This study analyzed the food security situation among cassava-based farming households in Akpabuyo local government area of Cross River state, Nigeria. The objectives were to describe their socio – economic characteristics, determine their food security status and its determinants and make recommendation based on the findings of the study. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used in the selection of wards, communities and cassava-based farming households. Data for the study were collected through the use of structured questionnaires administered to one hundred and three (103) households from 53 communities in the Local Government area. Descriptive statistics, food security indices and logistic regression models were used in data analysis and interpretation. The results showed that the percentages of male to female farmers differed considerably, with most households (59%) consisting of married men and women, thirty three percent (33%) of which were aged 46 years and above. Ninety eight percent (98%) of the households were comprised mostly of Christians, thirty-eight percent (38%) of whom had no formal education. Forty eight percent (48%) of the total number of the cassava farming households had less than 4 memberfamily sizes. The results showed also that 63.11% of the farming households were food secure, while 36.89% were food insecure. The food security gap and food surplus index showed that the food-secure households exceeded the food security line by 33%, while 59% of food-insecure household fell below the food security line. Also, the mean per capita expenditure for all households was N12, 684.21 while the mean per capita expenditure for food secure and food insecure households were N9000 and N3684.20 respectively. The estimated regression model gave a pseudo of 0.7304. Food security and Poverty status of the households were negatively correlated. The odd ratio in favour of household food security decreased by 0.03% for every unit increase in poverty (P>0.05%). It is recommended that more of the young and energetic youth population, and more women and the vulnerable be encouraged to engage themselves more in cassava and other crops' enterprises; that household sizes be controlled to manageable numbers, and sizes of their farm lands optimally expanded. Finally, sources of farmers' income should be diversified and cassava farmers should be encouraged to form and/or join cooperative societies so as to build and benefit from ensuing "social capital", as well as be in positions to benefit from possible incentives of government(s). Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals, Food Security, Cassava-based Households, Cross River State


PICO question
In dogs, is IDEXX Angio Detect™ as accurate as Baermann coprology when diagnosing Angiostrongylus vasorum infection?

Clinical bottom line
Category of research question
Diagnosis
The number and type of study designs reviewed
Eight papers were critically reviewed: three diagnostic accuracy studies, two cross-sectional studies (one of which also included a retrospective case series), one cohort study, one case-control study, and one case series
Strength of evidence
Weak
Outcomes reported
Angio Detect™ (IDEXX) was shown to have low-moderate sensitivity and high specificity in comparison to Baermann coprology. Occasionally, false-negative results occurred with Angio Detect™ when compared to Baermann coprology. This was thought to be due to antigen-antibody complex formation. Positive Angio Detect™ assays were obtained in both symptomatic and asymptomatic canine patients. In an experimental setting, Angio Detect™ was shown to obtain a positive result five weeks post-inoculation
Conclusion
There is weak evidence supporting Angio Detect™ as a highly specific and moderately sensitive diagnostic test when compared to Baermann coprology

How to apply this evidence in practice
The application of evidence into practice should take into account multiple factors, not limited to: individual clinical expertise, patient's circumstances and owners' values, country, location or clinic where you work, the individual case in front of you, the availability of therapies and resources.
Knowledge Summaries are a resource to help reinforce or inform decision making. They do not override the responsibility or judgement of the practitioner to do what is best for the animal in their care.


All impacts of noise are presented within a complex acoustic environment, sometimes from a single source (e.g., a sole piece of equipment or an industrial site) or from multiple sources. It is well known that any sound measurement whether indoors or out –is registered by SLM and usually identified as the total sound. The issue here is that there is not always a simple way to distinguish a specific sound from the total sound, and it is impossible to conduct an fft analysis and "eliminate" its spectrum in the signal recorded at the receiver position. In this work, the author proposes a new method of employing statistical tools. Applying this concept of eliminating unwanted sound levels (low frequencies from traffic noise or infrasound of the environment) will be the technique used to evaluate noise under ISO 1996 standards, the accepted procedure for legal evaluations.


COVID-19 Pandemic has changed state's view about development. After several economic damages, the plan to bounce back from pandemic impacts is by adopting GDP-ism development which sacrificing democracy. In Southeast Asia, The trend of deconsolidation of democracy indicated by several events such as military coup in Myanmar and protest against Omnibus Law in Indonesia. At the same time, 2020 also marked a revival of Quadrilateral talk between US, Australia, Japan, and India concerning China's growing influence in Indo-Pacific region. Many scholars observe this cooperation is involving security strategy to contain China's influence. But yet there are not many writings about democratization process as a way to hold China's influence especially in Southeast Asia region. This paper is aimed to show that maintaining democracy is important for QUAD to secure their interests and this effort can involve parties beyond geopolitical boundaries. Hence, this paper would like to seek how EU engagement in QUAD can support democratization process in Southeast Asia by considering its economic influence and domestic politic situation in the region. Furthermore, as post-COVID-19 development is concerned in this paper, It is important to seek how democracy can contribute to foster state economic development and become alternative to Chinese development.


Active learning can in many cases speed up classification tasks by combining expert knowledge and knowledge about the structure of the data. When it is known that the class label increases or decreases with the attribute vectors we can exploit this feature to greatly decrease the number of labelled examples that is needed to construct a classifier. Here we study such algorithms both in general and in the case where data exhibits such special features. These monotone relations form the basis of the SMAL algorithm as described by Barile and Feelders in [1], which we will study in more detail. We describe a special case that can lead to unwanted behaviour in this algorithm and explore a number of possible alternative approaches that aim to prevent the occurrence of this special case. We propose a number of changes to the algorithm that aim to reduce the occurrence of this special case, possibly sacrificing some performance. Experimental results look promising as they show only a minor drop in performance across our toy datasets and even increased performance in some cases.


Linearly thermoelastic composite media are treated, which consist of a homogeneous matrix containing a statistically homogeneous random set of ellipsoidal uncoated or coated inclusions. Effective properties (such as compliance, thermal expansion, stored energy) as well as both first and second statistical moments of stresses in the components are estimated for the general case of nonhomogeneity of the thermoelastic inclusion properties. The micromechanical approach is based on Green's function techniques as well as on the generalization of the "multiparticle effective field" method (MEFM), previously proposed for the estimation of stress field averages in the components. The application of the theory is demonstrated by calculating overall strength surfaces of composite materials. The influence of the coating is analyzed by the use of both the assumption of homogeneity of the stress field in the inclusion core and of the thin-layer hypothesis.
 Let us consider statistically uniform random set of coated ellipsoidal inclusions having all the same form, orientation and mechanical properties. We are using the main hypothesis of many micromechanical methods, according to which each inclusion is located inside a homogeneous so-called effective field. It is shown, in the framework of the effective field hypothesis, that from a solution of the pure elastic problem (with zero stress free strains) for the composite the relations for effective thermal expansions, stored energy and average thermoelastic strains inside the components can be found. This way one obtains the generalization of the classical formulae by Rosen and Hashin, which are exact for two-component composites. The proposed theory is applied to the example of composites reinforced with ellipsoidal inclusions with thin inhomogeneous (along inclusion surface) coatings. For a single coated inclusion the micromechanical approach is based on the Green function technique as well as on the interfacial Hill operators.
 Functionally graded materials are considered, which consists of a homogeneous matrix and a statistically inhomogeneous random set of ellipsoidal inclusions. The hypothesis of effective field homogeneity near the inclusions is used, non-local effects in the constitutive relations are not considered. Non-local dependencies of local effective elastic properties as well as of conditional averages of the stresses in the components on the local concentration of the inclusions are demonstrated. Numerical results are represented for spherical clusters of spherical inclusions. In the interior of a large cluster, sufficiently far away from the boundary, the local effective moduli coincide with the isotropic effective moduli for the statistically homogeneous medium. However, near the boundary of the cluster the tensors of the effective moduli lose isotropy, i.e., they become transversally isotropic and vary significantly within the boundary layer, the thickness of which equals approximately two diameters of the inclusions (non-local boundary layer effect). The character of the dependence of the effective elastic moduli varies (i.e., they increase or decrease monotonically or non-monotonically with the distance from the boundary of the cluster) with the variation of the cluster size (scale effect). Both average meso stresses and average micro stresses in the phases are estimated along the radius of the cluster.


In this study, pebble bed as an absorber and storage material was placed in a south facing, flat plate air-type solar collector at fixed tilt angle of (45°). The effect of this material and differ- ent parameters on collector efficiency has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. Two operation modes were employed to study the performance of the solar air heater. An inte- grated mode of continuous operation of the system during the period of (11:00 am – 3:00 pm) and non-integrated mode in which the system stored the solar energy through the day then used the stored energy during the period of (3:00 pm – 8:00 pm). The results of parametric study in case of continuous operating showed that the maximum average temperature difference of air between inlet and outlet sections observed on (0.018 kg/s) air mass flow rate were exceeded (17°C) and the maximum outlet temperature that got was exceeded (34°C) for the three months (December, January and February) of experiments. Average efficiency was ranged from 53% to 65%. In the case of storage and then operating, the maximum outlet air temperature was ranged from (27°C) up to (31°C) then decreased with spend of energy to reach (13°C) to (18°C) and the maximum storage energy was (165.14 W) for the porosity of (0.29) , height of (20 cm) and (0.01 kg/s) mass flow rate. The results also, showed that the solar air collector supplied a solar heating fraction (SHF) with an average of (0.65) for a meeting room (3 * 4 * 7 m) located in Baghdad as a case study.


