Evidence illustrates that investment in infrastructure is essential to accelerate inclusive growth. Indeed, a number of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have begun to devote greater resources to large-scale public investment projects. Nevertheless, while massive projects can potentially generate large benefits there are considerable risks. Cost overruns, poor implementation quality, inadequate operational and maintenance capacity, and negative social or environmental impacts can severely undercut a project's anticipated social and economic returns. Moreover, projects, which are expensive to develop and maintain can impact on debt dynamics and in some cases macroeconomic stability. Yet, given the complex nature of such projects it is often difficult to ascertain whether it is worthwhile to proceed with a project and if so, how should it be financed and implemented. Historically, computable general equilibrium (CGE) models have been used to assess the prospective impacts of large public investment projects. However, such models are a complex and time-consuming process and are often too broad to precisely capture the localized impact of specific projects. This paper proposes a simple, but more user-friendly model. By inputting information on the project's construction, operation, and anticipated returns, the user is able to assess the project's net impact on the economy and weigh up the costs and benefits of different approaches. The model was developed in response to a request from the Nigerien authorities to assess the macroeconomic impact of Niger's Kandaji Dam project. It found that while costs would equal more than 10 percent of 2013 GDP during 2014-48, the expansion of domestic production spurred by increased demand during the construction phase will increase GDP by 0.25 percent above the baseline projection and boost fiscal revenues by an additional 0.45 percentage points of GDP.


We show that a von Neumann measurement on a part of a composite quantum system unavoidably creates distillable entanglement between the measurement apparatus and the system if the state has nonzero quantum discord. The minimal distillable entanglement is equal to the one-way information deficit. The quantum discord is shown to be equal to the minimal partial distillable entanglement that is the part of entanglement which is lost, when we ignore the subsystem which is not measured. We then show that any entanglement measure corresponds to some measure of quantum correlations. This powerful correspondence also yields necessary properties for quantum correlations. We generalize the results to multipartite measurements on a part of the system and on the total system.


A family of six acyclic bis-bidentate Schiff base ligands, Lx (prepared by condensation of 3,6-diformylpyridazine with a range of anilines: 2,4-dimethylaniline Lo,p-Me; 3,5-dichloroaniline Lm,m-Cl; 3,5-difluoroaniline Lm,m-F; p-toluidine Lp-Me; 4-aminophenol Lp-OH; 2,4,6-trimethylaniline Lo,o,p-Me), was complexed, 1:1, with cobalt(ii) or nickel(ii) perchlorate or tetrafluoroborate in refluxing dry acetonitrile. A family of dinuclear, doubly pyridazine-bridged complexes, M2II(Lx)2(solvent)n(ClO4)4 and [Ni2(Lo,o,p-Me)2(2H2O)4](BF4)4, resulted. An X-ray crystal structure determination on [Co2II(Lo,o,p)2(H2O)2(MeCN)2](ClO4)4·MeCN confirmed that it has the expected side-by-side architecture with axial solvent molecules completing the octahedral coordination sphere of the two cobalt(ii) ions. Magnetic analysis showed that the pyridazine bridges mediate weak-to-medium antiferromagnetic interactions between the metal ions. Specifically, for the cobalt(ii) complexes J was in the range –12 to –6 cm–1, while for the nickel(ii) complexes J was in the range –22 to –17 cm–1. There is no clear cut correlation of J values with electron-donating or -attracting properties of ligand substituent peripheral groups, although it is noted that the smallest J occurs in both the NiNi and CoCo families for the ligand Lo,o,p-Me.


One of the abiding human challenges is to endure with gallantry prolonged hard times. It is enshrined in Australian memories of long years of drought that drive some off the land while others stay. More jocularly, it is reflected in the mixed pity and admiration accorded supporters who never give up on their unfailingly failing football team.


In order to advance the scientific understanding of carbon exchange with the land surface, and contribute to quantitative-based US climate change policy interests, quantification of fossil fuel CO2 emissions (the primary greenhouse gas), at fine spatial and temporal scales, is essential. Known as the 'Hestia Project', this pilot study has quantified all fossil fuel CO2 emissions down to the scale of individual buildings, road segments and industrial/electricity production facilities on an hourly basis for the greater Indianapolis region, IN, USA. Here, we describe the method used to quantify the on-site fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the residential and commercial sectors. By downscaling the Vulcan Project's 2002 county-level commercial and residential fossil fuel CO2 emissions, we quantified the CO2 emissions for all building structures using a combination of multiple datasets and energy simulation. At the landscape scale, the spatial variation in CO2 emissions is driven by building density, height and type. Within the urban core, larger emissions are driven by the larger amounts of energy consumed per unit floor area. The resulting dataset and corresponding methods will be of immediate use to city environmental managers and regional planning agencies, enabling the analysis of alternative strategies to lower fossil fuel CO2 emissions. The results obtained here will also be a useful comparison to atmospheric CO2 monitoring efforts aimed at constraining the land surface net carbon exchange via atmospheric sampling.


In this review, we have summarized classical post-translational modifications (PTMs) such as phosphorylation, ubiquitylation, and SUMOylation of the different components of one of the most studied NLRP3, and other emerging inflammasomes. We will highlight how the discovery of these modifications have provided mechanistic insight into the biology, function, and regulation of these multiprotein complexes not only in the context of the innate immune system but also in adaptive immunity, hematopoiesis, bone marrow transplantation, as well and their role in human diseases. We have also collected available information concerning less-studied modifications such as acetylation, ADP-ribosylation, nitrosylation, prenylation, citrullination, and emphasized their relevance in the regulation of inflammasome complex formation. We have described disease-associated mutations affecting PTMs of inflammasome components. Finally, we have discussed how a deeper understanding of different PTMs can help the development of biomarkers and identification of novel drug targets to treat diseases caused by the malfunctioning of inflammasomes.


Abstract The relationship between the number of myelinated nerve fibers from the hand that are reinnervating the distal glabrous skin of the toe and the number of myelinating nerve fibers originally innervating that toe target was investigated utilizing the toe-to-hand microvascular transplantation model. Digital nerve biopsy specimens suitable for morphometric analysis were obtained from the hand and toe at the time of surgery from 15 patients. Patients received sensory reeducation in the postoperative period to standardize rehabilitation. At a mean of 10.8 months after surgery, the degree of sensory recovery was determined by the hand therapist. Morphometric analysis was done by a neurologist blinded as to final sensory outcome. There was a statistically significant relationship between recovered moving two-point discrimination and ratio of the total number of reinnervating (neurotizing) finger axons compared with the original toe axons (r = 0.703, p < 0.003). A similar relationship was observed for static two-point discrimination (r = 0.802, p < 0.001). These results suggest that degree of sensory recovery in toe-to-hand transfer may be improved by increasing the number of reinnervating myelinated nerve fibers from the hand that neurotizes the free tissue transfer.


This dictionary of Chado-Sudanese Arabic dialects is now complete with the publication of fascicles 3 and 4. The first fascicle was reviewed in an earlier volume of B80A8 (xxxrv, 1, 1971, 143-4) and the second has been published but has still to be received. This dictionary is a compilation of previously published vocabularies and word-lists, not all of a uniformly high quality. Fascicles 3 and 4 are of the high standard of editorial accuracy the first led us to expect. Misprints are few and the sources are allowed to speak for themselves, except that very doubtful items are marked with an exclamation mark. In general, however, the repetition of an item from different vocabularies in different transcriptions is enough to indicate the kind of wrong observations that may be expected in any one of the source lists. Mme. Roth-Laly does not correct, even where the correct form is quite certain, as for example, as sabdh ' tomorrow' from Let hem, who in any case consistently transcribes in this way. The misprints in fasc. 3 mostly arise from giving English words French spellings as, e.g., ' idole ' (p. 274) and ' muhammedan ' (p. 278), but cf. also (p. 307) eariye ' disgrace' where the source (Lethem) marks the vowel of the first syllable as long. The following comments on fasc. 3 may be of some interest. On p. 278 dahtn ' upshot' is probably in fact better glossed as a variant of dalhin ' now ' : the example given would allow of this reading. On p. 284 the word tabib ' soothsayer ' is an important support to Landberg, QD, on the root tbb. With the word taraiS ' to vomit' cf. Eastern and Central Ar. idem ' to send '. Hillelson gives the same meaning as Trenga for tiz (p. 295) in a piece in his Sudan Arabic texts (pp. 84-5) but the word does not appear in the glossary to the latter publication. There are some cross-references missing. The word gussa occurs in a number of places and with slightly different meanings (pp. 378, 379, 381) which should have been crossreferenced ; and so also the words gamlq and 'amiq ; fufa and fUfa ; matfalhim ' knowledgeable person ' and mitfelhim ' showing off'. In the fourth fascicle there are one or two minor spelling errors of the kind mentioned above (as e.g. ' coton ' on p. 416 and ' nuba ' on p. 429). On p. 413 for asbae read asbae, and on p. 462 ' methra ' is presumably ' urethra ' but I failed to find this in the souroe, given as Lethem. On p. 431 kanaea ' satisfaction ' should have had a cross-reference to knc. On p. 435 it is difficult to see why makwa ' soldering iron ' is given an exclamation mark. On p. 446 the word lakh is translated (by Hillelson) as ' number '. It is of course the Anglo-Indian lac, or lakh, and in many parts of Arabia has its original meaning. This dictionary paves the way for the publication of Mme. Roth-Laly's own field-work. If the book is as carefully prepared as the fascicles under review, it will be a most useful piece of work. T. M. JOHNSTONE


Find resources pertaining to written business communication, information on conducting business meetings and presentations, and techniques for communicating with others in the workplace in this guide originally created by Rick Keogh


PurposeThis study intends to examine whether the reasons learners like or dislike a learning environment can help explain the differences in the characteristics of the learner and whether learner characteristics can influence a learner's preference for a learning environment.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design. The study first conducted focus groups with university students to uncover their learner characteristics by examining the reasons they liked or disliked a learning environment. This was followed by a questionnaire survey to explore how these learner characteristics influenced learner inclination for a learning environment. The survey data were analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (partial least squares structural equation modelling).FindingsThe findings showed that two types of learner characteristics, i.e. online learner characteristics and classroom learner characteristics, significantly affected learner inclination for a learning environment. Analyses also indicated that learner demographics had no major moderating effect between learner characteristics and learner inclination for a learning environment.Practical implicationsThe findings can be useful for education institutions, learning designers and academics to design engaging learning activities to better support different learning needs.Originality/valueThis study makes a novel attempt to distinguish learner characteristics based on the reasons learners like or dislike a learning environment and establishes that individual learners' characteristics play a role in influencing their preference for a specific learning environment.


