Virus infections represent complex biological systems governed by multiple-level regulatory processes of virus replication and host immune responses. Understanding of the infection means an ability to predict the systems behaviour under various conditions. Such predictions can only rely upon quantitative mathematical models. The model formulations should be tightly linked to a fundamental step called "coordinatization" (Hermann Weyl), that is, the definition of observables, parameters, and structures that enable the link with a biological phenotype. In this review, we analyse the mathematical modelling approaches to LCMV infection in mice that resulted in quantification of some fundamental parameters of the CTL-mediated virus control including the rates of T cell turnover, infected target cell elimination, and precursor frequencies. We show how the modelling approaches can be implemented to address diverse aspects of immune system functioning under normal conditions and in response to LCMV and, importantly, make quantitative predictions of the outcomes of immune system perturbations. This may highlight the notion that data-driven applications of meaningful mathematical models in infection biology remain a challenge.


Imprecise data in databases were originally denoted as null values, which represent the meaning of "values unknown at present." More generally, a partial value corresponds to a finite set of possible values for an attribute in which exactly one of the values is the "true" value. We define a set of extended aggregate operations, namely sum, average, count, maximum, and minimum, which can be applied to an attribute containing partial values. Two types of aggregate operators are considered: scalar aggregates and aggregate functions. We study the properties of the aggregate operations and develop efficient algorithms for count, maximum and minimum. However, for sum and average, we point out that in general it takes exponential time complexity to do the computations.


The development of educational processes in the universities of Kazakhstan in modern conditions occur in the following areas: individualization of educational methods, the transition to a continuous educational technology, the use of information technology in the educational process. The emergence of a new form of distance learning has fundamentally changed the idea of organizing the educational process as a whole. The use of modern educational technologies allows to increase the number of university students served. Relevance The article describes the implementation of this process, which is associated with the solution of a number of issues such as: developing an infrastructure for e-learning: developing new methods and training and sets of programs to support a single information space: developing e-courses: training students in using e-learning tools for training. Methods In the context of ubiquitous informatization, interactive forms of interaction are needed, covering a large contingent of students, ensuring the mobility of the teaching staff. The only form corresponding to these requirements is distance learning presented in the form of a whole range of technologies ensuring the delivery of the main volume of the material being studied to students, interactive interaction of students and teachers in the learning process, providing the learner with the opportunity for independent work on mastering the material being studied as well as in the learning process. Results Remote educational technologies in teaching students are one of the important activities of the university. The Faculty of Distance Learning provides technological support for the educational process, conducts training for teaching staff in distance learning technologies. Discussion The authors of the article describe the technology of remote learning using information and communication tools of the Internet. Development of distance courses based on state standards of the Republic of Kazakhstan and compiled taking into account the experience of European universities - leaders in the field of e-learning. Conclusion The authors of the article believe that the increasingly widespread term "e-learning" includes the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), which, potentially, can be used in education, is rapidly expanding.


One of the most important tasks an introductory computing student must do is to form a mental model of how the computer works. This could be as specific as understanding the read-evaluate-print loop of an interpreter, or as general as believing that the computer works predictably and deterministically. However, some have fuzzy mental models, or worse, sincerely believe that the computer works unpredictably, "by magic". We seek to demystify computing for these students using analogy, by showing them something that even magic itself isn't really mystical, it is just computation.
 Magic is one of the most colorful examples of "unplugged" (i.e., without-computer, active learning) activities. It adds a unique facet in that it holds a hidden secret that an audience can be challenged to unfold. Once solved, students are often enthusiastic to perform the magic in front of others. In this session, we will share a variety of magic tricks whose answer is grounded in computer science: modulo arithmetic, permutations, algorithms, binary encoding, probability, etc. For each trick, we will have an interactive discussion of its underlying computing fundamentals, and tips for successful showmanship. Audience participation will be critical, for helping us perform the magic, discussing the solution, and contributing other magic tricks.


Focusing mainly on the Sophoclean tragedies Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonnus, but also considering other versions of the Oedipus myth and some of the iconographic documents relating to it, this article looks to show that the apotropaic element plays an important role in this mythic context. It suggests that the beliefs and practices through which the apotropaic value is expressed are rooted in the deepest grounds of the Greek Weltanschauung and related to conceptions of fate and the basic categories of Greek religious thought. Although many studies usually restrict its operation to this circle, the article argues that magic is just one of the fields in which the apotropaic code is expressed, and that the interpretation of this code requires the consideration of other discourses and the analysis of other aspects of Greek culture. In theatrical presentations of the Oedipus tale, the tragedy reveals the deepest meaning of the apotropaic with singular clarity.


Though there have been considerable improvements in the use of statistical methods for clinical trials in recent years, there remain major practical difficulties in the design and interpretation of many trials. This paper concentrates on problems relating to randomisation, the overemphasis on significance testing, and the inadequate size of many trials. Each topic is illustrated by examples from recent trials.


A traveling-wave tube designed to operate as a frequency multiplier (twfm) is described, together with experimental results. The tube employs two helices in cascade, the output helix being a dispersive forward-wave helix operating at S band. A wide range of input frequencies can be used, and the dispersive character of the output helix permits the selection of a particular harmonic by voltage tuning of the helix. The experimental tube was designed to operate with an input frequency range of 0.5 to 1.0 kmc and an output range of 2 to 4 kmc, although it was found to have a useful input frequency range from 0.1 to 1.0 kmc. It was found that multiplication ratios up to 10 or 15 are feasible with substantial gain, and with output power corresponding to normal operation of the second helix as an amplifier. Using an input frequency as low as 0.1 kmc, well below the design value, harmonic output in the order of a few milliwatts has been obtained at harmonics as high as the fortieth. For beam powers of 2 to 4 watts and for input frequencies down to 0.25 kmc, the harmonic power varied from 20 to 100 mw, depending upon the output frequency and multiplication ratio. The gross features of the gain characteristics of the twfm using a cascade gain analysis are shown.


This paper applies the Campbell-Shiller (1987) methodology to a study of the joint behaviour of a three-month and a five-year government yield in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. The period studied is for most countries the mid-1970s to the third quarter of 1997. The empirical results allow the rejection of the expectations theory of the term structure at high levels of statistical significance in every country except Japan. Furthermore, in every country where the expectations theory fails, the failure of the theory is consistent with the spread overreaction hypothesis of Froot (1989) and Campbell and Shiller (1991). This implies that the departures of long rates from levels predicted by the expectations theory in many major markets cannot be attributed to white noise error terms.


It is well known that the effect of organophosphate pesticides on the autonomic nervous system is a cholinergic reaction. However no study has been done assessing the effect of organochlorine pesticides on the autonomic nervous system. We evaluated the autonomic nerve function using open-loop pupillography in 20 patients who had exposure to the organochlorine pesticides. Significant differences were seen in pupil area (p less than .006), velocity of both constriction and dilatation (p less than .001), and dilatation time (p less than .02), when compared with 18 normal subjects. Autonomic nerve disturbances were detected in eighteen of 20 patients (90%) by evaluating the pupillary light reflex in each patient. Sympathetic nerve inhibition i.e. sympatholytic pattern, was recognized in ten of 18 patients (55%). Four patients with sympatholytic pattern had a disturbance not only in the sympathetic nerve, but also parasympathetic nerve involvement suggesting pandysautonomia. The residue blood level of the organochlorine pesticides was examined in each patient. A high frequency of the DDE was recognized (85%). It was concluded that the toxicity of the organochlorine pesticide on the autonomic nerve appear as an inhibitory effect on pupil light reflex.


Incorporation of the DNA-cleaving moiety EDTA.Fe at discrete amino acid residues along a DNA-binding protein allows the positions of these residues relative to DNA bases, and hence the organization of the folded protein, to be mapped by high-resolution gel electrophoresis. A 52-residue protein, based on the sequence-specific DNA-binding domain of Hin recombinase (139-190), with EDTA at the NH2 terminus cleaves DNA at Hin recombination sites. The cleavage data for EDTA-Hin(139-190) reveal that the NH2 terminus of Hin(139-190) is bound in the minor groove of DNA near the symmetry axis of Hin-binding sites [Sluka, J. P., Horvath, S. J., Bruist, M. F., Simon, M. I., & Dervan, P. B. (1987) Science 238, 1129]. Six proteins, varying in length from 49 to 60 residues and corresponding to the DNA-binding domain of Hin recombinase, were synthesized by solid-phase methods: Hin(142-190), Hin(141-190), Hin(140-190), Hin(139-190), Hin(135-190), and Hin(131-190) were prepared with and without EDTA at the NH2 termini in order to test the relative importance of the residues Gly139-Arg140-Pro141-Arg142, located near the minor groove, for sequence-specific recognition at five imperfectly conserved 12-base-pair binding sites. Footprinting and affinity cleaving reveal that deletion of Gly139 results in a protein with affinity and specificity similar to those of Hin(139-190) but that deletion of Gly139-Arg140 affords a protein with altered affinities and sequence specificities for the five binding sites. It appears that Arg140 in the DNA-binding domain of Hin is important for recognition of the 5'-AAA-3' sequence in the minor groove of DNA. Our results indicate modular DNA and protein interactions with two adjacent DNA sites (major and minor grooves, respectively) bound on the same face of the helix by two separate parts of the protein.


