Topological order in two-dimensional systems is studied by combining the braid group formalism with a gauge invariance analysis. We show that flux insertions (or large gauge transformations) pertinent to the toroidal topology induce automorphisms of the braid group, giving rise to a unified algebraic structure that characterizes the ground-state subspace and fractionally charged, anyonic quasiparticles. Minimal ground-state degeneracy is derived without assuming any relation between quasiparticle charge and statistics. We also point out that noncommutativity between large gauge transformations is essential for the topological order in the fractional quantum Hall effect.


Table 1 summarizes the average elevation changes and standard deviations as well as the points with the largest changes for each year. On average, hardly any settlements can be detected; however, local changes of +2.90 mm to {minus}2.31 mm have been measured. Looking at the low and high points, the settlement process is slowing down over time. Overall, the settlements observed match the expectations for this type of construction. To date no major realignment of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) storage ring has been necessary. The particle beam tracks with the settlements of the floor as long as these changes occur in a smooth fashion and not as sudden discontinuities [5]. From Figures 6 through 8 it is also apparent that settlements affect larger areas in the storage ring and experiment hall that impact the location of the source point as well as the location of the beamline user equipment. The limiting apertures of the insertion device chambers will make realignment of the APS storage ring a necessity at some point in the future. Currently simulations and machine studies we underway to provide an estimate of tolerable settlement limits before a realignment of certain sections of the storage ring would be required. In conclusion, the APS has been constructed on solid ground with an excellent foundation. Only small settlement changes are being observed; so far they are not impacting the operation of the accelerator. We are continuing to monitor deformations of the APS floor in anticipation of a future realignment of the accelerator components.


Objective: Low Back Pain (LBP) is one of the common health problems among full-time office employees that causes employees absenteeism from work. The purpose of the study is to identify the association between occupational factors and LBP among full-time bank employees in Dhaka City. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with 593 full-time bank employees. The one-month complaints of LBP were administered by a musculoskeletal subscale of subjective health complaints by Eriksen et al. A logistic model was performed to identify variables associated with LBP, and a random forest technique was performed to identify the top 5 important variables. Results: The one-month prevalence for LBP was found 36.6% among the bank employees and the prevalence was high (46.6%) for the 41 to 59-year-old age-group. The multiple logistic regression analysis indicates that age (41-59 years) (OR:2.11, CI=1.21-3.74), obesity (OR:2.06, CI=1.014.21) and long working hours (>9 hours) (OR:1.42, CI=1.01-2.0) are positively associated with LBP. Age and length of employment have a positive correlation of 0.87. The random forest technique identifies the top 5 important variables are, age, length of employment, long office hours, presence of chronic illness, and physical activity. Conclusion: LBP is highly prevalent in full-time bank employees. The occupational factors like length of employment (>10 years) and long working hours (>9 hours) play a significant role in developing LBP among the bank employees. Moreover, the factors like age, chronic illness, obesity and physical activity should be taken into account in the prevention of LBP in bank


Deep quantization methods have shown high efficiency on large-scale image retrieval. However, current models heavily rely on ground-truth information, hindering the application of quantization in label-hungry scenarios. A more realistic demand is to learn from inexhaustible uploaded images that are associated with informal tags provided by amateur users. Though such sketchy tags do not obviously reveal the labels, they actually contain useful semantic information for supervising deep quantization. To this end, we propose Weakly-Supervised Deep Hyperspherical Quantization (WSDHQ), which is the first work to learn deep quantization from weakly tagged images. Specifically, 1) we use word embeddings to represent the tags and enhance their semantic information based on a tag correlation graph. 2) To better preserve semantic information in quantization codes and reduce quantization error, we jointly learn semantics-preserving embeddings and supervised quantizer on hypersphere by employing a well-designed fusion layer and tailor-made loss functions. Extensive experiments show that WSDHQ can achieve state-of-art performance in weakly-supervised compact coding.


This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) and analyze whether DR is a risk factor for AMD. This population-based epidemiological study included 14,440 people from the Kailuan Eye Study in 2016, of whom 1,618 were patients with type 2 DM aged over 50 years, and 409 had DM with DR. We analyzed whether there were differences in the prevalence of AMD between DM with DR and DM without DR, and conducted a hierarchical statistical analysis according to different stages of DR. Using variable regression analysis, we explored whether DR constituted a risk factor for AMD. In the DM population, the prevalence of wet AMD in patients with DM with and without DR was 0. 3 and 0.2%, respectively, with no significant difference (P = 0.607). Meanwhile, the prevalence of dry AMD in patients with DM with and without DR was 20.8 and 16.0%, respectively, with a significant difference. In the subgroup analysis of dry AMD, the prevalence of early, middle, and late dry AMD in DM with DR was 14.4, 5.9, and 0.5%, respectively. In DM without DR, the prevalence of early, middle, and late dry AMD was 10.5, 4.8, and 0.7%, respectively (P = 0.031). In the subgroup analysis of DR staging, statistical analysis could not be performed because of the limited number of patients with PDR. In the variable regression analysis of risk factors for dry AMD, after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, DR constituted the risk factor for dry AMD. In conclusion, DM did not constitute a risk factor for AMD, and the prevalence of wet AMD and dry AMD in patients with DM and DR was higher than that in patients with DM without DR (among which dry AMD was statistically significant). Multivariate regression analysis confirmed that DR is an independent risk factor for dry AMD. Reasonable control of DM and slowing down the occurrence and development of DR may effectively reduce the prevalence of AMD in patients with DM.


SmartCQL, enhanced version of CQL is developed so as to provide semantics to handle complex queries. Simple SPJ (Select Project Join) queries are no longer useful and the existing CQL supports complex queries only to a certain extent. But the main goal of SmartCQL is to enhance this feature to a large extent. We achieved this goal by providing semantics to handle complex queries like sub queries which was not handled by CQL. We solved the famous Linear Road problem, benchmark for data streams with minimum number of queries as compared to CQL. Here we will show how SmartCQL increased the expressiveness to a greater extent.


Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are natural stressors in the coastal environment that may be increasing in frequency and severity. This study investigates whether severe red tide blooms, caused by Karenia brevis, affect the behavior of resident coastal bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida through changes to juvenile dolphin activity budgets, ranging patterns, and social associations. Behavioral observations were conducted on free-ranging juvenile dolphins during the summer months of 2005–2007, and behavior during red tide blooms was compared to periods of background K. brevis abundance. We also utilized dolphin group sighting data from 2004 to 2007 to obtain comparison information from before the most severe recent red tide of 2005 and incorporate social association information from adults in the study area. We found that coastal dolphins displayed a suite of behavioral changes associated with red tide blooms, including significantly altered activity budgets, increased sociality, and expanded ranging behavior. At present, we do not fully understand the mechanism behind these red tide-associated behavioral effects, but they are most likely linked to underlying changes in resource availability and distribution. These behavioral changes have implications for more widespread population impacts, including increased susceptibility to disease outbreaks, which may contribute to unusual mortality events during HABs.


Liberal feminism has become a trending topic in articles and journals and has also been appointed as a theme in several novels and films. Some cases of liberal feminism were depicted by the main character in the film Brave, Merida. In Brave, the main character was talking about woman's liberation or the woman's movement, which fought for the right to get her freedom. This research aimed to find the types of liberal feminism and the characteristics of liberal feminism in the utterances and gestures of the main character in the film. From the gestures and utterances of Merida, the writer analyzed liberal feminism by using the descriptive qualitative method. Techniques of data collection were done by watching the film, selecting and noting down the data from the gestures and utterances which were related to the types of liberal feminism portrayed by the main character in the film Brave. The result of the study found 22 data on the liberal feminism of the main character in the film Brave. From the 22 data, there were 19 data that included individualist feminism, and three data were libertarian feminism. From those types, the writer also found the characteristics of liberal feminism; there was equal education, the right to vote, the mature and find women's identity, and equal liberty (the freedom of speech and press). The study found the dominant characteristic was the right to vote, which means the main character in the film Brave mostly showed how she fought for her freedom to choose.


The case study described in this report has been carried out for the Born Global language policy research project. The overall aim of Born Global is to understand in more detail the deficit and the demand in language capability in the UK, both with regard to the wider economy and more narrowly in relation to academic research. A more comprehensive understanding, it is hoped, can "inform government language policy development" as well as "future developments in Higher Education language curricula and assessment" (British Academy 2014). Our research has to be seen in this wider context and focuses on the supply side of language skills in HE language courses which are part of so-called Institution Wide Language Provision or Programmes (IWLP). In the first section some overview numerical data is presented to give a very brief outline of IWLP in the UK higher education sector, before describing and analysing the results of a case study conducted at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). 1
The case study focused on student motivation for language learning, their plurilingual competencies, sense of attainment and progress and their overall evaluation and understanding of language learning processes.


