about the typical and maximal currents is required for both the chip and the system design. An accurate method for typical-current estimation is presented. It is based on circuit-level simulation over a number of clock cycles. Traditionally, a fixed large number of clock cycles is simulated. In this method, the number of clock cycles is incrementally calculated depending on the considered circuit and on the specified accuracy. Existing simulators are combined in a hierarchical way: the representation of the node activity during the circuit-level simulation is checked against a high-level simulation over a large number of clock cycles. >


The work carried out some analysis microforming. Microforming in metal forming the production of small dimensions in at least two axes not exceeding 2mm. Technology is microforming differs in many ways from the conventional technology of metal forming. It is well recognized that expertise, experience, and theoretical knowledge available in conventionally sized metal forming cannot be simply transferred to microforming. This is due to so-called size effects which have distinct effect on material flow, friction and other process characteristics. Today, process simulation is a standard tool in industry, applied to support process lay-out and its optimization. However, as it is based on continuum mechanics, it is size-invariant at least for cold forging. Hence, it is obvious that due to the size effects, conventional simulation cannot be applied to microforming. In this paper two approaches are presented how to model specific phenomena of microforming in particular concerning material flow and friction. These are the mesoscopic model and a combination of the general friction law and mechanical rheological model, respectively. Both models are brought together to be finally applied to a combined micro cold-extrusion process.


Catheterisation is an invasive, and often painful procedure for women, yet the use of analgesic gel does not appear to be the norm. It does, however, have a number of benefits for patient and nurse.


Background: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a rare disorder characterized by the generation of papillomas of the aerodigestive tract, usually associated with human papilloma virus (HPV) subtypes 6, 11. INO-3106 is a DNA plasmid-based immunotherapy targeting E6 and E7 proteins of HPV6, in order to create a robust immune T cell response. Methods: Testing of INO-3016 in animal models confirmed immunogenicity of the DNA-based therapy. A single-site open-label Phase 1 study was initiated for patients with HPV6-positive RRP. Patients were dosed with INO-3106 with or without INO-9012, a DNA plasmid immunotherapy that encodes IL-12, delivered intramuscularly (IM) in combination with electroporation (EP) with the CELLECTRA® device. Patients received an escalating dose of INO-3106, 3 mg once and then 6 mg for three additional doses, each dose three weeks apart, with the third and fourth doses co-administered with INO-9012. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of INO-3106 with and without INO-9012. The secondary objective was to determine cellular immune responses to INO-3106 with and without INO-9012. Exploratory objectives included preliminary clinical efficacy to the therapy. Results: Three patients were enrolled in this study, of which two had RRP. Study therapy was well-tolerated, with no related serious adverse events and all related adverse events (AEs) were low-grade. Injection site pain was the most common related AE reported. Immunogenicity was evidenced by multiple immune assays showing engagement and expansion of an HPV6-specific cellular response, including cytotoxic T cells. Preliminary efficacy was demonstrated in patients with RRP in the form of reduction in need for surgical intervention for papilloma growth. Prior to intervention, both patients required surgical intervention approximately every 180 days. One patient demonstrated a greater than three-fold increase in surgery avoidance (584 days) and the other patient remains completely surgery-free as of the last contact at 915 days, a greater than 5-fold increase in surgery interval. Conclusion: INO-3106 with and without INO-9012 was well tolerated, immunogenic and demonstrated preliminary efficacy in patients with HPV6-associated RRP aerodigestive lesions. Further clinical study is indicated.


Abstract: We are able to think of empirical objects as capable of existing unperceived. What explains our grasp of this conception of objects? In this paper I examine the claim that experience explains our understanding of objects as capable of existing unperceived with reference to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. I argue that standard accounts of experience's explanatory role are unsatisfactory, but that an alternative account can be extracted from the first Critique – one which relies on Kant's transcendental idealism.


