As a result of NSG restrictions, India cannot import the natural uranium required to fuel its Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs); consequently, it is forced to rely on the expediency of domestic uranium production. However, domestic production from mines and byproduct sources has not kept pace with demand from commercial reactors. This shortage has been officially confirmed by the Indian Planning Commission's Mid-Term Appraisal of the country's current Five Year Plan. The report stresses that as a result of the uranium shortage, Indian PHWR load factors have been continually decreasing. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) operates a number of underground mines in the Singhbhum Shear Zone of Jharkhand, and it is all processed at a single mill in Jaduguda. UCIL is attempting to aggrandize operations by establishing new mines and mills in other states, but the requisite permit-gathering and development time will defer production until at least 2009. A significant portion of India's uranium comes from byproduct sources, but a number of these are derived from accumulated stores that are nearing exhaustion. A current maximum estimate of indigenous uranium production is 430t/yr (230t from mines and 200t from byproduct sources); whereas, the current uranium requirement for Indian PHWRs more » is 455t/yr (depending on plant capacity factor). This deficit is exacerbated by the additional requirements of the Indian weapons program. Present power generation capacity of Indian nuclear plants is 4350 MWe. The power generation target set by the Indian Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is 20,000 MWe by the year 2020. It is expected that around half of this total will be provided by PHWRs using indigenously supplied uranium with the bulk of the remainder provided by breeder reactors or pressurized water reactors using imported low-enriched uranium. « less


There is a general expectation that open government data (OGD) can lead to the generation of value for government, business, and society. However, there appears to be a lack of scholarly literature that empirically validates what this value is or how it emerges. This paper addresses this concern by exploring what empirical evidence currently exists about the effects stemming from OGD in the case literature. Through the use of a literature review, 17 papers capturing empirical evidence were identified and, from these papers, a systematic collection of statements was extracted from which 173 were retained to construct what we term nine stylised facts. The identified stylised facts depicting features and correlations provide some insights into the de facto positive, negative and/or inconclusive effects relating to OGD as opposed to simply opinions and beliefs.


I have proposed in this paper a unique technique which is able to adapt to noisy images for eye gaze detection as the processing of noisy sclera images captured at a distance and on the move has not been extensively investigated. The blood vessels of sclera have previously been investigated as an useful biometric characteristic. Capturing this section of the eye with a normal camera with pictures of visible distance instead of near infrared images has given rise to attention in research interest This technique involves a sclera template rotational alignment and a distance scaling method to minimize the error rate when audible eye images are taken prisoner at a distance and on the move. The proposed system is being tested and results are generated by extensive simulation in java. Keywords— Biometrics, feature extraction, Gabor filter's, kernel, linear discriminates analysis, pattern recognition, sclera recognition.


A variety of techniques are available for studying past variations of solar wind, solar flares, galactic cosmic rays, and micrometeorites. Lumar rock results which average over the recent past ( ~ 10 Ma) indicate no major changes in any of these components. At longer times, recent data suggest secular changes in the 15N/14N ratio in the solar wind, possibly due to enhanced solar flare activity. With the deployment of new techniques, it now appears possible to measure solar wind, solar flare, and micrometeorite records in individual grains removed from different layers of lunar cores. Such grains have been exposed for brief intervals of time (103-104 a) for times extending at least 109 a in the past. Lunar and meteoritic breccias are promising candidates for extending the record back still further, perhaps close to the beginning of the solar system.


Radiation hybrid panels are already available for genome mapping in human and mouse. In this study we have used two model organisms (chicken and zebrafish) to show that hybrid panels that contain a full complement of the donor genome can be generated by fusion to hamster cells. The quality of the resulting hybrids has been assessed using PCR and FISH. We confirmed the utility of our panels by establishing the percentage of donor DNA present in the hybrids. Our hybrid resources will allow inexpensive gene mapping and we expect that this technology can be transferred to many other species. Such successes are providing the basis for a new era of mapping tools, in the form of whole genome radiation hybrid panels, and are opening new possibilities for systematic genome analysis in the animal genetics community.


Several conditions must be accomplished for successful treatment of posttraumatic osteomyelitis, as there are stability in fracture region, surgical debridement, wound irrigation, cancellous bone transplantation and skin grafting. All this surgical methods involve possibilitis of complications. The most of them can be avoided observing certain rules of management.


Prominent studies abroad which focused on the determinants of bank's interest margin and profitability have focused on whether banks in a particular country or panel have tended to exhibit different profit determinants and deposit behaviours. One question that these studies have not yet addressed is the actual determinants of bank profitability in Nigeria. Using the panel of respondents drawn randomly from 10 sampled banks based on their total deposit position at the entry point of the period of study 1996-2005, the study established that in Nigeria, the volume of operations more than any other factor determined the operating profits of commercial banks. The other factors include the level of market capitalisation, peer group ranking and combination of other important factors as determined by the tempo of the macro economic environment. This finding posed serious challenge to bank executives to identify important explanatory variables or determinants affecting their annual earnings to their forecast and build them into their chosen forecasting and profit planning models to improve forecast accuracy. The study calls for more commitment to trainings and model development based on the internal peculiarities of banks under study. The Information Manager Vol. 7 (2) 2007: pp. 14-20


Background: Despite a long history, numerous laws and regulations, ethics remains an unnatural topic for many software engineering researchers. Poor research ethics may lead to mistrust of research results, lost funding and retraction of publications. A core principle for research ethics is confidentiality, and anonymization is a standard approach to guarantee it. Many guidelines for qualitative software engineering research, and for qualitative research in general, exist, but these do not penetrate how and why to anonymize interview data. Aims: In this paper we aim to identify ethical guidelines for software engineering interview studies involving industrial practitioners. Method: By learning from previous experiences and listening to the authority of existing guidelines in the more mature field of medicine as well as in software engineering, a comprehensive set of checklists for interview studies was distilled. Results: The elements of an interview study were identified and ethical considerations and recommendations for each step were produced, in particular with respect to anonymization. Important ethical principles are: consent, beneficence, confidentiality, scientific value, researcher skill, justice, respect for law, and ethical reviews. Conclusions: The most important contribution of this study is the set of checklists for ethical interview studies. Future work is needed to refine these guidelines with respect to legal aspects and ethical boards.


The undisputed, worldwide success of chemotherapy notwithstanding, schistosomiasis continues to defy control efforts in as much rapid reinfection demands repeated treatment, sometimes as often as once a year. There is thus a need for a complementary tool with effect for the longer term, notably a vaccine. International efforts in this direction have been ongoing for several decades but, until the recombinant DNA techniques were introduced, antigen production remained an insurmountable bottleneck. Although animal experiments have been highly productive and are still much needed, they probably do not reflect the human situation adequately and real progress can not be expected until more is known about human immune responses to schistosome infection. It is well-known that irradiated cercariae consistently produce high levels of protection in experimental animals but, for various reasons, this proof of principle cannot be directly exploited. Research has instead been focussed on the identification and testing of specific schistosome antigens. This work has been quite successful and is already at the stage where clinical trials are called for. Preliminary results from coordinated in vitro laboratory and field epidemiological studies regarding the protective potential of several antigens support the initiation of such trials. A series of meetings, organized earlier this year in Cairo, Egypt, reviewed recent progress, selected suitable vaccine candidates and made firm recommendations for future action including pledging support for large-scale production according to good manufacturing practice (GMP) and Phase I trials. Scientists at the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have drawn up a detailed research plan. The major financial support will come from USAID, Cairo, which has established a scientific advisory group of Egyptian scientists and representatives from current and previous international donors such as WHO, NIAID, the European Union and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation.


The present century is the era of information and communication, and learning English language can pave the route; however, some young learners face psychological barriers in English classes. This research was done to compare the efficiency of TBILT and TBLT on the youth's morale of inquiry. The statistical population included all 4200 Babol Azad University students of whom 320 were volunteers to participate in English language classes via public invitation. Then, 90 students were selected using available sampling model and were placed randomly in three groups (two experimental and one control). Before starting teaching, Moslemi and Akbari's Morale of Inquiry Questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha of .786 was administered, and then using three methods namely TBILT in the first experimental class, TBLT in the second one, and Traditional method (GTM) in control group, the teacher taught English in 20 sessions, 90 minutes each. After the post test, the two-way single variable co-variance and the Post Hoc Tukey Test revealed that both experimental groups did much better than the control group (p <.001). On the other hand, the TBILT group acted much stronger than the TBLT one in giving morale of inquiry skill to the youth (p <.001).


In the present study, mesopycnal flows are investigated using direct numerical simulations. In particular, intrusive density- and particle-driven gravity currents in the lock exchange setup are simulated with the high-order finite-difference framework Xcompact3d. To account for the settling velocity of particles, a customized Fick's law for the particle-solution species is used with an additional term incorporating a constant settling velocity proportional to the concentration of particles. A general energy budget equation is presented, for which the energy can migrate across the domain's boundaries. The relevant main features of intrusive gravity currents, such as front velocity, energy exchanges, sedimentation rate, deposit profile, and deposit map are discussed with the comparison between two- and three-dimensional simulations. In particular, the influence of the Grashof number, the interface thickness, the energy exchanges, the sedimentation process, and how the presence of more than one particle fraction may change the flow dynamics are investigated. The results are in good agreement with previous experiments and theoretical work, in particular for the prediction of the front velocity. For the particle-driven case, the suspended mass evolution along with the sedimentation rate suggests the occurrence of three different stages. In the first stage after the lock release, the particle mixture tends to suspend itself due to gravitational forces. Once most of the particle-mixture mass is suspended, the current intrudes while increasing its velocity, reaching its kinetic energy peak. In the last stage, the particles are deposited at a nearly constant sedimentation rate. As a result, the front velocity constantly decelerates.


