From the middle of the XIX century up to the end of the XX century, Israel has developed from an agrarian country to the country with an industrial economy and advanced science sector. A significant part of the immigrants of the Jewish community of Palestine were representatives of academic science and engineers. Their number was periodically replenished by highly educated immigrants from Europe. Scientists, university professors and engineers have become the only "natural" resource available to the country in abundance. The first successes Israel scientists have achieved in the field of agriculture — they invented the drip irrigation and its hybrid varieties, leading to high yields in severe local conditions. The Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS), established in 1969, played a leading role in the development of Israeli science and technology. The influence of the military-industrial complex on the formation of Israel NIS was significant. The high technologies developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were further adapted for the civilian market. IDF has also become a provider of highly qualified personnel for civilian industries. In 1950–1960 Israel established specialized transfer companies based on leading national universities to commercialise technologies developed at universities and research institutes. The successful experience of state support of innovations in Israel has become an example for many countries, including Russia.


Cuminum cyminum L. (cumin) is valued for its aromatic and medicinal properties. There are several reports of antibacterial activity of C. cyminum essential oil (CcEO). Accordingly, the present study was conducted to investigate the mechanism(s) of action of the CcEO against multidrug-resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, 10 S. aureus MDR isolates, obtained from different sources, were selected based on the antibiotic susceptibility patterns and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute definition and subjected to the examinations. Our results exhibited promising bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties of the CcEO. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration values ranged from 5 to 10 and 10 to 20 μL ⋅ mL–1, respectively. Scanning electron microscope was used to assess the bacterial cell structure and morphology after the induction with 1/2 MIC concentration of the CcEO. The observed morphological changes appeared to be deformation of the cell membrane and destruction of the cells. In the case of quorum sensing inhibitory potential, treatment of S. aureus isolates with the sub-MIC concentrations (1/2 MIC) of the CcEO significantly reduced the hld expression (3.13-fold downregulation), which considerably controls S. aureus quorum-sensing accessory regulator system. Another virulence factor influenced by the CcEO was the polysaccharide intercellular adhesion production system, as an important component of cell–cell adhesion and biofilm formation. Consequently, the expression level of the intercellular adhesion (ica) locus in the S. aureus cells was examined following treatment with CcEO. The results showed significant decrease (−3.3-fold) in ica expression, indicating that the CcEO could potentially interfere with the process of biofilm formation. Using the ethidium bromide efflux inhibition assay, the S. aureus NorA efflux pump was phenotypically but not genotypically (in quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay) affected by the CcEO treatment. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis, cuminic aldehyde (38.26%), α,β-dihydroxyethylbenzene (29.16%), 2-caren-10-al (11.20%), and γ-terpinene (6.49%) were the most detected compounds. The antibacterial and antivirulence action of the CcEO at sub-MIC concentrations means that no microbial resistance will be promoted and developed after the treatment with this agent. These findings revealed that the CcEO is a promising antibacterial agent to control infections caused by the MDR S. aureus strains.


The development of CLIP [Radford et al., 2021] has sparked a debate on whether language supervision can result in vision models with more transferable representations than traditional image-only methods. Our work studies this question through a carefully controlled comparison of two approaches in terms of their ability to learn representations that generalize to downstream classification tasks. We find that when the pre-training dataset meets certain criteria -- it is sufficiently large and contains descriptive captions with low variability -- image-only methods do not match CLIP's transfer performance, even when they are trained with more image data. However, contrary to what one might expect, there are practical settings in which these criteria are not met, wherein added supervision through captions is actually detrimental. Motivated by our findings, we devise simple prescriptions to enable CLIP to better leverage the language information present in existing pre-training datasets.


Vibration energy is a wasted energy that can be captured from the
surrounding of us for beneficial purpose. The aim of this project is to create a
piezoelectric storing circuit designed for event trigger application that harvest energy
from ambient vibration sources. A super capacitor is used as the storage element for
the energy transformed from mechanical vibration to electrical. A bridge rectifying
and filter circuit is used to convert the piezoelectric AC voltage to DC voltage before
being stored. As we know, energy harvesting devices are self generated and self
powered that normally used for activating low power electronic components which
have low electrical power consumption. This project uses the vibration energy, which
is in the form of mechanical energy that needs to be transformed into the useful
electrical energy using piezoelectric device. Besides that, in this project, the circuit
used for the application is designed and analyzed for its charging and discharging
performance using a range of difference storing elements. A series of experiments
are carried out to verify simulation and theoretical calculation. The setup for the
experiment is done in laboratory with dynamic shaker as the source of vibration to
test the piezoelectric and the storing circuit. Alternate blinking LEDs will be used to
indicate the functional ability of piezoelectric storing circuit as the output result of
the project. As a conclusion, this project demonstrates a self-powered sustainable
electronic system for long lasting low power electronic operation.


Background Thrombocytopenia is the most common hematological abnormality which is encountered in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The incidence in neonates varies greatly, depending upon the population studies. According to the frequency of thrombocytopenia and its complications and because of lack of such research in Iran, this study was performed on neonates admitted to Shahid Sadughi NICU during years 2011-2012. Materials and Methods In a retrospective study, 350 neonates who were admitted to NICU were enrolled in the study. They were categorized to three groups regarding platelet count: mild, moderate and severe thrombocytopenia. Incidence of thrombocytopenia was determined and contribution of variables such as sex, gestational age, intrauterine growth retardation, asphyxia, sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, blood group, placental insufficiency in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) and hypertension (HTN) were analyzed. Results Neonatal thrombocytopenia was found in 100(28.5%) of 350 subjects, consisted of 75.3% early onset and 24.7% late onset, which most of them (96.5%) had mild and moderate thrombocytopenia, and just 3.5% had developed severe thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia was associated with sepsis, intrauterine growth retardation sepsis, asphyxia, GDM, maternal hypertension and prematurity. There was no relation between occurrence of thrombocytopenia and gender. Conclusion The incidence of neonatal thrombocytopenia was 28.5 %. Significant maternal risk factors that lead to thrombocytopenia were HTN and preeclampsia, while risk factors of neonates were asphyxia, sepsis and Intera Uterus Growth Retardation.


This study aims to find out and explain how much influence the Balancing Funds and Budget Calculation Excess Remaining (SiLPA) have on Regional Expenditures in the Bandung Regency Government. The analytical method used is multiple linear regression analysis, which is to determine the magnitude of the effect of two independent variables on one dependent variable which is then tested for the t hypothesis and the f hypothesis test to determine the level of significance of the effect. The population used is the Bandung Regency Budget Realization Report and the sample is taken for 8 years, namely the 2012-2019 period. The results of the study show that the Balancing Funds and the Budget Calculation Excess Remaining (SiLPA) have a positive and significant effect on Regional Expenditures either partially or simultaneously. The results of the Coefficient of Determination of 0.974 (97.4%) and the remaining 0.026 (2.6%) are other variables that also affect Regional Expenditures but are not examined including Regional Original Income, Other Legitimate Income and so on


Abstract The demand for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) continues to grow exponentially, and this has been attributed to a higher prevalence of osteoarthritis and excellent procedural success. In particular, with increasing life expectancies and obesity rates, surgeons are seeing patients with a wider age range. Therefore, we assessed the effects of patient age on: (1) range of motion (ROM); (2) pain and function; (3) physical and mental status; and (4) activity levels following TKA. We assessed 278 TKA patients (108 men, 170 women), with subdivision into three age-specific groups: < 55, 55 to 74, and 75 years or older. ROM was assessed and functional outcomes were evaluated using the Knee Society scoring (KSS) system, the short form-36 (SF-36), and the lower extremity activity scale (LEAS). The patients were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively at 6 weeks, 3 months, 12 months, and then yearly thereafter until 7 years. All cohorts demonstrated improvements in ROM, with no significant differences between the age groups. For KSS objective, there were no significant differences between groups after 6-week follow-up, though in pain and motion, the 75 years and older had the highest mean score at final follow-up (97 points). In KSS function, the < 55 years group had highest scores at 2 (90 vs. 87 vs. 75 points) and 5-year follow-up (96 vs. 88 vs. 72 points). For SF-36 and LEAS, the 75 year and older cohorts had the lowest mean scores at various time points. In the mental component, those < 55 years had the lowest scores postoperatively. It is important to understand the effect of age on post-TKA outcomes, particularly as the cohort of these patients continues to grow. Our results demonstrate that comprehensive preoperative discussions and management are needed, particularly in those patients at either end of the age spectrum (< 55 or ≥ 75 years).


Scholarly studies have resulted in literature that lists numerous different types, functions and motives for silence. The intention of this study was to produce an account of the silences that present in general and accident and emergency radiography (X-ray); collectively referred to as projection imaging. Because silence is multi-faceted and often ambiguous, requisite methods of collages and follow-up conversations were used in the study providing the flexibility to explore a fluid concept.
Projection imaging staff consisting of assistant practitioners, radiographers and student radiographers were invited to take part in collage workshops that were supplemented by observations in clinical practice. Sixteen participants agreed to observations of their clinical practice. An additional twelve participants volunteered to join in collage workshops. The workshop participants chose images that represented silence in clinical practice and each produced a collage. Each workshop participant then attended an individual follow-up conversation to discuss individual collage. The methods allow the production of a series of collage images conceived to be a metaphorical cultural quilt: representing an account of silence and silent practices.
Thematic analysis indicates that silence strategies are used to facilitate the smooth every day running of X-ray departments focused around five themes: emotional labour and social defence; workload; conflict; hierarchy and; dilemma. Silence is used to reflect and enact empathy for patients and colleagues; to facilitate staff and patient wellbeing; also to keep patient waiting times to a minimum. Additionally participants considered that silence reduces the threat of legal action, decreases emotional anxiety, lessens the demands of emotional labour and promote harmonious teamwork.
The study has resulted in an increase in knowledge of silence and silencing strategies in relation to a focused area of projection imaging radiography culture. Set against a background of contemporary health care strategy that encourage the voice of staff and patients, this knowledge will be used to inform future service development, possibilities for change and innovation in the culture of practice. The study concludes that silence is both a help and hindrance to services in a clinical setting.