Chemical modification of mitochondrial F1-ATPase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe by the tryptophan-specific reagent N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) at pH 5.0 in the presence of 20% glycerol produced a characteristic lowering in both enzyme absorbance at 280 nm and intrinsic fluorescence at 332 nm that varied with NBS/F1 molar ratio up to a value of 130. Fluorometric titration of tryptophans and correlation to residual ATPase activity showed that modification of three reactive residues among the seven present on alpha- and epsilon-subunits did not markedly modify the enzyme activity but efficiently released endogenous ATP and abolished the fluorescence quenching related to GDP or ATP binding to the catalytic site. Additional modification of one, less reactive, tryptophan altered both negative cooperativity of ATP hydrolysis and sensitivity to azide inhibition and produced a nearly complete inactivation at high NBS/F1 molar ratio. NBS-induced inactivation of F1 was favored by catalytic-site saturation with GDP or low ATP concentration and on the contrary was prevented by noncatalytic-site saturation with ADP or high ATP concentration. When reactive tryptophans were selectively modified by NBS in the presence of ADP, and subunits were isolated after guanidine hydrochloride dissociation by one-step purification on reversed-phase HPLC, the absorbance of alpha-subunit at 280 nm was decreased, whereas that of epsilon-subunit was unchanged. Cyanogen bromide cleavage of alpha-subunit and fragments separation by reversed-phase HPLC showed that one peptide of 3 kDa apparent molecular mass had decreased absorbance. N-Terminal sequencing allowed its identification to fragment 255-282 that contains tryptophan257.


The angry back syndrome (ABS) was investigated using Trafuril® cream and prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors. Trafuril produced an increase in the numbers and intensity of patch test reactions which was partly abrogated by aspirin and indomethacin. Irritant reactions were not affected. We suggest that Trafuril may increase the sensitivity of the patch testing system and that this may have useful clinical applications.


This article deals with the topic of determinants of immigration policy in the United States. Our view is that the adoption of a comprehensive immigration reform under the Obama administration is very unlikely. We show first that, according to economic theory, immigration policymaking and individual preferences should be interrelated. This is an argument in favor of a closure of the immigration system, as we observe a significant increase of individual preferences favoring immigration restrictions since 2008. Still, this indicator is very poorly related empirically with past evolutions of the immigration policy. This result puts into light other determinants (political and institutional) which are likely to account for its persistent openness during last decades. It also suggests that the Republican victory at the midterm's elections will not bring major changes to current immigration policy.


Using a Zeiss leucometer with an incandescent lamp as an example, and starting from the general photometric theory of a spherical photometer and the regularities that describe the fluorescence phenomenon, it is shown that, on such simplified spherical spectrophotometers with zonal filters (of the photometers) with a source of any spectral composition in the UV region (with definite absorbing and emitting properties of white fluorescent test samples), it is possible to obtain the values of the fluorescent admixture to their actual reflectance (radiance) that coincide with the values that would be obtained with an artificial D65 standard radiation source. Experimental results are obtained on an upgraded leucometer that confirm that the artificial D65 standard radiation source can be replaced with an incandescent lamp in working leucometer-type photometers.


We report on features added to a parallel debugger to simplify the debugging of message passing programs. These features include replay, setting consistent breakpoints based on interprocess event causality, a parallel undo operation, and communication supervision. These features all use trace information collected during the execution of the program being debugged. We used a number of different instrumentation techniques to collect traces. We also implemented trace displays using two different trace visualization systems. The implementation was tested on an SGI Power Challenge cluster and a network of SGI workstations.


The present study investigated the adsorptive removal of malachite green (MG) from aqueous solution by using the citrate-stabilized magnetite nanoparticles (NPs). Magnetite NPs were synthesized chemically by precipitation method and they were characterized by XRD, TEM, particle size analyzer and zeta potential measurement. The mean diameter and zeta potential of the NPs was determined to be 25 nm and −33.14 mV, respectively. The adsorption of MG on the magnetite NPs was fitted better to Freundlich than Langmuir model. Kinetics of adsorption follows pseudo-second order rather than pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The pH of the interaction medium influenced the adsorption process. The adsorption of MG on the iron oxide NPs was decreased upon the increase of pH values. The rate of adsorption decreased with the increase of NaCl concentration in interaction medium. The present study may be applied for large scale to remove the dye stuffs from industrial effluents.


The main issues that significantly contribute to problems and delays on construction sites are changing client's view, incomplete design information, and poor site monitoring and control. Although experienced designers and construction managers control or minimise such problems during the design stage, the complexity and amount of the information in construction project make such a task very difficult to accomplish effectively. This paper presents a conceptual model for an integrated system which aims at presenting construction activities in 3D using virtual reality. Firstly, the technology enables construction managers to walk-through the proposed building perhaps at different time intervals-giving a vivid appreciation of the whole situation. Secondly, its enables the users to interrogate the building elements to present its details progress thus giving total conceptual of the project. Finally the system enable virtual models to be shared and thus facilitates collaborative global design and construction.


This paper comments on research data, from a survey, which sought to determine the health and social circumstances of persons in Trinidad who were providing informal care for the chronically ill elderly during the period, March to August 1998. The research also sought to ascertain the main concerns of the caregivers in their caregiving role. One hundred caregivers in North, Central and South Trinidad were chosen using a convenience sampling method. Caregivers selected had to be at least eighteen years old and residing in their own homes or in the home of the cared. The caregivers ranged in age from 20-89 years. Eighty two percent of the caregivers were females. Wives, daughters and daughters-in-law were the main caregivers. Daughters-in-law were especially instrumental in providing informal care in Indo-Trinidadian households being 28% of caregivers in those households compared to 4% for daughters-in-laws in Afro-Trinidadian households. Fifty percent of the caregivers reported their health to be good. The main health conditions reported by the others were hypertension (14%), diabetes mellitus (9%) and arthritis (18%). The main concern which the caregivers reported was stress (50%). The study revealed that caregiving was perceived by most of these caregivers to be extremely stressful. Daughters, daughters-in-law and wives bore the greatest burden of care and desired greater assistance from family members and friends. The paper makes reference to a government programme which trains young adults to work with the chronically ill elderly, in their own home. It makes a case for the greater use of such young persons in order to relieve relatives of some of the burden of care.


The past decade has seen a rapid acceleration in the discovery of new genetic causes of ALS, with more than 20 putative ALS-causing genes now cited. These genes encode proteins that cover a diverse range of molecular functions, including free radical scavenging (e.g., SOD1), regulation of RNA homeostasis (e.g., TDP-43 and FUS), and protein degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome system (e.g., ubiquilin-2 and cyclin F) and autophagy (TBK1 and sequestosome-1/p62). It is likely that the various initial triggers of disease (either genetic, environmental and/or gene-environment interaction) must converge upon a common set of molecular pathways that underlie ALS pathogenesis. Given the complexity, it is not surprising that a catalog of molecular pathways and proteostasis dysfunctions have been linked to ALS. One of the challenges in ALS research is determining, at the early stage of discovery, whether a new gene mutation is indeed disease-specific, and if it is linked to signaling pathways that trigger neuronal cell death. We have established a proof-of-concept proteogenomic workflow to assess new gene mutations, using CCNF (cyclin F) as an example, in cell culture models to screen whether potential gene candidates fit the criteria of activating apoptosis. This can provide an informative and time-efficient output that can be extended further for validation in a variety of in vitro and in vivo models and/or for mechanistic studies. As a proof-of-concept, we expressed cyclin F mutations (K97R, S195R, S509P, R574Q, S621G) in HEK293 cells for label-free quantitative proteomics that bioinformatically predicted activation of the neuronal cell death pathways, which was validated by immunoblot analysis. Proteomic analysis of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from patient fibroblasts bearing the S621G mutation showed the same activation of these pathways providing compelling evidence for these candidate gene mutations to be strong candidates for further validation and mechanistic studies (such as E3 enzymatic activity assays, protein–protein and protein–substrate studies, and neuronal apoptosis and aberrant branching measurements in zebrafish). Our proteogenomics approach has great utility and provides a relatively high-throughput screening platform to explore candidate gene mutations for their propensity to cause neuronal cell death, which will guide a researcher for further experimental studies.


This longitudinal study investigated the progression in junior high school (JHS) students' conceptions of the structure of matter while studying a new instructional approach dealing with "Materials." In particular, we studied the progression of students' learning along two dimensions: (a) the conceptual model; and (b) the context of application. Students were asked to draw the structure of several materials and to write their explanations about the structure of these materials in questionnaires administered five times during a 3-year period. Results indicate students' progression in their microscopic conceptualization of materials. Toward the end of the instruction about 85% of the students used a microscopic model in their representations, and 36% were able to give a molecular model. About 83% of the students retained a microscopic model. Different profiles of JHS students' progression in the conception of the structure of matter were identified. The study suggests that a long-term development of the particulate model requires: (a) constructing a solid foundation of knowledge about microscopic structure of materials; and (b) a spiral instruction. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 132–152, 2008


The classical nonlinear dynamics of a dilute gas of rubidium atoms in an optical lattice is studied for a range of polarizations of the laser beams forming the lattice. The dynamics ranges from integrable to chaotic, and mechanisms leading to the onset of chaos in the lattice are described.


In "Beat the (Backward) Clock," we argued that John Williams and Neil Sinhababu's Backward Clock Case fails to be a counterexample to Robert Nozick's or Fred Dretske's Theories of Knowledge. Williams' reply to our paper, "There's Nothing to Beat a Backward Clock: A Rejoinder to Adams, Barker and Clarke," is a further attempt to defend their counterexample against a range of objections. In this paper, we argue that, despite the number and length of footnotes, Williams is still wrong.


