BACKGROUND
Technology-based attention training has demonstrated promise in its potential to improve cognitive functioning in older people. Developing mobile applications, with older users specifically in mind, may support future dissemination of these interventions and integration into daily life.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this pilot study was to test the feasibility of an Attention Training Application (ATA) for community-dwelling older adults using mobile technology.

DESIGN
A descriptive, mixed-methods design was used to capture older adults' feedback on the usability and acceptability of the ATA.

METHODS
A convenience sample of older adults (n = 9) from two independent living facilities participated in a 2-hour training and practice session with the ATA. Participants were given personally tailored instructions for using the mobile device and the ATA specifically. Following a practice session, participants provided ratings on multiple components of the ATA and completed an audio-recorded, semi-structured interview to provide detailed descriptions of their experience and perceptions. An iterative process of content analysis was used to characterise the open-ended responses.

RESULTS
Participants rated the ATA favourably overall on several 0-10 scales including likeability [8.5 (1.6)], interest [8.8 (2.3)] and satisfaction [8.2 (1.9)]. The qualitative analyses revealed several issues relevant to the feasibility of the ATA among older people including the importance of the technological background of the user, limiting negative feedback, challenges with the touch screen interface, personal preferences for challenge, extending the practice period and the difficulty of the dual-task condition.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of the ATA is feasible in the older adult population. Future development should specifically consider personal characteristics as well as preferences to maximise usability and acceptability among older people.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Older adults enjoyed the ATA. This opens doors to user-friendly technological interventions that may be effective in assisting older adults maintain and possibly even improve their cognitive function.


Smith, G.J.W. (2003). What does "personality" mean? Nordisk Psykologi, 55, 23–30. The concept of personality is scrutinized as used both in common parlance and in more sophisticated frames of reference. Current multidimensional models are criticized for their reliance on self-descriptive questionnaires and for their lack of a hierarchical dimension, differentiating more or less decisive determinants of behavior. A possible psychoanalytic model is viewed with more benevolence but rejected in the end because of associationistic remnants still dominating its meta-theory. Instead a superordinate model of personality is offered, based on process as its central ingredient.


Cash flow statement is a tool used to determine how much cash has been used to
finance the company's operations, whether the allocation of cash inflows and cash flow
precisely and efficiently. With the analysis of the cash flow statement, it will be able to assist
interested parties both internal parties such as shareholders, Party Management and external
parties such as government, creditors and to know where and how to obtain cash resources
and use the cash to help the parties in making decisions. In this study data analysis technique
used is descriptive analysis. In this research the data analysis technique used is Descriptive
Analysis by taking data from www.idx.co.id. The result of the research shows the financial
performance of PT Prasidha Aneka Niaga, Tbk in bad condition. This is due to the greater the
total burden spent than received revenue.
Key Words : Cash Flow, Financial Performance


The text presents some cosidertions that permeate the everyday routine of education, especially the pedagogical relation that institutionalizes and administ...


Abstract  Due to the risk of extinction and ornamental value of the swallowtail butterfly, Sericinus montelus Gray (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) in China, knowledge about local adaptations is important for the conservation and economical utilization of the species. In the present study, photoperiodic diapause induction and diapause intensity of S. montelus populations from Jiamusi (46°37′N), Beijing (40°15′N), Zibo (36°48′N), Fangxian (32°36′N), Wuhan (30°33′N) and Huaihua (27°33′N) were characterized at 25°C. Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant population × hours of light interaction, confirming that photoperiodic responses varied among populations. The critical photoperiod was positively correlated with latitude and increased toward the north at a rate of about 1 h for each 6.67 degrees of latitude. Survival analyses indicated that survival time of diapausing pupae before adult eclosion differed significantly among populations at 25°C and 16 : 8 L : D h. The mean duration of pupal diapause was also positively correlated with latitude. Our study reveals geographic variation in the critical photoperiod for diapause induction and in diapause intensity of S. montelus. These results provide useful information for our general understanding about seasonal adaptation in insects and may also be used to predict how geographic populations respond to climate warming.


Author(s): Erley, Laura Mieka | Advisor(s): Paperno, Irina | Abstract: This dissertation explores the cultural topos of soil in Russian and early Soviet culture. Centered on the Soviet project of land reclamation in Central Asia in the 1930s, this dissertation traces the roots of Soviet utopian and dystopian fantasies of soil to the ideological and discursive traditions of the 19th century. It considers how Soviet cultural, scientific, and political figures renovated and adapted 19th-century discourse in order to articulate for their own age the national, revolutionary, and utopian values attached to soil. The intersection of national soil and national identity in this discourse is examined, along with the persistent fear that Russian identity and utopian aspirations are threatened by "Asian" land, both within and beyond Russia's borders. Providing an overview of selected high points in the discursive history of soil in Russia, this study begins with romantic and materialist discourses of soil from the 1840s to the 1860s, tracing organicist concepts of native soil from German philosopher Herder to literary critic Vissarion Belinskii and thence to the symbolic uses of Russian pochva in the writings of the Slavophiles, the pochvenniki, and others. A case study follows on German chemist Justus Liebig and the transfer of scientific metaphors of soil into the cultural domain, concluding with a discussion of Liebig's influence on Marx's theory of social metabolism and its far-reaching influence on Soviet ideology. The study moves to its core discussion of Soviet poetics and ideologies of land use in the 1920s and 1930s. First, I examine writer and land reclamation engineer Andrei Platonov's novella Dzhan in the context of Soviet technological utopianism and the campaign to transform the sands of Central Asia into fertile soil. The following chapter extends the discussion of Soviet land reclamation to the dystopic themes of the Asiatic mode of production and "reforging" in the novels of Platonov, Bruno Jasienski, and Boris Pil'niak. This study closes with a discussion of the revival of organic conceptual metaphors of nationality and national soil in the context of the smychka, or union, between the Soviet center and its Asian periphery in the films of Vertov, Turin, Kalatozov, and Iarmatov.


In this paper, a wideband-electric-field-sensing scheme that uses optically matched integrated optics electrooptic devices and coherence modulation of light is described. In a coherence modulation scheme, the integrated optics sensor detects the electric field and imprints it around an optical delay. The optical delay is generated by a birefringent optical waveguide in a lithium niobate (LiNbO3) integrated optics two-wave interferometer. The modulated optical delay, acting as an information carrier, is transmitted through an optical fiber channel. At the receiver, light is demodulated by a second integrated optics two-wave interferometer, which also introduces a second optical delay. The optical delays on the sensor and demodulator are matched at the same value. The integrated optics demodulator measures the autocorrelation of light around the optical delay value, and the imprinted electric field is recuperated as a linear variation of the received optical power. The matching of the sensor and demodulator allows a direct detection of the electric field, giving a unique feature to this fiber-integrated optics scheme. The experimental setup described here uses two pigtailed LiNbO3 electrooptic crystals: one acting as the electric field sensor and the other acting as the optical demodulator. The wideband sensing range on the experimental setup corresponds to frequencies between 0 and 20 kHz.


The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) version 2005 includes a microbial sub-model to simulate fecal bacteria transport at the watershed scale. The objectives of this study were to demonstrate methods to characterize fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) source loads and to assess the model sensitivity to five user-defined model parameters (BACTKDQ: bacteria soil partition coefficient in surface runoff, TBACT: temperature adjustment factor, WDLPQ: less-persistent bacteria die-off in solution phase, WDLPS: less-persistent bacteria die-off in sorbed phase, and BACTKKDB: bacteria partition coefficient in manure) and one input parameter (BACTLPDB: FCB concentration in manure). Fecal bacterial source loads were described and applied spatially for confined livestock, seasonal grazing livestock, failing human septic systems, and indigenous large mammal, small mammal, and avian wildlife. The relative sensitivity index (S) was tested using the independent parameter perturbation (IPP) method. Validation results for an uncalibrated SWAT model using nine runoff events from Rock Creek watershed (77 km2) were considered adequate to proceed with sensitivity analyses. Flow simulation resulted in good coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.67 and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency Index (E) of 0.55, and FCB source load characterization methods were sufficiently precise to result in fair correlation (R2 = 0.29) and reasonable measured vs. predicted response slope (0.69). Within the ranges recommended for use in SWAT, BACTKDQ had moderate sensitivity (S < 2.67) within -99.5% from 175 (baseline value), BACTLPDB had low sensitivity (S < 0.25) within -90% from 3.29 × 107 cfu 100 mL-1, BACTKKDB had low sensitivity (S < 0.12) within -89% from 0.9, TBACT had low sensitivity (S < 0.36) ±20% from 1.07, WDLPQ had low sensitivity (S < 0.25) ±50% from 0.23, and WDLPS had no sensitivity (S < 0.06) ±50% from 0.023 when compared with all surface runoff events. This study recommends that SWAT could adopt default values of 0.23 for WDLPQ and 0.023 for WDLPS without adversely affecting results. Moderate sensitivity for BACTKDQ indicates that users should select these with caution considering locally relevant data. The sensitivity of BACTKDQ was found high when compared with nine measured surface runoff events.


The fabrication of YBCO/CeO2/YBCO multilayer junctions (YBCO: YBa2Cu3O7-y) grown by the in situ vacuum deposition technique is reported. The measurements yield reproducible characteristics. The observed phenomena appear either in the tunneling regime or in the Andreev-reflection-like regime depending on the magnitude of the junction resistance. Prominent gaplike structures around 10 mV and 20 mV and additional structures are observed. Temperature dependence of the gap structures is nearly BCS-like. The results are discussed in terms of an anisotropic conduction model.


