Wireless distribution of multimedia contents through 802.11 networks in the home environment presents a number of advantages which have fueled the interest of industry in recent years, such as simple connectivity and data delivery to a variety of devices. Together with High-Definition (HD) contents, multimedia wireless distribution has been proposed for several applications, such as IPTV and Digital TV distribution for multiple devices in the home environment. However, the quality of wireless multimedia services is deteriorated by random packet losses caused by the changing channel behavior. For these scenarios, we propose in this paper a multicast distribution system for High-Definition video over 802.11 wireless networks based on rate-limited packet retransmission. Unlike previous works, which require on-line calculation of the optimal retransmission strategies, the presented system employs optimal retransmission strategies obtained through an off-line optimization process. This approach, based on Stochastic Dynamic Programming, allows a lower on-line complexity and, when compared to another limited rate ARQ system, offers a higher packet recovery and improvements in video quality for low end-to-end delays requirements.


A fuel valve comprising a primary valve and a pressure responsive auxiliary valve, both being axially accommodated and displaceable within a common housing formed with a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet port, and a partition extending between the primary valve and the auxiliary valve. The partition comprising a flow passage extending between a primary port at a bottom face of the partition and an auxiliary port at a top face of the partition. The primary port is sealable by a sealing member of the primary valve and the auxiliary port sealable by a sealing member of the auxiliary valve.


Dezincification is a particular form of corrosive attack which may occur in a variety of environments and to which some brasses are susceptible. It is favored by waters having a high oxygen, carbon dioxide, or chloride content, and is accelerated by elevated temperatures and low water velocities. In the present study, steam turbine condenser tubes had to be renewed after 25 years of service. The tubes were nominally of 70:30 brass. The appearance of a typically corroded one showed uniform dezincification attack on the bore, extending from one-half to two-thirds through the tube wall thickness.


We present a method for desorption ionization on silicon based on novel column/void-network-deposited silicon thin films. A number of different peptides and proteins in the < or = 6000 Daltons range are analyzed by time-of-flight mass spectrometry in this demonstration of our approach. A variety of sample preparation conditions, including the use of chemical additives, surface treatments, and sample purification are used to show the potential of mass analysis using deposited column/void-network silicon films for high throughput proteomic screening.


A graph showing the relation between maximum thallus diameter of Rhizocarpon geographicum and age of the individual is presented as an aid to detailed chronological studies in this section of the eastern Canadian Arctic. The curve is derived from: (1) historically dated surfaces; (2) measured growth of Alectoria minuscula for a two year period; (3) the inter-specific ratios of A. minuscula/R. geographicum; and (4) radiocarbon-dated surfaces associated with lichens. The size/age curve for R. geographicum shows an initial fast rate of growth of 0.15 mm yr −1 which falls off to approximately 0.03 mm yr 1−1 after the passage of 250 to 300 yrs. Extrapolation of the curve back to about 9,500 B.P., when individual maximum thalli would be 280 mm in diameter, is in accord with independent geological dating. The linear growth phase of 0.03 mm yr −1 is remarkably similar to rates derived from the Colorado Front Range and the St. Elias Mountains, Alaska, and prompts speculation as to whether this particular lichen species may not have a single growth curve regardless of location. Contrary evidence is also presented.


Financial scandals and world-wide corporate failures have been attributed to persistent information asymmetry to discerning investors. The study focuses on the relationship between accounting information disclosure and investment decisions in Nigerian listed companies. To achieve this, three variants of accounting information disclosures (IFRS disclosures, Regulatory-induced-disclosures and Voluntary disclosures) and two variants of investment decisions (volume of shares traded and market value of shares) were considered through descriptive, content and regression analysis. Data were collected from audited financial reports of 52 selected firms (out of 174 firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at December 2016) for 10 years period from 2006 to 2015, using purposive judgment sampling technique. Pre-estimation and post estimation tests were conducted on the series and the final regression estimate reveals accounting information disclosure indicators jointly having significant effects on both the market value of shares and volumes of shares traded on Nigerian stock exchange. After a thorough review of relevant literatures on accounting information disclosures and investment decisions, formulating hypothesis, collecting and analysing the data, it can be stated that IFRS disclosures, Regulatoryinduced-disclosures and Voluntary disclosures are negligible factors in influencing investment decisions which subsequently determine the volume and market value of shares traded by Nigerian listed entities. Also, IFRS disclosures, Regulatory-induced-disclosures and Voluntary disclosures are jointly significant factors in determining the volume and market value of shares in Nigerian corporate entities. The study therefore favours the full disclosure of all accounting information to assist the investors in making wise decision on their investments in Nigerian listed companies, as this is the only way by which corporate failures could be reduced to the barest minimum if not totally eliminated. It was therefore recommended that financial statement preparers should ensure full disclosure practices to support meaningful investment decisions in order to improve the market value of the company.


It is necessary to do research on pedestrian movement in order to better design places for human circulation, such as airports, shopping malls, subways, fairs, and sidewalks, for example. The scientific method may be used to study pedestrian mobility on a variety of levels. At the microscopic level, it is possible to investigate the flow parameters (such as speed and density) of pedestrian motion. At the microscopic level, it is feasible to track the paths followed by various pedestrians while they are on the move. According to the findings of this study, individuals are travelling through a location at various densities as they are arranging their routes, and they are doing so in a flow space while doing so. On a mesoscopic scale, the flow properties vary depending on the location and time of the flow. It is the purpose of this thesis to investigate the topic of pedestrian study on a micrometre scale. The pedestrian flow and geometric features of pedestrian facilities are studied. In this review pedestrians with a foundation of knowledge and an adaptation in order for them to understand how these facilities influence their motion explored.


Large Language Models (LLMs) have garnered considerable interest within both academic and industrial. Yet, the application of LLMs to graph data remains under-explored. In this study, we evaluate the capabilities of four LLMs in addressing several analytical problems with graph data. We employ four distinct evaluation metrics: Comprehension, Correctness, Fidelity, and Rectification. Our results show that: 1) LLMs effectively comprehend graph data in natural language and reason with graph topology. 2) GPT models can generate logical and coherent results, outperforming alternatives in correctness. 3) All examined LLMs face challenges in structural reasoning, with techniques like zero-shot chain-of-thought and few-shot prompting showing diminished efficacy. 4) GPT models often produce erroneous answers in multi-answer tasks, raising concerns in fidelity. 5) GPT models exhibit elevated confidence in their outputs, potentially hindering their rectification capacities. Notably, GPT-4 has demonstrated the capacity to rectify responses from GPT-3.5-turbo and its own previous iterations. The code is available at: https://github.com/Ayame1006/LLMtoGraph.


We present measurements of time-dependent CP-violation asymmetries for the decays B0 to eta'K0. The data sample corresponds to 347 million BBbar pairs produced by e+e- annihilation at the Upsilon(4S) resonance in the PEP-II collider, and collected with the BaBar detector. The preliminary results are S = 0.55+/-0.11+/-0.002, and C = -0.15+/-0.07+/-0.03, where the first error quoted is statistical, the second systematic.


The electromagnetic fields at reentrant edges made of conductor are generally singular and the polynomial basis functions used in traditional finite elements do not model the fields well in these regions. Two new tetrahedral elements are introduced with basis functions that incorporate the known asymptotic variation of the fields with distance from the edge. The basis is split into gradient and rotational parts. Additional vertex functions can be added to improve the conditioning of the global matrix system that arises in the time-harmonic case. Results are presented for the scattering parameters of a number of waveguide discontinuities. The new elements reduce the error considerably compared to the Whitney element, and generally outperform the second-order edge element, even though that has more degrees of freedom


The productivity is possible measure by different defined type of productivity indicators with considerable differences' in results. It is impossible to define, which one of definitions of productivities is the best. It depend on purpose and analysis's range. For comparison productivity at the national level is better to use aggregates at constant prices, which show us the level and growth rate of physical product. For comparison productivity at the international level is better to use aggregates in purchasing power standard. This result is influence not only own performance, but also performances others comparison states. From the point of view employment, is optimal indicator for calculation of productivity working hours. This indicator remove differences at time work in single member states EU.


Effectors play significant roles in the success of pathogens. Recent advances in genome sequencing have revealed arrays of effectors and effector candidates from a wide range of plant pathogens. Yet, the vast majority of them remain uncharacterized. Among the ~500 Candidate Secreted Effector Proteins (CSEPs) predicted from the barley powdery mildew fungal genome, only a few have been studied and shown to have a function in virulence. Here, we provide evidence that CSEP0081 and CSEP0254 contribute to infection by the fungus. This was studied using Host-Induced Gene Silencing (HIGS), where independent silencing of the transcripts for these CSEPs significantly reduced the fungal penetration and haustoria formation rate. Both CSEPs are likely required during and after the formation of haustoria, in which their transcripts were found to be differentially expressed, rather than in epiphytic tissue. When expressed in barley leaf epidermal cells, both CSEPs appears to move freely between the cytosol and the nucleus, suggesting that their host targets locate in these cellular compartments. Collectively, our data suggest that, in addition to the previously reported effectors, the barley powdery mildew fungus utilizes these two CSEPs as virulence factors to enhance infection.


To gain performance, developers often build scientific applications in procedural languages, such as C or Fortran, which unfortunately reduces flexibility. To address this imbalance, the authors present CompuCell3D, a multitiered, flexible, and scalable problem-solving environment for morphogenesis simulations that's written in C++ using object-oriented design patterns.


