In this paper the response of an 11-layer general circulation model (GCM) to an enhanced composite El Nino sea surface temperature (s.s.t.) anomaly is studied. The integrations were run for 540 days in a perpetual January mode, and had either mean or envelope orography.

A basic objective of this paper is to study the influence of model climatology on the response to a tropical s.s.t. anomaly. This was done both by comparing our results with those from a lower resolution GCM (the NCAR Community Climate Model) with an identical s.s.t. anomaly, and by performing control and anomaly integrations with both mean and envelope orography. The specification of orography strongly influences the strength of the mean zonal flow, and stationary and transient wave activity in our model. Whereas the runs with envelope orography produced an anomalous Pacific/North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern in the northern hemisphere, the runs with mean orography did not. In the extratropical southern hemisphere. our model produced a statistically significant response which had a substantial zonally symmetric component. By contrast, the NCAR model, with weaker zonal flow, produced a weaker and mainly statistically insignificant response in the southern hemisphere. Finally, in the tropics, over the Central and Eastern Pacific, the anomalous rainfall and vorticity fields correlated strongly with the corresponding fields in the control integration. Overall, therefore, we conclude that a GCM's response is strongly sensitive to the basic model climatology.

In trying to understand dynamically the GCM response it was concluded that the PNA pattern may not simply be the result of Rossby wave dispersion from a tropical source. The PNA pattern may also be associated with a combination of two separate influences, the interaction with the anomalous mean flow of enhanced storm track activity over the Pacific, and with orography on the North American continent.

The implications of the model's tropical response for simple linear theory were also discussed. In these composite El Nino anomaly experiments enhanced rainfall and upper divergence occurred well to the west of the upper tropical anticyclone pairs, implying that a Sverdrup type balance in the vorticity equation cannot hold. It is suggested that the strength of the anomalous vortex stretching term could be a small residual compared with the horizontal advection terms, and that a simple linear relationship between anomalous latent heating and the position and strength of the anomalous anticyclone pairs is not always valid. An alternative qualitative explanation for the relative position of these anticyclone pairs is given in terms of a reduction in the zonally asymmetric component of upper tropospheric vorticity across the tropical Pacific, whilst the position of the rainfall maximum is located close to the s.s.t. maximum.


The aim of the present study was to test the determinants of Qatar's 1998-2017 performances at the Asian Athletic Championship based on GDP per capita, hosting capacity, and number of migrant sports talents. Using publicly available archival data, the study adopted a single case study design with the help of association and predictive statistics. The findings indicated that the number of migrant athletes was the greatest contributor of Qatar's performance at the Asia Athletic Championships. There was also a positive and statistically significant relationship with the number of migrant sports talents with GDP per capita and hosting capacity. The findings have vast implications for sports talent migration policy and international competition strategies. Sports personnel (administrators, managers, coaches and policy advocates) will add to their understanding and appreciation that sports talent migrant is also a recent and overlooked strategy for boosting international sports performances. This is one of the first studies to investigate the impact of sports talent migration at the Asia Athletic Championships – indicating that talent migration is also another valuable strategy in archiving national team success (Omondi-Ochieng, 2017b; Allan & Moffat, 2014; Omondi-Ochieng, 2014b; Berlinschi et al., 2013; Frick, 2009; Baur & Lehmann, 2007; Gelade & Dobson, 2007) similar to having talented coaches, excellent training facilities, positive sporting culture and robust funding amongst others. Keywords: Qatar, sports talent migration, Asian Athletics Championships


For the past 10 years or more, governments of European states have sought to lay the scientific, legal and political groundwork for an agreed normative framework intended to govern decommissioning of deep-water offshore installations, many of which will shortly reach the end of their working life. The Brent Spar episode abruptly shattered any illusion of consensus on decommissioning issues. This article traces the main stages in the development of the current legal regime, including the recent overhaul and rebuilding of regional and international agreements. It examines the implications of the assertion of interest by the European Union in this area and also documents the outcome of the Brent Spar saga. The article concludes with an assessment of the OSPAR Decision of 23 July 1998, which appears to provide the long sought for international agreement.


According to Bohr's principle of complementarity, a quanton can behave either as a wave or a particle, depending on the choice of the experimental setup. Some recent two-path interference experiments have devised methods where one can have a quantum superposition of the two choices, thus indicating that a quanton may be in a superposition of wave and particle natures. These experiments have been of interest from the point of view of Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment. However, it has also been claimed that this experiment can violate complementarity. Here we theoretically analyze a multipath interference experiment that has a which-path detector in a quantum superposition of being present and absent. We show that a tight multipath wave-particle duality relation is respected in all such situations, and complementarity holds well. The apparent violation of complementarity may be due to incorrect evaluation of path distinguishability in such scenarios.


This paper analyses the capacities of the parents in the Harry Potter stories, written by J. K. Rowling, from a social care perspective. It argues that there is a synergy between what the social sciences have discovered about 'good enough parenting' and the insights that can be gathered from entering the imaginative world of literature. This is illustrated by a discussion of the qualities of the parents and parent substitutes in the four books published between 1997 and 2000. It concludes that fictional experiences of childhood create empathy in the reader and enable us to confront the need for imagination as parents and practitioners, while the social sciences keep knowledge grounded and evidenced.


This paper studies two neighborhood information dissemination problems in the star graph (n-star): The neighborhood broadcast problem (NBP) is the problem of disseminating a message from the source vertex to all the vertices adjacent to the source vertex and the neighborhood gossiping problem (NGP) is the problem of exchanging messages among all neighboring vertices in the given graph. We propose two neighborhood information dissemination schemes in n-star under the single-port, half-duplex model: The first scheme completes a neighborhood broadcast in 1.5 log/sub 2/ n+O(1) time units and the second scheme completes a neighborhood gossiping in 2.88 log/sub 2/ n+o(logn) time units. We also derive a lower bound on the neighborhood gossiping of 2.88 log/sub 2/ n+O(1) time units, which implies that the latter scheme is optimal with respect to the leading term.


The relationship between pupil control ideology and the broad set of personality characteristics measured by the Activities Index (AI) was explored in this study. The Pupil Control Ideology Form (PCI) and the AI were personally administered by a trained researcher to virtually all the educators (n = 934) in thirty-six schools. Although none of the individual factors of the AI was strongly related to custodialism in pupil control ideology, a step-wise multiple regression analysis indicated that certain personality factors combined with demographic characteristics to produce a multiple R of .539 (p<.01) with pupil control orientation. The results tend to support the view that ideology formation is a function of both personality and social system factors.


ABSTRACT Almar, R.; Bergsma, E.W.J.; Gawehn, M.A.; Aarninkhof, S.G.J., and Benshila, R., 2020. High-frequency temporal wave-pattern reconstruction from a few satellite images: A new method towards estimating regional bathymetry. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 996-1000. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. It is currently impossible to accurately estimate coastal risks considering the lack of accurate and up-to-date bathymetric knowledge. We enter a new era of satellite coastal observation which offers unprecedented regional monitoring capabilities with a high spatial resolution. Methodologies to estimate bathymetry from waves developed for shore-based video camera systems are now widely used but require high frequency (several frames per second) and long duration (a few minutes) videos. Only a few satellite missions offer the possibility to acquire videos from space over regional domains (Pleiades persistent mode, WorldView-2). These are on-demand acquisitions at specific dates and generally expensive. At the same time, most of continuous Earth Observation missions, which have the potential to cover coastal evolution, offer short sequences using the different bands (2 to 10 bands within typically ∼1-2 seconds, e.g. Sentinel-2) or a sequence of a few images for stereo or tri-stereo topography purpose (2 or 3 images with lags of ∼8s, e.g. Pleiades). Here, we present how high-frequency wave pattern time-series can be reconstructed using a spatiotemporal cross-correlation, gathering surrounding sparse temporal wave information while conserving its high-resolution spatial information. This new methodology breaks several locks and enables deriving full wave characteristics from a limited number of images to quantify a robust regional bathymetry.


The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that might serve as a  foundation for designing and developing academic literacy curricula for pre-service teachers. First, the main challenges that face course designers and lecturers of academic literacy in teacher education programmes are outlined. This is followed by an overview of theoretical approaches that might underpin the framework. Two applications of multimodal narrative pedagogy in composition classrooms are then discussed. Subsequently, the proposed framework, which infuses narrative pedagogy and a particular  version of transformative pedagogies into a new literacies model, is presented and discussed. The application of the framework is demonstrated through the analysis of a literacy selfnarrative by a South African scholar. I conclude the article by reflecting on the benefits of the framework in response to the challenges stated at the beginning of the paper. Keywords : academic literacy, language pedagogy, literacy narratives, multiliteracies, multimodality, teacher education


In this study, a novel method that combines electrochemiluminescence (ECL) analysis and digital image processing was developed for the detection of sulfonamides. This method is based on the ECL system of ruthenium terpyridine, with 1 mM tripropylamine as a co-reactant to enhance the performance. Under the optimal conditions comprising a solution of pH 7 and a scanning rate of 0.08 V s-1, the Pt electrode has an excellent linear detection range from 5 μM to 5 mM, with a detection limit of 0.85 μM (S/N = 3). A wireless camera is used to record the light-emitting process. The recordings are processed, and the digital images are extracted using image-processing algorithms implemented in Python to calculate the brightness value of the image, which has a linear relationship with the logarithm of the sulfonamide concentration. Image analysis simplifies and improves the stability of the ECL analysis process, while also increasing the speed of analysis. The results indicate that the method can successfully detect a sulfonamide concentration of 5 μM. Thus, the analysis method of ECL combined with image processing is feasible for the detection of sulfonamides, thereby displaying its potential applicability as a novel method in drug and food safety, for instance, for sulfonamide detection in antibiotics.