Ancient technical texts have never been studied as much as in the last two decades. Many excellent critical editions of Greek and Latin treatises of medicine, architecture, geography and other fields have appeared, and substantial scholarship has shed light on the peculiarities of this long-despised literature. Linguistic, socio-linguistic and rhetorical studies, in particular, have contributed to its renaissance among the richest and most interesting testimonies to ancient culture. Moreover, this rehabilitation has had consequences for literary studies generally, for technical texts have proved invaluable for our understanding of many aspects of Greek and Latin prose as well as poetry, as for example J. Jouanna has shown through several studies on classical Greek authors, and D.R. Langslow through his seminal study on Latin poetry and medical Latin ('The language of poetry and the language of science: the Latin poets and medical Latin', Proceedings of the British Academy 93 (1999) 183225). Far from being a self-sufficient field that some could imagine as being detached from high literature, ancient technical texts are a promising area for whoever is interested in the various paths of interlocking genres, languages and registers in ancient texts. Thorsten Fögen is known for several articles of high quality in this field. One of the greatest merits of his Antike Fachtexte collection is its broad scope: for short or very specialized studies are still the rule (with notable exceptions, like Fuhrmann, all listed in the bibliography). Though remaining purposely concise, Fögen's introduction gives an accurate picture of the recent developments in the field which led him to edit this volume. The various contributions deal either with technical texts or with technical aspects of literary ones (e.g. Sibylle Ihm's analysis of the role of medical speech in Menander's Aspis). The 'technical' fields covered by the contributors include medicine (four articles on Galen, by M. Asper, D. Nickel, S. Vogt and J. Wilkins), grammar, commentaries and subjects as diverse as artillery and philosophy. In the field of medicine, and more particularly Galen, Markus Asper's essay entitled 'Un personaggio in cerca di lettore: Galens Grosser Puls und die Erfindung des Lesers' is an outstanding contribution to the rhetorical study of medical speech (as was already the case in his general survey of works for beginners, 'Zu Struktur und Funktion eisagogischer Texte', ScriptOralia 95 (Tübingen 1998) 309-40). Through a penetrating analysis of Galen's discourse in one of his main works on pulse-lore, Asper demonstrates how Galen's 'anxiety of influence' shaped his legacy and conditioned the reception of his works, eliminating those of his predecessors. This idea could certainly be extended to, and confirmed by, a parallel study of, for example, Galen's pharmacological works. In a different way, Bruno Rochette's article on the translation of technical terms by Apuleius makes two major interdisciplinary contributions: (a) the linguistic approach to Apuleius and his attitude towards Greek language allows Rochette to draw essential conclusions as to the significance of the Latin author in the neoPlatonic tradition, which will be of major interest to both philosophers and philologists; (b) it provides a clear and insightful introduction to his own (and Fögen's) field of research, that is ancient bilingualism, not least through the rich bibliography closing the paper. To summarize the general qualities of this carefully edited book: its wide-ranging, challenging theme and its broad perspective (including modern approaches to technical vocabulary and speech) make it a substantial and stimulating contribution to the field of ancient technical texts. Some contributions stand out, sometimes drawing attention to little-researched technical authors like the Byzantine physician Leo (our knowledge of whom is now renewed by Barbara Zipser's article). As often in such collaborative volumes, though, the individual articles are of unequal interest or strength. One may also find its approach slightly too German-centred (notably in Kalverkämper's final essay). However, on the whole, this book is an engaging read and provides key answers to some crucial issues in ancient technical texts. CAROLINE PETIT University of Exeter email@example.com


Background: Prior to any revascularization procedure for coronary artery disease, it is essential to identify viable myocardium which will likely benefit from it. In such a situation, delayed enhanced cardiac MRI is beneficial. Methods: Our study consisted of 50 patients with at least a one-month prior history of myocardial infarction (MI), abnormal findings on electrocardiography (ECG), and 2D-echocardiography (2D-ECHO), who were subjected to cardiac MRI performed on a 3T MRI machine. The MRI scans were evaluated for anatomical and especially functional characteristics of the heart, such as wall motion. On late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), the diseased segments were classified into two categories: < 50% LGE (viable) and > 50% LGE (non-viable). Results: Of the 378 diseased segments detected on LGE, 137 (36.2%) segments showed < 50% LGE and 241 (63.8%) segments showed > 50% LGE. The segments showing < 50% LGE showed normokinesia or hypokinesia, with none of the segments showing akinesia or dyskinesia, whereas the segments showing > 50% LGE showed akinesia or dyskinesia predominantly. This was found to be statistically highly significant (p-value < 0.001). Conclusion: Delayed enhanced-cardiac magnetic resonance (DE-CMR) imaging in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) helps evaluate the severity of the infarcted myocardium by classifying the diseased myocardium into viable and non-viable, as viable myocardium is more likely to regain functional recovery than non-viable myocardium. It also predicts the functional recovery of the myocardium after revascularization therapy.


In addition to challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss, the sustainability and resilience of agrifood systems worldwide are currently challenged by new threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war. Furthermore, the resilience and sustainability of our agrifood systems need to be enhanced in ways that simultaneously increase agricultural production, decrease post-harvest food losses and food waste, protect the climate, environment and health, and preserve biodiversity. The precarious situation of agrifood systems is also illustrated by the fact that overall, around 3 billion people worldwide still do not have regular access to a healthy diet. This results in various forms of malnutrition, as well as increasing number of people suffering from overweight and obesity, and diet-related, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) around the world. Findings from microbiome research have shown that the human gut microbiome plays a key role in nutrition and diet-related diseases and thus human health. Furthermore, the microbiome of soils, plants, and animals play an equally important role in environmental health and agricultural production. Upcoming, microbiome-based solutions hold great potential for more resilient, sustainable, and productive agrifood systems and open avenues toward preventive health management. Microbiome-based solutions will also be key to make better use of natural resources and increase the resilience of agrifood systems to future emerging and already-known crises. To realize the promises of microbiome science and innovation, there is a need to invest in enhancing the role of microbiomes in agrifood systems in a holistic One Health approach and to accelerate knowledge translation and implementation.


In one case accompanied by congenital partial absence of the pectoralis major muscle the sternalis muscle was examined to confirm its innervation by means of analysis of intramuscular nerve distribution. It was proved that the sternalis muscle was supplied only by the pectoral nerves even in the case of sternalis in direct contact with the proper thoracic wall. These findings as well as the results of Ura (1937) and Morita (1944) favor the interpretation presented by Eisler (1901), in which the sternalis muscle was described as being supplied only by the pectoral nerves. However, the problem of double innervation of the sternalis requires continued discussion because the relationships between the pectoral nerves and the branches of the intercostal nerves or extramural nerves (Yamada & Mannen, 1985; Kodama et al., 1986) have not yet been resolved. The precise genesis of the sternalis muscle should be also examined though it has already been proved to be derived from the pectoralis muscle group including the subcutaneous trunci muscle.


We report on the discovery of new members of nearby young moving groups, exploiting the full power of combining the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey with several stellar age diagnostic methods and follow-up high-resolution optical spectroscopy. The results include the identification of one new and five likely members of the β Pictoris moving group, ranging from spectral types F9 to M4 with the majority being M dwarfs, one K7 likely member of the Cha group and two stars in the Tucana–Horologium association. Based on the positive identifications, we foreshadow a great potential of the RAVE data base in progressing towards a full census of young moving groups in the solar neighbourhood.


.................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ..................................................................................................................................... iv Table of contents ...................................................................................................................... vi List of tables ............................................................................................................................. ix List of figures ............................................................................................................................ x List of abbreviations .............................................................................................................. xiii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. xv Dedication ............................................................................................................................. xvii


Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) plays central roles in development, cell growth and transformation. Inactivation of the gene encoding the PP2A catalytic subunit Calpha by gene targeting generates a lethal embryonic phenotype. No mesoderm is formed in Calpha(-/-) embryos. Here, we found that during normal early embryonic development Calpha was predominantly present at the plasma membrane whereas the highly homologous isoform Cbeta was localized to the cytoplasm and nuclei, suggesting the inability of Cbeta to compensate for vital functions of Calpha in Calpha(-/-) embryos. In addition, PP2A was found in a complex containing the PP2A substrates E-cadherin and beta-catenin. In Calpha(-/-) embryos, E-cadherin and beta-catenin were redistributed from the plasma membrane to the cytosol. Cytosolic concentrations of beta-catenin were low. Our results suggest that Calpha is required for stabilization of E-cadherin/beta-catenin complexes at the plasma membrane.


The purpose of this study was to nd out which stereotypes pre- vail in future Physical Education (PE) teachers when asked about immi- grant population and to see if within that stereotype, there are subtle or blatant racist attitudes, as well as egalitarian attitudes. A sample of 2524 volunteer pre-service Physical Education teachers (PPET) was used to par- ticipate in this study.  A questionnaire on Racist Stereotypes in Ini- tial Training of PE Teachers and a Subtle and Blatant Prejudice Scale were used. Descriptive, univariate and multivariate statistics were used to analyse the information gathered. e data showed PPET with a false tolerant stereotype, where the contextual variables gender and religious preference were crucial, since the boys respect girls, as well as Catholics regard non-believers or other religions, they are reected less egalitarian stereotypes.


Background
Academic teaching institutions perform approximately one third of all orthopedic procedures in the United States. Revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA) is a complex and challenging procedure that requires expertise and extensive planning, however the impact of resident involvement on outcomes is poorly understood. The aim of the study was to investigate whether resident involvement in rTKA impacts postoperative complication rates, operative time, and length of hospital stay (LOS).

Methods
The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program registry was queried to identify patients who underwent rTKA procedures from 2006-2012 using CPT codes 27486 and 27487. Cases were classified as resident involved or attending only. Demographics, comorbidities, and 30-day postoperative complications were analyzed. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for increased 30-day postoperative complications. Wilcoxon rank sum tests were performed to determine the impact of resident involvement on operative time and LOS with significance defined as p<0.05.

