In live video streaming, the size of Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) manifest grows as the number of periods increases and/or the overall time duration of DASH manifest increases. The bigger the manifest size in bytes is, the more computation for manifest generation, manifest storage and parsing and network traffic there will be on service side, the more data to be downloaded, manifest refresh latency, manifest parsing and storage in memory there will be on device side. In this paper, we analyze the techniques and algorithms available to optimize and reduce DASH manifest size with their pros and cons, and limitations of each technique in different scenarios, and propose further optimizations and the adoption of technique(s) in each video streaming scenario according to product requirements, operational cost, system complexity and the requirement of quality of video playback experiences.


Opportunistic networks have been the study of much research --- in particular on making end-to-end routing efficient. Users' privacy concerns, however, have not been the subject of much research. What privacy concerns might opportunistic network users have? Is it possible to build opportunistic networks that can mitigate users' privacy concerns while maintaining routing performance?

Our work-to-date has tackled the problem of creating privacy-preserving routing protocols, with less emphasis on discovering users' actual privacy concerns. We summarise our current results, and describe a future experiment that we have planned to better understand users' privacy concerns.


The problem of optimum analysis of overlapping signals by means of least-square approximation techniques and by linear transformation processes, like resolution enhancement by inverse convolution, is considered. It is shown that optimum accuracy is obtained by employing, before doing a least-square fit, a transformation process which transforms the random noise into white noise. This particularly implies that in any process of artificial resolution enhancement, a loss of accuracy occurs. Examples from the field of spectroscopy are given to demonstrate the achievable accuracy and the requirements with respect to signal-to-noise ratio.


Widespread parasites, along with emerging threats, globalization, and climate change, have greatly affected honey bees' health, leading to colony losses worldwide. In this study, we investigated the detection of biotic stressors (i.e., viruses, microsporidian, bacteria, and fungi) in Apis cerana by surveying the colonies across different regions of Thailand (Chiang Mai in the north, Nong Khai and Khon Kaen in the northeast, and Chumphon and Surat Thani in the south, in addition to the Samui and Pha-ngan islands). In this study, we detected ABPV, BQCV, LSV, and Nosema ceranae in A. cerana samples through RT-PCR. ABPV was only detected from the samples of Chiang Mai, whereas we found BQCV only in those from Chumphon. LSV was detected only in the samples from the Samui and Pha-ngan islands, where historically no managed bees are known. Nosema ceranae was found in all of the regions except for Nong Khai and Khon Kaen in northeastern Thailand. Paenibacillus larvae and Ascosphaera apis were not detected in any of the A. cerana samples in this survey. The phylogenetic tree analysis of the pathogens provided insights into the pathogens' movements and their distribution ranges across different landscapes, indicating the flow of pathogens among the honey bees. Here, we describe the presence of emerging pathogens in the Asian honey bee as a valuable step in our understanding of these pathogens in terms of the decline in eastern honey bee populations.


The literature data on the relationship between cognitive disorders and disorganized behavior influenced by affect in patients with addictions is reviewed. States of discomfort caused by withdrawal or pathological craving are discussed. A trend towards the development of integrative models based on the unity of cognitive and emotional processes is shown.


Richard Yazepovich Kondratovich was born in southeastern Latvia in the Saules Kalnes hamlet bordering Belarus. His father was the senior forester Yazep Kondratovich, and his mother Antonina was engaged in raising children, taking care of a big household and working part‑time in a local orphanage. In the period from 1939 to 1950 Richard went to school. From 1950 to 1955, he studied at the P. Stuchka Latvian State University (LSU). After graduating from the university, Richard Kondratovich was appointed director of the Botanical Garden of Latvian State University. In 1957, Richard started his  scientific  work  on  representatives  of  the  genus Rhododendron.  In  1964,  he  defended  his  Ph.D. thesis  on  the  topic  «Introduction  of  rhododendrons  in  the  Latvian  SSR».  In  1981,  two  books  by R. Kondratovich dedicated to rhododendrons were published in Russian. They aroused great inter‑est in this plant and have not lost their significance until now. In 1983, R. Kondratovich defended his doctoral thesis on the topic «Rhododendrons in the Latvian SSR». R. Kondratovich left the position of Director of the Botanical Garden in 1965 and later switched to teaching. Since 1957, R. Kondratovich has  been  carrying  out  research  in  rhododendron  breeding,  which  expanded  significantly  after  the opening of the «Babite» Rhododendron Breeding and Experimental Nursery. It covered an area of 12.1  hectares  and  was  officially  opened  on  July  1,  1980.  In  2018,  there  were  already  117  registered author's varieties and 76 biological taxa (species and their forms) in the Nursery. The fruitful work was interrupted in February 2017 by illness. Richard Kondratovich passed away on February 17, 2017.


Secure ISO/IEC 18000-63 compatible UHF tags have big applications and advantages in present-day logistics or transportation systems. This paper discusses two solutions for secure UHF-RFID tags supporting cryptographical authentication. The first solution is based on a strong Rabin-Montgomery public-key cryptosystem using long integer square operation for the public-key encryption of a tag ID. A second solution is based on an alternative cryptographic technology to provide secure authentication and encryption. It is motivated by the required interference robustness of UHF-RFID tags in the dedicated frequency range and resource limitations as they are often present in embedded security scenarios and RFID devices. We investigate and suggest the implementation of a low hardware complexity cryptosystem for lightweight symmetric key exchange and authentication as well as encryption based on Tree Parity Machine Rekeying Architectures (TPMRAs). First, characteristics of standard-cell ASIC design realisations in 0.18 μ CMOS technology are evaluated and an FPGA-based secure UHF-RFID prototype is presented which demonstrates the feasibility of the suggested public-key cryptosystem.


Introduction/Background To describe surgical approach and strategy in the excision of enlarged paraaortic node by laparoscopy. Video presentation offers a thorough review of CT images and its correspondence with anatomical findings in surgery, permitting a complete view of retroperitoneal anatomy. Methodology Case report of 86-year-old woman presenting 2 month history of abdominal pain which leads to detection by imaging tests of multilocular solid cyst in left ovary and a suspicious node situated above left renal vein without peritoneal carcinomatosis signs. CT shown two vascular anomalies in the paraaortic area consisting on a retroaortic left renal vein and a polar artery, in between of which, bulky node was described. After Oncology-Gynaecology Committee evaluation, a laparoscopic approach was performed to undertake adequate staging and complete cytoreduction. Results Abdominal cavity exploration was performed confirming enlarged left ovarian and no peritoneal carcinomatosis signs. An extraperitoneal laparoscopic approach was chosen to get access to the bulky node; permitting more secure access to left paraaortic zone and less bowel interference. After retroperitoneal space creation, establishment of anatomical landmarks was determined as first step. Dissection of anterior aspect of the aorta allowed identification of the anatomical variations described on CT and the enlarged node, which was carefully dissected. Due to anatomopathological study confirmation of ovarian cancer metastasis; hysterectomy, bilateral adnexectomy, omentectomy and systematic paraaortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy was completed. Postoperative course was uneventful and the patient is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Definitive histological findings confirmed high-grade serous carcinoma of 5 cm located in left ovarian and a macrometastasis of 4,5 cm in the paraaortic node. Paraaortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy study were 1/10 and 0/18 respectively. Uterus, right adnexa and omentum were negative for malignancy. FIGO Stage: IIIA. Conclusion Carefully review of preoperative imaging studies before the surgery is a mandatory step. Extraperitoneal laparoscopic approach is a feasible technique to remove paraaortic bulky nodes. Disclosure Nothing to disclose


The comparative study of various unicellular algae, characterised by different carbon chain lengths and different numbers of double bonds per fatty acid (FA) chain, exhibited some similarity in the mechanisms of their response to changes in light conditions, in terms of FA metabolism. In all cases, the optimisation of photosynthetic process resulted in some increase in the relative content of the most unsaturated FA, i.e. C16:3Ω3 and C18:3Ω3 acids in Chlorella cells, C16:4Ω3 and C18:3Ω3 in Dunaliella and Chlamydomonas, C20:5Ω3 in Porphyridium, and C18:2Ω6 in Synechocystis sp. As a rule, these FA were esterified to monogalactosyldiacylglycerols (MGDG), the predominant lipids of thylakoid membranes. Such an increase in the relative content of the polyunsaturated FA usually occurred during the period when the photosynthesis, as well as the biosynthesis of FA de novo, were transiently inhibited following shifts in environmental conditions even at their optimisation. The increase in the relative content of the most unsaturated FA could be performed via desaturation of their immediate precursors. In turn, the deterioration of life conditions (decrease in the light intensity, ageing of cells or cultures, and others) resulted in the accumulation of these precursors. As a result, the cell could change its FA composition without alteration of the whole multistage process but only at the rate of this end reaction of polyunsaturated FA biosynthesis. In the majority of algae, these polyunsaturated acids were Ω3-homologues, regardless of the difference in their structures, but in some cyanobacteria (e.g. Synechocystis) the relative content of Ω6-FA increased. The acceleration of Ω3-FA biosynthesis could be observed, regardless of changes in the total index of unsaturation. This FA desaturation was shown to correlate with the activity of photosystem I (PSI). The specificity of this reaction enables us to assume it to be an adaptive response which provides alterations to lipid-protein interactions in the membrane that may be important for the self-assembly of active chlorophyll-protein complexes for photosynthetic akpparatus.