Emergency indicates unfortunate reminders of the susceptibility of communities. Emergency affects communities and individuals, disrupts the functions of social, technical structures and the economy, and suggests ways to change emergency management procedures. Efficient emergency management, however, focuses on implementing the emergency planning at all levels of the government and non-government sector, including individuals and community organisations. Therefore, the whole community approach to emergency management includes the government, communities and individuals at all levels, while responding to emergencies. The contents of this study propose a strategic framework for most leading emergency management communities, even whole community concepts into their everyday activities. The goals of this analysis are to evaluate the entire group response to emergency management for improved emergency management outcomes. Meanwhile, the objective of this study is to assess the whole community approach in managing emergencies and the community achieving better results in emergency management. The mixed-method approach is adopted for the data collection. This literature review has identified three principles of the whole community approach: Recognising and addressing the actual needs of the whole community, integrating and supporting all members of the community, and improving what works best in daily communities. In addition, these principles complement the approaches that provide a starting point for those who are learning about the whole community and an effective framework for emergency management.


Magneto Rheological Elastomers (MREs) are composite materials based on an elastomer filled by magnetic particles. Anisotropic MRE can be easily manufactured by curing the material under homogeneous magnetic field which creates column of particles. The magnetic and elastic properties are actually coupled making these MREs suitable for energy conversion. From these remarkable properties, an energy harvesting device is considered through the application of a DC bias magnetic induction on two MREs as a metal piece is applying an AC shear strain on them. Such strain therefore changes the permeabilities of the elastomers, hence generating an AC magnetic induction which can be converted into AC electrical signal with the help of a coil. The device is simulated with a Finite Element Method software to examine the effect of the MRE parameters, the DC bias magnetic induction and applied shear strain (amplitude and frequency) on the resulting electrical signal.


This research examines the efficacy of tin additions to LaNi{sub 5} in improving the hydrogen storage capacity of the material during charging/discharging. Alloys were prepared using high energy ball milling (mechanical alloying), a technique superior to arc casting for alloying elements with a wide disparity in melting points. Characterization by X-ray diffraction and Rietveld analysis shows that tin preferentially occupies the Ni(3g) sites in the LaNi{sub 5} structure, and the unit cell volume increases linearly with tin content to the maximum tin solubility of 7.33 atomic percent (LaNi{sub 4.56}Sn{sub 0.44}). The authors found that powders prepared by mechanical alloying and not exposed to air require no activation to induce hydrogen absorption. The hydrogen storage capacity in the gas and electrochemical phase was measured as a function of tin content. They found that with increasing tin, the plateau pressure decreases logarithmically, whereas the hydrogen storage capacity decreases linearly.


Authors present a case of a Leydig cell testicular tumor in a boy aged three years with a six-month follow-up. This type of tumor which is usually hormone-producing has in children a virilizing effect giving signs of pseudoprecocious puberty. Hormonal tests before and after surgery are described as well as the histological study. The various possibilities of differential diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in the presence of a unilateral testis enlargement in a boy are commented.


The North Norfolk coast is a naturally eroding coastline that has been subject to various management strategies over time, many of which have impeded its natural evolution. The Kelling to Lowestoft-Ness Shoreline Management Plan underpins management of the North Norfolk coast, advocating policies of managed realignment and no active intervention for much of this coastline. Implementation of these policies would give rise to significant loss of housing in North Norfolk during the course of this century. This has caused intense conflict between local communities and coastal planners, with the former feeling abandoned to the vagaries of natural coastal processes. Coastal planners need to work closely with local communities to implement a long-term vision for a sustainable coast. The issues of conflicting land-use planning policies and compensation for affected communities must be addressed. The wider implications of current management strategies are not fully understood and may, in some cases, be unsustainable.


Abstract The need to prepare children and young people with haemophilia for long-term care in the adult sector has long been accepted and is reflected in many national health care policies. Ideally, transition should be an individualised age- and development-appropriate process, through which each young person is empowered to self-manage, with support from their families and multidisciplinary team (MDT). It is widely recognised that young people who are not engaged in self-management frequently become non-adherent to therapy. For those with haemophilia, this can have a life-long impact on joint health and quality of life. In practice, anecdotal reports from individuals suggest that the transition process is often poorly planned, leaving them feeling lost and unsupported by the healthcare professionals who, until this point, have been core members of their support network. Rarely are the views of young people or their families sought regarding the outcome of their transition process. For those with less severe disease or rarer bleeding disorders, and for girls at the menarche, transition is often not addressed at all. This literature review forms the first part of a project that seeks to identify the outcome measures that can be used to drive a nurse-led initiative improvement in transition for young people with bleeding disorders, through changes in both working practices among health professionals and in the underpinning system, which enables them to put such changes into practice.


In his masterpiece, Kripe gives a thorough and original analysis of Wittgenstein's problem of private language. He argues that no primary facts (no matter external or internal) could serve as the ultimate justification for the meaning of language, and only within a specifiable community could we establish such a testing standard of obeying rules. In one of his later works La prose du monde, Merleau-Ponty also focuses on the creation of new meanings and the expression-moment of indirect language. The relationship and difference between the two thinkers could be better understood on the topic of arithmetic rules.


Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are known to increase the level of bradykinin by preventing its breakdown and also promote prostaglandin synthesis by direct and indirect methods which in turn may promote wound healing. However there is paucity of scientific information in this regard. Therefore in the present study we have investigated the effect of ACE inhibitors like Captopril and Enalapril on different wound models in Wistar rats. Excision, resutured incision and dead space wounds were inflicted in male Wistar rats under light ether anaesthesia, taking aseptic precautions. Control animals received vehicle and other groups received Captopril (10mg/kg) and Enalapril (10mg/kg) orally for a period of 10 days in incision and dead space wound models, whereas similar treatments were continued in excision wound models till complete closure of wounds. On the 11th day, after estimating breaking strength of resutured incision wounds (under anaesthesia), granulation tissue was removed from dead space wounds to estimate breaking strength, hydroxyproline content as well as quantification of granulation tissue and histological studies were carried out in control and treated groups. Captopril and Enalapril significantly increased the rate of wound healing, reduced the number of days required for complete epithelialization and final area of scar in excision wounds. Both the ACE inhibitors significantly increased breaking strength of resutured incision wounds and granulation tissue. Also these two drugs significantly enhanced both granulation tissue formation and granulation tissue hydroxyproline content. Histological studies confirmed these findings. Captopril and Enalapril significantly promoted the healing process in all the three wound models studied. These results indicate the wound healing property of ACE inhibitors and clinical studies in this regard are worthwhile.


D-Psicose inhibits the growth of L1 stage Caenorhabditis elegans. Sugars, involved in the pentose phosphate pathway, were examined for their ability to reverse the inhibition. Among these sugars, D-ribose specifically exerted reversing activity in a competitive manner. The ingested sugars are probably phosphorylated, although it remains to be seen whether D-psicose is phosphorylated. The structural similarity of D-psicofuranose 6-phosphate (Pf6P) or D-psicofuranose (Pf) to D-ribofuranose 5-phosphate (Rf5P) suggests that Pf6P or Pf is reversibly docked in the active site(s) of ribose-5-phosphate isomerase(s) to act as an antimetabolite to Rf5P, leading to inhibition of the biosynthesis of nucleic acids. D-Psicose was much less potent against the L4 stage than against the L1 stage. This is probably because in the L4 stage the somatic cell lineages come to an end and the number of germ-line nuclei increases to about 1000.


OBJECTIVE
To observe and investigate the effect of vertical soft tissue thickness on the peri-implant tissue condition and the prevalence of peri-implant disease in patients with history of periodontitis.

METHODS
Among 210 patients who showed initial interest of implant therapy, 92 patients were included in this study and received implant surgery during 2010 and 2015. Sixty-six patients with 66 implants finally came back for T2 evaluation. Prior to the implant therapy, all the patients had received periodontal treatment. During the implant placement surgery, the distance from palatal soft tissue edge to the alveolar crest, which was defined as vertical soft tissue thickness (VT), was measured after the buccal full thickness flap was elevated. According to the cut off point which was adopted from the operating characteristic curve, 66 implants within 66 patients were divided into two groups, which were called normal group (VT≤4.5 mm) and thick group (VT>4.5 mm), respectively. Information of the patient's general status, periodontal situation and implant information were recorded. After a follow-up period of 42.9 months, the parameters of peri-implant tissue and condition of peri-implant disease were recorded. Mann-Whitney U test as well as Chi-square test were used to compare the parameters between two groups. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier method was chosen to draw the event(peri-implantitis)-free survival curve.

RESULTS
The survival rate of the implants was 100%. At the end of the follow-up examination(T2), the parameters including max PDi, mean PDi, max BIi, mean BIi, mean MBL, MBL at distal side, MBL at mesial side, mean PLIi presented significantly higher values in thick group than in normal group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the prevalence of peri-implantitis and peri-implant disease (peri-implant mucositis & peri-implantitis) in thick group was respectively 34.8% and 73.9%, which was significantly higher than 2.3% and 48.8% respectively in normal group (P<0.05). The prevalence of peri-implant mucositis did not show significant difference in the two groups. In addition, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that there was significant difference between the event-free survivals of the two groups.