Results
In total, 2,396 cases of rTKA were identified, of which 972 (40.6%) involved residents. The two study groups were similar, however the resident involved cohort had more patients with hypertension and ASA class 3 (p=0.02, p=0.04). There was no difference in complications between the cohorts (No Resident vs Resident-involved: 7.0% vs 6.7%, p=0.80). Multivariate analysis identified obesity (OR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.18-2.79, p=0.01), morbid obesity (OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.09-2.57, p=0.02), congestive heart failure (OR: 5.97, 95% CI: 1.19-24.7, p=0.02), and chronic prosthetic joint infection (OR: 3.16, 95% CI: 2.184.56, p<0.01), as independent risk factors for 30-day complications after rTKA. However, resident involvement was not associated with complications within 30-days following rTKA (OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.65-1.26, p=0.57). Resident involvement was associated with increased operative time (p<0.001) and LOS (P<0.001).

Conclusion
Resident involvement in rTKA cases is not associated with an increased risk of 30-day postoperative complications. However, resident operative involvement was associated with longer operative time and length of hospital stay. Level of Evidence: III.


The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between soy consumption and colorectal cancer risk in humans by conducting a meta-analysis of available epidemiologic studies. We systematically reviewed publications obtained through a Medline literature search and identified four cohort and seven case-control studies on soy and colorectal cancer risk that met the inclusion criteria. We extracted the risk estimate (hazard ratio, relative risk or odds ratio) of the highest and the lowest reported categories of intake from each study and conducted this analysis using a random-effects model. Our analysis did not find that soy consumption was associated with colorectal cancer risk (combined risk estimate: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.79, 1.03) nor the separate analyses on colon cancer (combined risk estimate: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.74, 1.06) and rectal cancer (combined risk estimate: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.67, 1.14). However, when separately analyzed on the basis of gender, we found soy was associated with an approximately 21% reduction in colorectal cancer risk in women (combined risk estimate: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.65, 0.97; P = 0.026), but not in men (combined risk estimate: 1.10, 95% CI: 0.90, 1.33). Thus, consumption of soy foods may be associated with a reduction in colorectal cancer risk in women, but not in men. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1893.


Abstract In this paper, effect of Hall currents on the thermal instability of couple-stress fluid permeated with dust particles has been considered. Following the linearized stability theory and normal mode analysis, the dispersion relation is obtained. For the case of stationary convection, dust particles and Hall currents are found to have destabilizing effect while couple stresses have stabilizing effect on the system. Magnetic field induced by Hall currents has stabilizing/destabilizing effect under certain conditions. It is found that due to the presence of Hall currents (hence magnetic field), oscillatory modes are produced which were non-existent in their absence.


A theoretical description of initial uptake kinetics of H+/sugar symport is given, with emphasis on the differences between carrier and non-carrier systems. Transport of methyl beta-D-thiogalactoside in Saccharomyces fragilis is shown to proceed via the inducible lactose transporter. Uptake of this sugar stimulates electrogenic H+ influx. Together with the correlation between methyl beta-D-thiogalactoside accumulation and the proton-motive force this shows that transport proceeds via H+ symport. Kinetic analysis of initial influx revealed that transport proceeds via a single transport system, sensitive to changes in membrane potential. The pH dependence of the kinetic parameters showed that Kapp is almost pH insensitive, whereas Vapp decreases strongly at increasing extracellular pH. It is shown that transport proceeds, most likely, via a non-carrier system, with random binding of H+ and sugar, in a system where binding of the first ligand does not influence binding of the second.


Distributed generations (DGs) play an important role in distribution networks. Distributed generation (DG) exists in distribution systems and is installed by either the utility or the customers. Distributed Generators (DGs) are now commonly used in distribution systems to reduce the power disruption in the power system network. Due to the installation of DGs in the system, the total power loss can be reduced and voltage profile of the buses can be improved due to this power quality of the distribution system is improved. Studies show that non-optimal locations and non-optimal sizes of DG units may lead to losses increase, together with bad effect on voltage profile. So, this paper aims at determining optimal DG allocation and sizing. To do so, the optimization technique named Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used .this Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) approach), capable to establish the optimal DG allocation and sizing on a distribution network. This paper presents optimal placement and estimation of distributed generation (DG) capacity using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) approach in the distribution systems to reduce the real power losses and to gain voltage profile improvement. The proposed (PSO) based approach is tested on an IEEE 30-bus test system.


Aims: Variation of the sciatic nerve may increase the risk of iatrogenic injury during total hip arthroplasty or arthroscopy, result in failure of peripheral blocks, or be associated with piriformis syndrome. Studies from Africa are scarce, with none to date from South Africa. Thus, the aims were to document the relationship between the sciatic nerve and piriformis muscle, variation in the bifurcation level and in the length of the nerve. Any significant differences between sexes and sides were also investigated.
Methods: The lower limbs of 42 cadavers (84 limbs) were dissected and the relationship between the sciatic nerve and piriformis classified according to the patterns described by Beaton and Anson. The region of sciatic nerve bifurcation was documented, and the length of the nerve was measured in individuals with bifurcation in the thigh.
Results: The normal relationship between the sciatic nerve and piriformis muscle was present in 64 limbs (76.2%). The bifurcation level of the nerve was variable in more than half the sample. No significant differences occurred in any of the variant patterns or bifurcation regions between side or sex; however, variations were more common in females than in males. The mean length of the sciatic nerve was 133.30±19.33 mm, with no differences in length between sex or side.
Conclusion: Variations in the anatomy of the sciatic nerve occurred in up to half of the sample, which may have implications for increased risk of iatrogenic injury in total hip arthroplasty and arthroscopy, piriformis syndrome or sciatic block failure.
Level of evidence: Level 4


ABSTRACT The existence of a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state has been described for Campylobacter jejuni as it had been for a number pathogenic bacteria. Three C. jejuni human isolates were suspended in surface water and subsequently entered the VBNC state. After starvation for 30 days, VBNC cells were inoculated in the yolk sacs of embryonated eggs. Culturable cells were detected in a large proportion of the embryonated eggs inoculated with VBNC C. jejuni cells. Recovered cells kept their adhesion properties.


Purpose: This study was done to identify the influence of workplace violence on anger and post traumatic stress disorder among nurses. Methods: The research design for this study was a descriptive survey design using a random sampling. Data collection was done using self-questionnaire with 477 nurses. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, -test and logistics regression. Results: The incidences of total violence, verbal, physical, and sexual violence were 31.2%, 28.7%, 6.3%, 3.6% of the nurses, respectively. Anger was significantly associated with verbal violence (OR: 2.34, CI: 1.40~3.91) and physical violence (OR:4.85 CI: 1.67~14.13). Post traumatic stress disorder was significantly associated with verbal violence (OR: 15.99, CI: 9.58~26.69) and physical violence (OR: 5.37, CI: 1.66~17.40). Conclusion: To promote psychological health in nurses, there is a need to develop prevention programs to decrease workplace violence and to develop programs supporting psychological aspects of verbal violence that nurses experience.


The overproduction of cells and subsequent production of debris is a universal principle of neurodevelopment. Here we show an additional feature of the developing nervous system that causes neural debris – promoted by the sacrificial nature of embryonic microglia that irreversibly become phagocytic after clearing other neural debris. Described as long-lived, microglia colonize the embryonic brain and persist into adulthood. Using transgenic zebrafish to investigate the microglia debris during brain construction, we identified that unlike other neural cell-types that die in developmental stages after they have expanded, necroptotic-dependent microglial debris is prevalent when microglia are expanding in the zebrafish brain. Time-lapse imaging of microglia demonstrates that this debris is cannibalized by other microglia. To investigate features that promote microglia death and cannibalism, we used time-lapse imaging and fatemapping strategies to track the lifespan of individual developmental microglia. These approaches revealed that instead of embryonic microglia being long-lived cells that completely digest their phagocytic debris, once most developmental microglia in zebrafish become phagocytic they eventually die, including ones that are cannibalistic. These results establish a paradox -- which we tested by increasing neural debris and manipulating phagocytosis -- that once most microglia in the embryo become phagocytic, they die, create debris and then are cannibalized by other microglia, resulting in more phagocytic microglia that are destined to die.


The presence of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in capillaries and arterioles of the cerebral and cerebellar cortex of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients may provide an opportunity to study the clinical significance of these vascular changes in AD. We reviewed the clinical and pathological features of 40 patients with AD without other CNS disease. The sections were examined by the red Congo method under a polarized light for the presence of CAA. Twenty-two (55%) had AD + CAA. CAA was seen most frequently and was of greater severity in occipital and frontal gray matter. We concluded that it is not possible to differentiate between AD patients with CAA and those without CAA in terms of demographic characteristics and neurological and psychiatric symptomatology.


The concept of social capital is increasingly used in entrepreneurship studies to explain the growth of innovative nascent firms. However, empirical findings about the role of social capital (SC) in the growth of young firms have been contradictory to date. We focused on the relational dimension of social capital and differentiated between internal social capital (ISC) and external social capital (ESC). We analysed the perceived utility which is rarely used in SC studies of resources received from the networks of innovative nascent firms in their first six years of existence. We implemented the two-stage least squares (2SLS) analysis to avoid the endogeneity bias. The results indicated that during the early years, nascent firms' external social capital is a decisive resource for growth. This was not the case for internal social capital. We observed that joining an incubator appears to have no impact on either growth or the relationship under study.