This paper represents design and fabrication of small scale horizontal axis wind turbine adopting Archimedes spiral rotor blade. A new type of yawing mechanism is introduced to sense the direction of wind and to turn the rotor in the most appropriate direction to harness maximum amount of wind energy eliminating the application of electronic devices. The aerodynamics characteristics and performance of Archimedes wind turbine were investigated on actual size of the rotor blade using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and field test. The torque obtainedfor lower wind speed is relatively high as compared to other type of wind turbine. The analytical value of turbine characteristics shows good agreement with the experimental results.


Cicletanine was tested as an antagonist of the various actions of histamine in coronary artery rings isolated from old (mostly atherosclerotic) and young (non-atherosclerotic) patients. Histamine mainly induced concentration-dependent contractions in arteries from old patients. Cicletanine antagonized this effect with a pA2 value of 6.9 (slope factor of 0.94), revealing in some cases a relaxant effect of histamine. In addition, cicletanine increased the threshold concentration of histamine required to trigger spastic, indomethacin-sensitive rhythmic contractions in (some) rings of the oldest patient. At variance with what occurred in coronary rings from old patients, the predominant effect of histamine in rings from young patients was relaxation. This relaxation remained unaltered by cicletanine (1 microM). As a whole, these results extend the histamine H1 antagonistic activity of cicletanine to human coronary arteries. If histamine is involved in the promotion of vasospasm, then cicletanine could be of potential benefit to patients, without apparently affecting the relaxant response to histamine in non-cardiac patients.


In many geophysical applications, such as the interpretation of free oscillation periods and surface wave data, the underlying computational problem reduces to finding the eigenvalues of specific Sturm-Liounlle problems. Though a variety of computational methods are available for the approximation of such eigenvalues, it is clear from the geophysical literature that the full potential which such a choice affords is not being utilized. By comparing representative methods, it is shown that, though finite difference and finite element methods are commonly proposed and used, better results are obtained when the choice is based on the nature of the eigenvalues being approximated. The results indicate clearly the advantages associated with using methods tailored to specific needs. The general conclusions are: when accuracy is the prime consideration and only the fundamental and its first few harmonics are required, most methods can be used. However, preference would be given to Prufer phase methods, if computational efficiency were to be maximized, and to Rayleigh-Ritz methods if accuracy were the goal. When accurate uniformly valid estimates are required for long sequences of eigenvalues, the method proposed by Paine & de Hoog should be applied. If economy is a major consideration, then finite difference methods could be used in conjunction with the simple correction strategy proposed by Paine, de Hoog & Anderssen. A comparison is made between Gilbert & Dziewonski's program MODE and the method proposed by Paine & de Hoog.


Companies are involved in a high competition for reducing the cost of production in order to maintain their market shares. Since the costs of maintenance contribute a substantial portion of the production costs, companies must budget maintenance effectively. Machine deterioration prognosis can decrease the costs of maintenance by minimizing the loss of production due to machine breakdown and avoiding the overstocking of spare parts. This paper gives a review of some fault detection and prognosis methods to diagnose faults and failure on rotating electrical machines. To develop the monitoring system accelerometers have been used to acquire vibration measurements. Performance are studied on a laboratory-scale experimental system.


The potential energy surface describing the interaction of H2S with molecular hydrogen has been computed through explicitly correlated coupled cluster calculations including single, double, and (perturbative) triple excitations [CCSD(T)-F12a], with the assumption of fixed molecular geometries. The computed points were fit to an analytical form suitable for time-independent quantum scattering calculations of rotationally inelastic cross sections and rate coefficients. Representative sets of energy dependent state-to-state rotationally inelastic cross sections and rate coefficients are presented and discussed.


A mathematical model for long term shoreline evolution is developed. The combined effects of variations of sea level, wave refraction, wave diffraction, loss of sand by density currents during storms, by rip currents and by wind, bluff erosion and berm accretion as well as effects of man-made structures such as long groin or navigational structures and beach nourishment are all taken into account. A computer program is devloped with various subroutines which permit modification as the state-of-the-art progresses. The program is applied to a test case at Holland Harbor, Michigan.


In general, independent photography is about taking photograph on your own self without been controlled by anyone. But for each of the photographer, it's all about self-expression towards the images that had been snapped by the camera. Looking at the current trend, photography, independently, got such an overwhelming response from people, not only in Malaysia, but the whole world. It's all about our own spending time to seek the subject matter as we focused (framing) it through the viewfinder and "snap!". An image had been born. Independent photography is all about what the photographer him/herself trying to define description of information that lies within the visual.


Lenin is the obvious keystone of what can be called 'the Bolshevik tradition'. There has been considerable confusion over the meaning of this term, with frequent identification of it with the murderously bureaucratic phenomenon that in fact strangled it (for example, J. Arch Getty's description of Stalin's 1930s purges as 'the self-destruction of the Bolsheviks'). To the contrary – Lenin and the Bolshevik tradition he represents are inseparable from the revolutionary, anti-dogmatic, profoundly democratic perspectives of Karl Marx. While rooted in problems and contradictions arising within 'Leninism' and Bolshevism in the difficult years of 1918–1924, Stalinism represents a qualitative divergence. In fact, Bolshevism is a tradition that is essential to the best and most activist elements associated with 'Western Marxism' – particularly as represented by its foundational figures of the 1920s, Lukács and Gramsci – and with currents influenced by Trotsky. It is likely that a resurgence of left-wing activism will cause renewed scholarly debate on the issue of Lenin and revolutionary democracy.


The empirical relationship between the changes of the AMP concentration and the AMP content under different kinds of hypoxia was showed. This relationship is determined by the function which is closely related to the totality parameters of the brain energy metabolism. This function may be used for the prognosis of the brain energy state under hypoxia.


Environmental genomics and proteomics data are heavily populated with proteins that are not homologous to experimentally characterized proteins. We approached this problematic area by investigating a natural microbial community from a highly constrained niche in which critical roles are likely carried out by proteins of unknown function (ORFans). Based on several criteria, these proteins were not statistically similar to any protein sequences in the SwissProt database. We selected a target set of 545 ORFans and weakly annotated proteins expressed by the dominant bacterial member of the community, Leptospirillum Group II, and used an automated modeling system (AS2TS) incorporated with other computational tools to predict structures. This generated 484 models, 89% of the target set. Structure-based superfamilies, general functional categorizations, and specifi c gene ontology (GO) functions were predicted for 424, 386, and 117 ORFans, respectively. Structural predictions and classifi cations were integrated into a manually curated database, outlining in silico calculations and available proteomic data for each protein. This analysis facilitated the development of experimentally testable hypotheses for several enigmatic proteins, including confi dent predictions of copper transport proteins and cyclic diguanylate signaling proteins. As DNA sequencing of natural organisms rapidly expands, this computational structure-function approach can be applied to guide experimental testing of the structure and function of challenging ORFans.


The energy resource potential and discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean have attracted the attention of the global energy markets for a long time. Since the beginning of the 2000s, exploration, and drilling activities have continued to increase in the region. The discovered hydrocarbon resources are only a small part of the estimated potential, consequently, the actors in the Eastern Mediterranean have been focusing on increasing this quantity. On the other hand, the ongoing discussions related to Exclusive Economic Zones have delayed the seismic surveys, drilling operations, and production activities in some specific areas of the region. Moreover, transferring the discovered resources from the Eastern Mediterranean to the international markets is another issue that has not yet been resolved. Therefore, this study evaluates the general situation in the Eastern Mediterranean in terms of the potential of energy resources, discoveries, and transfer projects. In this context, this paper examines the geo-economic competition over the energy resources in the region.


"On Corporeal Tropes in Anna Frajlich's Poetry" is an attempt to take a closer look at the diverse ways in which corporeality is understood by the author of Łodzią jest i jest przystanią [It is both boat and harbor]. In Frajlich's works one can observe a reflection on corporeality. Even though Frajlich does not shy away from describing bodies which are sensual, erotic, and ones that experience emotions, she also pays attention to bodies which suffer and are stricken with pain. A recurrent theme in Frajlich's poetry is the body in the context of collective experiences. Displacement and exile are prominent themes in Frajlich's poetry, which affect the poet's body. The attacks of September 11, 2001, represent a collective wound, which "heals," but the scar remains. Trauma in Frajlich's poetry is shown through the body, a toothache or devastating pain. Finally, Frajlich's poetry often presents lyrical images in which the body constitutes the transmitter of nonverbal desires and human pain. On the one hand, Frajlich observes the body's physiological decay, and on the other, she does not shy away from describing the sensual, erotic, and feeling body.