ABSTRACT In this article I propose the notion of domestic mood as an important concept for mental health research. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted among women living in Hanoi, Vietnam, I explore the maternal mental health problems that the women reported, focusing particularly on the household tensions and conflicts that made the entry into motherhood a distressful experience. To develop the concept of domestic mood, I draw on Martin Heidegger's work, particularly his claim that human being is always a being-with. Comprehending maternal mental health problems, I argue, requires that we pay attention not only to individual states of mind, but also to the ways that domestic environments shape people's moods. Taking this analytical approach, I show how the mental health states of pregnant women and new mothers in Vietnam were inseparable from their husbands' structural vulnerabilities within kin groups.


The effects of first noises on broilers and white leghorns were tested by plasma levels on 11-hydroxycorticosteroid (11-OHKS). The noises were 100 dB, 60 to 8,00 Hz, and applied 30 minutss to one group of broilers, aged 14, 28, and 56 days, and to another group of broilers and white leghorns in adult age. The reactions were compared. Acoustic stimulation was followed by temporary activation of the hypothalamic pituitary-suprarenal system. The rise of the plasma glucocorticosteroid level in leghorns was three times as high as that in adult broilers, which was interpreted as a reflection of stronger organic stress. Reactions differed in intensity, depending on age as well. Plasma-11-OHKS levels went up by 32 per cent maximum in broilers aged 56 days or by 73 per cent in animals aged 14 days or 120 per cent in those aged 28 days. The above results seemed to support the conclusion that noises of the above quantity and quality represented stress on fowl.


Abstract Even after virus elimination, numerous sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) persist. Based on accumulating evidence, large amounts of proinflammatory cytokines are released to drive COVID-19 progression, severity, and mortality, and their levels remain elevated after the acute phase of COVID-19, playing a central role in the disease' sequelae. In this manner, bronchial epithelial cells are the first cells hyperactivated by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), leading to massive cytokine release, triggering the hyperactivation of leukocytes and other cells, and mediating COVID-19 sequelae. Therefore, proinflammatory cytokine production is initiated by the host. This in vitro study tested the hypothesis that ImmuneRecov™, a nutritional blend, inhibits the SARS-CoV-2-induced hyperactivation of human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). BEAS-2B (5x104/mL/well) cells were cocultivated with 1 ml of blood from a SARS-CoV-2-infected patient for 4 h, and the nutritional blend (1 µg/mL) was added in the first minute of coculture. After 4 h, the cells were recovered and used for analyses of cytotoxicity with the (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) (MTT) assay and the expression of the IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 mRNAs. The supernatant was collected to measure cytokine levels. SARS-CoV-2 incubation resulted in increased levels of IL-1β and IL-6 in BEAS-2B cells (p < 0.001). Treatment with the nutritional blend resulted in reduced levels of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 (p < 0.001) and increased levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 (p < 0.001). Additionally, the nutritional blend reduced the expression of the IL-1β and IL-6 mRNAs in SARS-CoV-2-stimulated cells and increased the expression of the IL-10 and IFN-γ mRNAs. In conclusion, the nutritional blend exerts important anti-inflammatory effects on cells in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection.


Since 1839 a million or more designs have been lodged with the British Patent Office. Millions more have been registered in other jurisdictions, for example, in America (from 1842), India (from 1881), and Japan (from 1910). Registered designs are not confined to 'Good Design' (according to Modernist Western criteria) but neither do they provide a comprehensive record of design innovation: whether designs from a given country are or are not registered abroad may be less a measure of the country's design activity, more an indication either of the refusal by an Imperial power to recognise indigenous design as 'original', or of whether it is advantageous to a developing country to respect international copyright. Nonetheless, registered designs, which are documented in great detail and may be accompanied by precise visual representations, constitute one of the most extensive series of primary source materials and statistics for an objective, world history of design. The fact that they have been overlooked by design historians can be partially explained by ignorance of their existence or whereabouts, and difficulties of access, but also reflects a limited, Eurocentric approach to design and its history.


The achievement of ignition from an Inertial Confinement Fusion capsule will require a detailed understanding of a wide range of high energy density phenomena. This paper presents some recent work aimed at improving our knowledge of the strength and equation of state characteristics of low-Z materials, and outlines data which will provide quantitative benchmarks against which our predictive radiation hydrodynamics capabilities can be tested. Improvements to our understanding in these areas are required if reproducible and predictable fusion energy production is to be achieved on the next generation of laser facilities. In particular, the HELEN laser at AWE has been used to create a thermal X-ray source with 140 eV peak radiation temperature and 3% instantaneous flux uniformity to allow measurements of the Equation of State of materials at pressures up to 20 Mbar to an accuracy of <±2% in shock velocity. The same laser has been used to investigate the onset of spallation upon the release of a strong shock at a metal-vacuum boundary, with dynamic radiography used to image the spalled material in flight for the first time, Finally, a range of experiments have been performed to generate quantitative radiation hydrodynamics data on the evolution of gross target defects, driven in both planar and imploding geometry. X-ray radiography was used to record the evolving target deformation in a system where the X-ray drive and unperturbed target response were sufficiently characterized to permit meaningful analysis. The results have been compared to preshot predictions made using a wide variety of fluid codes, highlighting substantial differences between the various approaches, and indicating significant discrepancies with the experimental reality. The techniques developed to allow quantitative comparisons are allowing the causes of the discrepancies to be identified, and are guiding the development of new simulation techniques.


Real life data can often be modeled as graphs, in which nodes represent objects and edges indicate their relationships. Large graph datasets are common in many emerging applications. To fully exploit the wealth of information encoded in graphs, systems for managing and analyzing graph data are critical.
To address the need of complex analysis on graph data, this thesis presents a graph querying toolkit, called Periscope/GQ. This toolkit is built on top of a commodity RDBMS. It provides a uniform schema for storing graphs and supports various graph query operations. Users can easily combine several operations to perform complex analysis on graphs.
The key feature of Periscope/GQ is the support of various sophisticated graph query operations besides the simple ones like node/edge selection and path search. In particular, this thesis focuses on two classes of sophisticated queries: graph matching and graph summarization.
The database community has largely focus on exact graph matching problems. However, due to the noisy and incomplete nature of real graph datasets, approximate, rather than exact graph matching is required. This thesis presents a novel approximate graph matching technique, called SAGA. SAGA employs a flexible graph similarity model and utilizes an index-based matching algorithm to efficiently evaluate matching queries.
SAGA is effective and efficient for small query graphs (with tens of nodes and edges), but is expensive when applied to large query graphs (with hundreds to thousands of nodes and edges). To handle large query graphs, TALE is proposed. TALE employs a novel indexing technique, which achieves high pruning power and scales linearly with the database sizes. The matching algorithm utilizes the index to first match the important nodes in the query, and then extends them to produce large graph matches.
Graph summarization techniques are useful for understanding underlying characteristics of graphs. To summarize large graphs, this thesis introduces an aggregation method. This method produces summary graphs by grouping nodes based on user-selected node attributes and relationships. It further allows users to control the resolutions of summaries, and provides the "drill-down" and "roll-up" abilities to navigate through summaries with different resolutions.


BACKGROUND
Strategies to improve mechanical strength, neovascularization, and the regenerative capacity of allograft include both the addition of skeletal stem cells and the investigation of novel biomaterials to reduce and ultimately obviate the need for allograft altogether. Use of bone cement is a common method of stabilizing implants in conjunction with impacted allograft. Curing cement, however, can reach temperatures in excess of 70°C, which is potentially harmful to skeletal stem cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of setting bone cement on the survival of human adult skeletal stem cells within tissue-engineered allograft and a novel allograft substitute.

METHODS
Milled allograft and a polymer graft substitute were seeded with skeletal stem cells, impacted into a graduated chamber, and exposed to curing bone cement. Sections were removed at 5-mm increments from the allograft-cement interface. A quantitative WST-1 assay was performed on each section as a measure of remaining cell viability. A second stage of the experiment involved assessment of methods to potentially enhance cell survival, including pretreating the allograft or polymer by either cooling to 5°C or coating with 1% Laponite, or both.

RESULTS
There was a significant drop in cellular activity in the sections taken from within 0.5 cm of the cement interface in both the allograft and the polymer (p < 0.05), although there was still measurable cellular activity. Pretreatment methods did not significantly improve cell survival in any group.

CONCLUSIONS
While the addition of bone cement reduced cellular viability of tissue-engineered constructs, this reduction occurred only in close proximity to the cement and measurable numbers of skeletal stem cells were observed, confirming the potential for cell population recovery.


The authors present their experience in the treatment of the patient with stab wound. The reason for late recognition of this injury (durig thoracotomy) bleeding from the chest drain. This unusual bleeding pattern was caused by the value created in the heart wound.


With the advent of numerous community forums, tasks associated with the same have gained importance in the recent past. With the influx of new questions every day on these forums, the issues of identifying methods to find answers to said questions, or even trying to detect duplicate questions, are of practical importance and are challenging in their own right. This paper aims at surveying some of the aforementioned issues, and methods proposed for tackling the same.


The modernisation of the power grid is ongoing, and the level of digitalisation of the power grid in, say, ten years may be quite different than today. Cyber security needs will change correspondingly. In this paper we utilise a qualitative research approach to explore misuse cases related to three main areas of modernisation that we envision for the next ten year period: 1) managing flexibility in the TSO-DSO relation, 2) smart distribution grids, and 3) microgrids. The misuse cases represent potential security challenges to be considered when working on modernising the grid, however they are not exhaustive. The misuse cases presented in this paper can contribute to identifying security requirements, thus reducing associated cyber risks, and assist in development of new cyber security mechanisms for the next-generation power grid employing digitally-connected, self-healing, and automation characteristics.