In this paper we apply the boundary elements method (BEM) and the dual reciprocity boundary elements method (DRBEM) for the numerical solution of two-dimensional time-fractional partial differential equations (TFPDEs). The fractional derivative of problem is described in the Caputo sense. In BEM, the main equation deduces to solving the Helmholtz equation in each time step. Therefore, we should compute the domain integral in each time step. So, we presented an approach to compute the domain integral with no singularity. On the other hand the DRBEM has the flexibility of discretizing only the boundary of the computational domain and evaluates the solution at any required interior point. We employ the radial basis functions (RBFs) for interpolation of the inhomogeneous and time derivative terms. The proposed method is employed for solving some problems in two--dimensions on unit square and some other complex regions to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.


Objective:To evaluate the effect of video laryngoscopy on the rate of endotracheal intubation on first laryngoscopy attempt among critically ill adults. Design:A randomized, parallel-group, pragmatic trial of video compared with direct laryngoscopy for 150 adults undergoing endotracheal intubation by Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellows. Setting:Medical ICU in a tertiary, academic medical center. Patients:Critically ill patients 18 years old or older. Interventions:Patients were randomized 1:1 to video or direct laryngoscopy for the first attempt at endotracheal intubation. Measurements and Main Results:Patients assigned to video (n = 74) and direct (n = 76) laryngoscopy were similar at baseline. Despite better glottic visualization with video laryngoscopy, there was no difference in the primary outcome of intubation on the first laryngoscopy attempt (video 68.9% vs direct 65.8%; p = 0.68) in unadjusted analyses or after adjustment for the operator's previous experience with the assigned device (odds ratio for video laryngoscopy on intubation on first attempt 2.02; 95% CI, 0.82–5.02, p = 0.12). Secondary outcomes of time to intubation, lowest arterial oxygen saturation, complications, and in-hospital mortality were not different between video and direct laryngoscopy. Conclusions:In critically ill adults undergoing endotracheal intubation, video laryngoscopy improves glottic visualization but does not appear to increase procedural success or decrease complications.


The floating zone method is currently used to obtain Y123 melt textured bars, however the final sample length is always limited by the sample lower part weight which is sustained only by the liquid phase tension surface energy. Indeed, the basic scheme is to attach the bar only by the upper part and the lower part is totally free. A vertical furnace permits then to heat locally the bar and to create the floating zone. The sample translation at low speed (about 1 mm/h) allows the formation of a re-crystallization zone, according to the well known reaction Y211 + Liquid (Ba and Cu rich) $\to$
 Y123, permitting the fabrication of a well textured bar. This work is devoted to present a modification of this process in order to have no limitation in the sample length. The idea which is developed here is to include inside the bar and co-axially a platinum wire. We have chosen a platinum wire due to its high melting temperature and its relatively low reactivity with Y123. We present here results obtained in term of reactivity, texture formation and superconducting properties when Y123 is textured in the presence of platinum wire versus different doped element introduced in the initial mixture.


kd-trees are widely used in parallel databases to support efficient neighborhood/similarity queries. Supporting parallel updates to kd-trees is therefore an important operation. In this paper, we present BDL-tree, a parallel, batch-dynamic implementation of a kd-tree that allows for efficient parallel k-NN queries over dynamically changing point sets. BDL-trees consist of a log-structured set of kd-trees which can be used to efficiently insert or delete batches of points in parallel with polylogarithmic depth. Specifically, given a BDL-tree with n points, each batch of B updates takes O(B log (n+B)) amortized work and O(log(n + B) log log (n+B)) depth (parallel time). We provide an optimized multicore implementation of BDLtrees. Our optimizations include parallel cache-oblivious kd-tree construction and parallel bloom filter construction. Our experiments on a 36-core machine with two-way hyperthreading using a variety of synthetic and real-world datasets show that our implementation of BDL-tree achieves a selfrelative speedup of up to 34.8× (28.4× on average) for batch insertions, up to 35.5× (27.2× on average) for batch deletions, and up to 46.1× (40.0× on average) for k-nearest neighbor queries. In addition, it achieves throughputs of up to 14.5 million updates/second for batch-parallel updates and 6.7 million queries/second for k-NN queries. We compare to two baseline kdtree implementations and demonstrate that BDL-trees achieve a good tradeoff between the two baseline options for implementing batch updates.


Radiation exposures of several mammographic imaging systems, including (a) industrial film, xeroradiographic plates, the Du Pont Lo-Dose vacuum-cassette screen-film combination exposed with a molybdenum target tube and (b) xeroradiographic plates exposed with a tungsten target, were investigated with a thin-window ionization chamber and a range of exposures for different breast sizes was determined for each technique. The Lo-Dose system was found to provide high-quality diagnostic images with minimal patient exposure.


The resurgence and popularity of entrepreneurship among policy makers in the 21st century is accentuated by the perceived importance and its efficacy in promoting country?s economic prosperity, reducing poverty and unemployment amongst others. Many believed that the slow face of entrepreneurship development could be linked to Nigeria educational policies. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are two, first to qualitatively review the role of educational policies in promoting entrepreneurship. Secondly, highlight the implications of entrepreneurship amidst poverty and unemployment in Nigeria. The Nigeria educational policy during the colonial period was geared toward preparing able men and women for effective administration of Nigeria colony and protectorates. Nigeria, despite its vast material and human resources fails to provide required job for teaming job seekers and increase the general income level of people over the last two or three decades. It is believe that the high poverty and unemployment rate in Nigeria are clear indications that the country has a good cause for fighting poverty and unemployment. It was argued that pursuing entrepreneurship might have serious implications in addressing the country?s economic developmental issues. Similarly, entrepreneurship practice in an economy such as Nigeria could reveal many exciting information. It is interesting to find whether the businesses created by the poor and unemployed translate into economic growth or not. On the one hand, it was argued that business created by this group of people can have indirect effect to the economy. The successful ones can create jobs for others and stimulate innovations which will subsequently contribute to the overall productivity and competitiveness of the economy. It is expected that entrepreneurship could make serious impact especially in Nigeria.


We describe a fixed-point based approach to the theory of bipartite stable matchings. By this, we provide a common framework that links together seemingly distant results, like the stable marriage theorem of Gale and Shapley [11], the Menelsohn-Dulmage theorem [21], the Kundu-Lawler theorem [19], Tarski's fixed point theorem [32], the Cantor-Bernstein theorem, Pym's linking theorem [22, 23] or the monochromatic path theorem of Sands et al. [29]. In this framework , we formulate a matroid-generalization of the stable marriage theorem and study the lattice structure of generalized stable matchings. Based on the theory of lattice polyhedra and blocking polyhedra, we extend results of Vande Vate [33] and Rothblum [28] on the bipartite stable matching polytope.


A tight functional link between the central nervous and peripheral immune system closely related to the activity of NF-κB transcription factor has been evidenced in numerous brain pathological conditions. One of the most instructive examples is a prion neuroinvasion and the development of transmissible spongioform encephalopathy (TSE) or prion diseases. The failure of peripherally administrated prions to elicit disease in immune-deficient mice indicates that preserved organ microarchitecture is crucial for TSE pathogenesis and it seems to go through topographic relationships between follicular dendritic cells and sympathetic endings in lymphoid organs. New insight into the molecular requirements for follicular dendritic cell (FDC) development in NF-κB p52 deficient mice highlights the role of NF-κB transcription factor in prion disease progression. However, adoptive transfer of wild type bone marrow cells (NF-κB +/+ background) into p52 deficient animals (NF-κB -/- background) does not correct the FDC defect. RT-PCR analysis of the expression level of mRNA for LTa, LTb, TNFRI and BLC of the splenic cells from p52/NF-κB mutant/wt BM chimera did not reveal major changes compared to wt/wt BM chimeras, indicating that their normal expression within splenic tissue does not assure for complete restoration of the FDC network in p52/NF-κB mutant. This implies that the distance between FDCs and splenic nerve terminals around the central arteriole is longer and could interfere with prion spreading in lymphoid organs prior to neuroinvasion. In light of the fact that prion neuroinvasion highly depends on the physical distance between sympathetic nerve endings and FDCs dendritic extensions, it is not hard to imagine that this could be the way to approach the problem of prion diseases development.


A brand new design of slot-waveguide is proposed using a subwavelength hollow-core fiber, which enables light to be confined in an extremely small hollow-core with long interaction length. The slot-waveguide fiber (SWF) can be used in various applications such as modulators, directional couplers and multimode interference devices, and it has specific advantages in ultra-low volume optofluidic sensing compared with other waveguide structures. The guiding properties and optimization of the design to maximize its sensitive will be discussed.


Overt hypothyroidism(HO) defined as high Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels with low levels of
free thyroxine (FT4) and / or free triiodothyronine (FT3). Hypothyroidism is associated with an increased
risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Serum Homocysteine (Hcy) is a independent risk factor for
atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Elevated plasma homocysteine levels have been reported in
overt hypothyroidism.
Aim: To study levels of Hcy in relation to TSH, FT4 and FT3 levels in overt hypothyroid patients compared
to control groups and correlation between Hcy and thyroid hormones.
Materials and Methods: This study included 50 female overt hypothyroid cases with age group between
18-50 years and 50 healthy females controls with same age group. Serum homocysteine was estimated by
Homocysteine Enzyme Assay in Cobas Integra 400 plus. TSH, FT4 & FT3 estimated by CLIA method
using Beckman coulter Access 2. Parameters of cases and controls are compared using unpaired 't' test and
the association between parameters is assessed by using Pearson's correlation.
Results: There is a significant increase in Serum Hcy levels 19.24 7.15 mmol/L and TSH levels 30.91
10.21 mIU/ml respectively (p value
Hcy was positively correlated with TSH and negatively correlated with FT4 and FT3.
Conclusion: Thus, from our study we can conclude that serum Hcy levels can be used as a marker, which
points towards the possible risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases in Overt hypothyroid
patients.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Cardiovascular disease, Homocysteine, Overt hypothyroidism.


