Object-based video representation plays an important role in remote patient monitoring built on video coding and Internet transmission. This paper introduces an object-based video representation method using two novel change detection techniques, and presents a demo system built upon ConferenceXP, where three types of video objects are constructed by exploiting the features in patient monitoring video. Our experimental results based on real-world data have shown that these techniques provide better foreground and background separation, higher coding efficiency, and improved performance in remote patient monitoring


Porphyromonas gingivalis is an anaerobic, Gram-negative human oral pathogen highly associated with chronic periodontitis. P. gingivalis utilises the type IX secretion system (T9SS) to transport many of its virulence factors including the gingipains to the cell surface. The T9SS is comprised of at least 16 proteins and the involvement of these 16 proteins in the T9SS has been verified by creating gene deletion mutants in P. gingivalis. These T9SS mutants are regularly utilised to understand how these proteins function together to allow the secretion of the T9SS substrates. We performed label-free quantitative proteomic analysis on the T9SS protein mutants in P. gingivalis to understand the relative abundance of each T9SS component in different mutants. The T9SS components were reduced in abundance in the porK, porL, porM, porN, sov and porT mutants while they were increased in the porE, porU, porV, porZ and porQ mutants. Sov and PorW appear to be the lowest in abundance and PorV the highest amongst all the T9SS components in P. gingivalis wild-type strain. These results are consistent with the proposed role of Sov as the translocation pore in the outer membrane and PorV as the shuttle protein that transports the T9SS substrates between sub-complexes. Together, the label-free quantitative proteomics analyses showed that different T9SS mutants have vastly different abundances of the T9SS components. This knowledge will greatly assist in interpreting the phenotype of the T9SS mutants as well as selecting the right mutant for exploring the role of an individual component.


An experimental effluent analysis was conducted in conjunction with bioremediation process from Mario-jose tannery industry, stream and reference water samples from well (Yandoka), respectively, were collected from the industrial areas. Physiochemical characteristic of these samples were determined viz; chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), pH, temperature etc. The effluent values were mostly observed higher than the reference samples. Spectrophotometric method using 1,5 dipheyl carbazide as a colour developing reagent has been used to analyzed the chromium (VI) content in tannery effluent. Aspergillius niger, Rhizopus nigrians and Penicillium sp singly and in combination were used for the biosorption studies. Chi- square test analysis for fitness shows that the concentration of the media were (Fcal 0.05) for PDM and (Fcal 0.102) for MRHM varies significantly (α=0.05). Hence, the absorptions ability was highly effective on MRHM than the PDM. From the experimental observation, it has been found that the level of chromium (VI) can be quantitatively reduced at the equilibrium pH range from 5.2-8.0. Key words: Biosorption, chromium (VI), Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus nigrican, Penicillium sp., agricultural waste, 1,5 dipheyl carbazide. Abbreviation: COD, Chemical oxygen demand; BOD, biochemical oxygen demand; SmF, submerged fermentation; SSF, solid state fermentation.


In the presented investigation, the chemical composition of malt during roasting is estimated using diffuse reflectance mid-infrared fourier transform (DRIFT-MIR) spectroscopy and multiple linear regressions. Accordingly, the corresponding test setup is presented and evaluated. A total number of sixty-five stop roasting, having temperature range from 140 to 220oC, and one unroasted sample of 1500 g Avalon malt are performed in an eddy current roaster. Roasted and unroasted malt samples are milled and then analysed. Additionally, analytical standard reference methods are performed for colour, spectral tristimulus L*a*b* - values, colour difference (DE), iron-content, quantitative radical generation and the formation of specific intermediates, such as 5-(hydroxymethyl) furfural (HMF) as well as 3?deoxy?hexosulose (3-DH) and end products of Maillard reaction on all sixty-six samples. Multiple linear regression models were used to predict analysed references based on mid-infrared data, modified with spectral pre-processing for better prediction performance. The obtained results indicate that DRIFT-MIR spectrometry, combined with pre-processing and selection of evaluated wave number areas, is a useful analytical tool for the measurement of quality attributes of malt and therefore, shows potential for application in quality and process control.

 Key words: Malt roasting, mid-infrared, optical spectroscopy, process control, EBC, L*a*b*, DE, quality control.


A model is proposed for the evolution of three morphotypes of the girdled lizard  Cordylus cordylus  (Linnaeus) in the south-western Cape. The available data are interpreted as indicating that a vicariant splitting of a warm-adapted ancestral population during the last glacial period occurred. Differential evolution of the two daughter populations in response to different environmental pressures resulted. One of the daughter populations remaining in the coastal lowlands to the west of the Cape Fold Mountains, became cold-adapted, an event which was followed by a rapid range expansion. The other daughter population to the south and east of the Cape Fold Mountains apparently experienced less severe climatic conditions, maintained a larger population size, and for these reasons remained warm-adapted. During the subsequent warmer, interglacial period the now cold-adapted daughter population was again fragmented into two populations. Of these, one is presently found along the south-western coast and the other along the higher peaks of the western section of the Cape Fold Mountains. On the other hand the amelioration of the climate during the interglacial allowed the warm-adapted daughter population to the south and east to expand its range, eventually penetrating into the areas formerly occupied by the cold-adapted populations. Subsequently zones of secondary contact were established. In the area under discussion similar patterns of contraction and expansion can be observed in other closely related species. Our data support the turnover-pulse hypothesis of Vrba (1985).


In Europe, the creative industries (CIs) are experiencing growth rates well above the average of the EU's total economic growth. However, a lack of consensus regarding how these industries work impedes the development of effective policy. In our research, we suggest a process approach to characterize the CIs. This characterization is more flexible in comparison to existing definitions. This process model can be used to easily identify job functions that are important for the development of innovative and creative products or services. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with key players in CIs in the Netherlands. After analysis of these interviews, a process model of CIs was developed that consists of the following six steps: (1) problem analysis, (2) concept generation, (3) provisional design, (4) final design, (5) production/execution, and (6) product introduction. This model was supplemented with job functions for each step of the process. For future research, the model should be further developed to provide a greater differentiating effect between the CIs and other industries. However, the model can be very useful for characterizing the CIs in a manner that is more adaptable to the ever-changing nature of the industries.


We examine kinship terms in three closely related Tamangic varieties: Manange, Nar, and Phu. Using Proto-Tamangic and Proto Tibeto-Burman reconstructions, we track cognate forms as well as structural innovations. Our account allows a first examination of lexico-semantic aspects of Phu, an under-documented representative of the Nar-Phu complex. While Nar-Phu is usually treated as a single language, considerable differences exist in the organization of all three kinship term systems. Kinship terms are considered to be conservative, basic vocabulary and thus indicative of close within-family relationships, but our study shows that even closely related varieties can show considerable differences in kin nomenclature.


This article reviews the relation of cardiac cellular Na+ load and increased force of contraction. Digitalis glycosides and naturally occurring Na+ channel activators are considered. DPI201-106 was described as the first synthetic organic molecule with cardioselective Na+ channel-activating properties and investigated in clinical studies. Its pharmacology is reviewed. DPI 201-106 prolongs the open state of cardiac Na+ channels. This effect represents the primary mechanism of its positive inotropic effect. The involvement of cAMP is excluded. Ca2+ antagonistic and local anaesthetic effects are assumed to contribute advantageously to the pharmacodynamic profile of DPI 201-106. Chemically and pharmacologically related to DPI 201-106 is the new compound SDZ 210-921 for which original results are presented. It is concluded that DPI 201-106 represents the lead structure of a new class of cardiotonics with selective cardiac Na+ channel activation. DPI 201-106 and related compounds may serve as promising tools in the investigation of cardiac Na+ channel-gating dynamics, in addition to their therapeutic potential.


1st. For corrosive sublimate, the followinig are alntidotes :-Iron and zinc in powder mixed togetlher; iron reduced by hydrogeil; moist hydrated perstulphuret of iron. 2nd. For salts of copper:-Powder of iron and zinic mixed; iron reduced by hydrogen; porphyrised (finiely powdered) iron; zinc filings; hydrated persulphuret of iron. Ord. For lead:-Moist hydrated persulplhuret of iron. 4thly. For arsenic :-The moist lhydrated persulphuret of iron; dry carbonate, or peroxyde of ironi. The modus operandi of these various antidotes will readily be seen. The metallic zinc and iron in powder act by reducing the poisons to the metallic state; and of the forms in which they may be given, the best seem to be either the iron reduced by hlydrogen, from the extreme subtilty of its state of subdivision, or else the powder of iron and zinc combined, from their exerting some galvanic agenicy. For the same purpose Dr. Buckler had recomnmended a combinationi of equal parts of gold and iron in powder. A small proportion of corrosive sublimate being dissolved in water and mixed with this powder, and the solution then filtered, the liquid which passed through contained not a trace of mercury. The same is the case if the experiment be made with zinc and iron, instead of gold, although the decompositionl is not so rapid. The hydrated persulphuret of iron acts by converting the metals into a sulphuret, wllich is comparatively innocuous. It has the advantage of being itself lharmless, which is not the case with the alkaline sulphurets that were formerly recommended. It is prepared by adding, drop by drop, a solution of sulphate of iron to a weak solution of sulphuret of potass. A black gelatinous precipitate is thus obtained, which is freed from all excess of sulpliuret of potass by means of repeated washings and decantations, and which must be kept in a closely stoppered vessel. It must be noticed that the solution of iron must be dropped into the sulphuret, and not the sulplhuret into the iron, else an oxyde of iron is formed, and the sulphur is precipitated. M. Bouchardat urges upon all pharmaciezs the propriety of keeping tllis sulphuret ready prepared, since it is efficacious against the four most common metallic poisons. We agree with him as to the general expediency of administering a substance that will render a metallic poison inert, provided that at the same time the means of ejecting it from the stomach anid intestines are not neglected. We have thus given a rapid account of the cllief practical points contained in M. Bouchardat's annuaire. There are many other topics of a higher order also treated of, such as the preparation of conicine, the active principle of conium, and the author's researches on the curious influence which vegetable alkalis lhave upoIn polarised liglht; but if any of our readers lhave time or incliniationl to pursue these subjects, Nve must refer them to thc original work.