The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of two different (73° and 80°) seat tube angles (STAs) on physiological and biomechanical variables during cycling and on subsequent running performance. Six male triathletes (24.1 + 7.8 year; 71.3 + 7.6 kg; 1.76 + 4.8 m) completed two 20-km cycling trials (at 73° or 80°) at self-selected intensity on their own bikes using a cycle simulator and immediately transitioned to a 3-km running trial on a track at maximum pace. The trials were performed randomly on different days. The self-select intensity adopted in the first 20-km cycling trial was also used in the second cycling trial. There were no significant differences between the 73° and 80° STAs during the cycling trials. The pace during the 2nd km of the running trial was significantly lower at 73° (3.92+0.45m/s) compared with 80 o (3.99+0.44m/s); however, there was no significant difference (P = 0.065) between the STAs in terms of total mean pace (4.07+0.46m/s at 73 o and 4.18+0.47m/s at 80 o ). The stride rate (88.2+0.12 stride/min) and total mean (87.6+0.12 stride/min) during the 3rd km of the running trial were significantly lower at 73° compared with 80 o (91.2+0.12 stride/min and 90.0+0.08 stride/min, respectively). Therefore, the changes in the STAs did not affect significantly the physiological and biomechanical variables during cycling neither subsequent 3-km running performance. However, the differences found in the stride rate, running pace, and tendency of better running performance (P = 0.065) suggest a small but significant effect on the running trial performed after cycling using higher STA. These aspects may have a relevant influence on the final race classification.


This is a study of occupational skin disease among military personnel and conscripts in Singapore. All military personnel and conscripts diagnosed with occupational dermatoses in the National Skin Centre, Singapore, between 1989–1999 were studied retrospectively. Conscripts and regulars comprised 7.3% of all occupational skin disease patients seen. All were male, with a mean age of 23 years. Irritant contact dermatitis was more common than allergic contact dermatitis, by 4.4:1. The most common vocations associated with occupational skin diseases are those involving vehicle repairs and maintenance (48%) and food handling (19%). The most common irritants were oil/grease (66%), wet work (23%) and solvents (18%). The most common allergens were food (40%) and chromates (20%). Military personnel and conscripts make up a significant proportion of occupational skin disease patients seen in Singapore.


The ultrasound diagnosis, management and treatment of twintwin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) have had a remarkable number of positive developments in the last 20 years. Together, they have resulted in TTTS being the most common condition seen and treated in fetal therapy centers today. This chapter discusses the basic ultrasound assessment of TTTS patients in a step-by-step fashion, to provide a structure to the sonographic examination. This includes review of the diagnostic criteria, the sonographic assessment of disease severity and preoperative ultrasound assessment. The chapter also reviews the rationale for, as well as the fundamental laser technique and its variations, including the nonselective technique, selective laser photocoagulation of communicating vessels (SLPCV), sequential selective laser photocoagulation of the communicating vessels (SQLPCV) and the 'Solomon' technique, and provides potential explanations for the outcome differences of each technique. Future developments in terms of surgical technique and long-term outcome studies are also discussed.


Background The aim of this study was to investigate the serology and gene sequence characteristics of the A307 subgroup of the ABO blood group. Material/Methods Monoclonal anti-A and anti-B antibodies were used to detect the ABO antigens of a proband whose positive blood type was not consistent with the negative blood type of the ABO blood group. Standard A-, B-, and O-negative typing cells were used to test for ABO antibodies in the serum. Additionally, polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) was used to confirm the genotype, and subsequently, exons 6 and 7 of the ABO gene were detected by gene sequencing. Samples from the wife and daughters of the proband were also used for serological and genetic testing. Results Red blood cells of the proband showed weak agglutination reaction with anti-A antibody, while anti-B antibody was detected in the serum. Moreover, PCR-SSP detected A307 and O02 alleles, while gene sequencing revealed mutation of c.745C>T in exon 7, which produced a polypeptide chain p.R249W. The A307 gene of the proband was not inherited by his daughters. Conclusions A mutation (c.745 C>T) in exon 7 of the ABO blood group gene resulted in low activity of α-1,3-N-acetyl-galactosaminyl transferase, producing A3 phenotype.


Abstract The stability of the plane interface separating two Rivlin-Ericksen elastico-viscous superposed fluids of uniform densities when the whole system is immersed in a uniform horizontal magnetic field has been studied. The stability analysis has been carried out, for mathematical simplicity, for two highly viscous fluids of equal kinematic viscosities and equal kinematic viscoelasticities. It is found that the stability criterion is independent of the effects of viscosity and viscoelasticity and is dependent on the orientation and magnitude of the magnetic field. The magnetic field is found to stabilize a certain wave-number range of the unstable configuration. The behaviour of growth rates with respect to kinematic viscosity and kinematic viscoelasticity parameters are examined numerically.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the postweaning history of heifers kept on marandu grass pastures with three canopy heights, in a continuous-grazing system, during the rainy period, on feedlotor pasture finishing. The effects of three canopy heights (15, 25 and 35 cm) associated with two supplements (mineral salt and protein-energy supplement) and two finishing systems in the dry period (feedlot and open pasture) were studied in the postweaning period during the rainy season. The adopted design was completely randomized, with seven replications (animals) in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. The animals which received protein-energy supplement reached the finishing period with greater body weight in relation to those fed mineral salt. In both feedlot and pasture finishing systems, compensatory gain effect was observed in the animals that remained on the low pastures during postweaning compared with the high pastures. This compensatory gain was not verified in the animals that received protein-energy supplement in relation to the mineral salt, and thus the animals were slaughtered beforehand. The heifers on pastures with 25 or 35 cm in height were slaughtered in the same period, and those kept on the low pastures were slaughtered afterwards. The studied factors in the postweaning phase did not affect the carcass characteristics. Animals finished in feedlot slaughtered with the same body weight as those finished on pasture show greater carcass yield, subcutaneous fat deposition and renal pelvic and inguinal fat and greater losses with trimmings for cleaning the main hindquarter meat cuts; however, they provide cuts with the same weight but greater fat cover.


The tetravalent platinum stiboranyl complex [(o-(Ph2P)C6H4)2(o-C6Cl4O2)Sb]PtCl2Ph (2) has been synthesized by reaction of [(o-(Ph2P)C6H4)2SbClPh]PtCl (1) with o-chloranil. In the presence of fluoride anions, the stiboranyl moiety of 2 displays non-innocent behavior and is readily converted into a fluorostiborane unit. This transformation, which is accompanied by elimination of a chloride ligand from the Pt center, results in the formation of [(o-(Ph2P)C6H4)2(o-C6Cl4O2)SbF]PtClPh (3). Structural, spectroscopic, and computational studies show that the conversion of 2 into 3 is accompanied by a cleavage of the covalent Pt-Sb bond present in 2 and formation of a longer and weaker Pt→Sb interaction in 3. These results show that this new Pt-Sb platform supports the fluoride-induced metamorphosis of a stiboranyl X ligand into a stiborane Z ligand.


. We design a multiscale model reduction framework within the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (cid:12)nite element method. Our approach uses local snapshot spaces and local spectral decomposition following the concept of Generalized Multiscale Finite Element Methods. We propose several multiscale (cid:12)nite element spaces on the coarse faces that provide a reduced dimensional approximation for numerical traces within the HDG framework. We provide a general framework for systematic construction of multiscale trace spaces. Using local snapshots, we avoid high dimensional representation of trace spaces and use some local features of the solution space in constructing a low dimensional trace space. We investigate the solvability and numerically study the performance of the proposed method on a representative number of numerical examples.


We reviewed 14 patients (16 hips) treated by open reduction and upper femoral derotation osteotomy for congenital dislocation of the hip. Nine patients with 11 treated hips had growth deformities of the proximal femur; in all of them the top screw of the fixation plate lay within the cartilaginous precursor of the greater trochanter. In the five control hips the top screw was more distal. In the nine patients (mean follow-up 10.8 years) there was an increase of 14 degrees in the neck-shaft angle (p = 0.01) and of 18 degrees in the angle between the capital femoral physis and the shaft (p = 0.01) compared to the control group. This indicates that growth disturbance of the greater trochanteric apophysis as a result of plate fixation leads to long-term deformity.


Sixty‐four patients with mild or moderate extrinsic asthma were treated with placebo for i month and thereafter with ketotifen (1 mg twice daily, orally), disodium cromoglycate (inhalation of 20 mg, four times daily), or placebo for 2 subsequent months. The trial was performed at four different centres and the treatments were compared using double‐blind technique. We found no difference between the effect of ketotifen, disodium cromoglycate and placebo on the patients' daily measurements of evening peak expiratory flow, daily score values for respiratory symptoms or the number of salbutamol puffs required to control symptoms. There was no difference between the treatment groups with regard to the patients' estimates of changes in airway sensitivity to different non‐specific stimuli: fumes, tobacco smoke, cold air, and exercise. The only significant effect of DSCG was a minor (4%) increase in the mean morning value for peak expiratory flow. The findings suggest that the addition of ketotifen or disodium cromoglycate to the regimen is unlikely to give further benefit in asthmatic patients, whose symptoms are reasonably well controlled by small doses of bronchodilating drugs.


