While motivational decline towards science is common during adolescence, this dissertation asks if there are beneficial science experiences that buffer against the loss of motivation and even promote its growth. The dissertation consists of two papers (Chapter 2 & 3) with additional analyses in Chapter 4 and a summary of findings in Chapter 5. The first paper examines whether classroom science experiences are differentially associated with motivational change and science content knowledge. Using self-reports from a sample of approximately 3,000 middle school students, this study investigates the influence of perceived science classroom experiences (student engagement & perceived success), on motivational change (fascination, values, competency belief) and content learning. Controlling for demographic information, school effects, and initial levels of motivation and content knowledge, we find that dimensions of engagement (affect, behavioral-cognitive) and perceived success are differentially associated with changes in particular motivational constructs and learning. The second paper examines one of these motivational outcomes (value) in more detail. Valuing science is associated with positive learning outcomes and is often used to motivate engagement in the sciences, but less is known about what influences its development and maintenance, particularly during the critical middle school years. Using multinomial regression applied to longitudinal data from approximately 2,600 middle-school students, I test the relationship of the perceived science experiences examined in Paper 1 (affective engagement, behavioral-cognitive engagement, & perceived success) and optional formal and optional informal experiences to changes in science utility value. Furthermore, we address whether the same factors that predict growth in science value also predict absence of decline. Overall, we find that all five factors are associated with changes in value, but some have different relationships with growth vs. decline outcomes. Chapter 4 extends these findings to examine drivers of growth and decline for fascination and competency beliefs. Together, these findings provide a more nuanced view of the factors associated with science motivation and learning (both in and out of the science classroom), as well as the practical implications for educational practice.


Abstract : This project involved a joint research performed primarily at Oregon State University and The Ohio State University. Software-driven hardware configurations account for the majority of modern safety-critical complex systems. The often costly failures of such systems can be attributed to software specific, hardware specific, or software/hardware interaction failures. The understanding of how failures propagate in such complex systems might provide critical information to designers, because, while a software component may not fail in terms of loss of function, a software operational state can cause an associated hardware failure. The least expensive phase of the product life cycle to address failures is during the design stage. This research presents a means to evaluate how a combined software/hardware system behaves and how such failures propagate to result in potential failures downstream, during the conceptual design stage. In particular, this research proposes the use of high-level system modeling and model-based reasoning approaches to model failure propagation in combined software-hardware systems, based on the Function-Failure Identification and Propagation (FFIP) analysis framework to help formalize the design of safety-critical systems.


Abstract : The results of measurements of various statistical properties of the fluctuating wall-pressure field associated with turbulent subsonic boundary layer flow in conditions covering a range of values of boundary layer thickness and flow speed are given. The measured quantities include overall rms pressures, frequency spectra, and longitudinal and lateral space-time correlations in both broad and narrow frequency bands. Some experimental values of space-time correlation between wall-pressure fluctuations and turbulent velocity fluctautions at various positions in the boundary layer are also presented. These experimental results and some of their implications on the structure of the wallpressure field and the nature of its convection and decay are discussed.


The impact of climate change on agricultural crops is a major concern and threats to the global food security. It also limits the potential of crops and cropping system in a given area. Therefore, the present study was aimed to assess the combined effect of positive (CO2 fertilization, lesser temperature and higher rainfall) and negative (higher temperature, lower rainfall) impacts of the futuristic climatic scenarios on productivity of soybean using APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator) model. We have followed the Climate-Crop Modeling Project (C3MP) methodology and generated ninety-nine sensitive test to achieve each test's temperature, rainfall and CO2 concentration range. Using 30 years of climate data (1980-2010) of Central India as base, the simulation results showed that increasing CO2 concentrations alone resulted in increased soybean yield. Similarly, reduction in rainfall amount indicated negative impact on it. This effect further compounded with increase in temperature and thus, reduced soybean yield. Increasing the temperature with 10% decrease in rainfall declined the soybean yield by 10%. Whereas, increase in temperature along with increase in rainfall also not resulted favorably soybean growth. Decreasing the temperature from the base by 1oC and increasing the rainfall by more than 10% benefitted the soybean productivity, whereas increasing the temperature by 1oC with no change in rainfall resulted decline in soybean productivity by 10-15%.


In the study of randomly connected neural network dynamics there is a phase transition from a simple state with few equilibria to a complex state characterized by the number of equilibria growing exponentially with the neuron population. Such phase transitions are often used to describe pathological brain state transitions observed in neurological diseases such as epilepsy. In this paper we investigate how more realistic heterogeneous network structures affect these phase transitions using techniques from random matrix theory. Specifically, we parametrize the network structure according to Dale's law and use the Kac-Rice formalism to compute the change in the number of equilibria when a phase transition occurs. We also examine the condition where the network is not balanced between excitation and inhibition causing outliers to appear in the eigenspectrum. This enables us to compute the effects of different heterogeneous network connectivities on brain state transitions, which can provide insights into pathological brain dynamics.


Background: Aside from regulating circadian rhythms, melatonin also affects cognitive processes, such as alertness, and modulates the brain circuitry underlying psychiatric diseases, such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, via mechanisms that are not fully clear. In particular, while melatonin MT1 receptors are thought primarily to mediate the circadian effects of the hormone, the contribution of the MT2 receptor to melatonin actions remains enigmatic. Aims: To characterise the contribution of MT2 receptors to melatonin's effects on cognition and anxiety/sociability. Methods: Mice with a genetic deletion of the MT2 receptor, encoded by the Mtnr1b gene, were compared with wild-type littermates for performance in a translational touchscreen version of the continuous performance task (CPT) to assess attentional processes and then monitored over 3 days in an ethological home-cage surveillance system. Results: Mtnr1b knockout (KO) mice were able to perform at relatively normal levels in the CPT. However, they showed consistent evidence of more liberal/risky responding strategies relative to control mice, with increases in hit rates and false alarm rates, which were maintained even when the cognitive demands of the task were increased. Assessment in the home-cage monitoring system revealed that female Mtnr1b KO mice have increased anxiety levels, whereas male Mtnr1b KO mice show increased sociability. Conclusions: The results confirm that the MT2 receptor plays a role in cognition and also modulates anxiety and social interactions. These data provide new insights into the functions of endogenous melatonin and will inform future drug development strategies focussed on the MT2 receptor.


Deep learning has become a prominent computational modeling tool in the areas of computer vision and image processing in recent years. This research comprehensively analyzes the different deep-learning methods used for image-to-image translation and reconstruction in the natural and medical imaging domains. We examine the famous deep learning frameworks, such as convolutional neural networks and generative adversarial networks, and their variants, delving into the fundamental principles and difficulties of each. In the field of natural computer vision, we investigate the development and extension of various deep-learning generative models. In comparison, we investigate the possible applications of deep learning to generative medical imaging problems, including medical image translation, MRI reconstruction, and multi-contrast MRI synthesis. This thorough review provides scholars and practitioners in the areas of generative computer vision and medical imaging with useful insights for summarizing past works and getting insight into future research paths.


In the present study we investigate the evolutionary feature subset selection using wrapper based genetic algorithms on Multi-temporal datasets. Feature subset selection helps in reducing the original feature dimension and also yields high performance. The evolutionary strategy attains a global optimum by reducing the computations iteratively and by traversing intelligently in the entire feature space. This method gave a very high performance improvement up to 0.97 kappa accuracy with a best reduced feature dimension for harmful algal bloom detection.


Background: Bacterial vaginosis was reported to have great influences on pregnancy and fetus health. Since the true epidemiologic profile of bacterial vaginosis is not obvious in shahrekord, the present study was performed on patients referring to medical centers, between 2004 and 2005. Materials and Methods: For this descriptive study, initial data was gathered via history, direct smear, KOH test, Variables: Bacterial vaginosis, marital status, occupation, husband's job, signs (dysparonia, vaginal burning), direct smear, Wiff test, colour and smell and form of vaginal discharge. Results: Of 210 patients, 60 (28/6) were revealed to be infected with bacterial vaginosis. These 53 ( 88/4) had bad odour and 33 (55) had yellow-gray discharge and had 48 (80) watery discharge and 25 (41/6) had dysparonia and 11 (18/3) had vaginal burning .60 (100) had positive direct smear and 29 (48/3) had Whiff test or positive KOH test .There exists association between result of direct smear and Whiff test. This is not similar to those patients with Whiff test and direct smear. There exists association between bacterial vaginosis and bad smell discharge, dysparonia, vaginal burning and yellow-gray discharge and no association between bacterial vaginosis and occupation, marital status and husband's job. Conclusion: Bacterial vaginosis is a common infection in Shahrekord .it is associated with preterm delivery and premature birth. We recommend that for control and prevention of bacterial vaginosis at pregnancy, educational and hygienic programs should be considered regarding all patients in Shahrekord.


The objectives of this research were to investigate the quality of work life of florists in Bangkok and to examine factors related to their quality of work life. A questionnaire was employed to gather data from 325 sampled florists, selected using multi-stage random sampling. Data were analyzed to acquire the percentage, mean, Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression. The findings revealed that the proportion of male and female sampled florists was generally equal with an average age of 33.4 years. Nearly three-quarters of the florists held a bachelor degree and earned on average THB 22,670.55 monthly income. The results showed that the sampled florists had a good quality of work life. Regarding the quality of work life aspects, the florists indicated their quality of work life was at a good level for safe and healthy environment, social relevance, development of human capacities, constitutionalism, social integration, growth and security, and adequate and fair compensation, but at a moderate level for work-life balance. The relationship among personal factors and quality of work life revealed that monthly income, monthly income and extra income, family time, rest time, acquired knowledge time, and community and social service time were positively correlated with quality of work life. The stepwise multiple regression showed that the personal factors that correlated with and influenced quality of work life were acquired knowledge time, rest time, and monthly income.