AIM
To determine the effect of nitric oxide (NO) on calcium-activated potassium currents in antral circular myocytes of the guinea pig stomach.

METHODS
The whole-cell patch-clamp techniques were used, and the cells were isolated by collagenase. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP), spermine, and 3-morpholino-sydnonimine (SIN-1) were used as nitric oxide donors.

RESULTS
Outward potassium currents were remarkably inhibited by tetraethylammonium (TEA) 1 mmol.L-1. Charybdotoxin 200 nmol.L-1, a specific inhibitor of KCa channel, also greatly inhibited IK(Ca). NO donors remarkably increased IK(Ca) in guinea pig gastric antral circular myocytes with perforated patch-clamp techniques but not conventional whole-cell patch-clamp techniques. Spermine 100 mumol.L-1 increased IK(Ca) by 14% +/- 10% (at 60 mV, P < 0.01), SIN-1 200 mumol.L-1 increased IK(Ca) by 19% +/- 14% (at 60 mV, P < 0.01), and SNP 100 mumol.L-1 increased IK(Ca) by 24% +/- 13% (at 60 mV, P < 0.01) respectively. SIN-1- and SNP-induced increase of IK(Ca) was blocked by methylene blue 1 mumol.L-1.

CONCLUSION
NO increases calcium-activated potassium currents in gastric antral circular myocytes of guinea pig, and the effect of NO on IK(Ca) may be mediated by cyclic GMP.


The aim of this study is to identify the impact of strategic planning and continuous improvement on the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative decisions at Empowerment for Administrative Consultations and Marketing Company (EACMC). (50) questionnaires were distributed to the sampling and analysis unit from the higher and middle administrative divisions at (EACMC), (46) questionnaires were retrieved at a percentage of 92%, and after examining and checking the retrieved questionnaires, no questionnaire was excluded. The findings of the study indicate that there was a statistically significant impact of strategic planning on the effectiveness of administrative decisions at (EACMC) Moreover, there was a statistically significant impact of continuous improvement on the effectiveness of administrative decisions at (EACMC). The study advise that (EACMC) should pay more attention to the external environmental analysis that reflects the provision of new opportunities and helps avoid the effects of external threats through the optimal exploitation of internal strengths towards supporting the (EACMC) strategic position and achieving superiority over its competitors in the markets.


Professor Anderson of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Newton, Mass., has given for general readers a reverent, sympathetic, fresh, and incisive "treatment of the most important problems about Jesus and his career," based on sound learning and good acquaintance with current discussion. After a lucid description of "the situation in which Jesus found himself," he discusses Jesus' belief in his own messiahship, and his positive teaching about the Law and God and duty and the future. The chapter on " The Character of Jesus" is impressive and moving. The point of view is that of a thoroughly conservative "liberalism"; accepting the accounts of the Gospels, believing that Jesus, a consistent human character, is Christ and Lord, not wholly satisfied with the statements and definitions of the Church about the secret of his personality, confessing its faith thus: "This Jesus, so strangely and uniquely full of God, is Lord in a sphere beyond the reach of our highest thought. He therefore demands and deserves the wonder, reverence, love, and supreme devotion of every human being."


Thin films of V2O3 with thickness 4?300?nm were grown on -oriented sapphire substrates by reactive dc magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction, pole figure measurements and scanning tunnelling microscopy show high crystallinity and epitaxy to the substrate with a faceted surface structure, and the absence of strain. Measurements of the electrical resistivity, scanning tunnelling and x-ray absorption spectroscopy show a metal?insulator transition near 150?K that is connected with the opening of an energy gap and a characteristic modification of the absorption spectrum at the vanadium-2p and oxygen-1s edges. These observations reveal that the films have bulk-like properties.


Purpose To identify the genetic defect associated with autosomal dominant congenital nuclear cataract in a Chinese family. Methods Family history and phenotypic data were recorded, and the phenotypes were documented by slit lamp photography. The genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. All the exons and flanking intronic sequences of CRYGC and CRYGD were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and screened for mutation by direct DNA sequencing. Structural models of the wild type and mutant γC-crystallin were generated and analyzed by SWISS-MODEL. Results Sequencing of the coding regions of CRYGC and CRYGD showed the presence of a heterozygous C>A transversion at c.327 of the coding sequence in exon 3 of CRYGC (c.327C>A), which results in the substitution of a wild type cysteine to a nonsense codon (C109X). One and a half Greek key motifs at the COOH-terminus were found to be absent in the structural model of the mutant truncated γC-crystallin. Conclusions A novel nonsense mutation in CRYGC was detected in a Chinese family with consistent autosomal dominant congenital nuclear cataract, providing clear evidence of a relationship between the genotype and the corresponding cataract phenotype.


Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality applications require streaming 360° videos to implement new services in a diverse set of fields such as entertainment, art, e-health, e-learning, and smart factories. Providing a high Quality of Experience when streaming 360° videos is particularly challenging due to the very high required network bandwidth. In this paper, we showcase a proof-of-concept implementation of a complete DASH-compliant delivery system for 360° videos that: 1) allows reducing the required bitrate, 2) is independent of the employed encoder, 3) leverages technologies that are already available in the vast majority of mobile platforms and devices. The demo platform allows the user to directly experiment with various parameters, such as the duration of segments, the compression scheme, and the adaptive streaming algorithm parameters.


A discrete belt of Albian−Cenomanian granitoid plutons occurs in the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes in the Central (CTP) and Eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP) and represents a major magmatic pulse in the plateau's crustal evolution during the Cretaceous. The geochemistry, petrogenesis, and magmatic development of these granitoids are different from those of magmatic arc granitoids along the southern edges of the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes, indicating different heat and melt sources and tectonic setting of their formation. We present here new mineral, whole-rock and isotope geochemistry, and zircon U-Pb age data from the Xiasai pluton in the ETP and discuss its geochemical-petrological characteristics and magmatic development in comparison to the other Cretaceous plutons in the ETP and CTP, and within the tectonic framework of the Mesotethyan geology of Tibet. Zircons from the Xiasai and other plutons in the ETP have yielded U-Pb ages ranging from 106 Ma to 93 Ma in comparison to 115 Ma and 100.3 Ma zircons from the Southern Qiangtang Terrane (SQT) and 113.4 Ma and 109 Ma zircons from the Northern Lhasa Terrane (NLT) farther west. The Cretaceous granitoids in the ETP and CTP range in composition from granite, K-feldspar granite to monzogranite and biotite monzogranite, representing highly fractionated I-type granites with relatively high SiO2 and K2O contents, variable (Na2O + K2O)/CaO and FeOT/MgO ratios, and (Zr + Nb + Ce + Y) abundances. They display significant negative Eu anomalies (Eu/*Eu) = 0.04−0.12) and strong depletions in Sr and Ba, and are strongly enriched in large ion lithophile elements but depleted in high field strength elements. Their εHf(t) values correspond to wide ranging Hf isotope crustal model ages (TDMC) of 0.3−1.9 Ga, and their Sr-Nd isotopic signatures show elevated (87Sr/86Sr)i ratios (0.7034−0.7105) and negative εNd(t) values of −8.8 to −4.9. These high whole-rock (87Sr/86Sr)i ratios and relatively high Th/Nb and Th/Yb ratios indicate incorporation of melts derived from partial melting of subducted sediments into the melt evolution of these granitoids that involved partial melting of the subduction-metasomatized lithospheric mantle and the mafic- to intermediate-composition continental crust. The extant zircon crystallization ages of the granitoid intrusions in the CTP and ETP show eastward younging of their emplacement from 115 Ma to 93 Ma, suggesting an apparent eastward migration of the heat source through time. A diachronous collision of the NLT with the SQT during 145−120 Ma and the subsequent slab breakoff induced, eastward propagated slab tear and asthenospheric upwelling produced the hybrid melts of the Albian−Cenomanian granitoids and their emplacement in a discrete, narrow magmatic belt in the CTP and ETP.


【This study looked into the characteristics of participants in dance sports, which is being positioned to be one of everyday athletic activities among people, and investigated the actual purchasing of dance sports wear with the subjects of its participants as a preceding study for the development of dance sports wear to consider their characteristics. The questionnaire method was used, and descriptive and crosstabulation analysis was conducted with a spss 12.0. The findings are as follows. 1. As the results that examine general characteristics of dance sports participants, the number of those in their 20's was the largest, while the number of women was larger than that of men. Regarding the practicing period, those of one year or longer up to 4 years occupied the largest proportion, and the rate of Latin American dance participants was larger than that of modern dance ones. 2. As to the actual purchasing of dance sports wear, the purchase motivations were found to be in the 'contest participation' for teenagers and those in their 20's, while those in their 40's or over purchased their wear for the purposes of 'following the fashion' or 'club gatherings.' As for the sources of information at the time of purchase, teenagers relied on internet and those of 20's or over got the information through the persons nearby. As their ages got higher, the ready-made sports wear was preferred, while as their practicing periods got longer modern dance participants purchased the sports wear of higher prices. Participants in their 30's and those practicing 7 years or longer possessed a comparatively larger number of dance sports wear and they considered importantly of designs and fit at the time of purchase. Therefore, the development of dance sports wear designs should be made to accord with the participants' age groups so that they might be sensitive to the fashion and clearly represent their personality for the junior group and durable enough to last long for the senior group.】


We have discussed the results of analytical analysis of random walk features of Brownian particle in a bounded scattering region. This article considers the model of statistical distribution of random sequence based on papers of A. Einstein and M Smoluhovsky. We have showed analytical formulas of probability density function in case of one-sided bounded scattering region and in case of double-sided scattering region. The Monte-Carlo steps number dependencies of mean displacement and square displacement for different scattering region sizes are derived. We have showed that steps number dependencies of mean displacement and square displacement in case of large random walk time are tending asymptotically to some fi nite value, that depends on a size of a bounded scattering region. The dependence of Brownian particle square displacement from scattering gegion size is derived. We have stated the recommendations for defi nition of initial vector of parameters when using numerical methods for fi nding parameters of distribution.


