Changes in Afghanistan's security environment present challenges for western companies operating in Afghanistan; many will see an increased reliance on local partners, a higher tolerance of dangerous environments, and greater exposure to corruption risks. Given Afghanistan's entrenched culture of corruption, companies must minimize the corresponding risk under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"). This article provides a primer on the FCPA's provisions to give compliance personnel guidance. It contains a description of certain payments demanded by the Afghan government from companies supporting U.S. government operations in Afghanistan to illustrate certain difficulties with doing business in Afghanistan as well as a description of the general characteristics of doing business in Afghanistan. It concludes with recommendations for companies doing business in Afghanistan.


Diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP) is a gastrointestinal (GIT) disease that appears a few hours after ingesting okadaic acid (OA)-contaminated mollusks; okadaic acid is present in dinoflagellates of the genera Dinophysis and Prorocentrum. Toxic manifestations occur all year round at a higher or lesser intensity, and as a consequence, extractive production factories need to be closed during these periods which affects the economy of aquaculture industries. Although the concentration of harmful algae is usually found at high levels in clam digestive gland, bivalve mortality was not increased. In this study, the genotoxic effects produced by OA in clam Ruditapes decussatus were determined using the comet assay. In vitro (exposing hemocytes to different concentrations of OA) and in vivo (feeding clams with toxic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima) experiments were conducted in order to determine the genotoxic effects of OA on bivalve cells. Hemocytes and gill cells were analyzed by in vivo and in vitro approaches. While the in vitro study showed a rapid effect of OA on hemocytes, data obtained in the in vivo experiment reflected contradictory results dependent upon the concentration of OA and cell type evaluated. An increase in DNA damage was observed at the lower concentration and only in gill tissue. The results obtained may contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying genotoxic effects induced by OA on bivalves.


A new allocation of tasks between controller and flight crew is envisaged as one possible option to improve air traffic management and in particular the sequencing of arrival flows. It relies on a set of new spacing instructions where the flight crew can be tasked by the controller to maintain a given spacing with respect to a designated aircraft. In order to assess the benefits and limits of airborne spacing, two streams of air and ground experiments were conducted. The latest air experiment aimed at assessing the feasibility of time-based spacing in final approach and its impact on flight crew activity. Flight crews were tasked to maintain a spacing behind a target aircraft, through adjustments of the selected speed. Their feedback on feasibility was generally positive despite an increase of mental effort which remained acceptable. Every crew successfully achieved the spacing task: the deviation was maintained within the tolerances. The impact on flight crews' activity was assessed through the speed actions needed to perform the spacing task. The average number of speed actions was less than 1 per minute, and most were small adjustments comprised between -15kt and +5kt. The effect of various reactions of preceding aircraft under airborne spacing will be investigated in further experiments, as well as monitoring load and scanning pattern.


The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48 (MTQ48) and assess the measurement invariance across elite, amateur and non-athletes. In total, 1096 participants aged between 18 and 58 years with a range of athletic experience - elite ( n = 181), amateur ( n = 577) and non-athletes ( n = 338) - from various sports completed the MTQ48. The internal consistency of the scale was gauged through Omega for the total and relevant subscales. Factorial validity was assessed using exploratory structural equation modeling in order to provide a comprehensive estimation of the scales dimensionality. Overall, results offered support for the scales reliability with acceptable internal consistency reported at the total and subscale level. However, the validity of the MTQ48 for the use with athletes of different levels may be questioned. The MTQ48's hypothesised four-factor model did not fit the data well, whereas the six-factor model produced acceptable levels of fit with large degrees of misspecification in the factor structures across elite, amateur and non-athletes. The results caution the use of the scale with elite athletes and call for refinement of the measure at the subscale level.


Inter-individual response differences to vitamin D and Ca supplementation may be under genetic control through vitamin D and oestrogen receptor genes, which may influence their absorption and/or metabolism. Metabolomic studies on blood and urine from subjects supplemented with Ca and vitamin D reveal different metabolic profiles that segregate with genotype. Genotyping was performed for oestrogen receptor 1 gene (ESR1) and vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) in fifty-six postmenopausal women. Thirty-six women were classified as low bone density as determined by a heel ultrasound scan and twenty women had normal bone density acting as 'controls'. Those with low bone density (LBD) were supplemented with oral Ca and vitamin D and were classified according to whether they were 'responders' or 'non-responders' according to biochemical results before and after therapy compared to controls receiving no supplementation. Metabolomic studies on serum and urine were done for the three groups at 0 and 3 months of therapy using NMR spectroscopy with pattern recognition. The 'non-responder' group showed a higher frequency of polymorphisms in the ESR1 (codons 10 and 325) and VDR (Bsm1 and Taq1), compared with to the 'responders'. The wild-type genotype for Fok1 was more frequent in those with LBD (70 %) compared with the control group (10 %). Distinctive patterns of metabolites were displayed by NMR studies at baseline and 3 months of post-treatment, segregating responders from non-responders and controls. Identification of potential 'non-responders' to vitamin D and Ca, before therapy, based on a genomic and/or metabolomic profile would allow targeted selection of optimal therapy on an individual basis.


The aim of the paper is presentation of the issue of increase in number of older population and the influence of this phenomenon on functioning of health service in Poland. The material comprised statistical data concerning age structure of the Polish population and demographic prognoses for the next decades, elaborated by the Main Statistical Office (GUS). The percentage of children and adolescents will decrease according to prognosis from 28% in 2000 to about 21% in 2030. The population of adults at the age from 20 to 44 years, will diminish by about 3 million and its percentage will decrease to about 29%. Population at the age of 45-65 will reach this level. The highest rise in number and percentage will concern the population over 65 years of age. The extension of the length of life in Poland will be maintained. The life expectancy for women will be 84.3 years, and 78.0 years for men in 2050. Due to this fact in 2030 every fourth women in our society will reach 65 years of age. On the basis of these prognoses it is indispensable to plan restructuring of hospitals in order to increase the number of geriatric, nursing and day-care wards. The increase in number of the elderly citizens will impose changes in structure of employment in order to secure appropriate medical and nursing staff adequately trained for treatment and care of this age group.


Paired observation tests (Paired t-test, Wilcoxon signed ranked test and Sign test) were employed to determine if there is any significant difference between fasting blood sugar and oral glucose tolerance tests of 47 diabetic patients. First, Jarque-Bera (JB) test was done to check for normality and it showed that not all the mean differences were normally distributed. Two sample t-test was used to check whether the level of change in blood glucose for fasting patients and patients who had glucose intake are the same. The fasting blood sugar test and oral glucose tolerance test were done hourly on two different occasions. The results revealed no difference between blood glucose testing on arrival and blood glucose testing after resting for one hour. The level of change in blood glucose after two hours for fasting patients was not the same with the level of change two hours after glucose administration. It was concluded that a single fasting blood glucose test is sufficient to diagnose diabetes on a visit to the laboratory while oral glucose tolerance test conducted hourly is necessary to monitor the blood to know when the glucose level is going high or low.


In this paper, the design and implementation of a second-order low-pass filter (LPF) utilizing an amorphous-silicon (a-Si) thin-film-transistor (TFT) process technology is presented. In order to boost the gain of the amplifiers, a positive-feedback technique is developed for the design of a differential operational amplifier (OPAMP) and a differential-difference amplifier (DDA). Based on the Sallen-Key filter structure, DDAs with the proposed gain-enhancement technique are employed for the implementation of the LPF such that the chip area and power consumption can be minimized. Using an 8 μm a-Si technology, the DDA and the LPF are realized for demonstration. Consuming a dc power of 9.5 mW from a 25-V supply, the fabricated LPF exhibits a 3-dB bandwidth of 0.3 Hz. For an input frequency of 0.3 Hz, the measured THD and SFDR are and 23.76 dB, respectively.


We introduce and begin the study of quasi-BPS categories for K3 surfaces, which are a categorical version of the BPS cohomologies for K3 surfaces. We construct semiorthogonal decompositions of derived categories of coherent sheaves on moduli stacks of semistable objects on K3 surfaces, where each summand is a categorical Hall product of quasi-BPS categories. We also prove the wall-crossing equivalence of quasi-BPS categories, which generalizes Halpern-Leistner's wall-crossing equivalence of moduli spaces of stable objects for primitive Mukai vectors on K3 surfaces. We also introduce and study a reduced quasi-BPS category. When the weight is coprime to the Mukai vector, the reduced quasi-BPS category is proper, smooth, and its Serre functor is trivial \'{e}tale locally on the good moduli space. Moreover we prove that its topological K-theory recovers the BPS invariants of K3 surfaces, which are known to be equal to the Euler characteristics of Hilbert schemes of points on K3 surfaces. We regard reduced quasi-BPS categories as noncommutative hyperk\"ahler varieties which are categorical versions of crepant resolutions of singular symplectic moduli spaces of semistable objects on K3 surfaces.


The late 20th century witnessed a massive growth in the usage of Internet worldwide. Many eCommerce companies blossomed during this era. Realizing the need of having e-commercebusiness in China, Alibaba.com got established by former English teacher Ma Yun, popularlyknown as Jack Ma, along with 17 other partners. During the dot com bubble burst, many of theUS based e-commerce companies' either had to shut down or went bankrupts except Chinesebased Alibaba.com as Chinese market was immune to the recession. Clear vision and intelligentleadership quality of Jack Ma turned e-commerce Company into a largest online commercecompany of China within a short span of time. Alibaba continued its journey of growth bothorganically and inorganically by acquiring other companies. Later in 2009 Alibaba groupentered into cloud computing business, and started to develop artificial intelligence solutionsto support its own platform and to solve complex real-world problems. Alibaba diversified itsrevenue sources by expanding business to different domains within two decades of its inceptionto reach US $72 billion. Presently, the Alibaba group has pioneered in consulting, e-commerce,finance, technology, artificial intelligence and many more. The study in this paper describeshow the Alibaba group continued its journey towards success along with business model, majorbusinesses, financial status and corporate social responsibility. To understand the strengths,weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of the Alibaba group, a methodical SWOC analysiswas conducted. Based on the SWOC analysis, some recommendations are also provided.


ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Amidst the Covid-19 lockdown that commenced in March 2020, while the profession and service-users were coming to terms with its vast implications, the Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa initiated a Webinar series that stimulated provocative discussions and difficult dialogues. The authors of this paper deliver a commentary, critically engaging with the challenges of cogently articulating the contribution of occupational therapy services across various sectors of service delivery during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. The challenges of on the one hand, negotiating the abrupt cessation of rehabilitation services, especially in the public sector and, on the other, advancing the reasoning for accessible, community-based services, are considered AIM: The commentary draws from presentations at and reflections on the webinar hosted on 24 June 2020 titled 'Ethical and Moral Challenges for Occupational Therapy'. In this paper, the competing ethical and moral issues arising from being urged to adopt different ways of thinking and doing occupational therapy during the Covid-19 lockdown are outlined PROPOSITION: It is suggested that experiences emerging from this pandemic are urging the profession to rethink its positionality in the health sector. Two main considerations deserve attention: The first is rethinking how we use occupational therapy knowledge to act from and in relation to local contexts, viewing people who are marginalised as knowledge and action partners through generative disruption. The second is to revisit what it entails to foster a posture that acknowledges human dignity CONCLUSION: Generative disruption includes a continuous and unabashed critical reflection of and on the limits of our practice and knowledge at hand. It means that we need to include service users and community partners in taking necessary steps to render services in local contexts most needed in recalibration toward social and occupational justice. In our knowledge-making partnerships, it is also imperative to revisit the posture of acknowledging human dignity Keywords: Covid-19; occupational therapy; occupational justice; human dignity; generative disruption


OBJECTIVE
To determine TNF concentrations in maternal plasma, amniotic fluid and umbilical blood of normal term pregnant women and women with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH).

METHODS
Sixteen normal term-pregnant women as control and fourty-six women with PIH were enrolled for study. Maternal plasma including antepartum and 72 hours after labor, amniotic fluid and umbilical blood TNF concentrations were measured with a sensitive radioimmunoassay.

RESULTS
Similar levels of TNF were found in the amniotic fluid and umbilical blood between the two groups. Before labor, maternal plasma TNF level in PIH was generally higher than that in the control, especially a higher level in the moderate and severe PIH (P < 0.05). However, the mean levels of plasma TNF were not significantly different between the two groups after labor. TNF levels in amniotic fluid were significantly lower than those in maternal plasma and umbilical blood. Amniotic fluid and umbilical blood TNF levels in PIH with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) were significantly higher than those in PIH without IUGR (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
Our study demonstrated an increase of TNF level in maternal plasma with PIH. The results may show an abnormal maternal immune reaction to the fetus. An abnormal higher TNF level may have an effect on the pathogenesis of PIH.


Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANETs) also called mesh networks are self-configuring networks of mobile device connected by wireless links. MANETs are deployed in situations where there is no existing infrastructure, such as emergency search and rescue, military, etc. Each application has a different set of requirements. In this paper we concentrate on emergency search and rescue operations which rely heavily on the availability of the network. The availability is a direct cost of the overall network lifetime, i.e., energy of the nodes. The first objective of our work is to select two existing energy efficient routing protocols based on AODV, each of which is based on a different energy cost metric. We then propose the design of a protocol that is a combination of two energy cost metrics in a single protocol. The second objective is to evaluate the performance of the proposed protocol against the two protocols chosen for combination and against the traditional AODV. The performance metrics used for evaluation are packet delivery ratio, throughput, network lifetime and average energy consumed. The simulation will be done using NS2 network simulator.


The change in Japanese rural society after World War II can be understood as a tendency towards stagnation and aging. Some way of revitalizing rural societies is needed. This paper examines the development possibility of rural tourism as a means of revitalization in Japan. This paper discusses the development of rural tourism in Western Europe, and how it can be encouraged to take root in Japan. The components of Japanese rural tourism are made clear, and the different management styles of farm inns are characterized. Some case studies are introduced of various styles of farm inn currently operating in Japan.


We propose a novel concept of asymmetric feature maps (AFM), which allows to evaluate multiple kernels between a query and database entries without increasing the memory requirements. To demonstrate the advantages of the AFM method, we derive a short vector image representation that, due to asymmetric feature maps, supports efficient scale and translation invariant sketch-based image retrieval. Unlike most of the short-code based retrieval systems, the proposed method provides the query localization in the retrieved image. The efficiency of the search is boosted by approximating a 2D translation search via trigonometric polynomial of scores by 1D projections. The projections are a special case of AFM. An order of magnitude speed-up is achieved compared to traditional trigonometric polynomials. The results are boosted by an image-based average query expansion, exceeding significantly the state of the art on standard benchmarks.


Many thanks for providing us with the opportunity to discuss our article entitled: Effects of silybum marianum on patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).1

We were glad to receive Dr. Alavian's comment entitled "Herbal medicine and liver disease, for any conclusion we need more studies". HCV is a major cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality.2 Ribavirin plus interferon combination therapy is presently considered as an optimal treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C, but the recommended treatment regimen is concerned with considerable expense, adverse effects and poor efficacy in some patients. Although the popularity of silymarin has been increased in people with liver diseases,3,4 a few evidences with controversial results exist regarding the effect of silymarin on chronic HCV infection.


COVID-19 outbreak across the world has invited forced lockdown conditions, which causes a huge economic landslide. But it has brought an opportunity for restoring the environment of its own which may cause ecosystem well-being. Focusing on the second issue, the present work has intended to explore the streams of air quality change based on some quality components and develop a multi-date air quality state (AQS) model for the world in consequence of emergency lockdown. It is very clear from the result that amid lockdown aerosol optical depth (AOD), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone, carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM2.5), and black carbon (BC) concentration level have been significantly reduced in fully lockdown countries. AQS is considerably improved amid lockdown. Hotspots of COVID-19 were under unhealthy, very unhealthy air quality class in pre lockdown condition, but amid lockdown, these countries have been shifted to good and moderate healthy air quality classes


A new approach is proposed for constructing regular low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes based on tensor product of matrices. In this paper, first a general construction method of regular LDPC codes exploiting permutation matrices is described. Constructed codes have a quasi-cyclic structure with no short cycles of length 4 in their Tanner graph, hence simple encoding while maintaining good performance is achieved. The paper also demonstrates a generalized design, which covers a large family of LDPC codes and number of other construction methods. The new generalized LDPC codes are defined by a small number of parameters and cover a large set of code lengths and rates. Using these codes, LDPC matrices of any column weight and row weight can be constructed. Performance of these codes under iterative decoding compares well with other well-structured as well as random LDPC codes


High-fidelity control of spin ensemble dynamics is essential to many fields, spanning from quantum computing to optical, coherent, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and imaging (MRI). However, attaining robust and high-fidelity quantum spin operations remains an unmet challenge. Using a combination of an evolutionary algorithm and artificial intelligence, we designed time-optimal, radio frequency (RF) pulses with tunable spatial or temporal field inhomogeneity compensation and fidelity for unitary operations up to 0.9999. As a benchmark, we constructed a spin entanglement operator and a programmable quantum state creator for a weakly-coupled two-spin-1/2 system. We achieved high-fidelity transformations under multiple inhomogeneity sources. The newly designed RF pulses are more robust and less prone to imperfection than the commonly used shapes for basic liquid-state NMR experiments and reduce RF artifacts in MRI. This new strategy will enable the design of efficient quantum computing opera-tors as well as new spectroscopic and imaging techniques.


This simulation study examines how work history factors affect arbitrators' decisions in absenteeism discharge cases. The authors analyze the responses of 179 arbitrators to survey questions concerning 32 hypothetical absence discharge cases in which four work history factors were systematically varied. Work history factors and due process considerations both are found to have influenced arbitral awards. Due process considerations (the degree to which management followed prescribed procedures) had the strongest impact, followed by previous absence history, prior disciplinary record, job performance, and seniority. The authors conclude that rehabilitative themes were prominent in these arbitrators' decision making. Other significant influences were the arbitrator's educational background, age, and experience.


A new approach for classification of uncouplers of oxidative and photophosphorylation, also suitable for screening of large chemical inventories, is introduced. Earlier fragment-based approaches for this mode of toxic action are limited to phenols but weak acids of extremely diverse chemical classes can act as uncouplers. The proposed approach overcomes the limitation to phenolic uncouplers by combining structural fragments with the global information of physico-chemical descriptors. In a top-down approach to reduce the number of candidate chemicals, firstly substructure definitions for the detection of weak acids were applied. Subsequently, conservative physico-chemical thresholds for the two most important properties for the uncoupling activity were defined: an acid dissociation constant (pK a) between 3 and 9, and a sufficiently low energy barrier for the internal permeability of anions (17 kcal/mol). The later was derived from a novel approach to calculate the distribution of compounds across membranes. The combination of structural and physico-chemical criteria allowed a good separation of active from inactive chemicals with high sensitivity (95%) and slightly lower (more than 75%) specificity. Applying this approach to several thousand high and low production volume chemicals retrieved a surprisingly small number of 10 compounds with a predicted excess toxicity above 10. Nevertheless, uncoupling can be an important mode of action as highlighted with several examples ranging from pesticide metabolites to persistent organic compounds.