A 5-year-old Paso-Fino mare was presented for severe respiratory distress. The mare had foaled 2 months prior to presentation. The horse was in poor body condition with a dull hair coat. A mild fever was noted during physical examination and increased bronchovesicular sounds were auscultated. Thoracic radiographs showed an interstitial pattern and an alveolar infiltrate with distinct air bronchograms. Moderate purulent inflammation with increased mucus was observed in tracheal wash fluid, but no infectious agents were identified. A bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) contained a large amount of mucus and reactive mononuclear phagocytes with variable numbers of intracellular fungal organisms morphologically consistent with Pneumocystis carinii. The mare had undetectable levels of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and decreased IgG levels in the serum. Immunophenotyping revealed decreased expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules. Moderate to marked hyperplasia of type II epithelial cells was present throughout histologic sections of lung, but the fungal organisms were not observed. A culture system has not been developed for diagnosis of P carinii infection. Instead, diagnosis of P carinii pneumonia is achieved by microscopic identification of characteristic morphologic features of the pathogen. Cytologic examination of BAL fluid is the preferred method used to diagnose human infection with P carinii. In humans, the diagnostic sensitivity of cytology is significantly higher than the sensitivity of histopathologic examination of lung biopsies. The difference in sensitivity between BAL cytology and lung histopathology may also apply to the diagnosis of P carinii pneumonia in horses.


This paper proposes a new maintenance method for corrosion protection of coastal steel structures. Conventionally, steel structures have been maintained following the regulations and rules based on the past precious experiences and knowledge. However, the reduction of public investment to the social infrastructures encourages more effective maintenance than that of the conventional methods, Authors developed a new and rational maintenance method for coastal steel structures to meet the demand. Especially, preventing the corrosion failure is important for coastal steel structures under severe corrosion environment of ocean. Application of quantitative probability evaluation and extreme value statistics to the maintenance method was investigated in this paper.


Background and Objective: Lead is defined as a severe adverse metal that induces neurological, renal, haematological and hepatic dysfunctions. It stimulates oxidative stress to disrupt the antioxidative enzyme mechanism, organ structure and lipid membranes of the cell. Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is amongst the world's most valuable fruits due to its various pharmacological characteristics and health benefits. The present research was intended to observe the antioxidant efficiency of kiwifruit ethanolic extract on lead toxicity in the hepatic, renal, brain and blood tissues in rats. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four adult Wister albino rats were classified into 4 groups with 6 rats within each group. The rats in group I functioned as normal control. Animals within group II, III and IV were given three intraperitoneal doses of lead acetate (25 mg kg1 b.wt., liquefied in distilled H2O as a vehicle) on the day 7th, 14th and 21st of the experiment. Group III and IV were the treatment groups and were treated with a daily oral dose of kiwifruit extract (250 and 500 mg kg1 b.wt., respectively) for 28 days. Results: The protective impact of kiwifruit was observed in the improvement in antioxidant enzyme activity [Catalase (CAT), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) and Glutathione Reductase (GR)] and decreased level of Lipid Peroxidation (LPO) in the liver, brain and kidney tissues. Additionally, Actinidia deliciosa has a great effect on increasing acetylcholine esterase activity in the brain and also, improved the delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity in the blood. Conclusion: Kiwifruit emerged as an effective factor for the alleviation of lead-induced oxidative damage in cells.


Introduction. Prevalence of children under five with malnutrition is an indicator of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) that should be reach in a region (Regency/City) in 2015. Prevalence of nutrition base on weight for height (WFH) in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta showed that children under five prevalence with very lean nutrition status was about 2,6 percent and lean about 6,5 percent. Community Therapeutic Care combining three approaches to handling under five malnutrition children including community intervention, home based treatment for under five malnutrition children without complication and stabilitation center for under five malnutrition children with complication. The aim of this research was to find out the changing of malnutrition children under five through home care program in Yogyakarta. Method. This research used quantitative method through home care intervention for children under five with malnutrition and was conducted by nurse in public health center. Design of this research was pretest-posttest control group design. The population of this research was all children under five with malnutrition or not complication. Sample divided into two groups, 35 children for the intervention group and 25 children for control group. Analysis used was Paired t-test and independent t-test. Results. The result showed that before home care intervention, there is no significant difference of two groups. The result after intervention for three month with 7 times of visiting, home care intervention can increase nutritional status of children under five with malnutrition. The value of Independent t-test for control group and intervention group was significant with p<0,05. Discussion. The researcher conclude that Home Care has effect to increase nutrition status of children under five with malnutrition and also Z score value which is weight for height (WFH) was increase. Keywords: Home Care, Nutrition status , Malnutrition.


Identity plays a central role in many current events of interest and importance. This paper examines a representative sample of the computational social science (CSS) literature which incorporates notions of identity or processes of identity formation. Building on some of the ideas present in the modeling literature, we then proceed to introduce a multilevel conceptual framework for the modeling of complex and fluid identity dynamics, with a focus on competing and loosely defined political groups.


The platelet glycoprotein IIb (αIIb; CD41) constitutes the alpha subunit of a highly expressed platelet surface integrin protein. We demonstrate that CD41 serves as the earliest marker of primitive erythroid progenitor cells in the embryonic day 7 (E7.0) yolk sac and high-level expression identifies essentially all E8.25 yolk sac definitive hematopoietic progenitors. Some definitive hematopoietic progenitor cells in the fetal liver and bone marrow also express CD41. Hematopoietic stem cell competitive repopulating ability is present in CD41dim and CD41lo/- cells isolated from bone marrow and fetal liver cells, however, activity is enriched in the CD41lo/- cells. CD41bright yolk sac definitive progenitor cells co-express CD61 and bind fibrinogen, demonstrating receptor function. Thus, CD41 expression marks the onset of primitive and definitive hematopoiesis in the murine embryo and persists as a marker of some stem and progenitor cell populations in the fetal liver and adult marrow, suggesting novel roles for this integrin.


Land‐cover/climate changes and their impacts on hydrological processes are of widespread concern and a great challenge to researchers and policy makers. Kejie Watershed in the Salween River Basin in Yunnan, south‐west China, has been reforested extensively during the past two decades. In terms of climate change, there has been a marked increase in temperature. The impact of these changes on hydrological processes required investigation: hence, this paper assesses aspects of changes in land cover and climate. The response of hydrological processes to land‐cover/climate changes was examined using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and impacts of single factor, land‐use/climate change on hydrological processes were differentiated. Land‐cover maps revealed extensive reforestation at the expense of grassland, cropland, and barren land. A significant monotonic trend and noticeable changes had occurred in annual temperature over the long term. Long‐term changes in annual rainfall and streamflow were weak; and changes in monthly rainfall (May, June, July, and September) were apparent. Hydrological simulations showed that the impact of climate change on surface water, baseflow, and streamflow was offset by the impact of land‐cover change. Seasonal variation in streamflow was influenced by seasonal variation in rainfall. The earlier onset of monsoon and the variability of rainfall resulted in extreme monthly streamflow. Land‐cover change played a dominant role in mean annual values; seasonal variation in surface water and streamflow was influenced mainly by seasonal variation in rainfall; and land‐cover change played a regulating role in this. Surface water is more sensitive to land‐cover change and climate change: an increase in surface water in September and May due to increased rainfall was offset by a decrease in surface water due to land‐cover change. A decrease in baseflow caused by changes in rainfall and temperature was offset by an increase in baseflow due to land‐cover change. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In practice, in many cases using combination of piles and large-slabs could be observed technological and structural defects before the start of their operation. These defects are dictated by the complex interaction between piles system and thin raft slabs. In order to establish the causes of defects can be imposed a wide range of studies covering research on the ground, the reinforced concrete structural elements and materials (piles and raft), the technology performance and others. In this study in order to identify the causes of defects are used a series of research methods for determining the properties of materials, environmental conditions and computational models to describe the interaction between ground and upper structure. With this set of methods are established causes and selected measures for appropriate reconstruction. The scope of these measures consists in the use of a combination of hardening by injection of the ground under the contact base of raft. With grouting the aims are to improve the skin friction and end bearing resistance of the piles. In the complex decision are sought the approaches to keep the completed structures - piles and raft. The focus of this work is to improve the interaction of the pile-raft system and ground base at the expense of reducing the load on piles. In this case, the geological formation, represented by Paleogene sediments with alternating layers of hard clay and clay sandstones largely supports the realization of the design measures.


This chapter examines technological factors that influence the conditions and processes of adult learning, and how adult educators can deal with those changes effectively. Technology can reinforce and enhance adult learning, providing a learning environment with tools and resources that the learner can explore and control, thus fostering more independent, adult-centered learning. Adult learning changes because of the need to learn how to use technology tools, the opportunity for expanded access to resources, the variations in designing and experiencing learning experiences, and the expanded opportunities to engage with these resources and with other learners. Several issues contextualize the realities and challenges of adult learning as impacted by technology: workplace learning and learning organizations, informal learning, distance education, globalization, the Digital Divide, and older adult learners. Emerging trends are also mentioned. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-1852-7.ch084


Compare to the large number of curved quadrilateral degenerated-shell elements, there are only a very few curved triangular degenerated-shell elements. Based on the assumed natural strain sampling scheme previously developed for a quadratic degenerated-shell element for linear analysis, this paper devises geometric non-linear six-node degenerated-shell element. The element can be curved and is only equipped with the standard nodal d.o.f.'s. Careful consideration has been exercised to circumvent various locking phenomena that plague degenerated-shell element. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate efficiency.


