Background/Introduction: Macrophthalmia and microphthalmia are cardinal signs of many orbito-ocular and systemic diseases which are seen in northern Nigeria. Some cases of refractive error may also be directly related to the ocular axial length (AL). The need for an imaging parameter that will aid their early diagnosis is necessary, as visual compromise is a major consequence if they are not diagnosed and managed appropriately. Aim and Objectives: To use magnetic resonance imaging, to determine the normal AL of the eyeball and to establish the association, if any, between AL and inter-zygomatic line (IZL), age and sex. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted over a 6-month period (29th November 2011 to 28th May 2012) at the Department of Radiology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. The anterio-posterior dimension of the globes (AL) and the length of IZL were measured at the level of the lens for 340 normal ocular globes of 170 patients on T1-weighted MR images. Results: The normal ranges for ocular measurements were as follows (mean ± SD): AL of the right globe, 23.32 ± 1.34 mm (range 22.0–24.7) and AL of the left globe, 23.29 ± 1.22 mm (range 22.10–24.51). The length of the IZL was 103 ± 4.78 mm (range 98.2–107.78). All measurements in male patients were significantly higher than those in female patients (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The results obtained from this study may help ophthalmologists, radiologists and other clinicians to quantitatively evaluate patients with macrophthalmia, microphthalmia and/or refractive errors.


This paper studies strategic industry dynamics of creative destruction in which firms and technologies experience turnover. Theories predict that cannibalization between existing and new products delays incumbents' innovation, whereas preemptive motives accelerate it. Incumbents' cost (dis)advantage relative to that of entrants would further reinforce these tendencies. To empirically assess these three forces, I estimate a dynamic oligopoly model using a unique panel data set of hard disk drive manufacturers. The results suggest that despite strong preemptive motives and a substantial cost advantage over entrants, cannibalization makes incumbents reluctant to innovate, which can explain at least 57 percent of the incumbent-entrant innovation gap.


- To avoid serious health problems, researchers are working difficult to come up with effective methods for detecting and coping with excessive amounts of stress. Facial gestures are an essential part of human speech. Researchers in psychology, computer science, neuroscience, and other fields are increasingly interested in a human-computer interface device for automated face recognition or facial expression recognition. as well as similar areas. The machine identifies frontal faces in photographs and codes each frame according to a series of dimensions. A system for acquiring the corresponding information is inside this case of sentiment classification utilizing a biologic output or a thermodynamic picture, which was being used, it is necessarily researched extensively. To develop efficient strategies for identifying and controlling elevated levels of stress in order to reduce severe health effects. Facial gestures are an essential part of human speech. Researchers are particularly involved in a human-computer interface device for automated face recognition or facial expression recognition. In the photographs, the machine senses frontal faces and codes each frame according to certain dimensions. Experimentation indicate that the proposed algorithm can detect more efficient action.


Abstract Since 1989, questions of citizenship and statelessness in Europe are once again dynamic. On the one hand, exclusionary forces have become reinvigorated, including as a result of ethno-nationalism. In addition, new forms of status have been created, severely limiting participation and inclusion rights. Minorities have been particularly subject to exclusion, with Roma and Russians affected in particular. On the other hand, regional and international lawmaking has endeavoured to counteract these forces. This article attempts to summarize these developments, with a particular focus on EU and Council of Europe law.


Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disorder leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatigue. Rarely, long-term stabilization is not possible through the use of thymectomy or any known drug therapy. We present our experience with extracorporeal immunoglobulin (Ig) elimination by immunoadsorption (adsorbers with human Ig antibodies). Acetylcholine receptor antibodies (AChRAs) were measured during long-term monitoring (4.7 ± 2.9 years; range 1.1–8.0). A total of 474 samples (232 pairs) were analyzed, and a drop in AChRA levels was observed (P = .025). The clinical status of patients improved and stabilized. Roughly 6.8% of patients experienced clinically irrelevant side effects. The method of Ig elimination by extracorporeal immunoadsorption (IA) is a clinical application of the recent biotechnological advances. It offers an effective and safe therapy for severe MG even when the disease is resistant to standard therapy.


The magnetic flux tube concentrating strong magnetic field is the basic configuration of magneticfield in the solar atmosphere. In the present paper, the equilibrium of isolated magnetic flux tube inthe solar atmosphere is discussed. In the viewpoint of mathematics, the boundary condition is nonlinearand the position of boundary needs to be determined by the physical condition although the equation ofmagnetic potential is linear for the linear force-free field. Analytical solutions to the arches of bothuniform circular cross-section and non-uniform cross section have been obtained. The results show thatthe nonlinear problem may have or not have any solution according to different azimuthal components of the magnetic field; the number of solutions to the nonlinear problem is four at most, and two in some cases. In the present paper, the analytical solutions to the approximations of both fat and slender arches are given in detail, and the general features of magnetic arch structure are shown.


New InP/InGaAs δ-doped heterojunction bipolar transistors have been successfully fabricated and demonstrated. The use of a δ-doped sheet between two undoped spacer layers more effectively eliminates the potential spike at the base–emitter junction and lowers the collector–emitter offset voltage. The maximum current gain and offset voltage of 455 (533) and 55 mV (33 mV) are observed, respectively, for the unpassivated (passivated) emitter device at room temperature. The base surface recombination current of the studied devices is also investigated in this paper. The studied devices are therefore promising for practical circuit applications.


—Nowadays, we use frequently e-mails, one of the communication channels, in electronic environment. It play an important role in our lives because of many reasons such as personal communications, business-focused activities, marketing, advertising etc. E-mails make life easier because of meeting many different types of communication needs. On the other hand they can make life difficult when they are used outside of their purposes. Spam emails can be not only annoying receivers, but also dangerous for receiver's information security. Detecting and preventing spam e-mails has been a separate issue. In this study, the texts of the links which is in the e-mail body are handled and classified by the machine learning methods and Bag of Word Technique. We analyzed the effect of different N-Grams on classification performance and the success of different machine learning techniques in classifying spam e-mail by using accuracy metric


This quantitative research study was conducted to examine technological and pedagogical experiences of Turkish student teachers in a US Department of State sponsored international internship program. The internship program had a specific emphasis on student-centered teaching and technology integration. Turkish interns completed a 6-week teaching internship at rural Midwest high schools. The main objective of the internship program was to promote professional, cultural, and personal development of the Turkish pre-service teachers. The findings of the current study suggested that the Turkish student teachers had the opportunity to observe the professional and educational applications of computer technologies during their internship program. Especially, those who reported to have student-centered teaching methodology, expertise in computer use, and a high level of technology integration in their teaching expressed more positive attitudes toward using computer applications for instructional purposes. Also, these student teachers reported to have observed instructional computer use by the mentor teacher, effective student learning, and a variety of teaching strategies more frequently.


Fungal–algal relationships—both across evolutionary and ecological scales—are finely modulated by the presence of the symbionts in the environments and by the degree of selectivity and specificity that either symbiont develop reciprocally. In lichens, the green algal genus Trebouxia Puymaly is one of the most frequently recovered chlorobionts. Trebouxia species-level lineages have been recognized on the basis of their morphological and phylogenetic diversity, while their ecological preferences and distribution are still only partially unknown. We selected two cosmopolitan species complexes of lichen-forming fungi as reference models, i.e., Rhizoplaca melanophthalma and Tephromela atra, to investigate the diversity of their associated Trebouxia spp. in montane habitats across their distributional range worldwide. The greatest diversity of Trebouxia species-level lineages was recovered in the altitudinal range 1,000–2,500 m a.s.l. A total of 10 distinct Trebouxia species-level lineages were found to associate with either mycobiont, for which new photobionts are reported. One previously unrecognized Trebouxia species-level lineage was identified and is here provisionally named Trebouxia "A52." Analyses of cell morphology and ultrastructure were performed on axenically isolated strains to fully characterize the new Trebouxia "A52" and three other previously recognized lineages, i.e., Trebouxia "A02," T. vagua "A04," and T. vagua "A10," which were successfully isolated in culture during this study. The species-level diversity of Trebouxia associating with the two lichen-forming fungi in extreme habitats helps elucidate the evolutionary pathways that this lichen photobiont genus traversed to occupy varied climatic and vegetative regimes.