This paper investigates expenditures of food away from home (FAFH) by husband-and-wife households with children, determines the differentiated impacts of economic and demographic variables on FAFH by type of meal and across household types. Using the 2008 and 2009 Consumer Expenditure Survey, the system of expenditures on breakfast, lunch, and dinner is estimated with a multivariate sample selection estimator and results are compared with the Tobit system estimates. Statistical significance of error correlations among equations justifies estimation of the sample selection systems. Differentiated effects of variables on probabilities and expenditure levels highlight advantages of the sample selection system over the Tobit estimator. The effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors are found to vary by type of meal. Income, work hours, race, education, geographical region and household composition are important determinants of FAFH.


Experimental and theoretical results are presented for membrane supported W-band bandpass filters which utilize silicon micromachining technology to create self-packaged, shielded circuits. A coupled line shielded microstrip implementation of a 5-element 0.5 dB equal ripple Chebyshev filter achieves a minimum insertion loss of 3.4 dB with a 6.1% bandwidth centered at 94.7 GHz. The measured filter performance shows very sharp cutoff with out of band attenuation better than 25 dB and input return loss better than 8 dB. Results are also presented for a 5-element filter that achieves a minimum insertion loss of 2.2 dB with an 11.3% bandwidth centered at 94.7 GHz, and a 3-element filter with 1.3 dB insertion loss and 16.4% bandwidth at 94.9 GHz. Efforts to model filter performance using commercially available software and FDTD techniques are discussed.<<ETX>>


The complex structure of the energy and mass flows in steelmaking has resulted in many attempts to describe the process dynamics by models. Swedish steelmaker SSAB Tunnplat has long practical exper ...


Global immunosuppression instead offocused selective or specific immunomodulating strategies may still be relevant in diseases with chronic and broad immune dysregulation such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Among classical or new immunosuppressive drugs, two of them, both inhibiting purine synthesis, show an attractive prof ile for MS treatment Azathioprine (AZA) is the most anciently and widely used global immunosuppressive drug in MS. Despite founded initial fears, it can be stated today that AZA is usually well tolerated and compatible with normal daily activities, that it requires minimal monitoring and does not significantly increase the risk of cancer induction after 5 years of continuous usage at the conventional 2.5 mg/kg daily dose. The only two presently available well conducted trials of AZA in ambulatory patients with relapsing-remitting MS show marginally significant beneficial results of AZA treatment on relapse frequency and disability. Some preliminary data on brain MRI are also promising. Mycophenolate mof etil (MMF) affects mainly the desired cell types, with a good safety prof ile, a rapidly reversible activity, and an absence of mutagenic effect and chromosome breakage. However, it remains to be shown that promising experimental results can be converted into significant clinical results in MS. It is presently demonstrated for AZA and it is presumable for MMF that neither drug is able to cure MS. However, it can be anticipated that either drug in combination with other strategies such as recombinant beta interferon could represent a significant adjunct for the therapeutic control of MS, at least in early ambulatory relapsing-remitting MS. Presently, the choice between the old, no longer 'sexy', but well-known drug as AZA and a young, appealing, but still to be better evaluated drug (notably for the long run) as MMF is a matter of personal, community, industrial and scientific inclination.


Case series summary This report summarises and reviews the published cases of open-mouth jaw locking in cats and describes three further cases. Case 1 was a 5-year-old, 5.3 kg male neutered domestic shorthair cat. CT identified changes consistent with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysplasia with osseous degenerative changes, and the cat subsequently underwent bilateral partial zygomectomy with bilateral partial coronoidectomy. Case 2 was a 10-year-old, 6.0 kg male neutered Exotic Shorthair. Aside from a fracture of the left maxillary canine tooth crown and absence of the left maxillary fourth premolar tooth, no abnormalities were found on CT scan. The cat also underwent bilateral partial zygomectomy with bilateral partial coronoidectomy. The third case was a 1-year-old, 4.0 kg male neutered Persian cat. Changes on CT were consistent with bilateral TMJ dysplasia, and the cat underwent staged bilateral partial zygomectomy with bilateral partial coronoidectomy. There was no recurrence of open-mouth jaw locking in any of the cases on long-term follow-up. Relevance and novel information Open-mouth jaw locking has been reported in cats of a wide range of ages, from 1–10 years. Cats with all skull types (brachycephalic, mesaticephalic and dolichocephalic) may be affected, but brachycephalic breeds seem to be over-represented. A CT scan with the jaw locked in place is recommended for diagnosis and surgical planning purposes; two of the cases reported here document the first cases of TMJ dysplasia in cats to be definitively diagnosed using CT. Trauma and symphyseal or TMJ laxity may also predispose to development of the condition. Partial coronoidectomy and partial zygomatic arch resection performed alone or in combination are generally successful at preventing recurrence. Bilateral partial zygomectomy with bilateral partial coronoidectomy has not previously been reported as a surgical treatment, and is recommended when open-mouth jaw locking occurs bilaterally.


Biometric data are main objects of attacking behaviors to biometric system. For improving iris feature template data security to an iris recognition system, a data hiding method based on bit stream is proposed, in which an iris feature template is embedded into a face image as an example. The proposed method is applicable to present dominant iris recognition techniques. Besides the low computation cost and the zero decoding-error-rate, this data hiding method, embedding a target biometric data into another biometric data, can deceives attackers more effectively in identity recognition, biometric data storage and transmission. Furthermore, it does not make excellent performances of the iris recognition degradation. Experimental results prove that the proposed method is available to be used to protect iris feature templates and enhance the security of the iris recognition system itself.


Mixed viral infection is one of the current and unexplored issues of human infectious diseases. A special place in the development of these pathologies is occupied by adeno- and herpes viruses that are able to persist for a long time in a latent condition in the body. There is a huge lack of knowledge about antiviral activities of specific drugs during the mixed infections. The study of know drugs and discovery of new compounds using not only standard mono-infections but also with created mixed infections is a topical and a new direction in antivirus screening. Previously in our department, the models of adeno-herpetic infections in cells of different origins were created and the features of the development of viral infections in these systems were studied.
     The model of simultaneous adeno-herpetic infection of MDBK cells was used for the analysis of the antiherpetic drug acyclovir (ACV) and for research of new fluorine-containing derivatives of L-phenylalanine (10S-23 and 10S-24, synthesized in Institute of Organic Chemistry of the NAS of Ukraine). Determination of the antiviral activity accessed via real-time PCR and infectious virus yield reduction assay demonstrated the inhibitory effect of these compounds on the late stage of the HSV-1 and HAdV5 reproduction. With the presence of 10S-24 and ACV in the conditions of mono-infection, HSV-1 DNA replication was inhibited on 39 and 100%, respectively. Furthermore, the significant delays of HSV-1 reproductions were observed, the titer of virus obtained de novo reduces on >99%. It was shown that for adenovirus infection of the cells, all compounds reduced the titer of the virus on 34-96%.
     Use of the ACV under mixed infection led to the 46% loss of the drug activity against HSV-1. The application of 10S-23 and 10S-24 at mixed infection induced a decrease of effectiveness of the compounds relatively herpes simplex virus by 58-73% and 16-57%, respectively. It was shown that compounds have been not effective against HAdV5 under conditions of co-infection of cells.
     An abnormal action of drugs in co-infected cells indicates the need for further study of the mechanisms and targets of antiviral activity of compounds in such conditions, because using these compounds can be ineffective in medical practice.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a President's of Ukraine grant for competitive projects F70 of the State Fund for Fundamental Research.


The next generation multibeam satellites open up a new way to design satellite communication channels with the full flexibility in bandwidth, transmit power and beam coverage management. In this paper, we exploit the flexible multibeam satellite capabilities and the geographical distribution of users to improve the performance of satellite-assisted edge caching systems. Our aim is to jointly optimize the bandwidth allocation in multibeam and caching decisions at the edge nodes to address two important problems: i) cache feeding time minimization and ii) cache hits maximization. To tackle the non-convexity of the joint optimization problem, we transform the original problem into a difference-of-convex (DC) form, which is then solved by the proposed iterative algorithm whose convergence to at least a local optimum is theoretically guaranteed. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed design is evaluated under the realistic beams coverage of the satellite SES-14 and Movielens data set. Numerical results show that our proposed joint design can reduce the caching feeding time by 50% and increase the cache hit ratio (CHR) by 10% to 20% compared to existing solutions. Furthermore, we examine the impact of multispot beams and multicarrier wide-beam on the joint design and discuss potential research directions.


Redescription of Acuaria gruveli (Gendre, 1913), parasite of the phasianid bird Francolinus bicalcaratus in Togo. The development of the first three larval stages in experimentally infected Tylotropidius patagiatus Karsch (Orthoptera, Acrididae) is described and illustrated. Larvae are infective after 8 to 11 days of development at 30 degrees C. In caudal morphology, infective larvae are similar to those of A. hamulosa. The encapsulation of A gruveli larvae in the skeletal muscles of the insect is compared to the larval encapsulation of A. anthuris, A. depressa, and of the Gongylonematidae. In this respect, the Acuariidae appear better adapted than the Gongylonematidae to the intermediate host.


This paper purports to explore aspects of implied meaning carried out through the vehicle of oxymoron, which is a figure of speech that juxtaposes two contradictory words (or strings of words) in order to point to a curious fact or a beguiling statement. The different types of oxymoron are studied in this paper in accordance with a pragmatic approach that, though taking into consideration the theoretical implications of oxymoron, is primarily interested in practical aspects of the investigation. Grice's maxims are taken as a point of departure to guide the discussion of both generalized implicature and particularized implicature.
The paper analyzes the different instances of oxymoron present in Alfred Tennyson's "Lancelot and Elaine." After the meaning and significance of each instance are explored, the paper studies the ways in which Tennyson used oxymoron in order to create and maintain a figurative framework for his poem. The paper shows that Tennyson's elaborate use of oxymoron allowed him to deploy further figures of speech in order to relay the dramatic atmosphere of the poem. Finally, the paper concludes that Tennyson's disobeying of Grice's maxims led to the production of new implicated meaning.