The bufferless router emerges as an interesting option for cost-efficient in network-on-chip (NoC) design. However, the bufferless router only works well under low network load because deflection more easily occurs as the injection rate increases. In this paper, we propose a load balancing bufferless deflection router (LBBDR) for NoC that relieves the effect of deflection in bufferless NoC. The proposed LBBDR employs a balance toggle identifier in the source router to control the initial routing direction of X or Y for a flit in the network. Based on this mechanism, the flit is routed according to XY or YX routing in the network afterward. When two or more flits contend the same one desired output port a priority policy called nearer-first is used to address output ports allocation contention. Simulation results show that the proposed LBBDR yields an improvement of routing performance over the reported bufferless routing in the flit deflection rate, average packet latency and throughput by up to 13%, 10% and 6% respectively. The layout area and power consumption compared with the reported schemes are 12% and 7% less respectively.


Crosses between populations of the copepod Tigriopus californicus typically result in outbreeding depression. In this study, replicate hybrid populations were initiated with first generation backcross hybrids between two genetically distinct populations from California: Royal Palms (RP) and San Diego (SD). Reciprocal F(1) were backcrossed to SD, resulting in expected starting frequencies of 25% RP/75% SD nuclear genes on either a pure RP cytoplasmic or a pure SD cytoplasmic background. After 1 year of hybridization (up to 15 generations), seven microsatellite loci were scored in two replicates on each cytoplasmic background. Frequencies of the rarer RP alleles increased significantly in all four replicates, regardless of cytoplasmic source, producing a mean hybridity of 0.97 (maximum = 1), instead of the expected 0.50. Explicit tests for heterozygote excess across loci and replicates showed significant deviations. Only the two physically linked markers showed linkage disequilibrium in all replicates. Subsequent fitness assays in parental populations and early generation hybrids revealed lower fitness in RP than SD, and significant F(2) breakdown. Computer simulations showed that selection must be invoked to explain the shift in allele frequencies. Together, these results suggest that hybrid inferiority in early generations gave way to hybrid superiority in later generations.


We examined the levels of protein kinase C (PKC) activity and the expressions of its three major isozymes, designated types I (gamma), II (beta), and III (alpha), in the cytosol and particulate fractions of cells from patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), in an attempt to elucidate the cell type- or lineage-specific expression of these isozymes. The levels of PKC activities in the cytosol and particulate fractions from AML cells were higher than those from ALL or CLL cells. The average PKC activities of AML cells, ALL cells, and CLL cells were 18.7, 12.2, and 11.3 pmol/min/10(8) cells, respectively, in the cytosol fractions and 4.4, 3.1, and 2.6 pmol/min/10(8) cells, respectively, in their particulate fractions. M1 cells (French-American-British classification) and AML cells with T-lymphocyte-associated surface antigens, such as CD2 and CD7, had significantly lower PKC activities among AML cells. Immunoblot analyses using monoclonal antibodies against each isozyme revealed that all three isozymes were broadly distributed on leukemic cells with considerable variability in the level of expression. All lymphoid leukemic cells expressed PKC-gamma in the cytosol fractions, albeit a minor component; however, this type was observed in cells from only half the number of AML patients. Those AML cells with cytosolic PKC-gamma usually expressed lymphoid surface antigens, such as CD2, CD7, and CD19. On the other hand, cytosolic PKC-beta and PKC-alpha were commonly observed in all types of leukemic cells. AML cells expressed these two types at almost equal levels, but in lymphoid cells, expressions of PKC-beta were usually more abundant than those of PKC-alpha. These data suggest that AML cells with lymphoid antigens might have a lower PKC activity but more predominant expression of cytosolic PKC-gamma than the usual AML cells.


This paper studies the effects of carbon pricing on inflation dynamics. We construct a sample of carbon taxes implemented in Europe and Canada over three decades and estimate the response of inflation and price components to carbon pricing. Our empirical results suggest that carbon taxes did not significantly increase inflation, with dynamic effects estimated around zero in most specifications. Instead we find support for relative price changes, increasing the cost of energy but leaving the price of other goods and services unaffected. This is consistent with previous findings on the limited aggregate economic costs of carbon taxes. Based on the cross-section of taxes in Europe, we provide suggestive evidence that the response of inflation was especially muted in countries with revenue-neutral carbon taxes and autonomous central banks that can accommodate potential inflationary pressure associated with carbon pricing.


Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the growth features of European perch (Perca fluviatilis L., 1758) inhabiting Lake Ladik. A total of 858 individuals were caught. The total length and weight ranged from 8.2 to 27.5 cm and from 7.16 to 365.20 g, respectively. The age of the females ranged between 1 and 7 years and the age of the males ranged from 1 to 5 years. The female to male ratio was 1:0.19. The von Bertalanffy growth equation parameters were determined as L∞=41.27 cm, W∞=1251.40 g, K=0.10 (year−1), t0 (year)=−1.98 for all samples. Length-weight relationship was calculated as W=0.0047TL3.358 for all specimens. Length-length relationships (total length-standard length, total length-fork length, standard length-fork length) were highly significant (r2>0.98). The mean condition factor value was obtained as 1.28 for all fish. Condition factor showed statistically significant increase according to length classes.


We investigate the physics of coherent polaritons in a double-well configuration under a resonant pumping. For a continuous-wave pump, bistability and self-pulsing regimes are identified as a function of the pump energy and intensity. The response to an additional probe pulse is characterized in the different cases and related to the Bogoliubov modes around the stationary state. Under a pulsed pump, a crossover from Josephson-like oscillations to self-trapping is predicted for increasing pump intensity. The accurateness of the effective two-mode model is assessed by comparing its predictions to a full solution of the nonequilibrium Gross-Pitaevskii equation.


A 32-year-old woman was referred due to abdominal pain and elevated liver enzymes. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed ectopic opening of the common bile duct (CBD) into the duodenal bulb. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed a hemispheric bulge in the duodenal bulb. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) revealed the bulge to be cystic dilatation of the CBD. ERCP also showed no communication between the ventral and dorsal pancreatic ducts. We diagnosed the patient with ectopic opening of the CBD accompanied by choledochocele and pancreas divisum. Endoscopic incision was performed for the treatment of the choledochocele. The patient's symptoms and elevated liver enzymes improved after treatment.


Since 1942, the technical and tactical training of French professional football coaches has evolved from being experimental into a more precise and assumed reflection led by the National trainers. The more famous National teams such as Brazil, England and Germany have been the main reference point for this change. However, until the 1980's, the focus was less on copying methods of technical training than on following the way these national teams used to play, even at the club level, although this was irrespective of the quality of the players available. Despite some innovative practices employed by the likes of Paul Frantz (RC Strasbourg) or Jose Arribas (FC Nantes) during the 1960's, the methodology of training remained fragmented and the technical field and the tactical field were, for a long period, considered separately. The international outcomes for French football, both at the club level and for the national team, resulted in general concerns over the standard of play. Even so, it was only during the 1980's that the technical and tactical aspects of footballers' training begin to be dissociated in order to be systematically considered, even though diverse influences emerged during the 1970's such as Stefan Kovacs, head coach of the French team between 1975 and 1973, and Robert Herbin, coach of AS Saint-Etienne. Since the 1980's, the West German coaches have influenced the National technical board, which has decided to train French coaches according an integrated method, mixing technical, tactical, and physical, as well as psychological considerations. The role and the function of the coach have been changed: from a single game technician, he has become a strategic coach as well as a creator.


Although IEEE 802.16 has emerged as one of the major candidates for next generation networks, it is also clear that in the near future the combination of several technologies will be required. In this sense, the support of mobility in heterogeneous environments, addressing broadband wireless, is one of the main requirements in next generation networks. This paper evaluates an architecture based on the recently standardized IEEE 802.21 framework, integrating both mobility and Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms, through an advanced mobility scenario using a real WiMAX testbed. This architecture supports seamless mobility in broadband wireless access (BWA) networks, integrates different technologies, such as WiMAX and Wi-Fi, and thus, it is suitable for next generation network environments. The results, obtained through real experimentation of the implemented architecture, show that it is able to provide QoS under dynamic scenarios, with fast integrated QoS and mobility signaling.