In the research, it was aimed to determine the situations of middle school students using reading comprehension strategies in printed and digital media and the relationship between them. Relational screening model, which is one of the quantitative methods, was used in the research. The sample of the research consists of 204 middle school students. In addition, students were determined on a voluntary basis and random sampling. As a result of the research, it was determined that middle school students mostly use their reading strategies in digital environment. In addition, they use the strategies before and after reading in digital media and the strategies for after reading in printed media. Also, it has been determined that female students use more strategies than boys in both printed and digital media. It was observed that 5th grade students used more strategies. However, it was concluded that there is a positive relationship between using strategy in printed and digital media.


Objective This study's objective is to establish a nurse-led pain management model for neurointensive care based on the Precede-Proceed model to provide a theoretical basis for clinical pain management in neurointensive care. Methods. ICU nurses were randomly divided into a control group (giving conventional routine pain care) and an experimental group (managed pain based on the Precede-Proceed model). The nurses from the experimental group were trained in the Precede-Proceed-based management. The nurses then treated a total of 410 critically ill patients, and the patients were randomly divided into a control and an intervention group (205 cases/nursing group), and the data were prospectively recorded. Before and after the intervention, the pain assessment ability, discomfort level, satisfaction degree, usage of the analgesic drug, and the incidence of delirium of the patients from the two groups were evaluated. Nurses from both groups also assessed their knowledge of pain, attitude, and pain nursing behaviors using indicated self-designed questionnaires. Results Before the intervention, there was no statistical difference between the two groups of nurses in their baseline characteristics, pain knowledge, attitude, pain nursing behavior, and pain assessment ability for the patients. After the intervention, the nurses in the experimental group had better pain knowledge, attitude, pain nursing behavior, and pain assessment ability to patients than the nurses in the control group. Patients in the intervention group felt less discomfort, a higher satisfaction degree, reduced use of analgesics, and a lower incidence of delirium than patients in the control group. Conclusion. Pain management based on the Precede-Proceed model was beneficial in improving the care of neurointensive patients.


It is suggested that a large deep underocean neutrino detector, given the presence of significant numbers of neutrinos in the PeV range as predicted by various models of Active Galactic Nuclei, can make unique measurements of the properties of neutrinos. It will be possible to observe the existence of the ν τ , measure its mixing with other flavors, in fact test the mixing pattern for all three flavors based upon the mixing parameters suggested by the atmospheric and solar neutrino data, and measure the nu τ cross section. The key signature is the charged current ν τ interaction, which produces a double cascade, one at either end of a minimum ionizing track. At a few PeV these cascades would be separated by roughly 100 m, and thus be easily resolvable in DUMAND and similar detectors. Future applications are precise neutrino astronomy and earth tomography. In thinking about the consequences of τ production in DUMAND it has become clear that we may find a spectacular signature for τ events. This depends upon the existence of 10 15 eV neutrinos in adequate numbers, as are in fact predicted from AGNs[1] for example. Since the τ mass is about 1.8 GeV , a τ of 1.8 P eV and with cτ of 91 µm[3] would fly roughly 90 m before self destructing. The interesting signals are from the charged current quark interactions of ν τ 's. The signature, as illustrated in Figure 1, is: 1. a big hadronic shower from the initial ν τ interaction, 2. a muon like τ track, and then 3. a second big particle cascade (usually 3 times larger).


A common framework is presented to classify several phase correction techniques. A subset of these techniques are evaluated through simulations which utilize 2-D phase aberration profiles measured in the breast. The techniques are compared based on their ability to reduce phase errors, stability, and sensitivity to noise and missing elements in the transducer array. Significant differences are observed in these measures of performance when the size and location of the aperture area used to generate a phase reference signal are varied. Techniques that utilize a small correction reference region are more susceptible to noise and missing elements than techniques which use larger reference regions. The algorithms encounter problems in 2-D phase correction when making the transition from one row to the next, due to the low interelement correlation at the transition points. It is shown that the magnitude of the interelement correlation is the key parameter governing phase correction performance.<<ETX>>


Objectives To evaluate the effects of local antibiotics on bone morphogenetic protein-induced new bone formation in vivo. Design In the research laboratory, inactive collagenous bone matrix was reconstituted with 1 μg of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-7 and implanted subcutaneously in the thorax bilaterally in 30 male Long-Evans rats. Intervention In group A (n = 2), the inactive collagenous bone matrix alone was implanted, bilaterally, and one of these pellets treated with either 500 μg tobramycin in aqueous solution or 3 to bramycin-impregnated polymethyl methacrylate beads. In group B (n = 4), the reconstituted pellets were not treated with tobramycin. In group C (n = 8), 1 reconstituted pellet in each rat was treated with 500 μg tobramycin in aqueous solution. In group D (n = 8), 3 tobramycin beads were placed in contact with 1 of the 2 reconstituted pellets in each rat. In group E (n = 8), 3 tobramycin beads were placed on the dorsal surface of 4 of the rats. All rats were killed on day 11. Main Outcome Measurement Bone formation was evaluated by alkaline phosphatase assay and histology. Tobramycin elution from the beads after day 11 was measured by placing the explanted beads into a phosphate buffer solution to incubate for 24 hours. Results There was no difference in the alkaline phosphatase activity between the tobramycin treated and untreated implants. Histologic evaluation of the implants revealed areas of robust new bone formation in both the tobramycin treated and untreated implants. Conclusions The results by both alkaline phosphatase assay and histologic evaluation in this rat model indicate that there is no inhibition of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-7–induced new bone formation by locally applied tobramycin. Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-7 is osteoinductive in the presence of locally applied tobramycin. A composite osteogenic device containing both tobramycin and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-7 may be developed that can simultaneously induce bone healing and decrease the risk for infection.


A175 Associating target therapies with classic cytotoxic drugs represents a new promising combinational strategy in clinical oncology. Anti-EGFR erlotinib (Tarceva®) has been recently approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, in combination with a standard chemotherapy, gemcitabine, both in the USA and in Europe. Erlotinib + capecitabine (Xeloda®) is an alternative, innovative combination that already exhibited promising antitumoral efficacy on various solid cancer models (breast, colorectal, gynaecological), but had not been tested so far in pancreatic tumours. Here, we studied the efficacy of this new target therapy + antimetabolite association on human pancreatic cancer cell lines.
 Experiments were carried out on the resistant capan-1 and capan-2 human cell lines. Efficacy and apoptosis experiments were performed after concomitant and various sequential treatments, along with study of response/resistance determinants such as TP, DPD, Bax, P27 and p-AKT.
 Our data showed that erlotinib up-regulates thymidine phosphorylase (+50%) and down-regulates dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (-55%), thus suggesting theoretically a better activation of capecitabine within tumor cells preliminary exposed to erlotinib. Besides, we checked as well that Bax, P27, p-AKT were fully functional in our models. Still, when not antagonist, only moderate additive effects were achieved in these pancreatic cells exposed to the various combinations of erlotinib + capecitabine we tested. To understand this, further experiments were performed to identify the putative causes of this lack of efficacy. We first found that capecitabine down-regulates EGFR (-35%) in capan-1 cells with no effect on its downstream signalisation pathway nor antiproliferative-related effects, thus suggesting a possible loss of efficacy when cells were subsequently treated with erlotinib due to the absence of its target. This finding is fully consistent with the fact that capan-1 cells were indeed markedly less sensitive to the association. Much interestingly, we showed as well a dramatic overexpression of both cytosolic (+100 up to +1900%) and extra-cellular (+100 up to 3500%) VEGF secretion in response to our treatments, possibly leading to a boost in cell proliferation
 Taken together, our preliminary data suggest that VEGF secretion could be a new, major mechanism of resistance to the erlotinib + capecitabine association in pancreatic cancers, and, possibly, to other target therapy + antimetabolites combinations. To test this hypothesis, further experiments including the use of anti-VEGF bevacizumab will be undertaken.