The radio acoustic sounding system (RASS) is a method of remotely measuring atmospheric temperature profiles by combining acoustic and radar techniques. This method has been applied to wind profiler radars in Colorado, and excellent performance in both height coverage and accuracy has been obtained. Various acoustic source functions are examined, and it is shown that FM-CW acoustic signals are less susceptible to error than pulsed acoustic systems when using pulsed radars for RASS. The remotely determined temperature profiles are compared with co-located radiosonde soundings, and good agreement is found. >


The Earth's principal axes and principal moments of inertia, was estimated from the least-squares adjustment of gravitationalharmonic coefficients of second degree of recent global Earth gravity models including EIGEN-1S solution and thedynamical ellipticity derived from the precession constant through VLBI. The estimation was made for the time-independentcomponents (at epoch) of the Earth's inertial tensor and the time-dependent components of the tensor of inertia, based ongiven information on the secular and periodic variations of harmonic coefficients of second degree.


The formal colonial rule of Britain ended seven decades ago but the experience deeply influenced the minds of the masses and altered their lives and psyche for a long time to come. Post-colonial issues such as loss of identity, hybridity, otherness, appropriation, etc are frequently highlighted by the Anglophone writers of the sub-continent. The authors of Pakistani descent have contributed remarkably to post-colonial literature. The present research aims to analyze Nafisa Haji's novel The Writing on My Forehead (2009) to investigate the Western influence on the minds and behaviors of the people of the subcontinent. Homi K. Bhabha's analytical lens (1994) is the primary guide for this research. Three elements of hybridity, namely mimicry, ambivalence, and unhomeliness, as proposed by Bhabha are explored. The concepts of diaspora and othering in the work under discussion are also briefly touched. This research is qualitative and descriptive in nature. The results of the detailed textual analysis indicate that various characters are hybrids of East and West. The phenomena of ambivalence and mimicry can be clearly observed in their conduct and thinking. The most important characters in this regard are Saira, Adeeba (also known as Big Nanima), and Kasim who openly mimic the Western culture. Minor characters like Adeeba's parents and Shabana, though averse to Western culture at the surface level, are unconsciously influenced by it. The phenomena of othering, diaspora, and unhomeliness are also briefly touched. In this way, the present study sheds light on the impact of colonialism on the lives of colonial subjects and links it with the continued hegemony of the West over the Easterners. It will be helpful for students, teachers and researchers who wish to study Haji's fiction and the impact of the phenomenon of colonialism.


The growth into anisotropic one or two dimensions is important in plasmonic gold nanomaterials because extinction occurs along multiple axes and sometimes the resonance extends to the near-infrared region. The surfactant mixture of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and Pluronic triblock copolymers has been recently demonstrated to be efficient anisotropic soft templates for the growth of noble metal nanomaterials. Seed-mediated growth of two types of anisotropic Au nanoparticles is achieved in this study. One is one-dimensional prolate-shaped Au nanoparticles with the average aspect ratios of 2.29 and 2.59, and the other is two-dimensional gold nanoprisms with the average edge length of 50.4 nm. These anisotropic structures are believed to be produced by the tendency of Pluronic copolymers to be micellized anisotropically at the elevated temperatures and by the preference for being lamellar mesophases in the phase diagrams when the concentration is highest. When prepared in the surfactant mixture of CTAB and L-64 (17.9%), Au nanoparticles containing spherical particles (27.9 nm) as the major products show the best catalytic performances in the reduction reactions of 4-nitrophenol.


In order to deal with this uncertainty, we propose a probabilistic approach for rainfall nowcasting based on the advection of radar fields. In particular, the developed technique is based on characterizing precipitation fields from a statistical point of view to generate an ensemble of "possible future scenarios", compatible with most recent observations. Therefore, the output of the proposed scheme is now a probability distribution function at each point and for each forecasting time, instead of an only deterministic forecast (that is the usual output of extrapolation techniques).


This study explores how people view and respond to the proposals of NYC congestion pricing evolve in time. To understand these responses, Twitter data is collected and analyzed. Critical groups in the recurrent process are detected by statistically analyzing the active users and the most mentioned accounts, and the trends of people's attitudes and concerns over the years are identified with text mining and hybrid Nature Language Processing techniques, including LDA topic modeling and LSTM sentiment classification. The result shows that multiple interest groups were involved and played crucial roles during the proposal, especially Mayor and Governor, MTA, and outer-borough representatives. The public shifted the concern of focus from the plan details to a wider city's sustainability and fairness. Furthermore, the plan's approval relies on several elements, the joint agreement reached in the political process, strong motivation in the real-world, the scheme based on balancing multiple interests, and groups' awareness of tolling's benefits and necessity.


DNA fingerprints were established in 12 drug resistant and 12 susceptible M. tuberculosis strains collected from patients residing in Prague, Czech Republic. The Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) technique was based on the detection of the insertion sequence IS6110 in PvuII digested chromosomal DNA. All investigated strains possessed at least 5 copies of IS6110 ranging from 5 to 15 copies in the drug resistant isolates and 5 to 11 copies in susceptible isolates. Three multidrug resistant strains displayed identical fingerprints (5 bands), and two strains resistant to pyrazinamid had the same banding pattern (12 bands). The remaining isolates differed either in number or location of the IS6110 copies. Thorough epidemiological analysis did not furnish proof of direct contact among these patients.


This paper proposes a human identification system using mosaic facial images without being influenced by the lighting conditions or the reflection from eye glasses. The influence of the ambient fluorescent lighting is removed by taking the facial image in the near infrared band. The reflection from eye glasses is removed by utilizing polarized light. The size, the position and the inclination of the face are normalized by capturing the pupils and clipping the face on the basis of both pupil positions. In the identification, the illuminance of the face is normalized by using the correlation coefficient of mosaic data. As the result of the identification experiment using the facial images of 100 people, an identification rate of 100% was obtained in the case of 20*20 mosaic section number. When the pupil pair is extracted with a default threshold level of binarization, the identification time is within 1 second. It is made clear that the proposed system is effective for conceivable changes of position, direction and illuminance of a face in practical scenes.


Previous analyses of the cultural context of sexual assault have focused on social and demographic correlates of rape, or associations between the acceptance of rape myths and sociocultural beliefs and attitudes. Papers in this journal issue extend this perspective to definitions of rape and characteristics of the research enterprise. They also examine the association between specific sociocultural influences on the reporting of sexual assault, victims' experiences of and reactions to sexual assault, and perpetrator motives, as well as society's responses as reflected in the media and the judicial system. It is concluded that systematic analysis of sociocultural factors allows discrepancies in definitions, methods, results, and interpretations to be reconceptualized as diversity which is orderly and can be understood.


George Shipley (1968) writes that the power inherent in the word operates transitively in the world spoken of. Bound up in this statement are three syllogisms that I shall examine in this article: that there exist different worlds in the Celestina other than the one spoken of; that language operates in Rojas's work within and according to these fictional worlds; and that language has contradictory values and linguistic power can thereby be continually transmuted. Making use of theory propounded by Pierre Bourdieu, which acknowledges the legitimacy of linguistic authority according to the social constructions in which it is embedded, I shall explore the shift in verbal mastery of Melibea and Celestina, arguing that the intermingling of fictional worlds —of courtly love and prostitution— affects irrevocably their linguistic authority and that language in the Celestina destabilizes as much as it can empower.


The altered kinetics of steady‐state c‐fos mRNA production in cultured cerebellar granule cells under excitotoxic conditions was investigated in neurons subjected to depolarising stimuli, namely, high KCl and L‐glutamate (Glu), in which Ca2+ influx occurs by differing routes. Increases in intracellular‐free calcium levels ([Ca2+]i) stimulated by nontoxic or toxic levels of Glu were blocked by selective N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonism; were blocked only partially by the L‐type channel blocker, nifedipine; and were unaffected by α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazole propionate (AMPA)/kainate receptor antagonists. Glu‐induced cell death was prevented only by NMDA receptor blockade. Exposure of cells to nontoxic levels of Glu resulted in a transient increase in c‐fos mRNA levels, whereas an excitotoxic dose produced a delay in the appearance of c‐fos mRNA but a subsequent, progressive, and sustained (>4 hr) increase. An excitotoxic dose of Glu in combination with either nifedipine or selective NMDA receptor antagonists resulted in the normal, transient increase of c‐fos mRNA levels. Chronic exposure to 55 mM KCl caused no cytotoxicity, although it resulted in a delayed, elevated increase in c‐fos mRNA levels that was unaffected by NMDA receptor blockade but reverted to the normal, transient profile of c‐fos mRNA formation when it was coadministered with nifedipine. The KCl‐induced increase in [Ca2+]i levels was inhibited dramatically by nifedipine but was unaffected by any of the ionotropic Glu receptor antagonists. The results support the notion that the appearance of a delayed but elevated increase in steady‐state c‐fos mRNA levels following exposure to excitotoxic doses of Glu is mediated specifically by calcium influx via L‐type voltage‐gated channels. J. Neurosci. Res. 52:641–652, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Even as life expectancy in many countries has continued to increase, social security and similar government programs can provide strong incentives for workers to leave the labor force when they reach the age of eligibility for benefits. Disability insurance programs can also play a significant role in the departure of older workers from the labor force, with many individuals in some countries relying on disability insurance until they are able to enter into full retirement. The sixth stage of an ongoing research project studying the relationship between social security programs and labor force participation, this volume draws on the work of an eminent group of international economists to consider the extent to which differences in labor force participation across countries are determined by the provisions of disability insurance programs. Presented in an easily comparable way, their research covers twelve countries, including Canada, Japan, and the United States, and considers the requirements of disability insurance programs, as well as other pathways to retirement.