Our rationale was to evaluate the role of 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate (99mTc-MDP) SPECT/CT for the detection of sacroiliitis in spondyloarthropathies by comparing it with clinical markers and MRI findings. Methods: We prospectively included 155 patients (83 men and 72 women; mean age, 35.80 ± 12.40 y; range, 18–60 y) diagnosed with spondyloarthropathies as per the criteria of the European Spondyloarthropathy Study Group. All patients underwent clinical evaluation (using the Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index [BASDAI]), measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level, planar 99mTc-MDP bone scintigraphy, SPECT/CT, and MRI of the pelvic region. Using MRI as the reference criterion, the diagnostic accuracy of the clinical and scintigraphic parameters was assessed. On planar bone scintigraphy and SPECT, a score of 0, 1, or 2 was assigned when tracer uptake in the sacroiliac joint was less than, equal to, or more than that in the sacrum. A score of 2 was considered positive for the diagnosis of sacroiliitis. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of 99mTc-MDP SPECT/CT were 90.0%, 80.0%, 87.0%, 92.0%, and 75.0%, respectively. The accuracy of SPECT/CT (87%) was better than that of ESR (58.1%), CRP (32.9%), BASDAI scoring (77%), and planar bone scintigraphy (53%). Similar results were found for sensitivity and negative predictive value. Regarding specificity, SPECT/CT (80%) was lower than BASDAI scoring (88.6%) and equal to planar bone scintigraphy (80%). Regarding positive predictive value, SPECT/CT (92%) was a bit lower than BASDAI scoring (93.6%). κ-values for planar 99mTc-MDP bone scanning and SPECT/CT were 0.167 and 0.673, respectively, indicating poor agreement for planar bone scanning and good agreement for SPECT/CT. A significant (P < 0.001) correlation (r = 0.659) was observed between SPECT/CT and MRI findings. Conclusion: 99mTc-MDP SPECT/CT has diagnostic accuracy comparable to that of MRI for the evaluation of sacroiliitis in spondyloarthropathies and can thus be used as an alternative when MRI is contraindicated. SPECT/CT shows better accuracy than planar bone scintigraphy, ESR, CRP, and BASDAI scoring in the diagnosis of sacroiliitis.


The present study explored the intensity level of authorial voice in relation to the quality of argumentative writing. 42 undergraduate learners of English as a foreign language (36 girls and 6 boys) spent 45 minutes to individually complete in-class position-taking writing tasks for three weeks. Their overall academic writing quality scores assigned based on portfolio assessment were studied in relation to their voice expression quantified using a voice intensity rating scale (VIRS). Findings indicated that, among the components of authorial voice, only "assertiveness" showed a positive moderate relationship with academic writing quality (r=0.45, p≤ 0.05). In the follow-up qualitative analyses of voice-expression strategies, interviews with participants whose voice intensity had been rated either as the strongest or as the weakest showed nine strategies for voice expression. At the sentence-level, high-voice participants most frequently used intensifiers to express assertiveness, while low-voice writers tried to use other lexico-grammatical tools. At the text-level, both high-voice and low-voice participants were concerned about the effect of the topic on their voice expression. The findings imply that undergraduate English as a foreign language writers do try to express voice and that the required strategies can be one of the targets of EFL writing research and instruction.


Antithrombotic treatment of unstable angina is a highly controversial subject. The development of new antithrombotics (anti Gp IIb-IIIa, hirudin) has led to numerous therapeutic trials. Anti Gp IIb-IIIa are very promising in this indication, especially the Reopro chimeric antibody (Abciximab). Hirudin and its derivatives have demonstrated an early, but ephemeral clinical benefit. Low molecular weight heparins appear to be more effective than non-fractioned heparin and are easier and safer to use.


Two separate aspects of beams of rectangular cross section have been considered, namely the maximum space-charge-limited current which can be passed through rectangular slot apertures, and the maximum current density which can be obtained in collimated and focused beams. Both these limiting effects must be considered when attempting to maximize the current in beams of rectangular cross section. In both cases it has been found that the maximum current density is approximately the same for doubly focused rectangular beams, for singly focused ribbon beams, and for axially symmetric beams.


Four dogs presented with linear gastrointestinal foreign body (FB) obstruction caused by impacted grass fibres. The material had become anchored within the pylorus in three dogs, causing necrosis and perforation of the mesenteric border of the affected intestinal segment. Gastrotomy and intestinal resection and anastomosis were performed. The fourth case presented acutely with no intestinal necrosis or perforation, with the fibres removed via enterotomy. One dog suffered severe postoperative ileus that failed to respond to medical management. Continued deterioration prompted euthanasia 12 days postoperatively. The other three dogs survived and were discharged without complication. Grass has not previously been reported as a cause of linear gastrointestinal obstruction in dogs. It has, however, the potential to cause severe necrosis and perforation of the intestine and should be recognised as a potential linear FB in dogs.


This paper examines the effects of introducing the electronic trading system (EBS) on the foreign exchange market, the biggest financial market in the world where trading occurs through many dealers. We find that increasing transparency leads to an increase in informational efficiency, an important aspect of market quality. However, informed dealers are found to quote less aggressively in the more transparent market. Overall, we conclude that semi-transparency raises market efficiency in general, but that it is the uninformed dealers who benefit more from this increased efficiency. Advisor: Professor Liang Ding Readers: Professor Vittorio Addona, Professor Gary Krueger


In a centre for dialytic treatment of the district Karl-Marx-Stadt during 16 months patients and staff underwent a continuous clinico-epidemiological observation. By means of determinations of serum enzymes and Au-antigen-investigation regularly carried out in these cases the special risk of hepatitis could be confirmed. Hygienic-antiepidemic and organization measures are discussed and recommendations are given concerning the prophylactically more aimed course. Further investigations are necessary in as far as certain basic diseases (i.g., renal insufficiency) have an influence on the Au-antigen-persistence by impairment of the immune system and which epidemiological effects may result from this.


Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science dedicated to giving machines or computers the ability to perform human-like cognitive functions, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision making. Since it is showing superior performance than well-trained human beings in many areas, such as image classification, object detection, speech recognition, and decision-making, AI is expected to change profoundly every area of science, including healthcare and the clinical application of physics to healthcare, referred to as medical physics. As a result, the Italian Association of Medical Physics (AIFM) has created the "AI for Medical Physics" (AI4MP) group with the aims of coordinating the efforts, facilitating the communication, and sharing of the knowledge on AI of the medical physicists (MPs) in Italy. The purpose of this review is to summarize the main applications of AI in medical physics, describe the skills of the MPs in research and clinical applications of AI, and define the major challenges of AI in healthcare.


The dynamics of people's behavior in shopping are changing and increasingly diverse. Advances in technology encourage each business sector to innovate and adapt to changing needs. The world of buying and selling online or e-Commerce has changed the landscape of the offline retail business. Many of the retail companies turned to e-Commerce. Kawan Lama Retail Group that houses Ace Hardware, one of the large companies which are a pioneer and the most complete home and lifestyle equipment center, continues to innovate and increase the number of sales by providing the customer's needs with official e-Commerce Ruparupa.com. This study is to determine how significant the difference in profitability is caused by the application of e-Commerce. Based on the increase in profits, this research is associated with the company's profitability ratios including NPM, ROE, and ROA. Data testing conducted in this study is a comparative hypothesis test with statistic parametric (t-Test) and statistic nonparametric (Wilcoxon Test). The results of the statistical analysis of the comparative hypothesis test, the significance value of the difference in NPM, ROE, and ROA values are greater than 0.05. These results explain that the period before and after the implementation of e-Commerce showed no significant difference in profitability.


Ideally, both eenvironmental protection and human development policies should improve human well-being through the conservation of ecosystems that provide valuable services,. However, in practicallye, this rarely happen rarely. Settings for environment- development interactions are complex because they consist of diverse ecological systems as well as and human engineered knowledge systems. Using the pathways approach analytical framework to sustainability, this paper analysed how actors' understandings and scale of knowledge in environment-development interventions influence sustainable management. Data for this study used mix methods, includeing interviews, question-naires, policy document texts and field observations. The main findings suggested that the diverse views and scales of knowledge mobilised by different actors in conservation- development interventions is a major challenge in producing sustainable outcomes. The inability of conservation practitioners to conveniently reconcile different narratives held by different actors leads to the domination of powerful actors narrations, on which poli cies are based. The major setback in attaining sustainable forest management does not necessarily lie in the conflicting interests of actors, but also in the social processes that guided the negotiation of these conflicting interests. This study argues that local people and traditional structures have the potential to contribute sustainable forest management processes if offered the space. Given that lLocal people are often not directly engaged in forest management planning, their actions are directly or indirectly influenced by other actors (elites). This makes it more complicated to achieve processes that might lead to sustainable forest management. There is a need to create Convenient space is needed to that enables conservation practitioners to sees and promotes conservation through the lens of the local people.


Three thousand thirty-eight white and 313 black paternity cases were phenotyped for genetic variants of the coagulation Factor XIIIB (F XIIIB). Gene frequencies obtained by testing with agarose gel isoelectric focusing clearly differentiated the white and black populations. The expected probability of exclusion (P) for white subjects was P = 0.19 and for black subjects P = 0.25. The observed rates of exclusions for F XIIIB in white and black subjects were close to expected values. The results indicate that F XIIIB is a valuable tool in parentage testing, and the procedures are reasonably easy and inexpensive.


Datasets often have their intrinsic symmetries, and particular deep-learning models called equivariant or invariant models have been developed to exploit these symmetries. However, if some or all of these symmetries are only approximate, which frequently happens in practice, these models may be suboptimal due to the architectural restrictions imposed on them. We tackle this issue of approximate symmetries in a setup where symmetries are mixed, i.e., they are symmetries of not single but multiple different types and the degree of approximation varies across these types. Instead of proposing a new architectural restriction as in most of the previous approaches, we present a regularizer-based method for building a model for a dataset with mixed approximate symmetries. The key component of our method is what we call equivariance regularizer for a given type of symmetries, which measures how much a model is equivariant with respect to the symmetries of the type. Our method is trained with these regularizers, one per each symmetry type, and the strength of the regularizers is automatically tuned during training, leading to the discovery of the approximation levels of some candidate symmetry types without explicit supervision. Using synthetic function approximation and motion forecasting tasks, we demonstrate that our method achieves better accuracy than prior approaches while discovering the approximate symmetry levels correctly.