Objective To prepare an absorbable crosslinked microporous hemostatic starch(ACMHS),to observe its hemostasis effect in the liver,kidney and femoral artery,and to discuss the hemostasis mechanism.Methods Thirty adult healthy New Zealand rabbits of either sex,weighing 2,000-2,250 g,were equally randomized into 3 groups: liver bleeding group(group A),kidney bleeding group(group B) and femoral artery bleeding group(group C).Each group was further divided into a test group and a control group randomly(n=5) according to different hemostatic powders;ACMHS was used in the test group(group A1,B1,C1),and AristaTM was used in the control group(group A2,B2,C2).The bleeding amount and bleeding time were accurately recorded.The pathological changes at incision and in the surrounding tissues of the liver,kidney and femoral artery were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining after test.Results All the bleeding amounts of group A1 and A2 were(1.02±0.10) g and(1.03±0.09) g,and the bleeding time periods of group A1 and A2 were(92.6±5.16) s and(95.6±5.31) s,respectively(P0.05).All the bleeding amounts of group B1 and B2 were(0.92±0.09) g and(0.94±0.08) g,and the bleeding time periods of group B1 and B2 were(87.5±7.48) s and(88.8±6.54) s,respectively(P0.05).All the hemostatic efforts failed in group C.Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed accumulation of red blood cells at the incision and in surrounding tissues of the liver and kidney in group A and group B,without evidence of burn.Conclusion ACMHS has the same hemostatic function as AristaTM in parenchymatous organ injury,but it is not suitable for bleeding of femoral artery injury with high pressure.


Ethephon was applied at 0, 625, 1250, 1875, and 2500 m·gliter -1 in 2 consecutive years to 'Arbequina' olive trees to determine its effect on fruit removal with mechanical harvesting and on fruit oil composition. Ethephon increased the mechanical harvesting efficiency by 20%. Ethephon at 1250 and 1875 mg·liter -1 were the optimum treatments, resulting in 63% and 66% of the olives being mechanically harvested, respectively, with a preharvest olive drop of 10% and 11%. Leaf drop (4.6 and 4.8 kg/tree fresh weight, respectively) at these concentrations did not reduce flowering the following year. Oil acidity, peroxide value, and fatty acid composition were affected little by ethephon and the values observed were within the range of normal annual variation. These results suggest that ethephon did not modify oil quality and that its use on traditionally pruned 'Arbequina' trees is not economically justifiable. Chemical name used: (2-chloroethyl)phosphonic acid (ethephon).


The recent success of graph neural networks has significantly boosted molecular property prediction, advancing activities such as drug discovery. The existing deep neural network methods usually require large training dataset for each property, impairing their performance in cases (especially for new molecular properties) with a limited amount of experimental data, which are common in real situations. To this end, we propose Meta-MGNN, a novel model for few-shot molecular property prediction. Meta-MGNN applies molecular graph neural network to learn molecular representations and builds a meta-learning framework for model optimization. To exploit unlabeled molecular information and address task heterogeneity of different molecular properties, Meta-MGNN further incorporates molecular structures, attribute based self-supervised modules and self-attentive task weights into the former framework, strengthening the whole learning model. Extensive experiments on two public multi-property datasets demonstrate that Meta-MGNN outperforms a variety of state-of-the-art methods.


ABSTRACT The epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibilities of 111 Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus strains isolated from 103 patients from 1983 to 2000 in Québec, Canada, were determined. The median number of patients infected annually with this bacteria was seven, with an incidence of 0.1 per 100,000 population. The male-to-female ratio was 1.1 to 1.0. The patients originated from 13 of the 18 Québec socioeconomic regions. The age range of the patients was 6 months to 90 years old, 53% being ≥70 years old and 2% being <20 years old. The isolation site was blood for 69% of the patients, stools for 20%, and other body fluids for 11% of them. Three patients suffered a relapse, with the same strain being isolated from the same site at different times as confirmed by pulse-field gel electrophoresis. All isolates were susceptible to ampicillin, gentamicin, meropenem, and imipenem, with 90% minimal inhibitory concentrations of 4, 1, 0.12, and ≤0.06 μg/ml, respectively. Three percent and two percent of the strains were, respectively, resistant and intermediate to ciprofloxacin. Thirty-four percent of the strains were resistant to tetracycline. There was a nonsignificant increase in resistance to ciprofloxacin (P = 0.27) and to tetracycline (P = 0.65) in recent years. The percentages of intermediate and resistant MICs were, respectively, 12 and 1% for cefotaxime and 71 and 0% for erythromycin. All strains were β-lactamase negative.


The effect of number of rotor slots on the stator and rotor current waveforms, slot and tooth flux densities and performance characteristics, such as torque, torque ripple, losses, electromagnetic force, power factor, and efficiency are numerically studied in case of a 3-phase, 8-pole squirrel-cage induction machine (IM). The IMs have been designed by using the same winding layout, stator outer diameter, stack length, stator current, and rated speed as the Toyota Prius 2010 interior permanent magnet machine. The designed IMs have 48 stator slots and the number of rotor slots is varied from 30 to 76. The geometry parameters of stator and rotor slots are kept at the same in all calculations. The harmonic content of each curve including the force and flux density curves are studied in detail. It has been revealed that the rotor slot number has a significant effect on the distortion level of the bar current and performance characteristics. It has also been shown that there is an optimal rotor slot number at which the maximum available power factor, torque, efficiency and minimum torque ripple are achieved.


Abstract Pea root rot disease caused by the pathogen Aphanomyces euteiches deserves increased attention, since peas are an important cash crop and also improve the N balance in temperate agriculture. However, due to pea root rot it is difficult to cultivate peas as frequently and successfully as desired. In the search for biological measures to overcome this problem, attention has been drawn to the use of Brassicaceae plants as cover crops between main crops, since these can be effective catch crops for nutrients and also exert allelopathic effects. Many species within the Brassicaceae contain glucosinolates (GSLs). Their hydrolysis products, the volatile isothiocyanates (ITCs), have been shown to suppress soil-borne plant pathogens such as A. euteiches. In addition, Brassicaceae biomass releases water-soluble toxic substances such as oxazolidine-2-thione and supplies nutrients and organic matter. Overall, this influences the soil microbial community and the final suppression of pathogens. Due to the unpredictability of the control effect of Brassicaceae biomass incorporation into soil on the pathogen, there is a need to define the mechanisms behind suppression in the field situation. This review focuses on how incorporation of Brassicaceae biomass suppresses A. euteiches under field conditions and the effect on the emerging pea. Different factors influencing the severity of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) root rot disease are also discussed. One conclusion is that suppression of pea root rot depends on the quality and quantity of incorporated Brassicaceae biomass.


Objective: The objectives of this research were to study quality of life, and to identify the factors (gender, age, postoperative functional class, surgical complications and period of time after surgery) which will predict thequality of life after open heart surgery. Method: A cross sectional descriptive study in 80 pateints who attended at surgery unit, Thammasat UniversityHospital after recovery from open heart surgery were included in this study. The research instrumentsincluded demographic data form and a quality of life questionnaire. Data was analyzed by means offrequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson's product moment correlation coeffi cient andmultiple regression analysis. Results: The result of this research revealed that all patients had mean of total quality of life score = 26.67(SD = 1.90) while the total score = 30. Specifi cally, the highest mean subscale was at the family domain( = 28.74, SD = 2.98), psychological/spiritual domain ( = 27.08, SD = 2.86), health and functioning domain( = 26.35, SD = 2.56) respectively. Whereas the socioeconomic domain was the lowest mean subscale( = 25.48, SD = 2.73). There was a slightly positive signifi cant relationship among post operative functionalclass and period of time after surgery with quality of life score (r = 0.23, p < 0.05; r = 0.24, p < 0.05 respectively).There was a moderately negative signifi cant relationship between surgical complications and quality oflife score (r = -0.51, p < 0.01). The results of stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that29.3 percent of the variance in total quality of life score could be explained by surgical complicationsand period of time after surgery (R 2 = 0.293, p < 0.01). Conclusion: After open heart surgery, the patients had good quality of life level. Surgical complications and periodof time after surgery could predict quality of life. Implication of these fi ndings is useful for the nurseand the health care providers in emphasizing the surgical complications prevention in order to improvepatient's quality of life. Key words: Quality of life, Open heart surgery


[1] A proposed $14 billion network that would increase broadband wireless access poses significant interference problems for existing GPS signals used for some critical U.S. federal science and public safety systems, said officials from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other experts at an 8 September hearing of the House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The officials cautioned that a terrestrial wireless network plan proposed by LightSquared LLC—which includes using frequencies adjacent to the GPS band—needs additional testing before it is given a green light by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In addition, the officials said that although they hope there is a win-win solution to increasing broadband wireless options without harming GPS signals, a recently revised plan that LightSquared indicates would reduce interference to a large majority of GPS receivers still would present problems for a number of high-precision GPS systems.