A 47-year-old Thai female with underlying Sweet's syndrome and disseminated non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection presented with a history of blurred vision on both eyes after being lost to follow-up for eight months. The visual acuity was hand motion on the right eye and counting finger on the left eye. There was moderate inflammation in the anterior chamber and vitreous cavity. Multiple foci of round chorioretinitis were found throughout the fundus on both eyes. The patient denied intravitreous tapping and antibiotic injection. Nevertheless, specimens from several sites were collected for culture and sensitivity test. The result of the culture and sensitivity test revealed rapidly growing mycobacteria on specimens taken from the right inguinal lymph node. The presented case may demonstrate the rare event of bilateral endogenous endophthalmitis with chorioretinitis arising from non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection. The pattern of chorioretinitis demonstrated by the presented report may provide useful clinical information for this rare condition.


Poor performance of the standard TCP/IP protocol over high-speed ATM networks has been observed in previous studies. The present paper reports on improvements of TCP/IP performance in an ATM wide area network achieved by implementation of simple congestion control mechanisms based on utilization of large buffers and cell discard priority mechanisms. An output-buffered ATM switch architecture with adjustable buffers is considered in a coast-to-coast OC3 network. Improvements in both throughput and fairness observed in simulations are discussed.


The root economics spectrum (RES) hypothesis predicts that fast‐growing tree species have short‐lived roots with high specific root length (SRL) to allow rapid resource uptake, and opposite trait expressions for slow‐growing species. Yet, the mixed support for this hypothesis suggests that trees can adopt alternative strategies to increase resource uptake, besides an increase in SRL. We combined a novel mechanistic whole‐tree model and empirical fine‐root data of ten tree species to test the effects of one of these alternative strategies, notably increasing fine‐root mass, on the tree's net C gain (used here as a proxy for tree performance), and to assess how fine‐root lifespan influences the relative importance of SRL and fine‐root mass for the C balance of trees. Our results indicate that accounting for the short lifespan of high‐SRL roots has important implications for explaining tree performance and the role of roots herein. Without considering their faster turnover, high‐SRL roots and low fine‐root mass resulted in the highest performance as predicted from the RES. Yet, when their higher turnover rates were accounted for, a high fine‐root mass and low SRL lead to the highest performance. Both our model outcomes and field data further show a negative relationship between SRL and fine‐root mass through which species aim to realise a similar root length density. This trade‐off further indicates how high a SRL and low fine‐root mass as well as opposite trait values can both lead to a positive C balance in a similar environment. Our study may explain why high‐SRL roots do not necessarily lead to the fastest tree growth as often hypothesised and demonstrates the importance of fine‐root mass in combination with fine‐root lifespan for explaining interspecific differences in tree performance. More generally, our work demonstrates the value of identifying and investigating different belowground strategies across species from a whole‐plant modelling perspective, and identifies the relationship between SRL, fine‐root biomass and lifespan as an important functional dimension to variation in species' performance.


We report the discovery of a low-temperature phase transition in Bi_2Sr_2Ca(Ni_xCu_{1-x})_20_8 high temperature superconductor. This transition manifests itself as a sharp reduction of the thermal conductivity of the samples at a temperature of T_c* \approx 200 mK. The temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity changes dramatically from T^\alpha with \alpha between 1.6 and 1.75 above the transition to T-linear behavior below the transition. Application of a small magnetic field suppresses the low-temperature phase. We interpret this behavior as a phase transition into a second bulk low-temperature superconducting state in which the time-reversal symmetry is likely to be broken. This discovery constitutes direct evidence for unconventional superconductivity in high temperature superconductors.


The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation jointly with professional association and experts in the field of pediatrics, infectious diseases and resuscitation has developed guidelines "Clinical Features and Management of the Disease Caused by New Coronaviral Infection (COVID-19) in Children" in order to provide the child population with effective medical care during the pandemic of the new coronaviral infection. The practical experience of specialists from various countries was considered during the development of this document. Special attention should be given to the evidence base of the presented data, as well as to the efficiency and safety issues of medications used in treatment of coronaviral infection and its complications. The authors highlight the problems of prevention, diagnostics and management of pathological conditions caused by COVID-19 in the article according to the presented guidelines. Patient's management is presented depending on the age and severity of the disease itself. The therapy is considered with regard to etiological, pathogenetic and symptom focus.


Ischemic stroke (IS) is a severe neurological disease and a major cause of death and disability throughout the world. A long non-coding (lnc)RNA, transcription factor (TF) and gene can form a lncRNA-mediated regulatory triplet (LncMRT), which is a functional network motif that regulates numerous aspects of human diseases. However, systematic identification and molecular characterization of LncMRTs and their roles in IS has not been carried out. In the present study, a global LncMRT network was constructed and the topological features were characterized based on experimentally verified interactions. An integrated approach was developed to identify significantly dysregulated LncMRTs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of IS and these dysregulated LncMRT networks exhibited specific topological characteristics and a closer network structure than the global LncMRT network that was constructed. The variation of the risk score for LncMRTs indicated that there were multiple dysregulated patterns of LncMRTs in IS. Numerous core clusters were identified from dysregulated LncMRT networks and these core clusters could distinguish IS patient and matched control samples. Finally, functional analyses demonstrated that LncMRTs associated with IS participated in the regulation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling pathway. In conclusion, the roles of the LncMRTs in IS were elucidated, which could be beneficial for understanding IS pathogenesis and treatment.


This article focuses on the dilemma of using child soldiers in violent conflicts throughout Africa and on ways of resolving it in the future. The first section briefly examines some important domestic and international aspects and dimensions of the problem. Then, attention is shifted to particular individual countries on the continent in which the use of children in battle has been most prevalent during the past decade. The next section reviews some recent efforts by the international community to assuage the crisis, offers recommendations on how they can be improved, and raises alternative ideas for new strategies and initiatives. Finally, a conclusion ties all this information together and suggests a hopeful future for the children of war-torn countries in Africa. In recent years, the use of child soldiers by both government forces and insurgent groups in African countries such as Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, and Sudan has been harshly condemned by the international community. Past efforts to alleviate the problem have been somewhat ineffective and many children continue to engage in violent conflict either voluntarily or against their will. The dimensions of this terrible dilemma are complex and widespread, stemming from both domestic and global forces. There is still hope, however, for the children of these war-torn nations. Many countries and international organisations are joining together to develop new strategies that will discourage the use of child soldiers and punish those groups and governments that do. It is extremely important that the United States support these endeavours in their early stages so that effective measures can be implemented that may one day help solve the problem.


Automotive designs with economy, safety and aesthetics have been a great challenge to design engineers. Automobile bumper subsystem is the front and rear structure of the vehicle that has the purpose of energy absorption during low velocity impact. Bumpers are structural components installed to reduce physical damage to the front and rear ends of a light/ heavy motor vehicle from low-speed collisions. The bumper should support the mechanical components and the body. It must also withstand dynamic loads without undue deflection. This Project deals with the idea of Hydraulic shock absorber using bumper in the front overhang of the four wheeler, which reduces the loss and deformation of the vehicle during the accident. It includes Hydraulic fluids and shock absorber spring as an active component in the Impact reducing system. This Project model built using the CATIA V5 R20 Software.


: A greater volume of wastewater generate from urban areas in India. Due to the adequate availability, less energy requirement and nutrient richness, farmers of urban and peri-urban areas are deliberately using wastewater to grow high value vegetable crops. Wastewater contains pathogens and toxic pollutants, which can enter in the food chain system while using wastewater for irrigating vegetable crops. Hence, wastewater can use for growing commercial flower crops that may avoid food chain contamination. Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) is one of the most important commercially grown, cultivated over 30, 000 ha area, flower crop in India. Its popularity is mainly due to the sweet fragrance as well as the long keeping quality of the flower spikes. The flower spikes of tuberose has high market price and usually blooms during summer and rainy seasons when there is meager supply of other flowers in the market. It has high irrigation water requirement and fresh water supply is inadequate in tuberose growing areas of India. Therefore, wastewater may fulfill the water and nutrients requirements and may enhance the productivity of tuberose. Keeping in view, the present study was carried out at WTC farm of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi in 2014-15. Prajwal was the variety of test crop. The seven treatments were taken as T-1. Wastewater irrigation at 0.6 ID/CPE, T-2: Wastewater irrigation at 0.8 ID/CPE, T-3: Wastewater irrigation at 1.0 ID/CPE, T-4: Wastewater irrigation at 1.2 ID/CPE, T-5: Wastewater irrigation at 1.4 ID/CPE, T-6: Conjunctive use of Groundwater and Wastewater irrigation at 1.0 ID/CPE in cyclic mode, T-7: Control (Groundwater irrigation at 1.0 ID/CPE) in randomized block design with three replication. Wastewater and groundwater samples were collected on monthly basis (April 2014 to March 2015) and analyzed for different parameters of irrigation quality (pH, EC, SAR, RSC), pollution hazard (BOD, toxic heavy metals and Faecal coliforms) and nutrients potential (N, P, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) as per standard methods. After harvest of tuberose crop, soil samples were also collected and analyzed for different parameters of soil quality as per standard methods. The vegetative growth and flower parameters were recorded at flowering stage of tuberose plants. Results indicated that wastewater samples had higher nutrient potential, pollution hazard as compared to groundwater used in experimental crop. Soil quality parameters such as pH EC, available phosphorous & potassium and heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cd. Pb, Ni, Cr, Co, As) were not significantly changed whereas organic carbon and available nitrogen were significant higher in the treatments where wastewater irrigations were given at 1.2 and 1.4 ID/CPE as compared to groundwater irrigations. Significantly higher plant height (68.47 cm), leaves per plant (78.35), spike length (99.93 cm), rachis length (37.40 cm), numbers of florets per spike (56.53), cut spike yield (0.93 lakh/ha) and loose flower yield (8.5 t/ha) were observed in the treatment of Wastewater irrigation at 1.2 ID/CPE. Study concluded that given quality of wastewater improves the productivity of tuberose without an adverse impact on soil quality/health. However, its long term impacts need to be further evaluated.