This study examined changes in the components of dairy cow colostrum 1-5 days post delivery and between 1-5 days post-delivery, the contents of major proteins were largest on the first day, but declined gradually over time. Immunoglobulin, lactoferrin, bovine serum albumin, and lactoperoxidase exhibited the highest concentrations one day post-delivery. However, these levels decresed significantly on the second day and remained at a low level on the third. An examination of daily changes in colostrum composition in dairy cows after delivery, according to parity, could not detect changes in the levels of most proteins.


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Objective T cell receptor gene (TCR) rearrangement of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with chronic hepatitis B was detected simultaneously with serum HBeAg, anti HBe and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) to examine the role of dominant T cell clones. Methods Southern hybridization was used to detect DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in 85 patients with chronic he patitis B. Results The positive rate of TCR rearrangement was 44.7% in 85 patients with chronic hepatitis B. Most of them demonstrated two kinds of rearrangement bands of DNA fragment. Cross sectional study indicated there was no significant difference in positive rate of HBeAg between TCR positive group and TCR negative group while there was significant difference in ALT between the two groups. Follow up of 19 patients with chronic hepatitis B suggested that appearance of the TCR rearrangement was associated with cytotoxicity to liver and clearance of hepatitis B virus.Conclusion The detection of TCR rearrangement is useful in the evaluation of disease progression and immune response.


The Swedish employer paid payroll tax was reduced substantially for young workers in 2007, causing firms' average social fees to depend on the age structure of their employees. Using pre-reform conditions to define treated and control firms, we show that the lower costs induced by the reduced taxes have no impact on exit rates or profitability. We find negligible effects on gross investments, and negative, but not statistically significant, effects on labor productivity.


Scully, Michael A. The Effect of a Self Monitoring Program on Perceptually Impaired Students' Compliance to Class Rules, 1995. Advisor: Dr. Jay Kuder Special Education The objective of this study was to examine the effects of a self-monitoring procedure that was designed to increase compliance to classroom rules in a middle school setting. Four male seventh grade students classified as Perceptually Impaired with histories of discipline and academic difficulties served as subjects for this investigation. After a baseline period in which a rating scale was used to evaluate their behavior, the subjects were taught to use the same scale and were required to rate their compliance to a predetermined set of rules. Points to be used for participation in a reinforcement activity could be earned if their ratings corresponded with the teacher's. The results of the intervention indicated that the self-monitoring program improved the ability of all the subjects to follow the prescribed rules of the class. Data showed that the positive results continued during a subsequent maintenance period.


People of African origin who live in the Caribbean share a common genetic heritage but live in socioeconomic environments that diverge widely. A cross-cultural study of males and females from Jamaica, St. Lucia and Barbados investigated the prevalence of hypertension and its environmental determinants. Standardized measurement techniques allowed comparable measurements of weight, height, waist and hip circumferences, and blood pressure. The population values for body mass index (BMI), per cent overweight (males BMI > or = 27.8 kg/m2; females BMI > or = 27.3 kg/m2) and per cent obese (males BMI > or = 31.1 kg/m2; females BMI > or = 32.3 kg/m2) are presented. Prevalence of hypertension is based on the age-adjusted total population. The gradient in per capita gross national product in Jamaica, St. Lucia and Barbados parallels the gradient in the proportions of population in those countries who are obese. BMI explained 26% of the variance in blood pressure in females and 13% in males. Obesity is a significant problem in the Caribbean, as it is in many other developing countries, and it is associated with a high prevalence of hypertension, particularly in women.


BACKGROUND
Tracheal extubation and emergence procedures induce abrupt changes in hemodynamics and humoral responses. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different doses of landiolol on hemodynamics during emergence from anesthesia.

METHODS
All patients undergoing general anesthesia were enrolled in this study. Immediately after the end of the surgery, all anesthetics were discontinued. Thereafter, during emergence from anesthesia, all patients were ventilated with 100% oxygen and landiolol infusion was started in all but the control group patients. In the normal dose group, landiolol infusion was started at a rate of 0.125 mg x kg(-1) x min(-1) for 1 min, decreasing it to 0.04 mg x kg(-1) x min(-1) until the time of extubation. In the low dose group, landiolol infusion was given at a rate of 0.06 mg x kg(-1) x min(-1) for 1 min and then continuously infused at the rate of 0.02 mg x kg(-1) x min(-1) until extubation.

RESULTS
Systolic and diastolic pressure increased during the emergence period in all 3 groups, there being no significant differences in systolic and diastolic pressure between the 3 groups during the observation period. Heart rate increased during the emergence period in the control group. In contrast, heart rate in both normal and low dose groups did not increase during the observation period.

CONCLUSIONS
Landiolol could prevent the increase in heart rate but not blood pressure during emergence from anesthesia. Effects on the changes in heart rate between 0.125 and 0.06 landiolol groups were not significantly different.


&NA;The mandibular angle plays an important role in determining the Asian human facial attractiveness. Currently, mandibular angle osteotomy is often reported as the correction of square face appearance due to its prominence. However, no previous study has documented the long-term outcome of partial masseter muscle resection along with reduction of mandibular angle. ObjectiveOur study aims to investigate the outcome and complications of partial masseter muscle resection along with reduction of mandibular angle in long-term follow-up. MethodOne hundred fifty-one patients were subjected to the computed tomography scan before and 3 years after surgery. Morphometrical analysis was conducted on all parameters for clinical evaluation, so as to reveal the change of masseter muscle, the postsurgical result, and the complication. ResultsAll patients were satisfied with the optimal outcome of the reduction of mandibular angle and masseter muscle. Morphometrical analysis indicated that the volume of masseter muscle changed statistically significantly before and after surgery (reduced 21.31 ± 7.64% on left, 20.77 ± 7.45% on right). Complications included swelling and low lip numbness, yet no patients reported infection or facial nerve injury. ConclusionPartial masseter muscle resection along with reduction of mandibular angle can improve the appearance of the patients greatly, and only a few complications occurred.


FM radio transmission is greatly affected by geography. Nepal faces particular problems in relation to variations in signal reach because of its varying topography. Radio signal coverage mapping indicates service areas of radio communication transmitting stations. The objectives of this study are to map the signal coverage of local radios (Kavre district) and to assess parameters affecting FM signal strength. The primary data were GPS coordinates of FM transmission stations and bearing of antenna. The secondary data regarding frequency of station, transmitter model, transmitter power, antenna model, and height of antenna from ground level were collected from respective FM stations. For elevation data freely available SRTMv3 was used. Combined Cartesian coverage maps for each FM stations were prepared using Radio Mobile software that showed varying signal strength of station in dBμV/m. The accuracy of the maps through field validation was observed to be 85%. Assessment of parameters affecting FM signal strength concluded that increase in antenna elevation, gain of antenna and power of transmitter increases the signal coverage.


Background-The Synergy-COPD project aims at exploring underlying mechanisms of heterogeneities seen in COPD patients. The project develops subject-specific predictive modelling to enhance patient stratification and case management. The results are feeding Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) integrated into an open Information and Communication Technological (ICT) platform supporting coordinated care for chronic patients. Underdiagnosis of COPD is a well identified problem with a high impact on preventive strategies targeting early disease stages. Aims-To develop and assess a CDSS designed to support a community-based COPD case-finding program linking pharmacy offices and primary care physicians. The study addressed usability and diagnostic efficacy of the CDSS. Method- Modified Nielsen9s heuristics and Multiple Heuristic Evaluation Table were used with 7 pharmacists and 3 primary care physicians. Three reported studies (n=2.925), including a cohort of reference subjects, a COPD case finding study (FarmaEPOC) and the PAC_COPD cohort were used to compare between a fixed FEV1/FVC ratio of 0,70 (GOLD) against LLN-FEV1/FVC ratio of selected reference equations. Results – CDSS assessment showed achievement of most of the selected heuristics (95%) and t minimal correctable errors. The fixed-ratio overestimated COPD diagnosis by an average of 23% compared with selected reference equations. Conclusion- The CDSS showed usability, applicability and acceptability by health professionals. The use of LLN-FEV1/FVC is highly advised. The results allow for extensive deployment of the ICT-supported COPD case-finding program. Supported by Synergy-COPD (FP7-ICT-270086) and PITES (FIS-PI09/90634).


Immune status of school children aged from 10–23 years against measles virus was determined by the hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test with a view of assessing herd immunity. Blood samples from 500 schoolchildren were collected by finger-pricking in Ropacco filter papers. Sera were extracted in 1 mL of cold phosphate buffered saline and treated with 25% (w/v) kaolin and 50.0% monkey red blood cell (RBC) to a final concentration of 1:10. The measles hemagglutinating antigen used for the test was prepared from measles vaccine. Results showed that 62 (12.4%) were positive for measles HI antibody at a titer of 1:640, and 78 (15.6%) had a titer <1:10. There was no significant relationship (P > 0.05) between antibody titer and the schools, while a significant relationship (P < 0.05) existed between antibody titer and age. Although the majority of the schoolchildren had the measles antibody in their sera, titers were, however, beneath the threshold of protection in 33.4% of them. The significant association between age of the schoolchildren and HI titers showed that those antibodies were waning according to age. The study has shown a considerable high level of protection against measles among schoolchildren. To prevent future outbreak of measles among these schoolchildren, it will be advocated that a second dose of measles vaccine be administered.