The agri-food sector in Sweden, as in much of Europe, faces dramatic pressure to promote entrepreneurship, especially in rural areas where population aging and population decline pose grave economic threats to local communities. One solution is the government policy of supporting the entrepreneurial ambitions of newly arrived immigrants. The policy is seen as doubly beneficial: support for rural areas and support for immigrants not yet prepared to enter the regular workforce. Immigrant entrepreneurship seems to have the potential to lessen the harmful effects of current socio-economic challenges. This paper examines the immigrant entrepreneurship experience in the agri-food sector in Sweden. A qualitative research approach is used to evaluate interviews with 25 immigrant entrepreneurs on the various factors that motivated them to become selfemployed entrepreneurs. The main factors are the lack of other employment opportunities, the desire for work autonomy and flexibility, and the chance for a better standard of living. The results show that personal characteristics and previous entrepreneurship experience are the best predictors of business success. The paper concludes with a call for a model for immigrant entrepreneurship and for more government reforms and policies aimed at supporting the immigrant entrepreneur.


In this paper, a new approach is investigated for order reduction based on Legendre expansion. Harmony Search is used in this approach, to determine the reduced order model's parameters. The Routh criterion is applied to specify the stability conditions. Then, the stability conditions are constraints in optimization problem. To present the efficiency of the proposed method, three test systems are reduced. The obtained results were compared to other existing techniques. The comparison showed that the proposed approach performs well.


Deltamethrin [(S)-cyano-3-phenoxybenzyl-cis-(1R,3R)-2,2-dimethyl) cyclo–propane carboxylate),1] labelled at gem-dimethyl groups of the cyclopropane ring was applied on two Egyptian soils at a level of 10 mg/kg soil for a laboratory incubation experiment under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. A steady decrease of soil extractable14C-residues, accompanied by a corresponding increase of non- extractable bound 14C-residues was observed over a 90-day incubation period. The percentage of evolved 14CO2 increased with time under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in both soils. The effect of deltamethrin on soil microorganisms as well as the counter effect of microorganisms on the insecticide was also investigated. As the incubation period increased, the inhibitory effect of the insecticide on the microorganisms decreased and the evolution of carbon dioxide depended on the applied dose. The nature of soil methanol soluble residues was determined by chromatographic analysis which revealed the presence of the parent insecticide as the main product in addition to four metabolites: 3-(2′,2′-dibromovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (II); 3-phenoxybenzaldehyde (III); 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (IV); 3-phenoxybenzyl alcohol (V).


In theory, hepatic fibrosis should be a dynamic process with the potential for remodelling after the injury-provoking stimulus has been removed. Clinically, there has been an accumulation of a small number of cases, including hepatitis B e (HBe) antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B infection, in which cirrhosis regressed after successful treatment. We report a 42-year-old HBe antigen-negative Chinese man with detectable serum hepatitis B virus DNA and histologically established cirrhosis (Ludwig score 4) who, after 4 years of successful lamivudine therapy, was found to have regression of cirrhosis on repeat liver biopsy. The repeat biopsy revealed normal liver architecture with fibrosis confined to the portal tracts and short fibrosis septae extending into the lobule without bridging (Ludwig score 1-2). Although cirrhosis may take many years to develop, our experience suggests that successful treatment may reverse the process within a relatively short time.


Stanovich and West (1983; West and Stanovich, 1982) demonstrated that lexical decisions to target words preceded by incongruous sentence contexts are inhibited more by these contexts than are naming responses to the same target words. They argued that this difference between the two tasks was due to post-lexical processing at the message level that is effective only in the lexical-decision task. The operations of the mechanism thought to underlie this post-lexical effect also predict that, under certain circumstances, the processing of target words congruous with the sentence context should be facilitated more in lexical decision than in naming. The present naming study together with an earlier lexical-decision study tested and confirmed this prediction for word targets following word contexts. The stimulus-onset asynchrony of context word and target word was also varied. This manipulation clearly affected the magnitude of facilitation, indicating that context-induced attentional processing can facilitate lexical access in word-context studies.


Several studies have demonstrated the multipotentiality of human neonatal foreskin stromal cells (hNSSCs) as being able to differentiate into adipocytes and osteoblasts and potentially other cell types. Recently, we demonstrated that hNSSCs play a role during in vitro angiogenesis and appear to possess a capacity to differentiate into endothelial-like cells; however, their angiogenic potential within an ex vivo environment remains unclear. Current study shows hNSSCs to display significant migration potential in the undifferentiated state and high responsiveness in the in vitro wound healing scratch assay. When hNSSCs were seeded onto the top of the CAM, human von Willebrand factor (hVWF), CD31, smooth muscle actin (SMA), and factor XIIIa positive cells were observed in the chick endothelium. CAMs transplanted with endothelial-differentiated hNSSCs displayed a higher number of blood vessels containing hNSSCs compared to CAMs transplanted with undifferentiated hNSSCs. Interestingly, undifferentiated hNSSCs showed a propensity to differentiate towards ectoderm with indication of epidermal formation with cells positive for CD1a, CK5/6, CK19, FXIIIa, and S-100 cells, which warrant further investigation. Our findings imply a potential angiogenic role for hNSSCs ex vivo in the differentiated and undifferentiated state, with potential contribution to blood vessel formation and potential application in tissue regeneration and vascularization.


[1] In this study, long-term (2.5 years) observations of a high vertical resolution radiosonde are used for the first time to identify the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height over a tropical station, Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E). An alternative method of detecting ABL height from refractivity (N) profiles is proposed, which includes both temperature and water vapor information, and several advantages were found. The identified height using N is compared with that detected by traditional methods like potential, virtual potential temperature, and mixing ratio during different background meteorological conditions. Very good correlations in all weather conditions indicate that N can also be used as an indicator for detecting the ABL height. The ABL height thus obtained is compared with independent measurements of N from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate GPS radio occultation (RO), and very good correlation is found between the two. ABL height is found to be higher during premonsoon, followed by monsoon and postmonsoon, and is minimum in winter. In addition, radiosondes launched four times a day during different seasons have been used to study the diurnal variation. These results were compared with GPS RO data collected during different times in a day for a given season, and very strong diurnal variation was found. For studying the global distribution of ABL height from GPS RO data, it is suggested that one considers the GPS RO data for a fixed time or range of time (as RO data are very sparse in tropical regions) and the profiles reaching down to 0.5 km, particularly during nighttime.


Research has suggested that rural youth have lower educational and occupational aspirations than their nonrural counterparts, and they may experience barriers to educational and occupational attainment. Discrepancies and barriers that may exist have implications for educational policy and educational planning. Seventeen rural high schools in northwest Iowa were examined; thirteen public and four private schools. Rural high school students were studied to examine their perceptions concerning potential educational and occupational barriers. Student characteristics and qualities were examined based on where the student lived and the type of school they attended. Students who had been involved in the agricultural curricula in the high schools were described. Students in private and public schools were studied to examine differences and how the differences might affect community and agricultural development. Significant differences were found based on where the student lived in their community, in town in a house or apartment or in the country on an acreage, small farm, or large farm. The educational aspirations were very high for all of the students, but the level of educational aspirations were higher for students residing town than the students residing in the country. Significant differences existed between the students who attended private and public schools. More private school students resided on farms, had more positive perceptions of their communities, and expressed greater intentions of wanting to remain in their communities, but they had lower educational aspirations. Students who took agriculture courses or who participated in FFA had significantly lower aspirations in the level of their educational aspirations and in their intentions to continue their education than their peers. The study concluded that school planning should recognize that differences in aspirations and perceptions existed between students based on where they lived, and secondly, the students in private schools should be considered as policy and plans are made for community and rural development.


Kidney disease is the most prevailing problem in today's world. Gathering knowledge through data analyzing is called data mining which can be widely used in healthcare industry. Medical data mining plays an important role in prediction of the disease. Nephrotic disease is the most challenging disease in day to day life. Membranous nephropathy disease is caused by the immune system of the body. An antibody called PlA2R is found in the kidney. When this antibody reacts with the antigen it causes the disease MN .Patients can lose 10- 20gm of protein per day and experience severe disability. Membranous nephropathy is of two types, primary MN and secondary MN .Prediction of PLA2R antibodies plays an important role in Membranous Nephropathy. In this paper it is proposed to analyze the PLA2R antibodies in the patient over a period of time. Based upon the analysis of primary MN prediction can be done. Hypothesis is established in monitoring the PLA2R antibody and it will help in diagnosis and subsequent treatment of the disease Membranous Nephropathy (MN).


BACKGROUND
A randomized controlled trial published in 2010 demonstrated that ultrasound-guided femoral artery access for coronary angiography was faster and associated with fewer vascular complications than conventional fluoroscopic-guided access. The landscape of ultrasound use among contemporary interventional cardiologists is unknown.

METHODS
We sought to describe current knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding ultrasound use among interventional cardiologists using an online survey. The questionnaire unfolded in phases, initially attempting to define current attitudes and then testing whether or not attitudes were adjustable after summarizing compelling research supporting the use of ultrasound-guided access.

RESULTS
Sixty-eight responses were received (60.7%). Only 13.3% reported using ultrasound routinely despite widespread availability and technical expertise. The majority of respondents believed ultrasound use to be slower but safer than access by palpation alone. There was no significant association between age (P=.70) or annual case volume (P=.11) and baseline ultrasound use. After examining the results of a supporting clinical trial, 42.6% said ultrasound should be used routinely, but only 17.6% said they would adopt the technique. Younger operators tended to affirm routine ultrasound adoption after reading the trial summary more often than older respondents, although this did not reach statistical significance (relative risk = 1.8; P=.30).

CONCLUSIONS
Routine ultrasound-guided femoral artery access and awareness of its validating evidence is uncommon among current interventional cardiologists; exposure to compelling data had minimal impact on respondents' willingness to change practice.


A series of pyridyl-appended bis(urea) ligands form supramolecular gels in the presence of metal ions (metallogels), particularly copper(II) and silver(I). The gels have been chracterised by rheometry and SEM, and the effect of the metal ions on gel strength and morphology examined. The metal-induced gelation is linked to the competition between urea-urea and urea-pyridyl hydrogen bonding interactions. Crystals grown from these gels reveal a wealth of structural information about these systems that can be related to gel structure using powder X-ray diffraction data of their xerogels. Exotic species such as Borromean weaves and metallomacrocycles are all formed as alternatives to gelation.