Velocity variations in a tidal cycle were measured in four salt marsh creeks on the Jiangsu coast, eastern China. Results of regressional analysis show that a marked linear relationship is present between the tidal current velocity and the rate of water level changes. Further, two or three significant velocity surges exist in a tidal cycle. A theoretical analysis indicates that one of the regressional coefficients of the linear equations represents the effect of a component of progressive tidal waves (the tidal waves over the study area are not purely standing waves) and the other coefficient is affected by the geomorphology (i.e. bed slope) of the creeks and the marsh surface. The observed tidal current velocity surges can be related to a rapid water level change (as observed during the initial stage of the flood within a creek) or the combined effects of water level changes and bed morphology (as observed at the end of the flood or during the ebb). Towards the end of the ebb, the surges may be influenced also by the ground water which flows from the marsh surface into the creeks. The established linear relationships may be utilised to develop new techniques to calculate current velocities in the creeks using remote sensing images.


Ultrastructural studies of erythroid colonies derived from human peripheral blood and growing in plasma clot culture have confirmed the absence of a macrophage inside each colony of erythroblasts. However, when macrophages and erythroblasts were liberated from the semisolid media by clot lysis, these two types of cells rapidly acquired intimate contacts, suggesting the reconstitution of any erythroblastic island. The possible significance of this phenomenon is discussed.


Paedophilia is a specific disorder in a spectre of sexual affinities in humans, which is in the nomenclature of the World Health Organization in the group of sexual preference disorders or paraphilia. Due to mobility, inventiveness, and invisibility, there is no relevant statistical data about this deviation's volume and extensiveness. This paper aims to determine the prevalence of paedophiles in the general population based on an anonymous survey, the number of processed perpetrators of sexual offenses toward children, and the number of unique visitors of the Internet "decoy". The research data were gathered through an anonymous survey (the survey was created for this research purposes, and it was an indirect, written survey) that enveloped a total of 658 individuals (60.49% males and 39.51% females) through the creation of a virtual Internet profile (1095 visitors, 89.86% males and 10.14% females), as well as through the statistical data of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia (MUP RS) and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia (Directorate for Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions) over the last six years. The prevalence of paedophilia in the general population is 2.13%, and the majority is between 30 and 50 years of age. There are no relevant data on the treatment of paedophiles in penitentiary conditions. The number of submitted criminal charges for crimes with sexual violence elements toward children is much larger than the number of verdicts for the said acts. The number of crimes of sexual offenses against children in the analysed period was 1,288. Paedophilia is a complex disorder that poses a threat to public health. It is under-researched, and it calls for a multidisciplinary approach in research with the goal of preventing these forms of behaviour and the protection of children from sexual abuse.


Title: Supply Services to Arctic Offshore Operations; Macro-environment, Market Demand, and Business Potentials – The Case of Maersk Supply Service

Authors: Linnea Sonesson – Master of Science in Business Administration and Technology Management

Patrik Torstensson – Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Technology Management

Supervisors: Bertil Nilsson – Adjunct Professor, Department of Industrial Management and Logistics, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University

Ulf Paulsson – Associate Professor, Department of Business Administration, Lund School of Economics, Lund University

Niels P. Elmbo – Senior General Manager, Project and Sub Sea, Maersk Supply Service

Issue of Study: A forecasted increase in energy demand and consumption, together with a decrease of existing oil and gas reserves, has led the oil and gas producers to new areas beyond the conventional oil and gas regions. The Arctic, an area mainly located north of the Arctic Circle, is believed to hold very large potential of the world's yet-to-be discovered oil and gas reserves. In addition, the Arctic is relatively unexplored and therefore qualifies as a new area. The harsh conditions and sensitive environment, together with the opinions and requirements from a number of affected stakeholders, bring new and unknown challenges to companies interested in operating in the Arctic region. In step with increased exploration and production activities in the Arctic, there is an increased demand for service providers such as the Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) industry to be able to operate in the area. However, some questions remain to be answered. For example, which stakeholders have an influence on the development of the Arctic petroleum industry, what OSV services does the market demand, what are the main challenges in providing the required services, and what is the potential for and within the Arctic OSV industry?

Purpose: To contribute to the knowledge regarding the Arctic offshore oil and gas industry in general and the business potential for the OSV industry within the waters of the Arctic region in particular.

Objectives: The objectives of this thesis are;
• To describe the general conditions and challenges associated with Arctic oil and gas operations and to identify the industry stakeholder characteristics.
• To investigate the market demand for OSV services to Arctic exploration and production activities.
• To analyze the business opportunities and risks for OSV services in the Arctic and to evaluate the business potentials for one of the traditional OSV operators; Maersk Supply Service.

Method: This study is basically performed in a three-step-process, which can be illustrated by a funnel, where the first step includes a general analysis of the Arctic oil and gas industry, which gradually will be narrowed down to a case study on a single company, on which the general aspects are applied. This thesis employs mainly a qualitative method with a mix of both analytical and systems approaches.

Conclusions: The stakeholder analysis indicates a complexity within the Arctic oil and gas industry and different stakeholders are of different opinions. However, there are business potentials for Arctic OSV services, due to market demand and the current low state of competition. The case company, Maersk Supply Service, has good potential to benefit from these business potentials. There are however many risks and challenges associated with a market entrance and commencing operations in the region.


In the paper we consider the most common inaccuracies and mistakes in the use of statistical methods that are applied in educological investigations. Some inaccuracies are related to the definition of population or sample. In several papers that we have considered, it is not clear also how a sample is related to a population of interest. The samples that are used for surveys are sometimes not representative and therefore the statistical inferences which are based on the data of such samples are in doubt. The results of educological investigations are also sometimes doubtful because of the assumptions of some statistical methods that are often ignored by the researchers. The other inaccuracies that we have analyzed are related to formulation of statistical inferences and unit/item nonresponse. The recommendations how to avoid the mentioned inaccuracies and mistakes are also proposed, as well as the example of real statistical survey in the real educology research. That is, we consider in the selected population the question "What is the proportion of students that intend to become a teacher", the answer to which is in recent time absolutely controversially assessed from one side by the employees of the Ministry of Education and Science that administer financing of universities, and from the other side by educology specialists who perform research of the mentioned type. The survey results show that slightly more than 64 percent of the respondents intend to become a teacher or already are working as a teacher. This is a very joyful tendency. Almost 90 percent of the respondents are pleased that they are studying at the faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Vilnius Pedagogical University. This is the fact that shows a high quality of studies, as well as the trust in the advantages of the chosen specialty that may be useful adapting to the changeable today's economic and social conditions.


Since mass screening of the newborn population for phenylketonuria (PKU) by the Guthrie test was begun in Ontario in July 1965 many variants of PKU have been recognized in the 96 to 97% screened. Seventy-one cases of classic PKU were detected (four were missed). Of 48 cases of persistent hyperphenylalaninemia discovered, 18 were classified as atypical PKU and 30 as persistent benign hyperphenylalaninemia. Numerous infants with transient hyperphenylalaninemia (initial values over 10 mg/dl in 12), in many instances the result of transient neonatal tyrosinemia, were discovered. There was a slight predominance of males. Serum phenylalanine values of up to 15 mg/dl seemed to be harmless to the developing brain. A survey of 67 247 adults in the general population revealed 1 person with PKU and 1 with persistent benign hyperphenylalaninemia; both had normal intelligence quotients. Of 1548 mothers of retarded children tested, none had hyperphenylalaninemia.


The MatPromo database was created in October 2002 as a project of IFLA's Management & Marketing Section. The objective of the project consists of creating a database of images of objects and documents designed for promoting all kinds of libraries in any country. The images are described and are accessible through a user-friendly interface for searching internationally. The aim of the database is to facilitate ideas for promotional campaigns of library services. The database is hosted on the project server of the University of Barcelona's Department of Library and Information Science (http://bidoc.ub.es/pub/matpromo) and a link to it is made available from the web of IFLA's Management & Marketing Section (http://www.ifla.org/VII/s34/). This article attempts to introduce MatPromo and explain its technical characteristics, content, and usefulness for librarians around the world.


Hydraulic fracturing is key to enhancing the productivity of shale and tight hydrocarbon reservoirs, as well as geothermal resources from hot dry rock. Assessing the range and efficiency of hydraulic fracturing is very important for onsite fracturing operations and decision making on subsequent fracturing plans and well-pattern deployment. The idea of injecting fluid mixed with magnetic material into a formation to detect subterranean structure has been considered for a long time. The detectability of the characteristics of propped fractures using magnetic field measurement is discussed and evaluated with an analytical model. The magnetic proppants synthesized with superparamagnetic nanoparticles should be "silent" during injection and could be activated by an external current. By measuring the magnetic field before and after the fracture was created and the magnetic proppants were magnetized, the magnetic anomalies can be obtained. The result indicates that the magnetic field caused by a fracture filled with magnetic proppants is very weak, so that magnetometers with higher precision and resolution should be used to capture such subtle signal. The higher susceptibility contrast of the magnetic nanoparticles is, the stronger external magnetic induction field could be detected. It is suggested that the superparamagnetic nanomaterial with effective magnetic susceptibility contrast of greater than 0.4–0.5 should be used for fracture monitoring in deep wells. To infer the fracture characteristics with the magnetic anomaly, the ground and adjacent wells' monitoring practices are recommended.