OBJECTIVES
In the UK, one-third of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals are unaware of their diagnosis, and of those diagnosed a similar proportion have late stage disease. To address this National guidelines have been introduced promoting HIV testing across all medical specialities. We investigated HIV testing patterns in an inner London area with high local HIV prevalence, to identify missed opportunities for HIV testing and its consequences.

METHODS
All human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests performed in 2008 at Guys and St Thomas' NHS Trust virology department were reviewed. Tests were stratified for location of request. Case-note review was carried out on all hospital HIV-positive diagnoses outside the genitourinary medicine (GUM) or screening settings to establish the circumstances surrounding the test, and missed opportunities for previous HIV testing.

RESULTS
A total of 40,883 HIV tests were performed in 36,395 individuals. Three hundred and fifty-four (1%) tested positive. Excluding those from GUM or screening settings, 34 (2.8%) of the 1225 inpatients, 17 (0.3%) of the 5303 outpatients and 68 (1.12%) of the 5746 from primary care tested positive. Nineteen (41%) of 46 evaluable hospital diagnoses had presented to local healthcare services within the previous 12 months, 17 (37%) with an HIV indicator condition, but had not been tested. Of the 5303 outpatient tests conducted, 3148 (59%) were performed by either fertility or renal specialist teams. Other specialties conducted relatively few tests. The mean cost of admission for those diagnosed as an inpatient was £36,625 (range £331-223,000). The total cost for the 12 inpatients, who had presented to services in the preceding year but had not been tested was £439,500.

CONCLUSION
Despite large numbers of HIV tests as screening tests in GUM and antenatal settings, relatively few tests occurred elsewhere with profound costs. Missed opportunities to access this high-prevalence HIV population is concerning and urgent engagement of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare systems to increase HIV testing and prevent late-stage diagnoses is underway.


The effect of pigment filler and extender on the antifouling efficiency of six compositions containing organotin polymer is studied. The binder mixture is a blend containing a copolymer of tri‐n‐butyltin methacrylate and methylmeth acrylate (OTP) with 22% tin content, a vinyl copolymer with its external plasticizer and little amount of rosin. Cuprous oxide was added as a supplementary toxin with the OTP. Leaching rates of microamounts of copper and tin were determined for a period of nearly one year applying standard techniques. Painted plates were immersed in Suez Canal waters at Port‐Said for more than 36 months. Comparison between different fillers and extenders on the antifouling behaviour of painted surfaces is shown. Compositions containing cellite and china clay exhibited the maximum antifouling performance.


A novel alpha-amino-acid esterase possessing some properties favorable for the synthesis of D-amino acid-containing peptides has been purified from the culture broth of Bacillus mycoides. The enzyme consisted of 4 subunits of 39 kDa, had an isoelectric point of 7.0, and showed its maximum activity at around 47 degrees C and pH 7.6. The enzyme activity was strongly depressed by phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, but not by penicillin G or ampicillin, suggesting that the protein is a serine enzyme lacking penicillin-binding ability. The enzyme hydrolyzed a variety of D- and L-amino acid methyl esters with concomitant formation of homooligomers from D-Phe, D-Trp, D-Tyr, and D-Asp(OCH(3)) methyl esters, but it did not act on the D- or L-amino acid amides tested. Incubation of a mixture of Ac-D-Phe-OMe and D-/L-Leu-NH(2) with the enzyme yielded Ac-D-Phe-D-/L-Leu-NH(2) together with Ac-D-Phe-OH, the hydrolysate of the carboxyl component. To its credit, the enzyme failed to hydrolyze casein as well as peptides including diastereomers of diphenylalanine and dialanine, indicating that the enzyme would not cause secondary hydrolysis of once-formed peptides. These observations indicate the potential utility of the newly isolated enzyme for the synthesis of D-amino acid-containing peptides.


In this work, lactobionic acid-modified chitosan (CLA) was chosen as an initial material to prepare tumor-targeted nanoparticles (CLA NPs). To improve the nanoparticles' tumor penetration ability, bromelain was then decorated on the surface of CLA NPs to give CLAB NPs. The micromorphology of CLA and CLAB NPs was observed by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The stability of CLA and CLAB NPs was then investigated at different pH values (4.0–9.0) and physiological environment by dynamic light scattering. Doxorubicin as a model drug was successfully encapsulated into these two nanoparticles and drug release profiles were also investigated at pH 5.5, 6.5 and 7.4, respectively. Cellular uptake and MTT results against HepG2 and SH-SY5Y cells demonstrated that the LA-conjugated tumor-targeting NPs can be efficiently internalized into hepatoma carcinoma cells, leading to higher cytotoxicity than free doxorubicin. CLAB NPs show considerable cell cytotoxicity and are expected to improve the penetration ability and therapeutic effect in the subsequent in vivo studies.


BACKGROUND
Severe pain following trauma has traditionally been treated with opioids. We wanted to investigate the incidence of pain in patients at our trauma centre, the type of pain relief they were given in the first two weeks after admission and the subsequent plan for pain management upon discharge.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
The study included 40 severely injured adult patients who were conscious at admission. Data were obtained from the trauma register at Oslo University Hospital, from patient records and from interviews with all patients approximately two weeks after the injury was incurred. The patients were asked to indicate pain intensity from 0 to 10 on a verbal numeric rating scale (VNRS).

RESULTS
The average resting pain score was higher than 3 in the two-week period after the injury in 38 % of the patients, and 48 % reported having had a score higher than 3 for more than half of this period. All patients were treated with opioids and paracetamol during their hospital stay. In addition, 78 % received epidural analgesics or nerve blockers, 35 % received ketamine, 28 % non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), 23 % alpha-2 agonists and 10 % gabapentinoids. Seventy-eight per cent were prescribed opioids upon discharge with no mention of a tapering plan in their discharge report.

INTERPRETATION
Severely injured patients experience substantial pain in the first two weeks after trauma. Pain management in hospitals has room for improvement, and plans should be devised for opioid use and cessation after discharge.


The problems in implementation of a number of programs adopted for the development of rural settlements in Kazakhstan are shown, including: low level of production and engineering infrastructure in rural areas of the republic; decline in the quality of education due to the lack of competition among social workers in rural areas. Proposals on early solution of the current situation have been developed. The need for stage-by-stage financing of the assigned tasks and strict control over their implementation, provision of financial mechanisms is indicated, in order to increase the remuneration of specialists in the field of agro-industrial production, it is necessary to develop specific effective measures aimed at increasing the effectiveness of agricultural sector. The authors state that budget expenditures for the development of low-potential RS are ineffective. Prospects for the development of rural areas to a certain extent depend on the activation of regional public bodies and local self-government in expanding the methods of managing socioeconomic processes, developing interaction with the population and business structures, which will make it possible to successfully implement the set objectives, significantly increase the level of employment and incomes of the rural population, improve living conditions and on this basis increase the number of regions with stable rural population; will help improve the quality of life of the village residents. In the course of the study, methods of comparing economic indicators in dynamics, systematization, and generalization of scientific data were used.


Abstract Objective To explore predictive factors of postoperative outcome of frontal sinus balloon dilation. Study Design Retrospective questionnaire study. Setting Department of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Finland. Methods We reviewed electronic records of all patients who underwent frontal sinus balloon dilatation (successful or attempted) in our clinic from 2008 to 2019. We documented patient characteristics, preoperative imaging results, intraoperative factors, possible complications, and reoperations. Those who underwent frontal sinus balloon sinuplasty were sent a questionnaire regarding their current symptoms and long‐term satisfaction with surgery. Results In total, 258 operations (404 frontal sinuses) were reviewed, with a technical success rate of 93.6% (n = 378). The revision rate was 15.7% (n = 38). Previous sinonasal surgery predicted a higher revision rate (p = .004, odds ratio [OR] = 3.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40‐6.56). Patients with hybrid surgery had significantly fewer reoperations compared to the balloon only group (p = .002, OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.16‐0.67). The response rate of the questionnaire was 64.5% (n = 156), of which 88.5% (n = 138) reported a long‐term benefit from the balloon sinuplasty. Patient satisfaction was higher (p = .02, OR = 8.26, 95% CI 1.06‐64.24) among patients using nasal corticosteroids. Conclusion Technical success rate and patient satisfaction after frontal sinus balloon sinuplasty are high. Balloon sinuplasty seems insufficient in reoperations. A hybrid approach appears to result in fewer reoperations than a balloon only approach.