The purpose of this chapter is to introduce, analyze, and compare the models of wheeled mobile robots (WMR) and to present several realizations and commonly encountered designs. The mobility of WMR is discussed on the basis of the kinematic constraints resulting from the pure rolling conditions at the contact points between the wheels and the ground. According to this discussion it is shown that, whatever the number and the types of the wheels, all WMR belong to only five generic classes. Different types of models are derived and compared: the posture model versus the configuration model, the kinematic model versus the dynamic model. The structural properties of these models are discussed and compared. These models as well as their properties constitute the background necessary for model-based control design. Practical robot structures are classified according to the number of wheels, and features are introduced focusing on commonly adopted designs. Omnimobile robots and articulated robots realizations are described in more detail.


Language engineering is a collaborative endeavor with several people creating and using the modeling languages and related generators. We describe key features of the MetaEdit+ multi-user version that support collaborative language engineering, evolution and use. Several language engineers can create and refine the same modeling language at the same time, see each other's changes, and version language definitions to version control systems. A key characteristic of MetaEdit+ is continuous integration of language definitions and of models created with the languages.


Throwing with accuracy and speed is a skill unique to humans. Throwing has many advantages and the ability to throw has likely been promoted through natural selection in the evolution of humans. There are many unsolved questions regarding the anatomy of the human shoulder. The purpose of this article is to review many of these mysteries and propose that the answer to these questions can be understood if one views the shoulder as a joint that has evolved to throw.


Scientific output by Brazilian researchers has increased. The aim of this study was to evaluate the profile of medical research projects funded with scientific productivity grants from the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq). The authors analyzed the Lattes curricula of all Brazilian medical researchers from 2005 to 2007. The independent variables were gender, type of grant, origin of the resident institution, year of the PhD, number of national and international published articles with respective Qualis classification, number of books and book chapters, number of Master's and PhD theses and scientific initiation monographs supervised, and the journals used for publication. The male/female ratio was 1.94:1. Most of the grantees were in the second class (51.4%), spread across 13 States of Brazil but with the largest contingent in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. 97.1% of the researchers were in universities, and 49.4% of them had completed their PhDs program in the previous 6 to 15 years. Articles were mainly published in Qualis A and C international journals and Qualis B Brazilian journals. The most common form of supervision was for Master's theses, followed by scientific initiation monographs and PhD dissertations. The two journals that published the most articles were the Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research and Transplantation Proceedings. Studies in other areas with similar methodologies could provide better knowledge of Brazil's scientific output and help define strategies to meet research needs, since there are few Brazilian studies on the scientific output generated by CNPq grants


New Swedish guidelines for the management of dyspepsia, H pylori, and duodenal and gastric ulcers The management of dyspepsia in Sweden differs between national county councils, and is often not in line with international recommendations. The Swedish Society of Gastroenterology has together with the Swedish College of General Practice (SFAM) developed new national guidelines for the management of uninvestigated dyspepsia, functional dyspepsia, Helicobacter pylori, and uncomplicated duodenal and gastric ulcers. The new Swedish guidelines emphasize that patients under 50 years of age with new onset of uninvestigated dyspepsia without any alarm symptoms or signs can be managed with the »Test and treat« strategy. Moreover, patients with a known H pylori infection and bothersome symptoms of functional dyspepsia shall be offered eradication therapy. The recommendations for triple therapy for H pylori eradication take into account the estimated average national antibiotic resistance patterns, environmental factors and potential effects on gut microbiota.


Introduction: Separate α1- and β-adrenergic antagonists have shown efficacy in reducing nicotine-motivated behaviors in rodents and humans, supporting a role for the noradrenergic system in mediating the reinforcing properties of drugs of abuse. However, the effect of the combined α1- and β-adrenergic antagonist, carvedilol, on stress-related smoking is unknown. Methods: Using a well-established human laboratory model of stress-precipitated smoking-lapse behavior, we examined whether carvedilol (0 or 50 mg/day; between subject, n=17 per group), administered to steady-state, would attenuate the ability to resist smoking following stress imagery (vs. neutral imagery) and reduce subsequent smoking self-administration in nicotine-deprived smokers (n = 34 total). Tobacco craving, withdrawal, and physiologic reactivity were also assessed. Results: Latency to start smoking and number of cigarettes smoked during the self-administration period did not differ by medication condition. Counter to our hypothesis, tobacco craving demonstrated a medication × time effect, with greater craving in the carvedilol condition. Systolic blood pressure and heart rate demonstrated lower values in the carvedilol versus placebo group, consistent with known effects of carvedilol. Conclusion: While carvedilol attenuated physiologic reactivity consistent with its clinical indication, beneficial effects on smoking outcomes were absent in this preliminary investigation and may suggest possible worsening. Future work may benefit from discerning the single versus combined effects of α1- and β-adrenergic antagonism on smoking outcomes.


Through a partnership between EASTCONN, a regional educational service center, and Three Rivers Community College, both located in eastern Connecticut, students from 5th grade through college have been learning about optics and photonics. Using innovative approaches including hands-on workshops on selected topics in light, vision and optics/photonics, field trips to local photonics industries, and authentic learning opportunities at a college campus, students and their teachers are learning about light and optics with age-appropriate activities and are also being introduced to the potential career opportunities.


The evolution operator of QFT has been evaluated in closed form by applying the Cayley-Hamilton theorem. It has been applied in solving the Dirac equation for the H-atom obtaining new closed spinors. They give the hfs frequency 1085.982 MHz which lies very close to the frequency 1085.812 MHz attributed to the self energy of the electron by perturbation methods. Extensive numerical calculations give an agreement of 98.806% in the worst case. The agreement of the experimental Lamb shift with the theoretically calculated is very good although the radiative corrections have not yet been applied for 11 values of the atomic number, Z. The fine structure value α = 1/137.035 963 15.


We report a mid-infrared femtosecond OPO based on CdSiP2 tunable across 6786–7069 nm, generating record power of 110-mW at 7μm, with passive power and wavelength stability below 3% rms (1-hour) and 0.1% rms (15-min), respectively.


Karyotypes of the aoudad and sheep were compared on the basis of G-banded chromosomes at the 450 band level. The common G-banded karyotype showed the homology of all aoudad chromosomes (2n=58) with sheep chromosomes (2n=54) or sheep chromosome arms. The results of cytogenetic investigations suggest that in this case karyotype evolution has led to reduction in chromosome number as a result of centric fusions. The formation of the first metacentric chromosome occurred in the aoudad. The homology of the G-banding pattern in sheep and aoudad suggests the conservation in linear arrangement of genetic material. Thus comparative cytogenetics can be a useful tool in gene mapping.


In this paper the author presented the results of some of the available studies of students' information seeking behaviour conducted in different countries. The aim of these studies was to identify information needs, sources, and types of library use by the university students from various disciplinary fields. According to the results, the majority of the respondents needed the information for academic purposes (such as papers, assignments or examinations), frequently using information sources like books, journal articles, online sources etc. For many students the internet was a very important source in finding academic materials. Most of the students received advice in finding relevant information sources from their lecturers, peers, and librarians. This paper also describes some aspects related to information seeking behaviour of young students (Generation Y, and Millennial generation) who were influenced by their peers, and had poor understanding of their information needs. They prefer quick Google search, navigation through virtual libraries and spend more time downloading the materials than utilizing e-sources. Although the academic libraries were often used only for borrowing books and using reference material or printed periodicals, it has been established that the role of academic libraries was very significant in satisfying university students' information needs. Further research that could be done building onto the selected studies is examination of information seeking behaviour of the students between different disciplines while taking into the account various context situations in which information tasks are performed. Moreover, further studies should explore factors that affect students' library use, and identify significance of the library instruction in improving academic library services for users.


Web services have enjoyed rapid acceptance in recent years. One of the motivating factors for this is the reliance on open standards for loose coupling and platform independent interface definition. Besides satisfying the functional requirements of an application, a web service also has to cater for the equally important non-functional requirements (NFRs) such as availability and reliability. Though Web services specifications such as WSDL, SOAP and UDDI have been around for quite some time, they however, lack the ability to adequately provide for the NFRs associated with a specification. Second-generation Web services specifications have emerged in an attempt to alleviate these and other short-comings. This paper evaluates these second generation Web services specifications to determine its ability to cater for the NFRs which can then be used to identify the areas that need further attention with respect to creating specifications, stimulating discussion around non-functional properties of Web services, and encouraging formal treatments to those specifications.


BACKGROUND
Acute pain service (APS) has been set up at Siriraj Hospital with the aim of providing postoperative pain management for patients receiving anesthetic pain control and other complicated cases undergoing major operations.

OBJECTIVE
To identify the incidence of moderate to severe postoperative pain and its risk factors. To describe the techniques used and adverse effects in patients under APS care.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
A prospective study in 340 surgical patients under APS care from January to September 2008 was performed. Data were obtained from medical records and patients' answers during 48 hours postoperatively.

