The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility, efficacy and safety of the use of a conical self-expandable stent for the treatment of post-pneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula (PPBPF). Between April 2008 and November 2010, six patients underwent treatment for the PPBPF by the introduction of a tracheobronchial conical fully covered self-expandable nitinol stent with the aim of excluding the bronchial dehiscence from the airflow. We secured the prosthesis to the tracheal mucosa with titanium helical fasteners tacks. Five patients presented with a bronchial fistula larger than 5 mm following right (4) or left (1) pneumonectomy. One patient had an anastomotic dehiscence after right tracheal sleeve pneumonectomy. A chest tube showed the absence of empyema in all cases. Immediate resolution of the bronchial air leak was obtained in all the patients. Permanent closure of the bronchial dehiscence without recurrence was achieved in all the patients at a mean follow-up time of 13 months (range 3-32). The bronchial stent was successfully removed in all patients without sequelae 71-123 days after its implantation. The use of the conical self-expandable Silmet(®) stent has proved to be an effective, safe and fast method to treat even large PPBPFs.


The issues confronting adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) are well publicized but their empirical basis remains limited. The screening of 250 consecutive psychiatric admissions to a general hospital revealed a significant prevalence of ACOAs across diagnoses. Compared to the other patients, the ACOA group was younger but with no other socioeconomic difference. The diagnoses of substance abuse and phobic disorders were more frequent. The group was psychiatrically hospitalized at an earlier age. The impact of an ACOA status varied with the parental biological relation and gender, and with the premorbid antecedents of parental alcoholism.


Humanity faces global challenges in climate change mitigation, water sustainability, and other areas. In order to address these challenges, radical innovation is needed to accelerate multiple "sustainability transitions" and create dynamism. Transitions research has focused on small niches and scales where empirical analysis can be done effectively. Niches and bottom-up initiatives for low carbon transitions in the built environment can help adjust policies and reconcile grand visions (top-down perspective) with ground implementation experiences (bottom-up perspective). Multiple factors can contribute to the creation of effective policies, and digitalisation and AI/ML applications, in the context of increasing automation, can be an opportunity to create new prosperity in a knowledge-based growth perspective, considering, however, the underlying critical assumptions, limitations and threats. Ten research questions deemed relevant for low carbon transitions from a bottom-up perspective have been proposed to generate multiple hypotheses for field testing.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the application of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome differentiation in identification of body constitution of hypertensive and diabetic patients.

METHODS
A total of 110 hypertensive patients with diabetes treated in our hospital were enrolled in this study, and were divided into a study group (SG, n=60) and a control group (CG, n=50) according to different intervention methods. Patients in the CG received conventional western medical intervention for hypertension and diabetes, while patients in the SG received body constitution-identified TCM syndrome differentiation intervention additionally. The changes of blood pressure and plasma glucose during the intervention were compared between the two groups, the clinical effect and quality of life of the two groups were evaluated, and multivariate stepwise Logistic regression analysis on influencing factor of TCM body constitution was conducted.

RESULTS
Compared with that before intervention, the proportion of gentleness constitution in the SG showed a significant increase (P<0.05) after intervention. Dynamic analysis during the intervention showed that patients in the SG had lower systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), lower level of fasting plasma glucose (GLU) and 2-h postprandial plasma glucose (2hPG) than the CG from 1 to 12 months after intervention (P<0.05). Patients in the SG scored higher than the CG on all SF-36 dimensions after intervention (P<0.05). Multivariate stepwise Logistic regression analysis showed that dampness-heat constitution, blood-stasis constitution, Yin-deficiency constitution and phlegm-dampness constitution were the main risk factors for hypertension with diabetes (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
Body constitution-identified TCM syndrome differentiation treatment for hypertensive patients with diabetes is effective, which can significantly improve the plasma glucose and blood pressure indices of patients. Dampness-heat constitution, blood-stasis constitution, Yin-deficiency constitution and phlegm-dampness constitution are the risk factors for hypertension with diabetes.


Statement of purpose The California Coalition Against Sexual Assault's national project PreventConnect conducts a scan each year of trends in prevention to inform its activities to support sexual and domestic violence prevention efforts. With the establishment of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault in January 2014 and subsequent release of its first report in April 2014,1 PreventConnect conducted a scan specific to prevention efforts on college campuses. Methods/Approach The scan identifies trends in current sexual violence prevention efforts on campuses; mandates and regulations; challenges and opportunities in designing, implementing and evaluating sexual violence prevention strategies; and commonly used approaches. Given the dearth of research in peer-reviewed journals that demonstrate proven effective approaches to prevent sexual violence, this effort details contextual and experiential evidence based on the work of stakeholders. The scan represents a summary of CALCASA's experience working with college campuses as technical assistance provider to the national DOJ Campus Program since 1999, participating in the Department of Education's VAWA Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, and from key informant interviews Results The scan provides a view of the current status of sexual violence prevention efforts and identifies opportunities and gaps based on CALCASA's 3-pronged approach to addressing and preventing sexual assault on college campuses which include: Survivor Centredness Community Collaboration and Engagement Comprehensive Prevention Comprehensive prevention includes strategies that address sexual violence before it happens (primary prevention) as well as address sexual violence after it takes place. Comprehensive prevention on college campuses requires more than just providing information at orientation for incoming students. It is also critical that Comprehensive Prevention efforts saturate the campus community. Conclusions The scan provides important foundation of knowledge to inform strategies to lead to more effective policies, responses and procedures when a sexual assault occurs and can create a shift in cultural norms on campuses that can prevent sexual assault before it begins. Significance and contribution to the field Given the national attention to sexual violence on college campuses, public health, violence and injury programs have an important contribution toward strengthening sexual violence prevention efforts. Understanding the current landscape of prevention efforts is essential to prevention practice.


the Eichmann case are each the subject of an essay, and the editors have brought together, from many sources, treatments of such matters as Municipal Criminal Jurisdiction, International Standards of Criminal Justice, and International Judicial Co-operation. The collection will have little interest for the officer concerned only with the practicalities of his profession, but for the more speculative policeman the facts and theories contributed by its learned contributors to this imposing survey will afford more than a glimpse of the more coherent international order which must be achieved if civilization is to survive. QUAESTOR


Mobile phone repair is booming in the Global South, creating new players and approaches. Based on ethnographic research in Ghana's major phone markets, this article maps the local repair ecosystem by illustrating two sets of repair actors: "company repairers" and "independent repairers." Paying attention to their internal diversity and complex interactions, this article categorizes three types of repair practices, including the high-end approach employed by Samsung, Apple and Huawei, the mid-range approach adopted by the Chinese after-sales service provider Carlcare, and the low-end approach used by independent repairers. This article argues that Carlcare, as a rising repair actor, creates a middle ground between the elitism of big tech and the informality of local repair shops. Through its repair practice, Carlcare not only translates dysfunctional technologies into functional ones but also transforms informal laborers into professional technicians. Contextualizing Carlcare's development in Ghana, this article discusses the tensions and implications of institutionalization.


The environment in which current universities operate is globalized and highly competitive, both nationally and internationally. To succeed in this environment, the issue of student satisfaction as a factor that determines the loyalty of students and is also an important indicator of the quality of a university is of prime interest to universities. Research interests of researchers who deal with university management then focus on identifying students' expectations and criteria of their satisfaction with universities. The objective of the research presented in the article was to identify the criteria of satisfaction with universities from the perspective of Czech students of economy‑oriented study programs. Using the qualitative research methods, the following general categories of student satisfaction criteria were identified: academic quality, organization of teaching and the attitude of the study department, organizational climate, facilities and equipment of a faculty, library services, catering services, and faculty reputation. The identified categories and their corresponding attributes can serve as the basis for practical reflection on improving the quality of services provided by universities as well as the basis for developing a tool to measure student satisfaction.


Fine Fe particles produced by evaporation in Ar gas are applied to the observation of magnetic domains. Results of fundamental investigations of the patterns formed by the particles are described. Domain patterns of a Sm-Co polycrystalline magnet and magneto-optically recorded bit patterns in Tb-Fe-Co films are observed by this method. The results are compared to the patterns obtained by the Bitter colloid method and discussion is presented on the prospective improvement of the resolution.


Along with the rapid development of processing technology, Aluminum high-speed dry cutting technology is also gradually improved. In this study, a virtual instrument based on multi-sensor signal acquisition systems will be set up, collecting the acoustic emission(AE), vibration(acceleration) signals in the process of dry milling aluminum, finding the optimal parameters of dry milling of aluminum. By the wavelet transform of vibration signals, the results show that the amplitudes of vibration signals increases as the Spindle speed increases, similarly, vibration signals increases as the Depth of cut(ap) increases. By the wavelet transform of acoustic emission(AE) signals, it is revealed that as the speeding speed increases, the amplitudes of the AE signals increases(the depth of cut 0.5mm). The amplitudes of the AE increases as the depth of cut increases. When the spindle speed is constant(18000r/min), just adding the feeding per tooth(feeding rate), but the amplitudes of the vibration and the AE change have no roles.