This paper develops an evaluation approach based on the Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), to evaluate the government's crisis management capability in a fuzzy environment where the vagueness and subjectivity are handled with linguistic terms parameterized by triangular fuzzy numbers. This study applies the fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method to determine the importance weights of evaluation criteria and to synthesize the ratings of crisis event. Aggregated the evaluators' attitude toward preference; then TOPSIS is employed to obtain a crisp overall capability value for each alternative to make a final decision. This approach is demonstrated with a real case study involving 9 evaluation criteria, 4 crisis event assessed by 4 evaluators. And the case study demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the model.


The article analyzes the peculiarities of conducting national educational work among the captured Ukrainian soldiers in the camp Wetzlar, Germany, during June 1916 – February 1917. Since the Ukrainization of the camp (September 1915), it has been held by members of the IED Education Department, and since May 1916 – after the establishment of the Educational Community named after M. Drahomanova – passed to the sphere of responsibility of its members from among the prisoners. Thanks to the arrival of a group of Ukrainian activists from the camp Freistadt (Austria-Hungary) it became possible to organize daily classes at the camp folk school of literacy and the sustainable operation of all educational courses. The community took care of providing the school with a teaching staff from among the prisoners themselves, at the same time it was very important to participate in the teaching work of civilian members of the IED Education Department – educators with high school or university education. In addition, members of the Educational Community prepared the convening of general camp meetings (chambers), appointed officers for cultural and educational work in individual blocks of the camp, took care of the camp library. Within the Community there was a teachers' group, whose members had the opportunity to improve their professional competencies at special seminars, which were convened from time to time in the camp.Given that the society brought together the most conscious and active part of the prisoners, the members of the Educational Community had a decisive influence on all aspects of cultural, educational and national-organizational life in the camp. In addition, the community actively participated in the intensification of the educational life of the prisoners, who were part of the workers' teams outside the camp. Largely due to their efforts, it became possible to nationally inform a significant number of captured Ukrainians, who later joined the ranks of the «Blue-Zhupan» division, taking an active part in the struggle for Ukrainian statehood.


Current theory predicts that fish should show size-assortative shoaling in order to avoid increased predation risk by being the odd one out (oddity effect), or in order to minimize competition for food. I investigated with three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatusthe importance of the oddity effect in promoting size-assortative shoaling. The greater an individual assesses its predation risk the less actively it is likely to forage. Hence, I examined with small and large fish whether an individual's foraging activity depends on its appearance (size) in relation to that of others in a shoal. The shoals were composed of three, six and 12 fish. Either one individual deviated in size from the rest of the shoal members or all the fish in a shoal were of similar size. When a stickleback was larger than others in the shoal its foraging activity was lower than that of large individuals in a shoal dominated by large fish or those in a size-assorted shoal. Small sticklebacks, however, did not change their foraging activity on the basis of their appearance in a shoal. These responses of individuals to their appearance did not depend on shoal size nor on the presence or absence of a predator. The results suggest that the oddity effect is likely to prevent larger sticklebacks from joining shoals of smaller individuals. They also suggest that factors other than the oddity effect, potentially food competition, may be more important in leading individuals to avoid the company of larger ones and prefer shoaling with matching conspecifics.


Prolactin (PRL) has been proposed to directly stimulate corticosterone release. However, the role of PRL on adrenocortical function in male HAA rats has not been fully clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of PRL on the secretion of corticosterone and progesterone using an in vitro cell culture system in male rats. Administration of PRL (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) resulted in dose-dependent increases in corticosterone and progesterone release. Cotreatment with PRL produced an increase in the stimulatory effects of ACTH-induced corticosterone and progesterone secretion. However, the PRL-induced corticosterone and progesterone releases were significantly reduced by treatment with AG490, a specific Janus kinase 2 (Jak2) inhibitor. In addition, administration of AG490 blunted the significant inhibition of ACTH-induced corticosterone and progesterone secretion by PRL. These results demonstrated that PRL could act directly on the adrenal gland to drive corticosterone and progesterone secretion in male rats. Additionally, the results emphasize that PRL stimulation of adrenal steroid release may be mediated through Jak2 activity.


Abstract The interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are a group of progressive disorders characterized by chronic inflammation and/or fibrosis in the lung. While some ILDs can be linked to specific environmental causes (i.e., asbestosis, silicosis), in many individuals, no culprit exposure can be identified; these patients are deemed to have "idiopathic interstitial pneumonia" (IIP). Family history is now recognized as the strongest risk factor for IIP, and IIP cases that run in families comprise a syndrome termed "familial interstitial pneumonia" (FIP). Mutations in more than 10 different genes have been implicated as responsible for disease in FIP families. Diverse ILD clinical phenotypes can be seen within a family, and available evidence suggests underlying genetic risk is the primary determinant of disease outcomes. Together, these FIP studies have provided unique insights into the pathobiology of ILDs, and brought focus on the unique issues that arise in the care of patients with FIP.


An ongoing three-phased government-sponsored research and development effort directed at developing a more flexible, more adaptive repair level analysis (RLA) model is described. Phase 1 is the research phase to compile, rank, and assess available methodologies, and to study how the current software may be upgraded, particularly with respect to improving the user interface on the current model, network repair level analysis (NRLA). The Phase 1 effort is described. The topics dealt with include: terminology review, repair/discard decision sequence, repair-level analysis (RLA), complicated RLA problems, current RLA model capabilities, Air Force task order languages, and phase 1 results.<<ETX>>


The current study extends prior negotiation research on culture and verbal behavior by investigating the display of nonverbal behaviors associated with dominance by male and female Canadian and Chinese negotiators. We draw from existing literature on culture, gender, communication, and display rules to predict both culture and gender variation in negotiators' display of three nonverbal behaviors typically associated with dominance: relaxed posture, use of space, and facial display of negative emotion. Participants engaged in a dyadic transactional negotiation simulation which we videotaped and coded for nonverbal expression. Our findings indicated that male Canadian negotiators engaged in more relaxed postures and displayed more negative emotion, while male Chinese negotiators occupied more space at the negotiation table. In addition, use of space and negative emotion partially mediated the relationship between culture and joint gains, as well as satisfaction with negotiation process. We discuss contributions to cross-cultural negotiation literature, implications for cross-cultural negotiation challenges, as well as future studies to address cultural variation in the interpretation of nonverbal cues.


Teachers' humour has a special place in the educational context with multiple benefits for themselves and their students. As a complex concept, humour is strongly related to individual personality, which is also complex and diverse. The current research aimed to investigate the correlations between four types of humour (affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating) and assertiveness, perfectionism, and Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability) in pre-service teachers. The obtained results show that the adaptive type of humour (affiliative and self-enhancing) positively correlated with assertiveness, Big Five personality traits, and the adaptive form of perfectionism, and negatively with the maladaptive form of perfectionism. Also, the maladaptive type of humour (aggressive and self-defeating) negatively correlated with assertiveness, Big Five personality traits, and positively with the maladaptive form of perfectionism. An intriguing finding was the positive correlation between aggressive humour and assertiveness.


Experiments show that electrodeposited (ED) films exhibit rough surfaces unless the electrochemical bath contains small quantities of molecular "additive" species. We develop a model for ED with additives which shows the suppression of the morphological instability by preferential additive accumulation near surface protrusions due to complex formation and additive codeposition, and subsequent growth site blocking. Linearly stable growth can be achieved over a wide range of deposition flux at sufficiently large additive bulk concentration. We predict the growth conditions necessary for level surfaces, in good agreement with experiments.


Coordination polymers represent a suitable model to study redox mechanisms in materials where both metal cation and ligand undergo electrochemical reactions and are capable to proceed through reversible multielectron-transfer processes with insertion of cation and anion into their open structures. Designing new coordination polymers for electrochemical energy storage with improved performance relays also on the understanding of their structure-properties relationship. Here, we present a family of copper-based coordination polymer with hexafunctionalized benzene ligands forming a kagome-type layered structure, where the in uence of the functional groups in their structure and electrochemical properties is investigated. Their chemical and structural properties have been explored by means of PXRD, and FTIR and Raman spectroscopies, followed by investigation of their electrochemical performance in Li half-cells by CV and galvanostatic cycling techniques. Ex-situ PXRD, Raman, XPS and ToF-SIMS measurements of cycled electrodes have been carried out providing insights into the redox mechanism of these copper-based coordination polymers as positive electrode materials.


Monitoring of infrasound has been widely applied in the past to detect nuclear tests. The Limited (Partial) Test Ban Treaty of 1963 confined nuclear test explosions to the underground marking the end of the global interest in infrasound. During the negotiation of the Comprehensive Nuclear‐Test‐Ban Treaty, in 1995‐1996, it became gradually clear that infrasound monitoring should be become one of the four techniques for the treaty's verification system. The global interest in infrasound has increased significantly since the signature of the CTBT. Meteors are one of the few natural sources mimicking a nuclear. Therefore, it is an ideal object to test detection capability, phase identifiers, localization procedures and propagation models of infrasound and their processing techniques. In this presentation, we will show the results of studies on meteoric‐generated infrasound and their implications for infrasound as verification technique. In addition, results of the 2007.09.15 meteor in Peru will be discussed w...


Hypertension is one of the most important preventable causes of premature morbidity and mortality in the world. Objectives: To determine factors affecting treatment compliance with hypertension patient. Methodology: The study was conducted at the medical outpatients' clinic a in the period of 1 June 2016 to 15 December 2016.Collecting data from simple random sampling total of (100) hypertensive patients who are using antihypertensive treatment that attended the medical outpatients' clinic atBaghdad Teaching Hospital in Baghdad. Results: The majority of the study participants were female who accounted for (56%) of the total participants while male constituted (44%) making a female male ratio of 1.5:1. Most of the study participants (47%) were between ages 60 and 65 years old. Sixthly eight percent of the patients were married and the remainder was single, divorced, and separate. Forty-three percent (43%) of the participants had primary school education. Majority of the respondents, namely 46 (46%) were housewife. majority (63%) lived in urban areas while the rest (37%) lived in rural areas. Most of the respondents, namely 63 (63%) were diagnosed more than five years ago. Conclusions: The study revealed that docility antihypertensive therapy was moderate (67%) between population, women being more adherence to treatment than men, other social demographic factors were not significant.