Background Patient education (PE) is an integral part of the management of inflammatory arthritis (IA). The content of PE and the methods of delivery vary widely across the European countries, preventing comparison and establishment of standards. Currently, there are no formal EULAR recommendations for the content, mode of delivery, timing and evaluation of PE. Objectives (i) develop evidence-based recommendations/points to consider for people with IA in order to contribute to core standards for PE of people with IA across EULAR countries, (ii) identify the educational needs of rheumatology health professionals in order to effectively implement evidence-based PE and (iii) identify areas in which there is lack of evidence or a need for further research on PE. Methods The development of the recommendations involved a 15-member task force comprising a multidisciplinary expert panel (nurses, rheumatologists, occupational therapists, a physiotherapist, a psychologist and epidemiologists) and patient representatives, from 10 European countries. They followed the EULAR standardised operating procedures for the elaboration, evaluation, dissemination, and implementation of recommendations [1]. The procedure involves two task force meetings and a systematic literature review. In the first task force meeting, the aims of the project were clarified, a definition of patient education was developed and ten research questions were developed to guide the literature review. A research fellow then conducted the systematic review over a 7-month period, to address the research questions. The task force was then presented with the results of the systematic review before the second meeting in which the recommendations were developed together with the research and education agenda. Following the second meeting, each recommendation was graded according to the level of the supporting evidence and sent to the task force members for final approval and voting. Results The task force agreed on a common definition of PE and formulated eight recommendations in total. Two recommendations dealt with the need for PE provision as an integral part of standard care in IA, two focused on the content of PE and two on the providers of PE. One recommendation addressed the modes of delivery and one addressed the evaluation of PE (effects). Four of the recommendations were assigned strength of the recommendation "A", while the rest were assigned strengths ranging from "C" to "D", according to the level of the supporting evidence. The task force members agreement level was high (mean score for each recommendation was at least 9.4). Finally, the task force agreed on 10 research agenda and three education agenda items. Conclusion Eight evidence-based and expert opinion-based recommendations have been developed to help establish PE standards across EULAR countries. The implementation of the recommendations can help to bring harmonisation and raise the standard of care for people with IA across Europe. The educational needs of PE providers have been addressed in the recommendations and in the educational agenda. Lastly, areas for further research have been identified. References Dougados, M. et al. EULAR standardised operating procedures for the elaboration, evaluation, dissemination, and implementation of recommendations endorsed by the EULAR standing committees. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 63, 1172-1176, doi:10.1136/ard.2004.023697 (2004). Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.6181


Why teach English in Chile? Dominant public discourse claims for economic development, but with limited social mobility, do students from differing socio-economic groups perceive the same need? Recognising the influence of student belief systems on language acquisition, clashing language orientations could be creating unfavourable classroom environments. Thus, this study set out to identify the language orientations that secondary students recognise and hold in relation to the study of English with the purpose of helping English as foreign language (EFL) teachers become aware of the plurality of student perceptions. This was a qualitative multiple-case study which utilised a card-sorting technique paired with hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling (MDS) to identify the language orientations and their constructs and semi-structured interviews and classroom observations for verification. Whilst the language orientations students recognise and hold were found to be similar across socio-economic lines, an important issue is the divergence identified between the language orientations associated with the classroom and those that represent student interests, which could be explained due to the lack of intentional and conscious dialogue about the purpose of the classroom curriculum. Vision planning is proposed as a tool for teachers to address this breach between students and classroom curriculum.


One of the most important techniques introduced into the recent facsimile is redundancy-reduction coding. The CCITT already standardized the coding schemes to be employed in Group 3 and Group 4. There are, however, left for further study the optional non-information-preserving coding scheme for black-and-white pictures and the coding scheme for multilevel and color pictures. Much work has been carried out with respect to these kinds of coding, including pattern-matching coding for black-and-white pictures and various information-preserving and non-information-preserving coding for multilevel and color pictures. The Group 4 apparatus is a new generation facsimile apparatus, which is mainly operated on public switched data networks. This kind of facsimile apparatus features higher resolution and error-free reception, and has the teletex-facsimile mixed mode capability as an option. The most important technical problem in the standardization of the Group 4 facsimile is the communication protocol which has been developed based on the existing teletex protocol. Facsimile communication is carried out not only on general public switched telephone or data networks, but also on specialized networks dedicated to it. Some sorts of communication processing such as speed conversion, automatic appending function, repeated delivery attempt, etc., are incorporated into these networks. The development of facsimile equipment has also shown progress in these few years. For example, a very compact apparatus has been developed using a new contact type imager and a codec built by special-purpose LSIs. The press fax apparatus employing flat-bed scanner and multicolor facsimile apparatus have also been put into market. This paper describes the outline of recent advances in facsimile, including the above-mentioned items.


Cfengine is a middle to high level policy language and autonomous agent for building expert systems to administrate and configure large computer clusters. It is ideal for large-scale cluster management and is highly portable across varying computer platforms, allowing the management of multiple architectures and node types within the same farm. After brief introduction to Cfengine, the rest of this paper will focus on deployment of common middleware components utilizing various parts of Cfengine.


A series of experiments was carried out for selecting insecticides and determining proper spraying time to control pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum Linnaeus) in Jeonnam area. In the field trial two times spray with diazinon, carbaryl, imidacloprid, spinosad, etofenprox, clorpyrifos-methyl showed good control effect and threetimes spray showed the better control effect. The second spray (spraying on 10th of May) took the major role of insecticide effectiveness expression for controlling pea weevil. Further trial for selecting insecticides among organophosphates to control pea weevil in lab was conducted and every organophosphate insecticide tested was very effective to pea weevil even at the concentration of one forth of its recommending concentration.


The dc characteristics of an interesting InP-InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) with a superlattice (SL) structure incorporated in the base-collector (B-C) junction are demonstrated. In the SL structure, holes injected from the collector collide with holes confined in the SL and impact them out of the SL across the valence-band discontinuities. With a collector-emitter (C-E) voltage V/sub CE/ less than the C-E breakdown voltage BV/sub CE0/, the current gain can be increased at base-current inputs because the released holes from the SL inject into the base to cause the emitter-base junction operating under more forward-biased condition. An ac current gain up to 204 is obtained. At base-emitter voltage V/sub BE/ inputs, the released holes travel to the base terminal to decrease the base current. The studied HBT exhibits common-emitter current gains exceeding 47 at low current levels and useful gains spreading over seven orders of magnitude of collector current.


Boiler is a hazardous equipment to have potential explosion ail the time. And not only it has malfunction at explosion. it lead to people death but also secondary accident such as explosion and fire. Therefore, this equipment should not be broken for keeping its own function. And also, high level of safety should be kept in the process of the use not to be malfunctioned. A large scale of accident due to boiler explosion can be preventive in advance. Boiler fracture is occurred by instant expansion (approximately 1700 time) from quick evaporation of rater in boiler, due to pressure decrease in boiler Emitting energy from it is tremendous and it is so dangerous because of its high temperature. Secondary explosion such as fire is also a main hazard occurring at fuel supply place. If any devices with high pressure is broken, then not only boiler vessel but also components of it are spread with high speed, causing secondary accident. This study is to analyze integrally accident cause of fire and flue tube boiler to have occurred pressure fracture actually, to show countermeasures to prevent accident loss from the fire and flue tube boiler.


The RhoA and RhoC GTPases act via the ROCK1 and ROCK2 kinases to promote actomyosin contraction, resulting in directly induced changes in cytoskeleton structures and altered gene transcription via several possible indirect routes. Elevated activation of the Rho/ROCK pathway has been reported in several diseases and pathological conditions, including disorders of the central nervous system, cardiovascular dysfunctions and cancer. To determine how increased ROCK signalling affected gene expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells, we transduced mouse PDAC cell lines with retroviral constructs encoding fusion proteins that enable conditional activation of ROCK1 or ROCK2, and subsequently performed RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) using the Illumina NextSeq 500 platform. We describe how gene expression datasets were generated and validated by comparing data obtained by RNA-Seq with RT-qPCR results. Activation of ROCK1 or ROCK2 signalling induced significant changes in gene expression that could be used to determine how actomyosin contractility influences gene transcription in pancreatic cancer.


The slow dynamics (10−6 s–104 s) of the magnetization in the paramagnetic phase, predicted by Glauber for the 1d Ising model, has been observed with ac susceptibility and SQUID magnetometry measurements in a molecular chain comprising alternating Co2+ spins and organic radical spins strongly antiferromagnetically coupled to give a 1d ferrimagnet. An Arrhenius behavior with activation energy Δ = 152 K has been observed for ten decades of relaxation time and found to be consistent with the Glauber model. We have extended this model to take into account the ferrimagnetic nature of the chain as well as its helicoidal crystal structure.


This thesis aims to identify the effects of privatisation of public disability programs in The Netherlands, Germany and Canada. It does so from an insurance perspective (defined as: seeking a balance between the extent of cover and its cost). Subsequently, some conclusions are drawn as regards an optimal allocation of roles between 'public' and 'private' in disability insurance. Both public and private disability insurance are being dominated by an 'inconvenient truth', the presence of behavioural effects. Consequently, the same applies to the effects of privatisation. Other findings are – inter alia – that market failure (often quoted as the rationale for state intervention) is not an issue, but that demand anomalies are. The thesis concludes that whilst public insurance is probably the best way to address demand anomalies, private insurers are better equipped to deal with behavioural effects. It therefore suggests that in an optimal allocation of roles between' public' and 'private' public disability insurance should be restricted to 'basic' cover (that is less exposed to behavioural effects) and leave it to private insurers to provide additional cover. In this way a balance between 'public' and 'private' will contribute to the required balance between the extent of cover and cost. Casper de Jong graduated in Dutch Law from Leyden University (Netherlands) in 1969. He worked some thirty years in the insurance industry and held management and supervising positions in several countries. He wrote this thesis after he retired.