Trees in dry forests often regenerate in episodic pulses when wet periods coincide with ample seed production. Factors leading to success or failure of regeneration pulses are poorly understood. We investigated the impacts of stand thinning on survival and growth of the 2013 cohort of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) seedlings in northern Arizona, United States. We measured seedling survival and growth over the first five growing seasons after germination in six stand basal areas (BAs; 0, 7, 14, 23, 34, and 66 (unthinned) m2·ha−1) produced by long-term experimental thinnings. Five-year survival averaged 2.5% and varied among BAs. Mean survival duration was longer in intermediate BAs (11 to 16 months) than in clearings and high BAs (5 months). The BAs of 7, 14, and 23 m2·ha−1had >2600 5-year-old seedlings·ha−1. In contrast, regeneration was lower in the clearing (666 seedlings·ha−1) and failed completely in the 34 m2·ha−1and unthinned treatments. Seedling survival was highest during wet years and lowest during drought years. Many surviving seedlings had no net height growth between years 4 and 5 because of stem browsing. Results indicate that natural regeneration of ponderosa pine is influenced by stand BA, drought, herbivory, and interactions between extreme climatic events.


Commercial application development projects frequently take longer and cost more than their sponsors would wish. One problem area is an uncomfortable "join" between the work of business analysts, responsible for understanding and specifying the business function required, and programmers, responsible for designing and building the implementation on a particular hardware or software platform. Proposed here is a small set of analysis constructs that can be used to specify precisely the business function that a commercial application must implement. The constructs cover data, processes, and user interfaces, but are free of platform-dependent implementation detail. The set of constructs is based on a common structure shared by commercial applications regardless of the business function being implemented. Instances of the constructs can be created to completely specify the business function of a particular commercial application. A separate transformation process can then take place to implement the business function specified on a target platform. The transformation required does not depend on the business function specified, but on which construct is being transformed, on nonfunctional requirements such as performance and security, and on the architecture of the target platform. The constructs allow a better separation of design concerns and provide more precise and complete communication between business analysts and programmers.


This research argues that deep-rooted factors, determined tens of thousands of years ago, had a signi.cant e¤ect on the course of economic development from the dawn of human civilization to the contemporary era. It advances and empirically establishes the hypothesis that in the course of the exodus of Homo sapiens out of Africa, variation in migratory distance from the cradle of humankind to various settlements across the globe a¤ected genetic diversity and has had a direct long-lasting e¤ect on the pattern of comparative economic development that could not be captured by contemporary geographical, institutional, and cultural factors. In particular, the level of genetic diversity within a society is found to have a hump-shaped e¤ect on development outcomes in the pre-colonial era, re.ecting the trade-o¤ between the bene.cial and the detrimen- tal e¤ects of diversity on productivity. Moreover, the level of genetic diversity in each country today (i.e., genetic diversity and genetic distance among and between its ancestral populations) has a similar non-monotonic e¤ect on the contemporary levels of income per capita. While the intermediate level of genetic diversity prevalent among the Asian and European populations has been conducive for development, the high degree of diversity among African populations and the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development of these regions. Further, the optimal level of diversity has increased in the process of industrialization, as the bene.cial forces associated with greater diversity have intensi.ed in an environment characterized by more rapid technological progress.


A magneto-optical tachometer specially designed for an automotive anti-lock braking system is described. It employs a plastic optical fibre for the bidirectional data transmission and its transducing mechanism is magneto-optical. It uses a Bi-substituted iron garnet as sensor element and a ferromagnetic tooth gear, which produces 46 pulses per turn. Owing to its compact design and its constitutive materials it is suitable for withstanding all the environmental hazards present in the car. The tachometer can measure car speeds of 0-400 km h-1 with a signal variation less than 0.6 dB throughout the whole range.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the lived experiences of Australian public library staff during the COVID-19 library closures. The study examines the effect of mandated physical library closures on staff well-being, along with the challenges they faced as library operations moved to a remotely delivered model. The paper includes an examination of staff perceptions of their library's value in the lives of their users.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were undertaken with 15 Australian library staff from three library networks. A process of inductive coding resulted in a thematic description of the participants' experiences of continuing to work during a period of where their libraries were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.FindingsAustralian public library workers experienced many challenges that affected their well-being during the period of library closures. These included challenges relating to moving library programming to a virtual delivery model, managing significant change in their work lives, managing the emotions of self and others, and concern for the well-being of library users. Positive outcomes relating to skill development and innovative thinking were also reported.Originality/valueThe operational responses to the COVID-19 library closures in Australia and elsewhere have been well reported. This paper takes a different approach by examining the emotional and well-being outcomes for public library staff during these periods of closure.


The development of ordered graphene-based materials combining high stability, large surface areas, ability to act as absorbent of relevant chemical species, and solution processability is of significance for energy applications. A poorly explored approach relies on the controlled nanostructuration of graphene into robust and highly ordered 3D networks as a route to further leverage the exceptional properties of this unique material. Here, a simple yet effective and scalable one-step method is reported to prepare graphene-based 3D covalent networks (G3DCNs) with tunable interlayer distance via controlled polymerization of benzidines with graphene oxide at different reaction temperatures under catalyst- and template-free conditions. The reduced form of G3DCNs is used as electrodes in supercapacitors; it reveals a high specific capacitance of 156 F g(-1) at a current density of 1 A g(-1) in a two-electrode configuration and 460 F g(-1) at a current density of 0.5 A g(-1) in a three-electrode configuration, combined with an excellent cycling stability over 5000 cycles. The present study will promote the quantitative understanding of structure-property relationship, for the controlled fabrication of 3D graphene-based multifunctional materials.


Tuberculosis (TB) is called a disease of poverty and is the main cause of death from infectious diseases among adults. In 1993 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared TB to be a global emergency; however there were still approximately 1.4 million deaths due to TB in 2011. This thesis contains a detailed study of the existing literature regarding the global risk factors of TB. The risk factors identified from the literature review search which were also available from the NFHS-3 survey were then analysed to determine how well we could identify respondents who are at high risk of TB. We looked at the stigma and misconceptions people have regarding TB and include detailed reports from the existing literature of how a persons wealth, health, education, nutrition, and HIV status affect how likely the person is to have TB. The difference in the risk factor distribution for the TB and non-TB populations were examined and classification trees, nearest neighbours, and logistic regression models were trialled to determine if it was possible for respondents who were at high risk of TB to be identified. Finally gender-specific statistically likely directed acyclic graphs were created to visualise the most likely associations between the variables. [This page intentionally left blank]


Background: Adrenal cortical carcinoma is a rare malignant tumor. Several systems were proposed for diagnosis and evaluation of adrenocortical tumors.Weiss system is most commonly used method for assessment of malignancy, but only few studies has applied this criteria, for assesement of prognosis. The aim of this study was to analyzethe histological features & immunostaining status of adrenocortical carcinoma diagnosed according to Weiss criteria and correlate the data with patient clinical finding and outcomes. Materials and Methods: In this study clinicopathological features of 12 cases were reviewed and diagnosed as adrenocortical carcinoma on the basis of Weiss criteria and immunostaining. Grading was done according to the nine histopathological criteria of Weiss and is applied for assessment of prognosis. Each tumor was labeled malignant, when it scored ≥4 point of this histological criteria, tumors with ≤3 points were considered as adenoma and not included in the series. Immunostains applied were, Vimentin, Cytokeratin, synaptophysin, chromogranin, Vinyl mandilic acid, epithelial membrane antigen and Melan A. Results: All cases studied, presented at least four of the Weiss criteria and thus diagnosed as adrenocortical carcinoma. Patients with 7 and more score of Weiss criteria is considered as high grade carcinoma. Immunostains, have role in the diagnosis of adrenal cortical tumor, but does not have any significant clinical outcome. Conclusion: Weiss criteria was found to be a good prognostic factor in adrenal cortical carcinoma. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jpn.v2i3.6020 JPN 2012; 2(3): 193-197


the purpose is to guarantee the security of 5G (5-Generation Mobile Networks) technology in IoT (Internet of Things) environment, and improve the ability of wireless network communication to resist attacks. First, in terms of attack prevention, the 5G network security structure is proposed to replace the plaintext information commonly used in the original system with Ciphertext based on SDN (Software Defined Networking), thereby alleviating the security risks of the data dimension. Second, concerning attack detection, the signal is identified by using the imperfections and differences of equipment manufacturing based on the above security structure, preventing the attacker from further harming the sensitive data leaked. It is found that the SDN-based 5G network attack prevention scheme avoids the centralized exposure of sensitive data, improves security, reduces computational overhead, and simplifies encryption logic. Without affecting the bandwidth, the existing 5G network system is greatly prevented from network attacks. The detection mechanism is not limited by the low-dimensional feature space, and has strong robustness and stability. It can effectively detect the network attacks that 5G network systems are suffering. This study provides an important reference for the protection of 5G communication network attacks under IoT.


By a solution culture experiment, cucumber seedlings were treated with different concentration (0, 25, 50 and 75 mmol x L(-1)) NaCl and NaHCO3, and their physiological responses were studied. The results showed that with increasing NaCl and NaHCO3 stress, the shoot and root growth, the leaf chlorophyll content and relative water content of the seedlings decreased dramatically, and the decrements were greater under NaHCO3 than under NaCl stress. The shoot Na content increased significantly with increasing NaCl and NaHCO, stress, while shoot K+ content was in adverse. At the same concentration of Na+ in culture solution, the addition of NaHCO3 induced a greater decrement of shoot K+ content, and thus, a lower shoot K+/Na+ ratio. Under NaHCO3 stress, the leaf electrolyte leakage rate and the leaf MDA, proline, and soluble sugar contents increased much greater, compared with those under NaCl stress. Under NaCl and NaHCO3 stress, the leaf superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) activities were induced significantly, while the leaf peroxidase (POD) activity was inhibited obviously.