ABSTRACT: The object of this study is to extract the oil from millets and evaluate the chemical properties of the extracted oil. Commercial millet oil was obtained by cold solvent extraction adopting soxhlet procedure. Quantitative and qualitative tests concerned with the non-saponifiable matter, fatty acid composition, phosphorus content representing total phospholipids, refractive index, peroxide, saponification, acid and iodine values were carried out on the extracted oil. The extracted non-saponifiable matter was fractionated into a number of chemical classes of compounds on TLC plates. The major two fractions; sterols and tocopherols were separated and extracted with ether. Gama tocopherol and β-sitosterol were the predominant tocopherol and sterol present in the millet oil. Prepared fatty acid methyl esters of the oil sample showed that linoleic (64.8 %), followed by oleic (24.2 %) and palmitic (6.1%) acids were the predominant fatty acids, in respective decreasing order. The oil contains considerable quantities of tocopherols which act both as vitamin E and antioxidant. The oil content of the seed depending on the types of extraction is low (4-7%) but due to its nature, being high in both linoleic acid and tocopherol, the purified oil might be employed as an ingredients in food formulation.

Keywords: Chemical Evaluation, Fatty Acid Composition, Millet Oil, Non- Saponifiable Matter, Oil Extraction.


BLR is incorporated into a L1 cache design in a 100 nm dual-V/sub T/ technology to eliminate impacts of bitline leakage on performance and noise margin with minimal area overhead. Bitline delay is 23% better than the best conventional design, thus enabling 6 GHz operation at with 15% higher energy.


THE GENERAL PRACTITIONER AND THE SPECIALIST. In this age of commercialism the struggle for existence is of the keenest. This condition exists in both the business world and in professional life, but especially so in the latter. Is it strange, therefore, that the general medical practitioner looks in awe and wonder at the growth of the specialist and the multiplication of the specialties and asks himself: What is to become of the family doctor? Or: Has my position become that merely of an intelligence office, where the general public can obtain information as to suitable specialists for the treatment of eye, ear, nose, throat, stomach, heart, lung, kidney, liver, or other troubles? Assuming, for the purpose of argument, that the objections urged against specialism in medicine are well founded, what would be the result if it were possible to abolish the specialist? Would the best interest of medicine thereby be


The microstructure-mechanical properties relationship in ultrafine-grained Ti-Fe-Sn alloys with high strength and large plasticity was investigated. The alloys are mainly composed of a hypereutectic microstructure with micrometer-sized primary dendrites embedded in an ultrafine-grained eutectic matrix. The bimodal composites exhibit a fracture strength higher than 2350 MPa and an enhanced plasticity larger than 7%. The excellent mechanical properties are critically related to the microstructure features of the phase constituents in the alloys.


More than half of all patients diagnosed with malignant disease eventually try an unorthodox treatment. In order to counsel their patients appropriately about alternative treatments, oncologists and other health professionals need to familiarize themselves with the most commonly used unorthodox therapies and the reasons why patients turn to these therapies. Patients often seek "alternative" therapies because of several widespread beliefs about American medicine, one being that determination and will can cure cancer, and another being that nutrition also may effect a cure. The concerned physician needs to explain why the unorthodox therapy will not be effective, and try to provide, in an acceptable way, that part of the unorthodox treatment which will not cause harm. Most importantly, physicians need to deal with their patients' interest in unorthodox therapies seriously, and to listen and answer questions, as these needs are unfailingly well met by unorthodox practitioners.


Technology has enabled bionics and artificial intelligence, each of which can have important applications in health care. As we continue to substitute body parts with machinery, however, we might wonder, "What makes us human?" This drawing interrogates the relationship between humanity and embodiment, specifically in neck and facial musculature and brain structures.


Aims: Whole lung lavage (WLL) has been widely performed for the treatment of autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (aPAP). However its procedures have not been exactly standardized. In order to understand the present status of WLL in Japan, we conducted the national surveillance.

Method: Questionnaires were sent to 211 institutions in Japan which had been registered as the database of our Japanese large cohort study of aPAP.

Result; 88 institutions answered the questionnaires, where 310 patients with aPAP have been treated. WLL was performed 220 times for 81 patients with 31 institutions. WLL was performed in less than 2 patients with 24/32 institutions and seven or more patients were only 3 institutions. PaO2 (RA) before the initial WLL was 61.7±12.5 Torr. Double lumen tubes for the left side was used in 18/30 institutions. The patients were placed in a lateral position, in which the washed lung was present on the inferior side with 28/30 institutions and in a dorsal position with 33% of institutions. Degassing was performed with 43.3% institutions. Saline at 37 ° was used for lavage in 63.6% institution. Lavage fluid was instilled by volume-controlled lavage method in 62.5%, and by pressure-controlled lavage method in 28.1% of institutions. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was used 21 times with 28.1% institutions. WLL was stopped by hypoxemia (n=6) and lavaged fluid leak in a non-washing lung (n=5).

Conclusion;The criteria for ECMO application, enforcement of degassing, the posture, the lavaged fluid, the infusion method were various.

Funding/Support; This study was supported by grant from Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (H22-Nanchi-Ippan-146).


To help in its fight against fraud, illegal immigration, organized crime, and terrorism, the British government proposed the issuance of a national identity card and an accompanying identity verification database system. The card-database combination is expected to provide a foolproof identify check for every person living in the UK. There are, however, several organizations such as the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) who are critical of the initiative for lacking well-defined goals and for its high cost. They claim that the design of the system is based on unreliable and inadequate technologies that could result in privacy and security problems. The LSE suggests an alternative method based on a distributed approach, which eliminates the need for a central identity verification system. The verification would instead only take place locally, making it simpler to implement and radically cheaper. As supporters and critics further scrutinize the ID cards' proposed legislation, the debate continues in Parliament.


A supramolecular complex composed of Ru(II) tris-bipyridine, tyrosine, and dipicolylamine was synthesized and characterized. This complex was attached to TiO2 nanocrystalline films via ester groups at the Ru(II) chromophore, and photoinduced multistep electron transfer was investigated by laser flash photolysis and electron paramagnetic resonance techniques. Following ultrafast electron injection from the metal-ligand charge transfer excited states of Ru(II) to the conduction band of TiO2, fast intramolecular electron transfer from the tyrosine moiety to the photogenerated Ru(III) was observed, characterized by a rate constant of similar to2 x 10(6) s(-1). By comparison of recovery kinetics at the isosbestic point with that of the reference compound lacking the tyrosine, it was found that the intramolecular electron-transfer efficiency is 90%. A hydrogen-bond-promoted electron-transfer mechanism is proposed.


ABSTRACT Past research shows that people overconsume energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods when they are not paying attention to environmental cues that encourage consumption. Very little is known about the mindless consumption of nutritious foods (herein referred to as preferred foods). Using dual-processing, limited capacity, and mood management models and theories, this study explored whether people misreport the selection of preferred and EDNP foods under differing levels of distraction created by screen media device use. Participants freely grazed on EDNP and preferred snacks while either watching TV (one screen) or multitasking with two or three screens (TV, iPod, laptop computer). Participants under-reported the number of preferred foods they selected for consumption in the three-screen multitasking conditions more than in one- and two-screen conditions. They under-reported the selection of preferred snacks more than EDNP snacks in the three-screen conditions. The under-reporting of snack selection was greater in one three-screen condition (TV+texting+online shopping) (which was evaluated as highly arousing and pleasant), than in the other three-screen condition (TV+texting+online reading) (which was rated as highly arousing but less pleasant). Compared to participants with weaker health beliefs, those with stronger beliefs about healthy lifestyle said they were more rational in selecting preferred snacks. Findings show that people sometimes eat greater amounts of preferred foods than they realize, when they are multitasking with screen devices. By surrounding oneself with snack-size fruits, vegetables, and nuts in multitasking situations, mindless eating could be a powerful nudge to facilitate greater consumption of preferred foods to combat health concerns.


Speaker verification using SVMs has proven successful, specif-ically using the GSV Kernel [1] with nuisance attribute projection (NAP) [2]. Also, the recent popularity and success of joint factor analysis [3] has led to promising attempts to use speaker factors directly as SVM features [4]. NAP projection and the use of speaker factors with SVMs are methods of handling variability in SVM speaker verification: NAP by removing undesirable nuisance variability, and using the speaker factors by forcing the discrimination to be performed based on inter-speaker variability. These successes have led us to propose a new method we call variability compensated SVM (VCSVM) to handle both inter and intra-speaker variability directly in the SVM optimization. This is done by adding a regularized penalty to the optimization that biases the normal to the hyperplane to be orthogonal to the nuisance subspace or alternatively to the complement of the subspace containing the inter-speaker variability. This bias will attempt to ensure that inter-speaker variability is used in the recognition while intra-speaker variability is ignored. In this paper, we present the VCSVM theory and promising results on nuisance compensation.


Vibrational spacings for H/sup +//sub 3/ are calculated for two different fits to the potential energy surface of Dykstra and Swope. We use a variational calculation with a distributed Gaussian basis (DGB); the calculation is shown to be simple and efficient.


In the present paper, a temperature-dependent equation of state (EOS) of condensed matter is discussed, which is capable of predicting the high-pressure and high-temperature behaviour of solids and liquids. The EOS can be used to obtain the volume compression, the isothermal bulk modulus and its first pressure derivative, the thermal expansion coefficient and the Anderson - Grüneisen parameter, together with other thermodynamic properties as functions of pressure at different temperatures. The present EOS has been applied for Au, Mo and W and liquid Hg. Good agreement between theory and experiment is observed.