In most African communities, failure to lactate, like failure to ovulate, means failure to reproduce. Thus plant extracts are being used by African women to induce or stimulate milk production. An ethnobotanical survey has been carried out in the northern, central, eastern and southern parts of Burkina Faso. In total 79 informants (healers and village elders) and 217 users from 22 villages were interviewed. This survey shows that the use of plants during lactation is common and that the indigenous people have a remarkable knowledge of species and their use as crude drugs. Ethnobotanical data on 90 plant species belonging to 40 families, including medical use and traditional practices, were collected. Agalactia is the most common pathology after parturition, since 34% of the plants are used for induction of lactation. This survey pointed out seven species including Pennisetum americanum, Vitellaria paradoxa, Cadaba farinosa, Leptadenia hastata, Capsicum frutescens, Crateva adansonii, Acacia nilotica ssp adansonii to be widely used by women. The first six species are commonly used in human alimentation, albeit the latter appeared to be frequently used together with other plants for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases. Despite the widespread use of Acacia nilotica ssp adansonii in folk medicine, little is known about its actual pharmacological mechanism. In view of the traditional belief that Acacia nilotica ssp adansonii (AN) can stimulate milk production in lactating women, experiments were performed to determine the effect of an aqueous extract of AN on milk production in the rat. Female rats that received the AN extract orally during their first lactation, produced about 59% more milk causing an increase in pup growth compared to that in controls (P<0.01). Prolactin (PRL) is known to stimulate milk synthesis and secretion. Experiments were performed in peri-pubertal and adult virgin female rats to investigate the effect of AN on PRL synthesis and release. A strong relation between AN administration and PRL release after "acute" and "chronic" treatment has been observed in cycling female rats treated intravenously. PRL synthesis was also stimulated by AN extract in both adult and peri-pubertal animals albeit that in the latter group, estradiol-priming was needed for an efficient effect. The treatment with AN extract results in increased lobulo-alveolar structure development, filled with basophilic secretions and suppression of the terminal end bud development. AN extract stimulates the mammary gland growth and differentiation from the least differentiated structures to fully developed alveoli, showing active milk production. The mechanisms via which these processes occurred have been investigated. The treatment with bromocriptine (CB154), an agonist of dopamine significantly lowered pituitaryand plasma PRL levels compared to controls. A significant increase of pituitary PRL was observed in the group with 3g AN+CB154 as compared to CB154 alone although no significant change was found in plasma PRL. These results indicate that the AN-extract acts by stimulating the synthesis and release of PRL and probably other hormones, which in turn stimulate growth and differentiation of the mammary gland. AN-extract may also act directly on the mammary gland by stimulating the synthesis of milk components. Nevertheless further research is needed to elucidate the possible mechanism of action of AN-extract.


This essay explores affect and somatic excess in Isaiah 29.9-16. I argue that the text presents the male body as a site of resistance to signification and linguistic representation. In this non-signifying body, affect, sensation, and experience are of foremost importance. This emphasis on sensation destabilises both the representational economy of the text and the gendered associations upon which this economy depends. Rejecting the association of the masculine with rationality, discourse, and representation, Isaiah 29 offers in its place an unstable male body and an uncanny masculinity positioned in the space outside representation. The uncanny male body, rich in affect but resistant to signification, suggests a new way of understanding embodiment and imagining gender in the Prophets. My argument draws upon Brian Massumi's analysis of affect in Parables for the Virtual, Luce Irigaray's work on gender and language, and Sigmund Freud's classic essay on the uncanny.


Antiferromagnetically coupled (AFC) magnetic media is the current approach to extend the areal density of longitudinal recording media. The authors highlight recent measurements that characterize the write process and thermal stability of AFC media. In particular, they focus on determining the coupling and stability parameters of the individual layers and their contribution to the time scale of the write process.


Preparation of benzaldehyde by Swern oxidation of benzyl alcohol was carried out in a continuous flow microreactor system. Dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) was used as oxidizing agent and oxalyl chloride or p-toluenesulfonyl (p-TsCl) chloride was used as the activating agent. Benzyl alcohol was oxidized to benzaldehyde by the Me2SO-activating agent mixture in the continuous flow microreactor system. The optimized reaction conditions of the Swern oxidation were as follows: oxalyl chloride was used as the activating agent; the mole ratio of Me2SO, oxalyl chloride, and benzyl alcohol was 4:2:1; the ow rate of Me2SO was 1.5 mL/min; the reaction temperature was 15 ℃; length of delay loop was 1.5 m; a Caterpillar Split-Recombine Micro Mixer was used; and all of the experiments were completed at atmospheric pressure. The yield of benzaldehyde can reach 84.7% with selectivity of 98.5%. Due to the small reactor volume and short residence times, the Swern oxidation of benzyl alcohol in a continuous flow microreactor system can be operated at nearly room temperature (5–19 ℃) instead of –70 ℃ in a batch reaction, with residence time of reactants in microreactors in milliseconds instead of several hours in a batch reaction.


The more care you can provide while patients are still in triage, the more time you will save. Quick registration process enables X-rays and lab work to be ordered while patient is in the waiting room. Electronic medical record enables doctors to enter orders on any computer in the department. Persistence with staff will let them know you are truly committed to changing triage processes.


【In a structure, many components are fastened together using bolts, nuts and rivets through drilled holes. Not only do these fastened joints enable easy assembly and dismantling, they are also able to transfer as well as to distribute loads applied onto the structures. The major drawback of such connections, however, is that the fatigue life of the components is reduced by the presence of the hole since the stress concentration around the hole is increased. In addition, the hole drilling process itself may introduce defects or roughness at the surfaces of the hole that may cause further decrease in fatigue performance of the components. For applications where fatigue loadings are important, one way to compensate the decrease in fatigue life of the components is by introduction of beneficial compressive residual stress around the hole using cold working. The material used for this research were A12024-T351 and A17050-T7451 using the primary member of aircraft. We present, In this paper, the characteristics of coldworking by evaluation of the hole expansion ratio, residual stress distribution, and fatigue properties.】


Eddying gas motion due to j*B forces in the current diverging from an anode spot is normally unlikely to have any significant effect on a glow discharge, but may be more important in some discharges intermediate in character between glows and heavy-current arcs.


Thromboembolism is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with colorectal cancer, but thromboprophylaxis (TP) is underutilized. Current guidelines do not make specific recommendations for colorectal cancer patients and provide minimal guidance for the ambulatory setting, although emerging evidence suggests TP may be warranted during chemoradiotherapy or in the extended post‐operative phase. A survey of Australasian colorectal surgeons was therefore performed to assess current TP practice and attitudes.


The interest in quantum computing is growing, and with it, the importance of software platforms to develop quantum programs. Ensuring the correctness of such platforms is important, and it requires a thorough understanding of the bugs they typically suffer from. To address this need, this paper presents the first in-depth study of bugs in quantum computing platforms. We gather and inspect a set of 223 real-world bugs from 18 open-source quantum computing platforms. Our study shows that a significant fraction of these bugs (39.9%) are quantum-specific, calling for dedicated approaches to prevent and find them. The bugs are spread across various components, but quantum-specific bugs occur particularly often in components that represent, compile, and optimize quantum programming abstractions. Many quantum-specific bugs manifest through unexpected outputs, rather than more obvious signs of misbehavior, such as crashes. Finally, we present a hierarchy of recurrent bug patterns, including ten novel, quantum-specific patterns. Our findings not only show the importance and prevalence bugs in quantum computing platforms, but they help developers to avoid common mistakes and tool builders to tackle the challenge of preventing, finding, and fixing these bugs.


This study has been focused on finding the key determinants of customer loyalty and customer satisfaction in e-banking. The key factors of Customer loyalty are: customer retention; Security and Virtual Banking; and Technology invasion. Customer Retention emerges as an important factor influencing customer Loyalty with highest Eigen value and it explains maximum variation. This is followed by Security and Virtual Banking; and Technology invasion. Customer satisfaction is comprised of ten items. The study moves further to determine the relationship between the two. Customer Satisfaction is the dependent variable. Customer loyalty is associated positively with Confidence, Technology Adoption, Technical Expertise of staff, Personal Services, Account information, Channel Activity and Ease of Use from the construct of customer satisfaction. The model explains 85.8 percent of variation. Thus, a satisfied online customer can be retained by enhancing customer satisfaction.


Abstract Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from neural stem cells (NSC-EVs), astrocytes (ADEVs), and microglia (MDEVs) have neuroregenerative properties. This review discusses the therapeutic efficacy of NSC-EVs, ADEVs, and MDEVs in traumatic brain injury (TBI) models. The translational value and future directions for such EV therapy are also deliberated. Studies have demonstrated that NSC-EV or ADEV therapy can mediate neuroprotective effects and improve motor and cognitive function after TBI. Furthermore, NSC-EVs or ADEVs generated after priming parental cells with growth factors or brain-injury extracts can mediate improved therapeutic benefits. However, the therapeutic effects of naïve MDEVs are yet to be tested rigorously in TBI models. Studies using activated MDEVs have reported both adverse and beneficial effects. NSC-EV, ADEV, or MDEV therapy for TBI is not ready for clinical translation. Rigorous testing of their efficacy for preventing chronic neuroinflammatory cascades and enduring motor and cognitive impairments after treatment in the acute phase of TBI, an exhaustive evaluation of their miRNA or protein cargo, and the effects of delayed EV administration post-TBI for reversing chronic neuroinflammation and enduring brain impairments, are needed. Moreover, the most beneficial route of administration for targeting EVs into different neural cells in the brain after TBI and the efficacy of well-characterized EVs from NSCs, astrocytes, or microglia derived from human pluripotent stem cells need to be evaluated. EV isolation methods for generating clinical-grade EVs must also be developed. Overall, NSC-EVs and ADEVs promise to mitigate TBI-induced brain dysfunction, but additional preclinical studies are needed before their clinical translation.