Abstract. Toxoplasmosis is a disease that infects all warm-blooded animals, including livestocks and humans caused by Toxoplasma gondii parasites. There are major drugs used for the therapy, though they have some effects to the patients, such as allergy, toxic and teratogenic for fetus. In addition, toxoplasmosis treatment is only effective for tachyzoites T. gondii in acute infection, while tissue cysts cannot be eradicated in chronic toxoplasmosis Tissue cysts of T. gondii contained in meat that are consumed by humans and meat-derived products may be important sources of infection for humans. Microneme protein (MIC) is one of proteins that belongs to excretory-secretory antigens (ESAs) of Toxoplasma gondii. Microneme 3 protein (MIC3) is the protein that plays an important role in the invasion process during cell infection as a mediator attachment parasite to the host cell. Recombinant MIC3 protein has been already used for the detection of toxoplasmosis and it could induce humoral and cellular immune response in experimental animals. The aim of this research was to express MIC3 recombinant protein of T. gondii from local isolate that was cloned into expression vector and transformed to E. coli BL21. In the future, recombinant protein MIC3 can be used for vaccine candidate and diagnostic tools for toxoplasmosis in animals and humans. Gene of MIC3 T. gondii local isolate (1.2 Kbp) was cloned into expression vector pET-32a(+) (5.9 Kbp) and transformed to Escherichia coli BL21. Protein from plasmid recombinant (7.1 Kbp) was expressed and performed by culturing recombinant bacteria into LB medium containing ampicillin and IPTG. Recombinant protein was isolated by sonication method and identified using SDS-PAGE. Finally, the recombinant protein was analyzed by immunoblotting using anti-ESAs polyclonal antibody. In conclusion, expression of the MIC3 gene with ~108 kDa has been successfully performed by cloning gene encoding for MIC3 protein of T. gondii local isolate that can be identified with polyclonal antibody anti-ESAs. Key Words: Toxoplasma gondii, expression, MIC3 protein


To assess the potential effects of Al toxicity on the roots of young European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), seeds were sown in soil monoliths taken from the Ah and B horizons of forest soils with very low base saturation (BS) and placed in the greenhouse. The Ah horizons offered a larger supply of exchangeable cation nutrients than the B horizons. After 8 weeks of growth under optimal moisture conditions, the seedlings were further grown for 14 d under drought conditions. Root-growth dynamics were observed in rhizoboxes containing soils from the Ah and B horizons. The concentrations of Al3+, base cations, and nitrate in the soil solution and element concentrations in the root tissue were compared with above- and belowground growth parameters and root physiological parameters. There was no strong evidence that seedling roots suffered from high soil-solution Al3+ concentrations. Within the tested range of BS (1.2%–6.5%) our results indicated that root physiological parameters such as O2 consumption decreased and callose concentration increased in soils with a BS < 3%. In contrast to the B horizons, seedlings in the Ah horizons had higher relative shoot-growth rates, specific root lengths, and lengths and branching increments, but a lower root-to-shoot ratio and root-branching frequency. In conclusion, these differences in growth patterns were most likely due to differences in nutrient availability and to the drought application and not attributable to differences in Al3+ concentrations in the soil solution.


Small object segmentation is a challenging task in image processing and computer vision. In this paper we propose a visual attention based segmentation approach to segment interesting objects with small size in natural images. Different from traditional methods which use the single feature vectors, visual attention analysis is used on local and global features to extract the region of interesting objects. Within the region selected by visual attention analysis, Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) is applied to further locate the object region. By incorporation of visual attention analysis into object segmentation, the proposed approach is able to narrow the searching region for object segmentation so as to increase the segmentation accuracy and reduce the computational complex. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is efficient for object segmentation in natural images, especially for small objects. The proposed method outperforms traditional GMM based segmentation significantly.


This Libguide provides information about KSU Trumbull Theaters 2015-2016 season. This guide will be updated through the season with the latest information and resources on the individual shows that the theater will be presenting. This Libguide showcases books and scholarly artices on the play


This paper contributes to the research on organizational culture (OC) from a crosscountry perspective. From the economic point of view we see that society today has led us to increasing international cooperation and globalization. Despite the opening of economic borders there are still limits to consider when operating across national boundaries. One of those limits can be associated with culture – the way things are commonly understood and accepted in different national entities. This can be of special importance for small countries, as they need to adjust to their larger counterparts in order to be economically competitive.
Research focuses on different aspects when studying OC, but it is generally agreed that task orientation and interpersonal relationships become important dimensions when we analyze this phenomenon. In order to understand OC and to measure it in cross cultural settings, a universal measurement tool is needed; however, drafting such a tool has for some time been a sticky task. In this paper the measurement invariance of the Organizational Culture Questionnaire (Vadi et al. 2002) is examined by comparing the data from seven countries representing Eastern and Western Europe, Russia, and China. This sample covers both small and large countries. A confirmative factor analysis was used as a means to test measurement invariance across the selected samples. In addition, Multidimensional Scaling technique was applied to provide a visual representation of the data. An analysis was carried out using the statistical software SPSS/AMOS 17.0. The results indicate that task orientation can be found as a common dimension whereas relationship orientation seems to hold a diverse meaning across countries. Instead of relationship orientation, a dimension reflecting negative employee emotions towards the organization was detected. It also turned out that the strength of the relationship between the obtained subscales shows interesting variation across countries. These findings potentially allow us to better understand and lead international collaboration between countries and organizations.


This study aims primarily to assess the overall impact of corporate governance on corporate performance and corporate risk within the UK banking industry. More specifically, it investigates the influence of corporate governance on two important dimensions, these being: how a firm is performing in terms of financial and operational issues, and corporate risk in terms of liquidity and capital. The thesis will make a contribution to the existing body of theoretical literature pertaining to corporate governance in the UK banking-sector with respect to corporate governance performance relationships. To achieve this aim, the study undertakes a comprehensive literature review from which several hypotheses on the relational significance of corporate governance and corporate performance measures are developed. It then adopts a quantitative approach in which UK bankers and capital market brokers are surveyed to obtain primary data to use for testing those hypotheses. The testing is performed using econometric models and statistical analyses, from which the corporate governance trends are revealed. The outcomes have serious implications for the managements of banking companies as they demonstrate the importance of particular corporate governance variables, and recommend attention to the size of the board, board composition, the establishment of board committees, and the ownership structure of UK banking companies. In addition, several potential areas for further research are identified and reported.


We extend the formalisation of confluence results in Kleene algebras to a
formalisation of coherent confluence proofs. For this, we introduce the
structure of higher globular Kleene algebra, a higher-dimensional
generalisation of modal and concurrent Kleene algebra. We calculate a coherent
Church-Rosser theorem and a coherent Newman's lemma in higher Kleene algebras
by equational reasoning. We instantiate these results in the context of higher
rewriting systems modelled by polygraphs.


OBJECTIVE Our objective was to assess whether impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and obesity are independently related to coronary artery calcification (CAC) in a community-based population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We assessed CAC using multidetector computed tomography in 3,054 Framingham Heart Study participants (mean [SD] age was 50 [10] years, 49% were women, 29% had IFG, and 25% were obese) free from known vascular disease or diabetes. We tested the hypothesis that IFG (5.6–6.9 mmol/L) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) were independently associated with high CAC (>90th percentile for age and sex) after adjusting for hypertension, lipids, smoking, and medication. RESULTS High CAC was significantly related to IFG in an age- and sex-adjusted model (odds ratio 1.4 [95% CI 1.1–1.7], P = 0.002; referent: normal fasting glucose) and after further adjustment for obesity (1.3 [1.0–1.6], P = 0.045). However, IFG was not associated with high CAC in multivariable-adjusted models before (1.2 [0.9–1.4], P = 0.20) or after adjustment for obesity. Obesity was associated with high CAC in age- and sex-adjusted models (1.6 [1.3–2.0], P < 0.001) and in multivariable models that included IFG (1.4 [1.1–1.7], P = 0.005). Multivariable-adjusted spline regression models suggested nonlinear relationships linking high CAC with BMI (J-shaped), waist circumference (J-shaped), and fasting glucose. CONCLUSIONS In this community-based cohort, CAC was associated with obesity, but not IFG, after adjusting for important confounders. With the increasing worldwide prevalence of obesity and nondiabetic hyperglycemia, these data underscore the importance of obesity in the pathogenesis of CAC.


Purpose. The prevalence of infective endocarditis (IE) among children with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine prospectively the prevalence of IE among pediatric patients with SAB in a large tertiary care center. Methods. Between July 1998 and June 2001, all children who developed SAB whose parent/guardian signed informed consent underwent echocardiography. Clinical and follow-up results were collected prospectively. Endocarditis was classified according to the modified Duke criteria. Results. Fifty-one children developed SAB during the study interval. Definite (6 patients [11.8%]) or possible (4 patients [7.8%]) IE was present in 10 of 51 (20%) children with SAB. Most children (73%) developed bacteremia as a consequence of an infected intravascular device. Children with underlying congenital heart disease had a significantly higher prevalence of definite or possible IE, compared with those with structurally normal hearts (53% vs 3%). All patients with definite IE had multiple positive blood cultures. Mortality was high among patients with and without IE (40% vs 12%). Conclusions. In this study, the prevalence of definite IE among children with SAB was ∼12% and was frequently associated with congenital heart disease and multiple positive blood cultures. The mortality for children with SAB and definite or possible S aureus IE is high.