Until now at Hydro-Quebec, overhead power transmission line porcelain insulators had been tested by the buzz method which simply consists in applying a short-circuit to each insulator in a string and listening for a buzz-like sound indicating a good insulator. However, safety considerations that preclude short-circuiting insulators and other disadvantages of that method have led Hydro-Quebec to undertake and complete the development of a new insulator tester. The working principle of this new device is based on the automatic measurement and recording of the electric field along the insulator string which decreases considerably in front of an internally-shorted insulator. The tester is slid along the string while the insulators are counted automatically. The information from tests on up to 200 strings can be stored in the device to be later transferred in a host computer for interpretation and/or permanent storage. The new tester also gives information on voltage distribution along the insulator strings which can be useful for the design of future power transmission lines. >


Abstract The paper presents selected security problems in ICT systems and OT used in industry. In the Industry 4.0 era, the knowledge and competence of the IT staff and the maintenance staff must be linked. Selected problems and their analysis and solutions form the semi-secure network and use of NoSQL databases as a database bridges are presented in the article for various branches of industry.


: An experimental investigation of the skeletal muscles denervation with a subsequent histological, electron microscopical and morphometrical study of their structural state has been carried out on 77 Wistar male rats. Structure of the muscles in the animals, subjected to laseropuncture and also to its combination with physical load after denervation, is disturbed to an essentially less degree than after denervation only. Combination of laseropuncture and physical load ensures activation of regeneration and reinnervation processes of the skeletal muscles.


Megakaryocyte differentiation and platelet biogenesis require profound cytoskeleton rearrangement regulated by the Rho family of GTPases. ARHGAP21 is a RhoGAP protein that has been shown to negatively regulate the activity of RhoA, RhoC and Cdc42. We have previously demonstrated that ARHGAP21 knockdown in human common myeloid progenitors and in bipotent megakaryocyte-erythrocyte progenitors may bias the fate decision toward the megakaryocyte lineage. In addition, a mouse model with reduction of Arhgap21 expression (Arhgap21+/-) present a slight reduction in platelet number and increased platelet volume. However, the participation of ARHGAP21 in platelet biogenesis and hemostatic response has never been investigated.
 We studied the role of ARHGAP21 on cytoskeletal changes during megakaryocyte differentiation in HEL cell line. Differentiation was induced with 20ηM phorbol-13 myristate-12 acetate (PMA) for four days. ARHGAP21 protein expression was increased during the differentiation and was mostly detected in the protein cell fraction containing polymerized tubulin, in comparison with cell extracts containing soluble tubulin. ARHGAP21 co-localized (R ≥ 0.86 in all days of differentiation) and interacted with α-tubulin on day 2 of megakaryocyte differentiation, when ARHGAP21 expression was the highest. Silencing of ARHGAP21 with siRNA decreased the expression of Glu-tubulin and enhanced CDC42 activity on days 2 and 3 of differentiation. Increased cell size and spreading and alteration of the adhesion proteins p-p130Cas, vinculin, p-zyxin and p-FAK925 were also observed upon ARHGAP21 inhibition. There was no change in the acquisition of CD61, CD41 and CD42 megakaryocytic markers, neither in the polyploidy of HEL cells during differentiation.
 We further investigated the effects of ARHGAP21 inhibition on platelet morphology and on the hemostatic response in vivo, using the C57BL/6 Arhgap21 heterozygous mouse model (Arhgap21+/-). The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of our Institution. No differences were observed in CD61+CD41+ nor in CD41+CD42+ bone marrow cells from Arhgap21+/- and wild type (WT) mice. However, transmission electron microscopy revealed that Arhgap21+/- platelets presented increased alpha-granule size when compared to wild-type (WT). Tail bleeding time of Arhgap21+/- mice was decreased compared to WT (P= 0.0008). Intravital microscopy of carotid artery injured by FeCl3 showed increased adhesion of platelet and white blood cells on the vessel wall of Arhgap21+/-, which reflected in accelerated occlusion time (twice as fast) compared to WT (P= 0.0150).
 In conclusion, ARHGAP21 silencing may alter cell morphology and lead to increased microtubule dynamic instability during megakaryocyte differentiation in vitro, without compromising the acquisition of differentiation markers. In vivo, deficiency of Arhgap21 increases platelet granule size and accelerates hemostatic response. Together, these results indicate that ARHGAP21 may be a critical protein in the regulation of platelet production and function through the control of cytoskeletal rearrangement.
 This study was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Activating mutation of the fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 (FGFR3) gene is known as a key molecular event in both oncogenesis and cell proliferation of low-grade noninvasive human bladder urothelial carcinoma (UC), which is characterized by frequent intravesical recurrence. In this study, we investigated the antitumor potentiality of 1-tert-butyl-3-[6-(3,5-dimethoxy-phenyl)-2-(4-diethylamino-butylamino)-pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-7-yl]-urea (PD173074), a small-molecule FGFR3-selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), as a therapeutic modality using eight UC cell lines. In our in vitro cell proliferation assay, PD173074 suppressed cell proliferation remarkably in two cell lines, namely, UM-UC-14 and MGHU3, which expressed mutated FGFR3 protein. In contrast, the other six cell lines expressing wild-type FGFR3 or without FGFR3 expression were resistant to PD173074 treatment. Cell cycle analysis revealed the growth inhibitory effect of PD173074 was associated with arrest at G1-S transition in a dose-depending manner. Furthermore, we observed an inverse relationship between Ki-67 and p27/Kip1 expression after PD173074 treatment, suggesting that up-regulation of p27 recruited UC cells harboring activating FGFR3 mutations in G1 that was analogous with the other receptor TKIs acting on the epidermal growth factor receptors. In the mouse xenograft models using subcutaneously transplanted UM-UC-14 and MGHU3, orally administered PD173074 suppressed tumor growth and induced apoptotic changes comparable with the results of our in vitro assay. These findings elucidated the effectiveness of molecular targeted approach for bladder UC harboring FGFR3 mutations and the potential utility to decrease the intravesical recurrence of nonmuscle invasive bladder UC after transurethral surgical resection.


A hard-masking real-time program is one that satisfies safety (including timing constraints) and liveness properties in the absence and presence of faults. It has been shown that any hard-masking program can be decomposed into a fault-intolerant version and a set of fault-tolerance components known as detectors and delta-correctors. In this paper, we introduce a set of sufficient conditions for interference-freedom among fault-tolerance components and real-time programs. We demonstrate that such conditions elegantly enable us to compositionally verify the correctness of hard-masking programs. Preliminary model checking experiments show very encouraging results in both achieving speedups and reducing memory usage in verification of embedded systems.


The activity of adenylate cyclase in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is controlled by two G-protein systems, the Ras proteins and the Gα protein Gpa2. Glucose activation of cAMP synthesis is thought to be mediated by Gpa2 and its G-protein-coupled receptor Gpr1. Using a sensitive GTP-loading assay for Ras2 we demonstrate that glucose addition also triggers a fast increase in the GTP loading state of Ras2 concomitant with the glucose-induced increase in cAMP. This increase is severely delayed in a strain lacking Cdc25, the guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Ras proteins. Deletion of the Ras-GAPs IRA2 (alone or with IRA1) or the presence of RAS2Val19 allele causes constitutively high Ras GTP loading that no longer increases upon glucose addition. The glucose-induced increase in Ras2 GTP-loading is not dependent on Gpr1 or Gpa2. Deletion of these proteins causes higher GTP loading indicating that the two G-protein systems might directly or indirectly interact. Because deletion of GPR1 or GPA2 reduces the glucose-induced cAMP increase the observed enhancement of Ras2 GTP loading is not sufficient for full stimulation of cAMP synthesis. Glucose phosphorylation by glucokinase or the hexokinases is required for glucose-induced Ras2 GTP loading. These results indicate that glucose phosphorylation might sustain activation of cAMP synthesis by enhancing Ras2 GTP loading likely through inhibition of the Ira proteins. Strains with reduced feedback inhibition on cAMP synthesis also display elevated basal and induced Ras2 GTP loading consistent with the Ras2 protein acting as a target of the feedback-inhibition mechanism.


On the basis of the non-covalent interaction between template and monomer, porous molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized by a thermal-initiated polymerization method using huperzine A as template, acrylamide, or methacrylic acid as function monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linking agent. The interaction between template and functional monomers was studied by UV spectrophotometry, which showed a formation of huperzine A-monomer complexes with stoichiometric ratio of 1 : 2 in the pre-polymerized systems. The resultant MIP particles were tested in the equilibrium binding experiment to analyze their adsorption ability to huperzine A, and were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) study. The recognition properties of MIP were estimated in solid-phase extraction by selecting four compounds (isolated from the Chinese herb Huperzia serrata) as substrates, and were compared with and prior to those of the NIP. High affinity and adsorption of MIP1 which was prepared in chloroform with huperzine A as imprinted molecule, and acrylamide (AM) as functional monomer, made an attractive application of MIP1 in separation processes. In final, using MIP1 solid-phase extraction micro-column, huperzine A was enriched and separated from the real extraction sample of Huperzia serrata. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009


ABSTRACT At the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit, donors pledged to 'jointly mobilize' $100 billion/year for climate finance by 2020. The Copenhagen Accord and other agreements do not specify who should provide how much of this collective target beyond the general principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR&RC), according to which the more responsible a country is for climate change and/or the more capable of paying, the more climate finance it should provide. Two additional burden-sharing mechanisms may explain how much climate finance donors provide: willingness to pay or 'greenness' and self-interest. These mechanisms are tested to determine which best explains current patterns in climate finance commitments by analysing bilateral climate aid. There is evidence for capability—richer countries provide more climate aid. In contrast, responsibility, greenness or self-interest do not induce more climate aid commitments. Better understanding the drivers of climate aid helps to mobilize more climate finance, and advances understanding of (sectoral) aid allocation.