Human rhinovirus (HRV) is the most common virus contributing to acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) nearly year round, but the mechanisms have not been well elucidated. Recent clinical studies suggest that high levels of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) protein in the blood are associated with an increased yearly rate of all-cause COPD exacerbations. Therefore, in the current study, we investigated whether GDF15 promotes HRV infection and virus-induced lung inflammation. We first examined the role of GDF15 in regulating host defense and HRV-induced inflammation using human GDF15 transgenic mice and cultured human GDF15 transgenic mouse tracheal epithelial cells. Next, we determined the effect of GDF15 on viral replication, antiviral responses, and inflammation in human airway epithelial cells with GDF15 knockdown and HRV infection. Finally, we explored the signaling pathways involved in airway epithelial responses to HRV infection in the context of GDF15. Human GDF15 protein overexpression in mice led to exaggerated inflammatory responses to HRV, increased infectious particle release, and decreased IFN-λ2/3 (IL-28A/B) mRNA expression in the lung. Moreover, GDF15 facilitated HRV replication and inflammation via inhibiting IFN-λ1/IL-29 protein production in human airway epithelial cells. Lastly, Smad1 cooperated with interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7) to regulate airway epithelial responses to HRV infection partly via GDF15 signaling. Our results reveal a novel function of GDF15 in promoting lung HRV infection and virus-induced inflammation, which may be a new mechanism for the increased susceptibility and severity of respiratory viral (i.e., HRV) infection in cigarette smoke-exposed airways with GDF15 overproduction.


During metabolism studies of radiolabeled proteins in 126 participants four patients were suspected of being sensitive to potassium iodide (Kl) because they repeatedly developed urticaria and other symptoms after Kl administration. Two of the four patients suspected of Kl sensitivity and 10 control patients were orally challenged with Kl to document and characterize Kl sensitivity and to evaluate the possible association(s) of Kl sensitivity with urticaria, hypocomplementemia, and vasculitis. The Kl challenges in the two sensitive patients precipitated urticaria, angioedema, polymyalgias, conjunctivitis, and coryza. One of these two patients also developed a severe systemic illness characterized by fever, headache, peritonitis, episcleritis, and pneumonitis. The four sensitive patients were strikingly similar in that they exhibited hypocomplementemia and dermal vasculitis associated with chronic urticaria or systemic lupus erythematosus, suggesting that other patients with similar clinical features may be sensitive to Kl and that Kl may precipitate severe systemic illness in them.


A number of important problems arise in the daily practice of dentistry that are related to the calcification of the teeth. These include the effects of pregnancy on the teeth of the mother, prenatal and postnatal calcification, the influence of the endocrine organs, the effects of dietary factors, mottled enamel, caries and the question of withdrawal of calcium from teeth. NORMAL CALCIUM METABOLISM An intelligent answer to any of these questions requires an understanding of the normal processes. Yet it appears that the normal processes cannot be understood until the valuable clues that come from pathologic and experimental studies have been obtained. Claude Bernard, 1 the father of experimental medicine, pointed out that disease is nature's experiment to cope with an abnormal condition. If there is recovery, nature's experiment is successful. Significant information has come and will come from careful observation of nature's methods of combating diseases which are experimentally


The study was investigated the functional properties of buffalo skin gelatine. Gelatine was extracted from swamp buffalo skin using crude acid protease from cow's abomasum (CAPC) in concentration variation 0; 2.5; 5; and 7.5 U/mg. The temperature to hydrolysis included at 28 °C, 37°C and 40°C. The emulsion activity index (EAI), Emulsion stability index (ESI), foaming expansion (FE) and foaming stability (FS) were investigated. The interaction between CAPC concentration and hydrolysis temperature has a significant effect (P <0.05) on the emulsion activity index (EAI), emulsion stability index (ESI), foaming expansion (FE) and foaming stability (FS). The highest EAI was obtained in CAPC concentration of 5 U /mg, hydrolysis temperature of 40°C, which was 12.04 m2/g. The higher concentration of CAPC decreased the ESI. The hydrolysis temperature of 40°C produces higher FE than 28°C and 40°C. The highest FE is obtained at CAPC 5U/mg, 37°C hydrolysis temperature, which is 102.93%. The FS values range from 44.91-55.00%. This value is higher than commercial gelatin (bovine skin gelatin) which is 34.90%. The conclusion of this study is that buffalo skin gelatin with the best functional properties was obtained using CAPC 5 U/mg, the hydrolysis temperature of 40°C.


The usage of Internet banking has grown in leaps and bounds because of its appliance. The privacy and Information confidentiality is one of the richest invades to the users of OnlineBanking Systems. The issue with Online banking applications is that they need to send the confidential contents such as Personal Identification Number (PIN), One Time Password (OTP) to the targeting customers in the form of plaintext, which is insecure. The solvent to the above consequences requires a software application that holds proficient encryption procedures. Toimprove the security of the content that is transmitted over the internet, the proposed technique introduce a Dual Enciphering Mechanism (DEM) which includes more than one cryptographicscheme for cipher text creation, which assures the secured transmission over the network environment and the application is developed in Java language as a secured dual encipheringintrigue (SDEI). In this nominated overture the confidential banking content such as personal identification number (PIN) is enciphered using Huffmann compression technique, which in turn subjected to symmetric encryption procedure and the key for the compression scheme is taken in the form of image, which is then transmitted in the form of image shares using the idea ofvisual cryptography. The content at the receiver end is submitted to deciphering process, which needs the symmetric crypto scheme key to get the intermediate code which in turn needs theimage shares to regenerate the original plain text. Hence through the proposed scheme the security issues such as 'meet in the middle attacks' and 'anonymous hacking' would be reduced and from the experimental results it is identified that the proposed is known as enciphering or encryption and the unreadable format is said to be as cipher text or ciphers.


The settlement of people in Lachin district that located in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus dates back to ancient times. The settlements of the district were built mainly in accordance with tribal relations. The construction of villages in the area was mainly divided into mountainous, foothill, hill-side and plain types according to the relief of the region. On the whole, since Lachin district is located in a mountainous area, the construction of villages here was also different: mainly, the houses in the district were built far apart, mostly scattered; villages with hut dwellings and those with dwellings built compact, closer to each other. The newly built bines (nomad camps or isolated farmsteads) were named after those who built them first. Although the main occupation of the district population was animal husbandry, they were also engaged in gardening, forestry and beekeeping. Archaeological and ethnographic investigations conducted in the district, clarified that the population were engaged in many handicraft areas (pottery, stone carving, metal working, etc.). At the same time, the settlements, grave monuments, churches and tombs and bridges of the district were comprehensively studied. The district located in a mountainous area, covers one town, one settlement and 125 villages.


CTAB?cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide?was first introduced as a combined cleanser and skin antiseptic by Barnes (1942). It was subsequently incorporated in the Glasgow No. 9 cream for the treatment of burns (Colebrook and others, 1945). After bacteriological and clinical trial it was advocated for the initial treatment of wounds by Williams and others (1943, 1944). Both Colebrook and Williams reported cases of skin sensitivity to CTAB. The former worker, in a series of 2,000 burns treated with CTAB, noted only three cases of skin reaction ; the latter, after patch-testing volunteers, concluded that the risk of Skin sensitiza ron to CTAB was slight. Since 1944, CTAB (now officially known as cetrimide) has been used extensively in this hospital and in the numerous large factories in this area, both for the initial treatment of wounds and also during their subsequent redressing. We wish to record the occurrence of further cases of skin reaction to CTAB. In these cases the skin reaction caused considerable disability although in most instances the initial injury was trivial. In all, fourteen cases have been encountered since 1946. Typical case histories are quoted below.


Abstract : Future Naval shipboard fuel properties are assessed from an external approach by evaluating the impact of outside influences on Naval fuel supplies. Historical trends in commercial distillate and resid fuels are reviewed. Energy, crude oil, and petroleum product forecasts are analyzed for their impact on future fuel properties; and linear program refinery model studies are reviewed to determine refinery flexibility in meeting future demand and product quality. Planned refinery construction is summarized and evaluated for effects on future quality. Synthetic fuel penetration into commercial fuel markets is also addressed. Conclusions from each of the above factors and their effects on future shipboard fuel quality are summarized.


The viviparous gyrodactylid monogenean Gyrdicotylus gallieni, a parasite of Xenopus laevis, is redescribed. The site of infection is shown to be the mouth, and not the stomach and intestine, as recorded in the original description. In most respects G. gallieni is a typical gyrodactylid, but the haptor is modified for suctorial attachment, having two suckers which develop from tegument between the points and ventral roots of the hamuli. The dorsal lobe of the haptor, bearing the marginal hooks, surrounds the suckers and forms a marginal valve. Although this suctorial attachment mechanism suggests a relationship with the polystomatids, this resemblance is due to convergence (being an adaptation for attachment to highly contractile substrata), and G. gallieni is clearly a member of the Gyrodactylidae. However, this parasite differs from other gyrodactylids in the structure of the excretory system and penis, and it appears to have been distinct and isolated for a considerable period, probably since the first appearance of the clawed toads. Gyrdicotylus gallieni gains access to the host's mouth via the nostrils, wandering over the skin of the toad until these are encountered. The parasite is sensitive to water currents, and probably detects the nostril at close range using the olfactory sampling currents of the toad. Some parasites may also enter the mouth attached to food items or sloughed skin. Population growth within the mouth is slow, and infection levels in freshly caught or newly imported toads are low (0–30% prevalence, 1–7 parasites per infected toad). This is due to a slow rate of reproduction rather than to a high mortality, and the age structure of populations within the mouth is biased in favour of older worms. Within groups of isolated, continuously-monitored toads, detached flukes were occasionally found in the culture vessels; these may have left the host as part of the normal transmission biology of G. gallieni. However, much larger groups of flukes (more than 55 individuals from one toad) were also found detached, normally after 1–2 months in captivity. These losses may have been due to a host reaction.