Purpose: To determine the effects of 630 nm light emitting diode (LED) on full-thickness wound healing. Methods: Twelve male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into LED (n=6) and control group (n=6). Two 19.63 mm wounds were created on the mid dorsum. LED group received a 630 nm LED irradiation with 3.67 mW/cm for 30 minutes (6.60 J/cm) for 7 days, while control group received sham LED irradiation. Epithelial gap, collagen density, α-SMA fibroblast and PCNA keratinocyte were measured on histochemical and immunohistochemical staining using image analysis system. An independent t-test was conducted to compare the difference between groups. Results: The wound closure rate, collagen density, α-SMA fibroblast number, epithelial gap and PCNA keratinocyte number have shown no significant difference between LED and control group at day 3 after the treatment. At day 7 after the treatment, the wound closure rate in LED group was increased when compared with control group (p<0.05). The collagen density (p<0.05) and α-SMA immunoreactive fibroblast number (p<0.001) were increased when compared with control group at day 7. The epithelial gap in LED group was significantly shorten than control group at day 7 (p<0.01). The PCNA positive cell number in LED group was higher than control group at day 7 (p<0.01). Conclusion: 630 nm LED with 3.67 mW/cm, 6.60 J/cm accelerate collagen deposition by stimulating fibroblasts, and enhance wound contraction by differentiating myofibroblasts in the dermis, and accelerate keratinocyte proliferation by facilitating DNA synthesis in the epidermis. It may promote the healing process in proliferation stage of wound healing.


We perform axisymmetric relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to investigate the acceleration and collimation of jets and outflows from disks around compact objects. Newtonian gravity is added to the relativistic treatment in order to establish the physical boundary condition of an underlying accretion disk in centrifugal and pressure equilibrium. The fiducial disk surface (respectively a slow disk wind) is prescribed as boundary condition for the outflow. We apply this technique for the first time in the context of relativistic jets. The strength of this approach is that it allows us to run a parameter study in order to investigate how the accretion disk conditions govern the outflow formation. Substantial effort has been made to implement a current-free, numerical outflow boundary condition in order to avoid artificial collimation present in the standard outflow conditions. Our simulations using the PLUTO code run for 500 inner disk rotations and on a physical grid size of 100x200 inner disk radii. The simulations evolve from an initial state in hydrostatic equilibrium and an initially force-free magnetic field configuration. Two options for the initial field geometries are applied a hourglass-shaped potential magnetic field and a split monopole field. Most of our parameter runs evolve into a steady state solution which can be further analyzed concerning the physical mechanism at work. In general, we obtain collimated beams of mildly relativistic speed with Lorentz factors up to 6 and mass-weighted half-opening angles of 3-7 degrees. The split-monopole initial setup usually results in less collimated outflows. The light surface of the outflow magnetosphere tends to align vertically implying three relativistically distinct regimes in the flow an inner sub-relativistic domain close to the jet axis, a (rather narrow) relativistic jet and a surrounding subrelativistic outflow launched from the outer disk surface similar to the spine-sheath structure currently discussed for asymptotic jet propagation and stability. The outer subrelativistic disk-wind is a promising candidate for the X-ray absorption winds that are observed in many radio-quiet AGN. The hot winds under investigation acquire only low Lorentz factors due to the rather high plasma-β we have applied in order to provide an initial force-balance in the disk-corona. When we increase the outflow Poynting flux by injecting an additional disk toroidal field into the outflow, the jet velocities achieved are higher. These flow gains super-magnetosonic speed and remains Poynting flux dominated. Subject headings: accretion, accretion disks – ISM: jets and outflows – MHD – galaxies: active – galaxies: jets – relativity


As a framework for
the effort to develop perspectives for work and promote autonomous career
development among young people, schools at all levels—from elementary schools
to universities—are introducing and conducting career education. One result of
these efforts has been that career education, which is supposed to be conducted
systematically while maintaining a certain level of quality, is currently not
functioning well. More specifically, the wide range of career education
curricula and the fact that the method of execution is completely up to each
teacher has led to inconsistent quality and a range of risks. To help address
this, and given that career education itself constitutes a project towards
achieving the education goals, this paper argues that using a project manager
in career education—a role that has been entirely left up to each teacher to
fill or provide—is effective in managing the risks involved in career education
projects and proactively providing countermeasures to offset these risks.


Alpha-synuclein (alphaS) is a cytosolic protein involved in the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Disordered in an aqueous environment, alphaS develops a highly helical conformation when bound to membranes having a negatively charged surface and a large curvature. It exhibits a membrane-permeabilizing activity that has been attributed to oligomeric protofibrillar forms. In this study, monomeric wild-type alphaS and two mutants associated with familial PD, E46K and A53T, formed ion channels with well-defined conductance states in membranes containing 25-50% anionic lipid and 50% phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in the presence of a trans-negative potential. Another familial mutant, A30P, known to have a lower membrane affinity, did not form ion channels. Ca2+ prevented channel formation when added to membranes before alphaS and decreased channel conductance when added to preformed channels. In contrast to the monomer, membrane permeabilization by oligomeric alphaS was not characterized by formation of discrete channels, a requirement for PE lipid, or a membrane potential. Channel activity, alpha-helical content, thermal stability of membrane-bound alphaS determined by far-UV CD, and lateral mobility of alphaS bound to planar membranes measured by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy were correlated. It was inferred that discrete ion channels with well-defined conductance states were formed in the presence of a membrane potential by one or several molecules of monomeric alphaS in an alpha-helical conformation and that such channels may have a role in the normal function and/or pathophysiology of the protein.


High efficient and fast addition of multiple operands is an essential process in any computational units. The power and
speed efficiency of multiplier circuits is one of critical importance in the overall performance of microcontrollers and
microprocessors. Multiplier circuits are an essential part of an arithmetic logic unit, or a digital signal processor
system for performing convolution, image processing, filtering, and other purposes. The binary multiplication of fixedpoint
numbers and integers ends up in partial products that is used to provide the ultimate product. Adding
those partial products dominates the power consumption and efficiency of the number. A new binary counter design
uses 3- bit stacking circuit, which groups all the "1" bits together, to combine pairs of 3- bit stacks into 6- bit stacks
through novel symmetric method has been proposed. The bit stacks square measure then reborn to binary counts,
producing 6:3 counter circuits with no xor gates on the critical path. This avoidance of xor gates results in faster
designs with efficient area and power utilization. Additionally, using the counters present in proposed system in
existing counter - based Wallace tree multiplier architectures reduces latency and power consumption for 128 and 64
- bit multipliers. We apply this Counter design in FIR filter Application


Control of NOX emissions from combustion sources has become an important issue in recent years, particularly in the ozone nonattainment areas of California. Cement kilns represent an important source of NOXemissions, and they either have already been regulated or are being considered for future regulations. The development of NOX controls for cement kilns is not a trivial problem, and many different control methods have been tried over the last 15-20 years, many of which have failed. However, recently progress has been made, and additional novel ideas are being pursued. This paper presents the results of a critical analysis of the state-of-the-art in cement kiln NOX control. A survey of current and anticipated cement kiln NOX regulations, NOX formation mechanisms, and common NOX control technologies (as applied to boilers) is presented. Cement kiln features relating to NOX control, such as a combustion characteristics and temperature and residence time profiles, are outlined. A comparison is made of NOX control technologies applicable to cement kilns; these include combustion modifications, low NOX burners, staged combustion, selective noncatalytic reduction, and selective catalyic reduction. The criteria for comparing these NOX control technologies include the principle of operation, technical feasibility, potential NOX reduction, relative cost, and, most importantly, the potential effects on clinker quality. Finally, conclusions and future directions in cement kiln NOX control are discussed.


This paper proposes a finite mixture model (FMM) to model the behavioral transition of calorie consumption with an assumption that nutrition consumption is a mixture of two different behavioral stages: a poor stage and an affluent stage. Based on 387 calorie-income elasticities collected from 90 primary studies, our results identify that the threshold income for calorie demand transition is 459.8 USD in 2012 prices (PPP). It implies that the transitional threshold for calorie consumption is 1.26 dollar/day, which is slightly lower than the World Bank poverty line (1.25 dollar/day in 2005 PPP prices).


The purpose of this article is to verify whether a role was given to the bearers of the intangible cultural heritage ('communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals') in the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH Convention), and whether and how this role has been developed by the Operational Directives and the practice . One of the main questions is: does the ICH Convention place the bearers of the intangible cultural heritage at the centre of its implementation? Moreover, it will be interesting to verify whether anything has been left to be done to further improve the role given to the bearers of the intangible cultural heritage.The result of the analysis establishes that even if the ICH Convention recognizes the bearers of the intangible cultural heritage play an important role in the production, safeguarding, maintenance, transmission and re-creation of this heritage, it does not place these subjects at the centre of its implementation. Nevertheless, the Operational Directives and the activity of the Subsidiary Body testify that there is a will to give these subjects a more important role in the implementation of the ICH Convention. Indeed the Subsidiary Body, after discussing the participation of the community concerned in the formulation of nominations and of safeguarding measures, affirmed that it is crucial to involve such a community in taking decisions.Without any formal changes to the ICH Convention, it might be possible and it would be desirable drawing on the interpretation provided by the Operational Directives and the Subsidiary Body, to further enhance the role of communities, groups and individuals to such a point that they in effect develop a right to participate in the safeguarding of their intangible heritage.


Marginalia is a term used to describe written notes or verbal comments spontaneously offered by participants over the course of a study. Although typically ignored, this unexpected form of data offers psychologists an opportunity to listen when participants "speak back" to the researcher. In this introduction to this special section on marginalia in Qualitative Psychology, I argue for recognizing marginalia as data. In addition, I discuss relevant research on marginalia in the social sciences and describe evidence for how marginalia offer an invaluable tool for researchers to examine their own assumptions about research design and data collection. The authors included in this special section describe their experiences with analyzing marginalia in studies using survey, interview, and participatory research methods. Each article discusses challenges the authors faced when thinking about marginalia. This involved shifting from thinking about marginalia as "noise" to thinking about marginalia as an important source of data. This special section on marginalia offers strategies that extend calls from feminist writers of color to recognize the margins as locations of political knowledge, a challenge to status quo assumptions, and critical spaces for knowledge production.