This study investigates the factors that influence B2B e-commerce adoption among public listed companies in Saudi Arabia and determines the key organizational and technological issues that facilitate or hinder e-commerce adoption among these companies. It is also intended in the study to develop a theoretical framework which can help to understand and interpret B2B e-commerce adoption among public listed companies in Saudi Arabia. The study aims to identify a comprehensive set of determinants that influence Saudi companies e-commerce adoption. A questionnaire was used to collect data by means of personal interview with the companies. The final samples were able to be collected from 91 public listed companies, representing 62 percent of all Saudi companies listed in 2012. The main findings of this study reveal that innovation characteristics, context factors, communications factors, and organizational culture factors play a significant role in influencing e-commerce adoption among the companies. A surprising finding was that environmental factors has negatively affected B2B Adoption of E-commerce. However, a closer examination on the study managed to explain this phenomena. This negative direct effect was actually found to be off-setted by the indirect positive effect of environmental factors on B2B e-commerce adoption. Therefore, the environmental factors has indeed indirectly affected the adoption of B2B e-commerce by Saudi companies through its effect on the organizational culture. This study has several limitations. First, since the data set is cross-sectional in nature, this research can only show associations among the variables but cannot be used to analyze longitudinal processes, such as e-commerce functional evolution or its impact on business in a dynamic context. Second, this study has only focused on companies in Saudi Arabia, which may not be the same with public listed companies from other Arab countries. Future research direction would be to expand this study into other countries, such as other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, to enable generalization of the finding be made on companies in the whole Arab world .


The 1945 Constitution of the State of the Republic of Indonesia opens the possibility of a government structure within the Indonesian system of government. Then the existence of the village is very important in the implementation of the government and in order to realize the National goal. Besides, the village is the leading structure of the government as the spearhead of the success of national development and development carried out by Desa Itu Sendiri. One of these villages is Lubuk Siam Village, Siak Hulu District, Kampar District. In the execution of development in the village using village funds and village income. However, in practice, the original income of Lubuk Siam village was accepted by the adat institution so that the original income of the village was 0 (zero) rupiah. While villages have original source of village income comes from third party donations, lake management and other legitimate income. This study aims to find out how the working relationship of village government with village customary institution in Lubuk Siam village Siak Hulu subdistrict of Kampar regency. To know the system of management of original income of village (PAD) of Lubuk Siam village of Siak Hulu district Kampar regency. The method used in this research is qualitative with the technique of data collection is observation, interview and documentation. As for the informant of the research are Village Head, Customary Institution, Chairman of BPD and Community Leaders and Village Treasurer. The result of the research is the working relationship of the Data Institution with the Village Government in the management of village wealth is first: the partnership relationship in the sense of equally managing the income of the village, the coordination relationship with the deliberation and the social control relationship in which the adat institution oversees the use of the fund. While the management system is received by customary institutions and managed by the village government for village development activities. From the result of the research, it can be concluded that the original village revenue management system of lubuk siam is not in accordance with the applicable regulations because the adat institution is not regulated by its authority in the management of village's wealth. To be supervised by the government in this case Kampar regency government. In order that the management does not violate the rules, the village of Lubuk Siam Subdistrict Siak Hulu proposed to be a traditional village.


Most animals, including humans, produce natural sex hormones such as estrogens: 17β-estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1). These compounds are able to disrupt the reproductive systems of living organisms at trace concentrations (ng$L). This experiment tests the hypothesis that 1% slow pyrolysis biochar-amended sandy soil could retain significant amount of estrogens (E1, E2) from poultry manure in its second year of application. The experiment was conducted over 46 days and consisted of a series of lysimeters containing sandy soil with biocharamended topsoil. The application rate of poultry manure was kept at 2.47 kg$m. The biochar held a significant concentration of hormone during the first year of its application. However, in the following year (current study), there was no significant retention of hormones in the biochar-amended soil. During the first year after application, the biochar was fresh, so its pores were available for hydrophobic interactions and held significant concentration of hormones. As time passed there were several biotic and abiotic changes on the surface of the biochar so that after some physical fragmentation, pores on the surface were no longer available for hydrophobic interactions. The biochar started releasing dissolved organic carbon, which facilitated greater mobility of hormones from poultry manure down the soil profile.


HIV remains incurable due to the existence of a reservoir of cells that harbors stable and latent form of the virus, which stays invisible to the immune system and is not targeted by the current antiretroviral therapy (cART). Transcription and splicing have been shown to reinforce HIV-1 latency in resting CD4+ T cells. Reversal of latency by the use of latency reversal agents (LRAs) in the "shock and kill" approach has been studied extensively in an attempt to purge this reservoir but has thus far not shown any success in clinical trials due to the lack of development of adequate small molecules that can efficiently perturb this reservoir. The protocol presented here provides a method for reliably and efficiently assessing latency reversal agents (LRAs) on HIV transcription and splicing. This approach is based on the use of an LTR-driven dual color reporter that can simultaneously measure the effect of an LRA on transcription and splicing by flow cytometry. The protocol described here is adequate for adherent cells as well as the cells in suspension. It is useful for testing a large number of drugs in a high throughput system. The method is technically simple to implement and cost-effective. In addition, the use of flow cytometry allows the assessment of cell viability and thus drug toxicity at the same time.


Polycrystalline samples of Ru1−xNbxSr2Gd1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10−δ, 0≤x≤0.5, have been synthesized and structurally characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Resistivity, magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements have been done and analysed considering a phase separation scenario. A strong suppression of the cluster glass (CG) transition associated with niobium doping was identified. In fact, the CG phase was not present in samples for x≥0.2, leading to changes in the magnetic hysteresis loops measured at low temperatures. These hysteresis loops can be explained as a result of the contribution of two distinct magnetic phases: the canted AFM phase and embedded Ru4+-rich clusters which order as a CG in low temperatures. Interestingly, the significant changes in the magnetic response of the material do affect the superconducting transition temperature Tc. It was found that both Tc and the superconducting fraction are reduced in samples which present the spin glass phase. Therefore, our results point to some coupling between magnetism and superconductivity in this ruthenocuprate family, the presence of the magnetic moment being deleterious for the superconductivity.


Mexico, which is considered the origin and the biodiversity center of the family Agavaceae, hosts 117 of the 155 known species. Agave tequilana Weber cv. Azul is a national icon and the most widely cultivated species for the production of tequila, a widely known alcoholic beverage. In spring 2013, a disease of A. tequilana was observed in Tala, (Jalisco, Mexico) which greatly reduced its availability for tequila production. Affected plants showed extensive chlorosis, followed by yellowing and necrosis of stem and leaf tissues. As the disease progressed, leaves collapsed and hung downwards around the central head. To investigate the possibility of a phytoplasma infection, DNA was extracted according to Lee et al. (1993) from 25 symptomatic and 25 symptomless plants. A nested PCR was performed using two universal primer sets specific for the phytoplasma 16S rRNA gene, i.e. R16mF2/R16mR1 followed by R16F2n/R16R2 (Gundersen and Lee, 1996). The expected 1,200 bp product was obtained from 88% of the symptomatic plants. The PCR products were cleaned with a Wizard kit (Promega, USA) and cloned in Escherichia coli using a TOPO-TA cloning kit (Invitrogen, USA) in accordance with manufacturer's instructions. When nucleotide sequences of the amplified products (accession Nos KJ156364, KJ156365) were compared with those available in GenBank, it was found that the agave phytoplasma was most similar (99.98%) to the Texas phoenix palm phytoplasma (USA, JF791816) and Sabal mexicana decline phytoplasma (Mexico, GU473588). Phylogenetic and putative restriction site analysis of 16Sr DNA indicated that the phytoplasma associated with A. tequilana is closely related to the lethal yellows 16SrIV group. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a 16SrIV group phytoplasma associated with a disease of A. tequilana.


Topicality. The analysis of scientific and methodological literature shows the lack of a unified approach to compiling training system and peculiarities of compiling training programs for athletes of different nosological groups at different stages of long-term training. The Purpose of the Study is to identify the characteristics of training athletes with disabilities at the stage of sports and rehabilitation training in strength sports. Methods and Methodology of the Study. To solve this task, analysis and summary of scientific and methodological literature was carried out; sociological methods (questionnaire) was used; methods of mathematical statistics. The research was carried out on the basis of 15 Regional Centers of Physical Culture and Sports for the Disabled «Invasport», 54 coaches in strength sports participated in our research. Results. Based on the analysis of obtained results, we have found out to what extent the declared tasks of sports and rehabilitation stage in the practice of adaptive sports were realized; as well as recommended types of sports to be included in the training program at the stage of sports and rehabilitation training for athletes with visual impairment and injuries to locomotor system in strength sports. Specialists in the field of adaptive sports consider the stage of sports and rehabilitation training solely within the framework of solving the problems of recreation and rehabilitation of people with disabilities. This determines the need to ensure sporting orientation of athletes with disabilities, preparation and creation of prerequisites for further sports training in future at the stage of sports and rehabilitation training. Conclusions. Having determined the significance of sports for athletes with disabilities, it has been established that the most appropriate for athletes with visual impairment and locomotors injuries is to include swimming, powerlifting, athletics, and armwrestling in training program. The necessity of scientific and methodological substantiation of training programs for athletes of different nosological groups in strength sports at the stage of sports and rehabilitation training has been confirmed.