: The role of paramedical personnel in the provision of family planning services expanded through the years. Paramedical personnel were initially incorporated into family planning programs as a temporary means of compensating for the shortage of physicians in many developing countries. It soon became apparent that these personnel not only performed their tasks well but, in addition, provided family planning programs with a vital link to the community. In Southeast Asia the expansion of the paramedical role occurred in 3 stages. During the 1st stage all types of paramedical personnel including nurses, midwives, medical assistants, auxiliaries, and TBAs (traditional birth attendants), performed primarily informational tasks. They identified community members in need of services, informed the community about available services, motivated individuals to utilize the services, and provided contraceptive information and referral services. During the 2nd stage paramedical personnel performed a variety of tasks in clinical settings. They kept records, maintained supplies, screened patients, and provided follow-up services. During the 3rd stage, paramedical personnel provided some of the technical services previously provided only by physicians in developed countries. They performed IUD insertions, prescribed oral contraceptives, and performed simple sterilizations. Paramedical personnel involved at this level included paramedics, nurse midwives, midwives, and nurses. The use of paramedical personnel to perform these tasks is still a controversial issue; however, evidence indicates that they perform the tasks as well as or better than physicians. Preliminary steps in establishing programs incorporating the services of paramedical personnel to perform technical tasks includes 1) clarifying the legal issues and seeking the approval of the government; 2) building into the program adequate training, supervisory, and evaluation procedures; 3) seeking the approval of the medical profession; and 4) developing an effective referral system.


Establishing baseline values for pathogen exposure and nutritional indices is necessary to monitor population health. However, little is known about white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) pathogen exposure and nutritional condition in the Northern Great Plains. Our objective was to assess pathogen exposure and establish nutritional indices for female white-tailed deer in Dunn and Grant counties, North Dakota and Perkins County, South Dakota. During 2014, we collected blood serum from 150 adult female white-tailed deer. Pathogens with the highest antibody prevalence included West Nile Virus (WNV; 85%), epizootic hemorrhagic disease (48%), and malignant catarrhal fever (32%). Serum values for creatine kinase, globulin, glucose, potassium, and lactate dehydrogenase in all three study areas were higher than reference ranges while sodium was low in Grant County relative to Dunn and Perkins counties. We speculate that high exposure of WNV and high potassium values combined with low sodium values may affect neonate survival in Grant County. However, regional differences in pathogen exposure, their connection to serum values, and their potential interactive effects on survival are not well understood.


Germline cyst formation is essential for the propagation of many organisms including humans and flies. The cytoplasm of germline cyst cells communicate with each other directly via large intercellular bridges called ring canals. Ring canals are often derived from arrested contractile rings during incomplete cytokinesis. However how ring canal formation, maintenance and growth are regulated remains unclear. To better understand this process, we carried out an unbiased genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster germ cells and identified multiple alleles of flapwing (flw), a conserved serine/threonine-specific protein phosphatase. Flw had previously been reported to be unnecessary for early D. melanogaster oogenesis using a hypomorphic allele. We found that loss of Flw leads to over-constricted nascent ring canals and subsequently tiny mature ring canals, through which cytoplasmic transfer from nurse cells to the oocyte is impaired, resulting in small, non-functional eggs. Flw is expressed in germ cells undergoing incomplete cytokinesis, completely colocalized with the Drosophila myosin binding subunit of myosin phosphatase (DMYPT). This colocalization, together with genetic interaction studies, suggests that Flw functions together with DMYPT to negatively regulate myosin activity during ring canal formation. The identification of two subunits of the tripartite myosin phosphatase as the first two main players required for ring canal constriction indicates that tight regulation of myosin activity is essential for germline cyst formation and reproduction in D. melanogaster and probably other species as well.


Author(s): Perrone, Nicolas M. | Abstract: This Article analyzes the role of Latin American international economic law scholarship within the global economic order. Many of the problems that Latin Americans face today relate to the global economy, such as labor conditions, access to medicine, and the use of natural resources, among others. The discussion of these problems, however, seldom recognizes the role of international economic law scholarship. Although the knowledge created by this scholarship may not completely explain why States actively behave in a certain way, it can serve to explain why they may refrain from certain actions. This Article argues that scholarship on international economic law plays a crucial role in the creation and reproduction of the current global economic order. If this claim is correct, regional scholarship can do more for Latin America than serving the advisory and litigation needs of States. By recognizing its role in constituting the global economic order, international economic law scholarship can promote alternative theories and practices that may help Latin America and its people find their place in the global economy.


Participatory, interpretive research can be a useful means of developing rich, context-sensitive theory in management and organizational research studies. However, it is also fraught with tensions, for example: the balance between presenting and representing data; the compromise between revealing local theory and constructing generalized conceptualizations; and deciding whether - and how - the role of the reseacher is to be made for explicit or neturalized in such conceptualizations. In this paper I explore tensions in the grounding, interpreting and explicating processes of participatory interpetive research and describe a particular, partial ethnographic approach to responding to them, to illustrate some possible compromises and partial responses to such tensions


The solar radiation is the origin of energy for the photosynthesis and forest productivities. On the other hand, clouds constantly appear, move and disappear all the time and influence atmospheric and radiation conditions at the same time. Therefore, to understand cloud parameters which consist of cloud covers, its distributions and types etc. for a short time interval can help us to estimate solar radiation or photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) with high accuracy. Authors have been observed and measured various parameters related with photosynthesis and carbon exchange for tropical rain forest in Borneo Malaysia so far. Concerning to the cloud conditions, we also monitor the whole sky using the commercial digital camera with the fisheye converter lens and can obtain hemisphere imageries about every two minutes interval. As the experimental study about cloud parameters, in this paper, we present 1) the observation system of whole sky conditions, 2) how to analyze the obtained hemisphere imageries and 3) the method to estimate cloud cover and understand cloud distribution with sun position. Here, we use Sky Index which is calculated using visible RGB image taken by digital camera. This index is useful to separate whole sky area to clouds and the blue sky areas. Then multi-temporal cloud covers can be estimated from the Sky Index generated by multi-temporal hemisphere imageries. Through this study, we also could recognize the efficiency to understand cloud cover, cloud distributions and types by using hemisphere imageries and Sky Index. As the continuous works, we examine the relationship between the solar radiation and cloud conditions such as cloud covers, distribution and types.


This research explores the cross-modal correspondence effect of ambient color on people's taste perception in virtual reality (VR). To this end, we designed and conducted two experiments to investigate whether and how taste-congruent ambient colors in VR influence taste perception measured by four aspects: 1) taste ratings of a neutral drink; 2) taste association with virtual environments; 3) associated scenarios when immersed in these virtual environments; and 4) participants' liking of these environments. In Experiment 1, participants adjusted the ambient light with different cross-modal-related colors in the immersive environments and reported their scaling of the Virtual Reality Sickness Questionnaire (VRSQ). Comfortable light intensity for each ambient color was obtained and color recognition problems were observed. In Experiment 2, participants tasted black tea (as the neutral drink), after being exposed to eight different virtual environments with different ambient colors. Results showed that the pink ambient color significantly increased the sweetness ratings. Differences in the color-taste association and environment liking were also observed in the ambient color conditions. Our results provide new insights into the cross-modal correspondence effect on ambient color and taste perception not found in prior work in VR scenarios.


As key lenders in the shadow banking sector, prime money market funds (MMFs) provide funding for banks through various instruments, with maturities up to one year. Post-crisis regulations apply stricter liquidity rules to both MMFs and banks, likely generating contradictory effects, as MMFs are encouraged to do more overnight lending and banks to borrow longer-term. Using a novel dataset, I find that MMFs and banks seem to resolve this dilemma by developing a "bundling" strategy across multiple funding markets. In particular, MMFs substantially increase their investments in long-term debt issued by banks that have recently accommodated MMFs' overnight investment needs, and charge significantly lower rates on those long-term debt issued by accommodative banks. Such cross-market reciprocal relationships are robust after controlling for bank credit risks and traditional relationship measures, and are stronger between MMFs and foreign banks, who depend on MMFs for funding more than U.S. banks do.


The rate of generation of Escherichia coli B/r is inhibited by 5-fluorouracil (FU) and this rate is halved by 30μg/ml at 37.5°C in peptone broth USP. The FU is highly bound to the nutrients of this medium. The activity of FU is 1,000 times greater in non-binding casamino acids medium. 5-Fluorodeoxyuridine is less active. The drug-affected steady state generation in peptone broth is achieved 40 min (2 generations) after drug addition and conforms to N = No ekappt where N is the number of organisms per unit volume at time t, and kapp is the new generation rate constant. The new kapp was achieved after 20 min in the casamino acid medium but started to increase in magnitude after 100 min. These kapp values are non-linear functions of drug concentrations and approach zero at high concentrations consistent with kapp = ko-ka[FU]/(1+kb[FU]). The total (Coulter) and viable (Colony) counts were coincident for all doses studied except for the case of complete inhibition in casamino acid medium so that the usual action of FU on E. coli is inhibition of microbial generation without any apparent death of drug-affected organisms. A complete pH range study shows that the non-protonated species is the active form of the compound. The effect of FU is competitively inhibited by uracil, uridine and deoxyuridine, that are inactive by themselves. Thymidine potentiates the inhibitory effect of FU in peptone broth only but is ineffective by itself. 5-Chloro-, 5-bromo-, and 5-iodouracil have no inhibitory effect and the former two do not antagonize the action of FU. There is no significant effect of inoculum size below 106 organisms/ml on the generation inhibition of FU. There appears to be a significant effect of nutrient concentration in peptone broth on FU-affected generation rate, possibly due to drug-binding of nutrients or the presence of FU antagonists in the media.


OBJECTIVE
Aim of this study is to protect donor liver against ischemia-reperfusion injury by abating Cytochrome C induced apoptosome on rat model.