The organization metaphor is often used in the design and imple- mentation of multiagent systems. However, few agent programming languages provide facilities to define them. Several frameworks are proposed to coordinate MAS with organizations, but they are not programmable with general purpose languages. In this paper we extend the JADE framework with primitives to pro- gram in Java organizations structured in roles and to enable agents to play roles in organizations. Roles facilitate the coordination of agents inside an organiza- tion and give new abilities in the context of organizations, called powers, to the agents which satisfy the requirements necessary to play the roles. As primitives to program organizations and roles we provide classes and protocols which enable an agent to enact a new role in an organization and to interact with the role by invoking the execution of powers, and to receive new goals to be fulfilled. Roles have state and behaviour, thus, they are instances of classes and are strictly con- nected with the organization offering them. Since roles and organizations can be on a different platform with respect to the role player, the communication with them happens via protocols. Moreover, since, besides using protocols, roles and organizations can have complex behaviours, they are implemented by extending the JADE agent class.


: Adolescents commonly seek out pornography, which affects their attitudes and behaviours. Furthermore, the current COVID-19 pandemic saw an unprecedented increase in pornography consumption worldwide. However, adults appear generally reluctant to engage children and youth in discussions about online pornography consumption. This article provides a critical commentary on issues related to pornography use, with a focus on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours as part of the sexual development of adolescents. It aims to raise awareness and recommend implementing prevention and intervention education about adolescent online pornography consumption and associated harms. To this end, a narrative review of the academic literature was conducted. The paper discusses the intentional use of pornography by adolescents, potential benefits, gender differences, theoretical considerations, and effects associated with sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. It suggests that online pornography use is an important contemporary social issue that requires attention. Recommendations include the need for education about the negative social, behavioural, and legal impacts of pornography use. Openly discussing sexual consent is critically important and a way to engage adolescents in prevention efforts. Additional research is needed to better understand the nature, extent, and impact of online pornography consumption on adolescents with regard to age, gender, and specific cultural backgrounds.


The purpose of this research is  arrange a strategy model for developing micro and small enterprises owned by the student on the Colleges strategic role-based. Research conducted in the selected region: Surakarta, Sukoharjo, Klaten and Boyolali Regency. The data used is primary and  secondary data. Primary  data  is  obtained  using  the  techniques of observation,  focus group discussion (FGD) and in-depth interview on micro and small entrepreneur's students in the area of  research, the secondary data is obtained  from various publication sources. Analytical method used is descriptive-analytic approach. This result  showed  that : (1) micro and small enterprises owned by  student face various problems especially capital aspect, enterprises  management and  entrepreneurship skills; (2) the problems that have been identified is used a basis of arrangement a SWOT analysis from formulating a grand strategy and model development of micro and small enterprises (Figure  4.3);  (3) The  strategic  role  of  the  Colleges  in  developing  micro  and  small enterprise:  (a)  formulating  strategic for the developing  of  small and micro enterprises through: (i) the teaching of entrepreneurship and enterprises management soft skills-based and (ii) conducting education and training an intensive, systematic and integrated about enterprises management and entrepreneurship science and technology-based; (b) colleges synergize  with  Banks  and  HPMI  for  purposes  related  to  the  evaluation  of  the feasibility business  plan,  flanking  business  and  business  consultant for entrepreneurs students; (c) providing  ease  of  access to capital for  entrepreneurs  students his business plan is considered feasible by a team of assessment.


Machine learning-based plant phenotyping systems have enabled high-throughput, non-destructive measurements of plant traits. Tasks such as object detection, segmentation, and localization of plant traits in images taken in field conditions need the machine learning models to be developed on training datasets that contain plant traits amidst varying backgrounds and environmental conditions. However, the datasets available for phenotyping are typically limited in variety and mostly consist of lab-based images in controlled conditions. Here, we present a new method called TasselGAN, using a variant of a deep convolutional generative adversarial network, to synthetically generate images of maize tassels against sky backgrounds. Both foreground tassel images and background sky images are generated separately and merged together to form artificial field-based maize tassel data to aid the training of machine learning models, where there is a paucity of field-based data. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated using quantitative and perceptual qualitative experiments.


Modern legal scholarship tends to ignore a regulatory technique called "negotiated governance," "negotiated rulemaking," or "regulatory negotiation" (reg-neg) — a process through which agencies work closely with affected stakeholders in drafting a rule. This process was popular in the 1990s and received much scholarly attention around that time, but it has since faded from view. However, several agencies still regularly use negotiated rulemaking, and two of these agencies have recently had to address changing risks in rail transport, thus drawing negotiated rulemaking back into the spotlight. Specifically, a growing volume of ethanol and crude oil is now transported by train due to a recent U.S. energy boom, and our gridlocked Congress did not substantially revise statutes to address rail safety risks until years after these risks were identified, and more than six months after agencies had issued a final rail safety rule. Thus, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) took on the important, initial responsibilities for updating the law within this area, issuing new advisories and writing new regulations to address accidents involving trains carrying crude oil and ethanol. Although FRA and PHMSA did not use negotiated rulemaking to write all of these rules, this Article examines how these agencies' semi-regular use of negotiated rulemaking over time — and thus their repeat interactions with rail industry actors — likely influenced their approach to these risks in positive and negative ways. The Article suggests that industry actors — in part due to their long interaction with FRA and PHMSA through negotiated rulemaking — likely cooperated more with agencies' voluntary rail safety directives than they otherwise might have, and, also due to this interaction, that the agencies had more baseline technical knowledge when writing rules to address new risks. However, this longstanding industry-agency relationship might also have caused the agencies to drag their feet in issuing certain important rules if not for the intervention of the independent National Transportation Safety Board, the sole function of which is to examine the cause of rail accidents and to suggest and advocate for needed regulatory reforms. Further, the failure of the agencies to include many public interest groups in negotiated rulemaking over time (a failure that is not necessarily the fault of the agencies, as it appears that these groups have not strongly pushed to be part of reg-neg) might have left certain problematic gaps in the rail safety rules written by these agencies. On the other hand, in some cases FRA through the reg-neg process supported and defended public interest concerns over the objections of the rail industry — in part due to labor group members' focus on public interest concerns — thus demonstrating that a lack of direct, robust interest group representation in the reg-neg process did not consistently translate to agency capture. This Article draws lessons from this case study to suggest how negotiated rulemaking strategies could generally be beneficial in agency processes that address new and changing risks, and how the negative aspects of negotiated rulemaking could best be avoided within these processes.


A new approach using an architectural plant model to feed various theoretical scattering models is presented as a better interpretation of future remote sensing data acquired over natural media. The method is based on the architectural plant model (AMAP), which integrates knowledge of botanical growth processes and real plant measurements. AMAP is encapsulated in a flexible interface software called AMAP2SAR that allows one to (1) simulate a three-dimensional (3-D) plant such as a tree, (2) transform the tree into a collection of cylinders, and (3) feed theoretical models such as radiative transfer (RT) models. The method is illustrated by an example of Austrian black pine plantations in southern France. Simulated characteristics of black pines are validated for stands up to 50 years old and for a given environment. The results show the ability to derive classical forest parameters as well as those needed for electromagnetic models (such as geometry) as a function of age. Vertical profiles of canopy elements are derived and point out the vertical heterogeneity of the stands after they are 20 years old for parameters having an impact on the backscatter such as diameter and number of branches. Consequently, the crown layer variability with age and canopy depth should be considered in RT models. An RT model is modified in order to take account of accurate canopy descriptions and deal with encouraging modeling results at Cand L-band over the same test site.