ABSTRACT A new fossil from the Late Eocene BQ-2 locality in the Birket Qarun Formation in the Fayum Depression of northern Egypt (dated to ~37 mybp) does not fit within the diagnosis of any previously described family of bats from Africa or any other continent. Known from a partial maxilla, this taxon has dilambdodont tribosphenic molars with a well-developed, symmetrical, W-shaped ectoloph lacking a distinct mesostyle but with a strong parastyle and shallow U-shaped ectoflexus—all traits that are found in most archaic bat families and that are probably plesiomorphic for bats. However, this taxon also has an M2 with a large metaconule cusp and a large, bulbous hypocone set low on the posterolingual corner of the tooth, neither of which occur in any known bat family, living or extinct. Also notable is the size of the new BQ-2 bat, which appears to have been approximately the same size as the largest extant bats with dilambdodont dentitions, falling well within the size range of plant-eating megabats and carnivorous bats from several extant lineages. The combination of traits in the new BQ-2 bat suggests that it was omnivorous, probably including insects, small vertebrates, and plant material its diet. In this regard it represents an ecological niche previously unknown among archaic Eocene bats, which are otherwise thought to have been strictly animalivorous. Because extinct Eocene bat families exhibit considerable mosaic evolution in morphological traits, do not seem to have inhabited a uniform ecological niche, and do not form a monophyletic group, we argue against use of the name "Eochiroptera" to collectively refer to these taxa.


Intelligent network disk (IND) storage system is a novel network storage system, in this storage system, the increasing number of clients and the probability of noncontiguous data access will reduce the hit rate of limited cache and lower the performance of storage system. This paper presents a client-side cache model of IND storage system, and introduces a strategy of page swapping to protect single copy based on LRU. The experiment shows that method above can effectively reduce the negative influence of the increasing number of clients and improve the performance of IND storage system.


History and Objectives: Sleep disorders are very common in children and with various manifestations and for the latter reason, their complications are less commonly recognized as behavioral, learning disturbances and/or neurobehavioral. Considering the high incidence of such disorders, this research study was carried out to find the ways for diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. Materials and Methods: This review article was prepared by carefully studying 35 articles from 1993 to 2000 and the reference developmental behavioral pediatrics. Results: It was found out that sleep disorders are the most common complaints among children and can lead to inattention and memory and learning disturbances. The sleep disorders include somnolence, no sleep, associated respiratory problems, nightmare, consciousness disturbances and disorders of motor behaviors and nocturnal urination. Furthermore, it can lead ton to other systemic disturbances and/or psychological disorders. Conclusion: Although sleep disorders are very common in children, but they are often not diagnosed and can lead to neuro-psychological disturbances. It is recommended to consider the sleep disorders in differential diagnosis of behavioral and learning problems in children and to perform more studies in this field.


This article provides an overview of the contributions made to this special issue on feedback by the seven papers, examining how they reflect both the growing interest in different areas of research into feedback on writing and the continuing search by teachers for more effective feedback practices. Focusing first on the papers by Van Beuningen, Storch, Evans, Hartshorn and Allen, it discusses how these papers situate written corrective feedback research in the wider area of second language acquisition research and contribute to the debate in feedback research on research design issues. This is followed by an examination of the major findings of the four situated empirical studies by Bitchener, Ma, El-ebyary and Windeatt, and Martinez and Roca, which make up the second section. Echoing the authors of these papers, this article argues that we need more longitudinal naturalistic studies, adopting both cognitive and socio-cultural SLA frameworks to investigate the role of feedback and its impact on individual learners in more depth. Finally some pedagogic implications are discussed, including the need for feedback practices which facilitate students' abilities to self regulate and evaluate their performance, and the need to raise teachers' awareness of the different feedback sources and modes of delivery available to them.


This paper deals with integrated conventional and advanced exergetic, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analyses. Such an advanced analysis evaluates the interactions among components of the overall system, and the real potential for improving a system component. Splitting the exergy destruction, the capital investment cost and the component-related environmental impact associated with each single component of an energy conversion system into endogenous/exogenous and avoidable/unavoidable parts enhances these analyses and improves the quality of the conclusions obtained from them. The paper consists of two parts. In the first one, the theoretical development is presented, whereas in the second part an application to a gas-turbine-based cogeneration system is discussed.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Clickstreams on individual websites have been studied for decades to gain insights into user interests and to improve website experiences. This paper proposes and examines a novel sequence modeling approach for web clickstreams, that also considers multi-tab branching and backtracking actions across websites to capture the full action sequence of a user while browsing. All of this is done using machine learning on the client side to obtain a more comprehensive view and at the same time preserve privacy. We evaluate our formalism with a model trained on data collected in a user study with three different browsing tasks based on different human information seeking strategies from psychological literature. Our results show that the model can successfully distinguish between browsing behaviors and correctly predict future actions. A subsequent qualitative analysis identified five common web browsing patterns from our collected behavior data, which help to interpret the model. More generally, this illustrates the power of overparameterization in ML and offers a new way of modeling, reasoning with, and prediction of observable sequential human interaction behaviors.


We extend the well-known static spatial Durbin model by introducing a time-varying spatial dependence parameter. The updating steps for this model are functions of past data and have information theoretic optimality properties. The static parameters are conveniently estimated by maximum likelihood. We establish the theoretical properties of the model and show that the maximum likelihood estimators of the static parameters are consistent and asymptotically normal. Using spatial weights based on cross-border lending data and European sovereign CDS spread data over the period 2009–2014, we find evidence of contagion in terms of high, time-varying spatial spillovers in the perceived credit riskiness of European sovereigns during the sovereign debt crisis. We find a particular downturn in spatial dependence in the second half of 2012 after the outright monetary transactions policy measures taken by the European Central Bank. Earlier non-standard monetary operations by the ECB did not induce such changes. The findings are robust to a wide range of alternative model specifications.


A technique for the calculation of electron states in a helical magnetic structure based on a derivation of the Dirac equation by the relativistic Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method is presented. Analysis of two limiting cases has been carried out: transition from a helical magnet to a relativistic ferromagnet and to the non-relativistic variant of the theory. The main dispersive equations for a relativistic magnet with helical magnetic structure obtained in this paper makes it possible to study the dependence of the ferromagnet electronic spectrum on the spin orientation.


Chronic administration of corticosteroids has been used to induce pulmonary infection in animals, but the specific mechanisms by which corticosteroids modulate pulmonary host defence have not been clarified. Specifically, little is known about how corticosteroids influence the function of lung cells, such as alveolar macrophages. Cytotoxicity and interleukin‐1 elaboration are two important mechanisms of macrophage defence against pathogens. To determine whether chronic administration of dexamethasone alters cytotoxicity and interleukin‐1 elaboration by alveolar macrophages, we studied alveolar macrophages from rats treated with oral doses of dexamethasone for 2 weeks. We found that unstimulated alveolar macrophages from dexamethasone‐treated rats exhibited increased cytotoxicity compared with alveolar macrophages from control rats. Moreover, alveolar macrophages from both groups of rats showed enhanced cylotoxicity after in vitro interferon‐gamma and lipopolysaccharide treatment, in a dose‐dependent manner. Although no spontaneous interleukin‐1 elaboration was detected from alveolar macrophages from either group of rats, lipopolysaccharide increased interleukin‐1 elaboration by alveolar macrophages from both groups of rats equivalently. These results indicate that chronic oral administration of dexamethasone to rats increases cytotoxicity, and does not alter the capacity of alveolar macrophages to elaborate interleukin‐1. Therefore, chronic corticosteroid administration appears to produce selective alterations in these defence mechanisms of alveolar macrophages.


Expert systems have provided solutions to different problems, f rom strategic planning of marketing to consulting in process reengineering. In general, the majority of studies published are based on advanced techniques of artificial intelligence, using specific languages or tools that require certain knowledge of reasoning processes to model information. With the advent of the Internet and its evolution, web-based expert systems have become very important. Moreover, the arrival of web-based expert systems that can connect to the Internet has made it easy to access information from any place at any time, creating new requirements for web systems. In this research, a tool is proposed for development of webbased expert systems and utilizes Semantic Web technology which permits the knowledge engineer and domain expert to define the knowledge without having to know anything about programming languages and AI. The proposed tool enables the knowledge engineer to insert and update the domain knowledge; facts and rules. The facts of the knowledge can be annotated using the semantic concepts and relations found in WordNet ontology. The tool can induce new rules based on the annotated semantic concepts and relations. Using Semantic Web technology supports the tool to utilize the ontology as knowledge formalization. Using the proposed tool, the Web-based expert system can be developed simply and takes short time by using its knowledge base, inference engine and Web-based user interface.


A general method for determining the velocity constants of initiation, propagation, transfer and termination in polymerization reactions is described. The method depends essentially on the measurement of the rate of increase of viscosity for various rates of chain initiation. In the case of radical polymerizations photochemical initiation is most convenient. Measurement of the photochemical after-effect then gives four independent relations between the four velocity constants. The method has been tested by a detailed study of the thermal and photochemical polymerization of styrene. Velocity constants have been determined at 0 and 25° C, and the activation energies and frequency factors calculated. Results are given in tables 5 and 6. It is shown for the first time that chain transfer is important in the thermal polymerization of pure styrene, occurring 11 times per kinetic chain at 25° C. This result invalidates conclusions which previous workers have reached. Other rather unexpected results are that the initiation reaction has a much higher activation energy than has been generally supposed, and a normal frequency factor, while termination is activated. A detailed kinetic scheme is proposed which removes certain unjustifiable assumptions present in earlier ones. This is shown to be consistent with all the available evidence.