Our article concentrates to the main aim – to assess the impact of emigration on an origin economy. This topic was chosen because the theoretical research has disclosed that the positive impact of emigration usually manifests through monetary transfers to a native country while the negative impact mainly emerges as a reduction in the labour force, which, in its turn, causes deterioration of a country's demographic and economic situation. It has been found that the growing flows of emigration significantly reduce Lithuanian population and cause "brain drain". High emigration rates also have a negative impact on Lithuanian national economy, in particular, its unemployment rate (the opposite effect). To reduce the rates of emigration from the country, Lithuania must develop and improve such ALPM's elements as combination of work and dual vocational training, targeted selection of the industries for arrangement of an apprenticeship, manual training, dual vocational training and workplace training, segmentation of the unemployed by the indications of employment impediment, individual work with the unemployed to restore their basic skills (motivation, practice, health improvement), vocational guidance of young people (students) and early involvement of students into the labour market by combining studies and work.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The literature on the prevalence of Alzheimer disease–associated cerebral microbleeds assessed with MR imaging shows considerable heterogeneity in terms of imaging techniques and parameters. Our aim was to perform a meta-analysis of the role of imaging techniques, including image acquisition, field strength and scanner type, and clinical and demographic factors on the reported prevalence of microbleeds in Alzheimer disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The prevalence of microbleeds was examined with respect to a priori–selected moderating variables via meta-analytic tools of literature reports. RESULTS: Fourteen unique studies providing 15 microbleed prevalence rates met the selection criteria for inclusion. The aggregate prevalence of microbleeds was 24% (95% CI, 19%–28%). Scan (SWI = 40%, gradient echo = 18%, EPI = 19%) and field strength (slope = 0.39; standard error = 15, P < .01) influenced the prevalence of microbleeds. The associations between microbleeds and age, sex, and global cognitive status were not significant. After updating the literature, the aggregate prevalence remained in the 95% CI range. CONCLUSIONS: Imaging technique and field strength are strongly associated with the prevalence of microbleeds over the global aggregate. Standardized imaging protocols for identification of microbleeds are recommended to minimize confounds.


Recently the "ground state" proposal for the wave function of the universe was of much interest, which incorporates the idea that the universe must come from nothing. In this paper we will discuss the quantum Kaluza–Klein cosmology with coupling scalars field. We also give the Wheeler–Dewitt equation and calculate the wave function of universe by using the Hartle–Hawking prescription.


Extra-intra-cranial anastomosis introduced in 1967 by Yasargil and Donaghy consists in using a branch of the external carotid artery to anastomose it on one of the cerebral cortex. This procedure is indicated when there exists an obliterating lesion not in reach of a local technique. On clinical grounds two situations may exist: --the first is a regressive ischemic episod and the operation is then preventive; --the second is a confirmed deficit, non regressive: thecurative value of such an operation must then be discussed. The author reports his 5 year experience: 51 patients were operated amounting to 60 anastomoses. Eighty percent of the operated patients have a patent anastomosis. The operative risk is small (1 death, 1 worsening). The clinical criteria are discussed (Acta chir. belg., 1979, 78, 85-93).


Polyamide 6/Na+ montmorillonite (Na+ MMT) nanocomposites (NCs) were produced in a corotating twin screw extruder. Water was injected into the extruder as an intercalating/exfoliating agent. The wide angle X-ray diffraction and linear dynamic measurements were used to investigate the structure of the prepared samples. The results showed that the contact time between water and melt PA6/Na+MMT in the extruder is an important factor to achieve a high level of exfoliation. The ratio of water-injection rate to clay feeding rate did not reveal a major effect on the exfoliation of pristine MMT. The results also demonstrated that the order of injection of water during the mixing process did not have a distinguishable effect on the level of exfoliation. This processing method was found to be controlled by a diffusion mechanism caused by the presence of water molecules during the process. Improvement of tensile properties is in a great agreement with the rheological and morphological findings. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011


This paper presents a review of distance education literature to describe the status thereof and to identify gaps and priority areas in distance education research based on a validated classification of research areas. The articles ( N = 695) published in five prominent distance education journals between 2000 and 2008 were reviewed for this study. The conclusion is that distance education research is strongly dominated by issues related to instructional design and individual learning processes; whereas, other important areas (e.g., innovation and change management or intercultural aspects of distance learning) are dreadfully neglected. There is a significant trend towards collaborative research and more qualitative studies. Over 80% of all articles originate from only five countries.


Abstract Migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been shown to be critical in the pathology of early artherosclerosis; this article aim to investigate the plasma levels of MIF in hypertension plus hyperlipidemia patients. A total of 39 hypertension plus hyperlipidemia patients without any previous treatment were enrolled (HTN-HLP). Twenty-five healthy subjects were enrolled as the healthy control group (HEALTHY). Plasma MIF was measured by ELISA; laboratory and clinical characteristics were analyzed. HUVECs were treated with pooled plasma from HTN-HLP and HEALTHY groups, and the protein levels of adhesion molecules VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 were determined by ELISA. We found that plasma MIF was significantly elevated in the HTN-HLP group. Serum NO and eNOS levels were significantly lower; serum ET-1 (endothelin) levels were significantly higher in the HTN-HLP group. Furthermore, blood pressure, baPWV (brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity), and serum ET-1 level were significantly positively; serum NO and eNOS levels were negatively correlated with plasma MIF levels. Plasma from HTN-HLP significantly stimulated VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 protein expression on the surface of HUVECs. Plasma MIF was elevated in HTN-HLP patients and correlates with impaired endothelial function.


Comparative researches on morphology and physiology of PICEA and LARIX. Fresh weight and chlorophyll content in seedlings kept at various light intensities. — The fresh weight and the chlorophyll content of lots of seedlings from Larix decidua and Picea excelsa grown on sand for 12 days in climatic cell at 25 [ddot]C with 86% relative humidity and a light intensity of 90, 250, 500, 1.000, 2.000 and 4.000 lux were determined. The fresh weight of Picea seedlings is not significantly affected by all light intensities except for 4.000 lux, where it is 20% higher. Even in dim light (90 lux) the fresh weight of Picea seedlings is only 7% inferior to that of the lot kept at 2.000 lux. The results obtained in Larix are remarkably different; its fresh weight is more influenced by the light intensity: at 4.000 lux, e. g., the fresh weight is considerably higher (more than 20%) than the arithmetical mean of all the lots, while at 90 lux it appears greatly inferior (30%) to the lot kept at 2.000 lux. No corr...


We describe the theory and present numerical evidence for a new type of nonlinear resonant interaction between gravity waves on the surface of deep water. The resonance constitutes a generalisation of the usual 'exact' resonance as we show that exchanges of energy between the waves can be enhanced when the interaction is three-wave rather than four and the linear frequency mismatch, or detuning, is non-zero i.e. $\omega_1\pm\omega_2\pm\omega_3 \neq0.$ This is possible because the resonance condition is now a match between the so-called 'precession frequency' of a given $\textit{triad interaction}$ and an existent nonlinear frequency in the system. In the limit of weak nonlinearity this precession frequency is simply due to the linear 'drift' of the triad phase; therefore, it tends toward the detuning. This means precession resonance of this type can occur at finite amplitudes, with nonlinear corrections contributing to the resonance. We report energy transfer efficiencies of up to 40%, depending on the model options. To the authors' knowledge this represents the first new type of nonlinear resonance in surface gravity waves since the seminal work of Benjamin & Feir (1967).


In recent decades, warming temperatures and changes in land use are
supposed to have enabled several tick species to expand their
distribution limit northwards. The progression of ticks to new areas may
introduce new and emerging tick-borne pathogens as well as increase
existing diseases. Aside from climatic conditions, ticks are dependent
on hosts for survival, and rodents often act as important hosts for
ticks and as pathogen reservoirs. At northern latitudes, rodents often
undergo multi-annual population cycles, and the periodic absence of
hosts may inhibit the further progression of ticks. We investigated the
potential role of common shrews (Sorex araneus) to serve as a stable
host source to immature life stages of a generalist tick Ixodes ricinus
and a specialist tick I. trianguliceps, during decreasing abundances of
bank voles (Myodes glareolus). We tested whether ticks would have a
propensity to parasitize a certain host type dependent on host
population size and composition in two high latitude locations in
southern Norway, by comparing tick burdens on trapped animals. We found
that I. ricinus larvae showed an equal propensity to parasitize both
host types as the host population composition changed, but voles had a
higher level of parasitism by nymphs (p< 0.004). An overall
larger host population size favored the parasitism of voles by larvae
(p= 0.027), but not by nymphs (p= 0.074). I. trianguliceps larvae showed
a higher propensity to parasitize shrews, regardless of host population
size or composition (p= 0.004), while nymphs parasitized shrews more as
vole abundance increased (p= 0.002). The results indicate that common
shrews may have the potential to act as a replacement host during
periods of low rodent availability, but long-term observations
encompassing complete rodent cycles may determine whether shrews are
able to maintain tick range expansion despite low rodent availability.