We have characterized the effects of vinblastine on the growing and shortening dynamics at opposite ends of individual bovine brain microtubules at steady state in vitro by video microscopy. Vinblastine exerted strikingly different effects on the dynamics and polymer mass at the plus and minus ends of microtubules. At concentrations between 0.1 and 0.4 μM, the drug strongly depolymerized microtubules at minus ends, whereas it did not significantly depolymerize microtubules at plus ends. Vinblastine stabilized plus ends by suppressing the rate and extent of growth and shortening, decreasing the catastrophe frequency, and increasing the rescue frequency. In contrast, vinblastine destabilized minus ends by increasing the catastrophe frequency and decreasing the rescue frequency, whereas it had no effect on the rate or extent of growth or shortening. Thus, vinblastine moderately increased the overall dynamicity at minus ends while strongly suppressing dynamicity at plus ends. Both the kinetic destabilization of microtubules at minus ends and the stabilization at plus ends may contribute to the altered function of mitotic spindle microtubules of cells blocked in mitosis by low concentrations of vinblastine.


Mineral water and isotonic sports drinks (hydroelectrolytic supplement) are sources of electrolytes, and one among them is zinc, an important microelement for several functions of the body. In this study, a novel on-line preconcentration analytical method was developed and validated using atomic fluorescence spectrometry and chemical vapor generation to determine Zn, in mineral water and isotonic sports drinks employing multivariate optimization. The optimal parameters for the system were: pH = 8.00; [Na2CO3] = 6.5 × 10−3 mol L−1; sample flow = 5.70 mL min−1; flow rate = 8.00 mL min−1; and the elution flow rate was adjusted to 2.40 mL min−1 to obtain the analytical speed. The method to determine zinc in samples showed adequate linearity, repeatability and accuracy. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) obtained for zinc were 0.03 and 0.09 μg L−1, respectively. Zinc concentration in mineral water and isotonic sports drinks ranged from 29.00 to 78.59 μg L−1. The enrichment factor (88.92) and sampling frequency/samples per hour (51) were obtained. Therefore, the results showed that the developed method is simple, fast, reliable, sensitive and selective for the determination of zinc in mineral water and isotonic sports drinks and can be applied in the control of the chemical and toxicological quality of these foods. Furthermore, the multivariate methodology using the complete factorial design and the Box–Behnken design was adequate for the optimization of the preconcentration system variables that influence the generation of the analytical signal.


Antireflective structures, inspired from moth eyes, are still reserved for practical use due to their large-area nanofabrication and mechanical stability. Here we report an antireflective optical lens with large-area glass nanoholes. The nanoholes increase light transmission due to the antireflective effect, depending on geometric parameters such as fill factor and height. The glass nanoholes of low effective refractive index are achieved by using solid-state dewetting of ultrathin silver film, reactive ion etching, and wet etching. An ultrathin silver film is transformed into nanoholes for an etch mask in reactive ion etching after thermal annealing at a low temperature. Unlike conventional nanopillars, nanoholes exhibit high light transmittance with enhancement of ~4% over the full visible range as well as high mechanical hardness. Also, an antireflective glass lens is achieved by directly employing nanoholes on the lens surface. Glass nanoholes of highly enhanced optical and mechanical performance can be directly utilized for commercial glass lenses in various imaging and lighting applications.


Candida albicans is a fungus that lives as a commensal in healthy humans. The ability of C. albicans to switch from the yeast to the hyphal form is thought to be crucial in its pathogenesis. Efg1p is one of a number of transcriptional regulators involved in C. albicans yeast to hyphae transition and EFG1 gene null mutants are unable to form hyphae under several hyphae-inducing conditions. Antisense RNA is a relatively new method in C. albicans gene functional studies and was established in a study screening for C. albicans essential genes. Based on the success of the antisense RNA gene silencing method in other fungi, this method has the potential to become a more efficient and effective alternative to the widely used gene deletion method in C. albicans. In this study, an EFG1 antisense RNA expression system was created by cloning the antisense RNA of the EFG1 gene into an expression vector, pGAL1PNiST-1, after a series of restriction enzyme digestion, purification and ligation processes. This recombinant plasmid was designated as pGEFG1, in which the antisense RNA fragment was under the regulation of a GAL1 promoter. Transformation of this plasmid into an auxotrophic C. albicans strain, CAI4,generated a mutant designated as pGCAI4. Microscopic observation comparisons of the pGCAI4 mutants which were incubated under hyphae-inducting conditions in antisense-inducing or antisense-repressing media showed that the hyphae switching ability of the pGCAI4 mutants had not been impaired by the expression of EFG1 antisense RNA. The addition of lithium acetate as an agent to improve the efficacy of the antisense RNA was not feasible due to the interaction between galactose (the antisense-inducing agent for the GAL1 promoter) and lithium acetate, which resulted in the inhibition of hyphae formation. Further analysis using real-time PCR indicated that levels of EFG1 antisense RNA was 4.12-fold higher in the antisense-inducing medium than in the antisense-repressing medium. Hence, this strongly suggests that the EFG1 antisense RNA expression system was functioning in all the conditions tested, albeit not at a sufficient level of expression. Therefore, in an attempt to generate more antisense RNA transcripts in antisense-inducing medium, a stronger regulated promoter, PCK1, was used to replace the original GAL1 promoter in the expression vector. By replacing GAL1 with the new PCK1 promoter, the hyphae switching ability of the newly generated pGPCKCAI4 mutants was found to be impaired, even in hyphae-inducing conditions, after one hr of incubation in antisense-inducing medium, compared to those in antisense-repressing medium. This observation implies that antisense RNA transcript levels could be an influencing factor in knocking down a target gene. However, microscopic observations of the mutant morphologies at two and three hrs after incubation found that the populations of hyphae cells in both media were similar. This observation could be due to three possibilities. Firstly, it has been suggested that Efg1p may only be important in the initiation of hyphae formation, not in later events, as EFG1 is highly expressed during hyphae initiation. Therefore if the level of expressed EFG1 antisense RNA is unable to effectively knock down these endogenous EFG1 transcripts, over time free mRNA may generate sufficient amounts of protein to trigger hyphae growth. Secondly, it is possible that the structures observed at the later time points were pseudohyphae, not true hyphae, as previous studies have found that the morphological forms generated by EFG1 mutants were highly similar to pseudohyphae. Thus, further investigations using electron microscopy and other techniques are required to determine and analyze these structures. Lastly, the serum-induced hyphagenesis pathway may be regulated by several different regulators which appear to act in a cumulative fashion, whereby inactivation of EFG1, depending on a particular set of environmental conditions, may be compensated by alternative pathways. In conclusion, an EFG1 antisense RNA expression system was successfully developed in this study, where an improved PCK1-regulated system successfully expressed sufficient levels of EFG1 antisense RNA to impair the ability of C. albicans to form germ tubes during early hyphae development, thereby delaying the formation of hyphae. This suggests the possible application of this method as an alternative to existing gene knockout methods in gene functional studies of C. albicans morphology switching genes.


The effective use of drug-eluting stents (DES) in the treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a condition representative of acute coronary syndrome, has not been clarified, particularly among Japanese patients. The indication of DES for STEMI patients is discussed by reviewing the evidence from both Western countries and Japan. Currently, in the registry studies, randomized studies, and meta-analyses comparing the use of DES and bare-metal stents (BMS) in STEMI patients, DES show a consistent trend toward decreasing the risk of repeat revascularization without increasing the incidence of death, recurrent MI or stent thrombosis when compared with BMS in the treatment for patients with STEMI. Japanese data are also consistent with this trend. However, there are no clear data indicating safety concerns. Longer-term follow-up studies are necessary to assess the effectiveness of DES in STEMI patients.