Cancer is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Along with the advances in diagnostic technology achieved through industry–academia partnerships, the survival rate of cancer patients has improved dramatically through treatments that include surgery, radiation therapy, and pharmacotherapy. This has increased the population of cancer "survivors" and made cancer survivorship an important part of life for patients. The senses of taste and smell during swallowing and cachexia play important roles in dysphagia associated with nutritional disorders in cancer patients. Cancerous lesions in the brain can cause dysphagia. Taste and smell disorders that contribute to swallowing can worsen or develop because of pharmacotherapy or radiation therapy; metabolic or central nervous system damage due to cachexia, sarcopenia, or inflammation can also cause dysphagia. As the causes of eating disorders in cancer patients are complex and involve multiple factors, cancer patients require a multifaceted and long-term approach by the medical care team.


Several peculiar features appear in climate-related records at about 8000 years BP and are occasionally referred to as the 8-ka events. For example, paleolake data from intertropical Africa show a drop in water levels [e.g., Gasse and Van Campo, 1994], and the Antarctic Byrd ice-core record reveals a decrease in atmospheric CO2 of about 40 ppm [Neftel et al., 1988]. Similarly, detailed paleoceanographic studies in the northwest North Atlantic reveal a decrease in primary productivity and burial rates of biogenic carbonates at precisely 8000 years BP [Hillaire-Marcel et al., 1994], and the oxygen and deuterium values in Greenland ice show at least one sharp and short-lived decrease [Johnsen et al., 1992].


Large language models are trained in two stages: (1) unsupervised pretraining from raw text, to learn general-purpose representations, and (2) large scale instruction tuning and reinforcement learning, to better align to end tasks and user preferences. We measure the relative importance of these two stages by training LIMA, a 65B parameter LLaMa language model fine-tuned with the standard supervised loss on only 1,000 carefully curated prompts and responses, without any reinforcement learning or human preference modeling. LIMA demonstrates remarkably strong performance, learning to follow specific response formats from only a handful of examples in the training data, including complex queries that range from planning trip itineraries to speculating about alternate history. Moreover, the model tends to generalize well to unseen tasks that did not appear in the training data. In a controlled human study, responses from LIMA are either equivalent or strictly preferred to GPT-4 in 43% of cases; this statistic is as high as 58% when compared to Bard and 65% versus DaVinci003, which was trained with human feedback. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that almost all knowledge in large language models is learned during pretraining, and only limited instruction tuning data is necessary to teach models to produce high quality output.


The effects of interethnic contact between West-Bank Arabs and Israeli Jews on attitudes of Arabs towards Israel and Israelis were examined in two studies conducted in 13 industrial plants in Israel employing workers from both national groups. On the whole, attitudes of Arabs were found to remain unchanged. However, positive attitude change was found with regard to two types of Arab workers: (a) those who perceived their status at work as high, and (b) those who perceived the treatment they received from the Jews as positive. The results are discussed in terms of the conditions enhancing positive attitude change following interethnic contact. In addition, the prospects of the prevalent type of contact on the relations between the two groups are evaluated.


Centrosomes represent main microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) in animal cells. Their duplication in S-phase enables the establishment of two MTOCs in M-phase that define the poles of the spindle and ensure equal distribution of chromosomes and centrosomes to the two daughter cells. While key functions of many centrosomal proteins have been addressed in RNAi experiments and chronic knockdown, knockout experiments with complete loss of function in all cells enable quantitative analysis of cellular phenotypes at all cell-cycle stages. Here, we show that the centriolar satellite proteins SSX2IP and WDR8 and the centriolar protein CEP135 form a complex before centrosome assembly in vertebrate oocytes and further functionally interact in somatic cells with established centrosomes. We present stable knockouts of SSX2IP, WDR8, and CEP135 in human cells. While loss of SSX2IP and WDR8 are compensated for, cep135 knockout cells display compromised PCM recruitment, reduced MTOC function, and premature centrosome splitting with imbalanced PCMs. Defective cep135 knockout centrosomes, however, manage to establish balanced spindle poles, allowing unperturbed mitosis and regular cell proliferation. Our data show essential functions of CEP135 in interphase MTOCs and demonstrate that loss of individual functions of SSX2IP, WDR8, and CEP135 are fully compensated for in mitosis.