Summary

Gyrdicotylus gallieni is a viviparous gyrodactylid monogenean which infects the clawed toad Xenopus laevis. This parasite was originally described from the stomach and intestine of its host, an unusual site of infection for a monogenean. However, in more than 2000 Xenopus examined during the present study, it has been found only in the mouth, and the original report of an enteric site of infection was in error. The morphology of G. gallieni is similar to that of other gyrodactylids, although its haptor is extensively modified for suctorial attachment. The hamuli are bound together in the mid-line to form a strut reinforcing the roof of the haptor, and the tegument between the point and ventral root of each hamulus is modified to form a sucker. The dorsal lobe of the haptor, bearing the marginal hooks, extends over the suckers and its edge is infolded to form a marginal valve. SEM studies revealed that plugs of host oral epithelium are drawn up into each sucker and that the marginal hooks pin the marginal valve to the host tissue, preventing the ingress of water into the suckers. The suctorial attachment mechanism of G. gallieni has previously been considered evidence of a link between gyrodactylids and polystomatid monogeneans. However, in the latter group, each sucker arises as an invagination around a marginal hook, whereas in G. gallieni the suckers are associated with the hamuli. The evolution of suctorial attachment in G. gallieni and in polystomatids is a common adaptation to a highly contractile substratum and is not evidence of a phylogenetic relationship. The structure of the excretory system and the penis (which is armed with an entire ring of hooks) suggests that G. gallieni is not closely related to other gyrodactylids, and has remained isolated as a parasite of the ecologically distinct and phylogenetically ancient clawed toads.

Gyrdicotylus gallieni gains access to the mouth of Xenopus laevis via the nostrils. Parasites attached to the skin wander (apparently randomly) until they enter the external nares, which they rapidly traverse to reach the mouth. No external cues appear to be used in orientation on the skin surface. However, when in the vicinity of the nares, the parasite may respond to exhalent and inhalent currents with a remarkable flexing response, which results in them gaining entry to the nostril. Growth of G. gallieni populations within the mouth is slow: experimental infections (founded by a single fluke) attained a maximum size of 13 parasites after 70 days. Infection levels in natural toad populations are also low, with prevalence ranging from 0–30% and intensity from 1–7 parasites per toad in groups of X. laevis imported between January 1971 and April 1982. Populations of G. gallieni in imported toads also grew slowly, the maximum recorded being 37 flukes after 90 days' observation. Detached flukes were occasionally noted in the water in which toads were kept; since accidental dislodgement would result in the parasites being swallowed, these individuals had probably left the mouth to disperse to other hosts. The suctorial attachment mechanism and sheltered site of infection are unlikely to result in high accidental mortality, and the age structure of the G. gallieni population is biased in favour of older flukes. This suggests that the slowness of population growth was due to low fecundity rather than high mortality. Apart from the occasional loss of flukes from the mouth of toads, there was also evidence of synchronized elimination of the majority of flukes infecting individual hosts. In many cases, large numbers of flukes were found detached 1–2 months after observations began; more than 55 flukes were released from one toad in this way. It is thought that these losses may have been associated with an unidentified host response.


Scientific disciplines as diverse as biology, physics, and psychological aesthetics regard symmetry as one of the most important principles in nature and one of the most powerful determinants of beauty. However, symmetry has a low standing in the arts and humanities. This difference in the valuation of symmetry is a remarkable illustration of the gap between the two cultures. To close this gap, we conducted an interdisciplinary, empirical study to directly demonstrate the effects of art expertise on symmetry appreciation. Two groups of art experts—artists and art historians—and a group of non-experts provided spontaneous beauty ratings of visual stimuli that varied in symmetry and complexity. In complete contrast to responses typically found in non-art experts, art experts found asymmetrical and simple stimuli as most beautiful. This is evidence of the effects of specific education and training on aesthetic appreciation and a direct challenge to the universality of symmetry.


ABSTRACT Senechal, N., Laibi, R.A., Almar, R., Castelle, B., Biausque, M., Lefebvre, E. J. Anthony, J.-P., Dorel, M., Chuchla, R., Hounkonnou, M.H., Du Penhoat, Y., 2014. Observed destruction of a beach cusp system in presence of a double-coupled cusp system: the example of Grand Popo, Benin. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 669–674, ISSN 0749-0208. Beach cusps are common features of steep reflective and intermediate beaches. However, very few observations have reported double coupled cusp systems. Here, we present a dataset of observations of a beach exhibiting two sets of beach cusps. Data were collected at Grand Popo Beach (Benin, West Africa) in February 2013. Daily topographic surveys along a 380 m long stretch of shore allowed observation of the dynamics of the two sets of beach cusps. At the beginning of the field survey, we clearly observe two sets of cusps; the upper beach cusps system is relatively asymmetric with a typical wavelength of about 45 m, while the lower beach cusps system is relatively symmetric with a typical wave length slightly shorter (about 35 m). After two days, we measured the total destruction of the lower set of beach cusps while the upper set of beach cusps was only partially destroyed. The data suggest that destruction of the lower beach cusp system may be related to persistent accretionary conditions and/or calm conditions but probably also to the transition from wave-driven circulation (dominated by weak alongshore currents with flash and swash rips), to a second period characterized by dominant longshore currents further increasing in speed (with rare swash rips). Conversely, the disappearance of the western upper beach cusp may be related to an accretionary pattern and to the coalescence of two individual features. Our observations, consistent with previous works, suggest that beach cusps certainly arise as a result of some combination of erosion and accretion.


Background: Intestinal obstruction (IO) is defined as a partial or complete blockage of the bowel that results in the failure of intestinal contents to pass through. It is a common cause of emergency surgical problems. IO has been the leading cause of acute abdomen in several African countries. Objective: To assess surgical management outcome of intestinal obstruction by IESO professionals and its associated factors of intestinal obstruction in surgically treated patients at South Wollo zone. Method: A cross-sectional study was done on 216 patients 'the data was collected from medical cards of the patient by using a pretested data abstraction format. Three nurses were involved in the process of data collection. The collected data was cleaned, coded and analyzed by SPSS version 23 statistical package. First descriptive statics was done for categorical and analyzed using frequencies and percentage. Multivariable logistic regression models was used to determine the association factors on the management outcome of intestinal obstruction when p - value < 0.05 and the strength of statistical association was measured by adjusting odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. Statistical significance was taken at p - value < 0.05. Results: From all study participants about 177 (82%) of them had good surgical outcome. Study participants who were managed by 1-3 years of work experience of IESO {(p = 0.004, AOR (95% CI) = 7.2[1.89, 27.68]}, preoperatively diagnosed as small bowel obstruction {(p = 0.001, AOR (95% CI) = 4.5[1.91, 10.40], Surgery conducted at day time {(p = 0.03, AOR (95% CI) = 2.8[1.06, 7.16]} had shown positive association with management outcome of intestinal obstruction conducted by IESO professionals. Conclusion and recommendation: Majority patients with intestinal obstruction had good surgical outcome done by IESO professionals. Year of experience of IESO Workers, preoperative diagnosis and time of surgery of the respondents had shown positive association for the occurrence of chronic liver disease whereas. In this study we can conclude that surgeries of intestinal obstruction conducted by IESO professionals are as good as intestinal obstruction surgeries conducted by physicians so there is a need to train more IESO professionals to deliver decentralized surgical service for rural areas.


This working paper examines the growth of corporate environmentalism in the West German chemical industry between the 1950s and the 1980s. It focuses on two companies, Bayer and Henkel and traces the evolution of their environmental strategies in response to growing evidence of pollution and resulting political pressures. Although German business has been regarded as pioneering corporate environmentalism, this study reveals major commonalities between the German and American chemical industries until the 1970s, when the two German firms diverged from their American counterparts in using public relations strategies not only to contain fallout from criticism, but also as opportunities for changes in corporate culture. The working paper finds no evidence for variety of capitalism explanations why German firms should have been early in their sustainability strategies, partly because of the importance of regional as opposed to national influences, but the study is supportive of organizational sociology theories which have identified the importance of visibility in corporate green strategies.


The staining activity of twelve (12) anthraquinone dye derivatives was carried out to investigate the potential of the compounds as staining agents. The reactions of the compounds on organism cell walls were determined, and a comparison was drawn between the mechanism of action of the compounds against established mechanism of reaction of standard dyes used in biological staining. These compounds are BRAM/acetylated PPD, BRAM/PAP/p-TsCl, BRAM/Biaryl/PAP and BRAM/BzCl/PAP, BRAM/aniline, BRAM/o-toluidine, BRAM/p-toluidine, BRAM/m-toluidine, BRAM/p-anisidine, BRAM/m-anisidine, BRAM/PAP, and BRAM/p-iodoaniline. The antibacterial and antifungal activity of these compounds was determined. BRAM/BzCl/PAP exhibited higher biological activity on the bacterial types than most of the controls. From the results of the antifungal test, BRAM/m-toluidine and BRAM/acetylated PPD indicated very significant activity as much as the controls. The staining tests carried out on the compounds show that they are viable alternatives to existing dyes currently used in bacterial and fungal identification.


Critical Gravity theory is defined by a particular combination of quadratic couplings in the curvature added on top of 4D Einstein-Hilbert action with negative cosmological constant. As the Lagrangian is given by a Weyl-squared term, the asymptotic form of the curvature is not modified. The coupling of the W eyl2 term is such the massive scalar mode is eliminated and the massive spin-2 mode become massless, rendering the theory consistent around the critical point. In the present work, we construct the Noether-Wald charges for the action of Critical Gravity. Such construction makes manifest a defining property of this theory: both the energy and entropy for Einstein black holes vanish identically.