ABSTRACT Past studies conceived of journalists-audience relations as largely dyadic, highlighting the interaction between the two sides. The current study argues that such a conceptualization should now be modified to fit today's media environment, where these interactions obtain on social media platforms. Through a process of platformization—the subjugation of news production to social media logic—these platforms are reshaping journalists' and social-media editors' conceptions regarding audience, its role in news production, and its expectations vis-à-vis the newsroom. These beliefs translate into news professionals' everyday practices as concerns contact with audiences, and ultimately influence news production. Based on interviews with 18 social-media editors and 24 journalists, the study demonstrates how each of the above relational aspects has been modified in line with social media's economic, governmental and infrastructural logic. It also shows how, due to their diverging goals, news organizations and journalists have come to cultivate a semi-autonomous relationship with audience members, thus introducing new tensions into the newsroom.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become a major issue around world, including China. The two major challenges for AD are the difficulty in early detection and poor treatment outcomes. Over the past decades, artificial intelligence (AI) was more and more widely used in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of AD, which might be helpful to deal with the aging of population in China. Here, after a systematic literature searching on three English databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane library), we briefly reviewed recent progress on the utilization of AI in the susceptibility analysis, diagnosis and management of AD. However, it is still in its infancy. More researches should be performed to improve the prognosis of patients with AD in the future.


Self deployment of nodes in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is a challenging task due to the characteristics of a MANET such as dynamically changing topology, lack of centralized authority, decentralized architecture and heterogeneous nodes. In military applications where the deployed nodes, due to their limited communication ranges and hostile environment, may act selfishly with conflicting individual interests among their neighbors, game-theoretic approaches become relevant. Using our distributed game (NSPG-G1) for MANET nodes to position themselves in an unknown geographical terrain to maximize the area coverage, we show that, combined with a distributed genetic algorithm (GA) to determine the next best location to move, NSPG-G1 can provide a near uniform node spreading. In this distributed and scalable game participated by the neighboring nodes autonomously, the decisions about node movements are solely based on localized data about the neighboring nodes while requiring a limited synchronization among a player's closest neighbors.


Diacylglycerol (DAG)/water and triacylglycerol (TAG)/water emulsions were prepared using beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) as an emulsifier. The oil phase (20% in emulsion) was mixed with beta-LG solution (1% beta-LG in water, pH 7) to prepare the emulsions. A fine oil-in-water emulsion was produced from both DAG and TAG oils. The interfacial protein concentration of the TAG emulsion was higher than that of the DAG emulsion. The zeta potential of the DAG oil droplet was higher than that of the TAG oil droplet. The front-surface fluorescence spectroscopy results revealed that tryptophan residues in beta-LG moved to the more hydrophobic environment during the adsorption of protein on the oil droplet surfaces. Changes in secondary structure of beta-LG during the adsorption were determined by FT-IR spectroscopy. Decreases in the beta-sheet content concomitant with increases in the alpha-helix content were observed during the adsorption to the oil droplets, and the degree of structural change was greater for beta-LG in the TAG emulsion than in the DAG emulsion, indicating the increased unfolding of adsorbed beta-LG on the TAG oil droplet surface. Results of interfacial tension measurement supported this speculation, that is, the increased unfolding of the protein at the TAG-water interface. Trypsin- and proteinase K-catalyzed proteolysis was used to probe the topography of the adsorbed beta-LG on the oil droplet surface. SDS-PAGE analyses of liberated peptides after the proteolysis indicated the higher susceptibility of beta-LG adsorbed on the DAG oil droplet surface than on the TAG oil droplet surface. On the basis of all the results, we discussed the conformation of the adsorbed beta-LG on the two oil droplet surfaces.


This paper deals with the role of various types of labor market imperfections for employment and unemployment. On the demand side for labor, the paper analyzes the consequences of labor turnover costs for wage formation and employment, showing that such costs may generate persistent unemployment due to the market powers which they create for incumbent workers ("insiders"). On the labor supply side, the paper emphasizes the role of alternative types of unemployment benefit systems. There is also a discussion of various imperfections of the interaction between demand and supply labor, resulting in relative wage distortions and mismatches between demand and supply for labor.


We present in this paper a GPU-based strategy that allows a fast reuse of paths in the context of shooting random walk applied to radiosity. Given an environment with diffuse surfaces, we aim at computing a basis of n radiosity solutions, corresponding to n light-source positions. Thanks to the reuse, paths originated at each of the positions are used to also distribute power from every other position. The visibility computations needed to make possible the reuse of paths are drastically accelerated using graphic hardware, resulting in a theoretical speed-up factor of n with regard to the computation of the independent solutions. Our contribution has application to the fields of interior design, animation, and videogames.


Pakistan's economy and exchange rate has experienced many ups and downs in the last ten years. The exchange rate has depreciated from Rs.59/$ to Rs.104/$. This is causing a massive dent to Pakistan economy. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan is consistently facing a current account deficit for the last several years and a depreciated currency is one of the main reasons for the deficit. This study analyzes the relationship between the commodity market prices and exchange rates in Pakistan both in long and in short run. This research utilized the monthly data for the past ten years from Jan-2006 to Dec-2015. The results are quite surprising because in Pakistan, none of the prices of the commodities (i-e oil and gold) have short term relationship with the exchange rate of Pakistan. This study also does not find any long-term relationship among the variables.


The effect of adjusting damping factor α and tolerance τ on iterations needed for PageRank computation is studied here. Relative performance of PageRank computation with L1, L2, and L∞ norms used as convergence check, are also compared with six possible mean ratios. It is observed that increasing the damping factor α linearly increases the iterations needed almost exponentially. On the other hand, decreasing the tolerance τ exponentially decreases the iterations needed almost exponentially. On average, PageRank with L∞ norm as convergence check is the fastest, quickly followed by L2 norm, and then L1 norm. For large graphs, above certain tolerance τ values, convergence can occur in a single iteration. On the contrary, below certain tolerance τ values, sensitivity issues can begin to appear, causing computation to halt at maximum iteration limit without convergence. The six mean ratios for relative performance comparison are based on arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic mean, as well as the order of ratio calculation. Among them GM-RATIO, geometric mean followed by ratio calculation, is found to be most stable, followed by AM-RATIO. Index terms — PageRank algorithm, Parameter adjustment, Convergence function, Sensitivity issues, Relative performance comparison.


BACKGROUND
Patients with glioblastoma (GBM) have a dramatically poor prognosis. The recent REGOMA trial suggested an overall survival benefit of regorafenib in recurrent GBM patients. Considering the extreme genetic heterogeneity of GBMs, we aimed to identify molecular biomarkers predictive of differential response to the drug.

METHODS
Total RNA was extracted from tumor samples of patients enrolled in the REGOMA trial. Genome-wide transcriptome and miRNA profiles were associated with patients' Overall Survival (OS) and Progression Free Survival (PFS).

RESULTS
At first step, a set of 11 gene transcripts (HIF1A, CTSK, SLC2A1, KLHL12, CDKN1A, CA12, WDR1, CD53, CBR4, NIFK-AS1, RAB30-DT) and 10 miRNAs (miR-93-5p, miR-203a-3p, miR-17-5p, let-7c-3p, miR-101-3p, miR-3607-3p, miR-6516-3p, miR-301a-3p, miR-23b-3p, miR-222-3p) was filtered by comparing survival between regorafenib and lomustine arms. As second step, a minisignature of two gene transcripts (HIF1A, CDKN1A) and three miRNAs (miR-3607-3p, miR-301a-3p, miR-93-5p) identified a subgroup of patients showing prolonged survival after regorafenib administration (median OS range 10.6 - 20.8 months).

CONCLUSIONS
The study provides evidence that a signature based on the expression of five biomarkers could help identifying a subgroup of GBM patients exhibiting a striking survival advantage when treated with regorafenib. Despite the presented results must be confirmed in larger replication cohorts, the study highlights potential biomarker options to help guiding the clinical decision among regorafenib and other treatments in patients with relapsing GBM.


While relatively expensive to build, ballastless track structures are presently seen as an attractive alternative to conventional ballast. Firstly, they are built quickly since the slabs can be cast in place in an automated fashion by a slipform paver. Secondly, with its service life of at least 60 years, they requires little maintenance and hence they offers great availability. Other reasons for using ballastless tracks instead of ballasted tracks are the lack of suitable ballast material and the need of less noise and vibration for high-speed, in particularly. In the framework of a FUI project (n • 072906053), a new ballastless track structure based on concrete slabs was designed and its thermal-mechanical behavior in fatigue under selected mechanical and thermal conditions was tested on a real scale mockup in our laboratory [1,2]. By applying to the slabs both together mechanical stresses and thermal gradients, finite elements simulation and experimental results show that the weather conditions influence significantly the concrete slabs curvatures and by the way, the contact conditions with the underlaying layers. So it is absolutely necessary to take into account this effect in the design of the ballastless track structures in order to guarantee a long target life of at least of 50 years. After design and experimental tests in laboratory, a real ballastless track structure of 1km was built in France at the beginning of year 2013. This structure has 2 tracks on which several trains circulate every day since the beginning of year 2014. Before the construction, it was decided to monitor this structure to verify that the mechanical behavior is conform to the simulations. One part of the instrumentation is dedicated to monitor quasi-continuously the evolution of the curvature of a concrete slab. For this, 2 accelerometers were fixed on the slab under the track. One was placed on the edge and the other in the middle of the slab. The acquisition of the signals by a nano computer (called Pegase and developed at Ifsttar for data acquisition [3]) were performed automatically every time that a threshold is exceeded due to the passage of a train. These data are then send to a web server via a 3G Wireless Network. Many data was thus stored daily for several months. Moreover, several thermocouples were embedded at different depths in order to measure thermal gradients into the track slab.


In the present study some of the new Schiff bases derived from the condensation of Flupirtine base (Drug) with various aldehydes respectively in methanol. Structural assignments of these compounds have been made on the basis of IR, Mass, 1H NMR and spectral data.