RESULTS
The incidences of postoperative pain scores 4-10 at 24 and 48 hours were 28.8% and 7.4%, with median pain intensity (0-10, [interquartile range]) of 2.5 [1.0-4.0] and 1.0 [0.0-2.0], respectively. The risk factors related to pain score 4-10 included analgesic intake for > 2 consecutive weeks prior to operation, type of surgery with severe degree of pain and age 65 years (odds ratios [95% CI] of 7.12 [1.92, 26.44], 6.17 [1.37, 27.77], and 1.87 [1.07, 3.29], respectively). Of the patients, 67.9% received epidural block for postoperative analgesia. The incidences of nausea/vomiting and itching that needed treatment were 12.4% and 9.4%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
Risk factors that should be concerned were age ≤ 65 years, pre-operative prolonged analgesic use and surgeries with expected severe degree of pain.


This paper presents the design and experimental implementation of a longitudinal control system for the operation of automated vehicles in platoons. The control system on each vehicle is designed to have a hierarchical structure consisting of an upper level controller and a lower level controller. The upper controller determines the desired acceleration for each vehicle in the platoon so as to maintain constant accurate spacing between vehicles and ensure string stability in the platoon. The lower controller determines the throttle and/or brake commands required to track the desired acceleration. The design of the lower level controller for low speed operation is made difficult by the fact that the torque converter remains unlocked and the engine speed is not directly proportional to vehicle speed. In addition, the drive torque drops to zero for a brief time interval during each gear shift. Solutions to overcome these low speed problems are described. The design of safe intra-platoon maneuvers so as to allow any car in the platoon to exit by making a lane change are presented. Design of the co-ordination between vehicles for these maneuvers is described. The paper presents extensive experimental results from the public NAHSC demonstration of automated highways conducted in August 1997 at San Diego, California. The demonstration included an eight-car platoon operating continuously over several weeks with passenger rides being given to visitors. The maneuvers demonstrated included starting the automated vehicles from complete rest, accelerating to cruising speed, allowing any vehicle to exit from the platoon, allowing new vehicles to join the platoon and bringing the platoon to a complete stop at the end of the highway.


Kalka, Bartlow, and Cukic adopt the work of Kryszczuk and Drygajlo on unimodal and bimodal biometric classification [1], and present a rather straightforward extension to multimodal classification.

In their 2008 paper [1], Kryszczuk and Drygajlo employ a subjective Bayesian methodology to determine the credibility of a decision. They consider a single event probability as a degree of belief in the occurrence of that event. They demonstrate that such credence estimates can help both in predicting and rectifying verification errors. Consequently, the classification performance can be improved. Moreover, they show in a small experiment that their technique can also be of use for fusion of verification decisions, using two modalities.

Kalka, Bartlow, and Cukic's results show marginal improvement in classification performance. More than anything else, their paper illustrates the complexity of multimodal biometric classification. As it is often shown, sensors' multimodal biometric information processing cannot keep up with the rapid developments in sensor technology.

1) Kryszczuk, K.; Drygajlo, A. Credence estimation and error prediction in biometric identity verification. Signal Processing 88, 4 (2008), 916–925.


Atomic and molecular iodine, I˙ and I2, play important roles in the atmosphere, such as the catalytic depletion of ozone and the oxidation of gaseous elemental mercury. It is known that the major source of I˙ and I2 in the atmosphere is the photodissociation of organoiodine molecules released by algae in the sea. In this study, we show the striking results of the spontaneous and ultrafast oxidation of I- into I˙, which further evolves into I2- and I3- in water microdroplets, presenting a previously unknown source of I˙ and I2 in atmospheric water, such as the sea spray or cloud microdroplets. Mass spectrometric evidence shows that spontaneously generated hydroxyl radicals in water microdroplets are responsible for the oxidation of I-. Taken together, we opine that microdroplet chemistry may adopt significant roles in atmospheric redox chemistry.


The overall goal of this project was to decrease dental plaque scores of residents living at Wild Flower Court (WFC) facility through improved oral health education of staff members. The examiner evaluated WFC nursing staff's knowledge on providing patients with oral care and denture maintenance both before and after oral care training. The staff knowledge levels were correlated with residents' plaque levels to determine if a relationship existed. The hypothesis was that WFC residents would have lower dental plaque levels after nursing staff received the oral health and denture maintenance training. Twenty-seven full-time WFC staff members received the oral health and denture maintenance training and were given a knowledge pre-test and post-training test. The same test was given at one and two month follow-ups to determine levels of retained knowledge. A baseline plaque index (PI) was collected on thirty-six WFC residents 65 years of age and older using a modified version of the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) and a modified Budtz-Jorgensen PI. The PI was collected from residents prior to staff receiving training, and then again at one and two months after staff training. Among the staff that received oral health and denture maintenance training, the post-test revealed a statistically significant increase in knowledge from the pretest (α ≤ .05). Decreased resident PI levels were observed at the one and two month follow-ups. The study provides evidence that educational training to the staff can effectively reduce the PI levels of WFC residents.


RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are recognized as key posttranscriptional regulators that not only modulate the spatiotemporal expression of genes during organism development but also regulate disease pathogenesis. Very limited information exists on the potential role of RBPs in modulating kidney fibrosis, which is a major hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, we report a novel mechanism in kidney fibrosis involving a RBP, Musashi homologue 1 (Msi1), which is expressed in tubular epithelial cells. Using two mechanistically distinct mouse models of kidney fibrosis, we show that Msi1 protein levels are significantly down-regulated in the kidneys following fibrosis. We found that Msi1 functions by negatively regulating the translation of its target mRNAs, p21 and Numb, whose protein levels are markedly increased in kidney fibrosis. Also, Msi1 overexpression and knockdown in kidney epithelial cells cause p21- and Numb-mediated cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, we observed that Numb looses its characteristic membrane localization in fibrotic kidneys and therefore is likely unable to inhibit Notch resulting in tubular cell death. Oleic acid is a known inhibitor of Msi1 and injecting oleic acid followed by unilateral ureteral obstruction surgery in mice resulted in enhanced fibrosis compared with the control group, indicating that inhibiting Msi1 activity renders the mice more susceptible to fibrosis. Given that deregulated fatty acid metabolism plays a key role in kidney fibrosis, these results demonstrate a novel connection between fatty acid and Msi1, an RNA-binding protein, in kidney fibrosis.


Scholars of the American workplace agree that the employment relationship has changed in significant ways but disagree about whether workplaces are now best characterized as 'legalized' or 'restructured', a designation that implies a market orientation in the treatment of workers. We investigate whether a new set of employment practices, namely flexible work arrangements (FWA) such as flextime, compressed work weeks, telecommuting and reduced-hours schedules, are administered using the principles and practices associated with either or both management regimes. Our analyses of in-depth interviews with human resources managers from 41 diverse organizations show that most organizations have formalized FWA with written policies, but these policies institutionalize managerial discretion rather than creating outright rights for employees. Even when organizations write a formal written policy, FWA are managed as negotiated perks available to valued workers if and when managers choose to allow them, as suggested by the restructured workplace regime. We argue that this 'formalized discretion' explains the low utilization and unequal access to FWA found in previous studies. These findings suggest the need to reconsider the theoretical link between formalization and employees' rights in the workplace.


Background Triple X syndrome is a sex chromosomal aneuploidy condition characterized by tall stature, microcephaly, hypertelorism, congenital abnormalities, and motor and language delays. It is mainly derived from maternal nondisjunctional errors during meiosis. To highlight the clinical features and diagnosis of triple X syndrome, we present a rare phenotype of the syndrome. Case Presentation A 5.9 year-old girl was admitted to our hospital because of short stature. Both her height and weight were below the 3rd percentile compared to the normal peers. She was found with mild motor and speech delay. Laboratory investigation showed low level of IGF-1 and zinc, elevated estradiol level and normal result of arginine provocation test. Conclusion Our data suggest that triple X syndrome should also be suspected in patients with short stature, elevated estradiol and low level of IGF-1, even with normal result of arginine provocation test.


OBJECTIVES
The surgical timing and approach for patients with Bell's palsy and complete facial paralysis is controversial. A previous meta-analysis demonstrated no benefit from surgical decompression, however, only transmastoid decompression (TMD) was investigated. No study has evaluated both the outcomes of TMD and middle fossa decompression (MFD).

STUDY DESIGN
Systematic review with meta-analysis.

METHODS
A systematic literature search identifying all studies meeting inclusion criteria and published between 1985 and 2015 was performed. Final House-Brackmann (HB) scores were calculated and compared for TMD, MFD, and medical controls. A meta-analysis was performed to compare MFD less than or equal to 14 days versus MFD more than 14 days, TMD versus medical controls, and surgical therapy (combined MFD and TMD) versus medical controls. Observational studies without a control arm were excluded from the meta-analysis.

RESULTS
Average HB scores for MFD less than or equal to 14 days was 1.8, MFD more than 14 days was 2.75, and MFD medical controls was 2.4. For TMD average HB was 2.3 and for TMD medical controls average HB was 2.4. 75% MFD were performed within 14 days of onset while TMD was performed between 15 and 120 days. Meta-analysis demonstrated significantly better facial nerve outcomes for MFD performed less than or equal to 14 days versus more than 14 days (p < 0.001), but no difference between TMD versus medical controls (p = 0.78) or surgical therapy versus medical controls (p = 0.58).