BACKGROUND
Farmworkers in the US constitute a medically underserved population at substantial risk for numerous environmental and occupational health problems. Most US farmworkers are Latino. Skin disease is one health problem to which farmworkers are particularly vulnerable. Interventions to reduce skin disease must be adapted to farmworkers' understanding of such disease, including their beliefs or knowledge of risk factors for skin disease.

METHODS
Structured by the Explanatory Models of Illness framework, this analysis uses a qualitative design based on in-depth interviews with 30 Latino farmworkers (6 females, 24 males) to determine beliefs and perceptions of the causes of common occupational skin diseases in this population. Computer assisted, systematic procedures are used to analyze the verbatim transcripts of these interviews.

RESULTS
Skin disease is a major concern among farmworkers because it affects work, social interaction, and other aspects of their lives. Farmworker beliefs and perceptions of skin disease causation can be integrated into a general model in which perceived risk factors include sun and heat, chemicals, plants, insects, moisture, hygiene, and contagion. Each of these factors is moderated by the individual's personal susceptibility to that cause. The interaction or combination of two or more factors is thought to amplify their individual effects.

CONCLUSIONS
The farmworker model of skin disease causation suggests important content for health education to reduce skin disease among farmworkers.


Fingerprint scanning is one form of biometrics used to identify individuals. Ultrasonic fingerprint scanners use acoustic waves to obtain the fingerprint image and their performance is invariant to the surface conditions typically found on the finger surface due the ability of ultrasound to penetrate into sub-surfaces. This makes ultrasonic fingerprint scanning a superior technology to optical fingerprint imaging technologies [1]. In this thesis, we propose a new design of an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, which has reduced complexity and lower cost of operation. The device uses a ID array of transducers to generate focal spots under the finger surface and to scan the pressure field scattered by the finger ridges, while obtaining images. Integration of a metamaterial layer (an array of Helmholtz resonators) under the finger surface enables imaging features smaller than the diffraction limited spot. We expect such technique to increase the image resolution of the fingerprint scanner without need for an increase in the operating frequency or power consumption. Simulation results presented in this thesis suggest that sub-wavelength acoustic focusing could be achieved over an array of Helmholtz resonators for high resolution acoustic imaging purposes. Underwater acoustic experiments performed to couple acoustic waves in the 40-60 KHz frequency range to an array of Helmholtz resonators are unsuccessful due to experimental limitations. Results of experiments involving two types of metamaterial and no metamaterial are compared. Furthermore, mathematical tools are developed which would help us better understand the propagation of acoustic signals through resonating structures. Our studies might provide quantitative information regarding resolution limits, and contribute to design guidelines for the construction of advanced metamaterial based ultrasonic imaging devices at MHz frequencies. Thesis Supervisor : Nicholas X. Fang Title : d'Arbeloff Career Development Associate Professor


Timar examines the institutional framework for California's educational governance from historical and contemporary perspectives. While the Court has affirmed the state's responsibility for the quality of educational services in schools, the state has delegated to schools the responsibility for delivery of educational services. The conditions alleged in the Williams case raise concerns about the capacity of this governance structure to provide California's students with an adequate and equal education. Consequently, the question that frames this study is how do state structures and policies support or constrain the capacity of schools to deliver an adequate and equal education. Specifically, the paper addresses the following questions: Who is responsible for ensuring that schools have adequate resources? What means are available to determine if schools' curriculum, personnel, facilities, and instructional materials are inadequate? What means exist for determining if a school is performing satisfactorily? What means exist for remedying deficiencies in schools? The paper's major theme is that the irrationality, incoherence, and limited efficacy of California's increasingly state-controlled system of governance are major contributing factors to the substandard conditions in many California schools.


We discuss how the internal Josephson effect between atomic and molecular BECs changes the behavior of atomic Bose-Josephson junctions, especially the stability of π-states, in which the relative phase between BECs is π. In this study, we use the four-mode model, and applying the classical analysis, we show that the equally-populated π-state remains stable in the presence of the atom-molecule Josephson effect. In contrast, the non-equally-populated π-state exhibits the instability, even for a very small atom-molecule coupling.


The Australian government has recently made explicit its intent to reduce its funding commitment to public housing and instead resource the community sector to provide new low-cost rental housing. This article explores the causes and future implications that arise from this policy switch based on analysis of interviews with senior policy-makers and professionals working in the sector within the Australian federal system of government. The focus of the article is on their understandings of the problems facing the public housing system and the opportunities and constraints they identify as important in their work aimed at continued provision of public housing and its improved viability. The article provides a diagnosis of the public housing problem, a discussion of the conduct of government and the future options for the sector, including stock transfer and a new regulatory framework. In the conclusion, the example of Australia is discussed in the light of recent international literature on government reforms shaping public housing provision. We argue that recent developments in Australia aiming to diversify the existing housing stock is best understood in the context of wider shifts in governance and welfare reform.


BACKGROUND
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. A non-invasive test, with high sensitivity and specificity is essential for early detection, improved outcome and avoidance of unnecessary invasive tests. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of the faecal immunochemical testing for haemoglobin (FIT) in the detection of CRC, both in symptomatic and screening population and to summarise the available evidence to date.

METHODS
Search strategy was initially developed in MEDLINE and adapted for use in other databases. Studies were included if they had fulfilled the criteria. QUADAS-2 tool was used for quality assessment and data analysis performed using STATA 15 software.

RESULTS
A total of 17 out of 92 articles were included in the final analysis. Within the symptomatic group (n= 6755), the overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of FIT to detect CRC was 0.90 (95% CI 0.87-0.92) and 0.87 (95% CI 0.83-0.90) respectively. In the screening population (n=24197), the pooled sensitivity and specificity of FIT to detect CRC was 0.69 (95% CI 0.54-0.81) and 0.94 (95% CI 0.94-0.95) respectively. Most analytics were comparable with cut off less than 20μg/g feces providing optimal sensitivity and specificity for symptomatic and screening populations respectively.

CONCLUSION
For the detection of CRC within the screening population, FIT has high specificity and sensitivity. In the symptomatic group, FIT's high sensitivity (90%) supports its role as a triage test to guide the selection of patients who require urgent lower gastrointestinal tract evaluation.


BACKGROUND
Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia worldwide, is associated with impairment in the mechanisms of the clearing of amyloid-β within a scenario of neuroinflammation. The etiopathogenesis of the AD is unclear, but a role for viral infection is suspected to play a role in initiating the disease. We recently described a positive correlation between high titers of HSV-1-specific antibodies (Ab) and the volumes of brain regions typically affected in disease.

OBJECTIVE
The exploration of a possible role for Herpesviridae in AD was extended by analyzing HHV-6-specific humoral immunity in individuals with AD or a diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a condition that is often prodromic of the development of AD.

METHODS
59 AD, 60 aMCI, and 61 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Serum HHV-6 IgG antibody titers and avidity index were tested by ELISA. Two randomly selected subgroups of AD and aMCI in whom HHV-6 serum antibodies were detected underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by 1.5 T scanner.

RESULTS
HHV-6 seroprevalence, antibody titers, and avidity were similar in the three groups. No correlation was found between Ab titers or avidity and brain volumes, either overall or in the regions typically affected by disease.

CONCLUSIONS
The lack of any relation between humoral immune response against HHV-6 and AD and aMCI seems to rule out a role for this virus in the pathogenesis of AD.


Author(s): Eckart, Janet Alexis | Advisor(s): Levenson, Robert | Abstract: Disgust is an emotion that is important for basic survival, in addition to having social and moral implications. Disgust reactivity appears to be significantly impaired in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), a neurodegenerative disease that selectively affects areas of the brain that are crucial for proper emotional functioning. Caregivers have reported that some bvFTD patients pick up garbage, drink beverages found on the street, and eat out of trashcans. Recent findings from our laboratory were consistent with these anecdotal reports, and demonstrated that patients with bvFTD showed deficits in their behavioral, physiological, and self-reported responses to a disgusting stimulus (Eckart, Sturm, Miller, a Levenson, 2012). The present study sought to build upon these findings. In this study, bvFTD patients and neurologically healthy control participants had their emotional facial behavior, physiology, and self-reported emotional experience measured while viewing a disgust-eliciting film. In order to determine whether disgust was potentially a uniquely compromised emotion in this population, participants' responses to a sadness-eliciting film were also examined. In addition, the present study utilized a neurologically varied sample of participants to explore (across diagnoses) the relationship between disgust reactivity and the insula, a region of the brain thought to be important for disgust responding (e.g., Adolphs, Tranel, a Damasio, 2003). The specificity of this disgust-insula relationship was examined by also testing the associations between the insula and participants' sad film responses and the associations between additional brain regions and participants' disgust film responses. Results supported the hypothesis of a specific disgust deficit in bvFTD. BvFTD patients exhibited diminished disgust reactivity in behavioral, physiological, and experiential domains (with the most robust deficit found in physiology), yet these patients did not differ from healthy controls in their responses to sad stimuli, suggesting that the observed disgust deficit cannot be explained by a general blunting of negative emotions. In terms of brain-behavior relationships across the neurologically varied sample, results were overall in line with expectations. Lower insular volume significantly predicted smaller disgust film responses in behavioral and experiential domains, and predicted less somatic activity in response to disgusting stimuli. The present study also found that lower insular volume was partially related to diminished sad film responses, but no additional brain regions were associated with disgust film responses. These findings suggest that the insula may be important in some ways for all emotions (Craig, 2009), but may be particularly important in disgust. The present study expands on past work, sheds light on the neural correlates of disgust, and provides additional information about areas of preserved and compromised functioning in bvFTD.