Implant osseointegration can currently only be assessed reliably post mortem. A novel method that relies on the principle of acoustic sound analysis was developed to enable examination of the longitudinal progress of osseointegration. The method is based on a magnetic sphere inside a hollow cylinder of the implant. By excitation using an external magnetic field, collision of the sphere inside the implant produces a sound signal. Custom‐made titanium implants equipped thusly were inserted in each lateral femoral epicondyle of 20 New Zealand White Rabbits. Two groups were investigated: Uncoated, machined surface versus antiadhesive surface; and calcium phosphate‐coated surface versus antiadhesive surface. The sound analysis was performed postoperatively and weekly. After 4 weeks, the animals were euthanized, and the axial pull‐out strengths of the implants were determined. A significant increase in the central frequency was observed for the loose implants (mean pull‐out strength 21.1 ± 16.9 N), up to 6.4 kHz over 4 weeks. In comparison, the central frequency of the osseointegrated implants (105.2 ± 25.3 N) dropped to its initial value. The presented method shows potential for monitoring the osseointegration of different implant surfaces and could considerably reduce the number of animals needed for experiments. © 2014 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 32:606–612, 2014.


A ferroelectric bilayer model considering depolarization field and interfacial coupling is proposed and the expression of the depolarization field is derived. The spatial profiles of spontaneous polarization and hysteresis loops are calculated using the numerical method with and without considering the depolarization field. The effects of the depolarization field and interfacial coupling on the polarization of second-order ferroelectric bilayers are studied systematically. When interfacial coupling is ferroelectric coupling, the interface spontaneous polarization increases and the area of hysteresis loop becomes larger with increasing coupling. When interfacial coupling is antiferroelectric coupling, the depolarization field makes the central loop become smaller and the shape of the hysteresis loop becomes steep. Meanwhile, as interfacial coupling increases, the outer loops stretch further out horizontally and the size of the central loop widens.


This paper considers the joint device activity detection and channel estimation problem in a massive Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity system, where a large number of IoT devices exist but merely a random subset of them become active for short-packet transmission in each coherence block. In particular, we propose to leverage the temporal correlation in device activity, e.g., a device active in the previous coherence block is more likely to be still active in the current coherence block, to improve the detection and estimation performance. However, it is challenging to utilize this temporal correlation as side information (SI), which relies on the knowledge about the exact statistical relation between the estimated activity pattern for the previous coherence block (which may be imperfect with unknown error) and the true activity pattern in the current coherence block. To tackle this challenge, we establish a novel SI-aided multiple measurement vector approximate message passing (MMV-AMP) framework. Specifically, thanks to the state evolution of the MMV-AMP algorithm, the correlation between the activity pattern estimated by the MMV-AMP algorithm in the previous coherence block and the real activity pattern in the current coherence block is quantified explicitly. Based on the well-defined temporal correlation, we further manage to embed this useful SI into the denoiser design under the MMV-AMP framework. Specifically, the SI-based soft-thresholding denoiser with binary thresholds and the SI-based minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) denoiser are characterized for the cases without and with the knowledge of the channel distribution, respectively. Numerical results are given to show the significant gain in device activity detection and channel estimation performance brought by our proposed SI-aided MMV-AMP framework.


Luminescence bioimaging is widely used for noninvasive monitoring biological targets in real-time with high temporal and spatial resolution. For efficient bioimaging in vivo, it is essential to develop smart organic dye platforms. Fluorescein (FL), a traditional dye, has been widely used in the biological and clinical study. However, the visible excitation and emission limited their further application for in vivo bioimaging. Near-infrared (NIR) dyes display prior advantageous of bioimaging because of their minimum absorption and photo-damage to biological samples, as well as deep tissue penetration and low auto-luminescence from background in living system. Thus, some great developments of near-infrared fluorescein-inspired dyes have been emerged for bioapplication in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we highlight the advances in the development of the near-infrared chemodosimeters for detecting and bioimaging based on the modification of fluorescein-inspired dyes naphtho-fluorescein (NPF) and cyanine-fluorescein (Cy-FL).


An integrated silicon-based vapor sensor is realized with a ZnO-on-Si surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) oscillator containing an absorptive polymer located on a thinned, membrane region of the device. If the membrane thickness is comparable with or smaller than a SAW wavelength, wave energy is present at both membrane surfaces. Thus the SAW transducers and associated amplifiers can be protected by an enclosure, leaving only the polymer exposed to the ambient atmosphere. Experiments on a 30 MHz, ZnO-on-silicon thin-membrane temperature-compensated SAW oscillator for vapor sensing are described. The use of the multi-channel device for solubility parameter sensing is discussed.


The training of highly qualified specialists for the railway industry is impossible without the application of a new strategy for the development of the educational process. It should include new forms and methods based on the advanced achievements of science and technology. Comprehensive work on introducing modern interactive simulators into the educational process becomes necessary and appropriate. They imitate the operation of real mechanisms, systems and equipment. Of particular relevance is the simulation of production processes. This is one of the effective methods that helps to acquire scientific knowledge, help to work out and simulate a training or production situation. As an example, we consider a model for the organization of the educational process for college students, based on the basis of system-activity and competency-based approaches. These approaches are aimed at the active use of imitation modeling in the educational process. Experience shows that such educational activities contribute to the better assimilation of academic knowledge through their systematization, algorithmization and elaboration at different levels, taking into account intersubject communications. Such work complements knowledge with good skills. It makes them more durable due to active practical training and immersion in the subject. Such work brings students closer to real working conditions, and therefore forms students' qualities and competencies inherent in a competitive specialist in the railway industry.


The purpose of this study is to examine a 'popular' tutor's beliefs on feedback and her regular tutee's receptivity toward the feedback in order to investigate factors involved in giving 'good' feedback within intercultural settings. The data was gathered by interviewing a pair of L1 tutor and L2 tutee and observing their tutorial sessions. The results revealed the importance of three points: building a 'safe house' for both the tutor and the tutee, respecting the tutee's 'writer's identity,' and using praise in an appropriate way. This research was conducted at a writing center; however, the findings offer important insights into feedback that are applicable to language teachers in multicultural and multilingual settings as well.


The simultaneous occurrence of sarcomas in a husband and wife is documented. The wife first presented with an undifferentiated uterine sarcoma, and within six months of the onset of her disease her husband developed an anaplastic liposarcoma. This finding is considered in the light of recent evidence suggesting a possible viral etiology for human sarcomas.


Community interest in tours is very high. The benefits of tourist destinations in Indonesia finally form three patterns, namely natural, cultural, and human-made. City and village tourism are very popular with the community because of the high interest of the community to capture the moments of Instagram able and viral tourism spots. One of them is village tourism. For people who are educated with life in the village, it is necessary to make it more interesting with gamification. In this stud, the aim was to change the pattern of visitors' activities, which initially only took pictures but were also invited to explore the village potential through a mobile application. Also, this study is used to improve and help preserve and introduce village tourism potential. Gamification can be an alternative to developing village tourism potential. A common occurrence in tourist villages is a lack of management innovation to add village tourism potential to visitors further. Village tourism potential that can be developed is mobile-based village education. This activity is an education that contains planting plants. The results of this application are of rice planting and fruit picking games. Each set consists of two levels. Level 1 contains educational games and level 2 games about team cohesiveness. Each game will offer a reward. The rewards that we design are based on prizes that are liked by elementary school students.


Background: In developing countries, viral agents are the most commonly identifiable causes in children with gastroenteritis. Some of the viral infections have showed seasonal tendencies in relation to geographical regions. Enteric types of adenoviruses (Ad 40, Ad41) are among the most common and important etiological agents associated with sporadic cases and outbreaks of infantile acute gastroenteritis.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and seasonal tendency as well as the diagnostic value of the related clinical and laboratory findings of Adenovirus- associated diarrhea in children up to five years of age.
Study Design: A prospective study along one–year period (February, 2013 till January, 2014) was carried out in the outpatient clinics of AL-Elweya Pediatric Teaching Hospital and Welfare Children Teaching Hospital at Baghdad. Stool samples from a total of 807 children (aged between 5-60 months) with acute gastroenteritis, were enrolled in this study. Stool samples were tested by immunochromatographic assay for enteric adenoviruses. This sample of children, and according to their age, was categorized into four groups: >12 months, 12->24 months, 24->36months and <36 months. Total monthly numbers among these age groups formed the basis for assessing seasonal tendency of adenovirus infections.
Results: Less than 5 years children with acute gastroenteritis tested for Adenovirus infection have a mean of 11.1±10.1 months and the males comprised 57.9% (467 out of 807) while females 42.1% (340 out of 807). Shedding of Adenovirus was detected in 14.6% of acute diarrheal stool samples, among them 58.5% were males with a male to female ratio of 1.4: 1. Children with acute Adenoviral diarrhea were younger than those without viral infection, yet the association was statistically not significant. Adenovirus-positive cases showed two ratal peaks; the highest one was during January (25 cases) and the second was during September (22 cases). During the hottest months in Iraq, July and August, the number of cases in each was dropped to three cases while two cases were reported during each of November and December.
Conclusions: The present data indicate that the infection rate was low in November and December (had peaked equally in Autumn and early Winter), while high in January.


The American definition of kinship based on biological ties, the practice of closed adoption, and stigmas associated with adoption may decisively influence adoption-related losses. Cross-cultural and historical accounts of adoption that do not apply to these contemporary American constructs of parenthood and practices of adoption suggest outcomes that are not as integrally based on loss. Adoption in infancy is defined as parenting a child with one set of (adoptive) parents and two (adoptive and birth) families. Implications for adoption research, policy, and practice are discussed.