This study deals with the effect of vasopressin on the ability to learn (short- and long-term memory) a noxious significance. The literature shows that the response to stress is always accompanied by increased vasopressin secretion. The animals used were 27 adult male rats of which 12 injected with lysine-vasopressin and 15 controls. The effect of the drug was studied on unconditioned avoidance behaviour (light-avoidance) and on learning and retention of an environment the noxious significance of which the animals had trained in a single session. Vasopressin proved to alter, as an immediate effect, the avoidance responsiveness in experimental animals.


This is an attempt to study mathematically billiards with moving boundaries. We assume that the boundary remains closed, regular and strictly convex, deforming periodically in time, in the normal direction. We describe the associated billiard diffeomorphism and the corresponding invariant measure. We discuss the stability of 2-periodic orbits and investigate the boundedness of the velocity in some precise examples. Finally, we present the Hamiltonian formalism and the symplectic structure, considering that a moving billiard is a billiard with rigid boundary on an augmented configuration space, with a singular metric.


Today, the global trend in the development of renewable energy sources is the implementation of integrated processing of organic waste with the production of biogenic gases such as biomethane. In this case, an essential focus is the study of biogas purification processes to methane. This paper focuses on the process of modeling biochemical purification of biogas from hydrogen sulfide to develop the direction of biomethane production. Simulation of hydrogen sulfide bio-oxidation process with the use of granulated carrier based on phosphogypsum was conducted using experimental data from previous studies to verify the adequacy of the proposed mathematical model. Thus, to implement the process of phosphogypsum utilization in technological systems of biogas purification, it is important to consider the level of bioactivity in the immobilization of bacteria on the loading surface of phosphogypsum and the degree of biotransformation of phosphogypsum components in the oxidation of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide impurities to achieve the highest ecological effect. Also, the use of overlay visualization allowed to form the main clusters of development of research potential in the field of biogas technologies for Ukraine.


The objective of this course is to provide newcomers to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with an introduction and overview of the field. In addition to introducing basic concepts, the course will provide enough structure to help understand how the advanced material in the CHI 2016 technical program fits into the overall field.


The paper describes a new approach to electromagnetic analysis of magnetized plasma using finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. An equivalent lumped circuit describing an FDTD cell filled with plasma is developed and applied in the analysis. Such a method is proved more effective than previously reported methods. The new approach is verified on a canonical example of known analytical solution.


A simple, rapid and accurate and stability indicating RP-HPLC method was developed for the determination of valsartan in pure and tablet forms. The method showed a linear response for concentrations in the range of 50-175 µg/mL using 0.01 M NH4H2PO4 (pH 3.5) buffer: methanol [50:50] as the mobile phase with detection at 210 nm and a flow rate of 1 mL/min and retention time 11.041 min. The method was statistically validated for accuracy, precision, linearity, ruggedness, robustness, forced degradation, solution stability and selectivity. Quantitative and recovery studies of the dosage form were also carried out and analyzed; the % RSD from recovery studies was found to be less than 1. Due to simplicity, rapidity and accuracy of the method, we believe that the method will be useful for routine quality control analysis.


Education for all is universally recognised as a contributor to socio-economic development; hence, schooling systems are part of the interventions to ensure that participation in societal development processes is made possible. Since 1997 when Universal Primary Education (UPE) was introduced in Uganda, like in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, substantial gains have been made towards increasing total enrolment and reaching gender parity. From a net Enrolment of 3.1 million pupils in 1996 to 8.5 % in 2014 with a declining boy-girl gap in enrolment, Uganda would be considered as performing well by close of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. These gains, well registered and acknowledged, the staggering completion rates and quality of education under UPE consistently remain high. However, evident tendencies to downplay the relevance of UPE quality kept dominating the public policy evaluations. Post-2015, Sustainable Development Goal 4 re-emphasize inclusive and quality education by re-directing the focus from equitable enrolment, that is almost attained in a gender perspective to completion of free primary education for both girls and boys and secondary schooling by 2030. This article, through a cross-sectional descriptive qualitative approach, appreciates noticeable UPE achievements, but concludes that special needs children are still marginalized, that retention and completion levels remain slightly lower and that quality of education remains problematic. It is suggested that teacher recruitment and capacity building be stepped up, UPE capitation grant be increased that policy on parents' contribution be revised as strategies for minimising UPE politicisation devised.


Nitrogen implantation can be used to control gate oxide thicknesses [1,2]. This study aims at studying the fundamental behavior of nitrogen diffusion in silicon. Nitrogen at sub-amorphizing doses has been implanted as N2+ at 40 keV and 200 keV into Czochralski silicon wafers. Furnace anneals have been performed at a range of temperatures from 650°C through 1050°C. The resulting annealed profiles show anomalous diffusion behavior. For the 40 keV implants, nitrogen diffuses very rapidly and segregates at the silicon/ silicon-oxide interface. Modeling of this behavior is based on the theory that the diffusion is limited by the time to create a mobile nitrogen interstitial.


CONTEXT
The pathogenic basis for Graves' disease (GD) continues to elude our understanding. Specifically why activating antibodies are generated against self-antigens remains uncertain as does the identity of the antigen(s) that provokes orbital involvement in GD, a process known as thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO).

OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to determine whether CD34(+) fibrocytes are generated more frequently in GD, whether they infiltrate orbital connective tissues in TAO, and whether they express the thyrotropin receptor (TSHR).

DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS
Generation of fibrocytes from peripheral blood mononuclear cells was examined in samples from 70 patients with GD and 25 healthy control subjects. Fibrocytes were characterized by flow cytometry. Orbital tissues and fibroblast culture strains were examined for their presence.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The frequency of CD34(+) fibrocyte generation from peripheral blood cells, characterization of their phenotype, cytokine production, and their presence in affected orbital tissues were analyzed.

RESULTS
CD34(+)CXCR4(+)Col I(+) fibrocytes expressing IGF-I receptor are far more frequently generated from cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells of donors with GD compared with healthy subjects. They express TSHR at high levels and TSH induces fibrocytes to produce IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Numerous CD34(+) fibrocytes were detected in orbital tissues in TAO but were absent in healthy orbits. Tissue-infiltrating fibrocytes express TSHR in situ and comprise a subpopulation of TAO-derived orbital fibroblasts.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that fibrocytes may participate in the pathogenesis of TAO because they express relevant autoantigens such as IGF-I receptor and functional TSHR and differentially accumulate in orbital tissue in TAO.


When the isomerization of dihydroxyacetone phosphate to D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate is catalyzed by triosephosphate isomerase in tritiated water, both the substrate and product become labeled. The specific radioactivity of the product is about 80% that of the solvent, which shows that the protonation of the enediol intermediate at C-2 (to form the enzyme-bound product D-glceraldehyde 3-phosphate) is followed by a slower step not involving proton transfer. The specific radioactivity of the remaining substrate after partial reaction rises as the reaction proceeds and shows that the reaction intermediate that exchanges protons with the medium returns to dihydroxyacetone phosphate (picking up tritium) about one-third as often as it is converted to D-glceraldehyde 3-phosphate. These results allow a qualitative description of the relative heights of the energy barriers in the catalyzed reaction and contribute to the quantitative analysis of the energetics of the process.


How do engineering students develop a professional identity during the course of the curriculum? What are the development mechanisms and important conditions? In an exploratory study among teachers we tried to find out whether the development of engineering identity can be understood by using the theoretical models of Ibarra and Sullivan. The results showed that the development of engineering identity is boosted during the internship in industry in the third year. Furthermore, the theoretical models could be recognised in the findings, and four interaction types in internships, with significant differences in effect on identity development, could be identified if we used two dimensions: 1) industry supervisors' perception of students and 2) the professional responsibility awarded. Some recommendations for curriculum improvement could be made; for example, introducing projects into the curriculum to stimulate identity development from the start. Further research is required on student preparation for internships.


Continuous cell culture of a puffer fish Takifugu rubripes has been established for efficient delivery of exogenous genes or proteins to cultured fish cells. Transcription factor oct4 was chosen for transduction into cultured fish cells because of its conserved structure and function between fish and mammals. In this work, the T. rubripes oct4 gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as a recombinant protein by introducing cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) poly-arginine (11R) and 6His-tag at the C-terminus. After purification, recombinant proteins were added to the growth medium and incubated with T. rubripes spermary cells. Recombinant proteins that crossed the cell membrane were detected in the cytoplasm and nucleus by western blot and immunofluorescent observation. The function of transduced oct4 as a transcription factor in fish cells was confirmed by driving green fluorescent protein expression in the pEGFP-1 reporter construct with the conserved specific oct4-binding sequence from mouse Mus musculus. Taken together, 11R can be an efficient CPP in delivering fusion proteins to cultured fish cells.