CONCLUSION
The vertical soft tissue thickness around implants in patients with periodontitis has a significant effect on the health of the peri-implant tissue. Excessive vertical soft tissue thickness may result in deeper peri-implant probing depth as well as more peri-implant marginal bone loss, and eventually increase the risk of peri-implant disease. The vertical remodeling of soft tissue may be a new direction to indicate the role of periodontitis in peri-implant tissue condition. Moreover, the biological mechanism of the association between soft tissue thickness and peri-implantitis risk as well as effective approaches to prevent the adverse effect of excessive soft tissue thickness on peri-implant tissue is necessary to be investigated.


Kv7.2 channel expression has been reported to decrease in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) following the induction of a peripheral neuropathy while other experiments show that Kv7.2 accumulates in peripheral neuromas. The mechanisms underlying these novel expression patterns are poorly understood. Here we use immunofluorescence methods to analyze Kv7.2 protein expression changes in sensory neurons following peripheral axotomy and the potential role of axonal transport. Results indicate that DRG neurons express Kv7.2 in ~16% of neurons and that this number decreases by about 65% after axotomy. Damaged neurons were identified in DRG by application of the tracer Fluoro-ruby at the site of injury during surgery. Reduction of Kv7.2 expression was particularly strong in damaged neurons although some loss was also found in putative uninjured neurons. In parallel to the decrease in the soma of axotomized sensory neurons, Kv7.2 accumulated at neuromatose fiber endings. Blockade of axonal transport with either vinblastine (VLB) or colchicine (COL) abolished Kv7.2 redistribution in neuropathic animals. Channel distribution rearrangements did not occur following induction of inflammation in the hind paw. Behavioral tests indicate that protein rearrangements within sensory afferents are essential to the development of allodynia under neuropathic conditions. These results suggest that axotomy enhances axonal transport in injured sensory neurons, leading to a decrease of somatic expression of Kv7.2 protein and a concomitant accumulation in damaged fiber endings. Localized changes in channel expression patterns under pathological conditions may create novel opportunities for Kv7.2 channel openers to act as analgesics.


PURPOSE
To determine whether density and distribution of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs; TIL grade) is an independent predictor of sentinel lymph node (SLN) status and survival in patients with clinically localized primary cutaneous melanoma.

METHODS
From the Melanoma Institute Australia database, 1,865 patients with a single primary melanoma ≥ 0.75 mm in thickness were identified. The associations of clinical and pathologic factors with SLN status, recurrence-free survival (RFS), and melanoma-specific survival (MSS) were analyzed.

RESULTS
The majority of patients had either no (TIL grade 0; 35.4%) or few (TIL grade 1; 45.1%) TILs, with a minority showing moderate (TIL grade 2; 16.3%) or marked (TIL grade 3; 3.2%) TILs. Tumor thickness, mitotic rate, and Clark level were inversely correlated with TIL grade (each P < .001). SLN biopsy was performed in 1,138 patients (61.0%) and was positive in 252 (22.1%). There was a significant inverse association between SLN status and TIL grade (SLN positivity rates for each TIL grade: 0, 27.8%; 1, 20.1%; 2, 18.3%; 3, 5.6%; P < .001). Predictors of SLN positivity were decreasing age (P < .001), decreasing TIL grade (P < .001), ulceration (P = .003), increasing tumor thickness (P = .01), satellitosis (P = .03), and increasing mitoses (P = .03). The 5-year MSS and RFS rates were 83% and 76%, respectively (median follow-up, 43 months). Tumor thickness (P < .001), ulceration (P < .001), satellitosis (P < .001), mitotic rate (P = .003), TIL grade (P < .001), and sex (P = .01) were independent predictors of MSS. Patients with TIL grade 3 tumors had 100% survival.

CONCLUSION
TIL grade is an independent predictor of survival and SLN status in patients with melanoma. Patients with a pronounced TIL infiltrate have an excellent prognosis.


The frequency of HLA A, B, and DR antigens as well as the Bf and C4 allotypes have been investigated in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and compared to that of healthy controls in the Tunisian population. An increase of A30, DR3, DR4, BfF1, C4Ao, and C4Bo and decrease of B40, DR2, DR5, and DR6 were found in diabetics when compared to the value observed in controls. The strongest association was noticed with HLA DR3 and DR4. Heterozygotes DR3 DR4 were very frequent in diabetics: 24.2 per cent versus 3.6 per cent in controls (relative risk 7.72). The protective role of DR2 and DR5 antigens were also confirmed. No supratypes of HLA, Bf, and C4 alleles associated with IDDM have been observed among these Tunisian patients.


-- Information is considered the most important resource for any organization and to share this resource requires network usage and management. Network operators are attempting to adapt to the coordination of distinctive sorts of networks while meeting the difficulties of expanding traffic. The customary network tends to be unbending. After the forwarding strategy has been defined, the best method to alter it is to rearrange all the impacted devices. It is lengthy and focuses on adaptation and overcoming the challenges of portability and huge data. System administrators have greater versatility to configure their networks using Software Defined Networking (SDN) in the sight of cyber law. With SDN, network management moves from classifying usefulness, lawfulness as far as low-level device arrangements to building programming that encourages system administration and troubleshooting. However, with the rise in network technology, great concerns of security emerged so high that, nowadays, security is considered the major issue to address in any organization. For this reason, in this paper, we have proposed an ensemble learning framework for hardening the security posture of SDN in prospective of cyber law. The proposed framework is evaluated on two different datasets, and it has exhibited great results as using different techniques together improves the performance.


The use of products and brands to communicate aspects of the self has extensively been the subject of research (Escales & Bettman, 2005, Flynn et al., 2011; Grubb & Grathwohl, 1967). Empirical studies have examined the use of products and brands to communicate a range of aspects such as membership of reference groups or communities (White & Dahl, 2007); class, status, and lifestyle (O'Cass & McEwen, 2004); personality differences (Nevia & Pastna, 2014); ethnicity and culture (Jamal & Chapman, 2000). Studies have also addressed the notion of interpreting or decoding consumption symbolism (Arnould & Thompson, 2005; Belk et al. 1982; Grubb & Grathwohl, 1967; Paasovaara et al. 2012). These studies suggest that consumers make judgments or inferences about self-related characteristics of product users from the products that belong to the person. Such studies gather data employing projective techniques by asking participants to make judgments about, for example, the type of people who would use the products presented or described (see Boddy, 2005; Haire, 1950; Fram & Cibotti, 1991; Porr et al., 2011; Steinmann, 2009). In this regard, the decoding literature has studied a number of product categories such as food and grocery (Doherty and Nelson 2010), automobiles and housing (Belk et al., 1982; Desmet et al., 2000; Grubb & Stern, 1971), miscellaneous products (Belk, 2013) and cosmetics (Mick et al., 1992; Tantiseneepong, 2012). However, there is little specific research on whether senders' intended self-related characteristics match with those received by audiences. Research on product choices in relation to the self has tended to be restricted to researcher-selected products or product categories and specific aspects of the self. Grubb and Stern (1971) had owners of two automobile brands rate perceptions of their selves, of automobile brands, and owners of each brand of automobile. The study finds both consumers and their significant others hold similar stereotypes of owners of automobile brands. Feinberg et al. (1992) asked female subjects to display an outfit that best reflected their personality and then rate their personality on a series of rating scales. An independent group of subjects was presented with the photographs of the chosen outfits and instructed to infer owner personalities utilizing the same rating scales. While the Grubb and Stern (1971) study involved no direct matching of self-related characteristics between consumers and their observers, both product and test item choices in the Feinberg et al. study (1992) were pre-determined by the researcher, thus being a limited investigation of whether senders' intended self-related characteristics match with those received by audiences. What remains outside the scope of such studies is the identification of consumers' intended self-related characteristics in relation to their product choices, and the investigation of congruency between consumers' intended self-related characteristics and those accorded by audiences. This study addresses this gap. It allows young adult consumers the autonomy to self-select a range of products that communicate self-related characteristics to peer audiences. The study identifies the self-related characteristics that consumers express through their product choices, and further investigates congruency between consumers' product-related self-characteristics and observer selections. More specifically, the study examines the following questions: 1. How successful are young adult consumers in communicating aspects of their selves to peer audiences via their product ensemble choices? 2. Is there evidence of congruency between consumers' ('senders') product ensemble self-related characteristics and observers' (receivers') inferences? If so, to what extent? COMMUNICATION OF THE SELF The notion of congruency in an expressive or symbolic context refers to consumers' choices of products and brands that are congruent with and express or symbolize aspects of the self to one's own self and to others. A number of studies provide support for the idea that a person's self is projected onto product choice and that consumers seek products with images congruent with their concept of self (Flynn, 2011; Grubb & Stern, 1971; Phau & Lau, 2001). Central to such choice is the issue of self-presentation or impression management. Impression management refers to the idea that individuals or senders establish and maintain impressions that are congruent with the perceptions they want to convey to their audience (Dhar & Wertenbroch, 2012; Leary & Kowalski, 1990; Schlenker, 1980, 1985). Senders encode meanings in the choices they make, and rely on receivers to suitably decode the same. Such notions recognize the value of congruency theories originally proposed by Rogers's self-congruency theory (1951), Rokeach' Belief Congruence theory (1960) and Heider's Balance theory (1958). In essence, these theories suggest that consistency in understanding and shared meaning is integral to successful communication within social groups (Hummon & Doreian, 2003; Teichert & Schöntag 2010; Woodside 2004). Within the consumer behaviour realm, congruency has been studied either in terms of product image-self image or product image and observer perceptions of product owners (Dhar & Wertenbroch, 2012; Hosany & Martin 2012; Teichert & Schöntag, 2010). The question of whether there is a discernible pattern of characteristics that are communicated and whether there are boundaries to congruency remains unaddressed. The intent of this study is to expand selfproduct congruency theory in accordance with Rokeach' Belief Congruence theory (1960) and Heider's Balance theory (1958), which propose that congruency should exist between the three entities the self, perceived product symbolism, and the 'other' (the audience). Accordingly, our study proposes a model and investigates whether congruency of self-related characteristics associated with products exists between the self and the 'other' (the audience) (see Figure 1) and if so, to what extent.