Bursty topics discovery in microblogs is important for people to grasp essential and valuable information. However, the task is challenging since microblog posts are particularly short and noisy. This work develops a novel probabilistic model, namely Bursty Biterm Topic Model (BBTM), to deal with the task. BBTM extends the Biterm Topic Model (BTM) by incorporating the burstiness of biterms as prior knowledge for bursty topic modeling, which enjoys the following merits: 1) It can well solve the data sparsity problem in topic modeling over short texts as the same as BTM; 2) It can automatical discover high quality bursty topics in microblogs in a principled and efficient way. Extensive experiments on a standard Twitter dataset show that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines significantly.


The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of spinning method, raw material, twist coefficient and strand spacing on the physical properties of single jersey knitted fabrics. For this purpose, different sirospun and ring spun yarns were produced both in long and short staple spinning systems with different raw materials. Single jerseys knitted fabrics were produced from these yarns. The physical properties of yarns and knitted fabrics were tested and statistically evaluated. Sirospun yarns generally had better yarn properties compared to ring spun yarns. Especially yarn hairiness values of sirospun yarns were considerably lower than ring spun yarns. Generally bursting strength, air permeability, surface friction properties of the fabrics knitted from sirospun yarns were found better than the fabrics knitted from ring spun yarns.


To the Editor. —I noted with interest 3 articles1-3dealing with adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and their consequences. Since the hospital to which I admit my patients has started what they describe as a mandatory ADR reporting system, I have 2 points. First, in our institution, trivial events are required to be reported as an ADR. If a cancer patient receiving chemotherapy has nausea or loses his or her hair, that is an ADR; if an asthmatic patient develops mild hyperglycemia from receiving steroids, that is a reportable ADR; if a patient is given antacids for an upset stomach and develops a mild case of selflimited diarrhea, that is a reportable ADR. There seems to be little rational consensus on what constitutes an ADR. The second point is that physicians are in a double bind. If we do not make a selective report to the pharmacy about a


In order to strengthen buildings against various damages and prolong their service life, BFRP is considered serving as reinforcing materials instead of steel. Through static load tests on six simple supporting beams reinforced with BFRP rebar and six reinforced with steel rebar, the paper compares their flexural behavior, finds the load-deformation relationship of the BFRP reinforced concrete beam and finally concludes if the BFRP bar bonds well enough to concrete, it will be great strengthening materials, which is expected to improve the bearing capacity of beam specimens significantly. But in the experiment, the two materials fail to bond as well as assumed, which hinders the BFRP producing advantages as reinforcing materials. The BFRP rebar debonding from concrete restricts its application severely, so the first concern should be how to improve the technology for debonding-resistant BFRP rebar. Under the same loads, the deflections of all beam specimens are large, mainly due to the fact that the elastic modulus of the BFRP rebar is small, while its tensile strength is high, but not fully utilized, so the emphasis in design should be put on the use of pre-stressing tendons. Based on the experimental results, recommendations on relevant design and applications are of great importance to engineering practice and help improve the design guidance for fiber composite concrete structure.


JULIAN LAPS'. Professor Kouretas refers to suggestion but omits all reference to hypnosis. The suppliant, garlanded as a sacrificial victim, in tight clothes and heavy boots, was purified, drank the waters of Forgetfulness and Memory, and prayed to the wonder-working statue. Arms fixed, carrying the offering of barley cakes, now lying prone, he is torpedoed through a narrow opening into a cave of oppressive darkness. The fretful infant is rocked to sleep, with decreasing rhythms and the lullaby that ceases before the rocking. Alternatively, the child is raised, clothes tightened firmly inhibiting movement, and, as suddenly, inverted. Light is changed to darkness, with parting shots of "¿ Quiet!Hush ! Sleep!―. Disturbances of the organs of balance, encircling "¿ mystic― passes, deli berate pressures on carotid sinus, "¿ whiplash― effects, changing intense light to felt oppressive darkness are the mechanics of the hypnotist utilizing mechanical agitation of the brain. @Jhanges of proprioceptivity,


In the past decades the set of human tasks that are solved by machines was extended dramatically. From simple image classification problems researchers now move towards solving more sophisticated and vital problems, like, autonomous driving and language translation. The case of language translation includes a challenging area of sign language translation that incorporates both image and language processing. We make a step in that direction by proposing a lightweight network for ASL gesture recognition with a performance sufficient for practical applications. The proposed solution demonstrates impressive robustness on MS-ASL dataset and in live mode for continuous sign gesture recognition scenario. Additionally, we describe how to combine action recognition model training with metric-learning to train the network on the database of limited size. The training code is available as part of Intel OpenVINO Training Extensions.


Advertising investment risk has become high due to the explosive information increase and the commoditization evolution. In order to reduce such risk, it is important to understand the relation between advertising elements and consumer responses, and apply the knowledge to decision making process of advertising production. There have been lots of efforts to develop a set of scales to measure the advertising perceptions and relate it to the consumer responses. However, that is not adequate when we assume to support the actual practices of the advertising production. Although the advertising perceptions are helpful to understand the reasons of the consumer responses, they don't directly lead the way to the advertising production. In this study, we analyze the effects of 28 elements of TV advertisements on the advertising perceptions and the consumer responses. The elements adopted in this study are controllable by advertisers so that they can apply the research findings to the advertising production. Empirical analyses using a dataset of the advertising perceptions and the consumer responses to more than 800 TV advertisements clarified not only the important advertising elements which had high impacts on the consumer responses but also how and why they affect consumer responses. Simultaneously, simulation of the consumer responses using random forests was found to be helpful to explore the effective combination of the advertising elements.


Structural and magnetic properties of rapidly quenched amorphous (Zr 65 Al 7.5 Cu 17.5 Ni 10)100-x Fe x alloys were investigated as a function of the iron content (x = 0 to 20). The observed dependence of the atomic pair correlation functions on the Fe content points to the random incorporation of the iron atoms into the amorphous structure. The magnetic behaviour is dominated by temperature independent Pauli paramagnetism in the range x ≤ 15. Magnetic clusters are determined for x = 20. The appearance of these iron clusters is consistent with the observed random distribution of iron atoms in the amorphous alloy. The minimum size of an iron cluster required for the creation of a non-zero magnetic moment amounts to about 100 atoms.


Trade-offs between current and future consequences are characteristic for the domain of health behavior. Therefore, both eating and exercising behavior could be determined by time orientation, which refers to an individual's general orientation toward the present or the future. The main aim of this dissertation is to provide insight into the relations between time orientation and both eating and exercising behavior. The results of this dissertation confirm that time orientation is a shared determinant of eating and exercising behavior. Nevertheless, time orientation for food and for exercise are different constructs that, in turn, have differential relations with eating and exercising behavior. Specifically, eating behavior is mainly predicted by consideration of immediate consequences, whereas exercising behavior is mainly predicted by consideration of future consequences. In addition, these relations can be partly explained by construal level. Theoretically, the results of this dissertation contribute in various ways to a better understanding of the construct of time orientation and its relations with eating and exercising behavior. Methodologically, the results of this dissertation have several implications for the measurement of time orientation as well as the measurement of eating and exercising behavior. Practically, the results of this dissertation can be used in the development of campaigns to stimulate healthy eating and exercising behavior. Overall, the insights that have been gained in this dissertation contribute to a better understanding of individuals' intertemporal decision making in the health domain and can ultimately be used in order to promote and stimulate healthy eating and exercising behavior.


Astudy was conducted to determine the prevalence of malaria among pregnant women in Maradi, Niger Republic. Questionnaires were administered to a total of four hundred and eight (408) pregnant women to obtain information about their trimester group, gravid status, duration of the pregnancy, educational level and age group. Blood samples were collected from the interviewed subjects and analysed for the presence of Plasmodium infection using thin and thick smear techniques.Atotal of one hundred and forty-nine (149) samples were found to be infected, representing 36.52%. The distribution of the infection by trimester groups showed that, women in their first trimester had the highest  prevalence of 43.47%. The age-group distribution of the infection showed that, persons aged 10-19 had the highest prevalence of 45.58%, while the distribution of the infection by level of education showed that persons with non-formal education had the highest prevalence of 75.0%. All the infections were found to be due to Plasmodium falciparum. The survey found ignorance to be a contributing factor in the epidemiology of malaria in the area and suggested mass public enlightenment programme as a control measure.


Objectives: To estimate the supply of occupational and environmental medicine specialties in the target year of 2020. Methods: We adopted alternative projection models combined with a demographic method as a supply forecasting method. The model uses data selected primarily from the database of the Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (KSOEM), a survey for certified members of KSOEM, audit data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) and Hospital Accreditation. We assumed five viable alternatives in supply forecasting. Results: Depending on the assumptions, the total occupational and environmental medicine specialties supply ranged from 706 by low-level supply estimates to 754 by high-level supply estimates in 2020. Among them, approximately 81% were estimated to engage themselves in agency for health management and periodic health examinations for workers exposed to hazards. Conclusions: The study results suggest that the supply of occupational and environmental medicine specialties is related to the policy of MOEL. Further studies are needed concerning overall policy about health and safety and for the newly demanded market.


By the use of the intraperitoneal injection method, the in vivo effect of various concentrations of insulin or pro-insulin alone and in combination has been studied on the conversion of glucose-U-C-14 into labeled lipid of epididymal fat pad and labeled glycogen of the diaphragm of rats. On a molar basis proinsulin is one eighth as effective as insulin in promoting glucose oxidation in both tissues. Proinsulin exerts no antagonistic or synergistic effect on insulin but exhibits an additive effect with submaximal concentrations of insulin.