The present paper discusses the issue of the optimum capital structure under the conditions of the financial markets' ability to influence the borrower's bankruptcy probability. A model is built, in which a dual equilibria is created between the expected and the actual probability of bankruptcy. It is shown that destabilization of the situation in the financial markets leads to unexpected bankruptcy of an enterprise. To minimize this risk, the share of debt (D/V) should be reduced. The investigation allows for better understanding the causes of financial instability.


We propose a hierarchy of novel absorbing boundary conditions for the one-dimensional stationary Schrodinger equation with general (linear and nonlinear) potential. The accuracy of the new absorbing boundary conditions is investigated numerically for the computation of energies and ground-states for linear and nonlinear Schrequations. It turns out that these absorbing boundary conditions and their variants lead to a higher accuracy than the usual Dirichlet boundary condition. Finally, we give the extension of these ABCs to N-dimensional stationary Schrodinger equations.


Nanotechnology has transformed the field of dentistry with immense potential to provide comprehensive oral health care using nanomaterials, advanced clinical tools, and devices. New materials with superior properties can be developed using nanotechnology by making use of their atomic or molecular properties. Although there are numerous ways in which nanomaterials impact our health, the primary cause is that they comprise chemicals that may have an inadvertent reaction in the body. Moreover, they are used on a daily basis, increasing human contact with them. It is observed to be smaller in size than the physiological barrier in our bodies, making it much simpler for them to pass through and enter the body and they are being used more frequently. It is observed to be smaller in size than the physiological barrier in our bodies, making it much simpler for them to pass through and enter the body and being used more frequently. Although there are numerous ways in which nanomaterials impact our health, the primary cause is they comprise chemicals that may have an inadvertent reaction in the body. The review discusses various types of toxicity, including the cytotoxicity of composites, carbon nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles (SNPs), and quantum dots. It also covers genotoxicity, the effect of nanoparticles on salivary secretion, oral and gastrointestinal mucosa passage of nanoparticles, the tooth surface microenvironment, and interactions with engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). It is concluded that there is scarce information regarding the presence of chemicals that are released from nanoparticles used in dental materials. Nanotechnology is at an infant stage, although it has progressed by leaps and bounds, hailing a new age that provides better treatment modalities in various branches of dentistry. Although the development and application of nanodentistry are of considerable interest, knowledge regarding the possible toxicity of such materials must be meticulously evaluated, and potential benefits must be weighed against the risks to identify potential gaps in the safety assessment. Further research is needed on workplace exposure to nanoparticles in dentistry.


Do trade unions benefit from economic crises by attract-ing new members among workers concerned about job security? To address this question, we provide a comprehensive empirical investigation based on panel data from Germany, where workers decide individually on their membership. We analyse whether exogenously manipulated perceptions of job insecurity encourage individuals to join a trade union. Firm-level workforce reductions serve as the first trigger of perceived job insecurity. Regional unemployment rates represent a second source of exogenous variation. Third, we propose a novel identification approach based on plant-closure-induced job losses of other workers in the same region. In each case, we exploit the longitudinal nature of the data to analyse the implications of changes in labour market conditions for changes in union membership using an instrumental variable approach. We find consistently that perceived job insecurity, as triggered by labour market turmoil, increases the likelihood of individual union membership. Analysing data on media coverage about downsizing in a complementary investigation, we add further evidence to the notion of trade unions as beneficiaries of labour market crises. Finally, we consider workers who lose their jobs and find no evidence of adverse effects on union membership among those affected directly by unemployment.


HIV infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. This paper describes the seroprevalence rates of HIV infection in young people (10–24 years) tested at a hospital centre in Port Harcourt, a cosmopolitan city in the Niger Delta, the heart of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Subjects for this descriptive study included a total of 2033 consecutively recruited young symptomatic persons referred from the outpatient clinic and wards for retroviral screening at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital for the period 1999-2003. HIV antibody test was carried out using the commercially available double enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of Immunocomb and Genscreen HIV I and II kits. The overall seroprevalence rate was 34.7%. The rate of HIV prevalence increased gradually with age (X 2 = 73.82; p = 0.001). The seroprevalence of HIV was significantly higher in females compared to males comprising 41.2% and 22.3% respectively (X 2 = 72.90; p = 0.01). Data indicated that HIV prevalence declined from 34.5% in 1999, to 29.7% in 2000, 22.7% in 2001, increased subsequently to 35.5% in 2002 and peaked at 42.2% in 2003. HIV–1 was the predominant viral serotype (92.2%). This study suggests a rising prevalence of HIV among young adults in Nigeria. This calls for an urgent need for government, non-governmental organizations and faith-based organizations (FBOs) to embark on interventional measures with emphasis on behavioural and social changes coupled with the provision of youth friendly health services. Keywords : HIV, seropositivity, young adults, Niger Delta, Nigeria Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 48(4) 2005: 95-97


Media organizations are considered as the fourth estate in modern democracies because of its role in generating public awareness, shaping public opinion and forming popular perceptions. But how far they are successful in performing these functions of a 'watchdog' over the activities of various governmental and private institutions or acting as independent representatives of the public is still dubious. In India the role of media seems to score very low in terms of both these dimensions. However, this is not to say that there is a complete absence of responsible media in the country but compared to its role in the time when media was not a tool in the hands of corporate world or of the governmental interest its role as a bridge between the government and the citizens was more eloquent and empathetic. Therefore through this paper an attempt would be made to analyse the role of media in shaping public opinion and consolidating democracy in India and what are the factors that influences it from performing its functions independently


AIM
The aim of the in vitro study was to comparatively evaluate the bond strength of CAD/CAM monolithic zirconia copings using three luting agents and two different finish lines.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
For the evaluation of bond strength, 60 extracted human maxillary first premolars were prepared to receive CAD/CAM monolithic zirconia copings. They were randomly divided into six groups of 10 samples each to receive CAD/CAM monolithic zirconia copings to bond with three different luting agents on two different finish lines. The luting agents used were RelyX U200, RMGIC, and Maxcem Elite with finish lines which were incorporated were 90° shoulder and radial shoulder finish lines. The tensile bond strength for all 60 samples was tested using the universal testing machine.

RESULTS
Between and within the group differences in tensile bond strength were analyzed using one-way ANOVA test of significance with Tukey's post-hoc analysis. The statistical analysis revealed that the CAD/CAM zirconia copings used a combination of 90° shoulder and RelyX U200 as the luting agent (Group II) which offered the maximum bond strength.

CONCLUSION
Within the constraints of this study, it could be concluded that CAD/CAM monolithic zirconia copings luted with RelyX U200 cement on a 90° shoulder finish line is the preferred method, taking the bond strength into consideration.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The results of this study can be extrapolated into a clinical scenario to help the clinician decide the most apt combination of finish line design and the luting agent to achieve superior bond strengths in CAD/CAM zirconia crowns and fixed dental prosthesis.


Unsupervised depth learning takes the appearance difference between a target view and a view synthesized from its adjacent frame as supervisory signal. Since the supervisory signal only comes from images themselves, the resolution of training data significantly impacts the performance. High-resolution images contain more fine-grained details and provide more accurate supervisory signal. However, due to the limitation of memory and computation power, the original images are typically down-sampled during training, which suffers heavy loss of details and disparity accuracy. In order to fully explore the information contained in high-resolution data, we propose a simple yet effective dual networks architecture, which can directly take high-resolution images as input and generate high-resolution and high-accuracy depth map efficiently. We also propose a Self-assembled Attention (SA-Attention) module to handle low-texture region. The evaluation on the benchmark KITTI and Make3D datasets demonstrates that our method achieves state-of-the-art results in the monocular depth estimation task.


A hydrazine functionalized Hf-UiO-66 metal–organic framework (MOF) (called 1) was prepared using the traditional solvothermal method and it was characterized completely. The material showed high chemical stability in various solvent systems. The activated material (called 1′) was successfully used as a solid heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of quinolone scaffolds in a modified Friedlander synthesis. The catalyst was able to produce 95% yield of the product 3-acetyl-2,4-dimethylquinoline via Friedlander condensation of 2-aminoacetophenone and acetylacetone as starting materials at 100 °C. It also exhibited a broad substrate scope in this catalytic reaction. Various control experiments were carried out with respect to the activity of the presented catalyst which clearly indicated its active role. The stability and recyclability of the catalyst were also examined. A series of control experiments for this catalysis have shown that the Lewis acidic metal nodes and Bronsted acidic –NHNH2 functional groups of linker play active roles in the catalysis.


Acoustic Impedance (AI) inversion method has been applied to describe characterization of carbonate reservoir in the field "X" North West Java Basin. The aim of this research is to determine the distribution of hydrocarbon prospect area that based on AI value and porosity value parameters. The used of Acoustic Impedance (AI) inversion methods is model based methods. The of model-based method is consist of geolog ic mode l construction then we compare to the real seismic data . Then by assume linear relationship between AI log and porosity log, and we have a linear equation that used to obtain the porosity distribution from AI distribution. Inversion result shows porous limestone distribution which has porosity range value about 0,21 – 0,23 fraction and acoustic impedance range value about 6800 – 8000 gr/cc.m/s with the directional distribution northwest – southeast. Keywords: Acoustic Impedance, Limestone, Porosity, Model-based method


Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-type natriuretic peptide are the known members of the mammalian natriuretic peptide system. ANP and BNP genes are expressed in a specific manner in cardiac myocytes. They are natriuretic and diuretic hormones and cause vasorelaxation. ANP is mainly synthesized in the atria of the normal adult heart. However, ventricular hypertrophy is characterized by an augmentation of the synthesis and release of ANP from the ventricles. BNP is expressed in both the atria and the ventricles, but is mainly released from the ventricles. The major determinant of ANP and BNP secretion is wall stretch, and the levels of BNP messenger RNA increase substantially in response to cardiac overload. Acute increase in BNP gene expression occurs within 1 h and mimics the rapid induction of proto-oncogenes in response to haemodynamic stress. BNP can be used as a myocyte-specific marker to identify mechanisms that couple acute mechanical overload to alterations in cardiac gene expression.