CONCLUSION
MFD performed within 14 days of symptom onset results in better facial nerve outcomes than MFD performed after 14 days. TMD does not offer improved outcomes over medical management however decompression was only offered after 15 days of symptom onset.


BACKGROUND
It is still unclear the actual contribute of dose intensity (DI), dose size (DS) and dose density (DD) in the conventional chemotherapy of large, B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

METHODS
A prospective, randomized trial compared the cyclic schedule of ProMECE-CytaBOM chemotherapy (cyc-PC, 6 cycles) with a modified version of it, which administered the same drugs sequentially (seq-PC), with the same planned cumulative DI and an 83% DD, within the same time frame (113 days), but with three times higher DS of all the drugs except vincristine.

RESULTS
Fifty-six patients received cyc-PC and 52 seq-PC. The actual mean cumulative DI was 0.79 +/- 0.15 with cyc-PC, 0.78 +/- 0.17 with seq-PC. Response was complete in 59% and 52%, partial in 20% and 21%, null in 5% and 6%, respectively. There were four toxic deaths (two per arm). Relapses occurred in 36% and 37%, respectively. Toxicity was similar in both arms. Overall, failure-free, progression-free and disease-free survival (median follow-up: 54 months) were statistically indifferent.

CONCLUSIONS
The very similar DI actually delivered in both arm seems to be the main common determinant of the indifferent results recorded. Increasing DS--at least within the limits clinically attainable without stem cell rescue--does not improve results.


Buddhist psychology has now gained some credence in the West and is starting to exert a growing influence both on various areas of medicine and well-established Western psychotherapies. We reviewed key texts of both the Eastern and Western Buddhist literature, with particular emphasis on recent well-established Western authors. The Buddhist concept of "selflessness" is often perceived by Westerners as a recommendation for the dissolution of their ego and its propelling forces in their competitive societies, instead of an invitation to dispel the artificial compactness of their "I." With the notions of "Self" and "No self" placed at the interface of Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapies, this article: (i) attempts a description of the pros and cons of the two approaches and (ii) points at a probably greater therapeutic potential when the two work hand in hand rather than as antagonists. Some of the limitations resulting from such a joint approach will also be highlighted.


North Korea announced a second nuclear test on 25 May 2009, the first having taken place on October 9, 2006. Both tests were detected by the global seismic network of the Comprehensive nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty Organisation. We apply a correlation detector using a 10-s signal template from the 2006 test on the MJAR array in Japan to: 1) assess the potential for automatically detecting subsequent explosions at or near the test site; and 2) monitor the associated false alarm rate. The 2009 signal is detected clearly with no false alarms in a three-year period. By detecting scaled-down copies of the explosion signals submerged into background noise, we argue that a significantly smaller explosion at the site would have been detected automatically, with a low false alarm rate. The performance of the correlator on MJAR is not diminished by the signal incoherence that makes conventional array processing problematic at this array. We demonstrate that false alarm elimination by f-k analysis of single channel detection statistic traces is crucial for maintaining a low detection threshold. Correlation detectors are to be advocated as a routine complement to the existing pipeline detectors, both for reducing the detection threshold for sites of interest and providing automatic classification of signals from repeating sources.


Social exclusion, whereby individuals are made to feel isolated by others, has been frequently demonstrated to be detrimental to human social needs and can negatively impact mental and physical health because human beings are intrinsically social (Goodwin et al., 2010). Past research has shown that human motivational, psychological, and affective responses to ostracism indicate increased levels of social pain, the emotional pain we experience when our social needs are violated (Kawamoto et. al, 2013). The current study aimed to assess the impact of social exclusion on neural activity, feelings of belonging, and self-reported distress, while also determining whether these responses would be moderated by ingroup/outgroup racial status. Results revealed that manipulation of racial ingroup vs. outgroup status was not associated with differences in P3 amplitude during social exclusion, contrary to previous research. However, self-reported levels of distress were greater after exclusion by the ingroup compared to the outgroup and were predicted by feelings of belonging and social anxiety. RUNNING HEAD: SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND RACE 3 The Impact of Racial Group Status on Neural Activity, Belongingness, and Distress during Social Exclusion The desire to belong is a fundamental part of who we are as human beings, reinforcing our innate biological drive for social interaction, likely fueled by an evolutionary impetus to build and sustain relationships in an effort to survive and reproduce (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Research has suggested that, due to the intrinsic social nature of human beings, social exclusion can undermine human social needs and prove detrimental to mental health (Goodwin, Williams & Carter-Sowell, 2010). Social exclusion, in this sense, can be defined as an act of discrimination that induces feelings of isolation and unimportance in an individual (Kawamoto, Nittono & Ura, 2013). Thus, it can be said that the value of person-to-person interaction remains critically indispensable to us and a lack of it confers negative emotional and psychological effects. To that end, it has also been suggested that one prominent result of being excluded is the onset of social pain, the emotional pain experienced during exclusionary situations. Goodwin and colleagues (2010) suggest that, in violating social needs, the aversive experience of social exclusion impinges on one's self-worth and leads to "an overt, immediate, and robustly painful yet minimally moderated response" (Goodwin et al., 2010, p. 612). Social pain involves a violation of social needs and is akin to actual pain. In fact, some of the same areas of the brain that are active during the experience of physical pain are active during the experience of social pain as well (Eisenberger, Lieberman & Williams, 2003). Neuroimaging techniques have shown that exclusion causes increased activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus (dACC), responsible for the intense emotional unpleasantness accompanying pain (Nishiyama et al., 2015). Furthermore, there is a correlation between activity in this area of the brain and relative RUNNING HEAD: SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND RACE 4 amounts of self-reported distress (Sleegers, Proulx & van Beest, 2017). Additionally, studies of individuals suffering from chronic pain have found that hurt feelings augment the physical pain experienced (MacDonald & Leary, 2005). This is all evidence that points to a shared overlap between the neural systems involved in social pain and physical pain. Specifically, these findings support the theory of social-physical pain overlap, based on the idea that "humans evolved to become more social and adapted physiological systems to monitor responses to social cues" (Sleegers et al., 2017). Altogether, this suggests that physical and emotional pain systems can be thought of as deeply intertwined. Social exclusion, and reactionary social pain by extension, has also been shown to be moderated by ingroup-outgroup status to an extent. By nature, people are wired to affiliate and align themselves with others who are similar to them in some way, but also maintain a tendency to stray away from those who are not (Brewer, 1991). An ingroup refers to a social grouping that an individual identifies as being a part of on a psychological level (due to some perceived degree of similarity or likeness when compared with oneself), while an outgroup is one in which the opposite reigns true. Social categorization has been shown to lead to biased perceptions of one's outgroup. According to Brewer's Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (1991), one has a proclivity to naturally favor their own ingroup above the outgroup. In essence, solidarity is fostered by attachment to others similar to oneself. Thus, by nature of this, a default and subconscious bias towards the outgroup can surface and stem from simply liking and affiliating with one's own ingroup. However, this attachment to the ingroup gives rise to a new obstacle for members: while social inclusion leads to positive outcomes for individuals (due to increased levels of perceived similarity), social exclusion tends to hurt more coming from ingroup members than when it comes from outgroup members (Sacco, Bernstein, Young & Hugenberg, 2014). Indeed, RUNNING HEAD: SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND RACE 5 "ostracism by ingroup members may be interpreted as evidence of dissimilarity between the self and group, which may sharpen the negative experience of social exclusion" (Sacco et al., 2014, p. 131). If exclusion occurs within the ingroup, this may result in contracted degrees of perceived belongingness to the ingroup and greater interpersonal distress. Regardless of the source of the ostracism, however, it would appear that the pain of being stigmatized is lessened by the solidarity conferred by identifying with others who are cast out (Schmitt, Spears & Branscombe, 2002). Thus, a collective sense of identity is forged from perceived exclusion of the individual, giving one a place among others in the same position. And as a result, a resilience is fostered. In this regard, the formation of a new ingroup takes place to diminish the weight of the psychological/emotional blow inflicted by the ostracism itself. The aim of the current study was to extend previous lines of research by examining how social exclusion by ingroup and outgroup members affects neural and emotional responses. To accomplish this, we recruited 29 participants (16 African-American and 13 Caucasian) who engaged in a social exclusion computer task while their brain responses were monitored. Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record brain activity, as it serves as an ideal, noninvasive measure of electrophysiological activity that allows for a rather acute temporal track of authentic and timely cognitive processes affiliated with social behavior, such as responses to perceived exclusion. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are depictions of brain activity determined after averaging over multiple presentations of stimuli. In this sense, they are thought to be representative of cognitive processes that occur in action. Previous research looking at ERP fluctuation in response to ostracism demonstrated that relative levels of distress caused by social exclusion were correlated with frontal slow wave activity (580-900 ms post-stimulus) and the activity became more positive in subjects experiencing less distress and more negative in those RUNNING HEAD: SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND RACE 6 contending with greater distress (Crowley et al., 2009). Further, a separate study concluded that exclusion was tightly associated with the amplitude of a specific, positive ERP component, the P3 (300-800 ms post-stimulus). In using a computer-based social exclusion task, this group of researchers was able to segment and define the functionality of P3 activity in the context of exclusion. It was found that P3a activity (in more frontal/anterior regions of the brain) is linked to the affective processing of exclusion, while P3b amplitude (in the parietal lobe) is related to its perceived intensity. This is consistent with similar research studies that have revealed strong, positive correlations of subjective social pain (and increased negative affect) with heightened P3b amplitude—this is expressed as higher attentional salience in response to exclusionary cues (Kawamoto et al., 2013) Taken together, these results suggest a regional, time-sensitive allocation of brain resources in response to perceived exclusion and subsequent shifts in social behavior. By means of this study, we aim to gain more concrete answers to our core scientific questions: 1) How does the impact of social exclusion affect neural activity? 2) Is this impact moderated by ingroup/outgroup status, particularly in the context of race? 3) Does ingroup/outgroup status affect individuals' level of belongingness and negative emotional responses following exclusion? Based on previous work, we hypothesized that: 1) Social pain, evoked by social exclusion, will lead to increased P3 activity typically correlated with negative mood, and heightened attentional allocation to exclusionary cues (Weschke & Niedeggen, 2015). RUNNING HEAD: SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND RACE 7 2) Social exclusion will yield different neural processing when it comes from a racial ingroup/outgroup member, possibly pointing to different innate sensitivities/responses to social pain. 3) Social exclusion will yield different levels of social belongingness and distress based on whether they are rejected by ingroup compared to outgroup members. More specifically, we anticipate that neural processing of exclusion and self-reported feelings of distress will be larger and that feelings of social belongingness would be lower in response to ingroup exclusion than outgroup exclusion, falling in line with previous research. To test these hypotheses, we used an exclusionary research paradigm known as "Cyberball". In this program, participants are