The present article accounts for the recent RBI implementation for a complex pipeline network in the Far East with facilities and components varying from new to 30 years old. The purpose of the project was to develop a risk assessment in order to implement an integrity inspection program over a three year period for a network with minimal information available for construction, process and inspection history. A qualitative approach, based on T-REX® Pipelines software, was deemed appropriate in order to carry the risk assessment without detailed technical data. The RBI work was carried out by a slim work team who did an initial risk assessment using the available data and thus developed an inspection plan focused on the high-priority components. Inspection would then generate precious technical data for updating the risk assessment. The risk reassessment would then be used to update the inspection plans and fine tune the priorities of the maintenance works.


Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) ranks among the most important vegetable crop belonging to the family Solanaceae that is consumed both as vegetable and spice throughout the world. C. annuum, as crop, in order to meet the target yield, demands improved variety that could overcome environmental challenges viz., biotic and abiotic stress. Cultivar improvement essentially requires an efficient in vitro regeneration protocol. In the present study, we investigated the influence of silver nitrate (AgNO3) and coconut water, individually as well in combination, on in vitro shoot elongation and plant regeneration from cotyledon explants of C. annuum cv G-4. Shoot buds were induced on shoot bud induction medium supplemented with either 44.38 µM 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) or 9.0 µM thidiazuron (TDZ) along with 5.77 µM gibberellic acid (GA3) and 14.7 µM phenyl acetic acid (PAA). Elongation of shoot buds was obtained on elongation medium containing 8.87 µM BA or 0.45 µM TDZ, 5.77 µM GA3 and 14.7 µM PAA followed by rooting in 9.8 µM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). All the media were supplemented with 30 µM AgNO3 and/or coconut water (10% v/v). The presence of coconut water in the elongation media enhanced the regeneration of well developed shoots from differentiating explants on TDZ media while AgNO3 resulted in enhanced production of rooted shoots with greater influence on emerging shoots from BAP media upon transfer to rooting media. There was synergistic response with further enhancement of elongated shoots/elongated rooted shoots on the combined use of coconut water and AgNO3. The elongation media produced significantly higher total shoots when AgNO3 was used synergistically with coconut water (59.0%) as against AgNO3 alone (38.0%). While in rooting media, there was significantly higher production of elongated rooted shoots when coconut water was used synergistically with AgNO3 (47.2%) as against the coconut water alone (14.4%).


OBJECTIVE
This study examined the association between time to enrollment into postsecondary education and trajectories of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and marijuana use using a prospective longitudinal study.

METHOD
Participants included 391 postsecondary students (55% female) drawn from the Victoria Healthy Youth Survey, a five-wave, multi-cohort sample interviewed biennially between 2003 and 2011. Using piecewise latent growth modeling, we compared changes in the trajectories of HED and marijuana use before and after postsecondary enrollment across three groups of young adults: (a) direct entrants (enrolled directly out of high school), (b) gap entrants (took a year off), and (c) delayed entrants (took longer than a year off).

RESULTS
Heavy drinking increased after enrollment for direct entrants and gap entrants and decreased for delayed entrants. Marijuana use increased after enrollment for direct entrants, and decreased for gap entrants and delayed entrants. Yet, overall levels of marijuana use were significantly higher among the gap and delay entrants over time compared with direct entrants. Group differences in heavy drinking appeared to reflect age-related changes in drinking patterns. However, differences in marijuana use may reflect pre-existing inequities in access to higher education across groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The association between postsecondary education and increased substance use may be limited to students who enroll at a postsecondary institution directly out of high school. However, students who delay enrollment have higher levels of substance use before enrollment, as well as lower high school grades and socioeconomic status compared with direct entrants, and may be particularly vulnerable to long-term substance use problems and degree noncompletion.


The flyback converters are widely used in low power applications. The switch typically requires 600 V breakdown voltage in order to perform large step-down voltage. Thus, slight variation on the switch control can either permanently damage the switch or decrease the efficiency of the power conversion. In order to achieve higher power efficiency, the previous literature suggested operating the flyback converter in the discontinuous current mode (DCM). It is then required to understand the critical conditions of the DCM through analyzing the dynamic behavior and discontinuous current mechanism. This paper started from the current waveform analyses, proceeded to the derivation of zero current switching (ZCS) formulation, and finally reached the necessary conditions for the DCM. The entire DCM operation was divided into three phases that subsequently affect the result of the zero voltage switching (ZVS) and then to the ZCS. The experiment shows a power efficiency of over 96% when the output power is around 65 W. The switch used in this paper is a Gallium Nitride High-Electron-Mobility Transistor (GaN HEMT) that is advantageous at the high breakdown voltage up to 800 V. The important findings from the experiments include that the output power increases with the increasing input DC voltage and the duty cycle is rather linearly decreasing with the increasing switching frequency when both the zero voltage switching (ZVS) and ZCS conditions are satisfied simultaneously.


Using videomicroscopy data of a two-dimensional colloidal system the bond-order correlation function G{6} is calculated and used to determine both the orientational correlation length xi{6} in the liquid phase and the modulus of orientational stiffness, Frank's constant F{A}, in the hexatic phase. The latter is an anisotropic fluid phase between the crystalline and the isotropic liquid phase. F{A} is found to be finite within the hexatic phase, takes the value 72/pi at the hexatic<-->isotropic liquid phase transition, and diverges at the hexatic<-->crystal transition as predicted by the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young theory. This is a quantitative test of the mechanism of breaking the orientational symmetry by disclination unbinding.


The results of the treatment of 498 patients with chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) verified on biopsy were analyzed to reveal that all the types of therapy were less effective in episodes of the nephrotic syndrome and frequent relapses than in rarer exacerbations and the lack of massive proteinuria. Considerable differences in the survival of patients with varying activity of CGN treated in the same way attest to the limited possibilities of the pathogenetic and symptomatic agents as regards their action on the natural disease course. The treatment with glucocorticoids, cytostatics and the combined use of these drugs turned out more successful provided the time of the drugs intake was increased to 1-2 years. Administration of glucocorticoids and the long-term use of cytostatics in cases of the sensitivity to them of mononuclear receptors appeared most effective in all the clinical manifestations of mesangioproliferative, membranous proliferative or membranous glomerulonephritis.


The purpose of this research was to find out the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of S. aureus isolated from milk of mastitis cases of dairy cattle at Argopuro Dairy Cooperative, Krucil. The antibiotic discs used for susceptibility test were oxytetracycline 30µg, penicillin 10U, ampicillin 10µg, cloxacillin 5µg and erithromycin 10µg according to Kirby-Bauer method. Twenty isolates of S. aureus from 21 mastitis casessamples had been identified by microscopic, Gram staining, and biochemical characteristics. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of S. aureus isolates showed differentiation between each villages, which were non of Kalianangrs isolates were resistance to all of antibiotics, 66,66% of Krucil's isolates were resistance topenicillin and ampicillin, 50% of Tambelang's isolates were resistance to erythromycin, 66,66% of Bremi's isolates were resistance to penicillin, 66,66% of Kertosuko's isolates were resistance to penicillin and 66,66% Watu Panjang's isolates were resistance to penicillin, ampicillin and erythromycin.


Asthma is a heterogeneous inflammatory disease of the airways that causes breathing difficulties, episodes of cough and wheezing, and in more severe cases can greatly diminish quality of life. Epigenetic regulation, including post-transcriptional mediation of microRNAs (miRNAs), is one of the mechanisms behind the development of the range of asthma phenotypes and endotypes. As in every other immune-mediated disease, miRNAs regulate the behavior of cells that shape the airway structure as well as those in charge of the defense mechanisms in the bronchi and lungs, controlling cell survival, growth, proliferation, and the ability of cells to synthesize and secrete chemokines and immune mediators. More importantly, miRNAs are molecules with chemical and biological properties that make them appropriate biomarkers for disease, enabling stratification of patients for optimal drug selection and thereby simplifying clinical management and reducing both the economic burden and need for critical care associated with the disease. In this review, we summarize the roles of miRNAs in asthma and describe how they regulate the mechanisms of the disease. We further describe the current state of miRNAs as biomarkers for asthma phenotyping, endotyping, and treatment selection.


Semiconductor CdS nanoparticles were synthesized by the sonochemical reduction of a mixed aqueous solution ofCdCl2, Na2S2O3 and (CH3)2CHOH in Ar atmosphere at room temperature. The results of a detailed investigationwith X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrum and optical absorption spec-troscopy are reported. A clearly red shift of the absorption edge and a broad absorption band related to the surfacestates of nanoparticles have been observed in the optical absorption spectra with the increasing of CdS particle size.The mechanisms of the CdS nanoparticle formation and size growth during sonochemical irradiation were discussed.This convenient method is found to be an efficient way to produce other chalcogenides as well.