METHODS
A total of 25 clean SD inbred male rats were used in this research. The rats in ischemia-reperfusion injury group (I/R group, n=5) were under liver transplantation operation; rats in dichloroacetate diisopropylamine group (DADA group, n=5) were treated DADA before liver transplantation; control group (Ctrl group, n=5); other 10 rats were used to offer donor livers.

RESULTS
In DADA therapy group, Cytochrome C expression in donor hepatocellular cytoplasm was detected lower than that in I/R group. And the Cytochrome C induced apoptosome was also decreased in according to the lower expressions of Apaf-1 and Caspase3. Low level of cleaved PARP expression revealed less apoptosis in liver tissue. The morphology of donor liver mitochondria in DADA group was observed to be slightly edema but less than I/R group after operation 12 h. The liver function indexes of ALT and AST in serum were tested, and the results in DADA group showed it is significantly lower than I/R group after operation 12 h. The inflammation indexes of IL-6 and TNF-α expressions in DADA group were significantly lower than that in I/R group after operation 24 h.

CONCLUSION
The dichloroacetate diisopropylamine treatment could protect the hepatocellular mitochondria in case of the spillage of Cytochrome C induced apoptosome, and protect the liver against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Thus, it may be a method to promote the recovery of donor liver function after transplantation.


Objective: This study aims to propose a methodology that identifies and prioritizes the operational risk factors in a supply chain (SC) to provide a tool according to the process-based SC approach that is useful for risk assessment throughout the SC. Materials and methods: Risk identification was conducted by a scenario analysis, which linked the risk factors with the standard key performance indicators (KPIs) of the processes and logistics activities proposed by the supply chain operational reference model (SCORM o SCOR). These influence relationships were quantified using a proposed scale, and then, the risk factors were prioritized by the definition of their influence levels. This approach was applied to a real SC. Results and discussion: Twenty risk factors were clearly and effectively identified, analyzed and prioritized, and priority was given to those with the highest influence level, which can be understood as the risk factors that have a larger capacity to negatively affect SC performance. Conclusions: The methodology allows the identification of the most influential risk factors in a SC, and as it is based on a standard model, it fosters a collaborative analysis among its echelons. The main contributions of this paper are the risk identification by means of the KPIs of the SCOR model and the measurement of their influence levels, which is a new and useful feature for risk prioritization.


Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors plus apatinib and chemotherapy (PAC) in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC). Materials and Methods Seventy-three patients with resectable LAGC were enrolled and named the PAC group (n=39) or apatinib plus chemotherapy (AC) group (n=34) based on the treatment they chose. Neoadjuvant therapy was administered in a 21-day cycle for 3 consecutive cycles, after which surgery was performed. Results The PAC group exhibited a higher objective response rate than the AC group (74.4% vs. 58.8%, P=0.159). Moreover, the PAC group showed a numerically better response profile than the AC group (P=0.081). Strikingly, progression-free survival (PFS) (P=0.019) and overall survival (OS) (P=0.049) were prolonged, whereas disease-free survival (DFS) tended to be longer in the PAC group than in the AC group (P=0.056). Briefly, the 3-year PFS, DFS, and OS rates were 76.1%, 76.1%, and 86.7% in the PAC group and 46.9%, 49.9%, and 70.3% in the AC group, respectively. Furthermore, PAC (vs. AC) treatment (hazard ratio=0.286, P=0.034) was independently associated with prolonged PFS in multivariate Cox regression analyses. The incidence of adverse events did not differ between the two groups (all P>0.05), where leukopenia, anemia, hypertension, and other adverse events were commonly observed in the PAC group. Conclusions Neoadjuvant PAC therapy may achieve a preferable pathological response, delayed progression, and prolonged survival compared to AC therapy with a similar safety profile in patients with LAGC; however, further validation is warranted.


The recently concluded program, jointly funded by ELTECH Research Corporation and the Department of Energy, focused upon the development of an aaluminum-air battery system for electric vehicle applications. The operation of the aluminum-air battery involves the dissolution of aluminum to produce a current and aluminate. Initially the objectives were to evaluate and optimize the battery design that was developed prior to this program (designated as the B300 cell) and to design and evaluate the components of the auxiliary system. During the program, three additional tasks were undertaken, addressing needs identified by ELTECH and by Sandia National Laboratories. First, the capability to produce aluminum alloys as relatively large ingots (100-150 lbs), with the required electrochemical performance, was considered essential to the development of the battery. The second additional task was the adoption of an advanced cell (designated as the AT400 cell), designed by ELTECH in a different program. Finally, it was recognized that a system model would allow evaluation of the interactions of the several unit operations involved in the battery. Therefore, the development of a mathematical model, based upon material and energy balances for the battery, was undertaken. At a systems level, sufficient information was obtained in the completion of this program to support the design, fabrication and operation of a "batch" or "solids-free" battery system. For the first time, the components of the auxiliary system, i.e., a heat exchanger, carbon dioxide scrubber and hydrogen disposal technology, have been defined for a vehicle battery. Progress on each component or system is summarized in the following sections.


Chondrocalcinosis may be asymptomatic or take three classical forms (acute recurrent inflammatory, chronic inflammatory, with osteoarthritis). Apart form that, CPP crystal arthropathies can mimic several rheumatic diseases, including polymyalgia, septic arthritis and spondylodiscitis. Several conditions can predispose to chondrocalcinosis, including hemochromatosis, hyperparathyroidism, familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia, hypomagnesemia and treatment with tacrolimus or diuretics. The diagnostic sensitivity of ultrasound seems better than radiography and CT is useful in spinal forms but whenever possible, the identification of crystals in synovial fluid remains essential. NSAIDs and/or glucocorticoids are frequently sufficient to control symptoms but methotrexate, at anti-inflammatory doses (10-20 mg/wk) appears useful in refractory forms.


Prepared on behalf of the Task Group 1 on Life-Cycle Performance of Structural Systems Under Uncertainty of the Technical Council on Life-Cycle Performance, Safety, Reliability and Risk of Structural Systems of the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil EngineersStructural engineering is facing a profound change toward a life-cycle oriented design philosophy in order to address the continuously increasing societal, political, economic, and environmental demand for sustainable structural and infrastructural facilities that minimize risks arising from aging, deterioration, and natural and human-made hazards. Life-Cycle Design, Assessment, and Maintenance of Structures and Infrastructure Systems is a state-of-the-art comprehensive report outlining the current status and research needs in life-cycle of civil structure and infrastructure systems. This book examinesPhysical, chemical, and mechanical processes involved in the degradation mechanisms of concrete and steel structures located in severe environments; Methods and strategies for life-cycle design and assessment of deteriorating structural systems under uncertainty; Life-cycle management concepts for structures and infrastructure networks under uncertainty and the application of such concepts in management process; and Principles and implications associated with the scheduling and application of maintenance policies for deteriorating structures and infrastructure networks. This book serves as a valuable resource to engineers, managers, and government agencies concerned with life-cycle design and maintenance of civil structures and infrastructure systems.


Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD), a potentially pathologic condition, can progress to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis, leading to an increased probability of hepatic failure and death. Alcohol induces fatty liver by increasing the ratio of reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide to oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in hepatocytes; increasing hepatic sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, and early growth response-1 activity; and decreasing hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α activity. Alcohol activates the innate immune system and induces an imbalance of the immune response, which is followed by activated Kupffer cell-derived tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α overproduction, which is in turn responsible for the changes in the hepatic SREBP-1 and PAI-1 activity. Alcohol abuse promotes the migration of bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) to the liver and then reprograms TNF-α expression from BMDCs. Chronic alcohol intake triggers the sympathetic hyperactivity-activated hepatic stellate cell (HSC) feedback loop that in turn activates the HSCs, resulting in HSC-derived TNF-α overproduction. Carvedilol may block this feedback loop by suppressing sympathetic activity, which attenuates the progression of AFLD. Clinical studies evaluating combination therapy of carvedilol with a TNF-α inhibitor to treat patients with AFLD are warranted to prevent the development of alcoholic liver disease.


When surveying what has happened in executive selection from the early 1960s to the present day, one finds an interesting irony — almost a contradiction. On the one hand, a lot has been learned about the selection process. On the other hand, the selection of senior executives has not noticeably improved; it may have even deteriorated. In what follows I would like to look at three areas in which this situation is most apparent — executive search, personnel selection, and practice — and then say a few words about how I think this might be resolved.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency and status of mentally ill patients who registered in a community health center (CHC) but they could not be accessed. Methods: A total of 233 mentally ill individuals who were registered to a CHC in B Metropolitan City participated in this survey. Data were collected from December 1 to 31, 2010 and analyzed. Results: There were 140 (60.1%) community dwelling mentally ill patients who had been registered to that CHC but were not accessible. The major reasons of this inaccessibility were patients" rejection to be accessed (27.1%) and the wrong or missing address in hospital"s discharge note (22.9%). The nursing problems of the subjects were rejection of medication (93.4%); poor personal hygiene (85.8%); violence including harassment of family member(s), assault, property destruction, threat with weapon (38.7%); and so on. Among 159 cases of referrals and requests for help immediate action with patient"s compliance were only 8.8%. Conclusion: The findings show that mentally ill patients who had registered to the CHC but were not able to be accessed failed to be managed properly. This would become risk factors of social problems which threat to the community as well as individuals. Thus, we need to prepare programs for this population to make them take medicine at a minimum.