We have studied the metabolism of compounds containing 31P in normal breast using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Spectra were acquired from non-lactating pre-menopausal breast (n = 14 women), lactating breast (n = 8) and post-menopausal breast (n = 8). The standard acquisition protocol used a 5.5 cm surface coil with the volunteer prone to minimize chest wall signal contamination. In pre-menopausal non-lactating women the phosphocreatine (PCr) peak area, expressed relative to the sum of all 31P peak areas, was negatively correlated with breast size (r = -0.56, p = 0.02) suggesting that much of the PCr signal originated from the chest wall. The phosphodiester (PDE) relative peak area was positively correlated with breast size (r = 0.71; p = 0.002). Spectra could be acquired at all phases of the menstrual cycle. In sequential examinations of five women not taking the oral contraceptive pill (OCP), phosphomonoester (PME) relative peak area was significantly lower on Week 2 than other weeks of the cycle (p = 0.03). Among pre-menopausal women no clear difference was apparent between the spectra from women taking the OCP and those not taking the OCP. Lactating breast had significantly higher PME relative peak area than non-lactating pre-menopausal breast (p = 0.02), probably reflecting the higher proportion of epithelial tissue in lactation; the lower PCr relative peak area in lactating breast (p = 0.05) is probably due to the greater size of the breast during lactation. Spectra were acquired from post-menopausal women but with a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio. The only significant difference between 31P relative peak areas of breast spectra acquired from pre- and post-menopausal women was that less PCr was detected in the post-menopausal volunteers (p = 0.03), probably as a result of differences in breast size.


This research aims to determine: (1) The difference in learning outcomes of students who are taught using learning strategies genius learning with expository, (2) Difference between the learning outcomes of students who have a kinesthetic learning style with students visual, (3) the interaction between the learning strategies and learning styles to learning outcomes. Implement strategies and learning outcomes measurement performed on the lessons Aqidah Akhlak apply finer material in class VIII MTs PAB-4 Helvetia Medan. The method used is the method of quasi experimental factorial 2x2. The results showed a significant difference in learning outcomes of students who are taught by the genius learnig learning strategies and expository. This is evident from the acquisition of pvalue= 0.000>0.05. There were no differences in learning outcomes of students with visual kinesthetic learning style. It looks acquisition p-value=0.119>0.05. There is no interaction learning strategies and learning styles on learning outcomes, it is seen from acquiring a p-value= 0:0 =0:05.


Facies relationships in Pleistocene braided outwash deposits in southern Ontario demonstrate the presence of a large braid bar with adjacent side channel. The core of the bar is up to 6 m high, and consists of crudely horizontally stratified gravels. Downstream from the core is the bar front facies, consisting of large gravelly foresets up to 4 m high, rounded off in many places by reactivation surfaces. Upstream from the core is the bar stoss side facies consisting of several sets (individually up to 35 cm thick) of tabular cross-bedding, arranged in coarsening-upward sequences. The stoss side—core—bar front relationships are continuously exposed in one 400 m long quarry face which is cut almost parallel to the palaeoflow direction. A transverse quarry face shows the side channel facies, which consists of trough cross-bedded sands. Gravel layers can be seen to finger from the main gravelly bar into the sandy side channel, but they do not reach the base of the channel. This surprising relationship indicates that gravel moved only in the topographically higher parts of the system. After deposition in the side channel, and growth upstream and downstream from the bar core, the entire system aggraded. Crudely horizontally stratified, and imbricated gravel sheets were laid down as a bar top facies.

Grain size analyses indicate strongly bimodal distributions, implying that much of the sand in the spaces between pebbles and boulders filtered in after the gravel had been deposited. This interpretation is strengthened by velocity calculations—mean velocities in excess of 300 cm/s would be needed to roll the gravel as bed load, but at such a velocity, a large amount of sand would be transported entirely in suspension.

In a final section of the paper, our results are combined with other work on braided systems in an attempt to formulate a more general facies model.


[1] Unresolved complex mixture (UCM) is an analytical artifact of gas chromatographs of combustion source-related fine aerosol extracts. In this study the UCM is examined in size-resolved fine aerosol emissions from residential wood combustion. The aerosols are sorted by size in an electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI) and subsequently analyzed by thermal desorption/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD/GC/MS). A semiquantitative system for predicting the branched alkane, cycloalkane, alkylbenzene, C3-, C4-, C5-alkylbenzene, methylnaphthalene, C3-, C4-, C5-alkylnaphthalene, methylphenanthrene C2-, C3-alkylphenanthrene, and dibenzothiophene concentrations in the UCM is introduced. Analysis by TD/GS/MS detects UCM on each ELPI stage for all six combustion tests. The UCM baseline among the different fuel types is variable. In particular, the UCM of Pseudotsuga sp. is enriched in later-eluting compounds of lower volatility. A high level of reproducibility is achieved in determining UCM areas. UCM fractions (UCM ion area/total extracted ion chromatograph area) by individual ELPI stage return a mean relative standard deviation of 19.1% over the entire combustion test set, indicating a highly consistent UCM fraction across the ELPI size boundaries. Among the molecular ions investigated, branched alkane (m/z 57) and dibenzothiophene (m/z 212 and 226) constituents are most abundant in UCM emissions from RWC, collectively accounting for 64−95% of the targeted chemical species. The total UCM emissions span 446−756 mg/kg of dry biomass burned and correspond to an upper limit of 7.1% of the PM2.5 mass. The UCM emissions are primarily accumulation mode (0.1 μm ≤ aerodynamic diameter (da) ≤ 1 μm), with a geometric mean diameter (dg) range of 120.3−518.4 nm. UCM in PM2.5 is chemically asymmetric (shifted to finer da), typically clustering at da ≤ 1 μm. Measurable shifts in dg and changes in distribution widths (σg) on an intratest basis suggest that the particle density may be a function of size within PM1. The potential effects these results have on regulatory affairs, human health studies, and the state of the analytical science covering organics in PM2.5 are discussed.


In modern manufacturing more and more metal cutting is performed using so called dry cutting technique (no coolant). The process is used where cutting with coolant is not desired. Said dry cutting due to the non-use of coolants is also environmental friendly, which is important feature in today green manufacturing agenda. The paper gives an overview on the state-of-art internally cooled cutting tools. It also represents possible new designs of internally cooled tools for turning concentrating on today's manufacturing needs. Novel solutions and concepts are introduced. Proposed concepts will give the guidelines for further research and development to be carried on.


Premenstrual syndrome is a frequently encountered psychological and physiological disorder in adoles-cents between 15 and 18 years of age. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship of premenstrual syndrome with quality of life, level of anger and depression. One hundred fifty six female high school students were recruited for the study. All completed sociodemographic form, Premenstrual Syndrome Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Quality of Life Scale for Children (Adolescent Form) and The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Results indicated that whilst the severity of premenstrual syndrome in-creases, depression and level of anger significantly increase, however, quality of life decreases. The partial mediation effect of depression and anger on the relationship between quality of life and premen-strual syndrome were found to be significant when examined separately. Moreover, anger had a signifi-cant partial mediation effect on the relationship between depression and premenstrual syndrome. In conclusion, in the treatment of individuals with premenstrual syndrome, the dimensions of depression, anger and quality of life should be controlled first and the relationships between these variables should not be ignored.


Ligation of the superior mesenteric and the superior pancreatico-duodenal arteries just prior to alloxan treatment and their release ten minutes after treatment did not protect rats against development of alloxan diabetes. Prior incubation of alloxan in vitro for a period of ten minutes at a physiological pH value and 37° C. resulted in loss of diabetogenic activity. Identical blood flow interruption without alloxan treatment did not produce elevated blood glucose levels. After the intravenous injection of alloxan, a substance giving a fluorescence product with alloxan reagent was detected in blood over four hours. The substance remained at higher levels when animals, prior to alloxan treatment, were injected with reduced glutathione. There was also a prolonged detection of alloxan during incubation in whole blood and in buffer containing reduced glutathione. The production of alloxan diabetes following temporary interruption of arterial blood flow is discussed in the light of the present results.


In 196 hospitalized geriatric patients, drug prescriptions were assessed for potential drug interactions. Potential drug interactions were identified in 5.4% of 2,177 prescriptions. The risk increased with the number of prescribed drugs. Antipsychotics, tranquilizers, hypnotics, diuretics, cardiac glycosides and centrally acting analgetics were involved in more than 70% of potential interactions. Risks of potential drug interactions can be reduced by a reduction in drugs prescribed.


There was a significant increase in potassium-stimulated release of 3H-[5-HT] from hippocampal slices taken from rats withdrawn from chronic ethanol treatment, compared with control-treated rats. The anxiogenic behaviour observed 12 h after ethanol withdrawal was inhibited by the 5-HT1A partial agonist, buspirone (200 micrograms/kg s.c.), indicating that the increased 5-HT release might underlie the anxiogenic response. The ex-ethanol treated rats showed impaired habituation of motor activity in the holeboard and a reduced exploratory response. The latter, but not the former, were reversed by the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, ondansetron (0.01 microgram/kg i.p.). Ondansetron was without effect on working memory errors, but significantly increased the number of reference memory errors made by the ex-ethanol group. It also had a significantly anxiogenic effect in this group. These results suggest that the chronic ethanol treatment changes the 5-HT system and has long-lasting effects on the function of 5-HT3 receptors.


During Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 149, five sites were drilled on the Iberia Abyssal Plain in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Both Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments were recovered. Oligocene to Miocene sediments were cored at deepwater Sites 897, 898, 899, and 900. Except for a few intervals, occurrences of generally abundant and well-preserved calcareous nannofossils suggest that the deposition of the turbidite-type sediments occurred above the calcite compensation depth (CCD). One major unconformity in the middle late Miocene is present. Detailed quantitative analyses of calcareous nannofossils are used to determine the changes occurring among the nannoflora in relation to sea-level variation. A succession of 89 biohorizons from the early Oligocene to the late Miocene are defined by combining the biostratigraphic results of the four sites studied in the Iberia Abyssal Plain. One new genus and eight new species are described: Camuralithus, Camuralithus pelliculatus, Ericsonia detecta, Helicosphaera limasera, Sphenolithus akropodus, Sphenolithus aubryae, Sphenolithus cometa, Reticulofenestra circus, and Syracosphaera lamina. Two new variations and seven new combinations are also introduced.


J O U R N A L C O M P I L A T I O N © 2 0 0 8 B J U I N T E R N A T I O N A L | 1 0 1 , 11 8 1 | doi:10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.07656.x 11 8 1 is widely used by most surgeons and is written to mean ligation and excision of varicose veins. Excision of varicoceles is very rare these days and it is therefore incorrect and misleading to use 'varicocelectomy' as a general term to describe surgery for varicocele.


Requirements engineering (RE) has been cons idered a key activity in almost all software engine ering process. i* is a goal-oriented approach widely adop ted in the earlier phases of RE, as it offers a mode ling language that describes the system and its environm ent in terms of actors and dependencies among them. However, often the models become cluttered even for small applications, compromising their understanding, evolution and scalability. In large and complex applications, this problem increases significantly. In this paper we investigate the use of structuring mechanisms to deal with the complex ity which may arise when i* is used to model complex do mains.


The role of the south-western Alps as a corridor for Mediterranean trout (Salmo trutta complex Linnaeus, 1758) was evaluated in order to understand the influence of the last glacial events in shaping the spatial distribution of the genetic diversity of this salmonid. For this, the allochthonous hypothesis of a man-mediated French origin (19th century) of the Mediterranean trout inhabiting the Po tributaries in the Italian side of the south-western Alps was tested. A total of 412 individuals were analysed at the mitochondrial control region. The phylogenetic classification was carried out by using a Median-Joining Network analysis. Mismatch pair-wise analysis, molecular dating and Kernel density distribution analysis of the main mitochondrial lineages were evaluated to compare past demographic dynamics with the current spatial distribution of genetic diversity. The main outcomes resulted strongly in agreement with a biogeographic scenario where the south-western Alps acted as a unidirectional corridor that permitted the colonization of the upper Durance (Rhône River basin) by trout from the Po River basin. Therefore, the Mediterranean trout should be considered as native also along the Italian side of the south-western Alps and the allochthonous hypothesis should be rejected.


The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on government services in many areas, including Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS). However, the pandemic has also highlighted the importance of recording of mortality and causes of death, with some potentially positive impacts for longer term CRVS strengthening, including: (1) increasing online provision of registration services (2) reporting of mortality statistics from settings which had not previously done so (3) improved intersectoral cooperation, particularly with the health sector, improving the ability to record deaths and (4) increased awareness among governments and public of the importance of mortality statistics. Now, it is pressing for national governments, and international organizations working to strengthen CRVS systems, to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies adopted over the last year, and use lessons learnt to catalyse broader sustainable CRVS improvement strategies, providing governments with essential data on mortality and causes of death into the future.


As a result of market turbulence, a large number of investors have been looking for safe haven investments. The Optimal European Portfolio aims to be adapted to new market conditions and requirements. Europe is selected as an area for investment given its sound economic potential. The advantages of the region are considered to be the innovative products, a dynamic corporate sector and high-quality exports. The dominant share of the financial instruments in the portfolio is selected from six countries with the highest political and economic stability, benefiting from best ratings. The two countries with the best economic performance in Europe are chosen so as to achieve optimal portfolio performance. The Optimal European Portfolio is a combination of investments, each having desirable individual risk - return characteristics but all fitting together based on their correlation so as to achieve return - risk balance. The main objective of the portfolio is to achieve an optimal balance between stability and performance. After growth and favourable economic conditions have been restored, it is expected that companies in the investment countries will grow fast and outperform benchmarks and markets overall. The bond element of the portfolio ensures protection. It is expected that optimal annual returns will be achieved in 3 to 5 years.


The aim of present study was to investigate the correlations between attachment styles, belongingness and satisfaction with life in adolescents. Within the scope of the research an explanatory model for life satisfaction of adolescents was tested. An attachment style scale, general belongingness scale and life satisfaction scale was administered to 263 high school students aged from 14 to 18 years (M = 16.22, SD = 0.86). The results of correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between secure attachment style, belongingness and life satisfaction. The model developed to explain life satisfaction among adolescents was analysed with structural equation modelling. According to the results, secure attachment style directly affects belongingness and indirectly affects life satisfaction. Additionally belongingness directly affects life satisfaction. Generally, it may be stated that secure attachment style and perception of belonging are each significant variables affecting life satisfaction of adolescents.


Abstract Interest in vocational education and training (VET) is growing. This can be attributed to global socio-economic developments requiring continuously changing knowledge and skills. Adult education and training, particularly in non-formal education (NFE) contributes to provide these skills and knowledge for youth and adults. This puts pressure not only on programmes and facilities, but also on the educators. How do they cope with the changing demands? This paper focuses on educators in non-formal vocational education and training (NFVET) in Mozambique. It explores the perceptions, experiences and reflections of educators in NFVET working in training centres on the outskirts of Maputo. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to get insight into the educators' understandings and into the conditions in which their educational activities took place. The findings point to the need for the professionalisation of NFVET educators. This would contribute to the quality of their activities and to their status as professionals.


Sir. —In the February 1989 issue of AJDC , Dr Hoekelman 1 discussed sources of stress in pediatric residency and suggested possible ways in which it can be reduced. Dr Hoekelman listed eight sources of stress that included learning to be a physician, having a family, having relatively low income, and being in a highly competitive environment. Dr Hoekelman suggested that reduction of stress would occur if each resident had an advisor, if 4 weeks' vacation were given each year, and if consecutive hours of work numbered no more than 29. He also suggested that a reduced schedule option be available, that maternity and paternity leaves be granted, and that residents organize and participate in social events with the faculty. I am a practicing pediatrician in a group of seven pediatricians, and I found this article disturbing. I have always considered residency to be a preparation for the practice of pediatrics.


We prove norm-resolvent and spectral convergence in L of solutions to the Neumann Poisson problem −∆uε = f on a domain Ωε perforated by Dirichlet-holes and shrinking to a 1-dimensional interval. The limit u satisfies an equation of the type −u + μu = f on the interval (0, 1), where μ is a positive constant. As an application we study the convergence of solutions in perforated graph-like domains. We show that if the scaling between the edge neighbourhood and the vertex neighbourhood is chosen correctly, the constant μ will appear in the vertex condition of the limit problem. In particular, this implies that the spectrum of the resulting quantum graph is altered in a controlled way by the perforation.


Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) technology permits real-time media and data exchange between browsers. A connection is proven via a detection procedure named signalling. However, signalling has no exact definition in WebRTC. This paper aims to design and implement WebRTC chat, video communication, and recording between peers (browserto-browser) in the real application using Chrome and Firefox based on mesh topology. Thus, a signalling channel between two peers for chat and video conferencing using the following: Socket.io mechanism, Node.JS platform, and Express.JS has been produced and performed. Including, Axios (HTTP JSON), and JavaScript as the main programing language utilised. The results of this work have ensured that a signalling channel has been built and implemented. Keywords: Web Real-Time Communication (Webrtc); Session Description Protocol (SDP); Socket.Io Protocol; Node. JS, Javascript (JS); Local Area Network (LAN)


Environmental law has failed in its most basic purpose: to keep human activities in compliance with nature's requirements. Ecological systems are collapsing across the globe, and climate crisis threatens the continued viability of human civilization as we know it. Across the United States, agencies at all jurisdictional levels use discretion provided in their governing statutes to allow continuing damage to the atmosphere and other natural resources. Government officials routinely approach environmental protection as a matter of political discretion – and private, singular interests usually win the day over the long-term public good. This article suggests infusing public trust principles into government institutions to hold officials accountable, as trustees, for protecting crucial natural resources. It offers a modern version of the ancient public trust doctrine that is holistic, organic, and uniform across all environmental agencies. This article is adapted from the introductory chapter that will appear in Professor Wood's book, Nature's Trust, forthcoming by Cambridge University Press in 2011.


This article analyzes three concepts mobilized by the Ecuadorian right in the interwar period (1918-1943), at a time in which this sector was rethinking its political model amid the social question and other national and global experiences, such as the Ecuador-Peru conflict, the Spanish Civil War and European fascisms. The three concepts, which formulated parallel political models were: Christian democracy, the corporatist state and integralism. These were defined in relation to each other and vis a vis counter-concepts, such as liberalism and socialism. Moreover, as modern concepts, they were marked by temporalization and by historicity inasmuch as they pointed to a desirable future. Nevertheless, this future constituted a restoration of a longed-for past. The article seeks to link Ecuadorian political history to global historiographical debates concerning political concepts, religion and politics and transnational processes.Keywords: Corporatism, Christian Democracy, integralism, history of concepts, temporalization, fascism.