The decoration of carbon spheres (CS) by highly dispersed tantalum carbide nanoparticles (TaC NPs) was achieved, for the first time by a unique carbothermal reduction method at 1350 °C for 30 min under reduced oxygen partial pressure. TaC NPs decorated CS composites were then extensively characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy techniques. The composite spheres were approximately 0.8–1 μm in diameter with an average size of 41 nm for the TaC NPs located at the surface. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman analysis showed the formation of the graphene layer at the outer surface of the TaC NPs. An anomalous ferromagnetic response with a spin-glass like behavior has been observed at low temperature in the dc magnetization study with complete suppression of the superconducting response. For ease of synthesis and high reproducibility, this technique opens a new paradigm in the preparation of carbon sphere supported high melting metal carbide nanoparticles for various technological purposes.


Purpose of review The purpose of this article is to review current evidence-based management strategies for patients with recurrent and metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS). We will focus on treatment of advanced multifocal disease as well as new developments in targeted cancer therapies. Recent findings The management of patients with advanced uterine LMS is divided between those with localized and those with disseminated disease. Selected patients with localized or single-organ oligometastatic disease may benefit from surgical resection. For patients with disseminated disease, fixed-dose-rate gemcitabine plus docetaxel is an appropriate first-line chemotherapy regimen. Other active cytotoxic agents include doxorubicin, ifosfamide, and dacarbazine. The role of trabectedin (approved by the European Medicine Agency to be marketed for advanced or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma) is being explored. Trials are also underway for targeted therapy in uterine LMS. Currently, the only approved targeted therapy for advanced soft tissue sarcoma is pazopanib. In patients with small volume and slowly progressive estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor-positive disease, antiestrogen therapy with an aromatase inhibitor is a reasonable alternative to observation alone. Summary Despite recent advances, overall survival for advanced disease remains poor and identification of novel agents with activity in LMS is clearly needed.


This brief presents an all-digital frequency synthesizer based on the flying adder (FA) architecture. The FA is a fascinating architecture for frequency synthesizer designs due to its simplicity and effectiveness. The FA-based frequency synthesizer can simply use a set of multiple phase reference signals to generate a desired frequency to achieve fast frequency switching. In the proposed work, the frequency synthesizer adopts an all-digital phase-locked loop to provide a steady reference signal for the FA. The proposed frequency synthesizer is implemented in a standard 0.18-μm CMOS cell-based technology, and the core area is 0.16 mm2. The output frequency range is 39.38-226 MHz, and the peak-to-peak jitter is less than 130 ps.


It is well-known that, the identification of the single-phase to ground faulted line in neutral non-grounded distribution systems is a difficult problem, due to its very small faulted current. This paper proposes a new method for the solution of this problem. The principle of the proposed method is to convert the neutral non-grounded system into a neutral grounded system temporarily by using a triggered vacuum switch based controllable short-circuit equipment. By time-domain numerical simulation, the proposed method is evaluated, and the simulation results have shown the effectiveness of the proposed method.


PURPOSE
To investigate the influences of factors such as cavity depth,shape,restorative materials and occlusal adjustment on the restoration of non-carious cervical lesions(NCCL) in the first maxillary premolars.

METHODS
3-D finite element models of adult first maxillary premolars which had cavities of different depths and shapes in buccal cervical region were built. The models were restored and divided into three groups: glass ion cement (GIC), amalgam and composite resin. The stress profiles and distribution in normal occlusion and malocclusion were evaluated from vertical to lateral loading.

RESULTS
In normal occlusion, there was mainly tensile stress and uniform distribution on the buccal cervical margin, compressive stress appeared when approaching to tooth root; in malocclusion, there was mainly greater concentrated tensile stress on the buccal cervical margin than normal occlusion. In all the two occlusions, lateral loading increased stress concentration and value comparing with vertical loading. The contrast between different cavity depths showed significant positive correlation between stress value of restoration and cavity depth. The wedge, rectangle and rounded shaped cavity in the cases of small cavities depths (0.5, 1.0mm) exhibited no difference. For larger cavity depth (1.5mm), the stress of rectangular cavity was greater than the wedge (about 4 times), but no difference between the wedge and the rounded. The interface stress value of GIC and composite resin model was smaller than that of amalgam the latter was 3-9 times greater than the former two. The GIC was slightly smaller than the resin (0.2-2.4 MPa).

CONCLUSIONS
For small cavity depth, cavity shape is not the primary factor affecting the treatment of NCCL. The rectangular cavity isn't suitable for large defect. There is positive correlation between stress value of restoration and cavity depth. Supported by Research Fund of Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(08DZ2271100).


Domain Adaptation (DA) enables transferring a learning machine from a labeled source domain to an unlabeled target domain. While remarkable advances have been made, most of the existing DA methods focus on improving the target accuracy at inference. How to estimate the predictive uncertainty of DA models is vital for decision-making in safety-critical scenarios but remains the boundary to explore. In this paper, we delve into the open problem of Calibration in DA, which is extremely challenging due to the coexistence of domain shift and the lack of target labels. We first reveal the dilemma that DA models learn higher accuracy at the expense of well-calibrated probabilities. Driven by this finding, we propose Transferable Calibration (TransCal) to tackle this dilemma, achieving accurate calibration with lower bias and variance in a unified hyperparameter-free optimization framework. As a general post-hoc calibration method, TransCal can be easily applied to recalibrate existing DA methods. Its efficacy has been justified both theoretically and empirically.


Objective We examined the safety and efficacy of endoscopic stone removal for choledocholithiasis in elderly patients ≥90 years of age with native papilla and compared the outcomes with those in patients 75-89 years of age. Methods This multicenter retrospective study included 569 patients 75-89 years of age and 126 patients ≥90 years of age who had native papilla and underwent therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for choledocholithiasis at 3 institutions in Japan between April 2012 and March 2018. The main outcomes assessed were the incidence of post-ERCP complications during hospitalization and outcomes of ERCP in patients ≥90 years of age. Results Biliary cannulation and subsequent endoscopic sphincterotomy, endoscopic balloon dilation, and endoscopic large balloon dilation were successful in 97.7% of patients 75-89 years of age and in 98.4% of patients ≥90 years of age. There was no significant difference in the incidence of post-ERCP complications between patients 75-89 years of age and those ≥90 years of age (7.7% vs. 9.5%, respectively; p=0.47). Although the rate of use of mechanical lithotripter was not significantly different, the rate of complete stone removal in patients ≥90 years of age was lower than that in patients 75-89 years of age (81.0% vs. 94.9%, respectively; p<0.001). In all cases with incomplete stone removal in both groups, permanent biliary stent placement was successful. Conclusion ERCP for choledocholithiasis in elderly patients ≥90 years of age is a safe and effective procedure; however, endoscopists should select appropriate strategies after considering each patient's medical condition and background.


This prospective study evaluates the effectiveness of intraarticular methylprednisolone (IAMP) (80 mg) in 10 knees of 10 hemophilic patients with chronic synovitis. This treatment was prescribed because the lack of sensitivity to substitutive therapy with the deficient coagulation factor during 2 months. The patients average age was 25 years (range, 18 to 30) and the minimum follow up was 1 year. The patients were radiographically and ultrasonographically (US) evaluated before starting any kind of treatment and periodically until finishing the follow up. The results one year after the injection were excellent in 4 cases, good in 3 cases, fair in 2 cases and poor in 1 case. Correlation between results and previous radiographic status of the knee has not been found. A close correlation between clinical features and US examination findings was demonstrated. This study has demonstrated that IAMP is an useful procedure for medically treating the chronic hemophilic synovitis of the knee, even with radiographic signs of arthropathy. IAMP must be born in mind before applying other methods more aggressive. US is very useful for diagnosing and following up the effects of IAMP on this condition.


This paper investigates responsibility allocation between human and computer in supervisory control of large-complex systems. Strategies for responsibility allocation are analyzed in a probabilistic manner by taking into account human's distrust of a computerized warning system, inappropriate situation awareness, and process dynamics. We show that it is not wise to stick to the principle, "a human locus of control is required," even though that is recognized as an essential principle for the human-centered automation. It is proven that responsibility allocation between human and computer should not be fixed but must be changeable dynamically and flexibly depending on the situation, which suggests the need for a new framework on human-centered automation, especially when safety of the process is a factor.


BACKGROUND
The neutral comet assay was devised to measure double-stranded DNA breaks, but it has also been used to measure apoptosis based on its characteristic DNA fragmentation patterns. There is still uncertainty about the reliability of this method. By comparing the comet assay with a flow cytometry method that uses Annexin V binding to apoptotic cells, we have provided further evidence for evaluating the usefulness of the comet assay for detecting apoptosis.

METHODS
Apoptosis was induced in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by ionizing radiation and measured using the comet assay and a flow cytometry method that measures Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) staining.