High Performance Computing E-Science has numerous requirements well in excess of the normal environment sufficient for routine computations. The data requirements in particular may be in the multiterabyte regime, with transfer rates in the several Gb/s or more range. Such data capabilities may only be available at a single location. On the other hand, understanding the data, via data-mining and visualization may require completely different facilities, while the actual data production may be only possible at yet a third location. The use of Global File System with multi-Gb/s speeds and hundreds of TeraBytes capacity can help the scientific researchers, but the simultaneous utilization of several systems also requires a reasonably sophisticated co-scheduling capability. In this paper, we show how the TeraGrid is combining massive computational clusters, a Global File System, very powerful visualization systems, and a co-scheduler to enable massive E-Science in a very coordinated and usable manner.


The aim of this proposal is to analyze the use of algorithms in automated decision procedures concerning subjective positions having legal relevance. In this regard, the first paragraph of Article No. 22 GDPR, entitled "Automated decision-making relating to natural persons, including profiling" establishes that: "The data subject has the right not to be subjected to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects that concern him or that significantly affects his person". This norm gives rise to important questions concerning the very nature of decision formulation through algorithms. In hypothesis, the juridical nature or juridical effect of the concept of "decision" could be restricted to circumstances such as financial solvency, predictability of motor vehicle accidents. In these cases, the "Right to explanation" refers to the algorithmic decision obtained. For the purposes of this abstract, the most interesting element, which could give rise to a comparative judicial dispute, given the validity of the GDPR in all the countries of the European Union, concerns the provision of par. 2 of Article No. 22, letters a) and c) which refers to the implementation of "appropriate measures" to protect "the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the interested party". What is the "appropriate" counterpart used for implementing such measures? It would seem unquestionable that the only element that can satisfy this "appropriateness" is human intervention, i.e. someone who has the necessary authority, ability and competence to modify or revise the decision disputed by the user. Another authoritative source claims that such appropriate measures may also consist of automated systems that control the algorithms, i.e. periodic reviews, introduction of procedures that verify the accuracy of the decision-making process or correct errors, discrimination issues, or inaccuracies from an outdated database in order to avoid the self-learning algorithm based on wrong data and processes. Nevertheless, there are those who express perplexity about the effectiveness of the right to explanation, especially in relation to the difficulty in interpreting the legislative passages that envisage it within the GDPR itself, together with doubts about the mandatory nature of this explanatory right.

This paper focuses on the meaning of right to the explanation of the decision pursuant to Article No. 22 GDPR in order to allow the interested parties to understand the reasons for the decision and possibly to dispute it.


Uncertainty is often deemed to be a quintessential fact of life. The social scientific literature often references a generalised or 'global' uncertainty, akin to a worldview. Far fewer studies, however, discuss the specific effects of 'event' focused uncertainty: how it is managed by groups and individuals, or how this type of uncertainty relates to the concepts of risk, trust, hope and time. This article seeks to identify and analyse key aspects of the condition of uncertainty through an empirical exploration of two very different case studies: asylum applicants waiting for the state to decide whether to grant them the right to remain in the UK, and people with chronic or life-limiting illness who want to hasten their own death with the help of a Swiss right-to-die organisation. In both cases, participants experienced a heightened state of uncertainty because of specific and substantial threats to their well-being: deportation, and protracted suffering through illness. In both cases, the acquisition of knowledge was considered to aid predictions about future events. However, both sets of individuals encountered barriers to acquiring the right kind of knowledge - knowledge which was trusted to be accurate or which came with a guarantee. While all the individuals were constrained in their ability to act to relieve their uncertainty, they found limited ways of doing so. Knowledge and action are thereby found to be crucial to the condition of uncertainty and to the means of overcoming it through restoring a sense of control.


Context: Mouth rinses have been recognized as the main adjuvant or primary treatment to address many issues relating to dentistry. Previous studies have investigated the anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-viral, antioxidant, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial effects of Aloe vera. Recently, Aloe vera has been applied to treat several dental and oral conditions. Methods: Official web pages, such as Scopus, PubMed, and Microsoft were searched for collecting the required data using the keywords Aloe vera, Aloe vera mouthwash, Aloe vera mouth rinse, and dentistry. After checking the abstracts and titles, all relevant papers were retrieved for performing a full-text review. Results: Aloe vera was effective in reducing periodontal indices compared to chlorhexidine. It was also effective in treating oral diseases such as mucositis, postoperative pain, trismus, and dry socket incidence after the third molar extraction. Aloe vera decreased the number of colony-forming units during scaling and root planning (SRP). Conclusions: Aloe vera mouthwash was just as effective as other commercial mouthwashes in reducing the severity of radiation-induced mucositis, periodontal disease, the amount of S. mutans, the number of colony-forming units during SRP, and other situations which required a mouth rinse for the acceleration of treatment.


Background: Accurate assessment that a patient is in the last phase of life is a prerequisite for timely initiation of palliative care in patients with a life-limiting disease, such as advanced cancer or advanced organ failure. Several palliative care quality standards recommend the surprise question to identify those patients.Methods: Physicians' views of identifying and disclosing the last phase of life and their experiences with using the surprise question for patients with advanced cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were explored in a qualitative focus group study. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: Fifteen medical specialists and general practitioners participated in two focus groups. Themes discussed in the focus groups were: prediction and disclosure of the imminence of death. Participants thought prediction of imminent death, within one year, was important. The surprise question was considered a useful prognostic tool; its use is facilitated by its simplicity but hampered by its subjective character. The medical specialist was considered mainly responsible for prognosticating and gradual disclosing a patient's imminent death. Physicians' reluctance to disclose the imminence of death to a patient was related to the uncertainty around prognostication, concerns about depriving patients of hope or affecting the physician–patient relationship, or about a lack of time or of palliative care services. Conclusions: Physicians consider the assessment of patients' imminent death important and support the use of the surprise question. However, they experience uncertainty and other barriers in disclosing imminent death. Future studies should examine patients' preferences for those discussions. Trial registration: not applicable.


Insulin has been available for the treatment of diabetes mellitus for more than fifty years, yet many puzzling clinical phenomena remain unexplained. Examination of plasma insulin concentration by radioimmunoassay has repeatedly demonstrated a divergence between the absolute concentration of plasma insulin and the simultaneous concentration of glucose. This apparent discrepancy is well documented in patients with "prediabetes" and is commonly recognized in emergent diabetic ketoacidosis. In these situations, plasma insulin levels may actually be elevated but are seemingly ineffective in reducing blood glucose concentration. The concept of "resistance" to the action of insulin has been aptly applied to such clinical situations, but the pathophysiology of the phenomenon remains obscure.


Since the start of its post-socialist transformation in 1989, Bulgaria has imported a large number of formal institutions from advanced market economies, including the EU-15. However, the adoption of EU and other international rules has not been effective due to weak enforcement and application by domestic actors such as the securities regulator, courts, and company owners/managers. The failures of corporate governance in Bulgaria until the early 2000s can be attributed to the broad institutional context (the lack of rule of law) as well as the creation of quasi-public companies as a result of the first wave of mass privatisation (1996–97). Since 2002, information disclosure and protection of shareholder rights have improved significantly. The article examines the proposition that this is partly due to the prospect of EU accession, which has certainly influenced the attitudes and expectations of domestic actors. Based on company surveys and in-depth interviews, the paper analyses how the securities regula...


B59 The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism whereby doxorubicin sensitizes cancer cells to TNF-Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand (TRAIL). We used PC3 prostate cancer cells which are partially resistant to TRAIL but can be more fully sensitized with doxorubicin treatment. Doxorubicin downregulates the short form of the anti-apoptotic protein Flice-Like Inhibitory Protein (FLIPs), which correlates with sensitization to TRAIL. The mechanism of FLIPs downregulation is not transcriptional or mediated by ubiquitination. Rather, doxorubicin globally inhibits translation suggesting that short half-life proteins such as FLIPs would disappear quickly. Polysome and Western blot analysis indicate that translation initiation is not inhibited. Elongation factor 2 (EF2), which mediates translocation in peptide chain elongation, is inactivated by phosphorylation. We found that doxorubicin treatment results in strong EF2 phosphorylation and therefore translational elongation became the focus of our mechanism study. EF2 is normally phosphorylated by EF2 kinase. However, EF2k is not the likely cause of doxorubicin-mediated phosphorylation because, as a short half life protein, it is also quickly downregulated by doxorubicin. As an alternative, we explored whether EF2 phosphorylation is the result of oxidative stress. When doxorubicin is administered, it binds to cellular iron, generating free radicals through Fenton chemistry. We demonstrate with hydrogen peroxide treatments that free radicals can both phosphorylate EF2 and downregulate FLIPs. Further, these effects of doxorubicin can be abrogated through the pretreatment of cells with an anti-oxidant to scavenge free radicals, N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC), or an iron chelator to preclude the doxorubicin/iron complex, deferoxamine (DFO). Upon pretreatment with NAC or DFO, doxorubicin treatment fails to downregulate FLIPs, phosphorylate EF2, or sensitize cells to TRAIL as shown by Western blot. However, NAC and DFO do not abrogate the G2 cell-cycle arrest that results from doxorubicin treatment. This result indicates that the arrest is likely due to the DNA damaging aspect of doxorubicin activity rather than the iron-chelation aspect. This observation may help explain why patients have a wide range of responses to doxorubicin treatment. Anti-oxidants may inadvertently protect tumors from the effectiveness of doxorubicin while a patient would still suffer the side effects of cell cycle arrest such as anemia, hair loss, and immune suppression. This potential clinical outcome merits further study. Tumors may require initial protein profiling before treatment decisions are made in order to best tailor treatment and adjunct therapy to oncogenes specific to the tumor.