Background: The need to prevent cancer lead us to propose three innovative courses of cancer as categories of disease.
Aim: The goals of our research are to investigate the impact of various factors on cancer recurrence adaptation and to assess the quality of life, anxiety as a state, depression as a state, and disease evolution over a three-month period.
Methods and Materials: We met 32 subjects after announcing the recurrence of their cancer during this longitudinal and prospective study, and we saw 21 of them again three months later.        In two times of the study, we made fill out several questionnaires concerning various variables.
Results: Our main findings suggest that the majority of the participants did not have a new cancer recurrence and that the implementation of a fighting strategy is representative of them. Our linear regressions and average comparisons enabled us several relations about to different categories of disease.
Conclusion: Supportive therapies and stress management programmes would be beneficial for cancer patients who have had a recurrence.


This book provides a concise overview of federal partnership taxation. It covers partnership formation, including contributions of property and admission of service partners, allocation of income and loss, tax accounting, and sharing of recourse and nonrecourse liabilities. Building on this foundation, the book also addresses advanced topics, including transactions between partners and partnerships, sales of partnership interests, distributions of property, optional and mandatory basis adjustments, and planning for retirement or death of a partner. Numerous concrete examples illustrate the tax treatment of specific transactions, allowing students to grasp the principles of partnership taxation in a problem-oriented course. The revised edition reflects developments through September 2012, including codified economic substance doctrine and penalty provisions; choice of business form and classification of series entities; at-risk and passive loss rules as applied to LLCs and LLPs; partnership debt-equity exchanges and proposed "carried interest" legislation; new rules on accounting for partner's varying interests in the partnership; and disguised sale transactions and recent tax-shelter decisions.


Milk has conductive properties because it contains charged compounds, especially mineral salts. The determination of the electric conductivity of individual milk components allowed the identification of individual contributions to overall conductivity. The addition of NaCl to milk caused an increase in conductivity that was only 77.78% of that in aqueous solutions, due to the equilibrium between soluble and colloidal salts, and other soluble substances, which interfere with the salts and decrease its conducting power. Milk acidification and the decrease of pH are due to the lactose fermentation when lactic acid is formed. The phosphoric acid, the citric acid, and their acid salts have a buffering role in milk, so that the incipient milk acidification is at first buffered. Lactic acid added to fresh milk decreased the pH and increased the electrical conductivity of milk. The increase in electric conductivity for addition of lactic acid to raw milk is from 5.2 mS/cm to 5.7 mS/cm, and for addition of lactic acid to deionized water is from 0 mS/cm to 0.56 mS/cm. We observed that when the same quantity of lactic acid is added to milk the curve for electrical conductivity increase is parallel to that of aqueous solutions, but with lower absolute values. The lower incrementally increase in conductivity is due to the uptake of protons by the buffers present in milk. HPO4 changes into H2PO4 as pH decreases, which has a lower molar conductivity. The variation of the electrical conductivity incrementally with variation of lactic acid concentration makes possible the use of this biophysical parameter for monitoring milk acidification.


South Africa has been in a process of far-reaching restructuring and currently is still experiencing a bombardment of many educational change policies. Education policy for educational change only becomes reality once it is implemented at the micro (classroom) level. Teachers indeed are the key role-players in this implementation phase and are unfortunately, more often than not, the silent voices in this process, ignored and discounted in this stage of educational change. How they experience and understand the policy change, or how the human side of policy change is contextualised, remains a mystery to be explored and explained.It appears reasonable to assume that teachers' experiences of education policy change in developing South African circumstances would be influenced and constructed by the contexts in which they work.


Abstract Oogenesis in the fern Adiantum flabellulatum was studied using transmission electron microscopy. The newly formed egg is closely appressed to the archegonial jacket cells. Plasmodesmata connect the egg and the ventral canal cell, but are absent between the egg and the jacket cells. During maturation, a separation cavity forms around the egg. However, a pore region, persistently connecting the egg and the ventral canal cell, is reported for the first time. Subsequently, an osmiophilic egg envelope is formed, from a combination of the products of sheets of endoplamic reticulum and osmiophilic bodies in the egg cytoplasm. The absence of this envelope from the region where the egg and ventral canal cell were formerly interconnected produces a fertilization pore, which is believed to be an entrance for the sperm penetrating the egg. In the mid stages of egg maturation, the nucleus envelope produces extensive evaginations which then appear to be sequestered into the egg cytoplasm recalling a similar phenomenon in the eggs of other ferns. Degeneration of the neck canal cells is associated with the secretion of copious mucilaginous material.


One of the landmarks for intra-oral block anesthesia of the inferior alveolar nerve is the occlusal plane. But to our knowledge, 7 different definitions of the occlusal plane have been reported in the literature. Depending on the definition chosen, different results may be obtained. We tried to find the most useful definition by measuring macerated mandibles. Our investigations suggest that the occlusal plane is best defined by the following 3 points: the buccal cusps of the first and second lower molars on the side of the injection and the buccal cusp of the second lower premolar on the contralateral side.


Objective –Adenosine (ADO) has been shown to have beneficial effects against tissue injury after myocardial ischemia. However, the timing and dose of ADO administration have not been defined. This study was designed to determine the cardioprotective effect of exogenous ADO in an experimental open heart surgery model in pigs. Design –The animals were openly divided into two groups both undergoing 30 min of total cardiac arrest. In the control group animals received cold crystalloid cardioplegic solution. In the ADO group ADO was added to cardioplegic solution and in addition ADO was infused to the superior vena cava for 2 h starting 30 min before cardiac arrest. The pumping function of the heart was measured with echocardiography and myocardial blood flow was measured with microspheres and positron emission tomography (PET). Cardiomyocyte apoptosis was detected and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels were measured. Results –Better post-ischemic pumping function was found in the ADO group (relative decrease 43.7% vs 55.4%, p = 0.20 between the groups). The cardiac output decreased significantly from the baseline values ( p < 0.05 in both groups). There was a temporary decrease in myocardial blood flow post-ischemically, followed by a compensatory increase during the later reperfusion period. The cardiomyocyte apoptosis was induced significantly in both groups. Conclusions –In this experiment two important details were noticed. Firstly, cardiomyocyte apoptosis is involved in ischemia-reperfusion injury associated with open heart surgery. Secondly, PET is a comparable method with the microsphere technique when coronary flow is studied. No significant effects of ADO against ischemia-reperfusion injury could be shown. However, there were some signs of positive outcome, even though statistical significance could not be reached.


Rationale: Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the trachea is a rare disease that has been shown to be associated with chronic antigenic stimulation. There have been few reports of MALT lymphoma of the trachea in association with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Patient concerns: A 73-year-old patient visited with a 2-year history of dyspnea on exertion and productive cough, which had worsened 1 month ago. Diagnoses: MALT lymphoma of the trachea associated with IPF. Interventions: After taking into consideration the age, poor performance status, and comorbidities of the patient and the extent of disease, we utilized an observational approach as a treatment strategy. Outcomes: The patient is well without any evidence of progression for 12 months since the initial diagnosis. Lessons: We present a case of MALT lymphoma of the trachea associated with IPF. A common predisposing factor may exist for tracheal MALT lymphoma and IPF. As there are no randomized clinical trials focusing on tracheal MALT lymphoma, individualized treatment decision is important, and in some cases, simply monitoring the patient might be the most appropriate approach.


Calcification of the mitral annulus is a common echocardiographic finding in the elderly, particularly in females. Calcium deposits are generally located in the posterior mitral ring, sometimes extending to the whole mitral annulus and involving the mitral valve apparatus. The present report refers to 2 patients with a very atypical mass-like calcification of the mitral annulus resembling a cardiac tumor. A detailed evaluation of the mass was obtained at transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography; the differential diagnosis with other intracardiac masses was aided by the use of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. To our knowledge there has been no prior report of such a lesion evaluated at cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.


Abstract City planning in Eastern Europe is based on the philosophical tenets of Marxism-Leninism. It is hypothesized by Communist planners that socialism creates a unique urban pattern, one that is alien to capitalism. Structural uniformity, standardization, establishment of definitive limits to urban growth are postulated as falling within the operational scope of socialist planners. It is apparent that the contemporary East European city does not reflect socialist planning goals. The author describes socialist planning objectives, examines them in the light of existing urban reality, and postulates three categories of contemporary East European urban-types.


It might be thought that the Orkney and Shetland Islands to the north of Scotland have little in common with the tropical islands in the South Pacific region. This article demonstrates that islands across time and space can share many similar concerns by reflecting on a number of legal issues which either have been or are pertinent to islands in both hemispheres, taking into account the role and relevance of customary or traditional law, the influence of introduced or colonial law, and the legal consequences of political domination of one group by another. In particular the article looks at the challenges presented where there is more than one system of law or set of rules applicable to questions of ownership of the sea, the seashore and fishing, and the consequences this can have for management and control of marine resources.