The major objective of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of PCR to the number of Lactococcus garvieae (L. garvieae) in sterilized milk containing different concentrations of NaCl using FTA technique for genomic DNA extraction. This technique is a simple, rapid, precise and highly sensitive even to low count of bacterial cells in samples. The study used M17 medium to determine the number of bacterial cells, thereafter, FTA method was used for genomic DNA extraction. The results using M17 medium, indicated that the L. garvieae increased in all concentrations of NaCl during an incubation period of 24 hours, on the other hand, pH value decreased. However, the increase in bacterial count was statistically significant only on 0, 2% and 4% of NaCl concentrations. In conjunction with this, the PCR showed sensitivity to both low and high numbers of bacterial cells in the samples. Increasing bacterial numbers led to an increase in the amount of DNA extracted via FTA cards and therefore, the intensity and clarity of bands of PCR reaction was also increased. This is the first study that uses FTA technique for DNA extraction in dairy products. Using FTA cards and subjecting to PCR in quantifying the bacterial growth is a very important issue because of its direct application in the field of milk, agricultural and animal products research and development.


The World Health Organisation in 1997 recognised the need for the development of new drugs to combat the imminent threat of mass infection by multi-drug resistant strains of pathogenic micro-organisms that spread diseases such as tuberculosis (TB). With this in mind, the work covered in this thesis focused on the preparation of novel carbohydrate-based compounds as potential anti-bacterial agents, in particular targeted to mycobacterial infection. An essential cell wall structural component of various mycobacteria (including M. tuberculosis) is the galactofuranose (Galf) residue, which forms part of the polysaccharide connection between the mycolic acids and the peptidoglycan layer. Interference with the incorporation of Galf into this polysaccharide was expected to compromise the physical integrity of the bacterial cell wall leading to cell death. With minimal projected side-effects, owing to the lack of Galf residues in mammalian systems, hydrolytically-stable Galf analogues were selected as promising targets for the development of potential therapeutic agents against Galf containing pathogenic micro-organisms. In 2000, the von Itzstein group identified the novel Galf-based N,N-didecyl-S-(1-thio-?-D-galactofuranosyl) sulfenamide as a strong inhibitor of mycobacterial growth in vitro. As a result of this finding, a study of structure activity relationships (SAR) of galactofuranose derivatives as antibacterial agents has been undertaken. The primary focus has been on the synthesis of a family of glycofuranosyl derivatives based on the architecture of the N,N-dialkyl galactofuranosyl sulfenamide. To explore structure activity relationships, a number of related compounds were prepared. Chapter 2 describes the development of various synthetic routes towards a suite of S-, O-and N-galactofuranosides which were prepared from a common per-O-acylated Galf intermediate. The range of compounds included N,N-disubstituted sulfenamides and sulfonamides, branched and straight chain alkyl thioglycosides, thioureas and alkyl O-glycosides. In addition, the aglycon units incorporated were designed in order to identify the necessary characteristics for optimum anti-bacterial activity, and included aglycons both aromatic and aliphatic in character.
For the purpose of investigating the requirement for a galactofuranose glycan moiety for anti-bacterial activity, the aglycons of the more active galactofuranosyl compounds (Chapter 2) were introduced onto alternate furanose sugars. Chapter 3 describes the synthetic strategies developed for the synthesis of gluco-and arabinofuranosyl compounds. Both glucofuranosyl sulfonamides and arabinofuranosyl sulfonamides and thioglycosides were prepared. Chapter 4 describes the synthesis of non-carbohydrate probes carrying the relevant aglycon units of the glycofuranosyl series. This series of compounds (containing either sulfenamide or sulfonamide functionality) were prepared to investigate the requirement of a carbohydrate moiety for anti-bacterial activity. Chapter 5 describes methods to improve the water solubility of the most active compounds prepared in Chapters 2 and 3. Methods explored included chemical modifications to the primary hydroxyl group of the sugar moiety, and experimentation with formulation of active compounds. Biological testing of the compounds prepared, carried out both in-house as part of the work for this thesis, and by various external testing facilities, is reported in Chapter 6. In assays against M. smegmatis the Galf 9-heptadecyl thioglycoside was found to be the most active compound with an in vitro potency of 1 µg/mL, comparable to the frontline anti-TB drug ethambutol (1-4 µg/mL). In addition, the thioglycoside displayed excellent broad spectrum Gram positive anti-bacterial activity in vitro, but was not active at concentrations below 64 µg/mL against a Gram negative organism. Experimental data supporting the information presented in Chapters 2 to 6 is detailed in Chapter 7. Selected proton NMR spectra are presented in Appendix 1, whilst Disc Diffusion and Zone assay data are tabulated in Appendix 2.


Social networks can influence the ecology of gut bacteria, shaping the species composition of the gut microbiome in humans and other animals. Gut commensals evolve and can adapt at a rapid pace when colonizing healthy hosts. Here, we aimed at assessing the impact of host-to-host bacterial transmission on Escherichia coli evolution in the mammalian gut. Using an in vivo experimental evolution approach in mice, we found a transmission rate of 7% (±3% 2SE) of E. coli cells per day between hosts inhabiting the same household. Consistent with the predictions of a simple population genetics model of mutation-selection-migration, the level of shared events resulting from within host evolution is greatly enhanced in co-housed mice, showing that hosts undergoing the same diet and habit are not only expected to have similar microbiome species compositions but also similar microbiome evolutionary dynamics. Furthermore, we estimated the rate of mutation accumulation of E. coli to be 2.9×10−3 (±5×10−4 2SE) mutations/genome/generation, irrespective of the social context of the regime. Our results reveal the impact of bacterial migration across hosts in shaping the adaptive evolution of new strains colonizing gut microbiomes.


A 47-year-old woman was admitted to our institution with the chief complaint of a right cervical mass. Imaging examination findings showed a cystic mass of 25mm with a nodular lesion in the right cervical region. Therefore, we performed extirpation of the right cervical cystic mass to allow diagnosis of the lesion. The histopathological findings showed a partial thyroid tissue on the cyst wall covered with glandular epithelium or metaplastic squamous epithelium, and tumor cells proliferating in the papillary form. Considering the histopathological evidence of the characteristic epithelium of the thyroglossal duct cyst, the potential carcinogenesis from the remnant thyroid tissues, and the absence of primary tumor in the thyroid gland, the patient was diagnosed with thyroid papillary carcinoma arising from the thyroglossal duct cyst in the right lateral cervical region. We found recurrence of the right cervical lymph node at 1 year and 5 months after the initial operation. Thus, we performed dissection of the right cervical lymph nodes. Two years and 10 months after the operation, neither recurrence nor metastasis have been observed. It was suggested that, thyroid papillary carcinoma arising from the thyroglossal duct cyst should be taken into consideration when a lateral cervical mass lesion is found.


Earlier spring phenological events have been widely reported in plants under global warming. Recent studies reported a slowdown in the warming‐induced advanced spring phenology in temperate regions. However, previous research mainly focused on daily mean temperature, thus neglecting the asymmetric phenological responses to daytime and nighttime temperature. Using long‐term records of leaf unfolding in eight deciduous species at 1300 sites across central Europe, we assessed and compared the effects of daytime temperature, nighttime temperature, and photoperiod on leaf unfolding during 1951–1980 and 1981–2013. Although leaf unfolding was advanced by daytime warming during 1951–2013, the advancing responses of leaf unfolding significantly decreased from 1951–1980 to 1981–2013 due to a lower accumulation of chilling units by daytime warming. Nighttime warming delayed leaf unfolding during 1951–1980 but advanced it during 1981–2013 due to a higher accumulation of chilling units by nighttime warming. In contrast, critical daylength and plasticity of leaf unfolding dates remained unchanged between 1951 and 2013. Our study provided evidence that daytime warming instead of nighttime warming accounts for the slowdown in the advancing spring phenology and implied that nighttime warming‐induced earlier spring phenology may be buffering the slowdown of the advanced spring phenology by daytime warming. The response of spring phenology to nighttime temperature may override that to daytime temperature under the actual trends in global warming.


The purpose of this study is to evaluate subjective preference of a simulated sound field by listeners in changing subsequent reverberation time Tsub using vocal music sources. Previously, a great deal of effort has been made on the study using music or speech [for example, Ando et al., Acustica 50, 134–141 (1982); J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. 39, 89–95 (1983)]. In addition to subjective preference judgments, the α‐waves' range of the continuous brain waves (CBW) in relation to the specialization of human cerebral hemispheres is also evaluated [C. Chen and Y. Ando, J. Archit. Plann. Environ. Eng., AIJ 489, 73–80 (1996)]. In this paper, subjective evaluation using vocal music sources, which is often played in concert halls and opera houses, has been examined. Subjective preference tests were conducted changing Tsub, which is one of the four objective parameters in relation to subjective preference of sound fields. Individual differences of subjective preference as well as global preference are discussed. [Work was...


In this article, we present an interactive visual information retrieval and recommendation system, called VisIRR, for large-scale document discovery. VisIRR effectively combines the paradigms of (1) a passive pull through query processes for retrieval and (2) an active push that recommends items of potential interest to users based on their preferences. Equipped with an efficient dynamic query interface against a large-scale corpus, VisIRR organizes the retrieved documents into high-level topics and visualizes them in a 2D space, representing the relationships among the topics along with their keyword summary. In addition, based on interactive personalized preference feedback with regard to documents, VisIRR provides document recommendations from the entire corpus, which are beyond the retrieved sets. Such recommended documents are visualized in the same space as the retrieved documents, so that users can seamlessly analyze both existing and newly recommended ones. This article presents novel computational methods, which make these integrated representations and fast interactions possible for a large-scale document corpus. We illustrate how the system works by providing detailed usage scenarios. Additionally, we present preliminary user study results for evaluating the effectiveness of the system.