The advantages of multiuser communication, where many users are allowed to simultaneously transmit or receive in a common bandwidth, are considered for multiple-antenna systems in a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. Assuming channel state information at receiver (CSIR) to be available, the ergodic capacity is characterized for both unbiased and biased channels, and the quantitative capacity gain of a multiple-antenna multiuser system is analyzed for multiple-access channels. For highly biased (correlated) channels, a multiuser system is shown to be inherently superior to a single-user system (a time- or frequency-division multiple-access (TDMA or FDMA) based system) due to the underlying multiuser diversity, and the sum capacity is shown to scale linearly with the number of antennas. For unbiased channels, the characteristics of ergodic capacity are shown to transfer to outage capacity when a large degree of space diversity exists, and to deterministic capacity when the number of receive antennas is large. Also, a brief discussion on the multiuser multiple-antenna communication in broadcast channel is provided.


Herein, we present a case of cryptomenorrhea due to imperforate hymen where approximately 3400 ml of retained menstrual blood was drained in a 16-year-old girl who presented with primary amenorrhea, cyclical abdominal pain, mass abdomen and acute pain abdomen for 15 days. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed hematocolpos due to imperforate hymen with grossly distended vagina measuring 28.6 × 9.9 × 11.3 cm. Surgical drainage of hematocolpos was done by performing hymenotomy with a cruciate-shaped incision. The post-operative period was uneventful and patient was discharged the next day in stable condition. To our knowledge, this is the first case of hematocolpos reported in literature where more than 3 liters of retained menstrual blood was drained.


The NHS should be first in line to receive any financial savings that come about as the result of Britain leaving the European Union, England's health secretary has said.

Speaking at the NHS Providers conference in Birmingham on 8 November, Jeremy Hunt said that, despite no government commitment to increase NHS funding because of Brexit, this should happen if possible.

Referring to a proposal by the Vote Leave campaign to increase NHS funding by £350m (€396m; $458m) a week if Britain left the EU, Hunt said, "As you know, it wasn't a government promise; it was a promise by the Leave campaign, but what I very much agree with is [that] if there is a Brexit dividend [and] if we end up having less pressure on public finance because of not making contributions to the EU, I believe that the NHS should be the first port of …


This study aims to determine the Termination of Work Relations Dispute Settlement according to Law No. 2 of 2004. This research uses descriptive qualitative research methods and library research with the approach of material / primary data, material / secondary data, and material / tertiary data. The results of the study state that if no agreement is reached, either party or party can file a lawsuit to the industrial relations court at the local district court where the worker or laborer works. The length of the mediation process is prolonged because many parties want to interfere in mediation.


There are two ways of finding out what happens to people who habitually eat food which differs from that eaten by Americans. Neither way is easy. One is to see what happens to volunteers in North America or Western Europe who eat an experimental diet for many years. Studies of this kind in outpatients may be unreliable, and inpatient studies are difficult and expensive. The second way is to study people in poor or materially poor—the two are not synonymous—countries of the world where the native eats a high-carbohydrate, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet because he cannot afford to eat richer food. Many people whose judgment I respect believe that the epidemiologie evidence obtained by the latter method supports the fact that there is a correlation between elevated serum lipid levels and the incidence of atherosclerosis or the prevalence of illness by atherosclerosis. I am all in favor of trying to establish


In his research extending over more than three decades, William R. Willoughby has established himself as an astute and prolific scholar of Canadian-American relations and he continues his valuable contributions to the literature in this book. Employing a rich variety of sources including government documents, archival materials, and personal interviews and communications, Willoughby has constructed a record of the unique practice of Canada and the United States to use joint organizations to deal with myriad policy issues transcending the international boundary.


The US carried out the last of its 67 nuclear weapons tests on the Marshall Islands more than 60 years ago. New research by Columbia University's K=1 Project, directed by Ivana Nikolic Hughes, shows that contamination on several of the northern islands continues to exceed safety standards set by many countries, as well as the maximum level of radiation agreed upon in a memorandum of understanding between the US and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2019, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1903421116 and DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1903481116). On several islands, the radioactivity in the soil exceeds that found near more recent disaster sites, including Chernobyl, Ukraine, and Fukushima, Japan—up to 1,000 times as great in some areas. Nikolic Hughes notes that Marshallese people often travel to uninhabited islands to collect food, so previous work that focused on inhabited islands may have underestimated their exposures. The team also found radioactivity in


Informatics for integrating biology and the bedside (i2b2) seeks to provide the instrumentation for using the informational by-products of health care and the biological materials accumulated through the delivery of health care to conduct discovery research and to study the healthcare system in vivo. This complements existing efforts such as prospective cohort studies or trials outside the delivery of routine health care. i2b2 has been used to generate genome-wide studies at less than one tenth the cost and one tenth the time of conventionally performed studies as well as to identify important risk from commonly used medications. i2b2 has been adopted by over 60 academic health centers internationally.


In recent years, free space optics (FSO) transmission systems are gradually being explored as alternatives to replace or to complement the available optical fibre and wired communication due to its low cost, ease of installation, higher data rate, larger bandwidth and licence-free installation. As the aforementioned benefits come into the lime light, the large available bandwidth can essentially be benefited from, for multiple-user systems. Records have shown the effectiveness of a hybrid SCM-SAC-OCDMA in achieving greater capacity and enhanced security in FSO. Nevertheless, the available codes used suffered from many limitations such as dependency solely on prime numbers (as in the MQC code), code weight being limited to even numbers (as in the KS code) and rigid code construction as the number of users increases (as in the MD code). The Multi-Service (MS) code has the advantage of flexibility and being dynamic as any number of code weights can be constructed without altering the wavelength of the existing light source. The code equally benefits from short length and sparsely located chips which could prevent cross-talk and hence could improve the performance of the system. Therefore, this research aims at investigating and improving multi-user FSO systems by proposing a hybrid subcarrier multiplexing SAC-OCDMA technique using the MS code with direct decoding technique. The performance are observed under different weather conditions which include clear, rain, and haze with Malaysia as a case study. The investigation began by analysing the proposed system in mathematical modelling (using MATLAB) and simulation software (using OptiSystem) employing the Light Emitting Diode (LED) source. The subsequent works were then carried out using laser source as a result of the limitations in LED. The effects of increasing the number of code words as well as subcarriers at different distances and data rates were observed. The performance of the MS code based system was subsequently compared with KS, MD and MQC codes under clear, rainy and hazy weather conditions. Finally, the performances of the MS code under different angles of beam divergence and types of noise were evaluated based on bit error rate (BER), received power, eye diagram, and transmission distance. At the bit rate of 1 Gb/s and BER threshold of 10−9 , heavy rain in the proposed system indicated the worse performance compared to clear weather and heavy haze as it reduced the transmission distance from 6.3 km (in clear weather) to 0.9 km. Nevertheless, under clear weather conditions with attenuation coefficient of 0.233 dB/km, the system designed using the MS code out-performed the KS, MD and MQC systems as it is capable of supporting up to 6.3 km, which is 0.8 km, 0.9 km and 1.5 km farther than KS, MD and MQC codes respectively in six-user channels. In conclusion, this study has provided a means of improving FSO communication which suits the weather conditions in Malaysia and other tropical zones.


In this paper, a fuzzy proportional integral derivative (PID) controller, which is fabricated on a field programmable gate array (FPGA). is proposed to control an industrial process. The fuzzy logic is provided to tune the PID parameters by using a gain scheduling method. The tuning scheme is represented by a fuzzy system, which consists of fuzzification rule inference and defuzzification. The fabricated FPGA chip, XC2S50-5tq-144, is embedded with the fuzzy system, which the chip is called fuzzy-PID controller. The fuzzy-PID controller is contained several circuits, such as multiplier, adder, subtraction and some of the other logic gate. The controller system uses two converter cards: TDA8763AM/3 (10 bits, high speed) to convert from analog to digital signal. DAC08 (8 bits) to convert from digital to analog. The maximum speed of the controller about 2,1 /spl mu/sec per action at 40.550 MHz. is calculated from timing summary. The fuzzy-PID controller based on FPGA is verified by using to control model of level and temperature process. From the experimental results of the level and temperature control, the fuzzy-PID controller has achieved and shown the better performance than standard PID controller E50AK. which is automatic tuneable parameter system.