During cruises 120 and 124 of R V Gaveshani two sections, viz. Visakhapatnam Port Blair and Madras Port Blair, in Bay of Bengal have been covered twice. The sea surface temperature (SST) shows a decrease of about 2°C from premonsoon to postmonsoon. The loss of energy from the sea surface to the atmosphere by evaporational cooling due to strong monsoonal winds and reduction in the incoming solar radiation by clouds may result in a net loss of energy (cooling). During premonsoon the isotherms off Visakhapatnam show an upward slope towards the coast resulting from the Ekman drift, forcing the cooler denser subsurface water to come up under a northerly flow. However, the isothermal pattern during postmonsoon reveals the possibility of a thermal adjustment within the water column by way of advection as manifested by stretching of isotherms. Distribution of relative velocities along the sections indicates the presence of gyres (zones of convergence and divergence). There appears a remarkable variation of these gyral systems from premonsoon to postmonsoon.


We report the first full integration of a vapor-deposited polyimide dielectric into a multichip module (MCM) electronic packaging scheme. A robust high-throughput vapor deposition polymerization (VDP) of polyimide has been developed for an interconnection scheme in which thin film metal interconnects are patterned from the top of bare die, down the sides, and onto the substrate circuit board surface. VDP polyimides films have been extensively characterized using infrared spectroscopy and prism coupling techniques. The chemical and electrical properties of the VDP polyimide films are similar to commercially available spin cast polyimides.


This study examined empirically production effi ciency of cassava farms in Osun state of Nigeria using farm level data. The stochastic frontier production and cost function model was used to predict the farm level technical and economic effi ciencies respectively. The predicted technical effi ciency and economic effi ciency are the basis for estimating allocative effi ciency of the farms. Estimated results however, show that cassava farms in the study area exhibit decreasing positive return-to-scale giving the value of return to scale (RTS) of 0.840 obtained from the analysis, meaning that cassava farmers were effi cient in allocating their resources. Additionally, the analysis reveal that predicted effi ciency measure disaggregated into technical (TE), economic (EE) and allocative effi ciency (AE) with a view of examining not only TE but EE and AE when measuring productivity shows that mean TE, EE and AE of 0.903,0.89 and 0.807 were obtained from the analysis respectively meaning that TE appears to be more signifi cant than AE as a source of gain in EE. The policy implication of these fi ndings point to the fact that cassava farms in the study area were effi cient in allocating their resources considering their scope of operation and the limited resources.


ABSTRACT Today about 90 million urban Chinese factory workers are migrant workers from the countryside, comprising the largest and most rapidly expanded industrial working class in history. Before the mid-2000s, these workers from the countryside were employed only temporarily in factories, and almost all were young, very poorly paid and exploited. But as labor shortages have developed and as restrictions against residing in China's cities have relaxed, they are not as vulnerable as they were in previous decades. More of them are older, married, and have children, and many of them would like to settle on a permanent basis near their workplace with their families. Drawing on three decades of on-site interview research up through November 2018, the authors examine the changes that have occurred and the obstacles – such as the remaining difficulty of obtaining an affordable urban education for their children – that still stand in the way of migrant Chinese families remaining intact and settling permanently in urban areas. As a means of conceptualizing the implications of the shifts in migrant workers' circumstances, especially for work relations and labor disputes, their evolving situation will be analyzed through the paradigm of Albert O. Hirschman's concept of Exit vs. Voice.


Gardens are unaccomplished without the showy, pricey investments of ornamental plants. Ornamental plants, especially the flowering plants, have a significant impact on human life. They offer fresh air to the surroundings and release the negativity from the environment. Ornamental plants intrigued humans with their alluring odour and unique. Besides this, many ornamental plants have other economic uses other than just decoration or traditional customs which has been discussed. Many plants are edible and used in several kinds of beverages as medicinal values. Important domiciliary plants that belong to Asteraceae with both ornamental and therapeutic benefits are reviewed in this paper, namely, Calendula, Echinacea, Achillea, Acmella and Tanacetum. These plants possess a high nutritive value and can be cooked or consumed as salads. With numerous pharmaceutical activities of these plants, we hope that this review will bring awareness for their alternative use. Key words: Edible flowers, Medicinal ornamental plants, Floriculture, Horticulture, Alkaloids, Essential oil.


Sun exposure is the main environmental risk factor for melanoma, but the timing of exposure during life that confers increased risk is controversial. Here we provide the first report of the association between lifetime and age‐specific cumulative ultraviolet exposure and cutaneous melanoma in Queensland, Australia, an area of high solar radiation, and examine the association separately for families at high, intermediate and low familial melanoma risk. Subjects were a population‐based sample of melanoma cases diagnosed and registered in Queensland between 1982 and 1990 and their relatives. The analysis included 1,263 cases and relatives with confirmed cutaneous melanoma and 3,111 first‐degree relatives without melanoma as controls. Data on lifetime residence and sun exposure, family history and other melanoma risk factors were collected by a mailed questionnaire. Using conditional multiple logistic regression with stratification by family, cumulative sun exposure in childhood and in adulthood after age 20 was significantly associated with melanoma, with estimated relative risks of 1.15 per 5,000 minimal erythemal doses (MEDs) from age 5 to 12 years, and 1.52 per 5 MEDs/day from age 20. There was no association with sun exposure in families at high familial melanoma risk. History of nonmelanoma skin cancer (relative risk [RR] = 1.26) and multiple sunburns (RR = 1.31) were significant risk factors. These findings indicate that sun exposure in childhood and in adulthood are important determinants of melanoma but not in those rare families with high melanoma susceptibility, in which genetic factors are likely to be more important. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


There is a global trend that the average onset age of many human complex diseases is decreasing, and the age of cancer patients becomes more spread out. The age effect on survival is nonlinear in practice and may have one or more important change‐points at which the trend of the effect can be very different before and after these threshold ages. Identification of these change‐points allows clinical researchers to understand the biologic basis for the complex relation between age and prognosis for optimal prognostic decision. This paper considers estimation of the potentially nonlinear age effect for general partly linear survival models to ensure a valid statistical inference on the treatment effect. A simple and efficient sieve maximum likelihood estimation method that can be implemented easily using standard statistical software is proposed. A data‐driven adaptive algorithm to determine the optimal location and the number of knots for the identification of the change‐points is suggested. Simulation studies are performed to study the performance of the proposed method. For illustration purpose, the method is applied to a breast cancer data set from the public domain to investigate the effect of onset age on the disease‐free survival of the patients. The results revealed that the risk is highest among young patients and young postmenopausal patients, probably because of a change in hormonal environment during a certain phase of menopause.


There is a disturbing nationwide campaign against property rights in the sharing economy, a campaign that is stifling economic opportunity and a new means of tourism that has connected property owners and travelers. Property owners can rent their homes to make money and help pay their mortgages. Consumers benefit from more choice and lower prices; communities attract visitors who support local businesses; and people are incentivized to buy dilapidated homes and fix them up.
But regulators aren't rewarding these entrepreneurs for creating value. Instead, they're punishing people — sometimes with criminal penalties — for allowing overnight guests.
In 2016, Arizona lawmakers adopted legislation that expressly forbids local governments from passing blanket bans on home-sharing. The new law allows local communities to enforce nuisance rules that protect quiet, clean, and safe neighborhoods, but blocks one-size-fits-all prohibitions that cause more problems than they solve. States nationwide should follow suit. Officials aren't doing residents — or travelers — any favors by slapping responsible taxpaying homeowners with large fines. Instead, they are limiting choices, hindering the tourism industry, and depriving people of the right — and the incentive — to use their property as they see fit.


Automated construction involves complex interactions between machines and humans. Unless all possible scenarios involving construction and equipment are carefully evaluated, it may lead to failure of the structure or may cause severe accidents. Hence monitoring of automated construction is very important and sensors should be deployed for obtaining information about the actual state of the structure and the equipment. However, interpreting data from sensors is a great challenge. In this research, a methodology has been developed for monitoring in automated construction. The overall methodology involves a combination of traditional model-based system identification and machine learning techniques. The scope of this paper is limited to the machine learning module of the methodology. The efficacy of this approach is tested and evaluated using experiments involving the construction of a steel structural frame with one storey and one bay. The construction is carried out by a top-to-bottom method. During the construction of the frame, 99 base cases of normal operations are involved. 158 base cases of possible failures have been enumerated. Failure cases involve, for example, certain lifting platforms moving faster than others, improper connections of joints, etc. Strain gauges and accelerometers are installed on the structure and the data from these sensors are used to determine possible failure scenarios. Preliminary results indicate that machine learning has good potential for identifying activities and states in automated construction.


Benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide monomers derived from alkyl esters of tryptophan (BTA Trp) self-assemble into helices with an inner threefold hydrogen bond network surrounded by a second network involving the indole N-H groups. As a consequence of this extra stabilization of its helical assemblies, BTA Trp forms more viscous solutions than a range of ester and alkyl BTAs.


The speed of flow between aortic arch and abdominal aorta was determined from the corresponding minimal transit time (MTT) measured with 113m-In-DTPA and the Fucks-Knipping gamma camera. A total of 144 individuals was examined: 62 normal persons, 34 patients with cardiac insufficiency; 31 patients with hyperkinetic syndrome (effort syndrome and hyperthyroidism) and 17 patients with isolated aortic sclerosis without impairment of cardiac function. In all individual groups there was a highly significant correlation between speed of flow and heart rate. For a given heart rate speed of flow was diminished in cases of cardiac insufficiency and aortic sclerosis; it was accelerated in patients with hyperkinetic syndrome. By plotting the speed of flow through the aorta, normalized to an arbitary heart rate, against the corresponding MTT, also normalized to the same heart rate, the presence of aortic sclerosis could be differentially recognized in 14 of the 17 patients with this disease.