Abstract : The present report concentrates on the physics of propagating intense ion beams in plasma channels. In particular, the theoretical aspects are studied of the possible effects during ion beam transport on the structure of electromagnetic fields in the plasma. The ion orbits were solved for different classes of plasma channels including bumpy ones in order to evaluate the sensitivity of beam losses due to channels that deviate from idealistic shapes. The consideration of different plasma instabilities, the hydrodynamic motion of the plasma, propagation in filamentary channels and beam energy losses put realistic limits on how much ion current can be propagated using the simple steady plasma channel concept. Axial bunching of the beam (via time dependent voltage ramping of the ion diode) was analyzed and found to be sound concept as long as no more than an order of magnitude pulse compression is attempted. The radial compression is viable on a small scale in tapered channels (giving a factor of 2 increase in current density) and on a large scale if self magnetic fields fully penetrate the media (giving rise to an order of magnitude increase in ion beam current density). Further theoretical investigation on the details of the above mechanisms are presently in progress including new plasma channel schemes that help to push upwards the limits on the ion currents.


Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in patients with limb ischaemia remains still a topical problem and it is a subject of research. Some degree of tissue injury is expressed in each patient, regardless of type of ischaemia (acute or chronic). The difference is stated in extent of injury and in clinical relevance. In our article we provide current theoretical view of IRI and possibilities to influence it.


The purpose of this research is to investigate the mechanical response in anti-plane shear of a class of incompressible isotropic hyperelastic materials for which the strain-energy density depends only on the first invariant of the strain tensor. Our concern is with the subclass of these materials that exhibits hardening at large deformations. In the molecular theory of elasticity, these models are called non-Gaussian, since they introduce a distribution function which is not Gaussian for the end-to-end distance of the polymeric chain. Two classes of these materials are considered, namely those with limiting chain extensibility and power-law models. The governing partial differential equation of equilibrium in anti-plane shear (a single second-order quasilinear partial differential equation) is obtained for specific constitutive models of the above type. Some solutions are derived using group symmetry reduction methods. Applications to crack problems and spatial decay of end effects are described. The results are applicable to rubber-like and biological materials.


Producer of Nanook of the North, Moana, Man of Aran, and other pioneering documentaries between 1920 and 1940, Robert J. Flaherty was America's first independent film artist. Popular conceptions of Flaherty have led many either to worship his work and regard him in mythical terms or to debunk him as a fraud and castigate him for lack of a social consciousness. Rarely has the attempt been made to understand him in the context of his times. This captivating study presents Flaherty through the eyes of someone who knew him personally-the brilliant British filmmaker and scholar Paul Rotha. A colleague and close friend of Flaherty, Rotha gives us s a powerfully written biography that is a balanced and intimate look at the life and work of an American genius. Editor Jay Ruby has restored the Rotha biography, including a wealth of anecdotes, letters, and memoirs that begin to bring Robert Flaherty the man into focus. An especially valuable dimension of this work is the appraisal of Flaherty the filmmaker from the viewpoint of a major figure of the British industry. He summarizes in detail the critical response to Flaherty of his contemporaries, about which only sketchy information has previously been available. Flaherty regarded himself as an explorer as well as a filmmaker. The exciting story of this biography takes us from the Arctic, where Flaherty spent years filming Nanook, to the South Pacific, England, the Aran Islands, and finally the United States. his courage and overarching vision resulted in an unprecedented recording of the human struggle and in documentary films that reached a wider audience than ever before.


Random telegraph signal (RTS) behavior is reported and characterized in the dark count rate of single-photon avalanche Diodes (SPADs). The RTS is observed in a SPAD fabricated in 0.8-μm CMOS technology and in four proton-irradiated SPADs designed and fabricated in 0.35-μm CMOS technology. The RTS characteristics are evaluated experimentally and verified theoretically with respect to bias and temperature.


This paper uses a personalist methodology to discuss my experience of being a lesbian consumer of pop-culture representations of lesbianism. It details, through cultural and feminist/lesbian theory, film theory, and performance criticism, my confusing and contradictory postmodern-feminist-lesbian-theorist response to and desire for what I read as lesbophobia inscribed all over a postcard photo of the cover of a lesbian 1950s pulp novel. I discuss my position as a lesbian looking at a lesbian looking and note the obvious elements of lesbo/homophobia present in this cultural artefact: the trivialization of lesbian desire; the stereotyping of lesbian women; the censorship or erasure of the possibilities of healthy same-sex desire; the prefiguration of the male voyeuristic gaze turning lesbian sex into a spectacle for male pleasure. The paper aims to underline the critical strategies of lesbian experience, the required negotiations in a hostile culture, and the ways that cultural criticism in the academy shape and prefigure my responses to lesbophobic performances in mass media. I question the nature of my pleasure in lesbophobic fictions and detail the process of reversing discourse in the Foucauldian sense. As I identify with the representations, however inaccurate, however fictional, I must invert or queer the lesbophobic message, finding pleasure in the very discourses that oppress me, stereotype me, tolerate me, target me.


There is growing interest in the construction of concrete pavements, due to its high strength, durability, better serviceability and overall economy in the long run. The thrust nowadays is to produce thinner and green pavement sections of better quality, which can carry the heavy loads. The high strength steel fibre reinforced concrete is a concrete having compressive strength greater than 40MPa, made of hydraulic cements and containing fine and coarse aggregates; and discontinuous, unconnected, randomly distributed steel fibres. The present study aims at, developing pavement quality concrete mixtures incorporating marble dust as partial replacement of cement as well as steel fibres. The aim is to the design of slab thickness of PQC pavement using the achieved flexural strength of the concrete mixtures. In this study, the flexural, compressive and split tensile strength for pavement quality concrete mixtures for different percentage of steel fibres and replacement of cement with marble dust are reported. It is found out the maximum increase in flexure strength, compressive strength and split tensile strength is for 0% Marble Dust and 1% Steel fibre. Also it has been possible to achieve savings in cement by replacing it with marble dust and adding fibres. This study also shows that in view of the high flexural strength, high values of compressive strength and high values of split tensile strength, higher load carrying capacity and higher life expectancy, the combination of 10 to 20% marble dust replacement along with addition of 0.5 to 1% steel fibres is ideal for design of Pavement Quality Concrete (PQC).


Staff nurses make ethical decisions daily. It is important that nurses know how to manage those decisions appropriately so that clients' ethical rights are honored without compromising the nurse's own moral conscience. In this phenomenological study, 19 staff nurses described their experiences in making ethical decisions in their practices. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Giorgi's phenomenological steps. The description of the nurses' experiences identified two distinct components of the ethical decision-making process: deliberation and integration. The findings suggest that nurses need to: a) recognize the ethical nature of their work, b) discern which ethical decisions are theirs to make, and c) acknowledge their authority to make ethical decisions in their practices. These findings have important implications for the continuing education of nurses regarding ethical decision-making.


The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated in visuospatial memory, and its cellular basis has been extensively studied with the delayed-response paradigm in monkeys. However, using this paradigm, it is difficult to dissociate neuronal activities related to visuospatial memory from those related to motor preparation, and few studies have provided evidence for the involvement of PFC neurons in visuospatial memory of a sensory cue, rather than in motor preparation. To extend this finding, we examined neuronal activities in the dorsolateral PFC while a rhesus monkey performed a spatial delayed matching-to-sample (SDMTS) task, which allows us to adequately access visuospatial memory independent of any sensorimotor components. The SDMTS task required the subject to make a lever-holding NOGO response or a lever-releasing GO response when a visuospatial matching cue (white spot, one of four peripheral locations, 15 degrees in eccentricity) matched or did not match a sample cue (physically the same as the matching cue) that had been presented prior to a delay period (3 s). Thus, the SDMTS task requires the subject to remember visuospatial information regarding the sample cue location during the delay period and is suitable for accessing visuospatial memory independent of any sensorimotor components, such as motor preparation, for directed movements. Of a total of 385 task-related neurons, 184 showed a sustained increase in activity during the delay period ("delay-period activity"). Most of these neurons (n = 165/184, 90%) showed positional delay-period activity, i.e., delay-period activity where the magnitude differed significantly with the position of the sample cue. This activity appears to be involved in visuospatial memory and to form a "memory field." To quantitatively examine the properties of positional delay-period activity, we introduced a tuning index (TI) and a discriminative index (DI), which represent the sharpness of tuning and the discriminative ability, respectively, of positional delay-period activity. Both TI and DI varied among neurons with positional delay-period activity and were closely related to the time from the onset of the sample cue to the onset of positional delay-period activity; positional delay-period activity with sharper tuning and a greater discriminative ability had a slower onset. Furthermore, at the population level, both TI and DI were increased during the delay period in the neuronal population with a high DI value. These results extend previous findings to suggest that integrative, convergent processes of neuronal activities for increasing the accuracy of visuospatial memory may occur in the dorsolateral PFC. Thus, a critical role of the dorsolateral PFC in visuospatial memory may be to sharpen it to guide behaviors/decisions requiring accurate visuospatial memory.