 The field of robotics has been growing rapidly in the last few years and is expected to continue rising. Therefore, we need to provide our middle and high school students with the tools and experiences to gain the necessary knowledge in order to take full advantage of their skills once they complete their post-secondary degrees and enter the workforce. The most challenging part in a robotics competition is to put together the hardware and software and create an artificial intelligence like behavior so that robots can help humans in tasks that range in complexity. Using sensors will provide a more accurate operation of robots when in autonomous operation that will provide information about its environment and will allow robot operation to adjust accordingly. The purpose of using sensors in the autonomous operation is to increase the score obtained when competing or provide better results when used in real life scenarios. Key Terms  Autonomous operation, Robotics in education, Sensors, Vex Robotics Competition.


Targeted release of anticancer drugs to tumor sites has a pivotal role in clinical oncology. pH-responsive drug delivery systems, with an intelligent and targeted release of anticancer drugs in a controllable manner based on sensitivities to the weakly acidic environments of tumor cellular microenvironments, are desirable. Herein, the design of such a pH-responsive drug delivery system is detailed using in situ amino-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles as carriers. The drug release behavior of the pH-responsive delivery system was evaluated under an in vitro simulation of tumor cellular microenvironments. The drug delivery system has efficient drug loadings and targeted release. Zorubicin hydrochloride releasing percentage is almost up to 100% at a buffer pH of 5.0. The drug release systems described demonstrating great potential in anticancer therapy.


Coming of age in an environment saturated by technology, where the digital world interacts more and more seamlessly with the "real" world, the current cohort of college students is a fundamentally different type of learner and has been identified in the literature as the Net Generation (Barnes, Marateo, & Ferris 2007; Hendricks 2004). It means that these students represent the first generation of virtual learners—or those accustomed to seeking and building knowledge in a technology-enhanced environment. The emergence and proliferation of the technologies play a double role in educational change in that they pose both new demands and new possibilities. As Thorne and Reinhardt (2008) point out, "emerging literacy's associated with digital media are highly relevant to their current and future lives as language users". Kenning (2007) posits that the motivation for ICT integration into language education is significant because of the inherent role ICT plays in everyday communication. While a broad range of technologies support teaching, this study "Technology and its employability in English Language Instruction and Learning" will examine those technologies involved in computer and Internet use for purposes of Foreign Language instruction and learning. Mixed method research was employed for the study, which is mainly qualitative, but also uses quantitative techniques for triangulation purposes. The purpose of this study is to highlight and explicate some of the expanding roles and affordances of technology in a collegiate foreign language education program and its importance apart from advantages and disadvantages of using new technologies in the language classroom in the case of TEFL students, KSA Universities, KSA.


The distance-geometric graph representation adopts a unified scheme (distance) for representing the geometry of three-dimensional(3D) graphs. It is invariant to rotation and translation of the graph and it reflects pair-wise node interactions and their generally local nature. To facilitate the incorporation of geometry in deep learning on 3D graphs, we propose a message-passing graph convolutional network based on the distance-geometric graph representation: DG-GCN (distance-geometric graph convolution network). It utilizes continuous-filter convolutional layers, with filter-generating networks, that enable learning of filter weights from distances, thereby incorporating the geometry of 3D graphs in graph convolutions. Our results for the ESOL and FreeSolv datasets show major improvement over those of standard graph convolutions. They also show significant improvement over those of geometric graph convolutions employing edge weight / edge distance power laws. Our work demonstrates the utility and value of DG-GCN for end-to-end deep learning on 3D graphs, particularly molecular graphs.


Aiming to enhance the current biological performances of ultrafiltration membranes, in this study, a new kind of graphene oxide linked sulfonate-based polyanionic nanogel (GO-SPN) was fabricated by free radical cross-linked copolymerization. Then, GO-SPN embedded polyethersulfone (PES/GO-SPN) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were achieved through one-pot PES dissolution and interpenetration, followed by a liquid-liquid phase inversion method. The GO-SPN modified UF membranes exhibited increased porous cross-section structures with a pH-dependent water flux. Notably, the modified UF membranes showed excellent in vitro hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility performances, such as good anti-coagulant activity, red blood cell compatibility (with very low hemolysis ratios below 0.2%), anti-platelet adhesion and activation, low inflammation potential, and high endothelial cell compatibility. Moreover, to confirm the actual application potential of the GO-SPN embedded membranes in diverse fields, we also examined the performances of PES/GO-SPN composite hollow fiber UF membranes. It was validated that the mechanical properties of the hollow fiber UF membranes (tensile strength higher than 1.2 MPa) could satisfy the demands of industrial or clinical applications. Furthermore, the modified membranes exhibited versatile ability, i.e. they could load Ag-nanoparticles which bestowed them with excellent bactericidal capability (about 97%) against both Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Due to the integration of hemo- and cyto-compatibility, good mechanical strength as well as bactericidal capability, the GO-SPN embedded membranes offer a new protocol to greatly extend the application potential of UF membranes in fields ranging from clinical hemodialysis to water purification.


In the absence of random treatment assignment, the selection of appropriate control variables is essential to designing well-specified empirical tests of causal effects. However, the importance of control variables seems underappreciated in accounting research relative to other methodological issues. Despite the frequent reliance on control variables, the accounting literature has limited guidance on how to select them. We evaluate the evolution in use of control variables in accounting research and discuss some of the issues that researchers should consider when choosing control variables. Using simulations, we illustrate that more control is not always better and that some control variables can introduce bias into an otherwise well-specified model. We also demonstrate other issues with control variables including the effects of measurement error and complications associated with fixed effects. Lastly, we provide practical suggestions for future accounting research.


Collegiate rowing performance is often assessed by a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). Rowers' on-water performance involves non-linear dynamic interactions and synergetic reconfigurations of the cardiorespiratory system. Cardiorespiratory coordination (CRC) method measures the co-variation among cardiorespiratory variables. Novice (n = 9) vs. Intermediate (n = 9) rowers' CRC (H0: Novice CRC = Intermediate CRC; HA: Novice CRC < Intermediate CRC) was evaluated through principal components analysis (PCA). A female NCAA Division II team (N = 18) grouped based on their off-water performance on 6000 m time trial. Rowers completed a customized CPET to exhaustion and a variety of cardiorespiratory values were recorded. The number of principal components (PCs) and respective PC eigenvalues per group were computed on SPSS vs28. Intermediate (77%) and Novice (33%) groups showed one PC1. Novice group formed an added PC2 due to the shift of expired fraction of oxygen or, alternatively, heart rate/ventilation, from the PC1 cluster of examined variables. Intermediate rowers presented a higher degree of CRC, possible due to their increased ability to utilize the bicarbonate buffering system during the CPET. CRC may be an alternative measure to assess aerobic fitness providing insights to the complex cardiorespiratory interactions involved in rowing during a CPET.


A novel tool for the presentation of peptides and small proteins on the surface of human cells has been developed. Our tANCHOR system utilizes tetraspanin anchors containing heterologous amino acid sequences inserted instead of the large extracellular loop. This technology allows a highly effective extracellular display of epitopes for antibody binding studies and many other potential applications.


SUMMARY _ Effects of common colds on the lower respiratory tract were evaluated in 18 healthy adults by comparing each SUbject's pulmonary function while free of illness with that during a cold. Eight of 24 illnesses studied were associated with rhinovirus infection, and no etiology was detected for the others. No consistent effects on spirometric pulmonary functions were observed; however, the steady state carbon monoxide diffusing capacity at rest decreased during 12 of 14 colds for which data was available. Further analysis indicated that the reduction in diffusing capacity of -4.29~ ml per min per rom Hg was statistically significant. The most probable explanation of these findings is the occurrence of bronchiolitis leading to ventilation inhomogeneity but few overt symptoms during common colds in healthy adults. The more prominent lower respiratory manifestations of colds in persons who smoke and/or have chronic bronchitis might result from superimposition of 2 disease processes at the same site.


The need for a better understanding of the factors that determine the reproductive life of women has been one of the major themes of the program of action of the International Conference on Population and Development [1]. Some countries, in particular the Congo, for lack of reliable demographic data and despite their relatively high fertility level have so far been unable to carry out studies to understand procreation in the context that concerns them ; and in particular on target populations such as adolescent girls. In this work the method of descriptive statistical analysis seer was used first to end characterizing the population of adolescents who began e life faecal then we will use a method of explanatory statistical analysis that will allow us estimate the stated hypothesis. Analysis suggest that the early fertility of Congolese adolescent girls is strongly influenced by behavioural factors such as early sexuality, underutilization of contraceptive methods, early union and educational attainment ; and, to a lesser extent, par the environmental factor (religion) and family factor (standard of living swimming). Ultimately, the results of this study highlight the importance, if not urgency, of family life education and adolescent girls' access to appropriate reproductive health services.