Aim: Develop a method to induce PGPB to biosynthesize nitrile compounds that may act as a reliable and repeatable means to increase seed germination in plant species.
Study Design: The germination experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with two replications and 40 pots (80 seedlings) per experimental unit, following a 1x1 factorial design for each culture, treated or untreated soil and 1 germination period for both conditions. The nitrile hydratase experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 3 replications and 3 soil samples per experimental unit, following a 1x1 factorial design for each cultivar, induced or non-induced soil and 1 cultivation period.
Place and Duration of Study: Germination work was executed at G & A Innovative Solutions, LLC, GA., April - May 2017. Nitrile Hydratase Assay work was executed at Georgia State University, Applied Environmental Microbiology Dept., Atlanta, GA. November 2010-August 2011. Methodology: Rhodococcus and Bacillus species were induced with short chained-hydrocarbons, cobalt, and urea in a triphasic system for 3 d to potentially make nitrile compounds to benefit seed germination. Increased NHase activity has been previously correlated to production of these nitrile compounds and an increased ability to affect plant development. NHase activity was measured after bacteria were suspended in soil for 6-7 d.
Results: The induction method sustained and increased NHase activity by 200%, during suspension in soil. Induced Bacillus increased germination by 34%, shoot & root length by 67% & 10%.
Conclusion: Enhancing biosynthesis of nitriles in PGPB may enhance bacteria ability increase seed germination rates.  Measuring NHase activity may indirectly measure efficacy of PGPB in soil. The results are preliminary and require additional studies to confirm results.


In this paper we describe and demonstrate our technology for creating super high resolution (SHR) & 3D digital content in a variety of applications including museum artifacts and galleries, archeology, anthropology, art design and heritage conservation. Our hardware can capture minute details of static scenes in a composite panoramic format with details surpassing the human eye. We also propose an approach to storing SHR images for efficient retrieval over bandwidth limited networks, such as the Internet. Regions of interest (ROIs) specified by users are stored in multiple levels of detail hierarchy. This hierarchy can be created by analyzing the contrast, texture or other feature changes with varying levels of resolution and creating a hierarchy of ROIs. The depth of the hierarchy for a given ROI is determined by following the chang& in the contrast (or other feature) gradient over adjacent levels. An inlplementation of the browser for Virtual Museums is also presented. In addition to browsing images, our software provides the ability to support "interactive story telling." As viewers interact with a picture using a mouse, the descriptions of objects in the scene appear depending on the location of the mouse and the level of detail in the scene. Finally, the "Zoomage" tools can be used by academic researchers for various applications including object recognition, digital archiving, accurate stereo reconstruction, and 3D visualization. *Contact address: Dept. of Computing Science, University of Alberta, email@example.com.


We study the problem of fair allocation of indivisible goods that form a graph and the bundles that are distributed to agents are connected subgraphs of this graph. We focus on the maximin share and the proportional fairness criteria. It is well-known that allocations satisfying these criteria may not exist for many graphs including complete graphs and cycles. Therefore, it is natural to look for approximate allocations, i.e., allocations guaranteeing each agent a certain portion of the value that is satisfactory to her. In this paper we consider the class of graphs of goods which do not contain a star with d+1 edges (where d > 1) as an induced subgraph. For this class of graphs we prove that there is an allocation assigning each agent a connected bundle of value at least 1/d of her maximin share. Moreover, for the same class of graphs of goods, we show a theorem which specifies what fraction of the proportional share can be guaranteed to each agent if the values of single goods for the agents are bounded by a given fraction of this share.


This paper presents reflections about the Psychology professor preparation course in the professor's training that aim to discuss its educative purposes. The base assumption is that this sphere of analysis is related to the teacher training courses' organization, considering Higher Education level, as well as the teaching process applied by the teacher educators. By recognizing teacher educators as active intellectuals transformers and the teleological approach of the education, it is proposed the overcome of naiveness conceptions which understand the educational activity as neutral and the professor education as a technical matter. This paper argues in favor of a critical and emancipatory rationality in which the psychology teaching is based on an omnilateral view of human being, by the problematization of the real, by the continuous struggle for a more fair and decent life for all citizens and by the dialogic interlocution of these matters with the theoretical frameworks of psychology.


PURPOSE
To record signs and symptoms of ocular surface disease (OSD) in patients treated with Intra Ocular Pressure (IOP)-lowering medications; to evaluate the relationship between signs and symptoms; and to identify how to diagnose and follow OSD and its impact on the quality of life in such patients.

METHODS
A prospective observational study of enrolled consecutive topically treated open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension patients: patients presenting systemic or ocular conditions that could interfere with ocular surface status were excluded. Enrolled patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination comprehensive of evaluation of tear film break-up time (TF-BUT) and fluorescein corneal staining (keratitis punctatae) and who completed the Italian version of both the National Eye Institute-Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) 25 and the Glaucoma Symptom Scale (GSS) questionnaires.

RESULTS
233 patients adhered to a study protocol. Punctatae keratitis was detected in 70 (30%) eyes; abnormal TF-BUT in 67 (28.8%) patients: 97 patients (42.1%) presented an OSD. The abnormal values were gender-independent, keratitis was statistically related to age (P=0.01) and number of instillations/die (P=0.0007). TF-BUT was related to the IOP value (P<0.0001). The NEI ocular pain subscale was statistically related to TF-BUT (P=0.017); GSS was both related to TF-BUT and punctatae keratitis (P<0.00001).

CONCLUSIONS
Many patients present an OSD related to therapy, and this affects their quality of life. The use of fixed combinations to reduce surface exposition and of benzalkonium chloride-free formulations should be encouraged to reduce and contain the onset or worsening of this secondary condition in glaucoma patients. The GSS has shown a good relation to signs and should be routinely used to evaluate the impact of OSD on the quality of life.


Consider a Riemannian metric on a surface, and let the geodesic flow of the metric have a second integral that is a third degree polynomial in the momenta. Then we can naturally construct a vector field on the surface. We show that the vector field preserves the volume of the surface, and therefore is a Hamiltonian vector field. As examples we treat the Goryachev-Chaplygin top, the Toda lattice and the Calogero-Moser system, and construct their global Hamiltonians. We show that the simplest choice of Hamiltonian leads to the Toda lattice.


Purpose: This dose-finding phase I study investigated the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) and safety of weekly nanoparticle albumin-bound rapamycin (nab-rapamycin) in patients with untreatable advanced nonhematologic malignancies. Experimental Design: nab-Rapamycin was administered weekly for 3 weeks followed by 1 week of rest, with a starting dose of 45 mg/m2. Additional doses were 56.25, 100, 150, and 125 mg/m2. Results: Of 27 enrolled patients, 26 were treated. Two dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) occurred at 150 mg/m2 [grade 3 aspartate aminotransferase (AST) elevation and grade 4 thrombocytopenia], and two DLTs occurred at 125 mg/m2 (grade 3 suicidal ideation and grade 3 hypophosphatemia). Thus, the MTD was declared at 100 mg/m2. Most treatment-related adverse events (TRAE) were grade 1/2, including thrombocytopenia (58%), hypokalemia (23%), mucositis (38%), fatigue (27%), rash (23%), diarrhea (23%), nausea (19%), anemia (19%), hypophosphatemia (19%), neutropenia (15%), and hypertriglyceridemia (15%). Only one grade 3 nonhematologic TRAE (dyspnea) and one grade 3 hematologic event (anemia) occurred at the MTD. One patient with kidney cancer had a partial response and 2 patients remained on study for 365 days (patient with mesothelioma) and 238 days (patient with neuroendocrine tumor). The peak concentration (Cmax) and area under the concentration–time curve (AUC) of rapamycin increased with dose between 45 and 150 mg/m2, except for a relatively low AUC at 125 mg/m2. nab-Rapamycin significantly inhibited mTOR targets S6K and 4EBP1. Conclusions: The clinical dose of single-agent nab-rapamycin was established at 100 mg/m2 weekly (3 of 4 weeks) given intravenously, which was well tolerated with preliminary evidence of response and stable disease, and produced a fairly dose-proportional pharmacokinetic profile in patients with unresectable advanced nonhematologic malignancies. Clin Cancer Res; 19(19); 5474–84. ©2013 AACR.


Ultracompact chip-integrated single-photon sources of collimated beams with polarization-encoded states are crucial for integrated quantum technologies. However, most of currently available single-photon sources rely on external bulky optical components to shape the polarization and phase front of emitted photon beams. Efficient integration of quantum emitters with beam shaping and polarization encoding functionalities remains so far elusive. Here, we present ultracompact single-photon sources of linearly polarized vortex beams based on chip-integrated quantum emitter-coupled metasurfaces, which are meticulously designed by fully exploiting the potential of nanobrick arrayed metasurfaces. We first demonstrate on-chip single-photon generation of high-purity linearly polarized vortex beams with prescribed topological charges of 0, -1, and +1. We further realize multiplexing of single-photon emission channels with orthogonal linear polarizations carrying different topological charges and demonstrate their entanglement. Our work illustrates the potential and feasibility of ultracompact quantum emitter-coupled metasurfaces as a new quantum optics platform for realizing chip-integrated high-dimensional single-photon sources. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


We propose a more flexible range-based volatility model which can capture volatility process better than conventional GARCH approach. Considering the regime switching process is appropriate for dealing the structure change embedded in the time series data. Range-based volatility CARR model with Markov-switching structure can assist us to describe the effect for exogenous shock to market data. After the data fitting and VaR estimation, we conclude that the range-based volatility method is better than the return-based GARCH model in volatility fitting. In particular, incorporating the possibility of regime switching into volatility process can boost the efficiency for VaR estimation. We also present an empirical application for demonstrating our model could characterize the unexpected switching of volatility process. Furthermore, comparing with non-regime switching volatility model, our model outperforms other alternatives on the estimation of volatility adjusted historical VaR.