Single-well hydraulic tests yield order-of-magnitude estimates of the hydraulic conductivity of aquifer materials around a single well. Although the single-well tests are less accurate than multiple-well pumping tests, they are often an attractive option when a quick, inexpensive estimate of hydraulic conductivity is required. There are three basic methods for determining the hydraulic conductivity from a single well: Slug test-This method is also commonly referred to as a falling-head test or bailer test. It involves the instantaneous addition or removal of a given volume (slug) of water from a monitoring well with measurements of the recovery collected over a period of time. Constant-head test-This method involves a measured discharge of water into a monitoring well to maintain a constant water level within the well. The method is more commonly used where the aquifer materials have moderate to high hydraulic conductivity values. Single-well pumping test-This method is no different from an aquifer pumping test except that water level measurements are collected from just the pumped (monitoring) well. The pumping rate is kept constant throughout the test, and water levels are measured over a period of time. The choice of a single-well test method in a specific situation depends on a variety of factors. A decision-making flowchart has been developed to help select a hydraulic test method that incorporates both geologic conditions and monitoring well construction details. This flowchart will allow a hydrogeologist or ground-water engineer to assess quickly which test method is the most appropriate for a specific situation.


Abstract Introduction: Nowadays more and more people struggle with mental problems associated with fast pace of life and overpowering stress. Individuals affected by mental disorders frequently apply ineffective methods of coping with stress, and their attitudes towards the disease in fact strengthen the psychopathological symptoms. The purpose of the present study was to compare disease perception and coping strategies for stress in Polish patients with various types of mental disorders. Material and Methods: The study involved 123 patients with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, alcohol related disorders, subjects detained due to psychoactive substance-induced psychotic disorders and amnestic syndromes, staying at Mental Healthcare Centre. Measurements of the variables were carried out using COPE Inventory and Disease Perception Questionnaire. Results: The type of mental disorder differentiated the group with respect to the use of strategies aimed at seeking instrumental and emotional support, planning, positive reinterpretation, focus on emotions and substance use. There are significant differences between patients in the approach to illness as a task, weakness and threat. Conclusions: The results show that the type of mental disorder is important in the context of the strategies used for coping with stress and the patients' approach to their condition.


It would be rational to expect that, with the advances made in the knowledge of the proper dosage of roentgen rays, burns from this source would become less and less frequent. As a matter of fact, this does not seem to be the case, as in my own practice I am seeing these burns even more frequently than five years ago, when I1presented a paper on the radical treatment of roentgen-ray burns before the American Surgical Association. This report and the papers written since then by Porter and Wolbach,2Bevan,3E. G. Blair,4McArthur5and others have apparently had little effect on those who first see and treat the majority of these cases. For this reason, I am again bringing the subject forward, as I feel that it is of sufficient importance to warrant further discussion.


A novel approach for partitioning circuits with high fan-ins which are not suitable for pseudo-exhaustive testing is presented. Circuits under test (CUTs) are modeled as directed graphs and cost function is developed for the optimization algorithm. Disjoint circuit partitions are generated not only for reducing the exhaustive test length but also for pipelined testing. Experiments on benchmark circuits demonstrate that simulated annealing produces good results for future applications.<<ETX>>


Professional male office employees have been identified as those most at risk of prolonged sedentary time, which is associated with many long-term adverse health conditions. The aim of the study was to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a gender-sensitive multicomponent intervention, guided by the socio-ecological model, to reduce occupational sedentary behaviour by increasing physical activity in professional men. The main elements of the intervention comprised: a Garmin watch with associated web-based platform/smartphone application, an under-desk pedal machine, and management participation and support. A cluster-randomised crossover pilot feasibility trial recruiting professional males was conducted in two workplaces. Mixed methods were used to assess the primary outcomes of recruitment, retention, and acceptability and feasibility of the intervention. Secondary outcomes included objectively measured sedentary behaviour, standing and physical activity. Focus groups were used to explore the acceptability of the intervention in a real-world setting. Twenty-two participants were recruited (mean age 42.9 years (SD 11.0)). Recruitment and retention rates were 73.3% and 95%, respectively. Overall, participants found the intervention acceptable and feasible, and expressed enjoyment of the intervention, however desk set-up issues with the pedal devices were noted. The manual recording of the pedalling bouts was overly burdensome. Preliminary data indicate that the intervention may reduce occupational sedentary behaviour and increase physical activity. This intervention should be further tested in a definitive trial following consideration of the findings of this pilot feasibility trial.


Primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin, or Merkel Cell carcinoma (MCC), is a rare but aggressive tumor. Many recent advances on the morphology, immunophenotype, and pathogenesis have come to light in recent years. This review highlights the clinical features, varying histologies, histogenesis, advances in molecular pathology, prognosis, and current management of MCC. It also aims to aid in the differential diagnosis, with an emphasis on neuroendocrine tumors, and approach to the diagnosis of MCC with the use of immunohistochemistry and molecular studies.


Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is an endemic disease in Bantul district. Counselling of pandemic Society and mosquito eradication program has been conducted to increase knowledge and the chance of happened behavioral change the effort to eliminate behavior of eradication mosquitonest. But infect Dengue Hemorragic Fever insidensi still be high. There are three factor play a part in infection of DHFdisease, that is virus agent, human being and environment, beside Aedes aegypti mosquito as infection vektors such as.Goal of: The relationship of knowledge with the effort to eliminate behavior of eradication mosquitonest in the attempt preventing of disease dengue in Sumbermulyo Bambanglipuro Bantul. Method: This research was a quantitative research with descriptive method survey. 77 people was taken by using Non Probability sampling technique with Purposive Sampling method. Test Validity is product moment pearson and test reliabilitas is cronbach alpha and continued with Chi Square data analysis. Prevalency value < 1.Chi-square was used to analize data. Result of: to the result of this study was 0,453. This result indicatied that there was no relationship between knowledge and PSN's behaviors in this Village Sumbermulyo Bambanglipuro Bantul. It is recommended to increase the community knowledge about the PSN program by using the appropriate strategy. The level of knwledge and the effort to eliminate behavior of eradication mosquitonest


Multimedia applications often require guaranteed quality of service (QoS) and resource reservation, which has raised a number of challenging technical issues for routing. We have proposed the QOLSR protocol, a QoS routing over OLSR protocol introducing metrics, such as bandwidth and delay, that are more appropriate than the hop distance. When using the QOLSR protocol, there are cases in which a source node continuously changes a flow's next hop in response to the change of available bandwidth on its path and cannot tell apart the traffic induced by itself from traffic generated by other nodes. The article describes a way to achieve QoS routing without using explicit reservation mechanisms and gives new distributed solutions to the oscillation and collision of flows. We can guarantee that the flows take the appropriate paths and avoid interferences with other existing flows. The performance of our distributed algorithm is extensively investigated by analyses, examples and simulations in both static and dynamic networks. Our results show that the gain achieved by our proposal represents an important improvement in mobile wireless ad hoc networks.


This paper proposed FPGA implementation of variant DPCM based image compression technique (Multiple LUT-DPCM). Image compression addresses the problem of reducing the amount of data required to represent a digital image. Such data compression can be achieved by reducing the redundancies of the image data in order to be able to store or transmit data in an efficient form. There are various onboard data compression techniques used in image processing. Out of which DPCM based compression technique is the most commonly used one. For the hardware implementation, an algorithm for Multiple LUT DPCM is designed. VHDL code is developed based on the algorithm designed. After simulation and verification of developed code with test data generated, it implemented in to hardware. The developed hardware's functionality, then verified with the already simulated data and also with real image data.


[1] With 18% of the total U.S. landmass devoted to croplands, farmland and farming activities are potentially major sources of biogenic particles to the atmosphere. Farms harbor large populations of microbes both in the soil and on plant surfaces which, if injected into the atmosphere, may serve as nuclei for clouds. In this study, we investigated two farms as potential sources of biological ice nuclei (IN): an organic farm in Colorado and a cornfield in Nebraska. We used a continuous-flow diffusion chamber (CFDC) to obtain real-time measurements of IN at these farm sites. Total aerosol particles were also collected at the sites, and their temperature-dependent ice nucleating activity was determined using the drop freezing method. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing of 16S rDNA clone libraries were used to test aerosols and washings of local vegetation for abundance of theinagene in ice nucleation active bacteria (from the well-known group within theγ-Proteobacteria) and to identify airborne primary biological aerosol particles. The vegetation in each of these farms contained 6 × 105 to 2 × 107 ina genes per gram vegetation. In contrast to the vegetation, airborne ina gene concentrations at the organic farm were typically below detectable limits, demonstrating a disconnect between local vegetative sources and the air above them. However, for measurements made during combine harvesting at the Nebraska corn field, ina gene concentrations were 19 L−1, with maximum IN concentrations of 50 L−1 determined from the CFDC at −20°C and above water saturation. At both farms, there was also an apparent biological contribution to the IN population which did not contain the ina gene.


Recall the Low M-estimate from the previous lecture: Let T ⊆ R n be convex and symmetric, and let E be a random subspace of R n , with codimension k. Then, diam(T ∩ E) ≤ C l (T) √ k , with high probability. Here, l(T) = E sup t∈T < g, t >, where g is a gaussian vector. The following Example shows an application of the Low M-estimate. Example 1 (l p-balls). Let B n p =Ball(l n p) = {x ∈ R n ; ||x|| p ≤ 1}), where 1 < p ≤ 2 (note that p cannot be 1 here). We want to evaluate how " spiky " , or how " round " B n p is. We answer this question by examining the radii of the inscribed and circumscribed balls. The closer the two radii are, the rounder B n p is. Figure 1: Inscribed (rB n 2), Cir-cumscribed (B n 2) balls of B n p. We can form the inequality ||x|| 2 ≤ ||x|| p ≤ n 1 p − 1 2. (Check) ⇒ r · B n 2 ⊆ B p ⊆ B n 2 .