In recent years, it has been drawn a lot of attention to the question of whether logistic kinetics is sufficient to enforce the global existence of classical solutions or to prevent finite-time blow-up in various chemotaxis models. However, for several important chemotaxis models, only in the space two dimensional setting, it has been shown that logistic kinetics is sufficient to enforce the global existence of classical solutions (see [15] and [34]). The current paper is to give a confirmed answer to the above question for the following parabolic-elliptic chemotaxis system with singular sensitivity and logistic source in any space dimensional setting, \begin{equation} \begin{cases} u_t=\Delta u-\chi\nabla\cdot (\frac{u}{v} \nabla v)+u(a(x,t)-b(x,t) u),\quad x\in \Omega\cr 0=\Delta v-\mu v+\nu u,\quad x\in \Omega \quad \cr \frac{\partial u}{\partial n}=\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}=0,\quad x\in\partial\Omega, \end{cases} \end{equation} where $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ is a bounded domain with smooth boundary $\partial\Omega$, $\chi$ is the singular chemotaxis sensitivity coefficient, $a(x,t)$ and $b(x,t)$ are positive smooth functions, and $\mu,\nu$ are positive constants. We prove that, for any given nonnegative initial data $0\not\equiv u_0\in C^0(\bar \Omega)$, (0.1) has a unique globally defined classical solution $(u(t,x;u_0),v(t,x;u_0))$ with $u(0,x;u_0)=u_0(x)$, which shows that, in any space dimensional setting, logistic kinetics is sufficient to enforce the global existence of classical solutions and hence prevents the occurrence of finite-time blow-up even for arbitrarily large $\chi$. In addition, the solutions are shown to be uniformly bounded under the conditions $a_{\inf}>\frac{\mu \chi^2}{4}$ when $\chi \leq 2$ and $a_{\inf}>\mu (\chi-1)$ when $\chi>2$.


Usually liquid nitrogen (LN2) transfer from a container to a laboratory equipment takes place by applying pressure to the container to push out liquid or pouring liquid into the cryostat directly by lifting the container. In order to overcome inconvenience of pressuring or lifting containers, we have been developing the Liquid Nitrogen Centrifugal Pump of a small electric turbine pump. Significant advantages that both reducing time to fill LN2and controlling the flow rate of liquid into the cryostat are obtained by introducing this pump. We have achieved the lift of about 800mm with the vessel's opening diameter of 28mm.


A descriptive study was undertaken to assess the self-care abilities among the admitted patients at Nehru Hospital, PGIMER Chandigarh during the year 2004. Various self-care abilities studied were regarding feeding, bathing, dressing and toileting. Out of total 650 patients included in the study, 394 (45.2%) had feeding deficit, 291 (44.84%) had bathing deficit, 238 (36.73%) had dressing deficit and 197 (31.88%) had the deficit of toileting. As per the severity of deficit, mild deficit was present in 121 (19.6%), moderate in 91 (14.70%) and severe deficit was present in 59 (9.6%) of the patients.


Immunoglobulin E levels in the sera of patients with pemphigus (12 with Brazilian pemphigus foliaceus (BPF) and 11 with pemphigus vulgaris (PV)) were determined by means of a solid phase radioimmunoassay. A significant increase in IgE level was observed in BPF patients compared to the level of IgE in PV patients and healthy adults. The implications of an elevated level of IgE with respect to other aberrations of immunologic responsiveness and the suggested infectious etiology of BPF are considered.


Abstract : In discussing their experiences in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, these generals focus on those air campaigns which have come to be considered classics of air interdiction: In World War II, Operation Strangle in Italy, March-May 1944, and operations in support of the Normandy Invasion, April-June 1944; in the Korean War, all campaigns, especially Operation Strangle, May- October 1951; in the Vietnam War; the air interdiction part of the Rolling Thunder campaign, March 1965-November 1968, the air campaign in Southern Laos, 1965-1972, and especially the air interdiction portions of Linebacker I and II, May-October and December 1972. In addition, the discussion turns to the impact of electronics-laser guided weapons, electronic suppression devices, drone airplanes and immediate air intelligence-on air interdiction operations. Generals Partridge, Smart, and Vogt offer definitions, clarifications, examples, generalizations, and advice.


An important aspect of urban planning is understanding crowd levels at various locations, which typically require the use of physical sensors. Such sensors are potentially costly and time consuming to implement on a large scale. To address this issue, we utilize publicly available social media datasets and use them as the basis for two urban sensing problems, namely event detection and crowd level prediction. One main contribution of this work is our collected dataset from Twitter and Flickr, alongside ground truth events. We demonstrate the usefulness of this dataset with two preliminary supervised learning approaches: firstly, a series of neural network models to determine if a social media post is related to an event and secondly a regression model using social media post counts to predict actual crowd levels. We discuss preliminary results from these tasks and highlight some challenges.


Modernity has made identity impossible because of its exigency of a per-fection that is not compatible with human finitude. This is the reason why since Romanticism it has been generalized the attempt of establishing scopes in which man is freed from this duty. There arises also many phenomena that can be understood as aesthetic instances that defend the in-dividual particularity and promote the cultural variety.


This paper deals with a large class of nonstationary stochastic processes generated by passing white noise through a general linear time-varying filter. It is shown that such processes can be characterized in terms of a family of jointly wide-sense stationary processes. This formulation is used to define the spectral density function for the nonstationary processes considered in the paper. Then the spectral density function is used to give a suboptimal solution to the nonstationary Wiener filtering problem. This suboptimal solution is shown to be nearly optimal under conditions corresponding to a sufficiently small rate of variation. A numerical example compares this suboptimal Wiener filter solution to an optimal solution.


In visible light communication (VLC) systems, cellular networks are required for large indoor environment and built as a kind of new networks when combining the LED illumination, named communication and illumination networks (CIN). The co-channel interference (CCI) between adjacent cells leads to large areas of communication dead zones. Users covered by access points (APs) within illumination region are not necessarily covered within communication region and vice versa. In order to achieve seamless coverage, it is necessary to mitigate CCI and maximize the effective coverage of communication and illumination synchronously. In this paper, a coverage optimization model is built when APs share the same frequency resources. Genetic algorithm is used for optimizing LED arrangements, semi-angles at half-power and heights, and improving SINR and illuminance in CIN. The results show that the communication and illumination can be approximate seamless coverage after optimization and about 75% communication coverage improvement is achieved when illumination requirement is fulfilled. The solution has a better downlink throughput and complexity than state-of-the-art solutions when cellular coverage is approximate. 


A novel technique for efficiently extracting maximum power from photovoltaic (PV) panels is presented. The power conversion stage, which is connected between a PV panel and a load or bus, is a SEPIC or Cuk converter or their derived circuits operating in discontinuous inductor-current or capacitor-voltage mode. A method of locating the maximum power point (MPP) is based on injecting a small-signal sinusoidal perturbation into the switching frequency and comparing the AC component and the average value of the panel terminal voltage. Apart from not requiring any sophisticated digital computation of the panel power, the proposed technique does not approximate the panel characteristics and can globally locate the MPP under wide insolation conditions. The tracking capability has been verified experimentally with a 10 W solar panel under a controlled experimental setup. Performances under the steady state and in the large-signal change of the insolation level will are given.


The significance of English in Kurdistan medical education for gathering information, pursuing information, and presenting research efforts to international audiences necessitates that programmes for teaching and learning English pay particular attention to the significance of English. This is required because of the importance of English is essential for the accumulation of knowledge, the pursuit of information, and the presentation of research efforts to international audiences. This is necessary because the importance of English cannot be overstated when it comes to the accumulation of knowledge, the quest for information, and the presentation of research efforts to audiences from across the world. Students interested in learning English as a second language will benefit from this review article since it explains several fundamental topics associated with teaching English for medical reasons and is thus recommended reading for such students. Reading this post benefits students interested in learning English as a second language and will help them in their studies. Some of the academic variables that have an impact include the promotion of instructors' understanding, the periodic updating of the English medical curriculum, and the value of reviewing the material, analyzing the needs of students, and evaluating the relevance of assessing the requirements of students. Other relevant elements are as follows: The research is brought to a close by the presentation of several recommendations that instructors of English as a foreign language (EFL) and other members of the Kurdish educational system might put into action to improve the level of English as EFL instruction that is provided within medical degree programmes in the region.


Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) covers a heterogeneous spectrum of ancient to new-age approaches that purport to prevent or treat disease. By definition, CAM practices are not part of conventional western-style medicine because there is a perception of insufficient proof that they are safe and effective or because they are not taught in conventional medical and nursing schools. Complementary interventions are typically used together with conventional western-style treatments, whereas alternative interventions are used instead of conventional approaches. When combined with conventional practices they are often labeled Integrative Medicine (IM). Many people in the United States (US) use CAM and IM modalities and its use is increasing. In 1990, a national survey estimated that 33.8% of US adults used CAM modalities in the previous year, which increased to 42.1% in 1997 and 62% in the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). These surveys included spiritual healing and "folk" medicine (remedies common, ethnically derived remedies used at home), in the CAM modality definition. Recently published results of the 2007 NHIS used a different CAM modality taxonomy and excluded these practices. When prayer specifically for health reasons was excluded, the 2002 and 2007 NHIS found 36% and 38.3%, respectively, of US adults reported using some form of CAM modality in the last 12 months. These national surveys only include civilian, noninstitutionalized individuals; they do not include our 1.8 million active duty military personnel and families. In the last 10 years, there has been an increase in interest and use of CAM modalities and IM in the military. This important segment of the US population receives health care from both military and civilian practitioners; and is subject to similar health risks as civilians plus additional physical, emotional, and cognitive stress of deployment with associated family separations for both the active duty member and families, and the consequences of combat. It would not be unexpected for military personnel to seek to improve their health through complementary practitioners, potentially at a greater extent due to health and performance expectations, and for the same reasons reported by civilians. This interest in CAM has been accelerated by the surge of chronic pain, chronic stress, and chronic symptoms associated with trauma and injuries from over a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, until recently there were little data to determine which CAM modalities are being used, how often, by whom, and for what purposes. Recently, these informational gaps are being filled in and the current picture is summarized below.