Commercial and industrial consumers are the largest users of electrical energy in Kenya. They play a central role in driving electricity demand by contributing to over 70% of the electricity demand in the country. Despite their consumption of electricity being the highest, there is a gap on the drivers of their demand. There are significant deviations between past official forecasts and actual putting into question the official forecast assumptions.This study adressed this gap by estimating the drivers of commercial and industrial electricity demand.The drivers included supply side constraints represented by hydro inflows hence contributing to literature. A demand forecast upto to the year 2035 was also undertaken and compared with the official forecast. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method and time series data from 1985 to 2016 was used in undertaking the analysis. The results indicated that commercial and industrial consumers' electricity demand is income elastic. Other drivers include efficiency, electricity price and hydro inflows. A projection of the demand indicated the official forecast could be overstated and may need to be reviewed.


Textbooks are crucial tools for implementing new curricula. Consequently, not only teachers' performance but also good textbooks have to meet certain standards to improve the quality of competence-oriented tuition. However, there are no empirical studies investigating how competence-oriented textbooks may be conceptualized or assessed. This is a major problem as many countries already implemented competence-oriented tuition or plan to do so soon. To reduce this research gap, this study investigates the following research question: Which standards should science textbooks meet in order to support competence-oriented teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools? A mixed-methods design was chosen to answer this question. First, a qualitative survey was used to formulate preliminary standards for competence-oriented textbooks. The participants of this inquiry were experienced teachers, textbook authors, publishers, science educationalists or educational scientists from three German speaking countries. These preliminary standards were validated and served to generate items for the quantitative questionnaire. In this survey, the preliminary standards were weighted according to their importance. In total, 178 primary school teachers (grades 4 to 6), 171 secondary school teachers (grades 7 to 9), and 44 science educationalists from the German speaking part of Switzerland took part. If the relevance of a standard was ambiguous, the standard was also rated qualitatively. These empirically weighted standards were used together with standards individually to be weighted to generate a checklist for Competence-Oriented TEXtbooks (COTEX). In this paper, the English version of the checklist is presented. The checklist is available online under www.schulbuchforschung.ch. COTEX can be used to conceptualize or assess competence-oriented textbooks.


The cover image depicts multi‐nucleated osteoclasts stained for tartrate‐resistant alkaline phosphatase (maroon colour) after in vitro differentiation from bone marrow myeloid cells. The image was taken from the article of Chen et al. (pp. 2845–2854), in which the authors demonstrate that the proinflammatory IL‐12 family cytokine, IL‐23, up‐regulates RANK expression in myeloid precursor cells and sensitizes cells for commitment to the osteoclast lineage.


Extrema of curvature are useful key points for different image analysis tasks. Indeed, polygonal approximation or arc decomposition methods used often these points to initialize or to improve their algorithms. Several shape-based image retrieval methods focus also their descriptors on key points. This paper is focused on the detection of extrema of curvature points for a raster-to-vector-conversion framework. We propose an original adaptation of an approach used into nonlinear control for fault-diagnosis and fault-tolerant control based on algebraic derivation and which is robust to noise. The experimental results are promising and show the robustness of the approach when the contours are bathed into a high level speckled noise.


In chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients, 3-month BCR-ABL1 levels have consistently been correlated with further outcomes. Monitoring molecular responses in CML using the GeneXpert (Cepheid) platform has shown an optimal correlation with standardized RQ-PCR (IS) when measuring BCR-ABL1 levels lower than 10%, as it is not accurate for values over 10%. The aim of the present study was to determine the predictive molecular value at three months on different outcome variables using the Xpert BCR-ABL1 MonitorTM assay (Xpert BCR-ABL1). We monitored 125 newly diagnosed consecutive CML patients in the chronic phase (CML-CP) using an automated method: Xpert BCR-ABL1. Only 5% of patients did not achieve an optimal response at 3 months, and the 10% BCR-ABL1 cutoff defined by RQ-PCR (IS) methods was unable to identify significant differences in the probabilities of achieving a complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) (50% vs. 87%, p = 0.1) or a major molecular response (MMR) (60% vs. 80%, p = 0.29) by 12 months. In contrast, a cutoff of 1.5% more accurately identified differences in the probabilities of achieving CCyR (98% vs. 54%, p<0.001) and MMR (88% vs. 56%, p<0.001) by 12 months, as well as probabilities of treatment changes (p = 0.005). Therefore, when using the Xpert BCR-ABL1 assay, a cutoff of 1.5% at 3 months could with high probability identify patients able to achieve an optimal response at 12 months.


This article reports on the value of using student‐generated analogies with undergraduate science students as a strategy for promoting conceptual understanding. A quantitative study was undertaken involving students in four sections of an introductory chemistry course for prospective science majors attending a four year college in British Columbia, Canada. Students in one section of the course developed, performed and discussed analogies representing a conceptually difficult chemistry topic. Students in three other sections received instruction on the same topic via a teacher‐generated analogy combined with in‐class discussion. To assess the impact of student‐generated analogies, students' performance on a final exam question was compared across the four sections and their answers were analyzed for evidence of depth of conceptual understanding. Students who generated their own analogies performed significantly better in the exam and demonstrated a greater level of conceptual understanding than students who were presented with a teacher‐derived analogy. It is particularly noteworthy that lower‐achieving students who devised and enacted analogies for their peers significantly out‐performed their counterparts who received more traditional instruction.


In Japan the incidence of cervical cancer has been high, but has recently been decreasing gradually, while the incidence of endometrial cancer is running at lower levels but is gradually increasing. To clarify the common and/or specific risk and/or protective factors of cervical cancer (CC) in contrast with endometrial cancer (EC), a comparative case‐control study was conducted at the Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Japan. In total, 556 CC cases and 145 EC cases were included and 26,751 women, confirmed as free of cancer, were chosen as the common control group. Odds ratio and its 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for each exposure variable were estimated by using an unconditional logistic regression model adjusted for age and first‐visit year. Habitual smoking and experience of pregnancy increased the risk of CC, while decreasing the risk of EC. Greater body mass index (>20), daily intake of fruit and more frequent intake of boiled or broiled fish (>1–2 times/week) decreased the risk of CC, whereas they increased the risk of EC. Daily intake of milk decreased the risk of CC. The results obtained from this study suggest that several EC‐increasing risk factors are in fact CC‐decreasing determinants. The observed risk reduction in both CC and EC by physical exercise and dietary control for health is noteworthy from the public health standpoint and warrants further investigation.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between macronutrient intake and time in range (TIR) of 70–180 mg/dL in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). A multi-center study recruited patients with T1D using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) between January 2019 and January 2020 from centers across Italy. Diet intake was recorded using three-day weighed food diaries. Nutrients were evaluated as percentages of total intake. TIR was considered at target if the percentage of readings was higher than 70%. Clinical and nutritional factors associated with TIR at target were analyzed using multiple correspondence analysis and multiple logistic regression. Data from 197 participants (53% male, median age 11.6 years, median HbA1c 55.2 mmol/mol, median TIR 60%) were analyzed. Macronutrient intake was 45.9% carbohydrates, 16.9% protein, 37.3% fat, and 13.1 g/day fiber (median values). TIR > 70% was observed in 28% of participants; their diet contained more protein (17.6%, p = 0.015) and fiber (14.4 g/day, p = 0.031) than those not at target. The probability of having a TIR > 70% was significantly higher with 40–44% consumption of carbohydrates compared with 45–50% consumption of carbohydrates and with the use of a carbohydrate counting system. Based on these results, a five percent reduction in the percentage of carbohydrate intake can help children and adolescents with T1D achieve the goal of a TIR > 70%. Both a lower and higher percentage of carbohydrate intake appears to reduce the probability of reaching the target TIR > 70%. These results require validation in other populations before being used in clinical practice.


Aquaporin 0 (AQP0) and AQP1 are expressed in the lens, each in a different cell type, and their functional roles are not thoroughly understood. Our previous study showed that these two AQPs function as water transporters. In order to further understand the functional significance of these two different aquaporins in the lens, we investigated their initiation and continued expression. AQP0 transcript and protein were first detected at embryonic stage (E) 11.25 in the differentiating primary fiber cells of the developing lens; its synthesis continued through the adult stage in the secondary fiber cells. Low levels of AQP1 expression were first seen in lens anterior epithelial cells at E17.5; following postnatal day (P) 6.5, the expression gradually progressed towards the equatorial epithelial cells. In the postnatal lens, the increase in membrane water permeability of epithelial cells and lens transparency coincides with the increase in AQP1 expression. AQP1 expression reaches its peak at P30 and continues through the adult stage both in the anterior and equatorial epithelial cells. The enhancement in AQP1 expression concomitant with the increase in the size of the lens suggests the progression in the establishment of the lens microcirculatory system. In vitro and in vivo studies show that both aquaporins share at least one important function, which is water transport in the lens microcirculatory system. However, the temporal expression of these two AQPs suggests an apparently unique role/s in lens development and transparency. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the expression patterns of AQP0 and AQP1 during lens development and differentiation and their relation to lens transparency. Developmental Dynamics 236:1319–1328, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are essential communities of organisms in the Icelandic soil ecosystem, as they prevent erosion and cryoturbation and provide nutrients to vascular plants. However, biocrust microbial composition in Iceland remains understudied. To address this gap in knowledge, we applied high-throughput sequencing to study microbial community composition in biocrusts collected along an elevation gradient (11–157 m a.s.l.) stretching away perpendicular to the marine coast. Four groups of organisms were targeted: bacteria and cyanobacteria (16S rRNA gene), fungi (transcribed spacer region), and other eukaryotes (18S rRNA gene). The amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed the dominance of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria. Within the cyanobacteria, filamentous forms from the orders Synechococcales and Oscillatoriales prevailed. Furthermore, fungi in the biocrusts were dominated by Ascomycota, while the majority of reads obtained from sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene belonged to Archaeplastida. In addition, microbial photoautotrophs isolated from the biocrusts were assigned to the cyanobacterial genera Phormidesmis, Microcoleus, Wilmottia, and Oscillatoria and to two microalgal phyla Chlorophyta and Charophyta. In general, the taxonomic diversity of microorganisms in the biocrusts increased following the elevation gradient and community composition differed among the sites, suggesting that microclimatic and soil parameters might shape biocrust microbiota.