We present new large-scale R-matrix (up to n = 4) and distorted-wave (DW, up to n = 6) scattering calculations for electron collisional excitation of Fe xii. The first aim is to provide accurate atomic data for the soft X-rays, where strong decays from the n = 4 levels are present. As found in previous work on Fe x, resonances attached to n = 4 levels increase the cross-sections for excitations from the ground state to some n = 4 levels, when compared to DW calculations. Cascading from higher levels is also important. We provide a number of models and line intensities, and list a number of strong unidentified lines. The second aim is to assess the effects of the large R-matrix calculation on the n = 3 transitions. Compared to our previous (n = 3) R-matrix calculation, we find overall excellent agreement to within a few percent, however a few key density diagnostic EUV intensities differ by about 60% at coronal densities. The new atomic data result in lower electron densities, resolving previous discrepancies with solar observations.


I am pleased to introduce International Journal of Clinical Skills (IJOCS) a rapid peer reviewed Journal which have a key concerns over the medical practices by exploring the best patient oriented clinical research and by exhibiting this information both directly, as clinical findings, and in practice oriented formats of direct application in day-to-day situations. I am pleased to announce that, all issues of volume 13 were published online well within the time and the print issues were also brought out and dispatched within 30 days of publishing the issue online during the year of 2019.

The Journals aims to flourish and to maintain the standards in research and practice, provide platform and opportunity to present evidence based medicine and analytical assessment of research and probably it is much in deed for students, teachers and health care professionals to enhance the patient care.

The SJR ranking of the Journal is 0.101 as well as SNIP score is 0.150. IJOCS impact factor for the year 2018 was 0.634, while the current SJR index dropped to 0.256. The H-index of the journal is 1 and IJOCS ranked first among all journals in the field of Clinical Skills and 176th in the world as per the Scimago ranking.

During the calendar year of 2019, IJOCS received a total of 40 manuscript, out of which 28 articles (70%) were rejected in the preliminary screening due to plagiarism or being out of the format and peer review process. During 2019 around 11 articles were subjected for publication after they are accepted in the peer review process. In the 2 issues of Volume 13 published during the year 2019, a total of 11 articles were published (at an average of 5 articles per issue) of which, articles were published from authors all around the world. Globally articles have been accessed by the research scientists and also cited.

During the calendar year 2019, a total of two Editors, seven Reviewers joined the board of IJOCS and contributed their valuable services towards contribution as well as publication of articles, and their valuable reviewer comments will beneficial to publish quality of article in the Journal.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of (Dr. Rahul Das) during the final editing of articles published and the support rendered by the editorial assistant, in bringing out issues of IJOCS in time. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the authors, reviewers, the publisher, the advisory and the editorial board of IJOCS, the office bearers for their support in bringing out yet another volume of IJOCS and look forward to their unrelenting support to bring out the Volume 14 of IJOCS in scheduled time.


Cocoa contains high levels of different flavonoids. In the present study, the enantioseparation of catechin and epicatechin in cocoa and cocoa products by chiral capillary electrophoresis (CCE) was performed. A baseline separation of the catechin and epicatechin enantiomers was achieved by using 0.1 mol x L(-1) borate buffer (pH 8.5) with 12 mmol x L(-1) (2-hydroxypropyl)-gamma-cyclodextrin as chiral selector, a fused-silica capillary with 50 cm effective length (75 microm I.D.), +18 kV applied voltage, a temperature of 20 degrees C and direct UV detection at 280 nm. To avoid comigration or coelution of other similar substances, the flavan-3-ols were isolated and purified using polyamide-solid-phase-extraction and LC-MS analysis. As expected, we found (-)-epicatechin and (+)-catechin in unfermented, dried, unroasted cocoa beans. In contrast, roasted cocoa beans and cocoa products additionally contained the atypical flavan-3-ol (-)-catechin. This is generally formed during the manufacturing process by an epimerization which converts (-)-epicatechin to its epimer (-)-catechin. High temperatures during the cocoa bean roasting process and particularly the alkalization of the cocoa powder are the main factors inducing the epimerization reaction. In addition to the analysis of cocoa and cocoa products, peak ratios were calculated for a better differentiation of the cocoa products.


Abstract We studied the diets of low-density but increasing populations of sympatric Asian elephants Elephas maximus and greater one-horned rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis in the Bardia National Park in lowland Nepal. A microhistological technique based on faecal material was used to estimate the seasonal diet composition of the two megaherbivores. Rhinos ate more grass than browse in all seasons, and their grass/browse ratio was significantly higher than that of elephants. Both species ate more browse in the dry season, with bark constituting an estimated 73% of the elephant diet in the cool part of that season. Diet overlap was high in the resource-rich monsoon season and lower in the resource-poor dry season, indicating partitioning of food between the two species in the period of resource limitation. Both species consumed large amounts of the floodplain grass Saccharum spontaneum, particularly during the monsoon season. As the numbers of both species increase, intraspecific and interspecific competition for S. spontaneum in the limited floodplains is likely to occur. Owing to their higher grass diet and more restricted all-year home ranges within the floodplain habitat complex, rhinos are then expected to be affected more than elephants.


The term "Swarm intelligence" outlines a broad scope, which is generally defined as the collective behaviour of many individuals towards a certain task, each operating autonomously in a decentralised manner. Swarms are inspired by the type of biological behaviours of animals and this technology involves decentralised local control and communication, which ensures the problem-solving process is more efficient through modification and infusion into swarm robotic technology. Swarm robotics related experiments and applications are relatively expensive compared to other types of robotics experiments. The most common solution is to use computer based virtual simulations and accordingly, this study introduces a reliable and cost-effective hybrid solution using Mixed Reality (MR) technologies to perform swarm experiments on real robots and virtually deployed robots simultaneously. MR bridges the gap between the virtual and physical realms through Augmented Reality (AR) and Augmented Virtuality (AV) and addressing the weaknesses of simulators and providing a more accurate representation of real-world performance. This approach provides a platform for researchers to explore swarm robotics with enhanced realism and interactivity and conduct experiments that mimic real-world conditions. To validate this method we conducted experiments with both physical and virtual robots in near real-time in a mixed reality environment. In addition, an open-source, distributed, and modular mixed reality simulation framework was implemented with support libraries and applications. Our work not only demonstrates the potential of MR in swarm robotics but also emphasizes its value in advancing the understanding and application of swarm intelligence principles in practical contexts.


Periodic disposed quantum dot arrays are very useful for the large scale integration of single electron devices. Gold quantum dot arrays were self-assembled inside pore channels of ordered amino-functionalized mesoporous silica thin films, employing the neutralization reaction between chloroauric acid and amino groups. The diameters of quantum dots are controlled via changing the aperture of pore channels from 2.3 to 8.3 nm, which are characterized by HRTEM, SEM and FT-IR. UV-vis absorption spectra of gold nanoparticle/mesoporous silica composite thin films exhibit a blue shift and intensity drop of the absorption peak as the aperture of mesopores decreases, which represents the energy level change of quantum dot arrays due to the quantum size effect.


Green house gas emissions are increasing as development of the industrial economy of the international community. Many countries in the world are endeavoring to reduce green house gas emissions under severe climate change. In order to protect grobal warming, government is trying to reduce green gas emissions under "Low Carbon Green Growth Policy"and investing climiate-firendly industries such as renewable energy harvesting. Renewable energy has been rapidly developing as a result of investment for development technology of using natural energy such as solar, wind, tidal, etc. There are lots of waste energy in the road space. However, nobody is not interested in waste energy from the road space. This paper present a fundamentally experimental study of energy harvesting technique to use waste energy in the road. The waste energy in the road is covered a pressure and impact of vehicles on the road, the radiant heat from asphalt pavement, road noise and vibration etc. In this study, an energy harvesting device using piezoelectric element is proposed and various tests are conducted to investigate a characteristic of this device as function of impact loading based on piezoelectric effect behavior. This paper shows the energy harvesting results of the device using domestic piezoelectirc element as a function of impact load size and pavement types.