This transformational study is the first investigative scientific research that supports and encourages credit unions (CUs) in Bangladesh to adopt a New Credit Union Development Model (NCUDM).  Aimed to determine the relationship, effect of business management performance (BMP) and business environment performance (BEP) of NCUDM, this study employed researcher-made questionnaires of 66 items with 10 sections to gather needed data from 450 stakeholders in the Cooperative Credit Union League of Bangladesh Limited. It also employed focus group discussions (FGDs), and in-depth interviews and expert panels. Its secondary data covered the period 2007 to 2014. Pearson correlation coefficient statistics was computed to assess the relationship and strength of a linear association between the variables of BMP and BEP. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to posit better estimates of the effect of BMP on BEP. Coefficient of correlation ( r) results show nine important NCUDM variables that are significantly related (p<.01) and twelve components that are important to CUs in Bangladesh that are significantly related (p<.01, p<.05).  SEM output model shows significant effect in BMP and in BEP using the chi-square (M=245.62, p< .01, df =120) indicating appropriate well-fit model, favorable and accepted data. Results yielded a robust and significant contribution to transform CUs in Bangladesh utilizing a new paradigm.


Findings for cancer of the oesophagus in the rubber industry are not consistent between studies, and derive from too few studies. Few studies were carried out to examine risks of oesophageal cancer in di€erent departments and the confounding by non-occupational risk factors such as smoking, drinking, and economic status. In this paper these questions have been explored. Following a nested case-control study, the data were used of nine oesophageal cancer deaths during 1973±1995 and 36 controls matched for sex and age from the same cohort of a rubber plant workers. Oesophageal cancer risks for exposure to rubber were assessed, unadjusted and adjusted for non-occupational factors by conditional logistic regression. In grouped analysis, odds ratios (ORs) for oesophageal cancer were found to be 2.67 …95% CI ˆ 0:42, 17:0† for milling, etc. workers and 1.40 …95% CI ˆ 0:24, 7:97† for building workers, who worked for one or more years. No excess risks were found in the remaining three departments. The models for continuous exposure variables indicated that a one-unit year change in the milling, etc. department was associated with a 4% increment in the OR. When adjusted for serum cholesterol level, the 6% increase (OR) was observed. Signi®cant associations between risk for oesophageal cancer and speci®c exposures or processes within the rubber plant were not found. The slight excess risk for oesophageal cancer in the rubber plant may be related to exposure to dusts and solvents. 7 2000 British Occupational Hygiene Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


with an almost overdisciplined-but chapter by Gastaut and others on non-e] phenomena. The remainder of the volume is largely a number of studies of sleep in epileptics are essentially laboratory reports of intere of epilepsy rather than to the general chapter reviews briefly the few publicati mental illness and goes on to give th experience in a number of patients with v states. This is a book which can be recommen those whose main interest is in clinical n but also to anyone who has an interest which he spends a great part of his life.


This paper presents a new approach to fault-tolerant control (FTC) based on control performance monitoring and real-time plant data without explicit fault detection and isolation algorithms. The approach sets forth the theory of unfalsified control to achieve a real-time reconfiguration of control laws which are consistent with the performance objectives for a class of system faults. The obtained FTC scheme may be viewed as an alternative or a complement to classical FTC structures based on explicit fault detectors and it provides a precise and direct characterization of suitable real-time controllers for fault accommodation.


Introduction The cultural heritage, which represents one of the classic examples of the economic category of "common good" belonging to each citizen of a certain place and very frequently constituting an identity character of a community, traditionally receives funding, primarily for the purpose of its preservation, from public sector. Different recent societal, environmental and technological factors are changing the cultural citizen needs and we are assisting at a slow paradigm shift in the addressed industry. Indeed, the growing economic and social progress, also in developing countries, contributes to expand the cultural needs and interests among different bracket of the population with a particular increase in the demand of cultural goods and services. At the same time, the spread of technology contributes to enjoy cultural goods in a completely new and innovative way, never imagined before. In this context, paradoxically, the top-down public policies, often too much concentrated on preservation and not very attentive to the exploitation of cultural heritage potential and the catchment the new trends, become inefficient. In a period of increasing pressure on public budgets, this activates the perverse spiral of increasingly inadequate investments because of scarce available re sources in the hands of the public decisionmaker that generate insufficient allocation of funds and, as a result, the growing ineffectiveness of spending in the sector. This situation in the medium term leads to the depletion of a non-trivial part of the cultural heritage, including its immaterial values, and, too often, to the use of the private hand at a late stage and with incorrect logics that brings, not infrequently, to the disposal of the cultural heritage "for sale" or to the denial of its fruition. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) can represent a third way between the exclusively public intervention, more and more anachronistic and inefficient given the budget constraints, and the recourse to the privatization of cultural heritage that often allows making cash but not without side effects. The latter can be both of economic nature, through a "cherry picking" approach by the private sector that leaves less interesting goods in public hands, as well as of social nature, especially those linked to the inaccessibility of privatised goods or to the high costs of use, which in the medium term impoverishes the community of powerful instruments of collective memory and identity. After more than 30 years of use of PPP in various sectors, it has been understood that this powerful tool is not the panacea that 04. Luigi Fusco Girard, Gabriella Esposito De Vita


Background Previously, the clinical value of seven autoantibodies (p53, PGP9.5, SOX2, GAGE7, GBU4-5, MAGEA1, and CAGE) has been surveyed in our pilot observation and other published studies. Herein, we aimed to further investigate the role of these autoantibodies in the diagnosis and staging of LC. Methods We included a total of 135 individuals, who were divided into a Lung cancer (LC) group and a control group according to the final diagnosis. Seven autoantibody detection kits were used (ELISA method) for the expression measurement. The patients' demographics information (e.g., age, gender, and smoking history) were also documented. Results Among the seven types of autoantibodies, only P53 and GBU4-5 were significantly increased in the LC group compared to the controls. Also, the P53 autoantibody was markedly different among the various subtype groups. Meanwhile, the GBU4-5 level was significantly higher in the small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients compared to patients with adenocarcinoma (ADC). Autoantibodies against PGP9.5, SOX2, GBU4-5, and CAGE were found to be associated with stages. Their expressions were notably higher in the advanced stage (IV) versus early stages (I–II). Using logistic regression, the outcomes of LC prediction and stage prediction showed that the area under curve (AUCs) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were 0.743 and 0.798, respectively. Conclusions In summary, our study confirmed the diagnostic value of tumor-associated autoantibodies, which may be useful as latent tumor markers to facilitate the detection of early LC. Single autoantibody testing is not yet sufficient in LC cancer screening, and the combined detection of autoantibodies can improve the sensitivity of detection compared with single antibody detection, especially for P53, PGP9.5, SOX2, GBU4-5, and CAGE autoantibodies.


Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are intensive poleward moisture transport events that are essential to the global hydrological cycle and are often linked to extreme weather events. We categorize the winter North Pacific ARs into two "flavors": wind‐dominated (windy ARs) and moisture‐dominated (wet ARs) using 40 years of hourly data from fifth generation of the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts Interim Reanalysis. We compare the differences between windy ARs and wet ARs including the lifecycle characteristics (such as genesis locations and changes of meteorological elements through the lifecycle), overall AR frequency, landfall impacts, and variability. The windy ARs are more likely to occur in the midlatitudes, while wet ARs are more active in the subtropics. Windy ARs are associated with intensive surface pressure lows, where the strong pressure gradient can support the strong wind within ARs. Due to larger size and longer lifetime, wet ARs are more likely to produce more precipitation over a lifecycle. By scaling the landfalling ARs, we show that wet ARs dominate the high‐category ARs (Category 4 and 5) with higher spatial frequency and more precipitation, and windy ARs have higher contributions in the lower AR categories especially over British Columbia. Windy ARs are modulated by El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections via the anomalous geopotential height and extended subtropical jet. Wet ARs are affected by the anomalous sea surface temperature over the midlatitudes related to ENSO. Sensitivity analysis with an alternate AR detection algorithm shows consistent results on AR flavors but with disagreement on the amplitude.


A unique containment and confinement system is under development to conduct small explosively driven physics experiments containing hazardous materials at the Proton Radiography facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In these experiments, the detonation of high explosives (HE) is used to drive materials to extreme loading conditions, where some of the materials tested can be extremely hazardous (e.g. nuclear materials). The main components of the system are the Inner Pressure Confinement Vessel (IPCV, which hosts the physics experiment), the Outer Pressure Containment Vessel (OPCV) and Beam Pipes and Auxiliary Hardware (BPAH).
 This paper describes the design and preliminary analyses of the IPCV. The body of the IPCV, also referred to as the Inner Vessel, is being designed to the criteria of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 3, Code Case 2564, with the exception of the materials of construction. The closure covers have different devices mounted on them, such as feedthrough devices for sending or receiving electrical and optical signals across the pressure boundary, and valves for venting the vessel interior. The unique feature in the vessel design are the radiographic windows, tentatively made of Beryllium, which need to be strong enough to maintain the pressure boundary during dynamic events, while being radiographically low-attenuating for the purpose of proton imaging.


BACKGROUND
Chronic renal failure leads to hyporegenerative anemia due to erythropoietin deficiency. The creatinine clearance and hemoglobin levels, at which anemia treatment with recombinant erythropoietin should be started, are unclear. Interpretation of serum erythropoietin levels in the context of renal insufficiency remains controversial and was addressed in this study.

METHODS
Three hundred and ninety-five patients were randomly chosen out of over 5000 consecutive patients investigated by coronary angiography at a single center between 1997 and 2001. Laboratory values and clinical information were prospectively collected in a central registry. Serum samples were frozen before angiography and now used to measure serum erythropoietin levels and evaluate the relationship between erythropoietin and hemoglobin levels in the context of various degrees of renal insufficiency.

RESULTS
The patients with the lowest renal function (creatinine clearance <20 mL/min) had significantly lower hemoglobin levels than the group with normal renal function. However, erythropoietin levels were identical indicating a lower set point for erythropoietin regulation. Above a creatinine clearance of 40 mL/min a significant inverse correlation between erythropoietin and hemoglobin levels was observed and described with the formula erythropoietin [U/L]= 2.5 x (140 - hemoglobin [g/L]) or alternatively Deltaerythropoietin (U/L) =-2.5 xDeltahemoglobin (g/L). Below 40 mL/min no significant correlation was found.