Human behaviors are known to spread through social contact. The diffusion process on social networks has also been leveraged to understand the spread of undesirable contagion. The contagion of malicious or even criminal behaviors in online social networks is just beginning to attract attention. Here, we study the social contagion problem of cheating behavior found in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that provides a lifelike environment with rich and realistic user interactions. Because cheating users boast an abnormal thus conspicuous degree of success, it has a strong chance of being noticed by their friends and leading them to cheat themselves. To detect and prevent cheating, it is beneficial to understand this dynamic as a contagion problem. In this paper, we show the existence of the contagion of cheating. We then explore various possible social reinforcement mechanisms after introducing several factors to quantify the effect of social reinforcement on the contagion and analyze the dynamics of bot diffusion in an extensive user interaction log from a major MMORPG.


Although Business/IT alignment has gathered much interest in the past, it still presents a challenge for service sector companies facing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sourcing. Such companies lack managerial experience and competency of using ubiquitous technologies and SaaS applications in order to create business value. This paper provides evidence on how SaaS strengthens alignment between IT and business strategies and how it indirectly creates value for service sector enterprises. We employ semi-structured interviews and case studies to determine how aligning business strategy with SaaS enabled IT strategy can lead to value creation. We found out that the features of SaaS such as on-demand self-service, rapid elasticity and measured service are considered advantageous by the companies, whilst dependence on a single vendor, incompatibility and information security were considered as a disadvantage. Future research could explore other cloud service models, such as Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) to reveal how and why other cloud service applications can succeed or fail supporting Business-IT alignment.


Guidelines are provided to help the physician differentiate growth patterns that are normal from those that are not. Basic tools and clinical findings are described, including proper measurement of height and plotting of data on growth charts.


The global increase in mental disorders also identifies the workplace, including the teaching environment, as a key source of such disorders. Social problems among learners often put additional pressure on the teachers, over and above their normal academic, administrative and organizational responsibilities, thus contributing to high levels of stress among teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression symptoms, as well as the associated sociodemographic factors, among teachers in Capricorn District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. A cross-sectional quantitative study design using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) tool was used to determine the symptoms of depression among a sample of 381 teachers. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data, which were analyzed descriptively. Pearson chi-square tests were used to explore associations between a range of sociodemographic variables and PHQ scores. A final logistic regression model was used for factors that were significantly associated with depression symptoms according to Chi-square tests. The majority of the participants were Black (83.45%) and female (70.87%) and had obtained a bachelor's degree as their highest qualification (53.95%). Almost half of participants (49.87%) tested positive for symptoms of depression, which ranged from mild to severe. Employment-related factors that were significantly associated with depression symptoms included the quintile ranking of the school, the school where employed, learner-to-teacher ratio and the subjects taught by the teacher. Personal factors that were associated with depression included gender, marital status and race. Depression symptoms amongst teachers were mostly associated with workplace factors.


ABSTRACT Smoking reindeer meat in a traditional Sámi lávvu (tent) is a knowledgeable and long tradition for food preservation among Sámi reindeer herders. However, due to the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during smoking, scientists associate smoked meat with human health risks. PAH contamination of smoked food depends on the smoking method, the temperature and the wood species. The smoking temperature and the PAH contaminations of Sámi traditional lávvu-smoked reindeer products yet remain uninvestigated. To remedy this knowledge gap, we developed a unique co-produced lávvu-laboratory pilot study for temperature measurements and PAH analysis of smoked reindeer meat with different Arctic wood species (willow, birch and juniper) and plant parts (logs and twigs). Our study confirms reindeer herders understanding, that birch wood, and especially birch twigs, generate higher smoking temperatures than willow. Except reindeer meat smoked with birch twigs, PAH levels of analysed reindeer meat cuts were lower than EU recommended maximum levels. However, all smoked reindeer fat samples showed much elevated PAH contaminations. Our results demonstrate the importance of co-production including both scientific and traditional knowledge in research for increased understanding of Indigenous peoples' traditional food smoking and to insure healthy traditional smoked Arctic products.


Info 2022 The requirement and demand of electric vehicles is extravagantly increasing in the current era for avoiding pollutions and as well to overcome the consumptions of liquid fuels. Under this scenario, for the production and applicability of electric vehicles, inverters play a major role to render appropriate battery power supply for the perfect operation of the electric vehicle. This research study devises a novel modified multilevel inverter and a new multistring inverter designed by reducing the number of switches and enabling the effective operation of the electric vehicle. Both the developed multilevel and multistring inverter is analyzed with respect to their switching states, their output voltage and the evaluated harmonic distortion. For comparison, a sinusoidal alternating current voltage is considered as reference and all the newly modeled configurations are compared with that of the existing inverter models to prove their superiority. The switched states of the designed inverters as applicable for electric vehicles are examined to attain a logical analysis with respect to the duty cycle of the individual switches. The power quality assessment of the designed inverter models are guaranteed based on the minimized total harmonic distortion and on comparison with the other inverter models from the earlier state-of-the-art


Currently, electricity generation requires both fossil energy resources and the supply of renewable energy. In addition, efficient energy management is necessary. This need became more pronounced in Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011. Since then, Japan's power supply has been limited because of the shutdown of nuclear power plants, and this has led to several problems. To deal with this problem, the effective use of renewable energies such as photovoltaic and wind power is required. Since these energy sources are unstable, batteries need to be introduced in the power grid for power supply leveling. However, the financial burden of introducing batteries on the demand side, such as in houses or buildings, is very high. To solve this problem, the required battery capacity needs to be reduced by controlling the air conditioners used by consumers in order to facilitate the peek-shift effect. In this study, we constructed a real-time simulation using a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system that can control air conditioners through power leveling with batteries. We propose two different cooperative demand control methods for comparison. These methods consider consumer comfort and the state of charge (SoC) of the batteries. The aim of this simulation was to compare three cases: no control, battery control, and control of both the air conditioner and the battery by a cooperative demand control method. This simulation showed that the cooperative control method achieves power consumption reduction and power leveling at the same time, which proves that the proposed method can reduce the battery capacity required for power leveling.


The toromere previously found by other workers in the distal end of the sixth chromosome (microchromosome) of D. lummei was studied using differential staining of D. lummei giant chromosomes. The toromere which was first described as a quinacrine-bright structure appears as a C-positive body. Quantitative cytofluorometric analysis showed a significant increase in toromeric DNA under low temperature conditions. In situ hybridization of 125I nick-translated D. virilis sDNA (all three satellites were included in the sample) with polytene chromosomes of D. lummei larvae cultured at 12 degrees C revealed no label incorporation into the toromere region. However in situ hybridization of [3H]RNA complementary to highly repetitious DNA of D. lummei and D. virilis (C0t = 10(-1)--10(-2)) with polytene chromosomes of the larvae cultured at 12 degrees coupled with banding studies enable us to conclude that the toromere probably contains AT-rich repeated DNA. Well-developed toromere in the sixth chromosome of D. lummei was also demonstrated at normal temperature (25 degrees) in interspecific hybrids. The role of the toromere structure in the mitotic behaviour of microchromosomes and their replication pattern is discussed.


Space probes have shown us what other planets look like, but what do they sound like? Two scientists, one from Britain and the other originally from Romania, have explored this question by simulating a Bach organ concert on Mars, Venus, and Saturn's moon Titan. Reporter Ari Daniel Shapiro has the cacophonous result.


Civic engagement is among some most demanded skills of the decade for all professionals and there are some measures for assessing civic engagement among individuals. However, a valid measure for assessing journalist's civic engagement is still missing in the literature. Therefore, the effort has been made to develop journalist's civic engagement scale. Owing to the purpose, 22 items was initially constructed based on seven point Likert scale. The items were reduced to 16 after content validity estimated based on judgment of fourteen experts. The retained items were administered on 182 working journalists. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were employed for construct validation of the scale and it resulted in one factor solution with 09 items. The item loads were above 0.60. Alpha reliability of the scale was estimated at 0.927. Model fit indicators such as SRMR, RMSEA, RMR, CFI, NFI, AGFI, and specifically CMIN/df were found satisfactory. The journalist's civic engagement scale is ready and available for use.


Assessing biological, chemical and physical influence on phytoplankton regulation is a key process to understand population structure and dynamics, population diversity and succession, and to propose a human-hand control before any excessive algal proliferation could occur. Such issues are of main concern to help scientists and water managers to reach the "good ecological state" recommended by the Water Framework Directive by 2015. Part of our project aims to identify both the spatial and temporal phytoplankton structure and dynamics in the Reservoir Marne referred to as one of the largest reservoirs in occidental Europe. In 2006, the reservoir has been sampled once every two weeks between March and September. To assess spatial heterogeneity, six stations and various depths for each station have been investigated. We show that (i) the reservoir is not uniform as revealed by the phytoplankton abundance and structure which vary significantly from one sampling station to another, (ii) a clear seasonal dynamics can be observed for the different microbial communities (iii) in this context, a multitable analysis is a powerful statistical tool to get a clear representation of the spatial and temporal organization of the assemblages of the different species.