The development of the basement membrane and collagen fibrils below placodes, including the corneal region of the ectoderm, lens epithelium, nasal plate, and auditory vesicle in anuran larvae was observed by transmission electron microscopy and compared with that in nonplacodal regions such as the epidermis, neural tube, and optic vesicle. In the corneal region the lamina densa becomes thick concomitantly with the development of the connecting apparatuses such as hemidesmosomes and anchoring fibrils. The collagen fibrils increase in number and form a multilayered structure, showing similar morphology to the connective tissues below the epidermis. These two areas, i.e., the corneal region and epidermis, possess much collagenous connective tissue below them. On the other hand, the neural tube and ophthalmic vesicle that originated from the neural tube each have a thin lamina densa and a small number of underlying collagen fibrils. The lamina densa does not thicken and the number of collagen fibrils do not significantly increase during development. These two areas possess little extracellular matrix. The nasal plate and auditory vesicle show intermediate characteristics between the epidermis‐type and the neural tube‐type areas. In these areas, the lamina densa becomes thick and hemidesmosomes and anchoring fibrils develop. The number of collagen fibrils increases during development, but does not show an orderly arrangement; rather, they are randomly distributed. It is thought that the difference in the arrangement of collagen fibrils in different tissues is due to differences in the extracellular matrix around the collagen fibrils. Placodal epithelia have the same origin as epidermis, but during development their morphological characteristics differ and they are not associated with the pattern of extracellular matrix with characteristics of epidermal and corneal multilayered collagen fibril areas. J. Morphol. 255:244–252, 2003. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Equal Channel Angular Extrusion
(ECAE)
is the extrusion method that involve
s the use of angular die to introduce
plastic deformation on any metal espec
ially aluminum which in turn improves its hardness. Lubricant's role cannot
be under estimated in the process as it requires
reducing
the high heat of deformation and extrusion pressure in-
volved. The commonly used lubrican
ts for this process were from
orga
nic sources, very scarce and non
-
environmentally friendly. Hence
, it is
a great advantage to in
vestigate alternative
extrusion lubricant from vegetable
source.
Four vegetable based
lubricants such as
jatropha oil, castor oil, neem oil and cottonseed oil
were selected
for this research
.
The properties of these selected oils were characterized to its physical and chemical properties.
Aluminum rod was machined to 17 billets of size 11.95m x 11.95m x 40m (l × b × h) each and was annealed. The
billet size was
selected based on the configurations of the fabricated ECAE die.
Four billets were extruded with
each
lubricant which makes the tot
al of 16billets extruded for the
four lubricants and the last billet was used as the con-
trol. The hardness of the extruded sa
mples was evaluated after the extrusion and compared to the control. The
hardness result was compared to the sample extrude
d with organic
based lubricants from the literature It was di
s-
covered that all the lubricants
tested greatly enhanced hardne
ss of the
extruded sample but at
different magnitude.
Jatropha oil exhibit
s
the greatest hardness on extrusion of Aluminum


Experimental data on $\pi N $ scattering in the elastic energy region $W \leq 1.45 GeV $ are analyzed within the $K$-matrix approach with effective Lagrangians. The charge splitting in $\delta^{++}_{33} $ and $\delta^{0}_{33}$ phases obtaned in the phase shift analisys is studed . It is shown that the change in the sign in the energy dependence of the phase difference can be obtained with different formfactors of the $\Delta^{++}$ and $\Delta^{0}$ only . This means that $\Delta^{++}$ and $\Delta^{0}$ has a different size in $\pi N $ interaction.The underlying nature of the observed phenomena is discussed.


Background: Computed tomographic (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) colonography are new noninvasive techniques to examine the colon. Methods: A literature search was performed through 2/1/2012, and relevant studies included in the review. Results: MR colonography is evolving, and holds the promise that it may achieve high-level sensitivity for adenomas and cancers without exposure to radiation. CT colonography is much more mature at this point in time, and has received great attention in the last decade as a colon imaging tool, including potentially as a primary colon cancer screening method. Its accuracy for detection of polypoid lesions ≥1 cm is high, likely close to that of colonoscopy. New techniques focusing on minimally prepped CT colonography hold the potential of making the procedure more widely accepted. While radiation exposure with CT colonography is a concern, this risk is likely very modest, particularly if used in patients over the age of 50. CT colonography, while a viable colon cancer screening modality in the USA, could not be widely implemented, largely because of lack of standards for training and reading, and because the number of skilled readers is limited. Summary: MR and CT colonography are relatively novel and exciting modalities that can be used to identify colonic lesions. They promise a high level of sensitivity and pose essentially no (MR) or modest (CT) risks. Future investigation will likely lead to wider acceptance of both of these tests, including perhaps to their use in colon cancer screening programs.


AREVA Solar, Inc. constructed, commissioned and operated the first-of-its-kind Once Through Solar Steam Generator (OTSG SSG), SSG4 at the Kimberlina Solar Thermal Power Station. The construction and commissioning of SSG4 was completed in September 2010, culminating in the successful execution of a series of performance tests. This was the first SSG that AREVA Solar, Inc. designed, manufactured and constructed to comply with ASME Section I, and registered with the National Board. SSG4 is the first in its class that produces high-pressure, superheated steam in a once through configuration. Some aspects of the system presented unique commissioning and operational challenges that are not commonly found in conventional fired boilers. These include: i) the use of a first-in-class model predictive control (MPC) system; ii) a steam integration system to blend steam from the once-through superheated SSG4 and the previous-generation, saturated steam SSGs; iii) a steam handling system that delivers the steam to a turbine generator or to a dump condenser; iv) precision optical tracking that is required for optimal boiler performance; v) 1310ft (400 meter) long boiler tube bundle. Unique for field erected boilers, the SSG4 tube bundle was welded at grade. After being inspected, the receiver and tube bundle support structure was placed over the bundles, secured and the entire receiver structure, with boiler tubes, was hoisted to its operating position, 60ft (18m) above grade. Following final connections of feedwater and steam piping, the boiler was inspected by Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance Company, which included hydrostatic test pressurization to 2002.5 psi (13.8MPa), and the stamps were applied to the boiler nameplate (see Figure 1 for a photo of the SSG4 boiler nameplate). Commissioning included standard boiler flushing and tube cleaning program and a comprehensive set of pre-operational tests. There were additional requirements that are unique to Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) solar thermal systems such as reflector alignment and tuning. These and other commissioning activities were scheduled around a constraint unique to solar systems — the availability of sunlight. A comprehensive set of procedures was followed to enable safe and successful integration and commissioning of the model predictive control system. Upon completion of commissioning, the plant was turned over to operations for continued testing. Stable superheated steam delivery was achieved within one week of Mechanical Completion, and Acceptance Testing was completed two weeks later at levels that exceeded the guarantee. This paper will describe the details of the integration, construction and commissioning milestones, distinctive aspects of commissioning solar thermal systems, and organization of the commissioning team to achieve success.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


Precipitation can be quantified using a rain gauge network, or a remotely sensed precipitation product. Ultimately, the choice of dataset depends on the particular application, the catchment size, climate and the time period of study. In a region with a long record and a dense rain gauge network, the elevation-modified ground-based precipitation product, PRISM, has been found to work well. However, in poorly gauged regions the use of remotely sensed precipitation products is an absolute necessity. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) has provided valuable precipitation datasets for hydrometeorological studies over the past two decades (1998-2015). One concern regarding the usage of TRMM data is the accuracy of the precipitation estimates, when compared to those obtained using PRISM. The reason for this concern is that TRMM and PRISM do not always agree and, typically, TRMM underestimates PRISM over the mountainous regions of the United States.In this study, we develop a correction function to improve the accuracy of the TRMM monthly product (TRMM-3B43) by estimating and removing the bias in the satellite data using the ground-based precipitation product, PRISM. We observe a strong relationship between the bias and land surface elevation; TRMM-3B43 tends to underestimate the PRISM product at altitudes greater than 1500 m above mean sea level (m.amsl) in the contiguous United States. A relationship is developed between TRMM-PRISM bias and elevation. The correction function is used to adjust the TRMM monthly precipitation using PRISM and elevation data. The model is calibrated using 25% of the available time period and the remaining 75% of the time period is used for validation. The corrected TRMM-3B43 product is verified for the high elevations over the contiguous United States and two local regions in the mountainous areas of the western United States. The results show a significant improvement in the accuracy of the TRMM product in the high elevations of the contiguous United States.