: In this investigation, we are studying the possibility of using procalciton in the levels to separate between inflammatory bowel release and non-inflammatory bowel release in intense and irresistible races. We inspected the records of 1176 patients who showed signs of intestinal loosening, fever (≥38.9°C) and gastric disorders between October 2019 to September 2020. Our current research was conducted at Services Hospital, Lahore from October 2019 to September 2020. Following the application of rejection measures, an example of 517 patients was considered for the study. The patient example was divided into two groups, group A and group B, for the provocation of diarrhea and non-inflammatory soft stools, individually. The evaluation in question pitted the qualities of the research center against the clinical attributes of the gatherings. Group A attributes, for example, white platelets (WBC), C-sensitive protein (CRP), neutrophil control (ANC), and procalciton levels, were generally higher than those of Group B (P<.002 for Group A). An examination of the recipient administrator mark (ROC) revealed that the most remarkable procalciton estimate (0.798; 96% certainty extension [CI] [0.760, 0.832]; P<.002), could be used to separate the two groups. The procalciton showed an affectability and exploitation of 87.03%; in addition, 68.79%, separately, at a cut-off level of 0.09 ng/mL. Difference Between Inflammatory And Non-Inflammatory


At a time when many despair of culture, this volume offers hope. Jean Bethke Eshtain, one of today's most respected Christian ethicists, finds in the tensions and tragedies of our turn-of-the-century society pointers for recovering the life-affirming essence of what it means to be human.This challenging volume is at once a work of political analysis, cultural criticism, and theological engagement. Elshstain explores the true meaning of personhood and exposes the internal and external trappings that so easily lead us to forgot how to be faithful to something other than ourselves. Tapping the wellsprings of the Christian tradition, Elshtain shows, with the help of exemplars drawn from Christian history, the renewing role of faithfulness and hopefulness in contemporary life.Elshtain suggests that much of what we rightly interpret as troubling presents fascinating interpretive occasions for Christians, who, of all people, are called to live in hope. She highlights in particular certain aspects of youth culture, taking up popular films like Seven and Titanic and tragedies like the shootings at Columbine High School. What she finds running through all of these are examples of courage and a search for a source of truth and meaning that seems to elude so many.


Mainstream economists claim that economics is an objective and empirically tested science – contrary to the humanities and soft social sciences. According to this view, economics is beyond the influence of ideology. It represents the rational way of analysing economic welfare – not influenced by political consideration. Therefore, it is explicitly stated within the Treaty of Lisbon that the board of directors of the European Central Bank must not take any direct instructions from the European Council to secure objectivity in the European monetary policy. Unfortunately, economic theory is not neutral. It cannot be separated from the vision and the fundamental assumptions which lay behind the economic model employed when policies are decided upon. The so-called general equilibrium model is firmly relying on market theory and ordo-/neoliberal ideology


This week Laura our RKEO attended the Digital Health and Care Conference organised by Holyrood Connect and sponsored by InterSystems. This year there was a strong focus on the paradigm shift of care from centralised systems into the peripheries of the community and the need for services to integrate more widely. Over the course of the two days, there were various speakers each contributing to the theme of integrated and person-centred care. Our Programme manager Chaloner Chute gave an 'art of the possible' presentation demonstrating how the re-design of services could impact care and specifically how this could benefit the citizen at the heart of the care model. Several break-out sessions were also held to give focussed insights into the work that various groups are doing in the digital and care landscape in Scotland.


A total of 72 Bacillus cereus strains and 5 Bacillus thuringiensis strains were analyzed for their EcoRI ribogroup by ribotyping and for the presence or absence of seven virulence-associated genes. From these 77 strains, 42 distinctive ribogroup were identified using EcoRI, but the two species could not be discriminated by their EcoRI ribogroup. The 77 strains were also examined by PCR for the presence of seven virulence-associated genes, cerAB, pi-plc, entFM, bceT, hblA, hblC, and hblD. All five Bacillus thuringiensis strains were positive for these genes. Although differences in the patterns of virulence genes were observed among the different B. cereus strains, within any given ribogroup the patterns of the seven virulence genes was the same. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis in combination with available chromosomal maps for a selected group of B. cereus strains revealed significant differences in their chromosome size and the placement of virulence genes. Evidence for significant rearrangements within the B. cereus chromosome suggests the mechanism through which the pattern of virulence-associated genes varies. The results suggest linkage between ribogroups and virulence gene patterns as well as no apparent containment of the latter within any particular species boundary.


In this paper, a novel molecular imprinted polymer using L-tryptophan(L-Trp) as the template, dopamine(DA) as both functional monomer and cross linking agent, magnetic graphene as the supporting matrix was synthesized. The prepared magnetic-graphene molecularly imprinted polymers(Fe3O4@GO-MIPs) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer(FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. The results showed that when the molar ratio of Ltryptophan and dopamine was 1:4 and the reaction temperature was 60 °C, Fe3O4@GO-MIPs had the best adsorption quantity of 31.9 mg/g. The rebinding experiments indicated that Fe3O4@GO-MIPs not only have outstanding affinity and selectivity towards L-Trp over structurally related compounds but also easily reach the magnetic separation under an external magnetic field.


Sex attractants for the sibling taxa Diachrysia chrysitis (L.) s.str. and D. tutti (Kost.) were field tested on 9 sites in Hungary. Catches with the two already described attractant blends, Z-5-10:Ac/Z-7-10:Ac in ratios 10:1 and 2:100, were similar to earlier results obtained in areas more to the west, chrysitis s.str. type males responding to the 10:1 while tutti type males to the 2:100 ratio. Substantial chrysitis s.str. catches were also obtained by the intermediate 1:1 blend. On all 9 sites the two taxa were co-occurring.


We study combinatorial and order theoretic structures arising from the fragment of combinatory logic spanned by the basic combinator

${{\mathbf{M}}}$

 . This basic combinator, named as the Mockingbird by Smullyan, is defined by the rewrite rule

${{\mathbf{M}}} \mathsf{x}_1 \to \mathsf{x}_1 \mathsf{x}_1$

 . We prove that the reflexive and transitive closure of this rewrite relation is a partial order on terms on

${{\mathbf{M}}}$

 and that all connected components of its rewrite graph are Hasse diagram of lattices. This last result is based on the introduction of new lattices on duplicative forests, which are sorts of treelike structures. These lattices are not graded, not self-dual, and not semi-distributive. We present some enumerative properties of these lattices like the enumeration of their elements, of the edges of their Hasse diagrams, and of their intervals. These results are derived from formal power series on terms and on duplicative forests endowed with particular operations.


This article outlines a theoretical framework for interpreting the meaning and function of political protest in modern democracies and develops normative criteria for assessing its democratic quality. To allow for a better understanding of how social structures, legal institutions, and political engagement interact in protest, I combine analytical perspectives from social theory and democratic theory. A useful first distinction, I argue, is between reformist and transformative forms of protest. While reformist protest does not challenge the given framework of the modern democratic order, transformative protest politicizes the basic principles of that order. Finally, I develop four criteria to identify emancipatory traits within protest movements: 1) expanding the circle of those who benefit from the fulfillment of democracy's promises; 2) the establishment of discursive democratic spaces; 3) a balance between dramatization and exchange; and 4) a willingness to become someone else.


In this review, donor considerations relevant to supporting a particular cancer research organization are discussed. Moreover, middleman or intermediary non-profit cancer centers that do not actually conduct research, but instead, outsource this endeavor to another institution are discoursed. Finally, assessment resources to which donors may refer are commented upon and select recommendations prior to supporting a specific non-profit cancer foundation are also conferred.


The prognostic factors for solitary hepatocellular carcinomas with a maximum tumor diameter of ⩽3 cm were investigated in 59 of 231 patients who underwent curative hepatic resections at the Department of Surgery II, Nagoya University Hospital between January 1981 and December 1991. The 3‐ and 5‐year survival rates of these 59 patients were 61% and 41%, respectively. As prognostic factors, tumor maximum diameter, vascular invasion, capsule formation, cell differentiation, tumor localization, hepatic functional reserve, extent of hepatic resection, and macroscopic surgical margin were selected in this study. Of the patients with a tumor size > 1.5 cm, those who underwent major hepatic resections (hepatic lobectomy or segmentectomy) tended to have better survival than patients who received minor hepatic resections (hepatic subsegmentectomy or limited resection). Although most patients with a tumor size ⩽1.5 cm underwent minor hepatic resections, they had a good survival rate. According to Cox's multivariate analysis, the extent of hepatic resection was significantly correlated with long‐term prognosis of patients with a solitary hepatocellular carcinoma ⩽3 cm in diameter, but the macroscopic surgical margin was not. Cell differentiation, vascular invasion, capsule formation, and tumor localization were all correlated with the long survival. These results suggest that the selection of an adequate operative procedure is an important factor for the long‐term prognosis of patients with small, solitary hepatocellular carcinomas. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This investigation was carried out in two locations at Ubiaja in the central part of Edo state, Nigeria. The vertical electrical sounding (VES) was done using the schlumberger electrode array configuration to obtain the data and the schlumberger automatic analysis method of interpretation was adopted. The interpretation of the data showed a resolution of nine geoelctric layers for both VES and the total cummulative thicknesses of 435.70 and 467.56 m were delineated. From the geologic explanation of the subsurface materials, these values indicate a deeper probing into the aquifer zone. This study would give a guide on effective aquifer layer position in the studied locations in Ubiaja, Edo State of Nigeria.