To detect seasonal and long-term differences in growth and photosynthesis of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) exposed to elevated CO(2) under ambient conditions of precipitation, light, temperature and nutrient availability, seedlings were planted in soil representative of an early, abandoned agricultural field and maintained for 19 months in the field either in open-top chambers providing one of three atmospheric CO(2) partial pressures (ambient, ambient +15 Pa, and ambient +30 Pa) or in unchambered control plots. An early and positive response to elevated CO(2) substantially increased total plant biomass. Peak differences in relative biomass enhancement occurred after 11 months of CO(2) treatment when biomass of plants grown at +15 and +30 Pa CO(2) was 111 and 233% greater, respectively, than that of plants grown at ambient CO(2). After 19 months, there was no significant difference in biomass between +15 Pa CO(2)-treated plants and ambient CO(2)-treated plants, whereas biomass of +30 Pa CO(2)-treated plants was 111% greater than that of ambient CO(2)-treated plants. Enhanced rates of leaf-level photosynthesis were maintained in plants in the elevated CO(2) treatments throughout the 19-month exposure period despite reductions in both leaf N concentration and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activity during the first 11 months of CO(2) exposure. Reductions in Rubisco activity indicated photosynthetic adjustment to elevated CO(2), but Rubisco-mediated control of photosynthesis was small. Seasonal shifts in sink strength affected photosynthetic rates, greatly magnifying the positive effects of elevated CO(2) on photosynthesis during periods of rapid plant growth. Greater carbon assimilation by the whole plant accelerated plant development and thereby stimulated new sinks for carbon through increased plant biomass, secondary branching and new leaf production. We conclude that elevated CO(2) will enhance photosynthesis and biomass accumulation in loblolly pine seedlings under high nutrient conditions; however, reductions over time in the relative biomass response of plants to elevated CO(2) complicate predictions of the eventual magnitude of carbon storage in this species under future CO(2) conditions.


Based on the analysis of optimal wire width on one wire segment, the wire planning with optimal wire widths is proposed to use less routing area to reduce the timing delay of any interconnection net. Furthermore, given one compacted floorplan with a set of interconnection nets, based on the analysis of buffer locations on one wire segment and the construction of a recursive buffer-location graph, an area-driven buffer block planning with optimal wire sizing (ABBP/spl I.bar/OWS) algorithm is proposed to insert the feasible buffers into the given floorplan for each net without destroying the timing constraint of any routing net. Finally, the experimental results show that the proposed ABBP/spl I.bar/OWS algorithm increases less routing area and floorplan area to meet more interconnection nets on all the tested benchmark circuits for interconnect-driven floorplanning.


This paper deals with the ac-dc interface conversion in grid-connected wind energy conversion systems based on modular permanent-magnet synchronous generators. In particular, some solutions based on diode rectifiers are extensively analyzed as for the waveforms, the efficiency, and the torque ripple, by considering several connections, which are allowed by the inherent modularity of the considered generators. Rectifier schemes with a high number of pulses can be easily realized without using special shifter transformers so that these solutions can be attractive for low- and medium-power applications.


Teacher competences is a capability in doing teaching learning process in the class. That competences expected making the students respect to the teacher, enjoy the learning process and increase their motivation. According to Barloe (1985) teacher competences  are teacher capability in doing their work and responsilibity. Meanwhile, learning motivation is students psychological effort that encourage learning activity and give direction on learning to get a certain goal (Winkel, 2009). This research used correlational design and Rank Spearman formula. Subject are 130 grade IX Junior High School students. Probability value is 0,001 which is less than α= 0,05. It means that H o is rejected and it is concluded that there is positive correlation between teacher competences and learning motivation.


Abstract In different languages around the world, morphemes representing the (cooked form of) staple food or food in general tend to begin with a [+labial] phoneme followed by a [+low] phoneme (/pa-/, /ma-/, /fa-/, /wa-/, etc.). This article provides evidence for this phonological similarity by analyzing 66 sample languages' morphemes representing the staple food within the society where each language is spoken. About a fourth of the morphemes referring to staple food begin with a [+labial] first phoneme followed by a [+low] second phoneme, which is a much higher proportion compared to another list of basic morphemes in the same 66 languages. I further argue that the motivation for this crosslinguistic tendency is the iconic association between the mouth-opening gesture and the concept of eating.


Segmented poly(ester urethane)s containing hard and soft segments, were obtained from aromatic diisocyanates with 4,4′-dihidroxydiethoxydiphenyl sulphone as chain extender, and poly(ethylene glycol)adipate using a multistep polyaddition process. Transition temperatures by differential scanning calorimetry and thermo-optical analysis were employed to characterize polyurethane materials. Changes in the conformation of these polyurethanes were analyzed also, by viscometer measurements in N,N-dimethyl-formamide. The obtained data revealed that the thermal curves are influenced by the soft and hard segment structures in the temperature range studied.


Findings from a 10-year study, described on page
 745, linking bison grazing to plant diversity in tallgrass prairie offer hope to land managers trying to preserve the last remnants of native U.S. grasslands and may also put cattle grazing in a slightly better light. That9s a hot-button issue in the U.S. heartland, where environmentalists contend that cattle are driving to extinction native plants on public lands. But some scientists worry that the message might be carried too far and that the results will be used to advocate more cattle grazing.


The WWW and its associated distributed information services provide rich world-wide online information services, where objects are linked together to facilitate interactive access. Users seeking information from the Internet traverse from one object via links to another. It is important to analyze user access patterns, which helps improve web page design by providing an efficient access between highly correlated objects, and also assists in better marketing decisions by placing advertisements in frequently visited documents. We need to study the user surfing behavior through examining the web access log, browsing frequency of web pages and computing the average duration of visitors. This chapter offers an architecture to store the derived web user access paths in a data warehouse, and facilitates its view maintainability by use of metadata. The system will update the user access paths pattern with the data warehouse by the data operation functions in the metadata. Whenever a new user access path occurs, the view maintainability is triggered by a constraint class in the metadata. The data warehouse can be analyzed on the frequent pattern tree of user access paths on the web site within a period and duration. The result is an online analytical mining path traversal pattern. Performance studies have been done to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the system with the following contributions: an architecture of online analytical mining using frame model metadata, a methodology of implementing the online analytical mining, and the resultant cluster of web pages frequently visited by users for marketing use. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB10031 IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING This chapter appears in the b ok, Advanced Topics in Database Resea ch, Volume 3, edited by Keng Siau. Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Online Analytical Mining for Web Access Patterns 295 Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. INTRODUCTION Today, with the advent of the web and electronic commerce, nearly every organization has a web site where tremendous amounts of customer data have been generated and collected. These customer data contain a wealth of potentially accessible information. However, the explosive growth of data will inevitably lead to a situation such that it is increasingly difficult to access the desired information. As a result, there are great demands for analyzing data and transforming them into useful information and knowledge. Therefore, Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD) has become an important field in recent years to address the need for analyzing data in very large data repositories. KDD is the process of automatic extraction of implicit, novel, useful, and understandable patterns in large databases. There are many steps in the KDD process, which include data selection, data cleaning, enrichment, coding, data-mining task, algorithm selection, and interpretation of discovered knowledge (Adriaans & Zantinge, 1996). This process tends to be interactive, incremental and iterative. Figure 1 illustrates the steps of the knowledge discovery process. There is a relationship between the activities of data mining and data warehouse – the architecture foundation of decision support systems. The data warehouse sets the stage for effective data mining. The data mining can be done without data warehouse, but the data warehouse can improve the chances of success in data mining (Inmon, 1996). Background As the usage of the World Wide Web explodes, a massive amount of data is generated by web servers in the form of web access logs. It is a rich source of information for understanding web user surfing behavior. Web usage mining is one type of web mining activity that involves the automatic discovery of user access patterns on one or more web servers. Also, it applies data mining algorithms to web access logs to locate the regularities in web users' access patterns. Analysis of these access data provides useful information for server performance enhancements, restructuring web sites, and direct marketing in electronic commerce. As a result, web usage mining has been used in improving web site design, business and marketing decision support, user profiling, and web server system performance, etc. Among methods of discovering various knowledge in large databases, the association rule has attracted great attention in database research communities in recent years (Agrawal, Figure 1: The Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining process Data Selection Data Cleaning Enrichment Coding Reporting Data Mining Action Information Requirement Operation data External data Feedback 31 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/chapter/online-analytical-mining-webaccess/4365?camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Books, InfoSci-Database Technologies, Library Science, Information Studies, and Education, InfoSci-Library and Information Science, InfoSciComputer Science and Information Technology, Science, Engineering, and Information Technology, Advances in Database Research, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Select. 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Abstract : The manner in which projectile velocity in a rail gun is limited by the presence of atmospheric air in the gun tube is studied. In particular, we solve the equation of motion for the acceleration of the armature and projectile, accounting for both the decelerating force exerted by the atmosphere and the time decay of the current profile. From the solution, a characteristic time is derived which indicates quantitatively when the effect of the atmosphere can be expected to be significant. Results of the calculation are then compared qualitatively with results from two recent experiments, one in which atmospheric effects are nearly negligible and one in which they are not.


Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in Bangladesh. Caseous necrosis is the key histomorphological feature for the diagnosis of tuberculosis. This cheesy material is described microscopically as amorphous granular debris. But it has a number of variations in color, appearance, inflammatory cellular content, cellular debris and apoptotic bodies. Does it contain Mycobacteria? Many authors believe that it contains numerous tubercle bacilli, but microscopically it is difficult to demonstrate. Why? Chemical composition of caseous necrosis is another unsolved problem. It is cheesy as because it contains excess cholesterol. But does it also contain protein or carbohydrate? This descriptive study was performed to explore the morphological findings, bacteriological features and biochemical composition of caseous material obtained from tubercular lymph nodes. The findings are interesting and may be valuable to medical professionals engaged in pathology, microbiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and internal medicine.