In this publication, we report about the selectivity and stability of bismuth (Bi)- and tin (Sn)-based electrocatalysts for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR) for formate production. Bismuth and tin were successfully electrodeposited using the pulse plating technique on top of and inside of the gas diffusion layers (GDLs). The distribution of the catalyst throughout the thickness of the gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) was investigated by using scanning electron microscopy and computer tomography; it was found that the catalyst morphology determines the performance of the electrode. Inhomogeneous deposits, with their enlarged catalyst surface area, provide more active centres for the eCO2RR, resulting in increased Faraday efficiency (FE) for formate. The initial electrochemical characterisation tests of the bismuth- and tin-loaded GDEs were carried out under laboratory operating conditions at an industrially relevant current density of 200 mA·cm−2; complete Sn dissolution with a subsequent deformation of the GDL was observed. In contrast to these results, no leaching of the electrodeposited Bi catalyst was observed. An FE of 94.2% towards formate was achieved on these electrodes. Electrodes based on an electrodeposited Bi catalyst on an in-house prepared GDL are stable after 23 h time-on-stream at 200 mA·cm−2 and have very good selectivity for formate.


During a parish fair the police was called to a conflict between two rival right-wing youth groups in the early morning hours. Shortly afterwards a burning car was discovered near the marquee with a charred male body on the driver's seat. It was assumed that there was a connection between the two events. At autopsy no injuries were found that were not attributable to postmortem consumption by the fire. The BAC value was 1.76 per thousand, the CO-Hb concentration 78%. The body could be identified by comparing pre- and postmortem X-rays of the molars and premolars of the right upper jaw. Reconstruction of the course of events and classification as an accident was possible only after calling in technical experts: The victim had gone back to his car to take a nap and kept the engine running because of the cold temperature. The car had been fitted improperly with a sport exhaust pipe, which caused both the carbon monoxide poisoning and the fire.


Taking into account the necessity of creating alternatives to minimize the environmental impacts caused by solid and liquid residues, this study aimed at examining the feasibility of Canavalia ensiformis (jack bean) cultivation in substrates treated with coffee dregs vermicompost and fertirrigated with wastewater. Initially, the vermicompost was prepared using Eisenia foetida worms and different percentages of coffee dregs. To study the C. ensiformis development, experimental units were established, organized in a completely randomized design, with four treatments and eight repetitions. The following parameters were obtained: average number of leaves per plant; height of the aerial part; fresh and dry phytomass of aerial parts and roots, and length of roots. Chemical analyses of irrigation water and cultivation soil were carried out. The results showed that the substrates treated with a compost made of 25% coffee dregs and 75% cattle manure provided the most favorable conditions for E. foetida to grow, and it is suggested as an alternative to vermicomposting. The groups cultivated with the application of coffee dregs vermicompost and irrigated with wastewater presented the best results in terms of the variables chosen to assess plant development. This has possibly resulted from the higher concentrations of N, P and K present in the wastewater and in the substrate treated with the coffee dregs vermicompost. This study points to the potential use of irrigation with wastewater, combined with a substrate treated with coffee dregs vermicompost, in C. ensiformis cultivation.


Lincolnshire County Council's Young Inspectors programme gives young people the chance to help shape and improve services for them and their peers. Tom de Castella went to see how it works


In real-world scenarios, many large-scale datasets often contain inaccurate labels, i.e., noisy labels, which may confuse model training and lead to performance degradation. To overcome this issue, Label Noise Learning (LNL) has recently attracted much attention, and various methods have been proposed to design an unbiased risk estimator to the noise-free dataset to combat such label noise. Among them, a trend of works based on Loss Decomposition and Centroid Estimation (LDCE) has shown very promising performance. However, existing LNL methods based on LDCE are only designed for binary classification, and they are not directly extendable to multi-class situations. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-class robust learning method for LDCE, which is termed"MC-LDCE". Specifically, we decompose the commonly adopted loss (e.g., mean squared loss) function into a label-dependent part and a label-independent part, in which only the former is influenced by label noise. Further, by defining a new form of data centroid, we transform the recovery problem of a label-dependent part to a centroid estimation problem. Finally, by critically examining the mathematical expectation of clean data centroid given the observed noisy set, the centroid can be estimated which helps to build an unbiased risk estimator for multi-class learning. The proposed MC-LDCE method is general and applicable to different types (i.e., linear and nonlinear) of classification models. The experimental results on five public datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed MC-LDCE against other representative LNL methods in tackling multi-class label noise problem.


This article discusses digital geographies by tracing, mapping, and revealing a series of spaces bounded by a multiplex digital infrastructure. By proposing 'descriptivism' as a complementary approach to digital mapping, this work discloses the city of Antwerp as the intertwining of visible and invisible networks. The 'Analogue City' is the title of both a design workshop and of a collective act of mapping that progressively reveals the city of Antwerp as a set of different spaces of information flows. By engaging the notion of mapping as object and practice, this work describes the production of a multi-scale and multi-space representation, as a process of collective and performative cartography. Through the combination of different scales, spaces, and mapping techniques, the city of Antwerp is unfolded as the result of security, mobility, and social networks. As a mapping operation, the 'Analogue City' is a threefold object: (a) an interactive, intentionally large map; (b) a series of mapping interventions throughout the city; and ultimately (c) a temporary exhibition.


This study attempts to determine if various self-reported evaluations of a person's dreams can explain significant unique variance in the number of coital partners he or she has experienced. A number of gender differences were found. While promiscuous females were most ashamed of their sexual dreams, promiscuous males were least ashamed. Although males reported significantly more coital partners than females, more variance was explained in the female model than in the male model. Disinhibition was the most powerful predictor of number of partners for both sexes. As predicted by evolutionary theory, gender differences in sexual dreaming and behavior reflect gender-differentiated reproductive strategies as predicted by evolutionary theory.


In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama made a historic pledge to provide universal, high-quality pre-K education to our nation's children.1 He chose to make this one of his administration's priorities with good reason: Early childhood education has myriad bene!ts, including be"er, more equitable long-term outcomes for children of divergent economic backgrounds.2 Moreover, investments in these programs help cultivate a future workforce, secure long-term economic competitiveness, and develop our nation's future leaders. Universal highquality pre-K and child care would also throw a much-needed ra# to families across America that are struggling to stay a$oat while footing costly child care bills, missing work to provide care, or sending their children—our nation's future innovators and workforce—to low-quality care centers.


The sample of participants was comprised of 35 top cadet wrestlers (15 to 17 years old) from the discipline of classic wrestling, from 8 different Croatian clubs. This sample we can consider as the representative sample of Croatian top wrestlers.Four acrobatic tests were chosen from the battery of tests for the assessment of the basic and specific training status for advanced wrestlers.The objectivity of the judges in the acrobatic tests, forward pass (PRE_NAP), forward somersault in squat position (SAL_NAP) and backward somersault in squat position (SAL_NAT) evaluated by the Spearman-Brown procedure, Kaiser-Caffrey and Cronbach' s - a coefficient, is very high (Table2). The arithmetical means of items are mostly unchanged, as are the minimal and maximal results (Table 1). Distribution of the results in the forward pass test (PRE_NAP) shows a tendency of slightly negative asymmetry, and in the backward somersault in the squat position test (SAL_NAT) - slightly positive asymmetry. The average correlations between the grades of the graders show very high values (Table 2), which indicate a very high objectivity by the judges. The authors feel that the evaluation of the acrobatic tests is enabled by the standards set for every grade (Brindl 1997), which favoured objectivity and reliability. The Kolmagorov-Smirnov test of normality of distribution has been used, and the Hi-square test determined that there is no statistic difference between the noticed and expected distributions of results. However, in research done with a large number of tests and participants it is very hard to organise five judges. Because of that reason Cronbach' s coefficient was tested for three and four graders. The given results show that even with a smaller number of graders, objectivity would remain at a high level (Table 1 and 2), which makes this research easier to organise. The results of earlier research point to the validity of the results for testing coordination (Baic 2003) where these tests got the biggest number of statistically important correlations with other tests for evaluating coordination (maximal turn in jump and backward passes). The same tests participated in defining the factor of agility in the air. The validity of the Forward pass test (PRE_NAP), regarding the criterion of success in wrestling was confirmed by further research (Baic 2003), where it was determined that the results in this test are better if the wrestling group is better. The reliability of the backward pass test (PRE_NAT) evaluated by the Spearman-Brown procedure, Kaiser-Caffrey and Cronbach' s a coefficient is high (Table 2). The arithmetical means of items are unchanged, similar to the minimal and maximal results (Table 1). Regarding the variability and range of results, we could say that the sensitivity of this measuring instrument is good. However, the results mostly vary in a positively asymmetric manner in relation to the arithmetical mean, so we can say that this test is very hard for this sample of participants, especially if we take into account that only 71% of wrestlers succeeded in doing this test. An increased number of advanced wrestlers (juniors and seniors) would influence the percentage of success in doing this test and the improvement of the metric characteristic of this test. The average correlation between the items shows high values (Table 2), which indicates a high homogeneity of the test. In researches with a larger number of participants and motor or other tests, often it is not necessary to have composite tests (Bala 1990). For that reason Cronbach' s a coefficient of reliability is measured for the rest of the items if one is excluded (Table 1). The given results show that even with only two items, the reliability would still be acceptably high. The order and size of item correlations to the first main important component brings us to the conclusion that the first attempt should be treated as probationary, because by excluding the first item, the homogeneity between the other two items would increase (Table 1). The results of earlier research point to the validity of the test in terms of evaluating coordination (Baic 2003) where these tests got the biggest number of statistically important correlations with other tests for evaluating coordination (maximal turn in jump, forward passes, forward somersault in squat position, backward somersault in squat position). The same tests participated in defining the factor of agility in the air. The authors can conclude that applied acrobatic tests have good metric characteristics, and could be recommended for use on a population of advanced Croatian wrestlers. The authors feel that in research conducted on top athletes, where they are evaluated with a great number of tests, of which there are several regarding particular dimensions, often it is not necessary to have tests with a large number of items and graders. That is only justified in the cases of clearly set standards for every grade, and scientifically and practically determined necessary number of items and graders for every test.