CONCLUSION
A cut-off level for an altered set point of erythropoietin regulation was determined at 40 mL/min creatinine clearance. Above this cut-off hemoglobin negatively regulates erythropoietin. Below the cut-off erythropoietin levels remain stable. Pathophysiologic concepts for this finding and clinical implications in patients with moderate renal failure are discussed.


A gas chromatography (GC)-flame ionization detection procedure was used to determine amino acids in a pharmaceutical preparation (Aminess N tablets), jams (apple, mango, strawberry and mixed fruit), juices (lemon and orange) and a vegetable (kundru). Free amino acids were extracted as aqueous or aqueous–methanol solutions and hydrolyzed by acid treatment with 6 M hydrochloric acid. GC was performed after pre-column derivatization with trifluoroacetylacetone and ethylchloroformate using an HP-5 column (30 m × 0.32 mm id). The complete separation of 19 amino acids was repeatable with a relative standard deviation, in terms of retention time and peak height/peak area, within 3.8%. The limits of detection were in the range 0.1–0.2 μg mL−1. Differences in the concentrations of both free and acid hydrolyzed amino acids were observed in the various jams, fruit juices and vegetables.


Cancer progression is characterized by microenvironmental acidification. Tumor cells adapt to low environmental pH by activating acid-sensing trimeric ion channels of the DEG/ENaC family. The α-ENaC/ASIC1a/γ-ENaC heterotrimeric channel is a tumor-specific acid-sensing channel, and its targeting can be considered a new strategy for cancer therapy. Mambalgin-2 from the Dendroaspis polylepis venom inhibits the α-ENaC/ASIC1a/γ-ENaC heterotrimer more effectively than the homotrimeric ASIC1a channel, initially proposed as the target of mambalgin-2. Although the molecular basis of such mambalgin selectivity remained unclear. Here, we built the models of the complexes of mambalgin-2 with the α-ENaC/ASIC1a/γ-ENaC and ASIC1a channels, performed MD and predicted the difference in the binding modes. The importance of the 'head' loop region of mambalgin-2 for the interaction with the hetero-, but not with the homotrimeric channel was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis and electrophysiology. A new mode of allosteric regulation of the ENaC channels by linking the thumb domain of the ASIC1a subunit with the palm domain of the γ-ENaC subunit was proposed. The data obtained provide new insights into the regulation of various types of acid-sensing ion channels and the development of new strategies for cancer treatment.


The recent literature on the role of fatty acids and antioxidants as protective factors in ischemic heart disease (IHD) has been reviewed. Serum cholesterol, especially LDL-cholesterol, is regarded as an index of risk for IHD. Epidemiological studies have connected a high dietary intake of n-3 fatty acids with a low occurrence of IHD. It is believed that this effect is brought about by a modification of the eicosanoid synthesis and a lowering of the cholesterol level. Intervention studies have not demonstrated that n-3 acids can lower the level whereas monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) have been shown to have such an effect although they were previously believed to be neutral. The epidemiological observations probably reflect the combined effect of both n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and MUFAs. Recently, oxidized LDL has been suggested to be involved in the earliest lesion of atherogenesis. This hypothesis suggest that the antioxidant balance is an important factor for IHD. As the traditional Greenlandic diet is rich in n-3 PUFAs, MUFAs and antioxidants (selenium), epidemiological studies in Greenland could shed important light on the role of individual dietary components and their interactions.


Expression of trk receptors is a major determinant of neurotrophin responsiveness of sensory neurons. Although it has been apparent for some time that subpopulations of dorsal root and trigeminal ganglion neurons respond in vitro to each of the members of the neurotrophin family, the extent to which functionally distinct subclasses of sensory neurons are dependent on the actions of different neurotrophins for their development and function remains an active area of investigation. One step towards elucidating the role of various neurotrophins in development and function of sensory neurons has been to examine the distribution of trk receptors on sensory neurons. These studies have clearly revealed that members of the trk family are differentially expressed in functionally distinct populations of both developing and mature sensory neurons and, further, have provided evidence consistent with a shift in neurotrophin responsiveness during the development of sensory neurons.


The paper describes the use of the Larch prover to verify concurrent programs. The chosen specification environment is UNITY, whose proposed model can be fruitfully applied to a wide variety of problems and modified or extended for special purposes. Moreover, UNITY provides a high level of abstraction to express solutions to parallel programming problems. We investigate how the UNITY methodology can be mechanized within a general purpose first order logic theorem prover like LP, and how we can use the theorem proving methodology to prove safety and liveness properties. Then we describe the formalization and the verification of a communication protocol over faulty channels, using the Larch prover LP. We present the full computer checked proof, and we show that a theorem prover can be used to detect flaws in a system specification.


A web application is defined as any software application that depends on the World Wide Web for its correct execution. A variety of web applications have already been developed in product design and manufacture, and more are yet to appear in the very near future. The web technology is highly expected to provide an adequate information infrastructure to support the collaboration between work centres geographically distributed over time. This paper examines a number of representative major initiatives and projects recently completed or just launched on web-based product design and manufacture. Major issues emerged from these recent developments are then identified and discussed in the design and development of future web applications in product design and manufacture. Many of these issues have not yet been dealt with adequately and will be the major challenges for further research. It is hoped that this article assists the researchers who have recently entered into, or have worked for some time on, this field of web application in product design and manufacture, to better understand the potentials and challenges of the web technology.


Fragile X syndrome (FXS), one of the most common genetic causes of autism, results from a loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) expression. At the molecular level, abnormal neurodevelopment is thought to result from dysregulated protein synthesis of key neural synaptic proteins, however recent evidence suggests broader roles for this protein including glutamate signaling, memory, and regulation of the critical serine/threonine regulatory kinase, glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). In this review, genetic and molecular features of FXS are detailed in the context of FXS neuropathology. Additionally, potential mechanisms by which FMRP silencing impacts GSK-3 and GSK-3-associated signaling pathways are discussed. As GSK-3 signaling represents a central regulatory node for critical neurodevelopmental pathways, understanding how FXS results from FMRP-mediated GSK-3 dysregulation may provide novel therapeutic targets for disease-modifying interventions for FXS and related ASDs.


The objective of this work is to identify geological circular forms, impact and volcano craters, using satellite images. The recognition of objects (circular forms) in the scene is the last step in a processing chain, which can be described in four phases: image preprocessing, pattern detection, pattern recognition, and identification of the targets (models). The paper presents the detection of circular forms on images including the south region of the Minas Gerais State in Brazil.


Finite element modelling of steady state creep process has been described.
 Using an analogy of visco-plastic problem with a described procedure, the
 finite element method has been used to calculate steady state stresses and
 strains in 2D problems. An example of application of such a procedure have
 been presented, using real life problem - cylindrical pipe with longitudinal
 crack at high temperature, under internal pressure, and estimating its
 residual life, based on the C*integral evaluation.


No apology is necessary for the introduction of the subject of substitute feeding of sucklings. If any one should question the importance we have merely to point to the mortality statistics in bottle- and breastfed babies. The host of substitute foods and preparations on the market is sufficient evidence of their inutility and, even though the clinic evidence were wanting, our knowledge of their composition and the physiologic requirements of infant digestion would lead us to discard a great majority. After experimental excursions along other lines, the tendency in America is to accept the milk of cows, goats and asses as the most available substitute, containing all the elements of infant nutrition in nearly normal proportions. Cow's milk has become more popular since the elaboration of the hygienic dairy system and the aseptic precautions in the care of the milk. Especially is milk popularized in localities where laboratories (such as


The mathematical modeling of species interactions usually relies on competition  models. However, it is known that species interactions may exhibit more complicated patterns with a crowding effect and this can be particularly important in benign environments. In this paper we discuss competition models with a crowding effect and indicate how they may be analyzed. We also propose a different approach to studying the global asymptotic stability of coexistence steady-state. Keywords : Competition, Stability


The most recent set of papers to issue from Australia's biennial library history conference
reflects the uniqueness of the Australian situation at the same time that it
resonates with concerns central to American library history, namely, the origins of
free library sen'ice; the history and purposes of reading; censorship; professional
biography; and the transformation of library science to library and information
studies. Aside from stumbling on the occasional anglicization in spelling or historical usage (for example, expirees on p. 8, ticket-of-leave men on p. 16, inquiry room for reference room on p. 135, and tertiary instead of higher education throughout), nonspecialists will find the collection engaging, although the papers were largely accepted as written by the editor and are somewhat uneven in terms of quality of documentation and approach.