RESULTS
The Annexin V flow cytometry assay distinguished among early apoptosis, late apoptosis, and an apoptotic or necrotic phase in which the cells were labeled with both Annexin V and PI. The comet assay detected only the latter two phases of apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS
The comet assay is a useful tool for measuring the late stages of apoptosis whereas the Annexin V assay measures higher amounts of apoptosis because it can detect cells in an earlier stage of the apoptotic pathway.


Worldwide, institutions of higher learning are challenged to transform themselves to play a decisive role in an ever-changing environment. Viewed from an open system theory, these institutions like any other organizations are to discover, contextualise and employ appropriate and deliberate strategic planning, management strategies and tools to address the needs and aspirations imposed by these environments. As such, universities are compelled to configure and revisit their roles and models for them to impact positively on their immediate environment and wider stakeholders. Thus, the existence of universities as social institutions implicates them to transcend their traditional role from teaching and learning and improve their research and community engagement to using knowledge as a social tool to transform society. This paper therefore provides an ontological and epistemological analysis of the traditional and emerging roles played by universities in the 21st century. The author made use of various models to assess and understand evolving roles of universities and their implications for a wider societal transformation. These models range from the metaphysical, scientific, entrepreneurial and bureaucratic to liquid, therapeutic, authentic and ecological models. Within a single university, the research university, the entrepreneurial university, the bureaucratic university, and even the corporate university have a presence and influence. However, the question is how does the modern university navigate all this branding and roles, and still maintain its status and identity of being a university. Due to pressure from both the immediate and wider environment, the paper argues that universities have no option but to adopt to the ecological university model if they are concerned about playing an active and impactful role in transforming society.


Addressing the challenges involved in achieving standard work in health care, Getting to Standard Work in Health Care, 2nd Edition describes how to incorporate the Training Within Industry (TWI) methods of Job Instruction (JI), Job Relations (JR) and Job Methods (JM) to facilitate performance excellence and boost employee morale in a health care organization. It not only examines the TWI methodologies but also explains how this program is as vital and applicable in today's health care environment as it was when it was developed to train replacements of an industrial workforce off to fight in WWII. Placing this methodology squarely within the health care paradigm, the book uses easy-to-understanding terminology to describe how these methods can make all the difference in the delivery of quality health care. Supplying the foundation for successful Lean practice in health care, it clearly defines the role of standard work and leadership skills in relation to Lean health care. The updated text includes new case studies of current TWI usage in health care that demonstrates how to successfully roll out a sustainable TWI initiative. All new chapters on Job Relations and Job Methods give insight into the full scope of TWI skills development. Including examples of TWI application during the Covid pandemic, the book provides readers with the understanding of how to use these time-tested methodologies to improve training, increase engagement, and deliver continuous improvement in your organization. © 2022 Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.


In this paper we explore graph models used to illustrate the relationships between elements of designs in computer-aided design (CAD) systems. we discuss common limitations and ways to make such representations more usable and interactive. In order to study common problems of symbolic representations in CAD systems, we conducted a survey of a number of CAD applications that employ graph representations in their interface and provided comparative analysis of the properties of graph representations in these systems. As a case study we used bentley GenerativeComponentstM (GC) system a parametric CAD application that uses graph ("symbolic") view to visualize the structure of design. we conducted series of interviews with expert GC users that revealed many limitations of the GC symbolic view. to address these limitations, we developed alternative representations of symbolic view that aim at enhancing user experience with the system and reviewed these with expert GC users. As a result of our study, we developed a set of interactive prototypes using SHriMP1 visualization tool and Processing programming language. these provide improved ways of user interaction with symbolic representation, including better readability of the graph and, as a result, an improved support for design model analysis.


There are issues such as long maturation period, variable starch quality and lack of quality
planting material that makes investors have less interest in commercial scale sago planting.
Genetic transformation system for sago palm has the potential to improve the characteristic
which would maximized yield per Ha and subsequently attract more investors. Therefore
this study was aimed to optimized sago genetic transformation system in order to improve
the characteristic of existing sago palm and to develop a suspension culture system to
support mass production of sago clonal planting material. This study consists of
development of sago palm suspension culture, determination of minimal inhibitory
concentration of Basta™ on sago, development of sago transformation system via
Agrobacterium and gene gun. The suspension culture of sago palm was successfully
propagated using 4.5-15 gram of inoculum in every litre of media containing 0.18-1.8 mg/l
NAA and 1-1.5 mg/l 2, 4-D. The propagated cells are ready for transformation after 3
months cycle. The minimal inhibitory concentration of Basta™ for sago palm was
determined at 30 mg/l. The genetic transformation of sago target tissues derived from
suspension culture was conducted using two methods; the Agrobacterium tumefaciens
strain LB4404 containing plasmid vector pGSA1131 and the Biorad™ Helios Gene Gun
System. The putative transgenic embryoids were selected through Basta™ selection
process using media containing minimum concentration of Basta™ at 30 mg/l. The
presence of bar and gus genes in selected regenerated callus were verified by PCR
amplification, GUS staining analysis and dot blot analysis. From this study it is proven that
iv
the most suitable plant material for transformation is the embryogenic callus (D0E/EC)
compared to embryoid stage (D1 and D2) and early formation of plantlets (D3) for both
methods. As for the high sugar treatment during and after infection, the wounding using
gold particle bombardment and the sonication treatment on the target cells had also proven
able to increase the efficiency of the transformation via Agrobacterium. The transformation
using Helios Gene Gun showed a higher transformation rates when target tissues at
embryogenic stage (D0E/EC) were bombarded with 280psi of helium pressure at 6 to 8 cm
of distance and with the number of firing once and twice of bombardment.


An ethanolic extract of Cranberry exerted a significant antimicrobial effect on Saccharomyces bayanus and Pseudomonas fluorescens. The antimicrobial properties of cranberries were due to a number of factors. First, the low pH (2.6) inhibited many microorganisms per se, and its effect on the dissociation of benzoic acid made the inhibition more drastic. Secondly, after raising the pH to 5.2, cranberry juice still did not support the growth of S. bayanus. Growth did occur at pH 5.2 after 0.3% yeast nitrogen base was added. Thirdly, proanthocyanidins and flavonols were found to be the major microbial inhibitors other than benzoic acid. The results showed that proanthocyanidins provided 21.3% of the inhibition, the flavonols 18.5% and benzoic acid 15.6%.


We present a scaling theory that links the frequency of long frontal waves to the kinetic energy decay rate and inverse transfer of potential energy in freely evolving equivalent barotropic turbulence. The flow energy is predominantly potential, and the streamfunction makes the dominant contribution to potential vorticity (PV) over most of the domain, except near PV fronts of width $O(L_{D})$ , where $L_{D}$ is the Rossby deformation length. These fronts bound large vortices within which PV is well-mixed and arranged into a staircase structure. The jets collocated with the fronts support long-wave undulations, which facilitate collisions and mergers between the mixed regions, implicating the frontal dynamics in the growth of potential-energy-containing flow features. Assuming the mixed regions grow self-similarly in time and using the dispersion relation for long frontal waves (Nycander et al., Phys. Fluids A, vol. 5, 1993, pp. 1089–1091) we predict that the total frontal length and kinetic energy decay like $t^{-1/3}$ , while the length scale of the staircase vortices grows like $t^{1/3}$ . High-resolution simulations confirm our predictions.


The prediction of next location for users in location-based social networks has become an increasing significant requirement since it can benefit both users and business. However, existing methods lack an integrated analysis of sequence context, input contexts, and user preferences in a unified way, and result in an unsatisfactory prediction. Moreover, the interaction between different kinds of input contexts has not been investigated. In this paper, we propose a multi-context integrated deep neural network model (MCI-DNN) to improve the accuracy of the next location prediction. In this model, we integrate sequence context, input contexts, and user preferences into a cohesive framework. First, we model sequence context and interaction of different kinds of input contexts jointly by extending the recurrent neural network to capture the semantic pattern of user behaviors from check-in records. After that, we design a feedforward neural network to capture high-level user preferences from check-in data and incorporate that into MCI-DNN. To deal with different kinds of input contexts in the form of multi-field categorical, we adopt embedding representation technology to automatically learn dense feature representations of input contexts. Experimental results on two typical real-world data sets show that the proposed model outperforms the current state-of-the-art approaches by about 57.12% for Foursquare and 76.4% for Gowalla on average regarding F1-score@5.


In most cases, abscesses are formed otogenically or rhinogenically. The clinical symptoms may be uncharacteristic. The diagnosis is made by employing nuclear-medical and angiographic procedures. In 40 patients suspected of having a cerebral abscess, transfemoral cerebral angiography and in 14 cases gammaencephalography or cerebral scintigraphy was carried out. Angiographically, cerebral abscesses mostly appear as avascular growths while nuclear-medical or localised increase in the activity concentration suggests a pathological finding. The symptoms are uncharacteristic and can only be attributed to an abscess process in connection with clinical and paraclinical findings.


Accurately detecting Alzheimer's disease (AD) and predicting mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score are important tasks in elderly health by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Most of the previous methods on these two tasks are based on single-task learning and rarely consider the correlation between them. Since the MMSE score, which is an important basis for AD diagnosis, can also reflect the progress of cognitive impairment, some studies have begun to apply multi-task learning methods to these two tasks. However, how to exploit feature correlation remains a challenging problem for these methods. To comprehensively address this challenge, we propose a MRI-based multi-task decoupled learning method for AD detection and MMSE score prediction. First, a multi-task learning network is proposed to implement AD detection and MMSE score prediction, which exploits feature correlation by adding three multi-task interaction layers between the backbones of the two tasks. Each multi-task interaction layer contains two feature decoupling modules and one feature interaction module. Furthermore, to enhance the generalization between tasks of the features selected by the feature decoupling module, we propose the feature consistency loss constrained feature decoupling module. Finally, in order to exploit the specific distribution information of MMSE score in different groups, a distribution loss is proposed to further enhance the model performance. We evaluate our proposed method on multi-site datasets. Experimental results show that our proposed multi-task decoupled representation learning method achieves good performance, outperforming single-task learning and other existing state-of-the-art methods.