Purpose: Raf Kinase Inhibitory Protein (RKIP) plays a pivotal role in cancer by regulating apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic agents, or immune-mediated stimuli and is a metastasis suppressor protein. The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor that is frequently activated in gastric adenocarcinomas, thereby promoting tumor growth. We examined the expression patterns of RKIP and STAT3 with regard to human gastric cancer, predicting that elevated RKIP status may favor clinical outcome. Experimental Design: Tissue microarrays were created from samples from 143 patients with gastric adenocarcinomas. The microarrays were immunohistochemically stained for RKIP and STAT3, and the intensity and extent of the staining was semiquantitatively scored. Results: In intestinal-type gastric adenocarcinomas, RKIP and STAT3, expression were inversely associated. Cytoplasmic RKIP expression directly correlated with patient survival. Nuclear STAT3 expression inversely correlated with survival. In the diffuse tumor type, no significant correlation was found between RKIP and patient outcome. In the intestinal-type gastric adenocarcinoma, multivariate analysis adjusted for treatment types revealed RKIP and tumor stage to be significant independent predictors of survival. In the diffuse tumor type, stage was the only significant predictor of survival. Conclusion: These results indicate the predictive and protective role of cytoplasmic RKIP expression in gastric adenocarcinoma of the intestinal subtype. In contrast, nuclear STAT3 expression is associated with poor patient prognosis in the intestinal subtype. Significantly, we show an inverse association between RKIP and STAT3 and a positive correlation between RKIP and patient survival.


Microcomputers and appropriate software have the potential to help students learn. They can also serve as appropriate media for investigating how students learn. In this article we describe a research strategy examining learning and behavior when students interacted with microcomputers and software. Results from two preliminary studies illustrate the strategy.

A major feature of the strategy included recording students interacting with microcomputer software interfaced with a VCR. The VCR recorded the video output from a microcomputer and students' verbal commentary via microphone input. This technique allowed students' comments about their observations, perceptions, predictions, explanations, and decisions to be recorded simultaneously with their computer input and the display on the microcomputer monitor.

The research strategy described can provide important information about cognitive and affective behaviors of students engaged in using instructional software. Research studies utilizing this strategy can enhance our understanding of how students develop and employ important concepts and scientific relationships, how students develop problem-solving skills and solve problems, and how they interact with instructional software. Results of such studies have important implications for teaching and for the design of instructional software.


Aural keloid is a development of growth in the ear which developed after ear piercing. It can present unilaterally or bilaterally with a raised and irregular border. The present report deals with a case of "aural keloid" diagnosed as "unmantha" according to Ayurveda. Efficacy of treatment was assessed on the photography. The main objectives of the treatment were to provide relief in signs and symptoms of "aural keloid" and also to prevent reoccurrences. Total four assessments were done, before treatment and after follow-up. Shastra karma is done followed by kshara karma and internal Ayurvedic medicines with dietary restrictions along with the lifestyle changes. In the present case, the patient got "clinical cure" with good improvement in itching, redness/inflammation, and also in discomfort after the procedure. With the Ayurvedic treatment procedures followed by internal medicines seem to prevent recurrence/relapse with high cure rate with no adverse effects.


The objective of this work is to develop an engineering framework for the exploitation of microorganisms to enhance oil recovery. Specific goals include: (1) the production, isolation, chemical characterization and study of the physical properties of microbially produced surfactants; (2) development of simulators for MEOR; (3) model studies in sandstone cores for the characterization of the interactions between growing microbially cultures and oil reservoirs,; (4) design of operation strategies for the sequential injection of microorganisms and nutrient in reservoirs. Accomplishments are: (1) ultra low interfacial tensions (0.003 mN/M) were obtained between decane and 5% NaCl brine using biosurfactants obtained from Bacillus Licheniformis, JF-2 which is the lowest IFT ever reported for biosurfactants; (2) a method to was developed isolate the biosurfactant from the growth medium; (3) the structure of the isolated biosurfactant has been determined; (4) several techniques have been proposed to increase the yield of the surfactant; and (5) an MEOR simulator has been completed.