Abstract In the field of precautionary radiation protection and disaster response, the amount of information and the number of its sources is steadily increasing. Central compilation and instant availability of information for all involved authorities becomes more and more important. In this context the structured presentation of documents on a web server in terms of an "Electronic Situation Display" (ESD) has been established. In Germany, there are several Electronic Situation Display prototypes run by federal and state authorities for various purposes and using different technical approaches. The systems of the federal states focus on workflow management. They provide emergency log books and information on the implementation of countermeasures for disaster response authorities. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) tasked the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) to develop the Federal Electronic Situation Display (ELAN) that is mainly used as an information platform for decision making in case of nuclear emergencies. Documents containing radiological data or results from Decision Support Systems are almost automatically integrated into ELAN. Read and write permissions for users are managed by a concept of specific roles. The federal ESD and the systems of the federal states will be coordinated in order to achieve a better harmonisation. Interfaces for data exchange and data processing must be defined. Authorities of the federal states can use protected areas within the federal ESD where information is kept confidential for internal use before it is distributed to other states and federal authorities. In addition, key information of Electronic Situation Displays from the federal states can automatically be integrated into ELAN. Several task groups of the IAEA are working on the development and realization of a prototype for an information platform harmonising ESDs on an international level.


The specificity of synchrotron stereotactic radiotherapy requires new developments in dose calculation and appropriate experimental procedures. The medical beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility allows quantitative synchrotron radiation CT (SRCT) images to be obtained from a monochromatic x-ray beam. This paper investigates initial experimental dosimetry with normoxic polyacrylamide gel dosimeters. MRI and SRCT readouts are compared.


If different identities and national characters matter in explaining foreign policy choices and outcomes, as some studies of Thucydides suggest, then it must be important to understand how these identities and characteristics are created and maintained. This article addresses the problem of collective identity formation in Thucydides' narrative from a rhetorical point of view. The analysis focuses on identitydefining practices, i.e. discursive practices which serve to delineate collective subjects. It is demonstrated that the Peloponnesian War is comprehensible not only in conventional political terms as a struggle over territory, trading interests or leadership, but also as a struggle over identity in which the foundations of collective identification provide both an exploitable resource and a bone of contention per se. Superimposed on other levels of conflict, the issue of collective identification emerges as a sometimes unconscious yet always central concern to Thucydides and the leaders of his time.


The 2021 Bundestag election brought an end to the model of grand coalitions that Germany had witnessed in 12 out of the 16 years of Angela Merkel's chancellorship. While older voters often switched from the Christian Democrats to the Social Democrats, young voters might have set a trend in 2021 by voting for non-governing parties, allowing the Greens and the fdp to enter the new government. Have we witnessed more than a situational switch from the Volksparteien to a new yellow-green alliance, maybe even the rise of a generational cleavage? This article provides empirical evidence for dissatisfaction with the grand coalition government and the quest for change among young voters—a fight against climate change combined with state-centered social policies among Green voters, and a broad liberal program for progress among fdp voters. Yet the reasons that young people support these parties differ significantly. Thus, it is thin empirical ice to associate the yellow-green boost among young voters with a new generational cleavage.


This thesis details the application of suspension spray and low pressure coating (LPC) for the deposition of photocatalytic titanium dioxide coatings. Coatings such as these have a number of applications including water purification, air purification and energy generation. However, a limitation in the development of these desirable technologies is the demonstration of a low cost, readily scalable, coating method. This was therefore the aim of this thesis. The initial literature review discussed a number of coating methods, however highlighted suspension spraying, an adaptation of thermal spraying, as a promising technology. Nanostructured titania coatings were therefore produced via suspension plasma spray (SPS) and high velocity suspension flame spray (HVSFS). Spray parameters were altered to create a range of coatings and establish an understanding of process control (e.g. controlling phase composition, microstructure etc.). A comparison of the SPS and HVSFS coatings/processes was then made with suspension flame spray (SFS) results from the author's previous master dissertation, "Suspension Flame Spray of Titanium Dioxide for Photolysis Devices", with additional analysis of samples produced therein. This was the first comparison to be made of the three processes ability to produce nano-titania coatings. SFS was found to have a number of advantages relative to the other suspension spray techniques, namely its low expense, so was selected for further optimisation. The effects of substrate preparation, coating thickness and fuel ratio were explored, with the latter two found to have significant influence on coating activity. A novel, alternative technique, for the extremely low cost deposition of photoactive surfaces, LPC was discovered as part of this process. A range of coatings were produced by LPC to gain an understanding of process control. The photocatalytic films were demonstrated to have significant air purification properties. LPC was therefore highlighted as a potential method for the production of air purifying building materials.


The variety and complexity of portfolio holdings have given rise to the need for additional analyses for purposes of risk management. A framework for risk analysis includes three dimensions: sensitivity analysis, value at risk (VAR), and stress testing. This article describes each dimension and suggests a procedure for achieving a VAR measure. Once individual holdings are analyzed, attention can be directed to portfolio-level analyses and the types of output suitable for monitoring purposes. In combination, this framework can capture the important features of portfolio risk.


Adaptation of statistical classifiers is critical when a target (or testing) distribution is different from the distribution that governs training data. In such cases, a classifier optimized for the training distribution needs to be adapted for optimal use in the target distribution. This paper presents a Bayesian "divergence prior" for generic classifier adaptation. Instantiations of this prior lead to simple yet principled adaptation strategies for a variety of classifiers, which yield superior performance in practice. In addition, this paper derives several adaptation error bounds by applying the divergence prior in the PAC-Bayesian setting.


. We establish formulas for bounds on the Haudorff measure of the intersection of certain Cantor sets with their translates. As a consequence we obtain a formula for the Hausdorff dimensions of these intersections.


This study aims to determine the socio-economic conditions of the population in the district of Kilangan Lubuk Padang. This research is descriptive. The population in this study were all families (KK) in District of Lubuk Kilangan totaling 11. 034 households. The samples were taken by using a sample of 100 families with Proportionate random sampling of respondents by sub-sub-populations vary. The research found that: 1) Livelihoods District of Lubuk Kilangan dominant livelihood in agriculture both father and mother to the type of work as agricultural labor, general status as a laborer, a place to do work at home and most do not have a second job, 2) conditions of houses in District of Lubuk Kilangan generally good, where the roof is tile and asbestos, concrete walls, tiled floor of the house, air vents for the entire room, clean source of water taps. Judging from the way of storing food ready for consumption and food consumption of the population is not ready at the general store in a special place and clean, waste water disposal with holes and a general MCK own bathroom and 3) Education of population in the District Lubuk Kilangan generally graduating high school / equivalent, both wife and husband, while the non-formal education is rarely found residents


Background/introduction Missed opportunities is a leading cause for late presentation in HIV. Aim(s)/objectives We analysed missed opportunities, clinical outcomes and associated cost in a HIV low prevalence region in UK. Methods A retrospective review of case notes and pathology system of new HIV diagnosis from 2010 to 2013 was undertaken. Clinical summary preceding 12 months of diagnosis collected from GPs with patient's consent. Data analysed using Excel workbook. Results Out of 25 new HIV diagnosis,17 males, 21 white ethnicity, 10 heterosexual and 6 bisexual. One third > 40 years. Sixteen (64%) were late diagnosis with CD4 < 350. 13/16 had CD4 < 200 and 9/16 (56%) had an AIDS defining illness. 19/25 (76%) had atleast one missed opportunity (range 1–16). 11/19 in primary care and remaining at different levels.There was no difference in VL between early and late diagnosis. 10/16 had a blood test in the preceding 12 months. In the first 12 months post diagnosis, early group had 51 clinical consultation compared to 147 in late group. Three patients had extended inpatient stay in the late group.One died. Using Reference costs of around £385, late diagnosis costed £ 56595 compared to £19635 for early excluding inpatients cost, excess bed days, additional outpatient investigations, medications including ARVS and other specialty referral costs. Discussion/conclusion Our study shows increased missed opportunities in apparently non high-risk groups resulting in poor outcomes and significant costs. Higher HIV awareness and national testing policy tailored to HIV low prevalence region is required.


2 Institute of River Environmental Technology, 17, Wauan-gil, Gyeonggi-do, Korea Abstract >> This study was performed to optimize the integrated thermal-alkali pre-treatment of flotation scum for the enhanced biodegradability. The optimum conditions of the integrated thermal-alkali pre-treatment were obtained using response surface methodology. The disintegration degree of carbohydrate (69.2%) and protein (57.3) were estimated under the optimum conditions. Although the optimum conditions were different, the disintegration degrees were similarly. A fermentative hydrogen batch test was conducted to evaluate the hydrogen production from scum with and/or without. The maximum hydrogen production from scum with pre-treatment was of 0.64 mol H2/mol hexoseadded, which about 1.4 times higher than without pre-treatment.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease that causes muscle weakness or spasticity, balance incoordination, sensory deficit, and fatigue. Any of these effects of MS can increase the risk for orthopaedic injury that places individuals with MS in an orthopaedic care setting. Nurses with an understanding of MS and the effect of MS on the body will be better prepared to educate peers about MS, act as advocates for individuals with MS in the orthopaedic setting, and offer optimum care that addresses the patient's MS as well as the orthopaedic problem. The following discussion addresses MS, its effect on the body, and various approaches to managing the disease, including a brief look at the current disease-modifying agents available to reduce or slow the neurologic damage caused by MS.