In this paper we present an analysis of the geological, meteorological and climatic data recorded in Acquapendente (VT) over 24 years. These data are compared to check local variations,long term trends, and correlation with maen annual temperature. The ultimate goal of this work is to understand logn term climatic changes in this geographic area. The analysis is performed using a statistical approach. From each long series of data calculate the hourly averages and that the monthly averages in order to reduce the fluctuations in the short time due to the day / night cycle. A particular care is used to minimize any effect due to prejudices in case of lack of data. Finally, we calculate the annual average from the monthly ones. Keyword: atmospheric effects site testing earthquake data geological model methods: statistical. This paper was prepared with the LATEX


Problem statement. An unmanned vertical take-off and landing aircraft equipped with means for analyzing parameters of a certain pattern is usually not able to land on a landing site that is not equipped with the appropriate markings. To solve this problem, it is possible to install onboard the UMA means for generating a special test image that is projected from the aircraft to the intended landing site, and means for automatically measuring and analyzing the parameters of this image.Objective. Develop an algorithm for applying digital image processing to determine the angular position of the ship's deck or any other flat landing ground from an unmanned aircraft with vertical take-off and landing. The article presents the calculated relations that allow calculating the angular position and evaluating the general condition of the landing ground using a 3D model of its surface.Results. An algorithm has been developed according to which a particular test image is generated by a group of laser emitters on the landing site. Digital image processing methods are used to analyze the test image to assess the condition and determine the inclination angles of the landing site.Practical implications. The test results of the considered algorithm showed the possibility of its application in the system of automatic landing of an unmanned aircraft with vertical take-off and landing.


NF-κB is a family of transcription factors involved in regulating cell death/survival, differentiation, and inflammation. Although the transactivation ability of NF-κB has been extensively studied in vitro, limited information is available on the spatial and temporal transactivation pattern in vivo. To investigate the kinetics and cellular localization of NF-κB-induced transcription, we created a transgenic mouse expressing the enhanced GFP (EGFP) under the transcriptional control of NF-κB cis elements (cis-NF-κBEGFP). A gene-targeting approach was used to insert a single copy of a NF-κB-dependent EGFP reporter gene 5′ of the X-linked hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase locus in mouse embryonic stem cells. Embryonic fibroblasts, hepatic stellate cells, splenocytes, and dendritic cells isolated from cis-NF-κBEGFP mice demonstrated a strong induction of EGFP in response to LPS, anti-CD3, or TNF-α that was blocked by the NF-κB inhibitors BAY 11-0782 and NEMO-binding peptide. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis demonstrated RelA binding to the cis-NF-κBEGFP promoter. Adenoviral delivery of NF-κB-inducing kinase strongly induced EGFP expression in the liver of cis-NF-κBEGFP mice. Similarly, mice injected with anti-CD3 or LPS showed increased EGFP expression in mononuclear cells, lymph node, spleen, and liver as measured by flow cytometry and/or fluorescence microscopy. Using whole organ imaging, LPS selectively induced EGFP expression in the duodenum and proximal jejunum, but not in the ileum and colon. Confocal analysis indicated EGFP expression was primarily found in lamina propria mononuclear cells. In summary, the cis-NF-κBEGFP mouse will serve as a valuable tool to address multiple questions regarding the cell-specific and real-time activation of NF-κB during normal and diseased states.


Electric vehicle battery (EVB) charger topologies play a vital role to increase the penetration of EVs. This paper reviews the status quo of EV battery (EVB) chargers in term of converter topologies, operation modes, and power control strategies for EVs. EVB Chargers are classified based on their power levels and power flow direction. Referring to power ratings, EV chargers can be divided into Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. Level 1 and Level 2 are normally compatible with on-board chargers while Level 3 is used for an off-board charger. Unidirectional/ bidirectional power flow can be obtained at all power levels. However, bidirectional power flow is usually designed for Level 3 chargers as it can provide the huge benefit of transferring power back to grid when needed. Moreover, the different operation modes of an EVB charger are also presented. There are two main modes: Grid-to-Vehicle (V1G or G2V) and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). The V2G mode helps bring EV batteries to become active distributed sources in smart grids and is the crucial solution for a high EV penetration. Future trend and authors' recommendations with preliminary simulation and experimental results are demonstrated in this paper.


This paper presents an on-chip interconnection infrastructure based on ARM's AHB standard to obtain a bus working beyond one gigahertz. All major design blocks necessary to implement reliable interconnect infrastructures for DSP platforms are presented. This interconnect infrastructure is implemented as a hard IP module to get the maximum performance out of TSMC's 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. As a result, a bus operating at 1.4 GHz capable of transferring 2.8 giga data items per second was successfully designed.


For coherent targets, Huynen then Cameron proposed a set of characteristic parameters deduced from monostatic full polarimetric scattering matrices. Among these parameters, the two Authors have considered two parameters connected to the same physical properties: orientation and symmetry degree. As the Huynen definition seems to be more intuitive, we will try to compare these parameters by simulations with the aim to test the real connection of the Huynen parameters to physical properties. This study will show significant differences. However, it is shown that the Huynen parameters correctly represent the orientation and the symmetry degree for nearly symmetric targets. In some cases (real eigenvalues in particular), the two orientation angles can be equal to an ambiguity of 45°, even for asymmetric targets.


The object of the proposed article is the Christian ohionim of the Mother of God in the poetic discourse of Taras Shevchenko. This proper name, together with the propriatives God, the Lord, forms the core of the sacredness of the studied texts. An indepth analysis of the "Kobzar" gives grounds to claim that its author was a deeply religious man who knew the Scriptures well and used it creatively in artistic practice. Evidence of this are the historical and philosophical poems "Mary" and "Neophytes", in which biblical and secular motifs are organically intertwined, which is directly reflected in the level of verbalization (active use of Old Slavonic, God's names, biblical expressions). On the basis of the theantropocentric approach, the peculiarities of the existence of the ohionim of the Mother of God in the texts of different genres are clarified. Up to the aim, a paradigmatic approach is used: all the names of the Mother of Jesus Christ recorded in the discourse are embedded in a nominative paradigm, each component of which (Mary, Mother, Mother of God, Mother Mary, Virgin, Immaculate, Queen of Heaven, Ever-immaculate, Good, All-Good, All-Holy, worthy, pure in wives, blessed in wives, great in wives mourning joy, holy power of all saints, our world unseen, my most glorious paradise, our beauty, world green, fragrant green lily) is characterized in terms of its semantic content and semantic specification, established correlations between them. A comparative analysis based on the semasiological procedure of the lexical resource that is part of the appellation and at the same time exists as a propriative unit was done. Special attention is paid to the connecting capabilities of the described ohionim, its ability to appear in the subjective, object, attributive function and thus to identify the features of semantic-syntactic valence. Episodes from the earthly and heavenly life of Mother Mary are clearly based on the valence pattern. The lexical-semantic compatibility of the theonym of the Mother of God with attributive modifiers in the form of agreed and uncoordinated definitions is comprehensively interpreted, their constitutive possibilities are clarified. It is proved that sacredness is one of the immanent features of Taras Shevchenko's poetic idiostyle. Keywords: ohionim of the Mother of God, nominative paradigm, poetic discourse of Taras Shevchenko, syntagmatic resource, semantics.


Magnesium alloys are now widely used for various purposes due to their unique properties despite the significant disadvantage associated with low corrosion resistance. The plasma-electrolytic oxidation (PEO), which allows the formation of ceramic coatings on the surface of magnesium alloys, is the most advanced and effective method for their protection. But firstly, PEO process of magnesium alloys has some difficulties, and secondly, PEO coatings affect the thermophysical characteristics of the modified materials, in particular they reduce thermal diffusivity. The presented work is devoted to the development of the technological parameters for formation of protective coating on the ultra-light alloy Mg-8Li-1Al-0.6Ce-0.3Y by the PEO method. The results analyses of electrolytes acidity and specific electrical conductivity before and after PEO process and also investigation data of the coatings structure and surface morphology are presented. An integral assessment of the ability of thermal diffusivity and corrosion resistance of the modified alloy was made. Studying of protective and thermophysical characteristics of the obtained coating showed that it provides a sufficiently high corrosion protection, despite the relatively small thickness, and the presence of pores and slightly (not more than 5%) reduces the thermal diffusivity of the magnesium ultra-light alloy.


BACKGROUND: Women are faced with the task of gathering information and making subsequent decisions for themselves and their families as they are often the primary caregivers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to elucidate prominent themes related to information management and Internet usage in new motherhood. While the advantages to online support have been explored, triggered anxiety has not been a focus of the literature. DESIGN: A focus group study of 31 adult, postpartum women was held at a large, urban medical center in the Northeastern United States. Data related to information management were extracted and analyzed thematically. RESULTS: Women reported experiencing (a) a forcible, internal drive for information related to family health and (b) a high level of anxiety surrounding health-related Internet searches. CONCLUSIONS: Health care providers must be aware that women will consult the Internet for information and that at least a portion of those individuals will experience anxiety as a result.