Although the bystander effect is one of the most important findings in the psychological literature, researchers have not explored whether autistic individuals are prone to the bystander effect. The present research examines whether autistic employees are more likely to report issues or concerns in an organization's systems and practices that are inefficient or dysfunctional. By bringing attention to these issues, autistic employees may foster opportunities to improve organizational performance, leading to the development of a more adaptive, high performing, and ethical culture. Thirty‐three autistic employees and 34 nonautistic employees completed an online survey to determine whether employees on the autism spectrum (1) are more likely to report they would voice concerns about organizational dysfunctions, (2) are less likely to report they were influenced by the number of other witnesses to the dysfunction, (3) if they do not voice concerns, are more likely to acknowledge the influence of other people on the decision, (4) are less likely to formulate "elaborate rationales" for their decisions to intervene or not, and (5) whether any differences between autistic and nonautistic employees with regards to the first two hypotheses, intervention likelihood and degree of influence, are moderated by individual differences in camouflaging. Results indicate that autistic employees may be less susceptible to the bystander effect than nonautistic employees. As a result, autistic employees may contribute to improvements in organizational performance because they are more likely to identify and report inefficient processes and dysfunctional practices when they witness them. These preliminary findings suggesting potential benefits of neurodiversity in the workplace are promising. However, further research is required.


The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the nutritional importance and ecological function of microorganisms in Biofloc systems. For the elaboration of this review different databases were consulted, principally, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Scielo. First, it is described the interactions between bacteria and phytoplankton in Biofloc, which are important for maintenance of water quality, because they are involved in transformation of organic matter and a better removal of contaminant residues such as nitrogenous compounds. Also, these organisms are important for aquatic ecosystems because they are an essential component of trophic nets in activity and biomass quantity, contributing to regeneration of nutrients and interacting with many organisms serving as base of food chain. Subsequently, mention is made of relevance of zooplankton that develops in Biofloc culture systems, because they represent a key role in animal's nutrition in culture and have proven benefits in growth rates, in food conversion factor and reduction in costs associated to commercial food.


High-quality SrTiO 3 thin films were deposited by charged liquid cluster beam (CLCB) method using a strontium carboxylate with a sol-gel processed Ti precursor at substrate temperatures of 400 and 500°C. The film deposited at 400°C was crystallized at 600-700°C to give a granular structure (film I) while the film deposited at 500°C (film II) gave a columnar structure of high crystallinity without postannealing. The grain growth and electric properties, such as dielectric constant, dissipation factor, leakage current density, and breakdown field, of films I and II were compared.


A successive organic solvent fractionation was reported in this work to obtain lignin fractions with narrow molecular weight distribution and high purity from p-toluenesulfonic acid-extracted lignin. A decrease was found in PDI of fractionated lignin compared with parent substrate from 3.31 to 1.44 and the amount of carbohydrate derivates was detected to decline implying an increase of purity. Calculated from the results of DTG, thermal stability of lignin samples was enhanced through successive fractionation, and TG data showed that the mass of remaining char over 500 °C decreases from 51% of initial lignin to 25% of fractionated ones. There was also a decline of glass transition temperature (Tg) determined, from 142.5 to 100.8 °C. Lignin fractions that were dissolved in ethanol and acetone possessed high contents of summed aliphatic and phenolic hydroxyls might due to formation of numerous hydrogen bonds. As shown in 1H–13C HSQC NMR spectra, lignin fractions dissolving in ethyl acetate contained more C–...


Concrete has been recognized as a material which is resistant to high temperatures, but chemicophysical property of concrete is changed by the high temperature. So, mechanical properties of concrete may be reduced. Because of this, standards and researches on the degradation of the mechanical properties of concrete at high temperatures have been presented. However, research data about the state that considering the loading condition and high-strength concrete is not much. Therefore, this study evaluated the high-temperature properties of high-strength concrete by loading condition and elevated temperature. The stress-strain, strain at peak stress, compressive strength, elastic modulus, thermal strain and the transient creep are evaluated under the non-loading and 0.25fcu loading conditions on high strength concrete of W/B 12.5%, 14.5% and 20%. Result of the experiment, decrease in compressive strength due to high temperature becomes larger as the compressive strength increases, and residual rate of elastic modulus and compressive strength is high by the shrinkage caused by loading and thermal expansion due to high temperature are offset from each other, at a temperature above 500℃.


. Manipulation experiments are often used to investigate ecological and environmental causal relationships and to understand and forecast impacts of anthropogenic pressures on ecosystem function-ing. Such manipulation experiments often use factorial designs, and the data are analyzed using factorial linear models. Factorial designs build on the fundamental assumption that the treatment factors are independent and orthogonal. This assumption is, however, often violated because of variation within and in particular covariation between the performed experimental manipulations. For example, manipulation of temperature and precipitation in factorial setups has been widely applied in climate experiments, but manipulating soil temperature will likely have a strong impact on soil water content. Such dependency among environmental state variables will violate the assumed orthogonality in a factorial linear model and may lead to erroneous conclusions. Here, we demonstrate the importance of the assumption of orthogonality using simulated ecological responses that act on observed soil state variables from a large climate experiment with an apparent orthogonal design. More speci fi cally, we explore the problematic consequences of analyzing ecological treatments as categorical variables in a linear model. Suitable alternative methods for the statistical analysis of manipulated ecological experiments are suggested. The key recommendation is to use the observed effects of the manipulations on the state variables directly in the analysis instead of the categories of treatments. For example, if soil water content and temperature are manipulated, then it is essential to measure the water content and temperature in the soil of all the manipulated plots.


Network coding has gained significant attention by improving throughput and reliability in disruptive MANETs. Yet, it is vulnerable to attacks from malicious nodes. In order to prevent malicious attacks, we have explored the use of secure network coding schemes based on homomorphic properties of cryptographic systems. While homomorphic methods protect network coding from both external and internal attacks, they do increase processing overhead as they require complex cryptographic operations (e.g., exponentiation, multiplication, modular operations). The goal of this paper is two fold: assess the feasibility of implementing Homomorphic Network Coding in an off the shelf laptop/smartphone platform, and; evaluate the processing and delay performance when such implementations are deployed in a simple network scenario. To this end, we have implemented in LINUX an RSA-based homomorphic algorithm built on the field of integers which has exhibited very competitive processing efficiency as compared with published (public-key) schemes. For the LINUX implementation we have measured the processing delay for various flow and parameter settings. We have then integrated the homomorphic processing model (with associated O/H) in a MANET network simulator. Using this simulator, we have evaluated the performance of Homomorphic Network Coding under various network conditions and have compared it with other Secure Network Coding approaches. We conclude the paper with a discussion of secure coding feasibility and cost for different application scenarios.