is not of unusual beauty and charm. Nor is this result attained by assembling a lot of old and tried favorites. I can recall only a book or two that holds as high a percentage of material that was never before between the covers of a book. I questioned, indeed-and it is positively the only faint shade of adverse thought that crossed my mind-why Schumann's Gipsy Life should have been given place, solely because it alone seemed to be clothed in other than a 1929 mode. While the material is of such high worth, this book is not a collection of songs for concert use only. That, too, is astonishing; for one can have a choice collection of classics and overshoot the needs of daily class-work, or can provide material for daily classes and have nothing brilliant or strong enough for the school concert stage. To fulfill both needs perfectly, as is done here, is a rare achievement. Moreover, so to fulfill the needs of the schoolroom implies that the book is gauged accurately to meet the tastes, interests, voices and technical musical powers of the pupils; and I wish explicitly to state that in my opinion it does that. There is no point in attempting further to gild the lily. The book is a rare success and its editors are to be congratulated. WILL EARHART.


At the Fifth International Symposium on Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Head and Neck in Toronto, Canada, June 21, 1989, Hilko Weerda, MD, DMD, Lubeck, West Germany, presented his techniques for a number of auricular reconstructive problems. Weerda utilizes the Gersuny technique for correcting small defects of the pinna. This involves excision of a long narrow scaphal crescent in combination with removal of a wedge of the helix. The remaining superior chondrocutaneous segment is then slid down to reapproximate the remaining portion of the auricle. For larger full-thickness defects, Weerda uses a posteriorly based, bilobed, non-hair-bearing flap for skin coverage with rib cartilage for structural support. Weerda's experience with traumatic avulsions of the auricle has shown that only small segments remain viable when replaced as a composite graft. He feels that there is often an inadequate base to nourish larger composite grafts. Therefore, for large avulsion injuries he prefers


This article examines the widespread proposition that the mobile phone dissolves the boundaries that separate work and home, extending the reach of work. It analyses data derived from a purpose-designed survey to study social practices surrounding mobile phone use.The key components of the survey investigated here are a questionnaire and a log of phone calls retrieved from respondents' handsets. Rather than being primarily a tool of work extension, or even a tool that facilitates greater work-family balance, we show that the main purpose of mobile phone calls is to maintain continuing connections with family and friends. Our findings suggest that individuals exert control over the extent to which calls invade their personal time, actively encouraging deeper contacts with intimates.


Closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in the elderly is a high-risk procedure because of tissue fragility and many possible complications. The patient in our case was an 81-year-old woman with a window-type PDA caused by cardiac failure. Based on the anatomy of the PDA and aorta and to minimize invasion, we used a stent graft to close the PDA. This approach was successful; hemodynamics improved and ductus flow was eliminated during the follow-up period without intervention from the pulmonary artery side.


Abstract Understanding the scaling between leaf size and leafing intensity (leaf number per stem size) is crucial for comprehending theories about the leaf costs and benefits in the leaf size–twig size spectrum. However, the scaling scope of leaf size versus leafing intensity changes along the twig leaf size variation in different leaf habit species remains elusive. Here, we hypothesize that the numerical value of scaling exponent for leaf mass versus leafing intensity in twig is governed by the minimum leaf mass versus maximum leaf mass (M min versus M max) and constrained to be ≤−1.0. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the twigs of 123 species datasets compiled in the subtropical mountain forest. The standardized major axis regression (SMA) analyses showed the M min scaled as the 1.19 power of M max and the ‐α (−1.19) were not statistically different from the exponents of M min versus leafing intensity in whole data. Across leaf habit groups, the M max scaled negatively and isometrically with respect to leafing intensity. The pooled data's scaling exponents ranged from −1.14 to −0.96 for M min and M max versus the leafing intensity based on stem volume (LIV). In the case of M min and M max versus the leafing intensity based on stem mass (LIM), the scaling exponents ranged from −1.24 to −1.04. Our hypothesis successfully predicts that the scaling relationship between leaf mass and leafing intensity is constrained to be ≤−1.0. More importantly, the lower limit to scaling of leaf mass and leafing intensity may be closely correlated with M min versus M max. Besides, constrained by the maximum leaf mass expansion, the broad scope range between leaf size and number may be insensitive to leaf habit groups in subtropical mountain forest.