Background— In catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), cardiac Purkinje cells (PCs) appear more susceptible to Ca2+ dysfunction than ventricular myocytes (VMs). The underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Using a CPVT mouse (RyR2R4496C+/Cx40eGFP), we tested whether PC intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) dysregulation results from a constitutive [Na+]i surplus relative to VMs. Methods and Results— Simultaneous optical mapping of voltage and [Ca2+]i in CPVT hearts showed that spontaneous Ca2+ release preceded pacing-induced triggered activity at subendocardial PCs. On simultaneous current-clamp and Ca2+ imaging, early and delayed afterdepolarizations trailed spontaneous Ca2+ release and were more frequent in CPVT PCs than CPVT VMs. As a result of increased activity of mutant ryanodine receptor type 2 channels, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ load, measured by caffeine-induced Ca2+ transients, was lower in CPVT VMs and PCs than respective controls, and sarcoplasmic reticulum fractional release was greater in both CPVT PCs and VMs than respective controls. [Na+]i was higher in both control and CPVT PCs than VMs, whereas the density of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger current was not different between PCs and VMs. Computer simulations using a PC model predicted that the elevated [Na+]i of PCs promoted delayed afterdepolarizations, which were always preceded by spontaneous Ca2+ release events from hyperactive ryanodine receptor type 2 channels. Increasing [Na+]i monotonically increased delayed afterdepolarization frequency. Confocal imaging experiments showed that postpacing Ca2+ spark frequency was highest in intact CPVT PCs, but such differences were reversed on saponin-induced membrane permeabilization, indicating that differences in [Na+]i played a central role. Conclusions— In CPVT mice, the constitutive [Na+]i excess of PCs promotes triggered activity and arrhythmogenesis at lower levels of stress than VMs.


Azotobacter chroococcum based biofertilizers have been widely used in the production of environmentally agriculture. For commercial scale, cheap growth media for Azotobcter inoculant will affect the quality and price of liquid biofertilizer. Growth medium should support cell proliferation as well as its nitrogen fixation and phytohormone production. The objective of this study was to determine whether liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) containing low N can be used as a medium for scaling up A. chroococcum inoculant without lowering the survival of bacteria and its activity in N2 fixation and phytohormones production. LOF generally contains a complete nutrient although in a small quantities. Experiment was set up in completely randomized design which tested two types of commercial LOF. The results showed that both of LOF were only able to support cell growth up to 72 hours and at 96 hours cell viability began to decline compared to the control medium, free-N Ashby. At 72 hour total N and cytokinin concentration in LOF was lower than those in Ashby media. This study revealed that LOF could be used as A. chroococcum growth media, but without optimization of its composition, cell density and cytokinin content would be lower than those of inoculant in Ashby Media.


Objective: The study aimed at investigating the effect of scaffolding strategies as thinking out loud and verbalization of instructions strategies on the generalization skills of language-related concepts in mildly intellectual disabled students. Method: Twenty-seven subjects in three treatments were trained in solving a pattern of the Thurston letter series task. Group1 students received language concepts through training in verbal instructions and thinking out loud strategy. Group 2 students received language concepts training through computers. Group 3 students received training in language concepts through thinking out loud, verbal instructions and computer software. Pre-training measures to subjects' chronological age, Verbal Analogies Test and training trials were collected. Training measures pertaining to acquisition, maintenance and generalization of pattern completion tasks were collected. Mean scores and standard deviations were obtained for each dependent measure. Results: The treatment effect was studied by a series of one way ANOVAS and a tukey post hoc test, which revealed that there was a significant difference between group1 and group 2, since the difference between the means (m1m3) = -2.556 and p= 0.000. Also, the difference is shown between group 2 and group 3 since the difference between the means (m2m3) = -2.333 and p= 0.000 and in both cases p is less than 0.05. Moreover, group 3 had a higher mean (M= 3.89) than group2 (M= 1.56) and group1 (M= 1.33). *ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Badrie ELDaou, Faculty of Education-Deanship, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon. E-mail address: email@example.com Jalloul, F. & ELDaou, B. (2016). The effect of training individuals with mild intellectual disability in scaffolding strategies and computer software on their generalization skills. World Journal on Educational Technology: Current Issues. 8(3), 277-293 278 Conclusion: Group 3 had the ability to become self –regulated by solving the untrained letter patterns. Thus, we can conclude that training in scaffolding strategies, such as thinking out loud and verbalization of instruction strategies, helped individuals with an intellectual disability to acquire metacognitive strategies. This enabled them to generalize the learning experience and become self-regulated and better problem solvers. Also, using a computer program promoted the use of metacognitive strategies. Once students internalize target strategies, they can transfer these to second language patterns; therefore, it enhances the generalization of learning individuals with an intellectual disability. Recommendations for further research were discussed.


The presence and variability of methane in the Martian atmosphere has been investigated by several authors and spurred a lively discussion. In this context, we address our previous inference of spatial and temporal CH4 variability identified from Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer measurements which was used to suggest the possible existence of a martian methane cycle. The importance of the topic requires a clear assessment of such variability to correctly comprehend the possible production and destruction mechanisms of Martian methane. It is therefore important to carefully revisit previous results from a different perspective to confirm them before they are used for further investigations. We here describe in detail a new procedure used to validate these earlier Thermal Emission Spectrometer measurements and thoroughly analyze the results obtained with the revised procedure. In spite of our efforts of defining an efficient data analysis procedure, we have not been able to either confirm or refute the existence of the spatial and temporal variability of methane. Nevertheless, our work has produced new interesting tools, which, with the necessary adaptation, can be of some aid in processing and interpreting planetary spectra and, in general, for all the other cases requiring a preliminary selection of data included in very extensive datasets, which are difficult to be efficiently treated with traditional techniques.


In the present article the thermodynamic results of the Lee-Wick partner infested universe have been applied in a toy model where there is one Lee-Wick partner to each of the standard model particle and more over the longitudinal degrees of freedom of the massive partners of the standard massless gauge bosons are neglected at high temperatures. For practical purposes, the chiral fermionic sector of Lee-wick theories requires two Lee-Wick partners per fermion which opens up the possibility for a negative energy density of the early universe. A toy Lee-Wick model with one fermionic partner relaxes such oddities and hence easy to deal with. In a similar way, the longitudinal degrees of freedom of the massive gauge boson partners also have the potential to yield negative energy densities and thus those will be neglected in a toy model study. In such a toy model one can analytically calculate the time-temperature relation in the very early radiation dominated universe which shows interesting new physics. The article also tries to point out how a Lee-Wick particle dominated early cosmology transforms into the standard cosmological model. Based on the results of this toy model analysis a brief discussion on the more realistic model, which can accommodate two Lee-Wick partners for each standard fermionic field and the longitudinal degree of freedom of partners of the gauge fields, is presented. It has been shown that such an universe is mostly very difficult to attain but there are certain conditions where one can indeed think of such an universe which can evolve into the standard cosmological universe in a short time duration.


SAPHO syndrome stands for synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis and osteitis. The common site of skeletal lesions in this syndrome is the sternocostoclavicular area. Spondylodiscitis is rarely described in published studies. In general, skin lesions develop before the onset of skeletal lesions. We report a case of SAPHO syndrome in which spondylodiscitis developed more than 1 year before the onset of pustulosis. (J Nippon Med Sch 2000; 67: 191―197)


Customer reviews are a valuable source of information from which we can extract very useful data about different online shopping experiences. For trendy items (products, movies, TV shows, hotels, services . . . ), the number of available users and customers' opinions could easily surpass thousands. Therefore, online reputation systems could aid potential customers in making the right decision (buying, renting, booking . . . ) by automatically mining textual reviews and their ratings. This paper presents MTVRep, a movie and TV show reputation system that incorporates fine-grained opinion mining and semantic analysis to generate and visualize reputation toward movies and TV shows. Differently from previous studies on reputation generation that treat the task of sentiment analysis as a binary classification problem (positive, negative), the proposed system identifies the sentiment strength during the phase of sentiment classification by using fine-grained sentiment analysis to separate movie and TV show reviews into five discrete classes: strongly negative, weakly negative, neutral, weakly positive and strongly positive. Besides, it employs embeddings from language models (ELMo) representations to extract semantic relations between reviews. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, movie and TV show reviews are separated into five groups based on their sentiment orientation. Second, a custom score is computed for each opinion group. Finally, a numerical reputation value is produced toward the target movie or TV show. The efficacy of the proposed system is illustrated by conducting several experiments on a real-world movie and TV show dataset.


Internet of Energy is considered as a promising approach to solve the problems of energy crisis and carbon emission. It needs to collect user's real-time data for optimizing the energy utilization. However, such data may disclose user's privacy information. Previous works usually adopt specific obfuscation value to mask user's data and counteract the deviation through data aggregation; these works can preserve the data privacy effectively, but most of them consider less about the data-utility (precision). In this paper, we propose a utility-privacy tradeoff scheme based on random data obfuscation in Internet of Energy. In the proposed scheme, we adopt random data-obfuscation to mask the real-time data and realize the fault-tolerance during data aggregation, and the random obfuscation value obeys the Laplace distribution. We use the signal-to-noise ratio to quantify the level of utility; we measure the level of privacy through information entropy. Based on these two Indicators, we balance the utility-privacy tradeoff by calculating the optimal parameters of the Laplace distribution. The analysis shows that our scheme can meet the security requirement, and it also has better performance than that of other popular methods.