We present a procedure for analysing images obtained in particle image velocimetry. This consists of weighting, re-shaping and re-orientating the interrogation windows to improve the measurements in flow regions exhibiting velocity differences in space as in shear flows. The procedure is applied recursively together with that used to determine the optimal window offset and does not require any window deformation. Tests are performed on synthetic images in different conditions (on a two-dimensional wall shear flow provided in the web by the Visualisation Society of Japan) and on images acquired in the near field of a turbulent axisymmetric water jet (at a Reynolds number equal to 8000). Under these conditions, the new algorithm substantially improves the results obtained with the standard procedure. The use of an offset procedure with a variable iteration scheme (not simple halving) is also considered; although it introduces some degree of arbitrariness, sometimes it can also improve the quality of the results in comparison to the standard procedures.


Omni-directional images are widely used in image-based walkthrough applications, in which camera pose recovery is one of the initial and important processes. Existing methods may recover camera pose of omnidirectional images from lines. However, it may not work well when there is insufficient scene structure in the images. In addition, existing methods involve non-linear optimization and iterative algorithms, which may lead to the convergence problem and high computational cost. In this paper, we propose an automatic camera pose recovery method for a network of omni-directional images. Our method only requires 2D point correspondences as input. We divide the problem into the orientation and position components, and determine them separately. The relative rotations between adjacent views are aggregated to estimate the global orientations. An algorithm is developed to adjust the rotations for avoiding global inconsistency and error accumulation. For position recovery, we have derived a linear global formulation for establishing correspondences and positions among multiple views. Globally optimized positions can be obtained simply by solving the formulation. We demonstrate the performance of our method with some experiments.


. The outage of optical components like optical amplifiers and cross connects reduces the availability of a network and increases the operational expenditures of network operators. Responsible for this is the repair process of optical components which takes very long, because of the large distances in the field. The detection of performance degradation of erbium-doped amplifiers (EDFAs) can be used to reduce the repair time by changing an EDFA before it fails. With the knowledge of the degradation state the remaining life time of an EDFA can be calculated, enabling the operator to plan the replacement of EDFAs to avoid longer outage times. In this paper, an 1,000 km link and a German backbone network are used to simulate the aging of EDFAs with aging curves. Additionally the operational expenditures are considered to compare the cost of the repair process of EDFAs.


Abstract Background Optical slice microscopy is commonly used to observe cellular morphology in 3D tissue culture, e.g., the formation of cell-derived networks. The morphometric quantification of these networks is essential to study the cellular phenotype. Commonly, the quantitative measurements are performed on 2D projections of the image stack, resulting in the loss of information in the third dimension. Currently available 3D image analysis tools rely on manual interactions with the software and are therefore not feasible for large datasets. Findings Here we present Qiber3D, an open-source image processing toolkit. The software package includes the essential image analysis procedures required for image processing, from the raw image to the quantified data. Optional pre-processing steps can be switched on/off depending on the input data to allow for analyzing networks from a variety of sources. Two reconstruction algorithms are offered to meet the requirements for a wide range of network types. Furthermore, Qiber3D's rendering capabilities enable the user to inspect each step of the image analysis process interactively to ensure the creation of an optimal workflow for each application. Conclusions Qiber3D is implemented as a Python package, and its source code is freely available at https://github.com/theia-dev/Qiber3D. The toolkit was designed using a building block principle to enable the analysis of a variety of structures, such as vascular networks, neuronal structures, or scaffolds from numerous input formats. While Qiber3D can be used interactively in the Python console, it is aimed at unsupervised automation to process large image datasets efficiently.


Background: Cardiac catheterization is a minimally invasive intervention that can cause complications of vascular access after compression of the femoral artery or sheath removal. Cold pack gel is a non-pharmacological therapy given after sheat removal to reduce pain.
Objective:This study aimed to measure the effect of ice pack gel on pain reduction in arterial sheath removal post-cardiac catheterization patients.
Methods: This interventional clinical study with control and group treatment was conducted in the cardiology room of Saiful Anwar Hospital Malang, Indonesia. The respondents (n=32) were divided into two groups in pre and post-test control group design. Group A receives pressure bandages as a standard protocol (control groups) while group B, ice-packed gel. Pain scale measured by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) by 1-10.
Results: The Mann-Whitney test in two groups shows that there are differences in scores of pain reduction. The pain reduction difference in the treatment group (ice pack gel) was higher than the control ones (p < 0.001). The cold temperature of the cold-packed gel decreased the peripheral free nerve ending conductivity, furthermore, it made sensitivity stimulus or pain impulses slowed down then reduced the perception of pain.
Conclusions: The intervention of ice-packed gel is more effective than the standard protocols to reduce the pain in the removal sheath post cardiac catheterization.


New production (NP) and net community production (NCP) measurements are often used as estimates of carbon export potential from the mixed layer of the ocean, an important process in the regulation of global climate. Diverse methods can be used to measure NP and NCP, from research vessels, autonomous platforms, and remote sensing, each with its own set of benefits and uncertainties. The various methods are rarely applied simultaneously in a single location, limiting our ability for direct comparisons of the resulting measurements. In this study, we evaluated NP and NCP from thirteen independent datasets collected via in situ, in vitro, and satellite-based methods near Ocean Station Papa during the 2018 Northeast Pacific field campaign of the NASA project EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS). Altogether, the datasets indicate that carbon export potential was relatively low (median daily averages between −5.1 and 12.6 mmol C m−2 d−1), with most measurements indicating slight net autotrophy in the region. This result is consistent with NCP estimates based on satellite measurements of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a. We explored possible causes of discrepancies among methods, including differences in assumptions about stoichiometry, vertical integration, total volume sampled, and the spatiotemporal extent considered. Results of a generalized additive mixed model indicate that the spatial variation across platforms can explain much of the difference among methods. Once spatial variation and temporal autocorrelation are considered, a variety of methods can provide consistent estimates of NP and NCP, leveraging the strengths of each approach.


Existing knowledge of human disease relationships is incomplete. To establish a comprehensive understanding of disease, we integrated transcriptome profiles of 41,000 human samples with clinical profiles of 2 million patients, across 89 diseases. Based on transcriptome data, autoimmune diseases clustered with their specific infectious triggers, and brain disorders clustered by disease class. Clinical profiles clustered diseases according to the similarity of their initial manifestation and later complications, identifying disease relationships absent in prior co-occurrence analyses. Our integrated analysis of transcriptome and clinical profiles identified overlooked, therapeutically actionable disease relationships, such as between myositis and interstitial cystitis. Our improved understanding of disease relationships will identify disease mechanisms, offer novel therapeutic targets, and create synergistic research opportunities.


On March 11, 2011, popular internet humor blog the Daily What published a post containing a single YouTube video. The video's static thumbnail evoked placid suburban domesticity: a medium close-up of a white adolescent girl smiling widely, framed against a background of green foliage. This post, with its innocuous image—seemingly suitable for advertising home insurance or back-to-school supplies—was inexplicably and provocatively captioned "Where Is Your God Now of the Day: I am no longer looking forward to the weekend."1 Prior to the Daily What posting, the video had received relatively little online viewership. But just a few weeks later, on March 30, it had edged out the music video to Justin Bieber's "Baby" to achieve the dubious distinction of the most "disliked" video on the YouTube platform.2 The video in question was "Rebecca Black—Friday," one of the most infamous viral videos of the early 2010s.3 In the video, over the course of three minutes and forty-seven seconds, singer and central figure Rebecca Black narrates and moves through believably mundane situations— a schoolgirl eagerly anticipating the weekend as she completes her morning routine and commute, to a Friday night party full of friends.


Knowledge flows between public research organisations (PROs) and firms may occur through various channels. Channel selection may have different drivers and effects. Although much research has been carried out on the drivers of firms and researchers to connect with each other, less attention has been paid to the determinants of the selection of different channels of interaction. This research analysis factors driving firms' selection of different channels of interactions with public research organisations (PROs), both public research institutes (PRIs) and universities (UNIs). The paper estimates bi-variate probit models with sample selection using micro data for 2007 from a representative survey of Argentinean firms. The classification of channels is based on previous research for Latin America and includes four types according to the main goals that firms and public research organisations seek when interacting: traditional, service, commercial and bi-directional channels. We find that factors driving the selection of the bi-directional channel are different from those driving selection of the others. In particular, firms choosing this channel employ a more skilled workforce and generally interact with PRIs and UNIs in order to benefit their own innovative activities. Thus, this commitment to knowledge capabilities and innovation when firms use the bi-directional channel may enhance the potential of PRO–firm interactions to upgrade the national innovation system (NIS).