Background Critical care units' nurses should seek to develop collaborative relationships with patients' family members based on their needs and help them to cope with their distress. The objective of this study was to find out the perception of nurses on needs of family members of patients admitted to critical care units. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital among all 65 nurses working in critical care units. Ethical clearance was obtained from Chitwan Medical College Institutional Review Committee. Data were collected from March 27 to April 25, 2016, using Critical Care Family Needs Inventory (CCFNI). Obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results This study found that mean age of the nurses was 23.98 ± 4.05 years. More than half of the nurses had completed PCL in nursing (52.3%) and had 1-5 years of experience in critical care units (58.5%). Nurses ranked the needs for assurance as most important needs with mean percent (86.25%) followed by needs for information (78.58%), need for comfort (69.59%), needs for closeness (69%), and needs for support (64.13%). Out of 45 family needs, 81.5% of nurses perceived that knowing about patient treatment is very important for family members. Married nurses perceived the needs for support to be more important than unmarried nurses (p=0.04) whereas unmarried nurses perceived the needs for information to be more important than married (p=<0.01). There was significant difference on perception of nurses on needs of assurance with ethnicity (p=0.009) and critical care experience (p=0.04).


This paper seeks to redress the omission in recent literature on the influence of project strategic, site related and design related variables on the cost of construction. It presents, in part, the results of an investigation into the influence of 41 independent variables on both construction cost and client cost, concentrating on design related variables. Data were collected from 286 construction projects in the United Kingdom and correlation and test for differences were used to determine the relationships that exist between the dependent and independent variables. The analysis ascertains the cost ranking of many design related variables and establishes other relationships which exist within the data, confirming many of the relationships that had been anticipated from the literature. It also established the ordinal sequence of several nominal variables. These data, therefore, can be confidently used to develop models of the total cost of construction as verified by the development of both regression analysis and neural network cost models


Section 217(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 (the Act) sets forth the requirements for the admissibility of a confession made by any person in relation to the commission of an offence. Section 217(1)(a) provides that where a confession is made to a peace officer who is not a magistrate or a justice of the peace, such a confession must be confirmed or reduced to writing in the presence of a magistrate. Pursuant to section 217(1)(b), where a confession has been made to a magistrate or has been confirmed and reduced to writing in the presence of a magistrate, it is deemed to be admissible in evidence upon mere production (ss (b)(i)); and presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the accused made the confession freely and voluntarily, while she or he was in her or his sound and sober senses, and without having been unduly influenced in making it (ss (b)(ii)).In S v Zuma (1995 (1) SACR 568 (CC)), the Constitutional Court found that section 217(1)(b)(ii) of the Act violated the right to a fair trial as embodied in section 25(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution). It is a longstanding principle of both English and South African law of evidence that the state bore the burden of proving that any confession on which it wished to rely was freely and voluntarily made. Section 217(1)(b)(ii) of the Act placed on the accused the burden of proving on a balance of probabilities that a confession made to or recorded by a magistrate was not free and voluntary. This section, therefore, created a legal burden of rebuttal on the accused – a so-called "reverse onus".The court held that the common law rule requiring the state to prove that a confession was made freely and voluntarily, was integral and inherent in the right to remain silent after arrest, the right not to be compelled to make a confession, and the right not to be a compellable witness against oneself. These rights are the necessary reinforcement of the principle that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Reversing the burden of proof seriously compromises and undermines these rights. The court thus declared that section 217(1)(b)(ii) of the Act violated the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 200 of 1993 (the interim Constitution) and was invalid.In the authors' view, with the Constitutional Court's decision in Zuma, the principal rationale for sections 217(1)(a) and (b) of the Act seems to have fallen away. After all, the main reason to specifically provide for a confession made to or reduced to writing by a magistrate would be to ease the process of admissibility of such a confession without the need to test its admissibility at a trial-within-a-trial. After Zuma – whether a confession was made to or reduced to writing by a magistrate or not – if the accused contests the admissibility of the confession, the presiding magistrate must hold a trial-within-a-trial in which the state bears the onus of proving the admissibility of the confession on a balance of probabilities.This raises a possibility that did not exist prior to Zuma, namely that a magistrate to whom a confession was made or who reduced it to writing can be called as a witness by the state in a trial-within-a-trial. The authors question whether it is conducive to central tenets of the judicial function – independence and impartiality – for magistrates to take confessions at all, and thus be required to testify in any matter in which accused persons challenge confessions taken down by magistrates.


In this research, we developed three table games for the purpose of easy study of meteorology by college students of building engineering. To verify the effectiveness of these games, we investigated the difference of understanding level between the two student groups; one had learned meteorology by the games, and another had learned with only textbooks. We clarified the effect of these games from the point of increase of satisfaction and motivation during the game time, and also of the decrease of consciousness of compulsory studies. The main factor of those phenomena was specified to be the moderate time length of their communications each other.


The present study focuses on fabrication and characterisation of porous composite scaffold containing hydroxyapatite (HAP), chitosan, and gelatin with an average pore size of 250-1010 nm for improving wound repair and regeneration by Electrospinning method. From the results of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) study, the peaks correspond to crystallographic structure of HAP powder. The presence of functional group bonds of HAP powder, Chitosan and scaffold was studied using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The surface morphology of the scaffold was observed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The Bioactivity of the Nano composite scaffolds was studied using simulated body fluid solution at 37 ± 1°C. The biodegradability test was studied using Tris-Buffer solution for the prepared nanocomposites [nano Chitosan, nano Chitosan gelatin, Nano based Hydroxyapatite Chitosan gelatin]. The cell migration and potential biocompatibility of nHAP-chitosan-gelatin scaffold was assessed via wound scratch assay and were compared to povedeen as control. Cytocompatibility evaluation for Vero Cells using wound scratch assay showed that the fabricated porous nanocomposite scaffold possess higher cell proliferation and growth than that of povedeen. Thus, the study showed that the developed nanocomposite scaffolds are potential candidates for regenerating damaged cell tissue in wound healing process.


BACKGROUND Active surveillance (AS) and watchful waiting (WW) have been proposed as management strategies for low-risk, localized prostate cancer. PURPOSE To systematically review strategies for observational management of prostate cancer (AS or WW), factors affecting their utilization, and comparative effectiveness of observational management versus immediate treatment with curative intent. DATA SOURCES MEDLINE and Cochrane databases (from inception to August 2011). STUDY SELECTION Screened abstracts and reviewed full-text publications to identify eligible studies. DATA EXTRACTION One reviewer extracted data, and another verified quantitative data. Two independent reviewers rated study quality and strength of evidence for comparative effectiveness. DATA SYNTHESIS Sixteen independent cohorts defined AS, 42 studies evaluated factors that affect the use of observational strategies, and 2 evidence reports and 22 recent studies reported comparisons of WW versus treatment with curative intent. The most common eligibility criteria for AS were tumor stage (all cohorts), Gleason score (12 cohorts), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration (10 cohorts), and number of biopsy cores positive for cancer (8 cohorts). For monitoring, studies used combinations of periodic PSA testing (all cohorts), digital rectal examination (14 cohorts), and rebiopsy (14 cohorts). Predictors of receiving no active treatment included older age, comorbid conditions, lower Gleason score, tumor stage, PSA concentration, and favorable risk group. No published studies compared AS with immediate treatment with curative intent. Watchful waiting was generally less effective than treatment with curative intent; however, applicability to contemporary patients may be limited. LIMITATIONS Active surveillance and WW often could not be differentiated in the reviewed studies. Published randomized trials have assessed only WW and did not enroll patients diagnosed by PSA screening. CONCLUSION Evidence is insufficient to assess whether AS is an appropriate option for men with localized prostate cancer. A standard definition of AS that clearly distinguishes it from WW is needed to clarify scientific discourse. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.


Personality theory based on affective neuroscience research suggests the presence of seven affective neurobiological systems. These dimensions have been identified using psychometric instruments such as the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) and its brief version known as the Brief Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (BANPS). Despite being a psychometric valid instrument, the BANPS was not adapted to European Portuguese. This study describes a psychometric analysis of the BANPS in a Portuguese population sample. A European Portuguese-speaking sample was recruited (N = 355, Mage = 27.31, DP = 12.75). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the BANPS factorial structure. Pearson correlations were used to explore convergent validity with self-reports for psychological distress and psychopathology. Six factor model was confirmed with adequate goodness-of-fit indices (χ2(449) = 808,9841, TLI = .90, CFI = .92, RMSEA = .048 (.042-.053). Non-agreeable affective systems (anger, fear, distress), correlated positively with psychological distress and symptomology, while play and care systems correlated negatively. Seek and care subscales showed the weakest psychometric properties. The original factor structure was confirmed, suggesting the BANPS may be a valid measure to assess affective behavioral traits in the Portuguese population. Further studies in clinical populations may improve the psychometric data of the BANPS.


This paper analyzed the implementation process of experts managing the case of grandparent and grandchildren families in the case management process, as the useful approach to strengthen the function of grandparent and grandchildren family. The methodology were the analysis on 6 management cases by step and the analysis on the interview with 3 experts implementing the case management on grandparent and grandchildren families. As a result, major complaints from grandparent and grandchildren families were basic livelihood and economy area, physical and mental health area, child care and education area and culture area. The service goals were set by such classification and support service was provided using the internal and external resources. The case management process was effective for improving the satisfaction on life by positively changing the grandchildren and promoting the psychological and emotional stability. 6 cases were under the post management after the analysis was completed and linked to the program `Reinforcement of Family Ability of Grandparent and Grandchildren Family.` In accordance with the interview with the experts in case management, the grandparent and grandchildren family case management was characterized by high dependency and difficulty in expressing the desires. They required the long-term approach as well as the approach to restore the relationship with the original family.