The study investigated the hypoglycaemic effect of methanol extract of Solanum anomalum fruit. Extraction of the powdered fruit was done with 90% methanol. Rats were divided into five groups of five rats per group. Hyperglycaemia was induced using alloxan at a dose of 150 mg/kg in groups two to five. Groups one to five received distilled water 2 ml/kg (normal control), distilled water 2 ml/kg (diabetic control), S. anomalum extract 500 mg/kg, S. anomalum extract 1,000 mg/kg and glibenclamide 10 mg/kg respectively. The treatment was continued for 14 days during which blood glucose levels were monitored. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence carbohydrate, cardiac glycosides, saponins, tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids. The oral LD50 was found to be above 5,000 mg/kg. The methanol extract of S. anomalum fruit at 1,000 mg/kg showed a statistically significant blood glucose lowering effect (p<0.05) between the blood glucose level at zero hour (337.8 ± 29.4 mg/dL) and blood glucose level after 24 h (317.4 ± 21.5 mg/dL) for the groups being administered with the extract. The groups receiving 500 mg/kg and 1,000 mg/kg of the extract showed a statistical significant blood glucose lowering (p<0.05) between the blood glucose level at day zero (329 ± 34 and 337 ± 29 mg/dL) was compared to the blood glucose at day 15 (237 ± 32 and 143 ± 15 mg/dL). In conclusion, methanol extract of S. anomalum fruit contains one or more active agents that has anti-hyperglycaemic and hypoglcaemic activity in alloxan induced hyperglcaemic and normoglycaemic rats. Accepted: 01 October 2016 Available Online: 06 October 2016


The aim of the study was to evaluate mammography use and indications (diagnosis or screening) among 19,253 women aged 35 to 75 attending a health screening centre. The data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire completed after by an interview with a nurse. Mammography use is frequent in women attending a health screening centre, even before the age of 50: 79.1% had undergone at least one mammography during their life and for 47.3% a screen had been performed within the last three years. Nevertheless mammography was only used by 65.2% of the women aged 50-69 years, target age group of the screening programme. A logistic regression model adjusting for multiple variables was used to examine factors associated with women who underwent a screen within the last three years. Women more likely to be screened were aged 50-69 (vs age 35-49: OR=3.1), used regular gynaecological care (OR=4.5), had a family history of breast cancer (OR=1.45), had in their district a breast cancer screening campaign (OR=1.93). The study indicated that women under 50 years of age with a family history of breast cancer and women aged 70 and over were under-screened. When a campaign for breast cancer screening was organised in the district the screening rates were higher in the target population (71,4% vs 60,1%) although only 64% of the women reported having attended. Current recommendations for breast cancer screening should be reviewed in the light of these results.


Due to the rapid growth in technologies has led to the development of sensor nodes. As we know that wireless sensor network is collection of small and large number of sensor node. These sensor nodes are used for different domain like environmental research, health care, monitor, military, and record the physical activity. These nodes communicate with each other and forward the message to base station. For communication of these node different algorithms used Geographical adaptive fidelity (GAF) is one of them. Dropping energy utilization in wireless sensor network directly affects the network lifetime. HGAF is one of the important multiple location based on routing system algorithm. The main function of HGAF technique is to turn-off the unnecessary nodes in the network without interrupting the other connected node. In this paper we proposed a technique known as modified HGAF and it design as a power saving method. In the proposed technique the size of cell structure in grid changed and communication method improve due to those changes.  Based on the result the proposed technique increase 25% in dead node ratio and also increase the network.


Addition of sucrose (413-825 mmol/L) to human serum allows plasma lipoproteins to be lyophilized without denaturation. A control serum so prepared is especially suited for use in monitoring determinations of apolipoproteins and quantitative lipoprotein electrophoresis. It is clear upon reconstitution; hence, the described procedure may also be useful for preparation of control sera for general clinical chemistry without de-lipoproteinization.