Studies on the effect of enucleation on orbital volume in humans have been retrospective and may not be truly accurate. Prospective studies in rabbits and cats have been inappropriate when applied to humans since their orbits are incomplete in contrast to the closed human orbit. Because of their closed orbits, sheep were chosen as a model for humans. An additional advantage is their rapid skeletal maturation. Five lambs underwent enucleation of one eye between 7 and 21 days of age. The other eye served as a control. Animals were killed after full maturation. Comparing the orbital volume of each side using the orbital imprint method revealed the enucleated side averaged 35% smaller than the control side. If possible, the ophthalmologist should postpone elective enucleation until orbital bone maturation is complete.


Despite the repeated claim by eminent students of economic growth that scientists and inventors have contributed to economic development, no study has yet quantified this effect using the rich historical record of great minds. Introducing a novel database of per capita researchers, we show that the history of research activity (corrected for geographical biases) predicts economic growth over the long run better than any other established growth predictor, and that this predictive power, while subject to swings, has been consistently increasing through time over the long run. These conclusions are drawn after presenting a number of facts suggesting that forces exogenous to income and population growth have determined how intensively countries have engaged in research. In contrast to a large body of literature, we find that property rights and schooling have been of minor importance for research and for economic growth through modern history. Our estimated dynamic impact of researcher densities on economic growth are very consistent through a variety of samples and regressions, based either on cross-sectional or on time-series variance. Permanently doubling the number of researchers per capita had barely an impact in 1800, but today its impact might be an increase of annualized economic growth rates of almost 1% in a 20-years span.


Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an important eukaryotic alga that has been studied as a model organism for decades. Despite extensive history as a model system, phylogenetic and genetic characteristics of viruses infecting this alga have remained elusive. We analyzed high-throughput genome sequence data of C. reinhardtii field isolates, and in six we discovered sequences belonging to endogenous giant viruses that reach up to several hundred kilobases in length. In addition, we have also discovered the entire genome of a closely related giant virus that is endogenized within the genome of Chlamydomonas incerta, the closest sequenced phylogenetic relatives of C. reinhardtii. Endogenous giant viruses add hundreds of new gene families to the host strains, highlighting their contribution to the pangenome dynamics and inter-strain genomic variability of C. reinhardtii. Our findings suggest that the endogenization of giant viruses can have important implications for structuring the population dynamics and ecology of protists in the environment.


Colistin is an antimicrobial cationic peptide that belongs to the polymyxin family. Colistin was clinically used for the treatment of gram-negative infections but fell out of favour because of its significant side effects including neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. More recently, colistin has been regarded as one of the important options for nosocomial infections caused by multidrug resistant bacteria. Mechanisms of both the side effect onset of the drug and the side effect reduction are yet to be elucidated. In this study, we identified the specific binding protein of colistin using an affinity column chromatography. Colistin binds to the molecular chaperone HSP90. Although colistin slightly suppressed the chaperone activity of HSP90, there are no effects on the ATPase activity for a low concentration of colistin. Interestingly, colistin-induced aggregation of HSP90 via the N-domain. As for the cell viability of the SHSY5Y cell, the cell viability decreased to approximately 80% by the colistin 300 μM. However, the cell viability recovered to approximately 100% by adding ATP dosage. The same result was obtained by dot blot assay using anti-HSP90 antibody. Our results may help to understand the side effect mechanism of colistin.


Patients who had open operative treatment of fractures of long bones were reviewed retrospectively to identify the incidence of and risk factors for implant failure. One hundred and five patients had open reduction and internal fixation of 117 fractures of long bones, out of which four patients suffered implant failure. The implant failure rate in this study was 3.4%. Three of the implant failures occurred in the femur and one occurred in the humerus. Three cases of fixation with plates (5.8% of plated fractures) and one case of kuntscher nail fixation (1.8% of cases treated with intramedullary nails) failed. Early weight bearing, weight in excess of 125kg and body mass index (BMI) that is greater than 37 were observed in those who suffered implant failure in this study. We advocate cautiously graduated weight bearing, particularly in overweight patients, as a measure to prevent implants failure in operative treatment of fractured long bones. Keywords : Implant Failure, Internal fixation, Body weight, Early weight bearing, Fractures, Long Bones Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Research Vol. 5 (2) 2006: pp. 75-78


This toolkit provides practical advice to anyone involved in, or who is interested in becoming involved in, performance-based contracting of health services with non state providers in the context of developing countries. It addresses many of the issues that may be encountered. Input from experienced contracting professionals will give newcomers increased confidence as they go forward. Experts directly involved in contracting on a large scale have contributed to the development of this toolkit. The first section provides summary before moving on to the main part of the toolkit. The section provides background on contracting, including definitions of key terms, the types of services that can be contracted, how contracting relates to other ways of organizing health services, and which contracting approaches work in different settings. The third section provides a systematic way of thinking about contracting and how to do it in practice. It looks at seven aspects of the contracting process from initial dialogue with stakeholders through carrying out the bidding process and managing contracts. This framework will help ensure a systematic consideration of the choices and challenges. The fourth section provides checklist which contains tasks and issues to address while designing and implementing a contract. The checklist can also be used to review an existing contract to see what is missing or could be improved. The fifth and final section reviews the evidence for contracting in developing countries, explores why contracting appears to work, and addresses concerns that have been expressed about contracting.


A dynamic programming optimization technique has been applied to three case studies involving hydropower scheduling. Each involved the analysis of an operating strategy for a different time perspective, i.e., instantaneous, hourly, and monthly time frames. The case studies included: (1) The optimal instantaneous scheduling of hydropower units, with different generating characteristics to maximize overall plant efficiency; (2) the optimal hourly scheduling of hydropower generation between two hydrologically linked power plants to maximize overall daily/weekly system efficiency; (3) the optimal monthly scheduling of hydropower generation to minimize the purchase cost of imported power supply subject to a time‐of‐day rate structure. The case studies have shown that optimization techniques can be successfully implemented to gain insight into complex operating strategies.


The presented technique combines the quantitative benefits characteristic of element specific inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) techniques with the advantages of highly selective and molecule specific electron ionisation mass spectrometry (EI-MS) detection by parallel hyphenation of these detectors. As proof of concept, parallel detection of four iodinated alkanes (iodomethane, iodoethane, 1-iodopropane, 2-iodopropane) with EI-MS and ICP-MS after capillary gas chromatography (GC) is demonstrated. Analytical figures of merit resulting from linear calibration are presented and compared with respect to the two different detectors. Limits of detection (0.6 pg as iodine) comparable to values reported in literature were achieved for ICP-MS detection of all investigated species.


Most forms of macroeconomics today, whether Keynesian or monetarist, presuppose that problems of economic instability can be treated as errors in financial management. Neither fiscal nor monetary policy recognizes the existence of systemic faults in the real economy that result in overinvestment in durable capital that turns over slowly, in contrast to forms of capital that interact more frequently with land and labor. Only by removing serious distortions in microeconomic relations can macroeconomic problems be resolved. The current global economic crisis exemplifies the limitations of policies that ignore distortions in the rate of turnover of investment capital.


Vitis vinifera L. cultivars Muller-Thurgau, Muscat Ottonel, Gewurztraminer, and Kerner were studied for 1 year to document changes in fruit terpene levels from berry stage to free-run and press-juice stages. Substantial amounts of free volatile terpenes (FVTs) and potentially volatile terpenes (PVTs) were lost between berry and juice stages. PVTs were higher in press juices of 'Gewurztraminer' and 'Muscat Ottonel' than in free- run juices. In another experiment, juices from 'Miiller-Thurgau', 'Muscat Ottonel', 'Kerner', 'Optima', 'Pearl of Csaba', and 'Siegerrebe', harvested 10 to 20 days after a designated initial harvest date, contained higher FVTs and PVTs than initially. A third experiment with 'Kerner', 'Muller-Thurgau ', 'Optima', and 'Siegerrebe' found highest FVTs and PVTs in juices from grapes subjected to skin contact compared with grapes crushed and immediately pressed. Sensory evaluation showed aroma differences between wines from free-run and press juices of 'Miiller-Thurgau' and 'Muscat Ottonel', aroma and flavor differences due to harvest date for all cultivars except 'Pearl of Csaba', and aroma and flavor differences due to skin contact for 'Siegerrebe'.


ABSTRACT It has been documented that spleen necrosis virus (SNV) can package murine leukemia virus (MLV) RNA efficiently and propagate MLV vectors to the same titers as it propagates SNV-based vectors. Although the SNV packaging signal (E) and MLV packaging signal (Ψ) have little sequence homology, similar double-hairpin RNA structures were predicted and supported by experimental evidence. To test whether SNV RNA can be packaged by MLV proteins, we modified an SNV vector to be expressed in an MLV-based murine helper cell line. Surprisingly, we found that MLV proteins could not support the replication of SNV vectors. The decrease in titer was approximately 2,000- to 20,000-fold in one round of retroviral replication. RNA analysis revealed that SNV RNA was not efficiently packaged by MLV proteins. RNA hybridization of the cellular and viral RNAs indicated that SNV RNA was packaged at least 25-fold less efficiently than MLV RNA, which was the sensitivity limit of the hybridization assay. The contrast between the MLV and SNV packaging specificity is striking. SNV proteins can recognize both SNV E and MLV Ψ, but MLV can recognize only MLV Ψ. This is the first demonstration of two retroviruses with nonreciprocal packaging specificities.