Since the appearance of the celebrated work by V. Jones on index of subfactors, combinatorial structures behind the theory have been exploited extensively. In the original approach of V. Jones, these are described in terms of higher relative commutants of towers of algebras, which turn out to be complete invariants for amenable subfactors by a recent result of S. Popa. Parallel to this approach, A. Ocneanu presented the invariant in a combinatorially more satisfactory way (so called paragroups) based on which he reached his classification result of subfactors of index smaller than 4. In our previous paper we have described the basics in bimodules to pursue the Ocneanu's approach, where categorical structures underlies behind the whole theory. This point of view has been particularly useful in algebraic studies of Jones index theory ([9], [14], [15], [27]). This categorical structure turns out to be more fundamental and it deserves separate studies which is the main concern in the present paper. Since we aim at applications in operator algebras or unitary representation theory, the category considered below are mostly assumed to have ∗-structure in the sense that morphisms behave like bounded linear operators between Hilbert spaces. Clearly the category of bimodules accomodates such structures and more importantly it admits monoidal structure by taking relative tensor products. Other than such more or less explicit structures, the category of bimodules (of finite Jones index) bears some metrical information which is directly related to minimal expectations in subfactor theory and has an intimate relation to the notion of connections in paragroups. By translating some of basic properties of minimal expectations, this distinguished structure, referred to as Frobenius duality in this paper, is organized into a set of axioms, which turns out to be basic ingredients in Frobenius reciprocity. Starting with a Frobenius duality in a monoidal category, we then


The spatial resolution of a detector, using a reference detector telecscope, can be measured applying the geometric mean method, with tracks reconstructed from hits of all the detectors, including (σin) and excluding (σex) the hit from the detector under study. The geometric mean of the two measured resolution values (σ = √σexσin), is proposed to provide a more accurate estimate of the intrinsic detector resolution. This method has been tested using a Monte Carlo algorithm and is proven to give accurate results, independently of the distance between the detectors used for the track fitting. The method does not give meaningful results if all the detectors do not carry the same characteristics.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the epidemiological features of the index cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred in different cities in Guangdong province and to trace for the source of infection.

METHODS
Standardized individual case inventory was adopted to conduct investigation on index cases and on persons who had close contact with index cases in Guangdong province. Data on the epidemiological characteristics, secondary cases and the links among index cases were analyzed.

RESULTS
Between November 16, 2002 and April 16, 2003, there had been 13 index cases of SARS including 3 cadres, 3 farmers, 2 retirees, 2 workers and 1 shop attendant, reported from 13 cities in Guangdong province. Between November 2002 and January 2003, there had been 7 cities reported to have identified index cases of SARS with 6 of them being infected in their own cities and 1 imported from Guangzhou city. All of the cases had no close contacts to similar patients but 6 of them later caused 2nd or even 3rd generation cases of SARS. Most cases hit young people (7/13) with a sex ratio of 1:0.6. The fatality rate of index cases was high (4/13).

CONCLUSION
No evidence showed that there was direct transmission among the index cases. Data regarding the geographical origin of those index cases led to the assumption that the infection had started in six cities of Pearl river delta region and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Palliative care and care of the dying are not widely taught in medical education. Yet, through the guidelines of the Federal Medical Council (Bundesärztekammer), doctors are obliged professionally to accompany the dying process. Systematic studies concerning doctors' motivation and action in this special situation are rare. This study aims to evaluate the views and attitudes of general practitioners towards the care for cancer patients in the terminal stage of disease.

METHODS
In association with the project of the German Ministry of Health "Patienten als Partner-Tumorpatienten und ihr Mitwirken in medizinischen Entscheidungen" ("Patients as partners: patients with malignant tumor and their collaboration in medical decision making"), a questionnaire was designed for general practitioners based on qualitative interviews. The self-guiding questionnaire comprised questions concerning death and dying, patient-doctor relationship and day-to-day medical actions.

RESULTS
505 general practitioners (GPs) received the questionnaires. 170 were filled in and sent back (33%). The GPs felt responsible for the care of the dying patients. Pain control was the main goal (97%). Symptom control was thought to be important/very important in 87%, the application of life-prolonging measures in 12 %. Basic analgesic medication was prescribed by 93% of GPs. 89%/77% of the general practitioners answered that they were satisfied with the technical equipment of the hospital/clinic, whereas there was a dissatisfaction with psychological and spiritual support.

CONCLUSION
General practitioners widely accept their responsibility for the care of the dying patients. Pain control is the major goal in this group of patients. Some items (use of co-analgesia, prescription of peak analgesia) seem to be open to improvements. Despite a high motivation, general practitioners show their dissatisfaction with some aspects of the care for dying people. Palliative care teams could be helpful in this situation.


The inhibitory effect of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and 6-amidinoindole on the catalytic properties of bovine beta-trypsin (trypsin), human alpha-thrombin (thrombin) and porcine pancreatic beta-kallikrein-B (kallikrein) was investigated (between pH 3.0 and 7.0, I = 0.1 M; T = 30.0 +/- 0.5 degrees C), and analyzed in parallel with that of benzamidine, commonly taken as a molecular inhibitor model of serine proteinases. Next, the X-ray crystal structure of the trypsin:DAPI complex was solved at 1.9 A resolution (R = 0.161). Over the whole pH range explored, values of the association inhibition constant (Ki) for DAPI and 6-amidinoindole binding to trypsin, thrombin and kallikrein are higher than those found for benzamidine association, suggesting a binding mode of DAPI to the enzyme primary specificity pocket-based on the indole moiety of the inhibitor. On lowering the pH from 5.5 to 3.0, the decrease in affinity for DAPI, 6-amidinoindole and benzamidine binding to trypsin, thrombin and kallikrein reflects the acidic pK shift of the Asp189 invariant residue, present at the bottom of the primary specificity subsite of the serine proteinases considered, from 4.5, in the free enzyme, to 3.7, in the proteinase:inhibitor complexes. Inspection of the refined crystal structure of the trypsin:DAPI complex, however, does not allow a unique interpretation of the inhibitor binding mode. The present data were analysed in parallel with those reported for related serine (pro)enzyme/inhibitor systems.


In this paper we discuss work in progress on the design and implementation of Simply, a system for modeling and solving Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP). During the last years, there has been a dramatic improvement on performance of SAT solvers, and solving CSPs by translation into propositional formulas has become a real choice in many cases. The advances in SAT technology have been adapted for more expressive (yet decidable) logics, e.g., in the framework of SAT Modulo Theories (SMT). Simply is intended to be a declarative programming system for easy CSP modeling which generates SMT formulas for solving these CSP. The utility and interest of Simply is twofold: on the one hand, it serves as a benchmark generator for CSP solving with different state-of-the-art SMT solvers and, on the other hand, the system aims at taking advantage of the highly increasing performance of these solvers.


This survey study aimed at investigating the relationship between Omani media management of the 2007 Gono cyclone crisis and people's behavioral responses and their attitudes towards media performance. The study was founded on the general principles of the Situational Crisis Communication theory and Stakeholders theory. A convenient sample of 140 affected individuals from three different places in Oman participated in this study. The results indicated that 96% of the informants followed Omani media warnings about the cyclone. The results also showed a positive correlation between respondents' belief that the media have provided them with swift and transparent messages and addressed their interests and emotional concerns on one hand, and adopting positive behavioral responses, on the other hand. Overall, respondents were satisfied with Omani media performance during the different stages of the cyclone crisis.


Human bone marrow contains plastic-adherent hemopoietic progenitor cells whose plating efficiency is increased by brief (2 h) exposure to methylprednisolone (MP). When subsequently covered with methylcellulose medium, they form colonies of monoblastoid cells. Colony size, but not number, and mature cell production are increased by erythropoietin (epo) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). However, colonies do not grow under serum-free conditions. The resistance of plastic-adherent progenitors to treatment with 5-fluorouracil (5FU), their growth pattern, and their capacity to produce granulocytic and erythroid colonies on replating, suggest that they may be similar to the primitive, 5FU-resistant, plastic-adherent progenitor cells (HPP-CFC) in murine marrow.


The Social Work Department of a large Australian health service has led an organisation-wide risk identification reporting system providing oversight of family violence cases. The availability of this data offered a unique opportunity for robust evidence collection of the victim survivor experience, and the clinical response, over an eight-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The audit of family violence notifications and clinical notes (n = 283) identified 36 per cent of cases were impacted by pandemic-related factors. Psychological (69 per cent) and physical abuse (64 per cent) were the most identified forms of family violence. Multiple pandemic-related stressors were evident, including financial stress (38 per cent), housing instability (27 per cent) and unemployment (22 per cent). Telehealth was seen as both an opportunity for further control by perpetrators as well as a strategy to stay connected with at risk and isolated patients. Two focus groups with clinical staff (n = 16) described evidence of an increased shared sense of responsibility amongst multidisciplinary colleagues towards family violence presentations during COVID-19. The findings contribute to emerging knowledge about risks and barriers impacting victim survivors during disasters, such as pandemics, and offer strategies for improving practice. Findings highlight the important role of social workers in data collection and analysis to inform their practice.


(3R)-Gobiusxanthin stereoisomers (1a–d) were synthesized by stereoselective Wittig reaction of the (3R)-C15-acetylenic tri-n-butylphosphonium salt 7 with C25-apocarotenal stereoisomers 5a,b and 14a,b bearing four kinds of 3,6-dihydroxy-ε-end groups. The validity of the reported stereochemistry of gobiusxanthin was demonstrated by the fact that the reported spectral data of natural gobiusxanthin were in agreement with those of synthetic (3R,3'S,6'R)-gobiusxanthin (1a). On the other hand, the reported CD spectral data of natural epigobiusxanthin, which has been assigned as (3R,3'R,6'R)-isomer (3'-epigobiusxanthin), were identical with those of synthetic (3R,3'S,6'S)-isomer 1d (6'-epigobiusxanthin) rather than those of the corresponding synthetic 3'-epi-isomer 1b. It was found that the stereochemistry at C3-position has little effect on the shape of their CD spectra. Thus, in order to reinforce the validity of the absolute configurations at C3-position of natural specimens, (3S,3'S,6'R)- and (3S,3'S,6'S)-stereoisomers 1e and 1f were also synthesized and a HPLC analytical method for four stereoisomers was established by using a column carrying a chiral stationary phase. The HPLC analysis has proven that the stereochemistry of the natural epigobiusxanthin is 3R,3'S,6'S.