Speculation that a universal varicella vaccination program might lead to an increase in herpes zoster (HZ) incidence has been supported by modeling studies that assume that exposure to varicella boosts immunity and protects against reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) as HZ. Such studies predict an increase in HZ incidence until the adult population becomes predominantly composed of individuals with vaccine-induced immunity who do not harbor wild-type VZV. In the United States, a varicella vaccination program was implemented in 1995. Since then, studies monitoring HZ incidence have shown inconsistent findings: 2 studies have shown no increase in overall incidence, whereas 1 study has shown an increase. Studies from Canada and the United Kingdom have shown increasing rates of HZ incidence in the absence of a varicella vaccination program. Data suggest that heretofore unidentified risk factors for HZ also are changing over time. Further studies are needed to identify these factors, to isolate possible additional effects from a varicella vaccination program. Untangling the contribution of these different factors on HZ epidemiology will be challenging.


There have been a number of waves of artistic influence from Asia on the European West in the last few hundred years. Chinoiserie was one in the eighteenth century, driven by fashion, followed by Japonisme in the late nineteenth, driven by the discovery of a very different aesthetic. In the twentieth century the main influence has been culturally much deeper: into the depths of understanding of the world through philosophy, belief and religion. It only happened - as influence always does - because the receiver is in the right moment to listen, see, understand, and then incorporate these new ideas into their own work.


In this investigation, we propose and investigate the standard WiMAX access in high speed railway (HSR) using radio over fiber (RoF) link. We also discuss the theory of mobile WiMAX at a target speed of 300 km/hr in simulation. We also analyze the effect of the Doppler frequency shift over HSR. The effective transmission fiber length in the WiMAX-RoF system was limited due to the time-division-duplex (TDD) protocol in the practical WiMAX. Thus, we also demonstrate the transmission limitation and performance of the standard WiMAX access in RoF link. The performances of throughput and packet loss at different fiber lengths are also investigated and discussed. Furthermore, a WiMAX-RoF field trial is also demonstrated based on a simple two RAUs RoF architecture. It was tested and measured in the SongShan tunnel of the Taiwan high speed railway (THSR).


A design of the injection low energy transport line for the proposed NSLS UV-FEL is presented. The main concern is to control the beam transverse emittance dilution due to space charge, energy spread and non-linear forces introduced by magnetic elements. The design considerations to optimize the transport line are discussed including the deleterious effects of space charge and energy spread as modeled by the particle code PARMELA. The results from PARMELA are analyzed, and the concept of slice emittance is used to examine the causes of emittance growth.


Ten genera of potentially important nematodes were associated with plantains on three holdings where the influence of rainfall on plaintain nematodes was investigated. Only Rotylenchulus reniformis and Helicotylenchus spp showed statistically significant responses to rainfall patterns. In heavy clay soils with high water retention, populations of these nematodes increased and decreased with the number of days and/or total rainfall but in a well drained clay loam, there were significant negative correlations between their populations and the number of days of rain and/or total rainfall, but after time lags in either situation. R. reniformis and H. multicinctus were able to maintain moderate to high soil populations under prolonged drought conditions. Populations of all the nematodes at one location decreased markedly after flood rains.


Complications following the use of the cuffless large animal endotracheal tube during general anesthesia in 2 horses are reported. One horse developed laryngeal edema during recovery. The edema was treated successfully with dexamethasone, but severe laryngeal trauma was confirmed 24 hours later at necropsy. The second horse had a swollen tongue and had difficulty eating for 3 days after anesthesia. The condition resolved without treatment. this report is a reminder of the potential damage which can occur from endotracheal intubation.


The goal of this study was to retrospectively estimate the exposure dose of a victim from the Lilo radiological accident in Georgia after 22 y and compare it with the original cytogenetics-based analysis performed in our laboratory. Similar types of studies have been published, notably involving victims of the Chernobyl, Goiânia and Tammiku accidents. Nevertheless, their estimations were done after shorter periods of time post-exposure, and in some cases, the exposure might not have been exclusively of an external nature. In this study, Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) was used to score chromosomal translocations in lymphocytes from a recent blood sample of the victim and the dose assessment was performed using our laboratory's FISH calibration curve. The resulting whole-body exposure dose of 0.35 Gy [0.12, 0.72] was similar to the one obtained when reanalysing the original scoring data from 1997 (0.38 Gy [0.13-0.75]), suggesting that our current calibration curve could be used for relative dose estimations long time after external exposure.


Cloud-Native Applications (CNA) are designed to run on top of cloud computing infrastructure services with inherent support for self-management, scalability and resilience across clustered units of application logic. Their systematic design is promising especially for recent hybrid virtual machine and container environments for which no dominant application development model exists. In this paper, we present a case study on a business application running as CNA and demonstrate the advantages of the design experimentally. We also present Dynamite, an application auto-scaler designed for containerised CNA. Our experiments on a Vagrant host, on a private OpenStack installation and on a public Amazon EC2 testbed show that CNA require little additional engineering.


In medicolegal practice, rare cases involving suicidal, criminal, or accidental insulin overdose are both analytically and forensically challenging. The aim of this study is to present a model procedure in such cases, developed at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, with particular emphasis on the possibility of additional confirmation of insulin intake by its immunohistochemical detection at the injection site. In the example case presented here, an immunohistochemical examination using FLEX Polyclonal Guinea Pig Anti-Insulin antibody (code IR002, Dako) confirmed the presence of insulin in the subcutaneous tissue of the victims. In our opinion, the method of immunohistochemical detection of insulin at the injection site can and should be used routinely in such cases.


This paper briefly presents a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) docking simulator concept. A critical requirement for the docking simulation of the HIL simulator is that its 6-degree of freedom (DOF) robots have to mimic the dynamic response of two satellites during contact/docking. However, the closed-loop response is influenced by the time delay of the robots controller, as well as by the robots high structural stiffness. This effects gives rise to unrealistically high impact forces, which not only jeopardize the safety of the facility, but also introduce a nondeterministic error in the docking simulation. Furthermore, the controller time delay will generally destabilize the HIL simulation. In order to mitigate these undesired effects, a new tool for emulating impacts is presented, which is based on a combination of passive and active compliance. This approach ensures safe operation of the simulation facility and also allows to reproduce impact dynamics with different values of stiffness and damping characteristics. This paper presents the extension of the method for more than one dimension. In addition, this paper presents the effect of parameters which are time delay, stiffness, damping and masses of the simulating satellites on the stability of the HIL docking simulator. The method is validated in simulation.


To improve the toughness of silk fibroin( SF) films,poly( ethylene glycol-glycerin)( PEGG) was synthesized with ethylene glycol and epichlorohydrin. The SF / PEGG blend films were prepared by casting aqueous solution and their structures were characterized. The PEGG was in liquid state at room temperature so it will not be a single phrase at blend film. It crosslinked with SF and made it insolubility in water. The results of X-ray diffraction( XRD) indicated that the crystallinity of the SF in the blend films decreased with the content of PEGG increasing. The tensile strength and elongation at break of blend films were measured using an instron tensile tester. The results showed that the tensile strength and elongation at break of blend films were high enough for application.After the blend films were stored at room temperature for 100 d,the crystallinity, the tensile strength and elongation at wet state increased. The blend films are superior to SF films in providing excellent flexibility and mechanical properties in both dry and wet states. Based on the fact that SF has good biocompatibility,the SF /PEGG blend film will offer new options in many different biomedical applications.


Financial knowledge is not wide spread in Germany. In that respect we confi rm results found for other countries, like the United States and the Netherlands. Women, those with low education and low income, as well as households in east Germany are at risk of having low fi nancial literacy. In 2001 a state subsidized private pension scheme (Riester pensions) was introduced in Germany. The central question is, Are Riester pensions successful at encouraging individuals with low fi nancial literacy to save privately for old age? Our results indicate that financial literacy is positively related to privately saving for retirement independent of state subsidies. Levels of private coverage are particularly low among individuals in the lowest income quartile, who would profi t most from the state subsidies. At the same time they show the lowest levels of financial literacy.