The scope of our study is to analyze the negative behavioral response of angry and dissatisfied customers of service sector of Pakistan. From previous studies we found that anger and dissatisfaction are two different unfavorable states in which a customer finds himself after a failed service experience. The expected negative behavioral responses are negative word of mouth, complaint behavior, third party complaint behavior or switching behavior. The survey research of Pakistani customers revealed that there is not any significant difference in responses on angry and dissatisfied customers. In both states the preferred responses are negative word of mouth and switching. They might choose to complain to service provider but chances are lesser. Third party complaint behavior is not visible in Pakistan at all.


Abstract A major reorganization of healthcare services is occurring in the United States. It has evolved from the solo- and group-practice models of the 1940s with fee-for-service and insurer-indemnification financing that used paper-based information systems to support preventive medical services. In the 1990s there emerged nation-wide, managed-care plans employing enhanced computer-based information systems with online preventive medical practice guidelines and Internet-supported home-care telemedicine. It is helpful to review how this major reengineering of medicine has come about.


Do it yourself!! - and cut down on some of those expenses. This is an easy and inexpensive box to build from 1,4" plywood. The material I used is as follows: %"Plywood I Jlh" X II Vi" - 3 pieces (top and bottom) 11 Y2" x 12" - 2 pieces (front and back) 12" x 12" - 2 pieces (sides) Y-i" Lumber 3,4'' x 3,4 '' x 1 1 V2'' - 2 pieces 3,4" x 3,4" x IO" - 2 pieces ¥.i" X ¥.i" x 3"-1 piece % " Wood Dowel %" x 16" Wood glue,%" wood drill bit, small 3,4" wood screw, 3,4'' wire brad, nails (small nails) Assembly 1,4'' x I I Y2'' x I I V2'' - 3 pieces - one piece for the top and two pieces I glued together to save from buying 1h'' plywood for the bottom. 1,4" x II Vz'' x 12" - 2 pieces - Front and back, glue and nail together to bottom piece (2 pieces glued together, I I Vi" x II Y2 "). I used 3,4" length wire brad nails. Small nails are used so the plywood will not split. 14" X 12" x 12" - 2 pieces, for the sides - glue and nail on the parts already assembled. ¥.i" x 3,4" x I Jlh" - 2 pieces, and ¥.i" X 3,4" x 10" - 2 pieces. These four pieces are glued and nailed inside, \4" from the top. This is for the top to rest on and to support the nest. This is a good place to put your hangers, whatever type you like. I also used a 3" x 3,4" x ¥.!" for a handle for the top. % '' X 16'' dowel for perch, through the nest. This I used a wood screw to fasten through the back and glue in the front. Drill a small hole, smaller then the screw, in one end of the dowel. I did this to keep the dowel from splitting. I used a % " wood drill bit to drill the hole in the front. After the glue has dried, I used a jig saw and cut a 3'' hole as in the diagram I have drawn. You may also like to sand the edges of the top so as to fit a little loose. I also put 2%" holes in the sides at the top for ventilation. With this nest box, you do not need hardware (hinges). I like this type box for with the top opening, the chicks cannot fall out. Also, if the temperature gets too warm, you can leave the top part way open for more air. I have never had trouble with birds getting out with this type of nest. I prefer to use wood chips in the nest box for cockatiels. The chips make a good nest for the eggs and gives both the hen and cock bird something to chew on to keep them occupied while setting on the eggs. I find that the birds will not chew on the nest box as much with chips in the nest box. I also have found that by using chips of cedar, you may not have as much trouble from mites and lice. By using the wood chips, I am now using my nest boxes for the fourth year and there is very little damage to the boxes from chewing. This damage is at the 3'' diameter hole only.


In this lecture we present the main ideas of the convergence, in the scaling limit, of the critical site percolation exploration path on the triangular lattice to SLE6. This example is one of only a select few where convergence to SLE of an appropriate discrete statistical mechanics model is completely understood. As such, the result is crucial for the determination of the critical exponents in two dimensions and in all applications of SLE to percolation. Our primary reference for this result is the recent paper of Camia and Newman [6]. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 82B27, 60K35, 82B43, 60D05, 30C35.


Objective: The purpose of this report is to compare satisfaction of patients rehabilitated with full-mouth fixed prostheses using computer-aided flapless implant placement and immediate loading with patients rehabilitated with conventional removable prostheses. Materials and Methods: The study included 30 consecutive fully edentulous patients who received 312 implants and 30 matched controls treated with conventional removable prostheses. Mandible and maxilla were treated in the same surgical session with computer-guided flapless approach using NobelGuide protocol. Prefabricated screw-retained fixed prostheses were inserted at the end of surgery. Clinical and radiographic evaluations were assessed at 6, 12, and 36 months. At baseline and 5 years after prostheses delivery, patients answered OHIP-EDENT questionnaire (Oral Health Impact Profile for Edentulous subjects) to assess satisfaction. Results: The implant survival rate was 97.9%, whereas the average marginal bone loss was 1.9 ± 1.3 mm after 3 years. At 6 months, patients showed significantly greater satisfaction with their fixed rehabilitation as compared to conventional dentures. Conclusions: The results of this study confirm that rehabilitation with a prefabricated fixed prosthesis supported by implants placed with NobelGuide protocol significantly increases the quality of life in fully edentulous patients when compared with complete dentures.


It is known that the Buerger cell, a + b + c = abs min, is ambiguous. Uniqueness is usually achieved by an additional system of inequalities which leads to the generally accepted Niggli cell. However, this system is rather unusual and does not suggest any geometrical meaning for the Niggli cell. In this paper four types of unique cells originating from the Buerger cell are introduced by means of simple conditions which have an extremal character. Any of these cells may stand for a reduced cell and has an express geometrical property. One of the four types coincides with the Niggli cell, which is thus given a geometrical interpretation. Systems of inequalities are shown that allow recognition of the cell of any type and algorithms are presented for achieving it. An algorithm for obtaining all Buerger cells of a lattice is included. The use of the reciprocal lattice enables the definition of four further unique cells which, however, need not be Buerger cells and are not discussed in detail. The mathematics must deal with a number of inequalities which often contain square roots, and sometimes rather intricate technical tricks are required.


The clinical features of interface Candida keratitis after deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), may imitate rejection or crystalline keratopathy. We report here an 18-year-old woman presented with red eye, 4 months after undergoing DALK. Slit lamp examination revealed keratic precipitates (KPs) and cojunctival injection. She was prescribed corticosteroid treatment for endothelial rejection by another ophthalmologist because of misdiagnosis, but suffered a recurrence of symptoms after reduction of the corticosteroid treatment. At that time, she was referred to our office. The recurrence persisted despite antibiotic and antifungal therapies. Ten days after treatment with interface irrigation with amphotericin, the infiltration and hypopyon were resolved. Topical steroid was added after 3 months of antifungal monotherapy. Irrigant cultures confirmed the presence of Candida albicans. The corneal graft appeared semi-clear with no signs of infection at 17-month follow-up. We recommend a close follow-up and a timely intervention to prevent the need for more invasive treatment such as penetrating keratoplasty.


The smart grids are electricity networks that can intelligently integrate the behaviour and actions of all users connected to it in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies. One of the reasons why smart grid is generating so much interest right now is its ability to enable the integration of renewable energy into the electric power network, leading to a broader generation portfolio and potentially beneficial carbon implications. In this presentation, a general overview of the current power electronic technology that permits the integration of renewable energies into the smart grid will be analyzed. In particular, it will be described the "Smart City" project aims to develop a demonstrator of a smart grid in Malaga city in which customers and distribution companies work together to achieve sustainable energy consumption, by increased use of renewable energy sources, bringing generation closer to customers and making a commitment to rational and efficient consumption. A network of this type is essential in order to deploy electric vehicles.


Leatherback turtles Dermochelys coriacea nest across the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR), including at low densities in many Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Most (87.8%) WCR governments protect the species from direct harvest; however, gravid females are at risk as they pass through unprotected regimes, especially among Eastern Caribbean SIDS where mortal- ity can threaten the remnant nesting assemblages that characterize most Caribbean islands. We summarize flipper tag recovery data of adult females moving between WCR States or between islands within States. Between January 2002 and December 2013, WC-series tags obtained from WIDECAST's Marine Turtle Tagging Centre in Barbados were attached to 3151 leatherbacks. Most (64.3%) were tagged in Eastern Caribbean SIDS, with the remainder tagged in Guyana, Venezuela, and Costa Rica. The majority of females continued to nest at the location of tagging, but 211 tagged females were recovered elsewhere on 240 occasions, including 22 different sites in 17 countries. Females travelled significantly greater straight line distances between locations in different nesting seasons (x � = 218.9 km) than within nesting seasons (x � = 160.6 km). Rates of within- and between-season recoveries (2.8 and 4.3%, respectively) are similar to previously pub- lished estimates, but are likely to be underestimates, as few of the 470 known nesting beaches in the WCR are nocturnally monitored. Our data support a North Caribbean nesting population, a Southern Caribbean/Guianas stock, and suggest the existence of a Central Antillean nesting population nesting primarily within Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, and Saint Lucia.