In this study, the rate dependent effect of quinidine on the ventricular elective refractory period (VERP) was evaluated in 30 patients undergoing electropharmacological testing with quinidine. The VERPs were measured in the baseline state and after at least 2 days of treatment with 1,458–2,044 mg/day of quinidine gluconate (mean plasma quinidine concentration 2.2 ± 0.7 mcg/mL). In 20 patients, the VERP was measured using conventional basic drive trains of 8 beats and basic drive cycle lengths of 600, 500, 400, and 350 msec. In another 10 patients, the VERP was measured after 3 minutes of continuous ventricular pacing at cycle lengths of 600 and 400 msec, and compared to the VERPs measured at the same basic drive cycle lengths using basic drive train durations of 2 and 8 beats. In the baseline state and after treatment with quinidine, the VERP shortened progressively as the basic drive train cycle length decreased and as the drive train duration increased to 3 minutes (P < 0.001). Quinidine consistently prolonged the VERP by 9%–11% (P < 0.001 J, regardless of the basic drive train cycle length. Quinidine's effect was also not affected by the basic drive train duration. In conclusion, the effect of quinidine on VERP in humans is independent of the rate of the basic drive train, both when measured using conventional 8‐beat basic drive trains and when a three minute drive train duration is used in order to attain the maximum effect of the basic drive train cycle length on the VERP. Therefore, in contrast to quinidine's known rate dependent effect on conduction, it's effect on ventricular refractoriness at doses and basic drive train cycle lengths which are used clinically are not rate dependent.


Objective. American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) suffer a disproportionate burden of diabetes. Identifying food choices of AI/ANs at risk of type 2 diabetes, living in both rural and urban settings, is critical to the development of culturally relevant, evidence-based education strategies designed to reduce morbidity and mortality in this population. Design. At baseline, 3135 AI/AN adults participating in the Special Diabetes Program for American Indians Diabetes Prevention Demonstration Project (SDPI-DP) completed a socio-demographic survey and a 27-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The primary dietary behavior goal of SDPI-DP education sessions and lifestyle coaching is changes in food choices, i.e., increased fruits, vegetables and whole grains, decreased high sugar beverages, red meat, and processed foods. Subsequently, program assessment focuses on changes in food types. Foods were delineated using a 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' classification as defined by the educators advising participants. Urban and rural differences were examined using χ2 tests and two sample t-tests. Multiple linear regressions and linear mixed models were used to assess the association between socio-demographic factors and food choice. Results. Retired participants, those living in urban areas and with high income and education selected healthy foods most frequently. Young males, those with low income and education consumed unhealthy foods most frequently. Selection of unhealthy foods did not differ by urban and rural setting. Conclusions. The ubiquitous nature of unhealthy food choices makes them hard to avoid. Food choice differences by gender, age, income, and setting suggest that nutrition education should more effectively target and meets the needs of young AI/AN males.


The authors present three patients with rectus sheath hematoma who were diagnosed with ultrasound and successfully operated upon. The importance of a correct preoperative diagnosis is stressed to avoid an unnecessary laparotomy. Ultrasound helps to localize the presence of an extra-abdominal mass located between the aponeurotic sheaths of the rectus muscle. Surgery is the best treatment since it is possible to evacuate the large hematoma, and at the same time it affords an opportunity to ligate the bleeding vessels, usually the epigastrics. No advantage is seen using conservative treatment, as several weeks may be necessary before complete resolution, while the patient is suffering considerable pain and discomfort.


Introduction: Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors mostly located in the stomach and esophageal GIST is extremely rare. Various genetic disorders increase the risk of developing GIST, among these, NF-1 is the most common. A case of posterior mediastial GIST developing in the neurofibromatosis patient has not been reported yet.Case: A 48-year-old male patient is being evaluated with complaints of dyspnea and progressive dysphagia. Computed tomography detected a cystic, lobulated contour mass that was located at the posterior mediastinum and measuring 11 x 14x12 cm. The giant semisolid mass has been dissected from adjacent the vertebra, the esophagus, pericardium and inferior pulmonary vein and Histopathological examination revealed GİST. Pathological examination of skin lesions confirmed NF-1. Finally, NF-1-associated posterior mediastinal GIST was diagnosed and adjuvant imatinib treatment was initiated. Conclusion: To the best our knowledge, this patient was the first case, who diagnosed with posterior mediastinal GIST developing on the basis of NF-1.


Biomedical research has been performed by using advanced information techniques, and micro-high-quality stereo images have been used by researchers and/or doctors for various aims in biomedical research and surgery. To visualize the stereo images, many related devices have been developed. However, the devices are difficult to learn for junior doctors and demanding to supervise for experienced surgeons. In this paper, we describe the development of a high-definition (HD) three-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic imaging display system for operating a microscope or experimenting on animals. The system consists of a stereoscopic camera part, image processing device for stereoscopic video recording, and stereoscopic display. In order to reduce eyestrain and viewer fatigue, we use a preexisting stereo microscope structure and polarized-light stereoscopic display method that does not reduce the quality of the stereo images. The developed system can overcome the discomfort of the eye piece and eyestrain caused by use over a long period of time.


The efficient sharing of a single server node between multiple co-located applications is increasingly important in modern large-scale datacenters and supercomputers. However, existing operating system (OS) architectures fall short in ensuring the performance isolation between co-located applications, which impedes the efficiency of large-scale computing infrastructures as well as the scalability of large-scale applications. The goal of this research is to improve the performance isolation capability of existing OS kernels, as well as to develop novel OS architectures aiming to provide isolated and optimized execution environments for workloads with disparate runtime requirements.

We first studied the performance interference problem between time-shared virtual machines as seen in the cloud. We conducted comprehensive performance analyses to identify the root causes of the kernel performance degradation problem in shared virtual environments. To address this problem, we designed and implemented two synchronization techniques optimized for shared virtual environments: the preemptable ticket spinlock (pmtlock) algorithm and the Shoot4U paravirtual TLB shootdown scheme. Our evaluation demonstrates that both techniques significantly reduce the performance interference between co-located virtual machines.

Besides improving existing OS kernels, we also looked at the design of operating systems aiming to provide isolated and optimized execution environments for in-situ analysis applications as seen in modern high performance computing (HPC). We designed and implemented the Pisces lightweight co-kernel architecture, which allows multiple independent lightweight co-kernels to be deployed side-by-side with Linux on isolated hardware partitions. Each co-kernel can be optimized for the local HPC workload, while the performance isolation between co-kernels is enforced at both the software and hardware level. Our evaluation shows better application scalability on the co-kernel architecture compared with native Linux.

Finally, to support high performance I/O on lightweight co-kernels, we developed HobbesIO: an I/O delegation service on lightweight co-kernels that allows the application transparent I/O delegation from a co-kernel process to an I/O service processes deployed on arbitrary native or virtual Linux enclaves. Our evaluation shows that HobbesIO achieves comparable performance with native Linux.


The rate of fluid flow in fabrics is an important factor in textile finishing and cleaning processes. The overall permeability of a textile material is determined by the fluid flows in and between the yarns of a fabric. Various theoretical models are briefly presented for estimating the part played by both types of pores and for calculating permeability coefficients. The features of fluid flow in cotton and polyester cloth are inaccurately described by most models, emphasizing the need for further research into and experimental determination of the permeability of packed textile beds.


In this paper, we propose beamforming schemes for frequency-selective channels with decision-feedback equalization (DFE) at the receiver and with, respectively, perfect and quantized channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter. For beamforming with perfect CSI and infinite impulse response (IIR) beamforming Alters (BFFs) we provide a closed-form expression for the optimum BFFs. We also devise two efficient numerical methods for recursive calculation of the optimum finite impulse response (FIR) BFFs with perfect CSI. For beamforming with quantized CSI and finite-rate feedback channel, we propose a global vector quantization (GVQ) algorithm for codebook design. This algorithm is deterministic and independent of initial conditions and does not impose any constraints on the number of transmit and receive antennas, the antenna correlation, or the fading statistics. Our simulation results for typical GSM/EDGE channels show that in general short FIR BFFs are sufficient to closely approach the performance of IIR BFFs even in severely frequency-selective channels. Furthermore, finite-rate feedback beamforming with only a few feedback bits achieves significant performance gains over single-antenna transmission, transmit antenna selection, and optimized delay diversity in frequency-selective fading.


This paper gives the results of studies on various technical aspects of the indirect haemagglutination (IHA) test for malaria, on the similarity of the results obtained in the IHA test and in the indirect fluorescent antibody test, on the use of various plasmodial extracts as sensitizing antigens in the IHA test, and on the influence of heterophile antibodies on the titres obtained in the IHA test. Some longitudinal observations on induced malaria infections of man and monkey showed that the infection can induce the production of heterophile antibodies: their appearance, however, remains unpredictable. In some infections agglutinins against host erythrocyte components are also produced. Absorption of sera with tanned sheep cells sensitized with noninfected host red blood cell antigens is advocated as a control on the IHA titre for specific agglutinins.