In April 1994, the Shuttle Radar Laboratory (SRL-1) obtained quad-polarization data in L-band (/spl lambda/=24 cm) and C-band (/spl lambda/=5.6 cm) and VV-polarized data in X-band (/spl lambda/=3 cm). Preliminary analyses show that radar backscatter coefficients (/spl sigma//sup 0/) can be used to map the aerodynamic roughness parameter, z/sub 0/, over large areas from orbit, as demonstrated by comparisons with measurements of z/sub 0/ obtained in the field. Although all wavelengths and polarizations show fairly good correlations with z/sub 0/ (r=0.78), L-band HV shows the best relationship (r=0.81). This result has potential use in regional studies of sand and dust transport, modeling atmospheric circulation, and general climate studies. SRL images of aeolian landforms were also studied, including dunes, sand sheets, and wind streaks. Dunes in the Stovepipe Wells area of Death Valley were clearly visible on L-band HV images, but not detected on C-band images. In the same area, L-band penetrated a sand sheet to reveal a buried fault scarp. L-band images in Namibia showed the classic linear dunes near Gobabeb and also revealed previously undetected sets of "cross dunes". Wind streaks were imaged in several areas, including Namibia where streaks are associated with the impact crater, Roter Kamm. These features enable mapping of near surface wind patterns. >


Background: This survey study was designed to analyze the current prescription pattern of anti-diabetic drugs that used in diabetic patients with cardiovascular complications within Dhaka metropolis. Methods: The present study has been conducted by out-patient department in a number of well-known general and specialized government and private hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh for 5 months. 1200 prescriptions and questionnaire were randomly evaluated for this present survey. A standard questionnaire was prepared, containing 17 different questions, to conduct the survey based on patient's demographic data such as which type of diabetes they have contained, age, gender, education and their self-assessment of health, disease history and medication. Results: Among the patients involved in this study, there were 46% (550) male and 54% (650) female between the ages of 30 and 75 years. Between 46 and 70 years, 19% male and 31% female were found to be diabetic indicating that in this age group female are mostly affected by diabetes. About 2020 antidiabetic drugs were prescribed by the physicians in which 30.43% contained single, 54.16% contained two and 15% contained more than two anti-diabetic drugs. Amongst antidiabetic medications, metformin was the most commonly prescribed drug which was given in 30.69% patients followed by glimepride 10.9%, 5.45% had glipizide, 1% pioglitazone and other drugs. A total of 7.43% drug was prescribed by fixed dose combinations. Highest percentage of male diabetic patients with hypertension (86%), dyslipidemia (100%) and other complications (57%) was found at 75 years of age while no female patients were found under the same condition at the same age. Conclusions: The findings can serve as a guide to choose the formulation and combination of anti-diabetic drugs in this part of the world before developing & marketing any new drug. Therefore it is necessary to create better awareness among people, focus on rational use of anti-diabetic drugs and also motivate our physicians to prescribe the generic drugs.


A prototype, computer-based tool (TAPS) has been developed to aid training system developers in identifying skills, knowledges, and abilities (SKAs) during task analysis. TAPS uses concepts of flexible pattern matching to evaluate English descriptions of job behaviors and to recode them as SKA lists. This paper addresses the rationale for TAPS and describes its design including SKA definitions and task analysis logic. It also presents examples of TAPS's application.


Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women. In recent times, survival outcomes have improved dramatically in accordance with our enhanced understanding of the molecular processes driving breast cancer proliferation and development. Refined surgical approaches, combined with novel and targeted treatment options, have aided the personalisation of breast cancer patient care. Despite this, some patients will unfortunately succumb to the disease. In recent times, translational research efforts have been focused on identifying novel biomarkers capable of informing patient outcome; microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding molecules, which regulate gene expression at a post-transcriptional level. Aberrant miRNA expression profiles have been observed in cancer proliferation and development. The measurement and correlation of miRNA expression levels with oncological outcomes such as response to current conventional therapies, and disease recurrence are being investigated. Herein, we outline the clinical utility of miRNA expression profiles in informing breast cancer prognosis, predicting response to treatment strategies as well as their potential as therapeutic targets to enhance treatment modalities in the era of precision oncology.


The growing popularity of mobile data services necessitates a rapid rise in network capacity not only on the air interface to the end user, but also in the backhaul network. The latter is quite important for the mobile operator business model, affecting capital investment, operational expenses, service deployment, and customer experience. Fiber infrastructure is inevitably the only long-term solution, and the deployment of passive optical networks presents an opportunity for a cost-effective, scalable, and future-proof solution. In this article we investigate the use of PONs for mobile backhaul and propose a resource allocation framework building on the efficiency of PONs to share resources, dynamically allocate bandwidth in real time, and enhance efficiency by improved statistical multiplexing. The main objective of this work is to exploit existing standardized technologies, and provide design and deployment guidelines regarding PON MAC operation, enabling a gradual and future-safe infrastructure upgrade of mobile backhaul systems.


A quick matrix multiplication algorithm is presented and evaluated on a cluster of networked workstations consisting of Pentium hosts connected together by Ethernet segments. The obtained results confirm the feasibility of using networked workstations to provide fast and low cost solutions to many computationally intensive applications such as large linear algebraic systems. The paper also presents and verifies an accurate timing model to predict the performance of the proposed algorithm on arbitrary clusters of workstations. Through this model the viability of the proposed algorithm can be revealed without the extra effort that would be needed to carry out real testing.


The mathematical structures of loopy belief propagation are reviewed for Bayesian image modeling from the standpoint of statistical mechanical informatics. We propose some schemes for evaluating the statistical performance of probabilistic binary image restoration. The schemes are constructed by means of the LBP, which is known as the Bethe approximation in statistical mechanics. We show some results of numerical experiments obtained by using the LBP algorithm as well as the statistical performance analysis for the probabilistic image restorations.


Goals for the management of osteoarthritis (OA) emphasize pain relief, reduction of inflammation, and improvement in functioning. Among pharmacological pain management interventions, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are frequently recommended as the most effective treatment option for OA. However, the use of traditional oral NSAIDs is associated with risk of serious adverse events involving the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal systems. Topical NSAIDs are an alternative with well-established tolerability and efficacy in the treatment of OA of the knee or hand. While the management of OA pain is evolving toward the more widespread use of topical NSAIDs, some OA management guidelines have yet to incorporate these agents in their recommendations. This review examines the efficacy and tolerability of topical NSAIDs, their current placement in OA management guidelines, and their potential role in enabling pain specialists to provide individualized care for their patients with OA.


Conversational agents are increasingly becoming digital partners in our everyday computational experiences. Although rich, and fresh in content, they are oblivious to users' locality beyond geospatial weather and traffic conditions. We introduce conversational agents that are hyper-local, embedded deeply into the urban infrastructure providing rich, purposeful, detail, and in some cases playful information relevant to a neighborhood. These agents are spatially constrained, and one can only interact with them once she is in close vicinity at street-level granularity. In other words, the city provides personal, stateful, spontaneous service to its citizens through the agents installed in urban landmarks. Drawing lessons from two user studies, we identify the requirements for this system. We then discuss the architecture of these agents that leverage covert communication channels and machine learning algorithms that run on the edge and wearable devices to offer meaningful conversational experience in urban settings.


We define a new logic, STRAND, that allows reasoning with heap-manipulating programs using deductive verification and SMT solvers. STRAND logic ("STRucture ANd Data" logic) formulas express constraints involving heap structures and the data they contain; they are defined over a class of pointer-structures R defined using MSO-defined relations over trees, and are of the form ∃→x∀→y (→x,→) x" , where "φ" is a monadic second-order logic (MSO) formulawith additional quantification that combines structural constraints as well as data-constraints, but where the data-constraints are only allowed to refer to "→x" and "→y"
 The salient aspects of the logic are: (a) the logic is powerful, allowing existential and universal quantification over the nodes, and complex combinations of data and structural constraints; (b) checking Hoare-triples for linear blocks of statements with pre-conditions and post-conditions expressed as Boolean combinations of existential and universal STRAND formulas reduces to satisfiability of a STRAND formula; (c) there are powerful decidable fragments of STRAND, one semantically defined and one syntactically defined, where the decision procedure works by combining the theory of MSO over trees and the quantifier-free theory of the underlying data-logic. We demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of the logic by checking verification conditions generated in proving properties of several heap-manipulating programs, using a tool that combines an MSO decision procedure over trees (MONA) with an SMT solver for integer constraints (Z3).


Summary. We assessed bird sensitivity to forest fragmentation in two adjacent landscapes in the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil. One landscape is naturally fragmented and has high connectivity, whereas the other is human-fragmented and has low connectivity. We tested whether the sensitivity of bird species to fragmentation depends more on the intrinsic characteristics of the birds than on landscape connectivity. Point counts were used to sample small and large forest remnants in each landscape. The abundance of each species in these remnants was used as a proxy for sensitivity. To test whether the two landscapes differ in connectivity, we compared the following landscape metrics: landscape shape index (LSI), proximity index (PROX) and connectance index (CONNECT). We analysed the sensitivity of 85 species, 51 of which occurred exclusively in one of the two landscapes. In the landscape with low connectivity we recorded a large number of sensitive species. Among the 34 species that occurred in both landscapes, 24 species (18 non-sensitive and six sensitive) had the same sensitivity. Landscape connectivity seems to be more significant when we focus on the bird communities as a whole. However, when we focus on the same bird species in different landscapes, intrinsic characteristics of species seem to affect their sensitivity to fragmentation more than does landscape connectivity, especially for bird species with lower sensitivity. Therefore, our results show that increasing landscape connectivity may not be the best tool for bird conservation in naturally fragmented landscapes. Nevertheless, it will be important to test further whether forest bird species are more sensitive to environmental degradation in naturally fragmented landscapes than in human-fragmented landscapes.