Background and Aims: Oral antidiabetic drugs, including Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 Inhibitors (DPP4i), are the mainstay for therapeutic management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to describe the prescribing pattern of DPP4i agents and to assess the achievement of the target HbA1c levels among current DPP4i users at a Malaysian University teaching hospital. Material and Method: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient diabetes clinic of a university teaching hospital in Pahang, Malaysia. The data included adults with T2DM who received DPP4i prescriptions at least three months before December 2019 and reported data of HbA1c after at least three months from the index date. Evaluation of the DPP4i prescribing patterns referred to the national clinical practice guidelines. Results: 140 cases were included. Sitagliptin 50 mg is the most commonly prescribed DPP4i regimen (72.1%), and its combination therapy with metformin contributed to 67.1% of the total DPP4i prescriptions. About 35% of patients achieved their target HbA1c levels after at least three months on DPP-4 inhibitors therapy. There was no significant association between the type of DPP4i and the target HbA1c achievement (p=0.205). Conclusions: DPP4i medications were more prescribed as combination therapy with metformin, compared to monotherapy except for vildagliptin. Gliclazide was the most common co-prescribed OAD with vildagliptin. Barriers to achieving optimal glycemic control for patients on OAD, particularly DPP4i, need further investigations.


The worldwide scale transit of information flows in the Internet is governed by trade agreements between autonomous systems; these agreements are translated into routing policies by the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). The negotiation of these trade agreements implicitly relies on a hierarchy of the autonomous systems and the relative position of two systems leads to an agreement of the customer-provider type (one of the systems, the provider, is ranked higher than the other, the client, and the client pays the provider for the transit of information flows) or to a no cost agreement of the "peering" type (two service providers that agree to exchange traffic between their respective customers) when both systems consider their rankings to be equivalent. In spite of its importance, there is no official hierarchy of the Internet (the commercial clauses of the agreements between autonomous systems are not necessarily public, it is usually a bilateral arrangement) nor a consensus on the way of establishing such a hierarchy. We propose a simple heuristics inspired of the concept of "spectral centrality" borrowed from the social networks analysis to analyze the relative positions of the autonomous systems of the Internet starting from their connectivity information only.


Through Pynchon-written songs, integration of Italian opera, instances of harmonic performance, dialogue with Plato's Republic and Benjamin Franklin's glass armonica performance, Mason & Dixon extends, elaborates, and investigates Pynchon's own standard musical practices. Pynchon's investigation of the domestic, political, and theoretical dimensions of musical harmony in colonial America provides the focus for the novel's historical, political, and aesthetic critique. Extending Pynchon's career-long engagement with musical forms and cultures to unique levels of philosophical abstraction, in Mason & Dixon 's consideration of the "inherent Vice" of harmony, Pynchon ultimately criticizes the tendency in his own fiction for characters and narrators to conceive of music in terms that rely on the tenuous and affective communal potentials of harmony.


Climate change has become unequivocal with its implications in every aspects of life and livelhood options, including agriculture. The present paper analyzes the agrarian households' perception on climate change, identify the major agricultural practices adopted to minimize the effects of climate change and their determinants in Rasuwa district of Nepal. Nepal's agricultural production system being rain-fed in nature, the impact of climate change on productivity and production has already been experienced. During the study, the purposive sampling technique was adopted while selecting the VDCs located within the buffer zone of Langtang National Park. Four VDCs namely Laharepauwa, Dhaibung, Dhunche and Syaphru were purposively selected representing paddy, wheat, maize, and potato production area of the district. Thirty households from each VDC were interviewed by using the structured questionnaire totaling a sample size of 120 households. In addition, the present study also used Focus Group Discussions with local government officials, buffer zone communities and other stakeholders about the climate change knowledge and adaptation, and to assess perception on different climate change related threats and strategies adapted to cope the impact. Information with regard to the experience of the respondent in cultivating the crop in question, changes in rainfall amount and time, seasonal change in temperature and their effect on the time of planting and yield, and the adaptation strategy were collected. The factors influencing whether to adopt climate adaptation practices in agriculture was analyzed using binary logit model. The education level of household head, household size, food self-sufficiency from their own production and inadequacy of current knowledge on agricultural adaptation influenced the adoption. In the Nepalese context, where agricultural occupation is the dominant means of living, climate adaptation seems to be the most efficient and friendly way for farmers to neutralize the potential adverse effects. The farmer's knowledge and skills on techniques of adaptation need to be enhanced and support in availing such practices and technologies which may result for better adoption. The awareness raising campaigns need to be organized and indigenous knowledge and practices should be documented and verified for further replication.


Programmed Death-1 (PD-1) is a member of the CD28 family of receptors and plays a role in cellular immune response. It is expressed on activated T-cells and B-cells and binds to two ligands, Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) and Programmed Death Ligand 2 (PD-L2). PD-1 negatively regulates T-cell functions through interactions with its primary ligand PD-L1, which is variably expressed by a variety of tumors, including melanoma, glioblastoma, and carcinomas of the lung, breast, colon, ovary, and renal cells. Many tumor cells express PD-L1 and as a result, the interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1 has been demonstrated to be an important target for therapeutic intervention. Anti-PD-1 therapeutics such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab have demonstrated clinical activity in melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and other types of cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate 7 commercially available anti-PD-L1 antibodies in human tissue and cell lines. Antibodies included 1 mouse monoclonal (clone 29E.2a3), 2 rabbit monoclonals (EPR1161(2) and E1L3N), 3 rabbit polyclonals, and 1 goat polyclonal from 6 manufacturers. An initial screen in human tonsil was performed to ensure appropriate sensitivity and specificity in staining of the crypt epithelium. Only 2 antibodies yielded staining that matched the expected specificity and were selected for further evaluation: rabbit clone EPR1161(2) from Abcam and rabbit clone E1L3N from Cell Signaling. Antibody specificity was evaluated in a positive cell line (MDA-MB-231) and negative cell line (MCF-7). Both antibodies demonstrated appropriate specificity in these cell lines. Antibody sensitivity was evaluated in a variety of human tumor tissues provided by Mosaic Laboratories' tissue bank. PD-L1 localization was expected to be membranous and cytoplasmic in tonsil crypt epithelium, inflammatory cells and tumor cells. Immunohistochemistry with both antibodies demonstrated staining in tumor cells, lymphocytes and macrophages. Immunohistochemistry with clone E1L3N often demonstrated stronger staining in a greater percentage of cancer cells than EPR1161(2). Of interest, clone E1L3N demonstrated specific staining of some peripheral nerve fibers that was not observed with clone EPR1161(2). In conclusion, 2 commercially available antibodies, rabbit clone EPR1161(2) from Abcam and rabbit clone E1L3N from Cell Signaling are appropriate for immunohistochemistry, of which rabbit clone E1L3N demonstrates greater sensitivity in tumor tissue. Citation Format: Lisa M. Dauffenbach, Gela C. Sia, Patricia A. Cash, Sherif K. Girees, Jianping Zheng, Ryan S. Lim, Eric P. Olsen, Christopher A. Kerfoot. Optimization of an assay for the detection of PD-L1 by immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded human tissue and cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3396. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3396


To better understand the correlation between molecular structure and optical properties such as aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and mechanochromic luminescence (MCL) emission, two new pyrene-based derivatives with substitutions at the 4- and 5-positions (1HH) and at the 4-, 5-, 9-, and 10-positions (2HH) were designed and synthesized. Cyano groups were introduced at the periphery of the synthesized compounds (1HCN, 1OCN, 1BCN, 2HCN, 2OCN, and 2BCN) to investigate the influence of these groups on the emission properties of the pyrene derivatives both in solution and in the solid state. The fluorescence emission performance of these compounds in water/acetone mixtures was simultaneously studied, revealing outstanding aggregation-induced emission properties. The typical shift in emission maxima to higher values was attributed to J-aggregate formation in the aggregate state. Careful investigation of the crystal structures demonstrated abundant and intense intermolecular interactions, such as C-H…π and C-H…N hydrogen bonds, contributing to the remarkable mechanochromic luminescence performance of these compounds. The MCL properties of all the compounds were investigated using powder X-ray diffraction, and the remarkable mechanochromic properties were attributed to J-aggregate phenomena in the solid state. These results provide valuable insights into the structure-property relationship of organic MCL materials, guiding the design of efficient organic MCL materials.


The term "allergy" as used in these remarks refers particularly to the group of cases embracing asthma, hay-fever and urticaria. The principal lesion of this type of allergy is a localized edema. Thus, hay-fever and allergic rhinitis cause symptoms because of an edema localized in the nose and conjunctivae; in bronchial asthma, an edema of the bronchial mucous membrane occurs, and in food allergy, edema of the gastric mucosa has been proved. This lesion is exemplified by allergic urticaria wherein each wheal represents a local edema and is typical of the allergic edema found elsewhere. Spasm of smooth muscle likewise occurs as an allergic manifestation, particularly in bronchial asthma and in food allergy, but this will not be considered in the present discussion. In considering the mechanism of allergic edema, it is apparent that it is caused when the allergen to which a patient is sensitive comes in contact with


BACKGROUND
Management of acquired laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS) is challenging and often requires recurrent procedures.

OBJECTIVES
To compare the efficacy and safety of balloon dilatation (BD) versus rigid dilatation (RD) in the treatment of LTS.

METHODS
A retrospective study of patients undergoing endoscopic intervention for LTS was performed.

RESULTS
The study included 69 balloon (BD) and 48 rigid dilations (RD). Most cases were grade 3 Cotton-Meyer stenosis. Mean time interval to recurrence after BD and RD were 27.9 and 19.6 weeks, respectively. Remission of over 8 weeks was achieved in 71% of BD compared to 31.2% of RD (P < 0.05). In the BD group, dilatation of subglottic stenosis showed higher rates of remission of over 8 weeks compared to upper and mid-tracheal stenosis (92% vs. 62% and 20%, respectively, P < 0.05). Complications were encountered in 4.2% of RD and 2.9% of BD.