Pandemic influenza viruses have emerged three times in this century. It is important to examine the potential risk of novel microorganisms/viruses through the add-on research mechanism of Gain of Function Research (GoFR). This mechanism consists of the practice of serial passaging of microorganisms to increase their transmissibility, virulence, immunogenicity, and host tropism through the inclusive feature of selective pressure of culture medium. Although, the GoFR can be a double-edged sword that has the potential to give an insight and better appreciation of current and future pandemics with antecedent apprehension of initiating a pandemic, itself. Moreover, with its inherent potential to give a head start on a virus, GoFR has the potential to develop vaccines or therapeutics, before the virus emerges in its true virulent form. Likewise, the GoFR studies can be vital in research on antivirals and antimicrobial agents and can help inform the development of combination therapies. Passive immunotherapy, which often includes a combination of products, is particularly dependent on GoFR experiments for evaluating efficacy. GoFR if made use of meticulously and with caution could help Medical Sciences and Humankind tremendously.


Spatially lumped models may fail to take into account the effects of spatial heterogeneity and local interactions. These properties sometimes are crucial to the dynamics and evolutions of ecosystems. This paper started from the fundamental aspects of CA and focused on the development and application of the approach to ecological and ecohydraulics modelling. Application cases include modelling of prey-predator dynamics by stochastic CA and simulation of riparian vegetation successions in a regulated river by rule-based CA. The results indicated that spatially explicit paradigms such as cellular automata (CA) have a strong capability to bridge the local processes and global patterns.


Deep learning (DL) systems expose many tuning parameters ("hyper-parameters") that affect the performance and accuracy of trained models. Increasingly users struggle to configure hyper-parameters, and a substantial portion of time is spent tuning them empirically. We argue that future DL systems should be designed to help manage hyper-parameters. We describe how a distributed DL system can (i) remove the impact of hyper-parameters on both performance and accuracy, thus making it easier to decide on a good setting, and (ii) support more powerful dynamic policies for adapting hyper-parameters, which take monitored training metrics into account. We report results from prototype implementations that show the practicality of DL system designs that are hyper-parameter-friendly.


It has long been noted that alcoholism tends to run in families. However, it is only in recent decades that dm1cal and research attention has formally focused on the investigation ofthe possible mechanisms involved in the intergenerational transmission ofalcoholism. Similarly, only relatively recently have therapeutic interventions included families as well as individual alcoholics. This book, which consists of a series of papers presented at the Fourth International Symposium ofthe Psychiatric Research Institute of Tokyo, brings together the work of researchers and clinicians from the United States, Japan and Scandinavia. In so doing, it provides the readers with an interesting and diverse range of insights into the state of existing knowledge and opinion con cerning the role of genetic/biological and social/ environmental factors in the development and course of alcoholism, the effects of alcoholism on the family system as a unit in society, and the development of appropriate and effective interventions for treating families with an alcoholism problem. The book is divided into five sections and each section is followed by the transcript of relevant participant dis cussions. The first two sections concentrate on genetic factors in alcoholism. Family, twinand adoption studies are concisely reviewed and various perspectives on the attempt to classify alcoholics into sub-types are pre sented. A chapter by George Vaillant underlines the need for longitudinal research to shed light on the inter action between environmental and biological factors in the onset of alcoholism, while another by Marc Shuckit highlights the value of cross-sectional work. Section Three is concerned with issues of mental health. The fourth section is devoted to family models and includes chapters which focus on systems,cultural approaches to the study, and understanding of patterns of interaction and functioning in alcoholic families. The final section of the book isconcerned with therapeutic interventions. Family work being undertaken in the United States and Japan is described by a number of contributors. This section also includes an interesting chapter by Claudia Black on coping strategies which might be used by children in alcoholic families. Given the countries of origin of the participants, it is not surprising that the focus ofthe book is on American, Japanese and Northern European work. Indeed, it is impressive to have a collection of articles on alcoholism and the family by such an internationalgroup of authors in one book. I did feel rather disappointed,however, that the Western European viewpoint was totally absent (although Marcus Grant does present findings from Eastern Europe). One gets the false impression that no one in this part of the world is interested in alcoholism and the family. My only criticism of the book would be to say that the scientific and the descriptive are corn bined in a way that does not always work and that there is, furthermore, some overlap between the sections. There is also a surprising number of typographical errors in the book which some readers may find irritating. All in all, I feelthat this book would make a verygood introduction to the topic for those interested in learning about alcoholism and the family.


Background Health anxiety exists on a continuum ranging from the absence of health awareness to the obsessive fear of having a serious illness despite reassurance. Its pathological manifestation can be diagnosed as hypochondriacal or illness anxiety or somatic symptom disorder. Health anxiety is associated with psychological distress and adverse life events, among others, and leads to considerable economic burden. Compared to the majority population, migrants, and ethnic minorities often face major health inequalities. Several mental illnesses and psychosomatic complaints are more common among these groups. To date, potential ethnic and migration-related inequalities in health anxiety have not been clearly described. However, they are of high relevance for the provision of adequate health care of this diverse and potentially vulnerable group. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of health anxiety in migrants and ethnic minorities. Methods A systematic literature search of PubMED, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and PSYNDEX was conducted, covering all studies published until 1st of December 2021. Studies were selected if they employed validated measurement tools of health anxiety and examined migrants and/or ethnic minorities in comparison with the majority population. Meta-analytic methods were applied by using a random-effect model. The study quality was assessed with the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool (EPHPP). Results We identified 18 studies from 445 studies initially screened. Of these, 14 studies conducted in North America with a total number of 5,082 study participants were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled effect size indicated a higher risk of health anxiety in migrants and ethnic minorities compared to the majority population (OR 1.39, 95%-CI 1.01–1.92). The results proved not to be robust according to publication bias (adjusted OR 1.18, 95%-CI 0.83–1.69) and fail-safe N (2/3 < benchmark N = 75) and are limited due to heterogeneity (I2 = 57%), small sample sizes and an overall low quality of included studies. Conclusion To address the diversity of migrants and ethnic minorities, inter-sectional approaches across different countries are needed in research to shed further light on social inequalities in health anxiety linked to migration. Systematic review registration PROSPERO, registration number CRD42022298458.


Synopsis: Although many efforts have been made to control the burden distribution, there was not yet adequate information to obtain the best control. Therefore, Nippon Kokan K. K. built a full scale 36° segment model equipped with two bells, movable armors, a burden discharge facility and a cold blast supply facility. A number of experiments were made to obtain the burden and gas distribution. The results of these experiments have been utilized to improve the burden and gas distribution in Fukuyama No. 4 BF; the change from two-batch charging to one-batch charging leading to a more uniform burden distribution resulted in the decrease in fuel rate by 10 kg/THM.


SDC (Sawdust Concrete) was developed in 19th century. It has been well recognized due to its lightweight and cost-effectiveness. Presently, developed countries have created opportunities to use wood waste in the concrete construction to reduce the environmental burden. Although SDC has received little consideration as a lightweight masonry block in building works but it has been intensively investigated in many countries for decades. The aim of this review is to summarize the last five years (2012-2016) research work related to utilization of sawdust in concrete masonry. However, it is important to explore existing ideas and approaches developed by previous researchers as a reference and guidance for the future research. There are lots of opportunities to develop lightweight concrete especially throughutilizing sawdust as a fine aggregate replacement material in concrete. However, this review paper is focusing on utilization of sawdust, as to reduce environmental impacts poses by the waste products of furniture industry and a by-product of wood industry. As a conclusion, this review paper summary the existing important ideas and useful information for the fellow researchers, as to enhance the utilization of sawdust to produce lightweight masonry units. It is recommended that considerable research is required on the sawdust cement blocks, which can deliver more confidence on their utilization as a green building construction material.


Aim: To compare the cognitive communicative performance of Stroke subjects with that of normal subjects and to compare the cognitive communicative performance across stroke subgroups of cortical lesion and subcortical lesion. Materials and Method: A total of 30 subjects participated in this study. Among 30 subjects, 15 subjects with stroke (experimental group) and 15 subjects with age matched normal adults (control group) were taken. Among experimental group, 7 had cortical and 8 had subcortical lesion. Scale of Cognitive and Communicative Ability for Neurorehabilitation (SCCAN) test was administered to all the subjects. Results: The stroke subject as a group performed significantly poorer when compared to that of normal aging adults. The performance of subjects with stroke was more impaired on memory scale compared to other scales of SCCAN. The performance of subjects within the stroke showed that subjects with subcortical stroke performed poorer when compared to the subjects with cortical stroke. Conclusion: This study highlights on nature of cognitive communicative deficits in stroke individuals.