This study aimed at ascertaining gender and work related stress among library staff of polytechnics in South-South Nigeria in order to spotlight the management techniques of work related stress by gender. The study employed a descriptive survey method. The instrument employed for data collection was the questionnaire. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using percentage count and mean(x) for the research questions and z-test at 0.5 level of significance for the formulated hypothesis. The population of the study consisted of a focus group made up of 148 male and female library staff. The study revealed that more females than male polytechnic library staff indicated non-conducive work environment as the cause of job stress. There were significant gender differences in the management of job stress as expressed by both gender. The male Library workers employed the techniques of clarity of ambiguous roles expectation, cultivation of positive attitude to work and training and retraining to manage work stress. Female workers employed techniques such as job sharing, discussion with friends, flexible work hours and developing healthy life styles as management tips. The study recommended that the Polytechnic authorities and library management should provide enabling work environment in the libraries and reduce staff work load in order to minimize the incidences of job stress to the barest minimum among others. Keywords : Gender, Job, Stress, Management, technique, Staff, Polytechnics


The objective of this work is to reassess the Chomsky-Skinner controversy, 50 years after the publication of Verbal Behavior. For this purpose, I will summarize some of the hypotheses proposed by Skinner (1), then I will analyze the criticisms by Chomsky (2), and will expose some of the most recent answers to the argument that the complexity of language and the poverty of stimulus imply an innate knowledge of grammar (3). It is concluded that the attitude of opposition towards Skinner's theses by many language researchers was originated largely due to mistakes in Chomsky's criticisms, that the Chomsky-Skinner controversy is not closed, and that the proposals of Verbal Behavior are still implemented in diverse research programs.


Most of the Egyptian place names are derived from various languages that were spoken in Egypt centuries ago. These languages include Ancient Egyptian, Coptic, Greek, etc. The contact between Arabic, after the Islamic Advent, and these languages was essential in shaping the forms of the Egyptian place names. However, other places acquired their names after the Arab conquest of Egypt, which are similarly of interest to the present research. This paper investigates the socio-morphological alterations that some of the Egyptian place names have undergone to reach their currently used forms. For this purpose, the researcher uses the tools of the theory of Construction Morphology (CM), developed by Booij (2005), under the fabric of socio-morphology. CM tackles any linguistic unit as a "pairing of form and meaning" or a function related to that form. Hence, CM is considered one of the adequate means to conduct this analysis; because it deals with the various linguistic levels, i.e. phonology, syntax, morphology, and even pragmatics, on an equal basis. To meet the goals of the study, the selected forms are analyzed in order to detect any significant modifications that they have undergone. The results demonstrate that a large number of these names was subject to various morpho-phonological alterations in order to reach the currently used forms for different reasons. These include socially governed purposes, ease of articulation, and the influence of Coptic, which ceased to generate new forms or schemas. In addition, since schemas in CM are language specific, new ones had to be developed to account for the Arabic place names under analysis.


For cohomological (resp. homological) coefficient systems ${\mathcal F}$ (resp. ${\mathcal V}$) on affine buildings $X$ with Coxeter data of type $\widetilde{A}_d$ we give for any $k\ge1$ a sufficient local criterion which implies $H^k(X,{\mathcal F})=0$ (resp. $H_k(X,{\mathcal V})=0)$. Using this criterion we prove a conjecture of de Shalit on the acyclicity of coefficient systems attached to hyperplane arrangements on the Bruhat-Tits building of the general linear group over a local field. We also generalize an acyclicity theorem of Schneider and Stuhler on coefficient systems attached to representations.


Since melt-textured RE-system bulk can trap strong magnetic flux, it acts as a quasipermanent magnet stronger than conventional permanent magnets. Large single domain Dy-123 system superconductors about 48 mm in diameter and 15 mm in thickness were prepared with a seeding and temperature gradient method in air. DyBa2Cu3Ox (Dy-123) and Dy2BaCuOy (Dy-211) powders were mixed in molar ratios of 1:0.3. Ag2O of 10 wt% and Pt of 0.5 wt% were added to the mixture. The pellets were partially melted at 1070 °C for 4 hour, and rapidly cooled to 980 °C for one hour. When the top temperature of the sample reached 980 °C, the ab-plane of Nd-123 seed crystal was placed in contact with the top surface of the bulk. After the seeding, the samples were cooled to 930 °C with a cooling rate of 0.07-0.08 °C/hr, and then the bulks were cooled to room temperature with furnace cooling. Finally, the samples were annealed in pure oxygen atmosphere from 500 °C to 250 °C for 500 hours. Two samples of the melt-textured single domain were fabricated. Homogeneous morphology was obtained in the samples. When magnetic field of 1.5 T was applied for the samples, about 0.7 T was trapped at 77.3 K.


A high performance viterbi decoder for TCM is proposed. Viterbi decoder of the dominant module to determine the overall power consumption of TCM decoders.T-algorithm can be proposed for VD operation which can be effectively reducing the power consumption without degrading the decoding speed. Minimum value of each BMU value can be calculated.BMU or TMU passed through the threshold voltage to calculate new threshold voltage to calculate new threshold value. In this paper a low power reconfigurable Viterbi decoder for Wi-Max receiver is used.


Financing Agreement (Power Sector Development Policy Credit) between the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the International Development Association (with schedules, appendix and International Development Association General Conditions for Credits and Grants, dated 1 July 2005, as amended through 15 October 2006). Washington, 17 June 2008


This paper describes the neutronic benchmarks and the results obtained by the various participants of the FP7 project EVOL and the ROSATOM project MARS. The aim of the benchmarks was two-fold: first to verify and validate each of the code packages of the project partners, adapted for liquid-fueled reactors, and second to check the dependence of the core characteristics to nuclear data set for application on a molten salt fast reactor (MSFR). The MSFR operates with the thorium fuel cycle and can be started with 233U-enriched U and/or TRU elements as initial fissile load. All three compositions were covered by the present benchmark. The calculations have confirmed that the MSFR has very favorable characteristics not present in other Gen4 fast reactors, like strong negative temperature and void reactivity coefficients, a low-fissile inventory, a reduced long-lived waste production and its burning capacities of nuclear waste produced in currently operational reactors.


Surgical training systems based on virtual reality (VR) and simulation techniques for tissue deformation may represent a more cost-e!ective and e$cient alternative to traditional training methods. Additionally, VR is a technology that can teach surgeons new procedures and can determine their level of competence before they operate on patients. At Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK), a virtual reality training system for minimally invasive surgery (MIS), based on the simulation software KISMET, has been developed. An overview of the current state of development for the 'Karlsruhe Endoscopic Surgery Trainera is presented. For quick and easy creation of surgical scenes containing deformable anatomical organ models, the spline-based modeller KisMo has been developed, which generates beside the geometry also a spatial mass}spring network of the objects for the elastodynamic simulation in KISMET. The MIS trainer provides several surgical interaction modules for deformable objects like grasping, application of clips, cutting, coagulation, injection and suturing. Additionally, it is possible to perform irrigation and suction in the operation area. Active deformable objects are used for the morphodynamic simulation of the stomach and the intestines. Furthermore, a hierarchical pulse simulation in virtual arterial vessel trees has been realized, which enables the palpation of the pulse with a force-feedback device. The pulse simulation is coupled with an arterial bleeding simulation, which gets activated by injuries of arteries and stopped by application of clips. The simulation system has been applied to minimally invasive surgery training in gynaecology and laparoscopy. Special attention is addressed to elastodynamically deformable tissue models and geometric modelling techniques for graphical real-time performance. ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


This study investigated, in an experimental setting, the existence, nature and causes of the differences in the completeness of logical data specifications generated by professional systems analysts having training and experience in the use of one of two modeling approaches. The approach used primarily modeled either the data flows or the data structure of an object system. The systems analysts were asked to analyze a case and to generate logical file specifications which were evaluated for completeness. The results of the study indicate that the data structure analysts produced logical data specifications which contained a greater number of entity views and attributes than those of the data flow analysts. Data flow analysts had greater difficulty with the concepts involved in specifying logical data specifications and consequently derived less complete data specifications than data structure analysts.


Unused water in unoccupied buildings can become stagnant, with reductions in temperature and levels of disinfectant resulting in increased microbial growth. We report the closed and complete genome and plasmid of Legionella pneumophila strain AW-13-4 (serogroup 1), which was isolated from a hot water loop system of a large building. ABSTRACT Unused water in unoccupied buildings can become stagnant, with reductions in temperature and levels of disinfectant resulting in increased microbial growth. We report the closed and complete genome and plasmid of Legionella pneumophila strain AW-13-4 (serogroup 1), which was isolated from a hot water loop system of a large building.