ABSTRACT Engineering educators should motivate and support students in developing not only technical competence but also professional competence including commitment to excellence. We developed an authentic assessment to improve students' understanding of the importance of 'perfection' in engineering – whereby 50% good enough will not be acceptable in industry. Subsequently we aimed to motivate them to practise performing at their best when they practice engineering. Students in a third-year mechanical and mechatronic engineering unit completed a team design project designed with authentic assessment features to replicate industry expectations and a novel marking scheme to encourage the pursuit of excellence. We report mixed responses from students. Students' ratings of their levels of effort on this assessment indicate that many perceived a positive influence on their effort. However, students' comments included several that were consistent with students experiencing the assessment as alienating.


Efficiency wage considerations should be less important for piece-rate pay than for time wages. Therefore, if industry wage differentials reflect efficiency wage factors, then these pay differences should be less sizable and have less explanatory power for piecework than for timework. We test this proposition using wage data for male production workers employed in the Swedish metalworking industries in 1985. The data are partitioned into two groups of workers. In our preferred sub-sample of workers who received pay under both piece rates and time wages, our results are uniformly consistent with efficiency wage implications for industry wage differentials. For the subsample of workers who received pay under either piece rates or time wages, industry wage differentials are of equal importance under either pay scheme. These latter results, however, may also be influenced by unaccounted for sorting of workers and employers across methods of pay. Overall, our examination of industry wage differentials across methods of pay provides mixed support for efficiency wage theory.


A scalable Gummel-Poon model for high-speed SiGe HBTs is developed based on Gummel-Poon model in this paper. This model is well applied to simulation software of ADS and Hspice. The scaling is mainly based on different physical dimension of individual devices, all the scaling parameters in the scaling equations are extracted directly from the measurement data of various dimension. The correctness of this scalable model is further verified by the quite good fit between measured and simulated results on DC, CV, Ft and S parameters at the frequency up to 30 GHz.


ABSTRACT A city coastal tunnel was a four-lane road tunnel. Maximum excavation width of tunnel reached to 19.51 m in Class IV surrounding rock. The surrounding rock of tunnel was medium-thick horizontal layered limestone. To obtain the mechanical parameters of transverse isotropic material, some tests, including rock mechanics test, on-site structural characteristics survey of rockmass, bearing plate test and numerical back analysis, field test of shear strength, were conducted. Then numerical simulation were adopted to study the reasonable excavation method and parameters of tunnel in Class IV surrounding rock. To verify effectiveness of the conclusion, stress of shotcrete and steel frame of primary support of tunnel were monitored on site. Research showed that normal elasticity modulus of rockmass was obviously less than transverse elasticity modulus, and it have remarkable transverse isotropy. Settlement of vault was the main deformation in horizontal layered surrounding rock. The failure characteristic of layered rockmass were rock-falling in spandrel and delaminating collapse of vault. Bench method could be employed in Class IV surrounding rock to speed up the construction progress. Stress test results of shotcrete and steel frame of support structure indicated the tunnel was safe under the optimized excavation method and parameters. Hou, F.-J.; Han, X.-M.; Li, S.-C., and Li, W.-J., 2019. Optimization research of construction methods and parameters of large-span city coastal tunnel in horizontal layered rockmass. In: Gong, D.; Zhu, H., and Liu, R. (eds.), Selected Topics in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 94, pp. 232–236. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.


How can we determine which economic model best provides for economic development and social welfare? In this major comparative work, noted economist Carmelo Mesa-Lago analyzes three Latin American countries with divergent economic systems: Chile (a market economy), Cuba (socialist), and Costa Rica (mixed). He examines their economic and social policies, shows how these policies affect performance based on a set of socioeconomic variables, and ranks the countries among themselves (using new techniques) and in comparison with international indicators. The time frame of the study embraces thirty-eight years for Costa Rica (under the democratic social democracy) and Cuba (under the socialist revolution) and twenty-four years for Chile (under Pinochet and the return to democracy). Mesa-Lago focuses on the three diverse socioeconomic models that these countries represent during these periods.


UNLABELLED
Dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (DLVOTO) has been observed in a variety of clinical circumstances but not previously reported in the setting of orthotopic lung transplantation. Diagnosis and effective management of this adverse event were facilitated by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).