Background Glucose oxidase (GOx)-based starvation therapy is a new cancer treatment strategy. However, the characteristics such as limited curative effect and hypoxic tumor environment hinder its further application seriously. Methods Herein, doxorubicin (DOX) loaded in hollow mesoporous copper sulfide (HMCuS) nanoparticles assembled with manganese dioxide (HMMD) as nanoshell was prepared. We developed a targeted enhanced cancer treatment method to camouflage HMMD by GOx-functionalized platelet (PLT) membranes (HMMD@PG). Results GOx can be specially transported to the tumor site with PLT membrane for effective starvation treatment. Glucose and oxygen (O2) in the tumor were converted to H2O2 under the catalysis of GOx. HMMD can catalyze H2O2 to produce O2 and consume glutathione (GSH) in time, which regulates the tumor microenvironment (TME) and improves the adverse conditions of anti-tumor. In addition, DOX encapsulated in HMCuS-MnO2 release was accelerated from the nanoparticles after the "gatekeeper" MnO2 is consumed. The study of anti-tumor mechanism shows that the remarkable tumor suppressive ability of HMMD@PG comes from the three peaks synergy of starvation treatment, photothermal treatment (PTT), and chemotherapy. This nanoplatform disguised by PLT membrane has significant tumor inhibition ability, good biocompatibility and almost has no side effects in main organs. Conclusion This work broadens the application mode of GOx and shows the new development of a multi-mode collaborative processing system of nanoplatforms based on cell membrane camouflage.


Spectra of carbon-, boron-, beryllium-, lithium-, helium-, and hydrogen-like sulfur ions were obtained and studied for the wavelengths below 200 Å and the energy of 80 MeV by using beam-foil method. Thirty-five lines have been identified, in which 15 lines are newly accurately measured. The spectra were analysed based on the theoretical results and other experimental data.


We have carried out the experiments on coagulation and precipitation of silica from the separate of Verkhne-Mutnovsky geothermal electric power plant (Mutnovskoe hydrothermal field). Silica precipitation from the water solution was conducted in two ways: by adding slaked lime CaO and by electrocoagulation treatment on aluminium electrodes. Silica precipitation with addition of slaked lime was carried out under laboratory conditions at the temperature of 20 and 96 °C. Colloid and monomeric silica concentrations, solution pH, flakes sizes and physical-chemical properties of material precipitated with different quantities of added lime were determined. We also carried out series of experiments on solution treatment of mixed type: addition lime with freshly precipitated flakes, and addition lime with sea water. In the experiments on electric coagulation, current intensity and distance between electrodes were changed. Dependence of silica concentration on treatment duration was studied. Quantities of electric energy and anode aluminium consumed for reducing of silica concentration to a certain level were obtained. The results of our experiments can be used for developing of technological scheme of silica precipitation and utilization optimal for Verkhne-Mutnovsky geothermal electric power plant.


This text brings a reflection on the challenges and prospects of the democratic management school, showing their legal and regulatory contributions, in line with its guiding principles. Therefore, we decided to do a literature review, that is, reading and rereading on Laws and authors that develop work in the area of educational administration, and that it will serve as a theoretical basis for other similar studies.


Transracial analysis is one method for distinguishing primary associations between insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and HLA II alleles from those related to linkage disequilibrium. Black people have different DR-DQ relationships from other races and are a useful group to investigate HLA-D regions associated with IDDM. In this study, we compared the frequencies of HLA-DQA1 and DQB1 alleles in Senegalese IDDM and control subjects. DQA1*0301 was positively associated with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (p < 10(-9), OR 5.21), as were DQB1*0201 and *0302 (p < 10(-7) OR = 3.55, p < 10(-3) OR = 3.20, respectively). The positive associations with DQA1*0301, DQB1*0201 and DQB1*0302 are consistent with all racial groups investigated. However, taken together, the data in Senegalese population show that susceptibility and resistance to IDDM are associated both with particular haplotypes and DQA1-DQB1 heterodimers.


Only limited information is available on the effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2) on arsenite (As(III)) accumulation and its ensuing associated toxicity in aquatic organisms. This study characterized As(III) uptake, spatial and subcellular distribution, and efflux under different exposure treatments and its toxicity on Daphnia magna in the presence of nano-TiO2. The results showed that the accumulated arsenic (As) content was significantly correlated to the corresponding accumulated titanium (Ti) content, implying that nano-TiO2 as a carrier increased As(III) accumulation in D. magna. In addition, a significant spatial correlation between As and Ti accumulation further confirmed the "carrier" role of nano-TiO2, while this role weakened under higher As(III) exposure levels due to its elevated toxicity and its limited adsorption capacity onto nano-TiO2. Also, despite the increase in As(III) accumulation, nano-TiO2 decreased D. magna toxicity. In particular, the 24 h As(III) EC50 increased from 2.53 to 2.97 mg As per L, while nano-TiO2 increased from 2 to 20 mg Ti per L. This reduction in toxicity resulted from the accumulation of most As in biologically detoxified metals (BDMs) and cellular debris as detoxified fractions. Moreover, the similarity in As and Ti subcellular distribution was clearly observed between 6 and 24 h exposure and between 75 μg As per L and EC50 exposure levels of As(III). Therefore, regardless of the exposure time or exposure As(III) level, the subcellular distribution of As can itself explain its toxic effects on daphnids resulting from As(III) stress associated with nano-TiO2. Interestingly, elevated nano-TiO2 produced lower As efflux from daphnids, which showed that nano-TiO2 still sequestered some As within this organism. Lastly, direct and reproduction efflux were the two main pathways that daphnids used to eliminate accumulated As and Ti. These findings can help us to better understand the ecological risks of nano-TiO2 and its co-existing contaminants in the environment.


Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of the anti-angiotensinic drug, ramipril and irbesartan on the vascular protection of kidneys of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats (DR). Methods: 110 male albino rats were divided into 7 main groups. Group-1 (10 normal control rats; NC). Group-2 (10 rats) was injected intra-peritoneally with STZ (Diabetic Rats; DR). Group-3 (10 DR) is controlled by insulin. Groups 4 to 7 (20 DR), each is subdivided into two subgroups that received either low or high dose of ramipril or irbesartan with or without insulin. Two months post treatment, rat-tail blood was collected to measure: Fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, total serum proteins, albumin and lipid profiles. Urine was collected to measure albuminuria. Kidneys were isolated for histopathological study. Results: Biochemically, both ramipril and irbesartan (without insulin) lowered albumin concentration in urine samples especially at high doses. Histopathologically, there is no beneficial response of both drugs without insulin. Combination of insulin together with either drug has beneficial effects biochemically and histopathologically at high doses. Low dose irbesartan only has renoprotective effect in DR treated with insulin. The other biochemical parameters showed negligible response to both drugs. Conclusion: Low dose irbesartan and high doses of both drugs have renoprotective effect in DR treated with insulin.


Abstract:This article recovers the centrality of the concept of "innovation," a pejorative early modern synonym for rebellion, to the confrontations of early American settlement. The new absolutist forms of rule introduced into Virginia in 1609 bred mutinies, both in Jamestown and Bermuda, where the ship transporting the colony's new charter and first governor wrecked that year. Eyewitness reporter William Strachey deems the rebels "innovators," but his candid account reveals that their aims were actually restorative and clarifies that innovation was in fact a key aspect of sovereignty. Linking the shipwreck and mutinies as emblems of contingency via the "murmuring" trope, a seventeenth-century figure for unintelligible dissent, Strachey insists that observably exceptional New World circumstances demand rulers empowered to depart from precedent. Yet the attempt to ground this elite monopoly on the right to innovate in firsthand experience rather than received wisdom backfires when Strachey inadvertently records a damning underclass critique of colonialism's novelty.


Background A national smokefree prison policy was implemented in Scotland from November 2018. The removal of tobacco from a prison system poses some distinct potential challenges, not least because prisons are 'homes' and rates of smoking in the prison population are very high. The Tobacco In Prisons study (TIPs) is internationally unique in comprehensively studying the introduction of restrictions on smoking in Scottish prisons, using data collected before, during and after the change to prison smoking policy. This paper presents opinions and experiences of prison smoking restrictions among people in custody (prisoners) and staff in Scotland, and identifies implementation success factors and lessons that are highly relevant for other jurisdictions and areas of public health. Methods Surveys of staff (online) and people in custody (paper-based) were conducted in November-December 2016 (return rates: 26.6% (staff); 33.8% (people in custody)); May-July 2018 (31.4%; 25.9%) May-July 2019 (16.1%; 18.1%). The surveys contained identical or similar questions on topics related to smoking, smoking cessation/abstinence and smoking restrictions in the prison context. Topics were also explored qualitatively with staff and people in custody at similar time points to the surveys via 34 focus groups and 99 interviews in total. Changes in survey responses over time were analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses, adjusting for potentially confounding socio-demographic variables. Qualitative data were thematically analysed to identify the diversity of views and experiences. Results The new smokefree policy is widely accepted as the new 'norm' in Scottish prisons, although support was consistently higher among staff than people in custody before, during and after implementation. Both the surveys and qualitative work suggest that perceptions of some of the potential difficulties ('hard to enforce') and negative consequences ('cause a lot of trouble') of a smokefree prison policy reduced post implementation. Participants identified several implementation success factors relating to: planning and communication, smoking abstinence/cessation products/services, and partnership working. Conclusion Our study confirms that smokefree prison polices can be successfully implemented, despite widespread concerns, providing that the removal of tobacco is well managed and enhanced support measures are available for smokers. Some of the general factors shaping the successful introduction of smokefree prisons in Scotland are relevant to other areas of public health transformation e.g. setting clear objectives and timescales; collaboration and teamwork; and involving staff at all levels and end-users in change processes.