This prologue summarizes the history of the conference WORDS, and the contributions which were presented, our goal being to testify how the conference may be embedded in the development of the field of Combina-


In summary, human red cells processed in a closed system Cohn centrifuge and stored in glycerol at -80-¦ C and -120-¦ C have been transfused into recipients after preservation up to 28 months. The sterility of the system made possible additional post-thawing storage of the cell at 4-¦ C for distribution to the hospital where the transfusions were administered. No transfusion reactions of any kind were noted. The cells appeared completely similar to standard ACD cells stored up to 21 days by standard methods.


Background. Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN) is one major microvascular complication of long-standing diabetes mellitus with a prevalence of 50–60%. DPN leads to decreased quality of life, increased morbidity, and mortality. C reactive protein (CRP) and adenosine deaminase (ADA) are independent inflammatory mark -ers; the current study aims to evaluate and compare serum ADA, CRP in diabetic patients with and without neuropathy. Methods. A prospective study was done on 160 diabetic patients with and without neuropathy who visited the Medicine Department of Kasturba Hospital Manipal. Patients were grouped into two: diabetics with neuropathy (n = 80) and without neuropathy (n = 80). Serum samples were collected and analyzed for CRP and ADA. Results. The data were analyzed using the independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. There was a significantly high level of ADA (P = 0.032) in neuropathy patients when compared with the non-DPN group. No significant difference was seen in CRP levels (P = 0.123) in DPN patients compared to non-DPN patients. Conclusion. Monitoring of inflammatory markers like ADA in diabetic patients can provide insight into pre-venting DPN and its associated complications. (Clin Diabetol 2021; 10; X: XXX–XXX)


High-field magnetization up to 18 T and magnetic susceptibility measurements have been performed on a TbCu2Si2 single crystal. The magnetic susceptibility shows an antiferromagnetic behaviour with two anomalies at Tt = 9.1 K and TN = 11.9 K. The easy magnetization direction is the [110] direction in the basal plane. The magnetization along the easy direction shows a multi-step metamagnetic process in low fields. It is almost saturated above 8 T and reaches 8.7 μBat 16 T. A strong magnetic anisotropy between the [110] and [100] directions is observed at high fields. A one-step metamagnetic transition appears around 13 T at 4.2 K in the hard [001] magnetization process. This transition survives at 13 K even above TN. These magnetic behaviours are discussed from an analysis of crystalline electric field.


This article investigates the essentialist perception of social categories and differentiates it from two closely related concepts, namely entitativity and natural kind-ness. We argue that lay perceptions of social categories vary along three dimensions: natural kind-ness, entitativity, and essentialism. Depending on whether membership in social categories is forced or chosen, people develop different theories and associate different types of characteristics. Perceived control upon membership in the categories influences perceptions of entitativity and natural kind-ness but has no direct impact on the attribution of essentialism to the groups.


Critical period (CP) plasticity in the auditory cortex (A1) is critical for functional brain development and cognitive function. Impaired A1 development during the CP has been implicated in neurological disorders of learning and memory. Here, we explored the effects of early-life stress (ELS) on α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) functioning during this CP. ELS was induced at P3-15 in a c-Fos based transgenic mouse model. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, we recorded pyramidal cells in A1 to measure AMPAR function. We found that AMPAR functional maturation is highly correlated to the opening of the A1 CP during normal development. We further identified that ELS selectively activated a subpopulation of A1 pyramidal neurons as evidenced by selective activity-dependent green fluorescent protein tagging. We observed that ELS activated neurons showed enhanced AMPAR functioning compared to non-activated neurons. These results provide a potential synaptic mechanism following exposure to a stressor during a CP of neurodevelopment.


Previous research has examined the connoted hazard of various colour and signal words separately. The purpose of the present research was to examine the interaction of signal words and colours. Two separate experiments examined the influence of colour on perceptions of hazard and on compliance to printed warnings. In experiment 1, a sample of 30 undergraduates rated the perceived hazard of signal words printed in specific hazard colours. Results indicated that the level of hazard varied as a function of the signal word and the colour in which it was presented. Of the colours used, red conveyed the highest level of perceived hazard followed by orange, black, green and blue. More importantly, it was noted that a signal word such as DEADLY connoted less hazard when printed in green than in red ink. Experiment 2 examined the effect of colour on compliance with printed warnings. Sixty-five undergraduates interacted with a pool-water test kit and a two-part adhesive. The warning on each product was factorial for colour (i.e. red, green and black). Behavioural compliance was assessed by indicating if subjects donned protective gloves as directed by the warning. The data indicated that warnings printed in red resulted in a higher proportion of compliant behaviour than green and black combined. Implications for warning design are discussed.


Introduction Contrast-induced acute nephropathy (CIN) in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the setting of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is associated with adverse outcomes, including longer hospitalization and short and long-term mortality. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are inflammatory markers that have been validated separately in prior studies as a predictor of CIN in patients with ACS who undergo a left heart catheterization. Our study aims to further investigate the role of NLR and PLR together as markers for predicting CIN in patients with ACS. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed on a total of 1,577 patients aged 18 - 90 who presented with ACS and underwent PCI between January 2011 to December 2015 at the Florida Hospital Orlando. Cut-off values used for a high PLR and NLR were PLR > 128 and NLR > 2.6. CIN was defined as an increased serum creatinine level by ≥ 0.5 mg/dL, or ≥ 25%, over the baseline value within 72 hours after contrast agent administration. Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) were excluded. Results Of the 1,577 patients included in the study, 213 (13.51%) patients had CIN. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, high NLR showed an independent association with an elevated risk of CIN (OR 2.03, 95% CI: 1.403 - 3.176, P < 0.001). High PLR did not correlate with CIN (OR 0.831, 95% CI: 0.569 - 1.214, P = 0.339). Conclusion Elevated NLR is an independent predictor of CIN in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and may be used to improve on current risk prediction models.


The Clowes & Campusano large quasar group (LQG) at  has been re-examined using the quasar data from the DR7QSO catalogue of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In the 1991 discovery, the LQG impinged on the northern, southern and eastern limits of the survey. In the DR7QSO data, the western, northern and southern boundaries of the LQG remain essentially the same, but an extension eastwards of ∼2° is indicated. In the DR7QSO data, the LQG has 34 members, with . A new group of 38 members is indicated at  and within ∼20 of the Clowes & Campusano LQG. The characteristic sizes of these two LQGs, ∼350–400 Mpc, appear to be only marginally consistent with the scale of homogeneity in the concordance cosmology. In addition to their intrinsic interest, these two LQGs provide locations in which to investigate early large-scale structure in galaxies and to identify high-z clusters. A method is presented for assessing the statistical significance and overdensity of groups found by linkage of points.


In order to evaluate the response mechanisms of L. gracilis fertigated with saline effluent from fish farming, L. gracilis plants were nourished with fish farming effluent with electrical conductivity of 0.45, 2.68, 4.60, 5.55 and 7.02 dS m− 1 for 60 days. The experiment was carried out in the open field using a completely randomized design with five treatments and four replicates. The salinity levels of the nutrient solution containing fish farming effluent did not affect the leaf and stem biomass production, relative water content and leaf area of the studied species. The activity of antioxidant enzymes varied when the nutrient solution salinity level was increased, which also stimulated the breakdown of starch reserves, but did not interfere with the biochemical parameters proline, photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids), levels of membrane damage and malondialdehyde, indicating that the plant showed no stress symptoms when fertigated with high-salinity effluent. The anatomy of L. gracilis leaf cross-sections shows a unistratified epidermis with glandular and non-glandular trichomes in the adaxial and abaxial sides. Plants that received only fish farming effluent (7.02 dS m− 1) showed a 25% reduction in the number of xylem bundles in the midrib region, compared to the control. The yield, chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil extracted from L. gracilis leaves did not differ between treatments. Thus, the saline effluent from fish farming can be used in the fertigation of L. gracilis without compromising plant yield, avoiding environmental contamination with disposal in soil and/or water bodies.


In the present study total of 59 rhizobacteria was isolated from saline infested zone of Wheat rhizosphere, using different media. Nutrient agar was used for isolation as well as enumeration of different bacteria,0.1ml was spread on Ashbys Mannitol agar for Azotobacter spp.,Congored yeast extract agar for Rhizobiumspp., Nitrogen free agar for Azospirillum spp respectively. Individual colonies showing different morphology from respective medium were transferred on slants of respective media and further used for identification. All the isolates were identified using All the isolates were identified as per the Bergeys Mannual of Systematic bacteriology [1] and Micro IS software[2]. All the isolates was screened for plant growth promoting (PGP) activities at higher salt (NaCl) concentrations 2%,4%,6%,8%,10%. Results indicated that all the isolates grows up to 6 % NaCl concentrations, showed optimum activities at 4% NaCl concentration and tolerated 8% NaCl for 12 hours. Of all 59 isolates 22 produced Indole-3- acetic acid (IAA) 21 solublized phosphates, 17 fixed atmospheric nitrogen, and 8 produced Siderophores and 10 have not showed any plant growth promoting activity. All the isolates were identified up to genus level and most of up to species level using Bergeys manual of systematic bacteriology, and MICRO IS software. Amongst all the genera identified Bacillus was found to be dominant followed by Pseudomonas. Study indicated the importance of these organisms as bioinoculents for saline soils and can be explored for biofertilizers. There is a scope for use of nitrogen fixing Azotobacter chrococcum and Azospirillum lipoferum, Azospirillum brasilense as potential Nitrogen fixing biofertilizer and Bacillus subtilis as potential phosphate solublizer for reclamation of saline soils. On presenting this work, I am impressed with the ability of Azotobacter chrococcum and Azospirillum lipoferum, Azospirillum brasilense to grow in the presence of salts.