IMPLICATIONS
Dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction is not an uncommon phenomenon, but it is often unrecognized. Its rapid recognition and effective treatment was only possible with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). This contributes to the support for TEE being routinely available for assessment of hemodynamic instability.


with 618 infants who started solids at 6 months of age (standard introduction group (SIG)). The EIG infants slept significantly longer and woke significantly less often than SIG infants (Fig. 1). At 6 months of age, when the difference was maximal, EIG infants slept, on average, 16.6 min (95% confidence interval (CI) 7.8–25.4) longer and woke 1.7, compared with 2.0, times per night. Very serious sleep problems associated with impaired maternal quality of life were reported more often in SIG than EIG infants (odds ratio 1.8, 95% CI 1.2–2.6). The study did not address excess weight gain, which has been associated with the early introduction of solids in some observational studies.


Volatile organic compound (VOC) has been well-known to Korea since the end of 1990's however, it has not been well documented until now. In this study, present ambient VOC levels, VOC emission sources, and VOC control technologies were reviewed and discussed. In addition, VOC management strategies to cut down ozone concentrations were suggested based on the present VOC database. For anthropogenic VOC reduction, VOC emitted from painting processes and automobiles should be controlled in the first place in large cities such as Seoul, Daegu, and Incheon. For natural VOC management, low emission trees need to be planted in those cities. It is also very significant to keep updating present and future VOC emission inventories for efficient VOC control strategies. As a conclusion, more systematic VOC control road-map based on BACT (best available control technology) needs to be made up. and more economical and efficient VOC control techniques have to be developed under strong national support in order to lower toxic VOC and photochemical oxidant levels.


Doxycycline as post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) reduces the risk of gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis in studies of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) on HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and people living with HIV (PLWH)). Doxy-PEP is an important tool to address the increasing burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but there is concern that increased consumption of doxycycline may drive antimicrobial resistance. We estimated the expected increase in antibiotic use in the US under several doxy-PEP prescribing scenarios. We accounted for doses of antibiotics that may be averted due to the prevention of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis infections by doxy-PEP. Under a scenario of 75% adoption among the eligible population, with rates of consumption similar to the DoxyPEP trial population, monthly antibiotic consumption would increase by around 2.52 million doses, driven by doxy-PEP consumption of 2.58 million doses and less 62.1 thousand antibiotic doses that would otherwise have been used for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis treatment.


The objectives of this study are to evaluate the structure and protein recognition features of branched DNA four-way junctions in an effort to explore the therapeutic potential of these molecules. The classic immobile DNA 4WJ, J1, is used as a matrix to design novel intramolecular junctions including natural and phosphorothioate bonds. Here we have inserted H2-type mini-hairpins into the helical termini of the arms of J1 to generate four novel intramolecular four-way junctions. Hairpins are inserted to reduce end fraying and effectively eliminate potential nuclease binding sites. We compare the structure and protein recognition features of J1 with four intramolecular four-way junctions: i-J1, i-J1(PS1), i-J1(PS2) and i-J1(PS3). Circular dichroism studies suggest that the secondary structure of each intramolecular 4WJ is composed predominantly of B-form helices. Thermal unfolding studies indicate that intramolecular four-way junctions are significantly more stable than J1. The Tm values of the hairpin four-way junctions are 25.2° to 32.2°C higher than the control, J1. With respect to protein recognition, gel shift assays reveal that the DNA-binding proteins HMGBb1 and HMGB1 bind the hairpin four-way junctions with affinity levels similar to control, J1. To evaluate nuclease resistance, four-way junctions are incubated with DNase I, exonuclease III (Exo III) and T5 exonuclease (T5 Exo). The enzymes probe nucleic acid cleavage that occurs non-specifically (DNase I) and in a 5ʹ→3ʹ (T5 Exo) and 3ʹ→5ʹ direction (Exo III). The nuclease digestion assays clearly show that the intramolecular four-way junctions possess significantly higher nuclease resistance than the control, J1.