Objectives Older Australians, aged ≥65 commonly take ≥5 daily medications, generally described as polypharmacy. Whilst polypharmacy is often appropriate, it is associated with higher personal and health system costs related to adverse drug events, inappropriate medication use and poor health outcomes. Deprescribing or discontinuing low value or potentially harmful medications is one strategy to reduce polypharmacy. Earlier research of older adults' attitudes to polypharmacy suggest mixed attitudes toward ongoing medication use, but a willingness to consider deprescribing if recommended by their doctor. This study further explored the relationship between attitudes to polypharmacy and willingness to consider deprescribing. Methods A convenience sample of independent, community living older adults from regional NSW, Australia aged ≥65 years, taking ≥five medications, were invited to take part in individual one-on-one interviews between August 2017 and October 2018. A question guide was developed based on an earlier survey conducted in the same population group and a review of the literature. Preliminary analysis of an initial group of 12 interviews was conducted before further refining the question guide. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded and analysed thematically using NVivo 12. Results Altogether, 25 participants were interviewed. The median age of the group was 79 (range 69–95) and they were taking a median of 10 medications (range 5–25). Attitudes to polypharmacy were found to be complex and many layered. Themes in the participants' accounts indicated both acceptance and reluctance or ambiguity. Acceptance was shaped by their experience and values. They recalled experiences of family members who had poor health or died prematurely because they had not used medicines and the better health of theirs' compared to previous generations because of the availability of medicines. They valued managing their health so as not to become a burden on others and desired to remain active, in relatively good health and avoid disability and premature death. Their trust in their doctors' medical knowledge also influenced their sometimes unquestioning acceptance of polypharmacy. Concurrently, reluctance and ambiguity arose from concerns about the potential risks related to medication interactions, side effects and a general dislike of taking multiple medications and the inconvenience involved. Although older adults talked of a desire to take fewer medications, most took a pragmatic approach believing that this would not be a real option in their circumstances. Conclusion Older adults using polypharmacy generally accept the need to do so. Preferences to continue medications may be based on influential life experiences, values and prescriber trust. These allow older adults to frame risks as acceptable compared to the overall value of ongoing polypharmacy use. Trust in their prescribers' medical knowledge can become an obstacle to opportunities to deprescribe as some were less likely to question their medications. Older adult preferences driving deprescribing decisions are likely to be quite different from those that are being considered as important by their prescriber. However these preferences need to be explored alongside those of the prescriber in deprescribing discussions in order to provide patient centered care and facilitate shared decision-making.


Thermoelectric properties of Li-doped NiO and Li-doped CaoosNio950, with Ni substituted by Ca in order to alter the lattice structure, were investigated in high temperature region. The oxide powder was prepared by a soft chemical approach, and then was sintered in form of compressed pallets. The chemical processing greatly shortens the overall preparation time period. Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity of the oxide samples were similar to those of the samples prepared via traditional solid-state approach. The novel chemical processing is effective to prepare the oxide ceramics.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate benefits and harms of food intake during labor.

DATA SOURCES
Electronic databases such as MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched from their inception until October 2016.

METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION
We included randomized trials comparing a policy of less-restrictive food intake with a policy of more restrictive food intake during labor. The primary outcome was the mean duration of labor. Meta-analysis was performed using the random-effects model of DerSimonian and Laird to produce summary treatment effects in terms of either a relative risk or a mean difference with 95% confidence interval (CI).

TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS
Ten trials, including 3,982 laboring women, were included. All the studies involved laboring singletons considered at low risk because they had no obstetric or medical complications that would increase the likelihood of cesarean delivery. In three studies, women were allowed to select from a low-residue diet throughout the course of labor. One study had honey date syrup as the allowed food intake. Five studies had carbohydrate drinks as food intake in labor. The last one was the only trial that allowed unrestrictive food intake. In the included studies, all women in the intervention group were allowed the assigned food intake until delivery, whereas women in a control group were allowed only ice chips, water, or sips of water until delivery. A policy of less-restrictive food intake was associated with a significantly shorter duration of labor (mean difference -16 minutes, 95% CI -25 to -7). No other benefits or harms in obstetric or neonatal outcome were noticed. Regurgitation during general anesthesia and Mendelson syndrome did not occur in either group.

CONCLUSION
Women with low-risk singleton pregnancies who were allowed to eat more freely during labor had a shorter duration of labor. A policy of less-restrictive food intake during labor did not influence other obstetric or neonatal outcomes nor did it increase the incidence of vomiting. Operative delivery rates were similar.


Maintenance costs during the past decades have reached more than 70% of the overall costs of object-oriented systems, because of many factors, such as changing software environments, changing users' requirements, and the overall quality of systems. One factor on which we have a control is the quality of systems. Many object-oriented software quality models have been introduced in the literature to help assess and control quality. However, these models usually use metrics of classes (such as number of methods) or of relationships between classes (for example coupling) to measure internal attributes of systems. Yet, the quality of object-oriented systems does not depend on classes' metrics solely: it also depends on the organisation of classes, i.e., the system design that concretely manifests itself through design styles, such as design patterns and antipatterns. In this dissertation, we propose the method DEQUALITE to systematically build quality models that take into account the internal attributes of the systems (through metrics) but also their design (through design patterns and antipatterns). This method uses a machine learning approach based on Bayesian Belief Networks and builds on the results of a series of experiments aimed at evaluating the impact of design patterns and antipatterns on the quality of systems. These experiments, performed on 9 large objectoriented open source systems enable us to draw the following conclusions: • Counter-intuitively, design patterns do not always improve the quality of systems; tangled implementations of design patterns for example significantly affect the structure of classes and negatively impact their changeand fault-proneness. • Classes participating in antipatterns are significantly more likely to be subject to changes and to be involved in fault-fixing changes than other classes. • A non negligible percentage of classes participate in co-occurrences of antipatterns and design patterns in systems. On these classes, design patterns have a positive effect in mitigating antipatterns.


How the menu selection attributes and menu design attributes influence the customer value and customer satisfaction is a major study object. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted to the consumers of 4 Western restaurants. Selecting 223 copies, the diversity of menu and convincibility of menu turned out to be influential on the customer value. In the Hypothesis 2, menu selection attributes turned out to be influential on the customer satisfaction. In the Hypothesis 3, menu design turned out to be influential on the customer value. In the Hypothesis 4, menu design turned out to be influential on the customer satisfaction. In the Hypothesis 5, the customer value turned out to be influential on the customer satisfaction. The study shows that the importance of menu selection and menu design is a significant in regards to customer value and customer satisfaction.


Breaking from a long stretch of using largely standard language in unqualified audit opinions, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) expanded audit reports to disclose Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) and the audit procedures used to address them. The first wave of CAM disclosures began for large accelerated filers after June 2019, with most disclosures occurring in February 2020. Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, this study examines the types of CAMs disclosed by auditors and the typical audit procedures used to address them. We then explore whether CAMs are informative to investors and security analysts. Our findings are consistent with greater amounts of CAM disclosures as indicators of greater uncertainty. We document that market reactions are more negative for firms with more CAM disclosures; analysts reduce their earnings forecasts to a larger extent for such firms; stock prices become more volatile; and the dispersion of analyst forecasts are greater for firms with more CAM disclosures. We further find that many issues related to CAMs are raised in earnings conference calls with analysts during the immediately subsequent quarter. While these findings indicate that CAMs are informative to investors and analysts, their effects are concentrated around the time of disclosure. We do not find evidence of a drift in returns after the initial disclosures.


Two experiments investigated whether and how clear speech production enhances intelligibility of English fricatives for normal-hearing listeners and listeners with simulated hearing impairment. Babble thresholds were measured for minimal pair distinctions. Clear speech benefited both groups overall; however, for impaired listeners, the clear speech effect held only for sibilant pairs. Correlation analyses comparing acoustic and perceptual data indicated that a shift of energy concentration toward higher frequency regions and greater source strength contributed to the clear speech effect for normal-hearing listeners, while listeners with simulated loss seemed to benefit mostly from cues involving lower frequency regions.


Pneumocystis carinii may be one of the etiologic factors of pneumonia in neonates. Of 258 neonates enrolled in a prospective study of neonate pneumonia 57 (22%) had evidence of Pn.c infection. Diagnosis was based on patients history, clinical signs, chest roentgenogram, blood gas examination, serologic tests detecting the patients specific fluorescent IgM and IgG antibodies and cytologic examination of tracheal lavage performed in 14 cases showing 100% correlation with the serologic tests. Patients were hospitalised at mean age of 5 days (range 1-20) and their illness was characterised by its afebrile course, presentation in crisis with severe respiratory distress, bilateral pulmonary infiltrates with hyperaeration. Treatment with Lomidine or Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxasole, in most severe cases with both drugs, was associated with rapid improvement. None of the patients died. These results indicate that Pn.c. may be an important cause of pneumonitis in neonates. An early diagnosis results in full therapeutical success. Considering the age of the patients congenital Pn.c. pneumonia cannot be excluded.


How common, and how subject-specific, are metaphors in biology and history teachers'narratives about CLIL teaching? The present study investigates CLIL teachers' use of metaphorical language –verbal metaphor and grammatical metaphor –as part of their CLIL teaching narratives. Swedish CLIL teachers from two subject disciplines –biologyand history –were interviewed about their perceptions, values and practices regarding the teaching of their subject through the medium of English.In quantitative and qualitative analyses, frequency and types of metaphors were estimated and identified. Results indicate that verbal metaphors are subject to individual variation whereas grammatical metaphor is shared within the community of practice, independent of school and geographical affiliation. Examples will be presented and discussed in light of teacher epistemology and curriculum documents.


In recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of listener's abilities to function in reverberant spaces where a sound propagates in multiple directions and is reflected from nearby surfaces. This article deals with theoretical considerations of spatial audition in the presence of reflections, in particular with the precedence effect. It is considered as a strategy that listeners unconsciously employ to cope with multiple arrays of directional cues in reverberant spaces. It refers to the auditory phenomenon that occurs when two similar sounds are presented from different locations with a brief delay between them and only one sound is heard whose perceived location is dominated by the first arriving sound.