Multiple cytoplasmic inclusion bodies were observed in the intestinal smooth-muscle cells of an adult canary from an aviary with a history of high mortality (50%). Grossly, a mild enteritis was the only lesion appreciable. Smears of the proventricular content contained a few megabacteria (Macrorhabdus ornithogaster). The intestinal inclusions were found in high numbers in all parts of the tract examined. They appeared round to oval, amphophilic, and hyaline in sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and magenta with Feulgen stain. Inclusions of the same type were occasionally detectable in the wall of splenic and pancreatic arteries. No inclusions or lesions were seen in the other organs examined. Transmission electron microscopy of the intestinal wall revealed circovirus-like particles, either in paracrystalline arrays or loose arrangements, mostly within the cytoplasm of the intestinal-muscle cells. Polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequence analysis confirmed infection with canary circovirus.


The use of bone-anchored epistheses for prosthetic reconstruction of orbital defects was presented by Magnus Jacobsson, MD, PhD, Goteborg, Sweden. Fifteen consecutive patients, ranging from 29 to 80 years of age, with congenital or acquired orbital defects were studied to evaluate the success of the technique. The procedure involves two stages. At the first operation, the titanium fixtures were implanted into the bone of the superior and/or lateral orbital rims. At a second procedure, carried out three to 14 months later, a skin-penetrating titanium abutment was applied onto each implanted fixture. The epistheses were then sculpted, and the retention elements were fitted onto the skin-penetrating abutments. In all, 53 fixtures were implanted in 15 patients, two to five having been placed in each patient. Ten patients had received prior radiation therapy. Follow-up ranged from four to 62 months (average, 29 months), and 37 of the 53 implants became osteointegrated during


The current article was designed to assess the role of chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) in the management of hepatic injury induced by the hepatocarcinogen 2-nitropropane (2-NP). Rats were divided into three groups. The first group served as a control, the second group was injected with 2-NP, while the third group was treated with CNPs 1 h before 2-NP injection every other day for 4 weeks. The 2-NP injection upregulated serum AST and ALT activities, as well as hepatic TNF- α, IL-6, and MDA levels and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and caspase-3, whereas GSH contents and SOD activity were decreased. Immunohistochemistry investigations revealed that the hepatic protein expression of collagen I, inducible nitric oxide synthetase, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, cluster of differentiation, and p53 were upregulated. hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson's trichrome stains supported the previous parameters, and CNPs ameliorated most of the previous biochemical parameters. CNPs achieved promising results in the limitation of 2-NP hepatotoxicity.


A three-dimensional problem of frictionless contact interaction of a periodic two-layered elastic half-space and a rigid foundation with a local sloping surface recess is examined. The analysis is performed within the framework of a homogenized model with microlocal parameters. By constructing appropriate harmonic functions, the resulting boundary-value problem is reduced to some mixed problem of the potential theory. In dealing with its solution, the integro-differential singular equation of Newton's potential type for the function of gap height is obtained. To determine the unknown region of the gap the condition of smooth running of its faces is used. As an example, a certain form of the initial defect is considered and in this case the solution of the equation is found analytically by using an analogue of Dyson's theorem.


A new method for compact storage and transmission of medical images with concealed patient information in noisy environment is evinced. Digital watermarking is the technique adapted here for interleaving patient information with medical images. The patient information, which comprises of text data and signal graph, is encrypted to prevent unauthorized access of data. The latest encryption algorithm (Rijndael) is used for encrypting the text information. Signal graphs (ECG, EEG EMG etc) are compressed using DPCM technique. To enhance the robustness of the embedded information, the patient information is coded by error correcting codes (ECC) Reed Solomon (RS) codes. The noisy scenario is simulated by adding salt and pepper (S&P) noise to the embedded image. For different signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the image, bit error rate (BER) and number of character altered (NOCA) for text data and percentage distortion (PDIST) for the signal graph is evaluated. It is elicited that coded systems can perform better than the uncoded systems.


Two-layer anti-reflection coatings on crown glass have been made for helium-neon lasers, using arsenic trisulphide and magnesium fluoride as the high and low refractive index layers. The thicknesses of both films were varied and the reflectivity spectra measured. The most efficient coating had a reflectivity of 0·005±0·002% at λ632·8 nm. The coatings are durable and stable. Good agreement was obtained between the measured and calculated reflectivities; the efficiency of a coating is limited by non-uniformities in the film thicknesses. The effect on the reflectivity of departures in film thicknesses from their optimum values was calculated. The optimum thicknesses of the films were calculated for substrates of different refractive indices and for wavelengths from 0·58 to 1·0 μm.


Milk-of-calcium renal cysts, which when asymptomatic need no treatment, sometimes pose diagnostic problems by conventional radiography. Two such cases are here reported. The first case was further evaluated by ultrasonography only, the second case also by computed tomography and cyst puncture, because of an irregularity in the cyst wall. Both imaging modalities added valuable information.


148 Background: Chemotherapy combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors (Chemo-ICIs) has been the standard of care for advanced NSCLC patients. Smoking status is associated with PD-L1 expression and the TILs within tumor microenvironment, which leads to the efficacy of ICIs. It remains unclear how the combined with PD-L1 expression and smoking status affect the efficacy of Chemo-ICIs. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed advanced NSCLC patients without driver mutation (EGFR, ALK, ROS-1, BRAF) who received Chemo-ICIs from January 2019 to June 2021, and Chemo from January 2014 to December 2016 as a first-line therapy at the National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. The additional benefit of ICIs to chemotherapy were evaluated by comparing the Chemo-ICIs group with Chemo group. Results: During study period, 225 patients received Chemo-ICIs and 133 received Chemo as a first line therapy. Overall response rate (ORR) and progression free survival (PFS) was significantly better in the Chemo-ICIs group than the Chemo group (ORR: 44.9% vs. 40.2%, p=0.01, and median PFS: 8.2 months vs. 6.2 months, P<0.001). The median overall survival was 27.9 months in Chemo-ICIs and 20.4 months in chemo (P=0.14). In the subgroup analysis of PFS, the benefit of Chemo-ICIs compared to Chemo was not observed in never-smoker patients (8.9months vs 8.8months; HR 0.72; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.28; P=0.27). In contrast, among smoker patients, Chemo-ICIs showed significant longer PFS compared to Chemo (7.5 months vs 5.7 months, P<0.001). Next, patients received Chemo-ICIs were classified into six groups, based on the smoking status (never smoker or smoker) and PD-L1 expression (TPS: 0%, 1-49%, or 50%) (Table). Chemo-ICIs showed better PFS rate at 12 months in the smoker/ TPS ≥50% group (42.2% vs 25.0%, p=0.03), and the never smoker/TPS ≥50% group (75.0% vs 27.3%, p=0.05) compared with Chemo (Table). In patients with 1-49% TPS, compared to the Chemo group, significant PFS benefit of ICIs was observed only in smoker patients (42.2% vs 25.0%, p=0.003), not in never smoker patients (46.2% vs 27.3%, p=0.13). In patients with 0% TPS, although the additional benefit of ICIs to Chemo was not observed both in never smoker (13.3% vs 27.3%, p=0.47) and smoker patients (26.6% vs 25.0%, p=0.13), PFS rate at 12 months in never smoker (13.3%) was lowest among all six groups. Conclusions: Our study suggested that additional benefit of ICIs to chemotherapy could be predicted by combined with smoking status and PD-L1 expression. [Table: see text]


This case report describes a patient with solitary bone plasmacytoma who had a gastric relapse of his tumor. Skeletal surveys, magnetic resonance imaging of the spine, and bone marrow examination done at the time of relapse failed to show any other site of disease. Positron emission tomography finally clarified the true extent of the tumor.


We introduce EDS, a direct monocular visual odometry using events and frames. Our algorithm leverages the event generation model to track the camera motion in the blind time between frames. The method formulates a direct probabilistic approach of observed brightness increments. Per-pixel brightness increments are predicted using a sparse number of selected 3D points and are compared to the events via the brightness increment error to estimate camera motion. The method recovers a semi-dense 3D map using photometric bundle adjustment. EDS is the first method to perform 6-DOF VO using events and frames with a direct approach. By design it overcomes the problem of changing appearance in indirect methods. Our results outperform all previous event-based odometry solutions. We also show that, for a target error performance, EDS can work at lower frame rates than state-of-the-art frame-based VO solutions. This opens the door to low-power motion-tracking applications where frames are sparingly triggered "on demand" and our method tracks the motion in between. We release code and datasets to the public.


Pulmonary aspergillosis (PA) is a well-described complication in severely immunocompromised hosts. We report on one case of invasive PA and one case of PA following oral dexamethasone prophylaxis for cerebral oedema. Steroids were administered in a dosage of 14 mg and 16 mg, daily respectively for 21 and 15 days. Both patients died despite antifungal treatment. We conclude that PA must be considered as a cause for pulmonary complications in non-immunosuppressed, non-neutropenic patients during oral dexamethasone prophylaxis for neurological disease.


OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to analyze 50 smiles using 3D stereophotogrammetry (3D-spg)-based facial reconstruction, to calculate ratios involving measurements of the distances between dental and facial landmarks and to compare these ratios with the golden ratio φ (1.618).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Fifty subjects with no obvious malocclusion participated in this study. For each subject, 4 photographs were acquired using the LifeViz Mini™, an absolute calibration 3D-spg system. Facial and dental landmarks (based on Farkas' definitions) were fixed, and 8 distances were measured. Four ratios were then calculated and compared with the value of 1.618.