Children with other extramedullary relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia are currently poorly characterized. We aim to assess the prevalence and the clinical, therapeutic and prognostic features of extramedullary localizations other than central nervous system or testis in children with relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) treated on a relapsed ALL protocol. Patients and Methods: Patients with relapse of ALL and LBL, treated according to the multicentric ALL-REZ BFM trials between 1983 and 2015, were analyzed for other extramedullary relapse (OEMR) of the disease regarding clinical features, treatment and outcome. Local treatment/irradiation has been recommended on an individual basis and performed only in a minority of patients. Results: A total of 132 out of 2323 (5.6%) patients with ALL relapse presented with an OEMR (combined bone marrow relapse n = 78; isolated extramedullary relapse n = 54). Compared to the non-OEMR group, patients with OEMR had a higher rate of T-immunophenotype (p < 0.001), a higher rate of LBL (p < 0.001) and a significantly different distribution of time to relapse, i.e., more very early and late relapses compared to the non-OEMR group (p = 0.01). Ten-year probabilities of event-free survival (pEFS) and overall survival (pOS) in non-OEMR vs. OEMR were 0.38 ± 0.01 and 0.32 ± 0.04 (p = 0.0204) vs. 0.45 ± 0.01 and 0.37 ± 0.04 (p = 0.0112), respectively. OEMRs have been classified into five subgroups according to the main affected compartment: lymphatic organs (n = 32, 10y-pEFS 0.50 ± 0.09), mediastinum (n = 35, 10y-pEFS 0.11 ± 0.05), bone (n = 12, 0.17 ± 0.11), skin and glands (n = 21, 0.32 ± 0.11) and other localizations (n = 32, 0.41 ± 0.09). Patients with OEMR and T-lineage ALL/LBL showed a significantly worse 10y-pEFS (0.15 ± 0.04) than those with B-Precursor-ALL (0.49 ± 0.06, p < 0.001). Stratified into standard risk (SR) and high risk (HR) groups, pEFS and pOS of OEMR subgroups were in the expected range whereas the mediastinal subgroup had a significantly worse outcome. Subsequent relapses involved more frequently the bone marrow (58.4%) than isolated extramedullary compartments (41.7%). In multivariate Cox regression, OEMR confers an independent prognostic factor for inferior pEFS and pOS. Conclusion: OEMR is adversely related to prognosis. However, the established risk classification can be applied for all subgroups except mediastinal relapses requiring treatment intensification. Generally, isolated OEMR of T-cell-origin needs an intensified treatment including allogeneic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) as a curative approach independent from time to relapse. Local therapy such as surgery and irradiation may be of benefit in selected cases. The indication needs to be clarified in further investigations.


One of the most influential alchemical authors of the early modern period was Michael Sendivogius whose early life is shrouded in mystery. He may be labelled the most famous Polish scientific writer between Copernicus and Marie Skłodowska-Curie, but because of the difficulties involved in researching the biography of any alchemist, there has been relatively little interest in him among Polish historians. The early work of Roman Bugaj (author of the still fundamental monograph) and Włodzimierz Hubicki (who made his research available to the international community) has been continued only by the English-born Zbigniew Szydło and the author of this article. The roots of many legends about Sendivogius were three mid-17th century short biographies, none of which is trustworthy, so it is crucial to verify the received myth and the version constructed in the 1960's and 1970's with primary sources and evidence from the recent "new historiography of alchemy". The present article examines them in the light of newly discovered sources and reinterpretation of the old ones. The genealogy of the Sedzimir family is discussed at length to show that Sendivogius most probably was not its member but only a pretender in order to assume (or prove) the status of a nobleman. Several possible hypotheses about his origins are presented. He is known to have studied at three universities (Leipzig, Vienna and Altdorf) but authors of early panegyrics dedicated to Sendivogius list more universities which he may have attended. The most interesting is that of Cambridge, listed as the first one, because practically no Poles or Czechs went there at the time. Finally, his marriage to Veronica Stiebar, a wealthy widow of a Franconian knightly family, and her interesting family relationships (links to Erasmus, Camerarius, Paracelsus and the original Doctor Faustus) are discussed. The period covered is that before Sendivogius moved to Prague in about 1597, having already been a courtier of Rudolf II since early 1594.


Today, smartphones with high-quality built-in cameras are very common. People prefer to take pictures from documents with smartphones instead of scanning them with a scanner. Due to the limitation of scanners input size, it is difficult to scan everything with them. Resolution and quality of smartphone cameras are not enough to take a picture from large documents like posters. In this paper, we proposed a pipeline to make a high-resolution image of a document from its captured video. We suppose that during the record of the video, the camera was moved slowly all over the surface of the document from a close distance. In the proposed method we find the location of each frame in the document and we use a sharpness criterion to select the highest possible quality for each region of the document among all available frames. We evaluated our method on the SmartDoc Video dataset and reported the promising results.


Raman spectroscopy was used to study the low-frequency (⩽200 cm−1) vibrations in crystalline samples of six naturally occurring nucleosides: deoxythymidine (dT), deoxycytidine (dC), deoxyadenosine (dA), uridine (rU), cytidine (rC), and adenosine (rA). Such low-frequency vibrations are important for biological processes in which the conformation of a nucleic acid molecule changes. These experiments also provide a test for the low-frequency vibrational modes of dT, dC, and dA predicted by Shishkin et al.


This paper deals with the reliability of task graph schedules with transient and fail-stop failures. While computing the reliability of a given schedule is easy in the absence of task replication, the problem becomes much more difficult when task replication is used. We fill a complexity gap of the scheduling literature: our main result is that this reliability problem is #P'-Complete (hence at least as hard as NP-Complete problems), both for transient and for fail-stop processor failures. We also study the evaluation of a restricted class of schedules, where a task cannot be scheduled before all replicas of all its predecessors have completed their execution. Although the complexity in this case with fail-stop failures remains open, we provide an algorithm to estimate the reliability while limiting evaluation costs, and we validate this approach through simulations.


Biofilm represents a potential strut in bacterial treatment failure. It has a dual action; it affords microbial resistance against antibiotics and facilitate transmission of pathogenic bacteria. Nosocomial bacteria pose a serious problem in healthcare units; it prolongs patient hospital stay and increases the mortality rates beside other awful economical effect. This study was planned for targeting nosocomial bacterial biofilm using natural and biologically safe compounds like Chitosan and/or Pluronic F127. Ninety-five isolates were recovered from 107 nosocomial clinical samples. Different bacterial and fungal species were detected, from which Klebsiella pneumonia (23%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (19%), Acinetobacter baumannii (18%) and E.coli (17%) were the predominate organisms. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanni and Klebsiella pneumonia were the abundant antibiotic resistant strains with multi-resistance pattern of 72%, 65% and 59%, respectively. A significant percentage of these isolates were strong biofilm forming. Herein, we investigate the effect of Chitosan and Pluronic F127 alone and in combination with each other against biofilm production. Chitosan show variable degree of biofilm inhibition, while Pluronic F127 was able to retard biofilm formation by 80% to 90% in most strain. There is no significant difference (P< 0.05) between Pluronic F127 alone and its effect in combination with Chitosan.


Transfusion therapy has been the mainstay for treating the anemia of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Recently, several factors, including the awareness of associated risks, especially the transmission of blood-borne diseases and the transient treatment effect with regard to reversal of anemic symptoms, have caused a reassessment of transfusion therapy. Recombinant human erythropoietin (epoetin) has emerged as the alternative treatment, capable of sustained reversal of anemia without the associated risks of transfusions. The result of epoetin therapy has been marked improvement in the quality of life of ESRD patients. However, the advent of this therapy has also changed the nurse's role in caring for ESRD patients, as new medical management issues are identified and supportive care is tailored to the individual patient.


Vaccination is a potentially useful approach for the control of disease in wildlife populations. The effectiveness of vaccination is contingent in part on obtaining adequate vaccine coverage at the population level. However, measuring vaccine coverage in wild animal populations is challenging and so there is a need to develop robust approaches to estimate coverage and so contribute to understanding the likely efficacy of vaccination. We used a modified capture mark recapture technique to estimate vaccine coverage in a wild population of European badgers (Meles meles) vaccinated by live-trapping and injecting with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin as part of a bovine tuberculosis control initiative in Wales, United Kingdom. Our approach used genetic matching of vaccinated animals to a sample of the wider population to estimate the percentage of badgers that had been vaccinated. Individual-specific genetic profiles were obtained using microsatellite genotyping of hair samples which were collected both directly from trapped and vaccinated badgers and non-invasively from the wider population using hair traps deployed at badger burrows. We estimated the percentage of badgers vaccinated in a single year and applied this to a simple model to estimate cumulative vaccine coverage over a four year period, corresponding to the total duration of the vaccination campaign. In the year of study, we estimated that between 44-65% (95% confidence interval, mean 55%) of the badger population received a vaccine dose. Using the model, we estimated that 70-85% of the total population would have received at least one vaccine dose over the course of the four year vaccination campaign. This study represents the first application of this novel approach for measuring vaccine coverage in wildlife. This is also the first attempt at quantifying the level of vaccine coverage achieved by trapping and injecting badgers. The results therefore have specific application to bovine tuberculosis control policy, and the approach is of significance to the wider field of wildlife vaccination.


Despite a global reduction in the prevalence of HIV-infection, the HIV-epidemic is far from over. The prevention of HIV-transmission in all its forms (sexual, mother-to-child etc) must therefore remain a pillar in the fight against AIDS, and both potent and accessible prevention strategies are required. In addition to the classical and wellknown methods such as the condom, ant iretroviral therapy represents a potent prevention tool and the residual risk of transmission of correctly treated HIV-positive persons is virtually nihil. Antiretroviral therapy may and should be used in the prevention of HIV-transmission as Treatment as Prevention (TasP), Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), and Post- Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). However, because of their exorbitant costs, the accessibility of these prevention strategies is limited, particularly for the most vulnerable populations.


The Culture Media Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Australian Society for Microbiology was formed in 1991 by a group of interested individuals after an upsurge in interest in the issue of media quality and the appearance that no common standards or consensus existed in this area in Australia. Increased interest, especially amongst medical microbiologists, in what was being done, or should be done, by way of assuring the quality of microbiological media made the issue contentious.