CONCLUSIONS
BD and RD are effective and safe procedures. Overall, BD achieved slightly better long-term results compared to RD.


We describe the development of a model to quantify seed-origin oak regeneration potential in advance of complete overstory removal in central Appalachian oak stands. The model was developed using a "top-down" modeling approach that differs significantly from the approaches used to develop similar models for other regions. The modeling approach was designed to take advantage of the best data available for the region. A stand-level model was first fit us- ing a long-term data set from Pennsylvania that was developed, in part, from operational data collected through the course of timber sales. The stand-level model describes the relationship between oak advanced regeneration distribution (the percentage of 4 m 2 sample plots that contained at least one oak seedling before harvest) and third-decade seed- origin oak stocking (the percentage of growing space occupied by seed-origin oaks in the third decade after harvest). Inverse modeling was used to fit a plot-level model using a highly detailed short-term data set collected as part of an ongoing study of regeneration development in Pennsylvania. A negative exponential function (1 - e -αx ) was used for the plot-level model to simplify the calculation of multiple seedling success probabilities. The plot-level model predicts the probability tha ta4m 2 plot will be occupied by an oak during the third decade after harvest based on the sum of the heights of oak advanced regeneration (aggregate height). The top-down inverse modeling approach used here proved to be a feasible alternative to the more common individual seedling modeling approach, which requires more specialized data that are often difficult to obtain.


Mode selection is crucial to achieving stable single-mode lasing in microlasers. Here, we demonstrate experimentally a dual-port square microresonator for single-mode lasing with a side-mode-suppression ratio (SMSR) exceeding 40 dB. By connecting waveguides at two opposite vertices, the quality factor for the antisymmetric mode (ASM) is much higher than that of the symmetric mode (SM), enabling single-mode lasing. Furthermore, far-field interference patterns similar to Young's two-slit interference are observed. This microlaser is capable of providing two optical sources simultaneously for optical signal processing in high-density integrated photonic circuits.


Graph convolutional networks (GCNs) have been successfully applied in various graph-based tasks. In a typical graph convolutional layer, node features are updated by aggregating neighborhood information. Repeatedly applying graph convolutions can cause the oversmoothing issue, i.e., node features at deep layers converge to similar values. Previous studies have suggested that oversmoothing is one of the major issues that restrict the performance of GCNs. In this article, we propose a stochastic regularization method to tackle the oversmoothing problem. In the proposed method, we stochastically scale features and gradients (SSFG) by a factor sampled from a probability distribution in the training procedure. By explicitly applying a scaling factor to break feature convergence, the oversmoothing issue is alleviated. We show that applying stochastic scaling at the gradient level is complementary to that applied at the feature level to improve the overall performance. Our method does not increase the number of trainable parameters. When used together with ReLU, our SSFG can be seen as a stochastic ReLU activation function. We experimentally validate our SSFG regularization method on three commonly used types of graph networks. Extensive experimental results on seven benchmark datasets for four graph-based tasks demonstrate that our SSFG regularization is effective in improving the overall performance of the baseline graph networks. The code is available at https://github.com/vailatuts/SSFG-regularization.


Previous research suggests that the relationship between ingroup identification and reactions to moral violations perpetrated by ingroup members depends on the mode of identification: while glorification lowers group-based guilt, critical attachment enhances it. In our first study, based on comparative survey research, this pattern was replicated in Serbia, but not in Croatia. In Croatia, highly attached respondents tended to reject criticism of the past war irrespective of their mode of identification. In a second study, we sought to explain the Croatian results by examining how critical attachment is denied legitimacy. We analyzed the rhetorical structure of a parliamentary debate around regime-critical media coverage. The analyses show how the marginalization of critics is anchored in (1) a monolithic construction of the nation, which sacralizes particular elements and places them beyond discussion, and (2) a construction of the international context as too threatening to permit any dissent. Overall, the results of this mixed-method study highlight that the opportunity to be recognized as a critical patriot depends on a nation's sociopolitical climate.


Using high-speed scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), we perform a full mapping of the quasiparticle density of states (DOS) in single crystals of Bi2 − xPbxSr2CaCu208 + δ. The measurements carried out at 5 K showed a complex spatial pattern of important variations of the local DOS on the nanometer scale. Superconducting areas, characterized by a well-pronounced superconducting gap, are coexisting with regions of a peakless gap structure which we attribute to the pseudogap. Within the large superconducting regions, the spectra reveal strong peak/dip/hump signatures, identical to the pristine Bi2Sr2CaCu208 + δ case. On the contrary, in very small superconducting regions this fine structure is attenuated. Such a behavior of the local DOS suggests that the peak/dip/hump fine structure is not only a consequence of the superconducting state, but is also directly related to the scale of the phase coherence. The role of Bi-Pb substitutional disorder is discussed.


Purpose: The purpose of the UPDATE section is to provide teachers of OB with a summary of the major conceptual areas in a specific topic including (1) a concise introduction to the major concepts, (2) a sense of the scope and depth of the topic, and (3) a list (briefly annotated) of some key articles or books that would provide the reader with a solid working knowledge of the conceptual work on the topic.


If the Shields number of a flow above an erodible bed is higher than one, then the current exerts so high shear stress at the top of a granular bed that the upper part of the bed is eroded and the top of the non-eroded rest of the bed is flat (no bed forms occur). This flow regime is typical for flows over a stationary bed in pipes but it can occur also in open-channel flows, particularly under flood conditions when both the depth and velocity of the flow are high. The current picks up particles from the eroded part of the bed and transports them within the flow. The total load of transported particles is composed of particles transported either as the contact load or as the suspended load, depending on the dispersive mechanism that keeps the particles inside the flow. Solids distribution (i.e. the shape of the concentration profile) of the transported particles across the flow helps to identify an acting dispersive mechanism and hence a mechanism through which the transported particles contribute to flow friction. The paper analyzes the concentration-profile measurements in a medium-sand-slurry current above an erodible stationary bed in a 150-mm pipe. The experiments revealed interesting effects of high shear stress on the shapes of concentration profiles across the flow above the bed. The analysis suggests that carrier turbulence is a prevailing dispersion mechanism within the upper part of the discharge area above the bed for flow conditions characterized by values of the ratio U*6Vt higher than say 4.5. It seems that the shearing action as an exclusive particle dispersion mechanism is confined to the region not far above the top of the bed. Apparently, the high shear stress at the top of the stationary bed is capable of producing turbulent suspension that transports a considerable amount of medium-sand particles (average delivered volumetric concentrations of transported particles up to 0.26) through the 150-mm pipe.


This Thesis was aimed at studying the effects of time delay in the visual feedback loop of a man-machine system. A one-dimensional, step-type input, pursuit tracking experiment was developed to study these effects with transmission-type delays of zero to ten seconds. Thirty-six subjects participated in a series of tests that covered: seven different delays, two different levels of course complexity for each delay, learning, and open-loop conditions. It was found that tracking performance deteriorates non-linearly with increases in delay and that the magnitude of this performance degradation is a function of course complexity. The system cutoff frequency (fco) can be approximated by fco= w for all delays (T) which are much greater T ' than the operator reaction time and for all course complexities studied. A quasi-linear model for system performance was developed.


Abstract : This report was produced in support of DRDCs Manned Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Interaction (MUAVI) Study which intends to evaluate the utility of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) when used in concert with a manned aircraft in a manner such that both aircraft can influence each others actions. The Objective of this report is to discover and document manned unmanned teaming (MUMT) programs, Trials and experiments that have taken place in the past ten years. To identify tests, demonstrations and programs, searches were conducted using a mix of scientific and technical databases, military databases, and business and market research databases. In total, around 200 papers were found. Each of these was reviewed and the names and details of any programs mentioned were noted. Once a complete list of relevant programs was compiled, searches were conducted using Google to identify news articles or press releases that could fill in any details the technical papers did not provide. A total of thirteen (13)major programs were identified along with a number of technologies, and one lab devoted to MUMT.


This study explored the moderating role of organizational decision-making and sense of commitment, on business outcomes of multinational corporations (MNCs) in Nigeria. Extant literature suggests that the relationship between specific organizational decision making and business outcomes should vary across different environments. Proponents of the decision-making perspective have posited that decisions must be well co-ordinate, and executed with a sense of commitment for a company to be market-driven or customer-oriented. Specifically, it is anticipated that the relationship between organizational decision-making and business outcomes are likely to be greater when the organization is market-driven or customer-oriented. Therefore, the intensification of research on this has led to the current survey study to examine the relationship among organizational decision making, sense of commitment and performance. The study used both primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained with the aid of questionnaire, while the secondary data were obtained from literature. 7 copies of the questionnaire were administered in each of the MNCs that served as sample. The respondents were selected based on convenience sampling method. The selected 100 MNCs were stratified into categories of services, manufacturing and others. Out of the total sample of 700, a total of 600 useable questionnaires were returned representing a response rate of 86%.The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and t – test analysis. The research instrument showed high reliability and validity. Two hypotheses were developed and tested. Two major findings resulted from the study. The first is that there is a positive relationship between market-driven or customer-oriented organizational decision-making and business outcomes. The second is that there is a significant relationship between organizational sense of commitment and performance.