Background Cholinergic receptors, discovered on bone cells suggest that the cholinergic nervous system may play a regulatory role also in bone metabolism. Our previous experiments have confirmed the presence of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits on osteoclasts, and have revealed that the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor plays a key role in the regulation of osteoclastogenesis in vitro. Objectives To evaluate the role of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in bone homeostasis in vivo. Methods We analyzed the bone phenotype of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor knockout mice (α7 nAChR-/- mice). We investigated the bone phenotype of C57/BL6 α7 nAChR-/- mice as well as sex- and age-matched littermates. For bone mineral density (BMD) measurements we evaluated the proximal tibia and BMD values were calculated by using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Bone phenotype was further evaluated by histomorphometrical analysis using 2-μm decalcified paraffin-embedded sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin, toluidine blue, and TRAP. Histomorphometry of metaphyses was performed using an Axioskop 2 microscope and OsteoMeasure Analysis System (OsteoMetrics) according to international standards. Results We observed no marked macroscopic alterations suggestive of a severe osteopetrotic phenotype (disturbed teeth eruption, shortened limbs) in α7 nAChR-/- mice. However, DEXA revealed a significantly increased trabecular density (+26%) in 16 week old male α7 nAChR-/- mice compared to wild-type littermates. In line with this finding, histomorphometry of α7 nAChR-/- mice also showed increased bone volume/tissuevolume (p≤0.001) as well as increased trabecular thickness (p≤0.001), coupled with reduced trabecular separation (p≤0.001). To further evaluate the pathomechanisms involved, we elaborated the effects of α7 nAChR on both osteoclasts and osteoblasts. In α7 nAChR-/- mice we found a reduced number of osteoclasts/bone perimeter (p≤0.001) and reduced osteoclast surface/bone surface (p≤0.05), whereas osteoblasts were not affected. Conclusions Our investigations have revealed increased bone mass coupled with reduced osteoclastogenesis in mice lacking the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit. These findings confirm the significance of these receptors in osteoclastogenesis and highlight the important regulatory role of the cholinergic nervous system in bone turnover. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Laboratory experiment was conducted to determine the insecticidal activity of leaves and stem bark powder of Sodom apple ( Calotropis procera ) and optimum concentration for the management of maize weevil ( Sitophilus zeamais ). Actellic dust was used a positive control and untreated maize seeds serving as negative control. The experiment was laid in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) comprising of Leaves powder (1 g, 3 g and 5 g), stem bark powder (1 g 3 g and 5 g), Actellic dust and control. These were applied to 100 g healthy maize seeds and repeated three times. Contact activity of the plant products were evaluated and data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were separated using NDMRT at 1% and 5% probability level. The results showed that the application of 5 g/100g leaves significantly (P<0.05) caused highest mortality of adult S. zeamais at 24 (2.33), 48 (2.66), 72 (2.33) and 96 (2.00) hours by contact toxicity comparable to other treated seeds. Similarly, maize seeds treated with 5 g /100 g of the leaves powder significantly (P<0.05) decreased Oviposition (3.33), Adult emergence (3.00), Percentage grain damage (3.67%), Number of exit holes (3.33) and Weight loss (1.63%). Germination of the treated seeds was not affected negatively. The 5 g of leave of C. procera could be recommended as suitable alternatives to chemical pesticides to be used as contact protectants against S. zeamais on stored maize seeds.


Which factors influence the year-class strength of cod? In the previous years extensive investigations were carried out concerning the reproduction biology of cod in the Baltic Sea. The analyses showed that the year class strength of the eastern Baltic cod stock is deci-sively determined by the bad oxygen conditions dur-ing the spawning season in the summer and by sprat as predator of the cod eggs. In the western Baltic Sea these factors have no importance. The year classes are mainly determined by the strong variations of the por-tions of female cods, which participated in the spawning activities in the region. The individuals within the length range from 35 cm to 45 cm have a special im-portance at this time, caused by the actual age struc-ture of the cod stock.


* Summary: A complex projective manifold is said to be weakly-special if none of its finité etale covers maps rationally onto a positive-dimensional manifold of general type. Weakly-special manifolds are conjectured in [H-T 00] to be potentially dense if defined over a number field. In [Ca 01; 2.1], the stronger notion of special (complex projective) manifold is introduced. These are conjectured there (9.20) to be exactly the potentially dense ones (when defined over a number field). The two notions of specialness and weak-specialness coincide up to dimension 2, but differ from dimension 3 on, as shown by examples X constructed by Bogomolov-Tschinkel in [BT 03], answering a question raised in [Ca 01]. These examples should thus be potentially dense, according to the first conjecture, but should not be so, according to the second conjecture. The present techniques of arithmetic geometry do not seem to be able to decide between these two conflicting conjectures (see remark 4.11). So, instead of this, we investigate the hyperbolic aspects of the examples of [B-T 03], and show that for certain X's, the behaviour of entire transcendental curves is the one conjectured in [Ca 01; 9.16, p. 618]. More precisely: the image of any holomorphic map from C to X is contained either in some fibre of the unique elliptic fibration on X, or in some fixed divisor of X. Which is consistent with the standard links (Lang, Vojta for varieties of general type, [Ca 01] in general) expected between hyperbolic and arithmetic behaviour of projective varieties in case the second conjecture (in [Ca 01]) holds. Conversely, if the conjecture stated in [H-T 00] is true, these expected links between arithmetics and complex hyperbolicity should fail to hold on these examples already. Introduction Soit X une variété projective complexe lisse et connexe. Une fibration ϕ : X → Y est une application méromorphe dominantè a fibres connexes, avec Y lisse. On dit que X est faiblement-spéciale (ou f-spéciale) s'il n'existe pas de revêtementétale fini u : X ′ → X et d'application méromorphe surjective ϕ : X ′ → Y , o` u Y est une variété de type général de dimension p > 0 (voir [Ca 01; 9.26, p. 621] pour cette notion). 1 On dit que X est spéciale s'il n'existe pas de fibration de type général ϕ : X → Y , avec dim(Y) := p > 0. Voir plus de détails …


Automated test execution is one of the more popular and available strategies to minimize the cost for software testing, and is also becoming one of the central concepts in modern software development as methods such as test-driven development gain popularity. Published studies on test automation indicate that the maintenance and development of test automation tools commonly encounter problems due to unforeseen issues. To further investigate this, we performed a case study on a telecommunication subsystem to seek factors that contribute to inefficiencies in use, maintenance, and development of the automated testing performed within the scope of responsibility of a software design team. A qualitative evaluation of the findings indicates that the main areas of improvement in this case are in the fields of interaction design and general software design principles, as applied to test execution system development.


It is time to go beyond the established approaches in human-computer interaction. After a serious critic of command language, menu selection, and desktop interfaces we discuss the two known approaches to overcome the obstacles and limitations: virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). Both design strategies are diametrically opposed: VR enriches the virtual world with real humans, while AR augments the real world with intelligent features. Only with the AR design strategy humans are able to behave as much as possible in a natural way: behavior of humans in the real world with other humans and/or real world objects. Our interest in human centred design let us follow this idea. Based on the fundamental constraints of natural way of interacting we derive a set of recommendations for the next generation of user interfaces: the natural user interface (NUI). The concept of NUI is discussed in forms of general framework and several NUI-like applications. Finally, we describe the interdisciplinary research topics that must be taken into consideration for a well-designed NUI in the near future.


Interests in the statistical properties of language, the basic tool for communication, has been frequently used for the development of computer sciences such as the construction of efficient binary codes. The language itself may be also regarded as a code for certain conceptual entities. From this point of view, in this study, statistical structures of printed Turkish, English, German, French, Russian and Spanish are examined on the basis of the probability distribution of letters for the same semantic content. Consequently, the optimal language in the sense of coding theory is determined by using Shannon's measure for entropy. During the analysis of the study, we encountered by some known difficulties about the evaluation of Shannon's measure. In order to get over these difficulties, we have established that the regression analysis is a convenient method. So, a regression equation is given for generalization of entropy estimates and related interpretations are given. The main important result of the paper is that the slope of the simple linear regression model gives the approximated value for the entropy of the languages.


A hazard during installation of jack-up spudcans is punch-through, which is characterized by a peak resistance, followed by a significant reduction in spudcan resistance. This might lead to an uncontrolled rapid leg penetration as the installation generally is load-controlled. The problem is typical for sites where a stiff soil layer is overlying a soft clay layer. Accurate calculation of the expected displacement-resistance curve for these soil conditions is therefore important in order to reduce the risk of uncontrolled punch-through conditions. Numerical simulation of spud-can penetration into seabed during installation of jack-up platforms is a complex problem involving both large strains and large displacements where the geometry changes during penetration e.g. interface between layers. The Coupled-Eulerian-Lagrangion (CEL) method available in the finite element program package ABAQUS is suitable for this type of problem. The main aim of this Master Thesis is therefore to use the CEL method to analyse some published examples of spudcan penetration. Some preliminary tests were performed in Abaqus/Explicit, namely triaxial, oedometer and T-bar tests. It was revealed that the element size had a large impact on the results, where smaller elements increased the accuracy in general. The compression/penetration rate affected mainly the oscillations that occurred in the results. However, the resistance oscillated around an apparently correct mean value, and it was therefore possible to filter out some of the oscillations. Two spudcan penetration cases were chosen for calculation. The cases were found in Sindhu Tjahyono?s doctor thesis (Tjahyono, 2011). Comparison with Tjahyono?s results showed that smaller elements reduce the resistance, while larger elements increase the resistance. This behaviour was also found by the preliminary simulation. The cases with strain-softening were sensitive to mesh size, as the strain-softening were mostly localized in the shear bands, and the thickness to the shear bands were governed by the element size. Consequently can non-conservative result regarding punch-through be obtained if the elements are too small, as the soil behavior becomes more similar to a case where the soil has been fully remolded. Theoretical hand calculations for spudcan penetration were also investigated. SNAME?s guideline proposed in 2002 for two-layered clay was overly conservative. Hossain & Randolph?s method calculated the resistance more accurate, and gave a better description of the soil mechanisms, e.g. cavity depth. The method proposed by Tjahyono gave the closest estimate compared to the FEM calculations. The CEL method in Abaqus/Explicit has proven to be suitable for spudcan penetration problems. The penetration speed affected mainly how much oscillation that occurs in the results. The oscillation may be filtered out as the resistance oscillated around a mean value. The computational cost for these types of problems are large, and it is therefore of interest to find the highest penetration rate for which oscillations may be filtered out. However, there were some difficulties regarding the effects from the element size, especially when trying to include strain-softening behavior. It is important to address this problem, as non-conservative results might be obtained.