Purpose of reviewPediatric solid organ transplantation numbers have been increasing over the years. Research and the medical literature tends to focus on advancing the field and innovation – which often leads to higher risk and more complex procedures. How do we decide when it is too much – too much risk; too much uncertainty? Who makes that decision? Literature is scarce and usually focuses on end-of-life decision-making. This article does not purport to have the answers, but will highlight the depth and breadth of points that must be taken into consideration. Recent findingsThere are many factors that contribute to the decision-making in the context of high-risk solid organ transplantation in children. Focus needs to include quality of life in the pediatric context, in addition to survival. End-of-life discussions should be included early in the process. Societal factors must be considered in an era of donor organ shortages. Shared decision-making should be the approach. SummaryThe key guiding principle is to make a decision about what is best for a child requiring a high-risk transplant based not only on survival, but also on an acceptable quality of life on the background of optimal utilization of a scarce societal resource.


Malignant diseases and the resulting disorders may lead to the prescription of physical therapy. In addition, cancer patients may suffer from orthopaedic diseases which are treated by physical therapy, e.g. low back pain. In this review, cancer epidemiology, the prevailing forms of physical therapies, their applications in cancer patients, and possible cautions are being discussed.


. In crop production systems, weed management is vitally important. But both manual weeding and herbicide-based weed controlling are problematic due to concerns in cost, operator health, emergence of herbicide-resistant weed species, and environment impact. Automated robotic weeding offers a possibility of controlling weeds in a precise fashion, particularly for weeds growing near crops or within crop rows. However, identification and localization of plants have not yet been fully automated. The goal of this reported project is to develop a high-throughput plant recognition and localization algorithm by fusing 2D color and textural data with 3D point cloud data. Plant morphological models were developed and applied for plant recognition against different weed species at different growth stages.


One of the minority languages in Lombok, which is now still used and highly maintained by its approximately 20,000 speakers throughout the island, is the Samawa or Sumbawa language (hencefort BSb). Although it has been existing right there for approximately three centuries, the Sumbawans are commonly Sumbawa –Sasak bilinguals or trilinguals due to the fact that they communicate in their mother tongue within their own village boundary but use either Sasak (henceforth BSs for Bahasa Sasak) or Bahasa Indonesia (BI) outside when talking with the Sasaks. On one hand, Sumbawans are proud that they could still use their indigenous Sumbawa-ethnic origin repertoire as employed just across Lombok island to the east, while they could also command Sasak as a wider means of communication among the people of Sasak in Lombok on the other. For the Sasak-sumbawans (the term referring to the ethnic naming) in Lombok, it seems that the language preservation is important for several reasons. The first and most dominant of all is that language is a symbol of its distinct intragroup identity as is clearly shown by the patterns of its language use. BSb is used as the main medium of communication in the home domain, neighborhood domain, religious domain as well as in intra-villager group relations. In the meantime, BSs is used only for communication with inter-villager group relations. For communication in public sphere such as school or government offices and in certain situations, however, BSs is preferable beside bahasa Indonesia. Therefore, these two related languages form a kind of diglossic or poliglossic situation, whereby BSb serves the L function, BSs the M (medium), and Bahasa Indonesia the H function. BI, however, is used only in a very formal situation. This research report will discuss in some details how Sumbawans bilinguals or trilinguals could maintain their indigenous language on one hand, and could use the dominant group language on the other. It is based mainly on my research carried out during 2004 -2005 and partly as an 'observer' being native of Sasak and live in a neighbouring Sasak-sumbawan village in East Lombok.


The effects of pH value, surfactant, and electrolyte concentration on zeta potential, particle agglomeration, and thermal conductivity of nanofluids are investigated. The zeta potential of TiO2 (15 nm) nanoparticles in deionized water of different pH values was measured and the iso-electric point was found to be between 4.9 and 5.2. Addition of surfactant in the base fluid increases the zeta potential and thus increases the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids. The results show that the higher the electrolyte concentration, the smaller the particle zeta potential, which results in increased agglomeration of particles. The enhanced thermal conductivity of TiO2/deionized water-based nanofluids was found to decrease with increasing pH value or electrolyte concentration. At 0.2 volume percentage of TiO2 nanoparticles, the decrease of thermal conductivity of nanofluids was within 2% when the pH value or electrolyte concentration was increased from 3.4 to 9 or 0.01 mM to 10 mM, respectively. The hydrodynamic diameter of agglomerated nanoparticles in base fluid was also measured and found to increase with increasing electrolyte concentration.


We introduce a new approach for dealing with scalar conservation laws with the flux discontinuous with respect to the space variable and merely continuous with respect to the state variable which employs a variant of the kinetic formulation. We use it to improve results about the existence of solutions for non-degenerate scalar conservation laws with Caratheodory flux under a variant of non-degeneracy conditions.


How much does income redistribution help the poor? First, the official data systematically overstates the inequality in incomes, implying that the poor are becoming worse off, when in fact, they are becoming better off. Second, government has done little to reduce poverty by transferring income from the wealthy to the poor, and appears incapable of altering the distribution of income in favor of the poor. It is also easier for people to see how particular poor individuals benefit from government spending, than to see the widely dispersed future cost of that spending in terms of more unproductive political competition for government transfers, that the poor seldom win, and the diminished economic productivity that disadvantages everyone, particularly the poor. The purpose of this research is to sharpen the focus on what is not seen, by arguing that government transfers have not only done little to reduce income inequality, but have surely harmed the poor whom they are supposed to help. Government failure to help the poor cannot be remedied by electing better politicians or hiring more informed bureaucrats, but is the inevitable result of perversities built into the political process. Thus, we contend that Friedman's negative income tax proposal would never be enacted without being part of a broader political package containing even larger transfers to the non-poor. Unfortunately, government transfers are themselves plagued with a host of negative externalities (many, though not all, explained by the ability of organized groups to secure private benefits at public expense), rendering them a highly unlikely way of helping the poor.


To date, biological risk assessment studies of chemicals that induce DNA lesions have been primarily based on the action of DNA polymerases during replication. However, DNA lesions interfere not only with replication but also with transcription. Therefore, detecting the damaging effects of DNA lesions during transcription might be important for estimating the safety of chemical mutagens and carcinogens. However, methods to address these effects have not been developed. Here, we report a simple, non-isotopic method for determining the toxicity of chemical agents by visualizing transcription in a mammalian cell system. The method is based on the measurement of the incorporation of bromouridine (as the uridine analogue) into the nascent RNA during RNA synthesis inhibition (RSI) induced by the stalling of RNA polymerases at DNA lesions on the transcribed DNA strand, which triggers transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER). When we tested chemical agents (camptothecin, etoposide, 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide, mitomycin C, methyl methanesulfonate, and cisplatin) in HeLa cells by the method, RSI indicative of genomic toxicity was observed in the nucleoli of the tested cells. This procedure provides the following advantages: 1) it uses common, affordable mammalian cells (HeLa cells, WI38VA13 cells, human dermal fibroblasts, or Chinese hamster ovary cells) rather than genetically modified microorganisms; 2) it can be completed within approximately 8 hr after the cells are prepared because RNA polymerase responses during TC-NER are faster than other DNA damage responses (replication, recombination, and apoptosis); and 3) it is safe because it uses non-radioactive bromouridine and antibodies to detect RNA synthesis on undamaged transcribed DNA strands.


With the increased application of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in military, commercial, and home environments, securing the data in the network is a critical issue. Several security mechanisms, such as TinySec, have been introduced to address the need for security in WSNs. There are many applications, however, which require more than just protecting the data at a single level. For those applications, it is necessary to provide multilevel security (MLS) that can accommodate the different sensitivity levels of information as well as the different clearance levels of the users. In this paper, we apply the concept of MLS to the field of WSNs by employing the approach of multiple security levels (MSL). We employ cryptography techniques to realize the key aspects of MSL: the separation of different security levels and controlled information flow. Specifically, TinyKeyMan is selected as the key management scheme for this design due to its resilience to node compromise attacks. In addition, we evaluate the two dominant costs of the design: 1) communication overhead between different security levels and 2) the cryptography cost on the lifetime of a mote. The MSL design we propose is simple and incurs low developmental costs, making it well-suited to resource constrained WSNs.


For many decades naturism has been viewed as a controversial behavior. The term naturism is sometimes used interchangeably with nudity, though failure to differentiate these expressions highlights the current lack of knowledge surrounding this activity and can lead to sexualization of the behavior. The research method adopted here was an electronic search of the published literature on stigma and its components (discrimination and stereotyping). The results of the search revealed a considerable gap in the existing literature surrounding the link between stigma towards the act of engaging in naturism. Perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs towards naturism are complex, multifaceted, and vary dependent on factors including law, location, religion, and the situation-specific feature of naturism. Naturism has received sizeable presence on social media and in press. Anecdotal evidence from media representation suggests that naturists can experience severe consequences associated with engaging in this behavior. However, there is currently a shortage of empirical research studies to support this assumption that have focused on stigma towards naturism so no firm conclusions can yet be drawn. Given the reported rise in those engaging in naturism, and the provocative media portrayals, it is imperative that attitudes and beliefs about naturism are further unraveled empirically through rigorous research. This review draws attention to the ill-understood and complex relationship that exists between stigma and naturism.


This online guide contains customized materials selected by your librarian in partnership with your professor in order to highlight helpful resources you can use to complete your research assignment.