Introduction Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) often develop in target tissues of autoimmune diseases (AID) such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjögren's syndrome (SS). These structures consist of aggregates of B and T cells with varying degree of organisation and are proposed to promote the generation of autoreactive effector cells and autoantibody production. Modulation of the S1P1 receptor inhibits egress of pathogenic lymphocytes from lymphoid organs and reduces their availability in circulation. This has proven to be an effective target for the treatment of AID including MS and is currently being considered for early phase clinical trials in SLE and SS. Objectives To investigate the functional targeting of the S1P1 receptor in a murine model of SS. Methods Cenerimod, an orally active, selective S1P1 receptor modulator, was administered either preventively (early in inflammation) or therapeutically (established inflammation) in an inducible model of SS to evaluate the efficacy of cenerimod in vivo. Histology, flow cytometry and qPCR were used to analyse the tissue samples. Results Cenerimod induced disaggregation of the lymphocytic structures and resolution of salivary gland (SG) inflammation with a concomitant decrease in focus score, lymphoid structure size and T/B-cell follicular organisation. Mice treated with cenerimod displayed significantly decreased T (naïve, central memory and effector) and B (including CD138 +plasma cells) lymphocyte infiltration in cannulated SG, relative to vehicle treated mice. Interestingly, the lymphocytes from cenerimod treated mice exhibited significantly reduced proliferation as well as reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokine RNAs such as IL-17, IL-21, and IL-6. Furthermore, the gene expression profile associated with TLS formation (LTα, LTβ, TNFα, CXCL13, CCL19) was less pronounced in cenerimod treated samples. The cervical lymph nodes draining the salivary glands showed a slight reduction in T lymphocytes, but no significant defects were observed in structure, organisation and production of lymphoid chemokine/cytokines, suggesting that homeostatic regulation of tertiary and physiological lymphoid organs differentially relies on lymphocyte/stromal cell cross-talk during inflammation. Conclusions Together, these data demonstrate that the S1P1 receptor modulator cenerimod regulates TLS in mice and might therefore be a potential treatment option in AID with TLS formation such as SS and SLE. The data also unveil differential requirements for the establishment and maintenance of secondary versus tertiary lymphoid structures. Acknowledgements This research is funded by Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Disclosure of interest S. Nayar: None declared, J. Campos: None declared, C. Smith: None declared, C. Buckley: None declared, S. Froidevaux Employee of: Idorsia, K. Wartha Employee of: Idorsia, C. Seemayer Employee of: Idorsia, F. Barone: None declared


This paper presents a State Transition Model madel of assembly and concepts from control theory to model variation propagation and control during assembly. The assembly process is modeled as a multi-stage linear dynamic system. Two types of assemblies are addressed: Type-1 where the assembly puts together parts at their pre-fabricated mating features, and Type-2 where the assembly process can incorporate in-process adjustments to redistribute variation. The model builds on the concept of the Datum Flow Chain. Algorithms are developed to determine and control variation in final assembly propagated through the combined effect of individual part variations and choice of assembly methods. An optimal control problem is formulated to develop a scientific approach to designing assembly features.


Number density and rotational temperature in the zone of silence of supersonic jets of N(2), H(2), and their mixtures N(2) + 2H(2) and 2N(2) + H(2), at p(0) = 1 bar and T(0) = 295 K, have been measured by Raman spectroscopy. Translational temperature in the jets has been derived from the experimental data assuming isentropic flow. The density along the jet axis decays at a rate depending on the composition of the expanded gas, which can be explained by the variation of its effective heat capacity ratio. Measurements across the jet axis do not support numerical off-axis density modeling from the literature. A strong nonequilibrium between the rotational degrees of freedom of both species is observed, even between the two spin species ortho-H(2) and para-H(2). From the corresponding rotational temperature data, a relationship between rotational cross sections for the inelastic collisions of the different species is established. In the expansions of the mixtures, an enrichment of N(2) is measured on the axis, which is compared with the predictions from the theory of diffusive separation in jets.


Security Council Resolutions 1503 (2003) and 1534 (2004) provide that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) are to complete their proceedings by the end of 2010. These Tribunals, established by the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, were the first international criminal tribunals since the Nuremberg Tribunal and International Military Tribunal for the Far East established at the end of World War II and ushered in a new phase in international criminal law in which such ad hoc tribunals are increasingly being seen as viable options for post-conflict societies. Thus, we now have ad hoc tribunals that are either hybrid or completely international for Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Lebanon and Timor Leste as well as the permanent International Criminal Court. The age of international criminal accountability has, it might be said, arrived. To what extent, however, are these tribunals making individuals accountable for the widespread sexual violence that often (if not always) occurs in times of armed conflict and genocide? This paper explores the extent to which these tribunals making individuals accountable for the widespread sexual violence against women and girls that often (if not always) occurs in times of armed conflict and genocide. In particular, the paper tries to asses the extent to which feminist hopes for justice for women victims of sexual violence have been met by the Tribunals. In this task, the paper takes a distinctly critical approach and focuses not only on the doctrinal advances made by the Tribunals (which have been vast) but also on the operationalization of those advances (which has been less impressive). This commitment to look not only at positive law but also at law in practice and to critically appraise the dissonances that appear has long been an important part of feminist legal methodology. In the analysis that follows it becomes clear that many of the difficulties that have arisen in relation to the prosecution of sexual violence before these tribunals are familiar to feminist legal theorists as they tend to have also arisen in adversarial domestic criminal justice systems. This calls into question the extent to which we should be celebrating these tribunals when seen through a feminist lens. In particular, it ought to cause us to question the extent to which a healthy norm transfer is occurring between the domestic and the international: to what extent are feminist lessons learned domestically transferred to the international sphere, and what kinds of lessons about prosecuting sexual violence will be transferred from the international proceedings to the reconstituted justice systems in post-conflict jurisdictions?


E2F2 is essential for the maintenance of T lymphocyte quiescence. To identify the full set of E2F2 target genes, and to gain further understanding of the role of E2F2 in transcriptional regulation, we have performed ChIP-chip analyses across the genome of lymph node–derived T lymphocytes. Here we show that during quiescence, E2F2 binds the promoters of a large number of genes involved in DNA metabolism and cell cycle regulation, concomitant with their transcriptional silencing. A comparison of ChIP-chip data with expression profiling data on resting E2f2−/− T lymphocytes identified a subset of 51 E2F2-specific target genes, most of which are upregulated on E2F2 loss. Luciferase reporter assays showed a retinoblastoma-independent role for E2F2 in the negative regulation of these target genes. Importantly, we show that the DNA binding activity of the transcription factor CREB contributes to E2F2-mediated repression of Mcm5 and Chk1 promoters. siRNA-mediated CREB knockdown, expression of a dominant negative KCREB mutant or disruption of CREB binding by mutating a CRE motif on Mcm5 promoter, relieved E2F2-mediated transcriptional repression. Taken together, our data uncover a new regulatory mechanism for E2F-mediated transcriptional control, whereby E2F2 and CREB cooperate in the transcriptional repression of a subset of E2F2 target genes.


In a recent paper [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 17, 206 (2000)], a modified detectability index, d'r, was proposed to accommodate correlations between internal responses in multiple-alternative forced-choice (MAFC) experiments. The derivation given in that work pertained only to two-alternative forced choice, although it was shown empirically that the result held for general MAFC tasks when the correlation between responses is constant. Here we present a rigorous derivation that shows that the d'r result generalizes to MAFC tasks in this case.


Pervasive computing environments with their interconnected devices and services promise seamless integration of digital infrastructure into our everyday lives. While the focus of current research is on how to connect new devices and build useful applications to improve functionality, the security and privacy issues in such environments have not been explored in any depth. While traditional distributed computing research attempts to abstract away physical location of users and resources, pervasive computing applications often exploit physical location and other context information about users and resources to enhance the user experience. The need to share resources and collaborate introduces new types of interaction among users as well as between the virtual and physical worlds. In this context, it becomes difficult to separate physical security from digital security. Existing policies and mechanisms may not provide adequate guarantees to deal with new exposures and vulnerabilities introduced by the pervasive computing paradigm. In this paper we explore the challenges for building security and privacy into pervasive computing environments, describe our prototype implementation that addresses some of these issues, and propose some directions for future work


Introduction: Acute coronary syndromes with persistent ST-segment elevation (STEMI) constitute a cardiologic emergency. The objectives of this study were to investigate their epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic, prognostic and evolutionary aspects in cardiologic environment in Dakar. Patients and methods: It was a retrospective study from January 2013 to December 2014 including patients admitted for STEMI in the cardiology unit of the General Hospital of Grand Yoff. The collected data were analyzed and significance level was selected for a value of p<0.05. Results: We included 114 patients, the prevalence was 10%. The average age was 59.13 ± 13.7 years. The sex ratio (M/F) was 1.85. Cardiovascular risk factors were dominated by sedentary lifestyle (71.93%) and arterial hypertension (54.39%). Chest pain was typical in 69.30% of cases. The average waiting period for admission was 27.60 hours. Electrocardiographic abnormalities mainly concerned anterior (62.28%) and lower (32.46%) territories. Thrombolysis was performed in 52 patients (45.61%) within an average waiting period of 5.32 hours. Four patients underwent coronary angioplasty. Hemodynamic (25.39%) and renal (12.28%) complications were more frequent. The hospital mortality rate was 12.28%. Prognostic factors of death were the state of cardiogenic shock (p=0.001) and acute renal failure (p=0.04). Conclusion: STEMI are common in Dakar. Long delays in care and the lack of primary angioplasty are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality.


The aim of this study was to determine the chemical, fermentation, and microbiological properties of alfalfa silages that were augmented with lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and to appraise their in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), metabolizable energy (ME), and net energy for lactation (NEL) contents. Lavender flowers were added to alfalfa silages at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% of the weight of alfalfa. An unaugmented alfalfa silage was also evaluated. After 75 day of ensiling, pH, dry matter, NDF and ADF contents of alfalfa silages had decreased and OMD had increased with the addition of lavender. No significant differences in crude protein, ash, ether extract, lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, lactic acid bacteria number, ME and NEL contents were detected. No butyric acid, Enterobacteriaceae, Listeria spp, sulphide reducing anaerobes, and yeasts were found in the alfalfa silages. Mould content decreased with the addition of lavender. Thus, the addition of lavender flowers to alfalfa silages may improve their quality.
Keywords: essential oil, fermentation, nutritional value, supplement