Cotton Button, is a children's clothing brand in South Tangerang has been established since 2014, which was born from the idea of a mother of two children who have experience in choosing fabrics on children's clothing. Cotton Button focuses on children's comfort and naturalness offered from organic cotton fabrics. Organic cotton fabric is a cloth derived from natural cotton seeds that are not modified, also planted without using pesticides both in plants and in their planting fields. Cotton Button's has been promoting, but based on the data obtained, the promotions carried out have not been able to increase audience awareness of Cotton Button products. This caused a decline in sales in the city of Bandung. In connection with this phenomenon, the design of the Cotton Button clothing brand was designed.

Keywords strategy, promotion, brand


In order to continue along its path of sustained economic growth, China will need, probably in just a few years, certainly after 2030, an extremely high number of immigrants. This conclusion, which contrasts with a recent World Bank scenario suggesting that the decline in labor supply due to demographic trends can be faced with sustained growth in productivity, is based upon a demand-driven model of migration. Moreover, according to the same model, the decline in fertility (and the one child policy that has been partially responsible for it) will end up provoking immigration flows above replacement level. The working age population and the total population will continue to increase, and China will remain the most populous country on the planet. The last part of the paper surveys the policies that China could adopt to reduce its structural need for foreign labor.


Fully conjugated π-expanded macrocyclic oligothiophenes with 24π to 180π electron systems have been synthesized using a modified McMurry coupling reaction as the key step. For the synthesis of cyclo[n](2,5-thienylene-ethynylene)s composed of thiophenes and acetylenes, bromination-dehydrobromination and double elimination procedure were employed. X-ray analyses of macrocyclic oligothiophenes with 24π, 60π, and 72π systems revealed unique molecular and packing structures, reflecting planar cyclic frameworks with medium to large inner cavities. All the giant macrocycles exhibit multistep reversible redox behavior with a fairly low first-oxidation potentials, reflecting their cyclic conjugation. The doping of macrocycles with iodine forms semiconductors owing to their π-donor properties and π–π stacking ability. Interestingly, 90π, 108π, and 120π systems self-aggregate in the solid state to form red nanofibers or petal structure, whereas 150π to 180π systems form red nanoparticles. The structures of fibrous aggregates and particles have been established by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. Furthermore, two-photon properties of 72π, 108π, 144π, and 180π systems show that the increasing π-conjugation leads to an increase in the two-photon absorption cross-section with magnitudes as high as 100 000 GM in the visible spectral region.


We analyze the relation between equity returns, risk, and a rich set of security characteristics that includes institutional ownership, S&P 500 index membership, analyst following, and dispersion in analyst forecasts, in addition to previously examined variables such as the book-to-market ratio, firm size, the bid-ask spread, and lagged returns. Our primary objective is to determine whether these characteristics have marginal explanatory power relative to the Connor and Korajczyk (1988) risk factors. We also compare the different approaches that have been used to test asset pricing models against specific alternatives. We find that inferences are extremely sensitive to the sorting criteria used for portfolio formation, so that results based on regressions using portfolio returns should be interpreted with caution. Fama-MacBeth type regressions for individual securities suggest some new findings: risk-adjusted stock returns show a puzzling negative (and strongly significant) relation to the bid-ask spread, a negative relation with both size and share turnover, and a positive relation with both S&P 500 membership and analyst following. However, previously noted book-to-market and size effects are eliminated once account is taken of the above characteristics.


Currently, there are not many references on Fiqh Al-Muamalah available for college
students. Thus, the objectives of this thesis are to provide an alternative multimedia
software on Islamic Fiqh and to make the study of Fiqh Al-Muamalah more
interesting by offering an interactive application. This project uses the waterfall
model, which comprises of five different phases, that are, problem analysis, package
design, software implementation, package testing and documentation, and
maintenance. This thesis only focuses on the four sub-sections of Fiqh Al-Muamalah,
which are Al-Bai', Al-Khiyar, Prohibited Transactions, and Al-Riba. The target age
group for this multimedia product is between 18 to 35 years old. The product's scope
includes quizzes and analysis of the results obtained by users. This study's conclusions
indicates that by gathering all of the Islamic Rulings regarding Al-Muamalah in a
multimedia package makes learning this subject more understandable and effective.