ABSTRACT This paper describes the basic tenets of a sustainable energy course for university science majors. First, it outlines the three core components of the course: 1. The scientific evidence for the connection between climate change and energy usage; 2. An analysis of the capacity and environmental impact of various renewable and traditional energy resources; 3. An overview of alternative pathways for the main energy usage in society—heating/cooling, transportation, and manufacturing. The course aims not only to present factual knowledge, but also to develop a critical approach for weighing between alternative energy solutions based on quantitative analyses. To meet these objectives, we suggest pedagogical considerations for organizing the content of the course, supporting student learning and raising student interest. For example, quantitative problems that can be investigated in the course are discussed as well as place-based examples of energy production from the local environment that can increase motivation for learning. Lastly, we suggest an agenda for research that examines the outcomes of sustainable energy courses that utilize place-based pedagogy.


Purpose
This paper aims to identify and assess the key criteria for selecting green suppliers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach
A total of 20 criteria were identified and shortlisted through an extensive literature review. These criteria were grouped into four categories: technical and commercial bid, company characteristics, environmental and socioeconomic. A questionnaire was then developed and distributed to construction professionals in the UAE. A total of 39 professionals responded to the survey including contractors, consultants, owners and suppliers. The respondents performed pairwise comparisons among the selection criteria. Data was then analyzed using the Expert Choice Software.

Findings
The research findings highlighted that the technical and commercial bid category was ranked as the most important with a weight of 0.338, followed by socioeconomic, company characteristics and environmental categories weighing 0.239, 0.225 and 0.199, respectively. The UAE construction professionals also ranked health and safety, material's quality and tender price as the top three most important criteria when selecting a sustainable supplier.

Practical implications
This research addresses the lack of literature toward green supplier selection in the UAE. In addition, it assists contractors in selecting the appropriate supplier and promotes sustainable practices in the construction industry.

Originality/value
Material suppliers play an important role in the successful delivery of construction projects. Selecting the appropriate supplier is of paramount importance to project success. Several methods can be used to evaluate and select the best-fit suppliers. However, the selection criteria in such methods are primarily based on traditional construction projects rather than sustainable construction projects. Recently, there is an increase in the number of sustainable construction projects in the UAE. Therefore, identifying and assessing the key criteria for selecting green suppliers is needed. This paper fills the gap in literature as to selecting green suppliers in construction projects.


This thesis is a case study of a small number of Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) education providers in the East of England. It focuses on their response to the introduction of mentoring for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and aims to describe existing interpretations and practice, highlight confusion and concerns and offer insights into the next steps for both the VCS and providers of ITT courses in the wider sector.

From 2007, all new teachers in the Post Compulsory Education and Training sector are required to undergo ITT which includes mandatory mentoring support. This research was undertaken in the period immediately following the introduction of this requirement. Data was collected through a focus group and individual interviews with managers and teachers from diverse VCS organisations. This allowed for a range of opinions to be heard, analysed and interpreted and some comparisons to be drawn across and within organisations. The choice of a thematic analysis using the tools of grounded research ensured that the data could emerge and be constantly questioned as part of the research process, to avoid researcher influence wherever possible. Links have then been drawn between existing theories of mentoring and the research findings leading to conclusions to inform users and providers of mentoring and suggestions for further research.

The findings can be summarised into six key points -
• the definition and purpose of mentoring and the role of mentor leading to a continuum of confusion
• support is identified by VCS providers as the key element in a mentoring relationship
• activity is taking place in the VCS that could be described as mentoring but is unvalued and undervalued
• VCS providers feel that other providers offering mentoring for ITT need to be aware of the specificity of setting and the ethos of individual organisations
• there is little resistance to the introduction of mentoring for ITT into the VCS with an implicit acceptance that it is a good thing
• the models of mentoring currently in use are based on inadequate pragmatism as they are a compromise


Viruses are generally considered to be amongst the smallest bioactive particles; dating back to the original observations, including those of luminaries such as Ivanosky and Beijerinck, size has always been at issue within the definition, a tradition that continued for many years [1]. It was thus a surprise to the scientific community in the early 2000s when French scientists demonstrated that a particle, previously thought to be a bacterium, was indeed a virus [2]. The discovery of the Mimivirus and the other "giants" that have followed, including Mamavirus, Pandoravirus, Faustovirus, and Mollivirus, has blurred the definition of what constitutes a virus and, indeed, the boundaries between viral particles and cellular life [3].


Abstract A student's mindset influences their achievement and response to challenge, with a 'fixed mindset' encouraging disengagement from challenging tasks and avoidance of learning and feedback opportunities. These behaviours resemble those reported for professional and non‐clinical curriculum areas, which are important for employability and resilience in veterinary practice. Students with a 'growth mindset' to learning are more persistent when faced with challenges and actively seek more demanding tasks. They also demonstrate higher levels of psychological well‐being. The objectives of this study were to explore whether variation in veterinary students' mindset to learning exists across different curriculum areas, and to identify whether students' backgrounds influence their learning mindset. The mindsets of veterinary students at a UK veterinary school were measured using an adapted version of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale. The survey was constructed to compare mindset in clinical reasoning, professional reasoning (incorporating ethics and critical thinking), communication skills and reflection. More students demonstrated a growth mindset to communication skills (59%), reflection (84%) and clinical reasoning (83%) than to professional reasoning (34%). There were more students with a fixed mindset to professional reasoning (10%) than in other areas (0–5%). Students' background (international or non‐traditional university access) did not appear to influence mindset to learning. Disengagement from professional studies curricula may be a consequence of students lacking a growth mindset in professional reasoning. Curriculum interventions that encourage engagement and the development of a growth mindset to learning non‐clinical competences may be beneficial.


Tuberculosis is an ancient disease. It was recognised and described by Hippocratus (460–390 BCE) and Galen (2nd–3rd century CE) in the western Classical World (Xarchus & Bourandas, 2003), ancient Egypt, India and the Far East (Morse, 1961). The obvious symptoms that attracted attention were the late outcomes of skeletal tuberculosis, where collapsed vertebrae led to scoliosis and Pott's disease, plus the symptoms associated with pulmonary tuberculosis, such as fever, weight loss and haemoptysis (coughing up blood). In the UK, tubercular lesions of the lymph glands (cervical lymphadenitis) were formerly termed scrofula, or the King's evil, and tubercular skin lesions were described as Lupus vulgaris or tuberculous chancre. The palaeopathology of ancient skeletal remains, together with classical and historical reports, demonstrate that tuberculosis occurred in prehistory. However, tuberculosis is still the greatest cause of death from any single infectious disease in the world today, with over one third of the global population infected and an estimated 1.7 million deaths from the disease in 2009 (WHO, 2010). Therefore it is essential to understand the nature of tuberculosis in the past: its distribution, spread and relationship to human society.


Atrial fibrillation surgery is based on creating scars in the atrium, in order to avoid re-entry pheno- mena that may initiate and perpetuate arrhythmia, and driving the normal stimuli from the sinus node to the atrio-ventricular node. The complexity and in- creased risk of the initial surgical technique, based on a "cut-and-sew" procedure, have enhanced other cu- rrent procedures, in which different energies are used making it possible to perform scars in a safer and less


Abstract: The activation associated proteins CD23 and CD69 are expressed on cells of different lineages upon mitogenic stimulation. CD23 is a well characterized multifunctional protein in lymphocyte development recognized as a diagnostic marker for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. CD69 is one of the earliest markers expressed after activation of T cells, but its function is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of these antigens in B‐cell non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) in relation to clinical behaviour. Ninety samples from 84 patients with NHL of B cell type were studied for the expression of CD23 and CD69 in CD20+ B cells by flow cytometric dual parameter analysis. In individual lymphomas the CD23 and CD69 antigens showed an "on or off" pattern with most or very few cells positive for each antigen. The CD23 antigen was expressed in 23 of 53 (43%) indolent lymphomas and in 2 of 37 (5%) aggressive cases. Most indolent lymphomas (81%) and about half the aggressive cases (53%) expressed the CD69 antigen. Thus, both markers were associated with indolent type. CD23 expression correlated with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia subtype and CD69 expression with male gender, advanced stage, newly diagnosed lymphoma and shorter survival.


AIM To assess levels of soluble Fas (sFas) in the sera of patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy. METHODS The subjects in this study were 43 patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy and 11 normal subjects. Serum levels of sFas were determined by sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. In addition, serum levels of thyroid stimulating antibody (TSAB) were also measured in all the patients. RESULTS The mean serum level of sFas was 1.35 (SD 2.03) ng/ml in patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy, and 0.93 (0.32) ng/ml in normal subjects. Serum levels of sFas in the subgroup of 24 patients with diplopia (1.98 (2.56) ng/ml) were significantly higher than those in the subgroup of 19 patients without diplopia (0.56 (0.24) ng/ml) and normal subjects (p <0.001). Serum levels of sFas in the subgroup of 27 patients with extraocular muscle hypertrophy (1.81 (2.46) ng/ml) were significantly higher than those in the subgroup of 16 patients without extraocular muscle hypertrophy (0.58 (0.26) ng/ml) among the patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy and normal subjects (p <0.001). Serum levels of sFas were not significantly different between the subgroup of 24 patients with proptosis (1.15 (0.98) ng/ml) and the subgroup of 19 patients without proptosis (1.61 (2.88)). In contrast, the serum levels of TSAB in the subgroup of patients with proptosis (723% (1161%)) were significantly higher than those in the subgroup of patients without proptosis (194% (122%)) (p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS Elevated sFas levels were associated with extraocular muscle disorders but not with proptosis. On the other hand, elevated TSAB levels were associated with proptosis but not with extraocular muscle disorders, suggesting different immunological mechanisms for the extraocular muscle disorders and proptosis in Graves' ophthalmopathy. Determination of the serum levels of sFas and TSAB could provide useful markers for evaluation of the immunological processes involved in the development of Graves' ophthalmopathy.