RESULTS
The ratio "incisal edge of the maxillary central incisor-lower border of the chin/subnasal point-incisal edge of the maxillary central incisor" (IE-Me/SN-IE) was 1.693 ± 0.190, the ratio "right endocanthion-left endocanthion/right exocanthion-right endocanthion" was 1.582 ± 0.173, the ratio "incisal edge of the maxillary central incisor-distal edge of the right canine/distal edge of the right canine-right labial commissure" was 1.670 ± 0.355, and the ratio "right labial commissure-left labial commissure/distal edge of the right canine-distal edge of the left canine" was 1.602 ± 0.136. In contrast, the vertical ratio IE-Me/SN-IE significantly differed from the golden ratio (1 sample t test, P = .009).

CONCLUSION
This study revealed that the observed ratios were surprisingly close to the golden ratio. Only the vertical ratio differed from the golden ratio, whereas the horizontal ratios appear to be adequately approximated by φ.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
If the distances from reference points of the face to teeth within a harmonious smile exhibited recurring esthetic proportions, knowledge of such ratios would provide an additional tool for the elaboration of esthetic treatment plans. In addition, this knowledge could provide guidance when planning tooth positions and dental proportions by encouraging consideration of the global nature of the oro-facial sphere.


The aim of this study was to assess the interacting characteristics of sewage sludge such as temperature, pH, and moisture content of sludge at defined time intervals as to how they affect Coliform die-off in a drying bed. Samples were collected at 0.0mm depth (i.e. surface of sludge), 60mm, 120mm, 180mm and 240mm, and colony count tests were performed on the samples. Results indicate that the number of Coliforms was minimum at the surface, maximum at 60mm depth, and decreased consistently to another minimum value at 240mm depth. This trend could be as a result of the organisms being in their exponential phase with adequate nutrients and growth conditions at 60mm depth, which later experienced decrease in available nutrients, oxygen and unfavorable growth conditions such as unfavorable temperatures, reduced moisture content, acidic pH and water activity. Range of the maxima and minima values of CFU/100ml for the five horizons considered over a period of 76 days were This finding does not conform with the work of Al Malack and others [6] because from their results, the various pathogenic organisms studied were found to survive longer as the sludge initial depth was increased. Short-term and long-term effect of drying indicate that low moisture content favours microbial decay because pathogen removal rate was consistently increasing from 21/01/2013 to 08/02/3013, a condition which started prevailing when the moisture content of sludge in the drying bed had decreased from 88.99 per cent on 29/11/2012 to 65.48 per cent on 21/01/2013. It was recommended that conditioners should be used to dewater sludge faster in order to speed-up pathogen die-off rate in drying beds. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i3.31


Retinoblastoma-binding protein 4 (Rbbp4) is a WDR adaptor protein for multiple chromatin remodelers implicated in human oncogenesis. Here we show Rbbp4 is overexpressed in zebrafish rb1-embryonal brain tumors and is upregulated across the spectrum of human embryonal and glial brain cancers. We demonstrate in vivo Rbbp4 is essential for zebrafish neurogenesis and has distinct roles in neural stem and progenitor cells. rbbp4 mutant neural stem cells show delayed cell cycle progression and become hypertrophic. In contrast, rbbp4 mutant neural precursors accumulate extensive DNA damage and undergo programmed cell death that is dependent on Tp53 signaling. Loss of Rbbp4 and disruption of genome integrity correlates with failure of neural precursors to initiate quiescence and transition to differentiation. rbbp4; rb1 double mutants show that survival of neural precursors after disruption of Rb1 is dependent on Rbbp4. Elevated Rbbp4 in Rb1-deficient brain tumors might drive proliferation and circumvent DNA damage and Tp53-dependent apoptosis, lending support to current interest in Rbbp4 as a potential druggable target. Author Summary Examining the developmental mechanisms controlling neural stem and progenitor cell behavior is critical to our understanding of the processes driving brain tumor oncogenesis. Chromatin remodelers and their associated adaptor proteins are thought to be key drivers of brain development and disease through epigenetic regulation of gene expression and maintenance of genome integrity, but knowledge of their in vivo roles in vertebrate neurogenesis is limited. The chromatin remodeler adaptor protein Rbbp4 has recently been shown to function in a mouse model of neuroblastoma and in glioblastoma multiforme cell resistance to the chemotherapeutic temozolomide. However, an in vivo requirement for Rbbp4 in neurogenesis has only just been shown by isolation of a recessive lethal mutation in zebrafish rbbp4. Here we provide conclusive genetic evidence that zebrafish rbbp4 is essential in neural stem and progenitor cell function during development. Our data reveal for the first time in vivo that Rbbp4 prevents DNA damage and activation of Tp53 signaling pathway that leads to programmed cell death. Importantly, neural progenitors that are mutant for the tumor suppressor Rb1 also depend on Rbbp4 for survival. Finally, we show that neural stem cells that have lost Rbbp4 cease dividing, and may enter a senescent like state. Together, these observations provide novel evidence that elevated expression of Rbbp4 in rb1-mutant tumors may contribute to cancer cell survival by blocking senescence and/or DNA damage-induced cell death.


The lockdown that the city of Skopje has suffered during the months of April to June 2020 in order to control the spread of COVID-19 has significantly changed the acoustic environment in the urban parts of the city. The absence of vehicles, people on the streets and closed restaurants
 has led to a noise reduction captured by the low-cost wireless sensor network in the City of Skopje. The analysis carried out in this paper show reduction in noise pollution strongly correlated with the population's activity and behavior to the new circumstances. Overall, the sound pressure
 levels vary around 65 dB; however, some extreme decrease can be noticed, especially during the quarantine weekends. Also, the noise levels were compared between the same time periods during the year of 2019 and 2020, where it can be perceived reduction in the sound level for 36,5% for the
 day-evening-night noise level indicator (L). Significant variations occur for the indicators L, L, and L, especially during the lockdown weekends.


A simple technique for significantly reducing the effect of the finite gain of amplifiers on the performance of switched-capacitor filters is presented. The effectiveness of this technique has been established by extensive simulation studies. This technique has the potential for simplifying amplifier design and extending the frequency range of switched-capacitor filters by trading gain for bandwidth.


Abstract: Background Gap junctions are clusters of intercellular channels allowing the bidirectional pass of ions directly into the cytoplasm of adjacent cells. Electrical coupling mediated by gap junctions plays a role in the generation of highly synchronized electrical activity. The hypersynchronous neuronal activity is a distinctive characteristic of convulsive events. Therefore, it has been postulated that enhanced gap junctional communication is an underlying mechanism involved in the generation and maintenance of seizures. There are some chemical compounds characterized as gap junction blockers because of their ability to disrupt the gap junctional intercellular communication. Objective Hence, the aim of this review is to analyze the available data concerning the effects of gap junction blockers specifically in seizure models. Results Carbenoxolone, quinine, mefloquine, quinidine, anandamide, oleamide, heptanol, octanol, meclofenamic acid, niflumic acid, flufenamic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid and retinoic acid have all been evaluated on animal seizure models. In vitro, these compounds share anticonvulsant effects typically characterized by the reduction of both amplitude and frequency of the epileptiform activity induced in brain slices. In vivo, gap junction blockers modify the behavioral parameters related to seizures induced by 4-aminopyridine, pentylenetetrazole, pilocarpine, penicillin and maximal electroshock. Conclusion Although more studies are still required, these molecules could be a promising avenue in the search for new pharmaceutical alternatives for the treatment of epilepsy.


Sulfamethoxazole is an antibacterial agent which is commonly prescribed for the treatment of infections in humans and animals. The detection of this drug in the aqueous environment has raised considerable health concerns. Herein, we report the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole at a TiO2–exfoliated graphite (TiO2–EG) anode. The TiO2–EG nanocomposite, synthesised by sol–gel and microwave methods, was characterised by XRD, Raman and FTIR spectroscopies, SEM and TEM. The cyclic voltammograms of the fabricated electrodes were obtained in [Fe(CN)6]3− redox probe. Concentration abatement of the antibiotic was monitored using a UV-vis spectrophotometer and the possible intermediates were investigated using LCMS. After 6 h of the photoelectrocatalytic process, almost 100% of the drug had been degraded and a 90% COD decay was achieved. The photoelectrocatalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole entailed γ-, β-, δ- and e-cleavages, hydroxylation and rings opening. The outcome of this study shows that the EG–TiO2 anode can be applied for the photoelectrocatalytic remediation of water contaminated by pharmaceuticals.


The microgrids are low-to-medium voltage distribution systems, which
constitutes an interconnection of renewable or alternative energy sources (e.g., solar
photovoltaics, wind power, fuel-cells, diesel generators, etc.), energy storage units
(batteries, supercapacitors, electric vehicles, etc.), flexible loads, suitable power
conversion devices, and control units. The fashion in which all these constituents are
interconnected is called as an "architecture" for the microgrid. The microgrid can
operate as a single entity in island mode of operation or in parallel with electric
utility grid in grid-connected mode of operation. Grid-connected mode of operation
is usually preferred to ensure continuous and reliable supply to the local loads.
However, the microgrid should exhibit stable responses to operate in grid-connected
mode, unless, it can disturb the other generators connected in parallel to it.
The fruitful operation of the microgrid depends on four key aspects such as
(i) intermittent nature of the energy sources due to their environmental dependency,
(ii) suitable architecture selection to interconnect all the constituents, (iii) design of
suitable power conversion devices, (iv) design of effective controllers. In literature,
the renewable energy intermittency was addressed by considering hybrid energy
source (combination of different sources instead of the single type of source) and
usage of energy storage units, so that the stored energy can be used in contingencies.
Similarly, three physical architectures such as central DC bus architecture, central
AC bus architecture, and hybrid (AC-DC) coupled architecture (whose selection
impacts the number of power converters required, power conversion efficiency and
quality) were developed based on the type of major power flow (AC or DC) in the
system. Moreover, various network architectures were developed by IEEE-1547,
ISA-95, NIST-Grid 3.0, and IEC-61850 standard groups (whose selection impacts
the communication reliability) in view of providing a hierarchical arrangement of
system constituents and as well external participants in modern-day microgrids.