Nomadic applications create replicas of shared objects that evolve independently while they are disconnected. When reconnecting, the system has to reconcile the divergent replicas. In the log-based approach to reconciliation, such as in the IceCube system, the input is a common initial state and logs of actions that were performed on each replica. The output is a consistent global schedule that maximises the number of accepted actions. The reconciler merges the logs according to the schedule, and replays the operations in the merged log against the initial state, yielding to a reconciled common final state.
In this paper, we show the NP-completeness of the log-based reconciliation problem and present two programs for solving it. Firstly, a constraint logic program (CLP) that uses integer constraints for expressing precedence constraints, boolean constraints for expressing dependencies between actions, and some heuristics for guiding the search. Secondly, a stochastic local search method with Tabu heuristic (LS), that computes solutions in an incremental fashion but does not prove optimality. One difficulty in the LS modeling lies in the handling of both boolean variables and integer variables, and in the handling of the objective function which differs from a max-CSP problem. Preliminary evaluation results indicate better performance for the CLP program which, on somewhat realistic benchmarks, finds nearly optimal solutions up to a thousands of actions and proves optimality up to a hundreds of actions.


The present invention relates to a method for producing a soil nutrient map using reduced number of soil sample required to be taken in a geographical region, characterized by the steps of: obtaining a first database comprising data of a plurality of soil samples taken from the geographical region; supplying the first database to an artificial neural network for training, validating and testing said artificial neural network; providing an input of the plurality of soil samples to the trained artificial neural network, wherein said trained artificial neural network evaluates the input and outputs a second database of virtual soil samples representing non-sampled area of the geographical region; and forming the soil nutrient map from the first database and the second database.


Abstract We measure the accident externality from driving in the spirit of Edlin and Karaca-Mandic (2006). We collect data that parallel those used in Edlin and Karaca-Mandic and apply their empirical method to gain further insights about the accident externality. Consistent with Edlin and Karaca-Mandic, we find larger external costs for higher density roads, although the sizes largely depend on the variable definition and the model specification. One intriguing result is that per-vehicle external costs are considerably smaller in Japan than those in the U.S. In Kyoto, for example, an additional driver increases accident costs for other drivers by $248--$802, while it is $1,725--$2,432 in California where the traffic density is approximately the same. However, on a per-mile basis, much closer externalities are obtained. This finding indicates that the large externality in high-density roads underscored in Edlin and Karaca-Mandic is partly attributed to the fact that U.S. drivers drive longer distances, comparatively speaking.


Abstract A finite-element model is used to simulate Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous rifting between the Flemish Cap and Galicia Bank continental margins. The model results show that variations in the thickness of the continental crust on these margins at wavelengths greater than about 75 km can be explained as a consequence of the interaction of two pre-existing weaknesses in the lithosphere. A weakness in the crust, attributed to structural fabrics in the Variscan front, controls the location of crustal extension during the early stages of rifting in the model. This results in formation of a broad rift basin similar to the Galicia Interior Basin. A deep-seated weakness located 110 km further west, attributed to the thick crust beneath the central Variscan Orogen, controls the location of mantle necking. Extension in this region is initially diffuse, but accelerates and becomes more focused with time. Approximately 13 million years after rifting begins, the locus of crustal extension shifts from the region of pre-weakened crust into the region of pre-weakened mantle. This marks the end of subsidence in the Galicia Interior Basin and the onset of subsidence in the Flemish Cap and Galicia Bank marginal basins. Extension in these areas continues for another 12 million years before continental breakup. The asthenosphere does not ascend to depths shallow enough for decompression melting to begin until less than 5 million years before the onset of sea-floor spreading. The model predicts that all late-stage synrift magmatism during this period is limited to within 45 km of the rift axis, and production of melt thicknesses greater than 2 km is restricted to within 35 km of the rift axis. Mantle potential temperatures of 1250–1275 °C, ∼5–30 °C cooler than normal, result in 3.1–4.5 km-thick oceanic crust at the time of breakup, in general agreement with the 2–4 km thick crust observed adjacent to these margins.


Sic in v. 34 he refers to that usage which he illustrates on I. xxiii, 6, in the sense of ' in hac rerum conditione; cum aliud quid sit aut esset.' Objections to this view are among others : (a) that, as Lachmann himself remarks of another interpretation, ' nullum quod logici dicunt tertium (habet) : ' the dying away of the storm is naturally compared to the gradual loss of consciousness by Antiope, an aspect of nature and a mental state being thus contrasted: the virtue of 31-2 is in great measure lost if they are to be compared to another aspect of nature. (5) litore in 33 is unpleasantly ambiguous after aequora, Eurus, ffbto: we immediately think of the sea-shore. (c) sonitus...harenae is pointless and unnatural when used of the action of a river : it is only suitable for what Tennyson describes in more forcible metaphor as ' The shriek of a dying beach dragged down by the waves.' (2) The second way in which sic, v. 33, has been taken is in tbe sense above referred to ' in hac rerum conditioned Keil in his Program (Bonn, 1843) p. 10 well states the difficulty which then confronts us. ' Sic si scribis [in 33] ut ratio significetur qua fiat ut sonitus rarescat . . . . magnopere id languet post positam in priore enuntiatione cum particulam, nee intelligi a quoquam poterat.' And to the trouble occasioned by the first sic ample testimony is borne by the proposal to punctuate v. 34 thus :


A new type of actuator is presented where shape memory alloy (SMA) wires are embedded within artificial "blood vessels." Fluid flowing through vessels allows the SMA wires to be rapidly cooled by convection, resulting in greater bandwidth than ordinarily possible. Combinations of electric, fluidic, and thermal inputs can be used to control the contraction/extension of the SMA wires within the compliant vessels. These wet vascular SMA actuators can be used as robotic muscle or even embedded in a compliant rubber material to create an active vasculated robotic flesh. This paper begins by proposing a type of biomimetics where robots and machines are imbued with a vasculature or network of blood vessels. The concept of a wet SMA actuator is then introduced as an immediate application of a vasculated robot. A wet SMA actuator is then designed and implemented. Initial prototypes are 3 mm in diameter and are capable of 2% strain at 2 Hz by pulsing 2 A of current and 3 mL/s of water. Reservoirs of hot and cold water are also used to recycle the thermal energy and allow the actuators to exert static force with no electric current. Finally, multiple vascular SMA actuators are imbedded within a 4 mm thick rubber sheet to implement the active vasculated robotic flesh.


Kinematic chain Isomorphism identification (KCII), as an important application of graph isomorphism, plays a crucial role in mechanism creative design. However, traditional methods used in KCII lack efficiency and usually occupy high memory space. In this paper, a highly efficient algorithm is proposed, and an optimized circuit simulation method and the adjacency list are applied. The experimental results for KCII demonstrate a great improvement in computation efficiency compared with the original circuit simulation method and VF2 algorithm (in the symmetrical graphs situation).


A 5 % cold leg break test, run SB-CL-18, conducted at the Large Scale Test Facility (LSTF) was analyzed using the RELAP5/MOD2 Cycle 36.04 and the RELAP5/MOD3 Version 5m5 codes. The test SB-CL-18 was conducted with the main objective being the investigation of the thermal-hydraulic mechanisms responsible for the early core uncovery, including the manometric effect due to an asymmetric coolant holdup in the steam generator upflow and downflow side. The present analysis, carried out with the RELAP5/MOD2 and MOD3 codes, demonstrates the code`s capability to predict, with sufficient accuracy, the main phenomena occurring in the depressurization transient, both from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. Nevertheless, several differences regarding the evolution of phenomena and affecting the timing order have been pointed out in the base calculations. The sensitivity study on the break flow and the nodalization study in the components of the steam generator U-tubes and the cross-over legs were also carried out. The RELAP5/MOD3 calculation with the nodalization change resulted in good predictions of the major thermal-hydraulic phenomena and their timing order.


Advancements in ankle-foot orthotic devices, such as the Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis (IDEO), are designed to improve function and reduce pain of the injured lower extremity. There is a paucity of research detailing the demographics, injury patterns and amputation outcomes of patients who have been prescribed an IDEO. The purpose of this study was to describe the demographics, presenting diagnosis and patterns of amputation in patients prescribed an IDEO at the Center for the Intrepid (CFI). The study population was comprised of 624 service members who were treated at the CFI and prescribed an IDEO between 2009 and 2014. Data were extracted from the Expeditionary Medical Encounter Database, Defense Manpower Data Center, Military Health System Data Repository, and CFI patient records for demographic and injury information as well as an amputation outcome. The most common injury category that received an IDEO prescription was injuries at or surrounding the ankle joint (25.0%), followed by tibia injuries (17.5%) and nerve injuries below the knee (16.4%). Over 80% of the sample avoided amputation within a one year time period using this treatment modality. Future studies should longitudinally track IDEO users for a longer term to determine the long term viability of the device.