We prove that certain compact cube complexes have special nite covers. This means they have nite covers whose fundamental groups are quasiconvex subgroups of right-angled Artin groups. As a result we obtain linearity and the separability of quasiconvex subgroups for the groups we consider. Our result applies, in particular, to a compact negatively curved cube complex whose hyperplanes do not self-intersect. For a cube complex with word-hyperbolic fundamental group, we show that it is virtually special if and only if its hyperplane stabilizers are separable. In a nal application, we show that the fundamental groups of every simple type uniform arithmetic hyperbolic manifolds are cubical and virtually special.


Serum theophylline levels produced in asthmatic children by sustained-release theophylline tablets (TheoDur) were studied. Nineteen patients received for 14 days a dose of 5.5 to 13.1 mg/kg (mean 9.1 mg/kg) of amhydrous theophylline (as sustained-release TheoDur tablets) every 12 hours. Theophylline serum levels were assayed, by cation-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography, immediately before and at 4, 6 and 10 hours after the first day-five dose. Symptoms of asthma and theophylline toxicity were recorded. Mean peak-trough difference for the 6-to-10-years age group (4.5 +/- 1.6 microgram/ml) was not significantly different than that of the 11-to-17-year age group (5.2 +/- 3.2 micrograms/ml) (p greater than 0.1). Therapeutic serum theophylline levels (8 to 20 micrograms/ml) were maintained throughout a 12-hour period in 12 patients. Two patients had side effects possibly attributable to theophylline. Four patients reported asthamtic symptoms on two or more evenings; none required emergency treatment. The study suggests that sustained-release theophylline tablets administered every 12 hours can maintain therapeutic serum levels in children.


The application of thermal methods to the study of steady-state combustion is described. Such methods provide a route to information on heat transfer and chemical kinetics which forms a basis for the implementation of numerical models. The experimental results from thermal analysis and temperature profile analysis have been examined within the context of a simple pseudo one-dimensional model of propagation offering some confirmation of the validity of the approach.


A 50-m long, biaxially textured NiO buffer layer for epitaxial growth of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta//(YBCO) film has been fabricated on a long length cube-textured Ni tape using the surface-oxidation epitaxy (SOE) technique. The thickness of NiO layer was arranged to be around 3 /spl mu/m. The tape manufacturing speed was 15 m/h, The SOE-NiO layer was highly [100] oriented and the full width at half maximum from the X-ray /spl phi/-scan for NiO(111) was varied from 13 to 19 degrees in the whole length. J/sub c/ values exceeding 0.3 MA/cm/sup 2/ at 77 K and self field have been obtained in short samples of YBCO films on NiO/Ni tapes, by using a thin MgO cap layer with the thickness of about 100 nm. Crystal orientation control of YBCO coated conductors by the SOE method is very effective even for the long length Ni tapes.


Research using discovery learning strategies on the subjects of biology in grade VII-5 SMPN 4 Mataram has been done to improve student learning outcomes. The research was conducted collaboratively between teachers and peers in the form of classroom action research. The study involved students of class VII-5 as many as 32 people. The study was conducted in two cycles, each cycle consisting of planning, action, observation, evaluation, and reflection. This study was classical learning completeness succeed if ≥ 85%, and the minimum completeness criteria ≥ 60. In addition, the successful discovery learning is indicated resources by an average score of ≥ 4.5 (very satisfactory). The results showed that the learning outcomes in the first cycle is an average grade 71.8. Students who meet the individual learning completeness as many as 21 students from 32 students, so the completeness percentage reached 66%. The average score of the implementation of learning by discovery strategy 3.85 (satisfactory). In the second cycle learning outcomes of students obtained an average of 82.2 and the classical learning completeness percentage reached 90%. The average score of the implementation of learning by discovery strategy 4.86 (very satisfactory). The conclusion was that the application of discovery learning strategies can improve student learning outcomes in class VII-5 SMPN 4 Mataram.


The long-term prognosis and genetic mechanism of pregnancy after intrauterine mosaic aneuploid blastocyst transfer remain unknown. We report the case of two babies after the aforementioned procedure and chromosomal analysis of their cord blood and chorionic villi. Case Report 1. A 41-year-old primipara, with two previous spontaneous abortions, was pregnant after intrauterine transfer of a blastocyst carrying 40% mosaicism of long-arm monosomy of chromosome 5. The amniocentesis results were 46,XX. A cesarean section was performed at 39 weeks. The female infant was 3,315 g at birth. Case Report 2. A 44-year-old primipara, with two spontaneous abortions, was pregnant after intrauterine transfer of a blastocyst carrying 40% mosaicism of long-arm monosomy of chromosome 9 and monosomy of chromosome 14. After genetic counselling, she decided not to undergo amniocentesis. No abnormalities were found by ultrasound. A cesarean section was performed at 38 weeks. The male infant was 3,340 g at birth. Chromosome analyses of postnatal cord blood and chorionic villi were performed using SNP arrays. The cord blood and chorionic villi showed no chromosomal structural abnormalities or mosaicism. For both, no disorders were observed at 10 months of age. We experienced the birth of babies after intrauterine transfer of mosaic aneuploid blastocysts.


This paper presents a procedure for analyzing train voltages for new railroad electrification systems which utilize single-phase current at 60 Hz and at higher voltages of 25 and 50 kV with and without auxiliary transformers. Modern catenary configurations are presented. A computer program is described which calculates the impedances of multiple track configurations and includes the effects of magnetic conductors (rails), of auxiliary transformers and of earth return. References to test results on rail impedances are also presented. A method is described to calculate train voltages for radial-feed, center-feed and double-end-feed systems and for multiple catenaries. Equivalent circuits are derived and specific examples of modern catenary systems are given.


UNLABELLED
To analyze the sib-sib correlation of the cardiovascular risk factors.

SUBJECTS AND METHOD
A cross-sectional study was made in 115 sibling pairs. Sociodemographic variables, weight, height, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and fasting plasma total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, apo A-I, apo B and Lp(a) concentrations. Partial correlation coefficients adjusted for age and body mass index for plasmatic lipid and lipoprotein levels in sibling pairs showed positive values range from 0.27 for triglyceride to 0.53 for apo B/apo A-I ratio (p < 0.005). Likewise, the intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.20 to 0.48. Both coefficient were higher in brother-brother pairs than in sister-sister pairs. The Quetelet index coefficients were slightly lower than lipid coefficients, and showed similar values among the different kinds of sibling pairs. Blood pressure coefficients were low (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
An association for lipid and lipoprotein plasma concentrations has been evidenced in sibling pairs. This association is stronger in brother-brother pairs than in sister-sister pairs. This fact could indicate a sex linked heredability of lipid and lipoprotein levels. A weaker association for body mass index has been observed. Sib-sib aggregation of blood pressure levels is not significant.


Dandruff is a common scalp disorder distressing almost half of inhabitants the at the pre-pubertal age and of any gender.No populace in any geographical region would have passed freely without being affected by dandruff in their life at some stage.Thinng out the skin and cause other side effects are caused by non prescription preparation (OTC),if used for a long period of time. To help keep dandruff under control, there are lots of OTC products available . To evaluate the prevalence of self medication pattern for dandruff treatment among students a 15 item web based questionnaire was developed and employed to collect data (validated by the institutional ethical committee) from pharmacy students at Ezhuthachan College of pharmaceutical sciences. The survey will gather demographic information and collect data on about the usage, type of antidandruff product,content included and side effect experienced etc.Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. 76% of the respondents had dandruff problem and among them, 67% experienced hair loss,53% had acne and 31% experienced itching and 11% experienced skin rashes due to dandruff problem. 41% of the respondents adopted self medication strategy .Out of them 45% used ketoconazole shampoo and most of them experienced hairloss due to the usage of shampoo. Prevalence of self-medication for dandruff problem was alarming high. It is necessary to educate the students for diagnosis and treatment of Dandruff problems. The relevant data obtained through this study will help know about the prevalace of the self medication pattern and to aware about future complications.


The suspicion that there might be some other, better, way to live is something that every person experiences in some form. As one person might fantasise about a life of super yachts and incredible riches, another might dream of leaving the village they have lived in for their entire life. The sense of possibility that human beings have, inbuilt with our notions of time and fate, is a powerful force that shapes our decisions, and fires our curiosity.


Line-focus-beam (LFB) acoustic microscopy is applied to evaluate the homogeneities of optical-grade LiTaO3 single crystals, pulled along the crystallographic Y axis. Z-cut substrates prepared from three kinds of single crystals with different chemical compositions of 48.0, 48.5, and 49.0 Li2O-mol% as the starting materials, and one commercially available optical-grade congruent LiTaO3 single crystal, are examined by measuring the leaky surface acoustic wave (LSAW) velocities along the Y axis. Using the relationship between the LSAW velocities and chemical compositions obtained from the three crystals, some significant and characteristic velocity variations of 0.54 m/s along the pulling-axis direction and of at most 0.38 m/s along the diameter direction were observed on the congruent specimen surface, corresponding to the chemical composition changes of 0.017 and 0.012 Li2O-mol%, respectively. This is the first evidence to signify that the variations are in essence due to changes of the crystal growing conditions during the growth process.