Significance People often ignore material costs they incur when following existing social norms. Some individuals and groups are often willing to pay extremely high costs to enact, defend, or promulgate specific values and norms that they consider important. Such behaviors, often decreasing biological fitness, represent an evolutionary puzzle. We study theoretically the evolutionary origins of human capacity to internalize and follow social norms. We focus on two general types of collective actions our ancestors were regularly involved in: cooperation to overcome nature's challenges and conflicts with neighboring groups. We show that norm internalization evolves under a wide range of conditions, making cooperation "instinctive." We make testable predictions about individual and group behavior. Human behavior is strongly affected by culturally transmitted norms and values. Certain norms are internalized (i.e., acting according to a norm becomes an end in itself rather than merely a tool in achieving certain goals or avoiding social sanctions). Humans' capacity to internalize norms likely evolved in our ancestors to simplify solving certain challenges—including social ones. Here we study theoretically the evolutionary origins of the capacity to internalize norms. In our models, individuals can choose to participate in collective actions as well as punish free riders. In making their decisions, individuals attempt to maximize a utility function in which normative values are initially irrelevant but play an increasingly important role if the ability to internalize norms emerges. Using agent-based simulations, we show that norm internalization evolves under a wide range of conditions so that cooperation becomes "instinctive." Norm internalization evolves much more easily and has much larger effects on behavior if groups promote peer punishment of free riders. Promoting only participation in collective actions is not effective. Typically, intermediate levels of norm internalization are most frequent but there are also cases with relatively small frequencies of "oversocialized" individuals willing to make extreme sacrifices for their groups no matter material costs, as well as "undersocialized" individuals completely immune to social norms. Evolving the ability to internalize norms was likely a crucial step on the path to large-scale human cooperation.


Exposure to extreme heat during physical exertion may impair cognitive and physical abilities commonly known as heat stress. Industrial workers are vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat due to increasing ambient temperatures, tasks with radiant heat exposures, work intensity, and added personal protective equipment (PPE) burden. New wearable sweat sensors may help mitigate heat stress by monitoring physiological signs of dehydration and provide real-time hydration recommendations. As wearable sensors are introduced into the workplace, this study aims to understand whether continuous personal, physiological monitoring is a better indicator of heat stress risk than current, traditional industrial hygiene, environmental monitoring.


Ninety-five squamocellular carcinomas of the uterine cervix, clinical Stages II and III, were treated by either four schedules combining 252-californium neutron-gamma-radiotherapy with different proportions of a neutron component (9, 6 and 3 Gy) or gamma-irradiation alone. Flow cytometric DNA profiles were obtainable in 72 cases before treatment and 56 cases were monitored for DNA content by flow cytometry (FCM) in weekly intervals by analysis of sequential microbiopsies for one month during and after radiotherapy. DNA aneuploidy was reduced from 40% (25/63) to 19% (9/47) one week within therapy in neutron-treated groups, but not after initial gamma-radiotherapy alone. Extinction of DNA aneuploid subpopulations occurred after neutron therapy in all remaining aneuploid tumors (9/9) during further monitoring, but only in 40% (2/5) of tumors after sole gamma-irradiation. In contrast, proliferation index by more than 50% was more often achieved in groups with a higher gamma-radiation component than after neutrons only. When all therapy-induced DNA flow cytometric events are taken together for evaluation of the effects of various radiotherapy schedules, it appears that the regimen with the maximal neutron dose may not be optimal for all tumors. It is hypothesized that the differences in the early flow cytometric DNA profiles may select the DNA aneuploid squamous cell uterine cervical carcinomas as candidates for combined neutron-brachytherapy, while highly proliferating DNA near-diploid tumors may profit more from treatment with a higher gamma-radiotherapy component. However, these early DNA flow cytometric findings need to be correlated with clinical course of the disease to validate this hypothesis, a process which will be completed at the end of the expected five-year clinical outcome in 2000.


AIM
This paper is a report of a study to examine the impact of an online course on nurses' and allied healthcare professionals' competency in infection prevention and control and the influence of organizational climate on knowledge transfer.

BACKGROUND
Nosocomial infection, globalization, international travel and bacterial resistance are among the factors contributing to heightened awareness of the importance of infection prevention and control in today's healthcare environment. An online course in infection control was developed to facilitate the delivery of standardized training to large numbers of health providers.

METHOD
A quasi-experimental, pre-and post-test study using questionnaires and open-ended questions was conducted in 2006 with a convenience sample of 76 healthcare professionals, the majority of whom were Registered Nurses.

FINDINGS
Participants made statistically significant increases in their perceptions of competency in infection control following the course. The majority were very satisfied with the course and reported that what they had learned was useful and relevant to their practice. Participants who worked in supportive organizations that were open to change reported a higher incidence of knowledge transfer activities. Two course design features in particular, video and interactive quizzes and games, motivated learners and enhanced the learning experience.

CONCLUSION
Online learning can provide ongoing, convenient and effective access to up-to-date information on best practices in infection control and prevention. This standardized delivery approach minimizes demand on limited training resources which are under strain and gives learners the opportunity to refresh 'rusty' infection control and prevention skills.


ABSTRACT Purpose This study aimed to examine the life events, emotional health and post-illness awareness of COVID-19 patients. We interviewed 25 people who experienced COVID-19. Design The study was executed in qualitative descriptive design. Methods The study was conducted with a phenomenological design approach. Data were collected using an in-depth, semi-structured interview method. We interviewed 25 people who experienced COVID-19. Findings Three themes were identified in the content analysis: "Experiences before COVID-19," "The active experience of COVID-19," "Remnants of COVID-19." We found that when participants first heard they tested positive for COVID-19, the anxiety they experienced turned into panic and fear of death as the duration and severity of the symptoms of the disease increased. That uncertainty, as well as the influence of the media, intensified their fears. However, despite the unfavorable conditions, experiencing the disease led to positive awareness in all the participants. Conclusions We observed that the intensity of the symptoms of COVID-19, the uncertainty of the treatment process, and the attitude of the media were important factors in producing fear and anxiety. Experiencing the illness created an awareness that resulted in the participants' questioning the meaning of life. Clinical Evidence Within the scope of preventive health services, there is a need for informative programs of education on COVID-19 prevention, coping, and self-improvement that will be useful in reducing the psychological effects of the disease.


Many government services are provided at the state level such as unemployment insurance, Medicaid, and SNAP. Given the lack of competition, a natural worry is that customer support provided by states for these services is less than adequate. While there are many different measures of how a state can support beneficiaries, we focus on just one in this short and applied report: the ability to get a live representative on the phone to help with an application question. To do this, we take a "mystery shopping" approach and make 2,000 phone calls to state government offices. We find substantial heterogeneity in the availability of live phone representatives across states and types of service (UI, Medicaid, etc.). For example, live representatives in New Jersey and Georgia were reached less than 20% of the time while representatives in New Hampshire and Wisconsin were reached more than 80% of the time. We hope that this report provides a simple example for how academics, investigative reporters, and watch groups can help states be more accountable for their customer support systems.

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Ensemble based data assimilation (DA) methods, such as the (sequential) ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and the (non-sequential) ensemble smoother (ES), can both be utilized for solving the inverse problem of estimating poorly known parameters from data consisting of noisy observations of some dynamical system. For cases where we have non-linear data, i.e., when there is a non-linear relationship between the parameters and the dynamical model, both DA methods give inexact results. Moreover, several studies have revealed that for non-linear cases the EnKF and ES give different approximation errors. We recently conducted a thorough investigation of sequential and non-sequential assimilation schemes. The investigation showed that, for a series of weakly non-linear data, sequential assimilation is favorable to non-sequential assimilation. In addition, analytical, and numerical, evidence showed that by ordering data after ascending non-linearity, one reduces the approximation error for the sequential scheme. Ordering of data will, however, not reduce the approximation error for all cases. It is clear that for a sequence of highly non-linear data the approximate methods, independent of how the data are ordered, will fail. Likewise, if the data has little variation in non-linearity, nothing is gain by ordered sequential assimilation. In this work, we investigate, by simple toy models, for which range of data non-linearity there is a potential advantage of ordered sequential assimilation. Furthermore, considering a 2D reservoir case, we evaluate the non-linearity for a collection of production data and production strategies. For each numerical setup, we assess the benefit from ordered sequential assimilation of the data, and we compare the results with results obtained by the toy models. The assimilation schemes are assessed by comparing their history matching capabilities, and by measuring the stochastic distances between their posterior distributions and the posterior distribution obtained by a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Throughout, the non-linearity is evaluated by a stochastic non-linearity measure.