Objective: To explore the relationship between the levels of serum soluble CD137 (sCD137) and membrane-bound CD137 (mCD137) and the occurrence of ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Consecutive patients with acute STEMI, who underwent emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the Department of Cardiology, Jiangsu University Affiliated Hospital from May 2019 to September 2020, were enrolled. According to the absence or presence of IRI, patients were divided into IRI group and non-IRI group. Clinical data of the two groups were collected and compared. sCD137 level was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Ficoll density gradient centrifugation was used to separate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and RNA was extracted, mCD137 mRNA expression level was detected by PCR. Serum sCD137 levels and the mCD137 mRNA levels of PBMC before, after PCI and 24 hours after PCI were compared. The correlation between serum sCD137 level, PBMC mCD137 mRNA level and clinical indicators was observed. The univariate and multivariate logistic binary regression analyses were performed to evaluate the related risk factors of IRI. ROC curve was used to analyze the predictive value of defined parameters for IRI. Results: A total of 112 STEMI patients were enrolled. There were 42 cases (of which 33 were males (78.6%), mean age was (58.6±12.7) years) in non-IRI group and 70 cases(of which 56 were males (80.0%), mean age was (64.5±11.6) years) in IRI group. Compared with the non-IRI group, patients in the IRI group had longer hospital stays, older age, lower rates of obesity, lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure at admission, higher proportion of the the right coronary artery as culprit vessel, lower rate of the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin-Ⅱ receptor blocker/angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor, higher levels of urea nitrogen and creatinine, lower glomerular filtration rate, lower triglycerides, higher D-dimer and B-type natriuretic peptidemax, higher proportion of Killip grade Ⅳ and cardiovascular adverse events (all P<0.05). sCD137 levels at the preoperative, postoperative and 24 hours after surgery were significantly higher in the IRI group than in the non-IRI group, while the mRNA levels of CD137 was similar between the two groups. The level of sCD137 in patients after PCI was lower than that before operation, the level of mCD137 mRNA was higher than that before operation (P<0.05). Serum sCD137 levels were positively correlated with hospitalization days, age, B-type natriuretic peptide, creatinine, ischemic time, C Reactive protein (CRP) and CRP/albumin (P<0.05), and negatively correlated with body mass index, glomerular filtration rate and albumin (P<0.05). The mCD137 mRNA expression level of PBMC was positively correlated with hospital stay, age, B-type natriuretic peptide, ischemic time, CRP and CRP/albumin (P<0.05), and negatively correlated with body mass index, glomerular filtration rate, albumin (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher sCD137 (OR=1.038, 95%CI: 1.009-1.069), aspartate aminotransferase, (OR=1.029, 95%CI: 1.009-1.050) and lower albumin (OR=0.829, 95%CI: 0.703-0.829) before surgery were independent risk factors of IRI (P<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the area under the curve of sCD137 was 0.672 (95%CI: 0.574-0.770, P=0.002) for the prediction of IRI, the best cut-off value was 28.43×10-3 μg/L with sensitivity of 95.2% and specificity of 48.6%. Conclusion: The significantly increased level of sCD137 in acute STEMI patients is positively correlated with reperfusion injury, which is an independent risk factor of IRI and may be related to the prognosis of patients with IRI.


OBJECTIVE
To measure the differences between the experimental group and the two controlled groups by using the cephalometric radiography technique to study the effects of premaxillary orthopedic treatments on the growth and development of maxilla.

METHODS
To make an animal model with bilateral cleft palate by surgery operation: General anesthesia was carried on by injecting 2.5% pentobarbital (25 mg/kg) into abdominal cavity, then almost the same bone of rats' palate were removed from bilateral palate. An appliance, based on the principle of Latham's appliance was made and designed for premaxillary orthopedic treatment. It was fixed in rats' palate using pins under the condition of general anesthesia. After 20 days of orthopedic treatment, the rats were anesthetized by ether, and cephalometric films were taken under self-designed cephalometer and analysed aided by computer.

RESULTS
The distances that represented the maxillary position in the posterior-anterior (PA) direction significantly increased (P < 0.05), while the angles that represented the direction of premaxillary growth significantly decreased (P < 0.05) between the experimental group and the two controlled groups. There were no significant difference between the two controlled groups.

CONCLUSION
Premaxilla of rats can be effectively moved backward and rotated downward and backward on the PA direction by appliance. The appliance can move the segment palate forward during the premaxillary backword. The appliance can stimulate maxillary growth.


Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have seen rapid research and industrial development in recent years. Both the costs and size of individual nodes have been constantly decreasing, opening new opportunities for a wide range of applications. Nevertheless, designing software to achieve energy-efficient, robust and flexible data dissemination remains an open problem with many competing solutions. In parallel, researchers have effectively exploited machine learning techniques to achieve efficient solutions in environments with distribution and rapidly fluctuating properties, analogous to WSN domains. Applying machine learning techniques to WSNs inherently has the potential to improve the robustness and flexibility of communications and data processing, while simultaneously optimizing energy expenditure. This chapter concentrates on applications of machine learning at all layers in the WSN network stack. First, it provides a brief background and summary of three of the most commonly used machine learning techniques: reinforcement learning, neural networks and decision trees. Then, it uses example research from the literature to describe current efforts at each level of the stack, and outlines future opportunities.


Irregularities have been observed in the Curie temperatures of a series of synthetic pyroxenes, CaxFel-,SiO,. For example, the x = 0.15 sample exhibited a Curie point of 40K, whereas for x = 0.02 and x = 0.10, the Curie points were 40K and 37K, respectively. These results suggest that one or more of these samples is not single phase or deviates from the reported stoichiometry. The 3OOK Mossbauer spectra of these samples have been reported to lead to erroneous cation distributions. The magnetic properties suggest that the cation distributions might be in error because of deviations o£ the sample composition from the expected ones. Since a considerable body of thermodynamic and crystal chemistry depends on a clarification of the basis for the apparently erroneous cation distributions in cakium-containing clinopyroxenes, we have reinvestigated the "Fe Mossbauer spectra of the synthetic pyroxenes at 300K and between 60K and 4.2K. Our results are in qualitative agreement with those reported earlier on these specimens, but absorption features have been observed near 0.8 mm S-' which have not been reported before. Impurity Fe-containing phases or non-equilibrium single-phase materials are implicated as the sources of the absorptions near 0.8 mm S-' by the erratic magnetic properties of some of the sarnples and by the fact that even for dinopyroxenes, these samples exhibit spectra with unusual features.


This licentiate thesis is about the dynamics analysis of chemical reactions involving a stoichiometric mixture of sterically hindered Lewis base (LB) and Lewis acid (LA) – the so-called frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs). The tool for dynamical description of chemical reactions is the ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations together with the calculation of minimum energy paths (MEPs) on the potential energy surfaces (PESs). The aim is to take into account both the interatomic forces, computed with the dispersion-corrected density functional theory, and the motion of the atoms at finite (non-zero) temperature. With extensive AIMD/PES simulations, we have exposed and explained transition state theory (TST)/MEP paradigm failures for such important chemical reactions as binding (sequestration) of CO2 and the heterolytic cleavage of H2 by a Lewis base, tBu3P, and a Lewis acid, B(C6F5)3. The insight into dynamical aspects of FLP activity, obtained from a synergistic combination of AIMD and PES calculations, is the basis for qualitative and quantitative predictions which could be useful for future experiments


While organizations strive to leverage the vast information generated daily from social media platforms, and decision makers are keen to identify and exploit its value, the quality of this information remains uncertain. Past research on information quality criteria and evaluation issues in social media is largely disparate, incomparable and lacking any common theoretical basis. In attention to this gap, this study adapts existing guidelines and exemplars of construct conceptualization in information systems research, to deductively define information quality and related criteria in the social media context. Building on a notion of information derived from semiotic theory, this paper suggests a general conceptualization of information quality in the social media context that can be used in future research to develop more context specific conceptual models.


Nowhere is the tension attending simultaneous political democratization and economic liberalization more sharply felt than in the realm of labour relations. What is happening in Soviet trade unions today? How will the emerging independent unions respond to anticipated rises in unemployment? What kind of social regulation of the labour market will be appropriate in the future? These papers from a pathbreaking US-Soviet conference on labour issues reveal a considerable diversity of views on questions whose resolution will be essential to social peace in this period of transition. Among the noted contributors are Joseph Berliner, Sam Bowles, Richard Freeman, Leonid Gordon, V.L.Kosmarskii, Alla Nazimova, Michael Piore, Boris Rakitskii, Iurii Volkov, Ben Ward and Tatiana Zaslavskaia.


The two-photon resonances of atomic hydrogen (λ = 2×205.1 nm), atomic nitrogen (λ = 2×206.6 nm) and atomic oxygen (λ = 2×225.6 nm) are investigated together with two selected transitions in krypton (λ = 2×204.2 nm) and xenon (λ = 2×225.5 nm). The natural lifetimes of the excited states, quenching coefficients for the most important collisions partners, and the relevant ratios of the two-photon excitation cross sections are measured. These data can be applied to provide a calibration for two-photon laser-induced fluorescence measurements based on comparisons with spectrally neighbouring noble gas resonances.