Constitutive law for shape-memory alloys subjected to multi-axial loading, which is based on a semi-micromechanical integrated multi-plane model capable of internal mechanism observations, is generally not available in the literature. The presented numerical results show significant variations in the mechanical response along the multi loading axes. These are attributed to changes in the martensitic variants nucleated in response to the directionality of the applied loading, as well as to micro-structural texture/fabric present in the multi-planes showing different orientations at any single point through the material. Numerical simulations suggest that the characterization and modeling of the microstructure is of paramount importance in understanding the phenomenology of the thermo-mechanical behavior of shape-memory alloys that are used in manufacturing of stents. The Niti-S Biliary Stent is a self-expanding uncoated tubular prosthesis designed to maintain patency of bile duct strictures caused by malignant tumors. It consists of a selfexpanding thermo-mechanical metal stent. The biliary stent is made of Nickel Titanium alloy (Nitinol) wire, which expands at body temperature. The stent is deployed with supplied introducers for percutaneous and endoscopic use. The existing endoprostheses differ in several aspects, such as shape design and materials. The Niti-S Biliary Stent (NNN) is only indicated for the palliation of malignant structures in the biliary. This paper aims to propose a capable multi-plane thermo-mechanical model predicting relevant information to understand the principles of stent-grafts behavior and even to develop new method for the correct use of this device. Hence, the use of a stent-graft is based on different characteristics are predicted, and the significant features of an ideal device can be pointed out. Additionally, the materials currently in use to fabricate this type of prosthesis controlled and checked and consequently new materials may be suggested.


Background

To evaluate the value of Glasgow Aneurysm Score (GAS) in predicting long-term mortality and survival in patients who have undergone endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
Methods

A retrospective single-center study of 257 patients with non-ruptured AAA undergoing EVAR between January 2013 and 2021. GAS scores were compared between the survivors and the long term mortality groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was used to determine the optimum cut-off values of GAS values to determine the effect on late-mortality.
Results

257 patients with a mean age of 69.75 ± 7.75 (46–92) underwent EVAR due to AAA. Forty-nine mortalities were observed, 4 (1.5%) were in-hospital mortalities. Fourty-five (17.8%) of the mortalities occured during the long-term follow-up. The average follow up period was 18.98 ± 22.84 months (0–88). GAS values were higher in the long-term mortality group compared to the survivors group (81.02 ± 10.33 vs 73.73 ± 10.46; p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve for GAS was 0.682 and for a 56% sensitivity rate, the cut-off value for GAS was 77.5 with a specificity of 64% (p < 0.001). The number of patients with GAS values < 77.5 was 155, whilst 98 had GAS values > 77.5. The mortality rates in patients with GAS < 77.5 and GAS > 77.5 were: 12.8% (n = 20) and 24.8% (n = 25), respectively (p = 0.014). Every 1 point increase in GAS score resulted in a 1.06 fold increase in risk of late mortality (OR: 1.06, 95% CI, 1.03–1.09; p < 0.001). Moreover, every 10 point increase in GAS score resulted in almost a 2 fold increase in risk of long-term mortality (OR: 1.8, 95% CI, 1.3–2.5; p < 0.001). The mean survival rate of the patients during the follow up period was 90.6% for the 1st year, 82.6% for the 3rd year and 70.0% for the 5th year. Five year survival rates in patients with GAS < 77.5 and > 77.5 were 75.7% and 61.7%, respectively (p = 0.013).
Conclusion

Every 10 point increase in GAS score resulted in almost a 2 fold increase in risk of long-term mortality. Moreover, the mortality rates in patients above the GAS cut off value almost doubled compared to those below. Five year survival rates were 14% higher in those with GAS below the cut off value when compared to those above.


Background/Aim: Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with a higher risk of mortality and long term consequences for the survivors. This study determines the incidence and risk factors for LBW babies in Maiduguri. Context/Setting: This study was done in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and the State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study involving 854 pregnant women and their babies between 2 nd February 2009 and 29 th July 2009. Socio-demographic, obstetric, medical factors, obstetrics interventions and foetal birth weights were obtained and recorded. Association between variables were examined using student's t-test and Chi-squared test and multivariate logistic regression analysis a P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The incidence of LBW was 16.9%. The risk factors for LBW were non-use of haematinics index pregnancy (OR = 13.04; 95% CI = 12-36; P value 0.000); previous history of stillbirth (OR = 8.11; 95% CI = 6-19; P value 0.000); hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (OR = 6.12; 95% CI = 5-14; P value 0.000); ante-partum haemorrhage (OR = 5.85; 95% CI = 4-9; P value 0.000); less than 4 ANC visitsn (OR = 4.94; 95% CI = 3-12; P value 0.000); previous history of premature delivery (OR = 4.39; 95% CI = 4-11; P value 0.000); previous history of LBW (OR = 3.65; 95% CI = 2-21; P value 0.000) and non-use of intermittent preventive therapy in the index pregnancy (OR = 3.24; 95% CI = 1-16; P value 0.001); and teenage mother (OR = 2.75; 95% CI = 2-27; P value 0.006). Conclusion: This study showed high incidence of LBW. Obstetric factors (problems and intervention of the current pregnancy) and previous obstetric performances played crucial role in the occurrence of LBW in our study. Qualitative antenatal care should be made available and provided to pregnant women at all levels of care.


Indonesia's creative industry has grown rapidly. Competition in the creative business becomes fierce, forcing industry players to become more competitive to win customers. This issue requires players to continuously improve their business strategies to keep sustainable. This phenomenon is also faced by XYZ, a gift-wrapping business unit located in Bandung. This study aims to recommend XYZ new strategies to revamp its business using the concepts of the business model canvas (BMC); strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T) analysis; and the TOWS matrix. The research method is descriptive qualitative, with interviews as the main technique. The respondents comprise six people from inside and outside the company. The validity of the qualitative data was tested through triangulation of sources, and the member-checking technique was used to confirm the analysis results. The results showed that the existing business strategy has fulfilled 9 BMC blocks. Next findings, eleven new strategies are revealed and four of them are in highest priority to be implemented, i.e.: 1) Following market trends and demands, expanding intended customer target; 2) Improving product quality and services for the focused target; 3) Benefit programs for loyal and new customers; and 4) Adding online channels/ social media and e-commerce enhancing strategic partners. The new strategies are embedded into the new BMC as a new compass for XYZ to sustain its competitive advantage. Additional valuable learning came from the analysis and synthesis steps. To make multiple and complex factors manageable, a stepping scheme is used starting with each BMC block, compiling and regrouping all.


Neem (Azadirachta indica) (Family: Meliaceae), also known as 'Pokok Mambu' in Malaysia is widely known to contain variety of bioactive compounds that had been proven for the cure of various infections and diseases related to toxicity and bacteria. The extractions of the plant constituents are mainly dependent on the extraction methods, conditions and solvents. This study aims on the extraction of the chemical constituents' and identification of the volatile constituents of A. indica extracts. The cytotoxicity effect was studied for the extracts that lead towards the isolation of a bioactive compound. The oil of the plant was studied for its physicochemical properties and antibacterial activity. The crude extracts (barks, leaves and roots) were extracted via solvent extraction (acetone, chloroform, maceration and refluxed in ethanol), while the fractions (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous) were produced from partitioning of 80% methanol crude. Seed oil was extracted via Soxhlet with hexane for six hours. Volatile compound analysis via GC-MS was performed for all crude and fractions and cytotoxicity test against brine shrimp, Artemia salina for determination of LC50 after 24 h. The isolation and identification of bioactive compound from the most active fraction of cytotoxicity were performed via preparative-HPLC, UV-Vis, IR, MS and NMR. Physicochemical properties of oil were studied according to standard methods. Antibacterial activity of oil was determined against B. subtilis, E. coli and S. aureus via well diffusion method. Yields of the extracts were varied among different parts due to polarity of solvents and extraction conditions. Highest and lowest yields of crude extracts were leaf and bark reflux in ethanol with 5.46% and 0.13%, respectively. Minimum and maximum yield was obtained for fractions by root ethyl acetate (0.06%) and leaf chloroform (1.15%). The n-hexadecanoic acid was detected in all samples with seven similar compounds in both crude and fractions as the most abundant volatile compound. Cytotoxicity proves that root acetone (457.09 ± 0.88 ppm) and leaf ethyl acetate extract (1.35 ± 0.40 ppm) are the most toxic. All the fractions and only root acetone crude extract falls under toxic level (LC50 values < 500 ppm). The partitioning to different fractions separates the complex plant constituents according to polarity that influences the cytotoxicity. The isolation of quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside from leaf ethyl acetate proves the cytotoxic effect. Major characteristics of the oils are; density: 0.95 g/cm3; refractive index: 70.90; acid value: 4.80 mg KOH/g; free fatty acid (oleic): 4.75 %; iodine value: 93.09 gI2/100g; pH: 4; peroxide value: 8.49 meq O2/kg; moisture & volatile matter: 0.83 % and unsaponifiable matter: 1.84 %. The major fatty acid chains in the oil are; linoleic-: 34.69 %; oleic-: 20.46 %, stearic-: 20.42 % and palmitic acid: 18.66 %. Inhibition zone for antibacterial study with 20, 40, 60 and 80% of oil lies between 1.23 ± 0.03 to 1.70 cm, 1.33 ± 0.06 to 1.6 ± 1.57x10-16 cm and 1.4 ± 0.03 to 1.63 ± 0.03 cm for B. subtilis, S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. The MIC was 0.63± 0.0002, 2.50± 0.0010 and 5.00± 0.006% for B. subtilis, E. coli and S. aureus, respectively and S. aureus is more resistant. Results obtained supports that A. indica plant has high advantage to be used as drug in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The study should be further continued through direct study with insect and human cell line to confirm the effect of the drug