Measurements of radon concentration in the underground low-level laboratory in Belgrade, Serbia with a discrete sampling (T=2 h) have been performed. From July 2008 to July 2010, the time-series analysis was carried out. Also, the simultaneous measurements of meteorological parameters (temperature, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity) in the laboratory were done. The simultaneous monitoring of these parameters shows the correlation between temporal variations of radon concentration and meteorological parameters. Also, the radon time-series analysis has been used to study the possible correlation between the anomalous behaviour of the radon concentration and the local seismicity.


The molecular mechanisms underlying triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) pathology are not fully understood. Here, we reviewed the SOX8 transcript level in 24 types of cancer and normal tissues and the SOX8 expression pattern in breast cancer from the TCGA and METABRIC datasets and found that SOX8 was highly expressed in TNBC. We investigated the effect of SOX8 on tumorigenicity, migration and apoptosis in TNBC cell lines and xenografts models. We identified SOX8 as a functional oncogene that involved in the maintenance of stem-like capacities in TNBC cells. Through a promoter truncation experiment and ChIP experiment, we verified ZEB1 as a transcriptional activator of SOX8 that enhanced SOX8 expression by binding to its promoter. We evaluated the ZEB1 and the SOX8 levels in 240 TNBC patients and high expression of ZEB1 and SOX8 were significantly associated with poor prognosis. We demonstrated the significance of the ZEB1-SOX8 axis in regulating TNBC cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) and its connection with poor prognosis. Due to its vital role in TNBC CSCs, the ZEB1-SOX8 regulatory axis could be a promising therapeutic target for TNBC.


DevOps unifies software development and operations in cross-functional teams to improve software delivery and operations (SDO) performance. Ideally, cross-functional DevOps teams independently deploy their services, but the correct operation of a service often demands other services, requiring coordination to ensure the correct deployment order. This issue is currently solved either with a central deployment or manual out-of-band communication across teams, e.g., via phone, chat, or email. Unfortunately, both contradict the independence of teams, hindering SDO performance—the reason why DevOps is adopted in the first place. In this work, we conduct a study on 73 IT professionals, showing that, in practice, they resort to manual coordination for correct deployments even if they expect better SDO performance with fully automated approaches. To address this issue, we propose µs ([mju:z] "muse"), a novel IaC system automating deployment coordination in a fully decentralized fashion, still retaining compatibility with DevOps practice—in contrast to today's solutions. We implement µs, demonstrate that it effectively enables automated coordination, introduces negligible definition overhead, has no performance overhead, and is broadly applicable, as shown by the migration of 64 third-party IaC projects.


Welcome to International Journal of Anatomical Variations (IJAV) an annual journal of anatomical variations and clinical anatomy case reports. After having a notable experience for eight years in NEUROANATOMY, we are pleased to introduce you IJAV. We are eventually announcing our new journal after three years of feasibility and background study period. We hope that IJAV will fill in the gap in anatomy journals' bunch. IJAV is an annual, open access journal having electronic version only. Despite of unavailability of a budget for publishing IJAV, the evaluation of submissions and access to the full text articles is totally free of charge. Our vision for IJAV is to constitute an online compendium for anatomical variations in gross, radiological and surgical anatomy, neuroanatomy and case reports in clinical anatomy. We believe that cases have an important role in clinical anatomy education. In this aspect, we aim to serve as an open source of case reports. We hope that IJAV will be cited in most of the case reports related to clinical anatomy and anatomical variations in near future. In NEUROANATOMY, we encouraged the submission of case reports in the area of neuroanatomy. Whereas in IJAV, besides neuroanatomy, we will consider case reports in any area related to human anatomy. The scope of IJAV will encompass any anatomical variations in gross, radiological and surgical anatomy. Case reports in clinical anatomy are also welcome. All submitted articles will be peerreviewed. No processing fee will be charged from authors. One of the most important features of IJAV will be speedy review and rapid publication. We strive to publish an accepted manuscript within three weeks of initial submission. Our young and dynamic Scientific Advisory Board will achieve this objective. A few remarks about our logo and page design: Prof. Dr. M. Mustafa ALDUR designed our logo, being inspired by a quadricuspid aortic valve case, reported by Francesco FORMICA et al. [Formica F, Sangalli F, Ferro O, Paolini G. A rare cause of severe aortic regurgitation: quadricuspid aortic valve. Interact. Cardiovasc. Thorac. Surg. 2004; 3: 672-674]. We appreciate their contribution to our journal. The typeface in our logo and index page is Papyrus. The irregular margins of this font symbolize the non-uniformity in anatomy. The background in the menu bar is parchment; with Papyrus typeface, they refer to the old medical books in the ancient Egypt. As we mentioned earlier, our aim is to constitute an online compendium for anatomical variations similar to the invaluable book written by Ronald A. BERGMAN, Adel K. AFIFI and Ryosuke MIYAUCHI [Bergman RA, Afifi AK, Miyauchi R. Compendium of human anatomical variation. Baltimore, Urban and Schwarzenberg. 1988]. To realize this vision, we need you to submit your case reports to IJAV and encourage your colleagues to do so. As we did in NEUROANATOMY, we hope to be indexed in international indexes beginning from our first issue. Last but not least, I would like to thank to Dr. M. Mustafa ALDUR for his superhuman efforts and everlasting support to IJAV. Moreover, I would like to voice my special gratitude to the members of Scientific Advisory Board, who have accepted to take the road with us in this arduous journey. We look forward to receiving your manuscripts. Yours sincerely,


This paper analyzes the dimensions of transaction cost in the poultry industry. We analyze asset specificity, frequency, uncertainty, and opportunism in the poultry industry in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. We examine these dimensions for all firms in the production chain: input suppliers, producers, wholesalers, and retailers. The empirical analyses for this industry consisting of 128 firms (18 input suppliers, 50 farmers, 20 wholesalers, and 40 retailers) reveal that retailers' assets are specific and cannot be redeployed for other purposes; retailers experience some opportunistic (self-seeking) behavior from trading partners (i.e., producers, wholesalers, or both), and wholesalers also experience opportunism from their trading partners (i.e., producers, retailers, or both). The assets of input suppliers and produc ers are not specific and can be redeployed for other purposes. Transaction was frequent and certain for all the firms in the industry. Based on these results we recommend that retailers should have market-contract relationships with both wholesalers and farmers to safeguard themselves against the hazards of opportunistic behavior, as their assets are specific. Furthermore, wholesalers should also have some market-contract relationship with farmers to protect them from farmers' opportunistic behavior.


Although it has been many years since publication of the first peer-reviewed studies showing that bone marrow (BM)-derived cells can become mature-appearing epithelial cells, we still know very little regarding the mechanisms, kinetics, cells, and potential clinical utility or pathology associated with this phenomenon. The initial discovery of BM-derived epithelial cells (BMDE) in the liver was published by Petersen and colleagues (Petersen BE, Bowen WC, Patrene KD, Mars WM, Sullivan AK, Murase N, Boggs SS, Greenberger JS, Goff JP. Bone marrow as a potential source of hepatic oval cells. Science 1999;284:1168-1170). Since that time, BMDE were identified in the skin, eye, GI tract, kidney, and the lung. Surprisingly, once several laboratories started to examine the effects of BM cells after tissue injury, BM-derived cells of different types were found to decrease tissue injury and enhance tissue repair, often without engraftment of marrow-derived epithelial cells. Thus, the potentially beneficial effects of BM-derived cells in some tissue microenvironments may be unrelated to differentiation into nonhematopoietic cell types. Here, I focus on recent findings from my laboratory as well as several other laboratories on the effects of BM cells on lung damage, and BMDE in the lung, including tracheal epithelial cells, bronchiolar epithelial cells, and type II pneumocytes in the alveoli. Potential mechanisms underlying the appearance of marrow-derived epithelial cells, and the role of tissue damage are discussed.


In this paper, a new type of through-silicon via (TSV) for via-first process namely bare TSV, is proposed and analyzed with the aim of mitigating noise coupling problems in 3D integrated systems for advanced technology nodes. The bare TSVs have no insulation layers, and are divided into two types: bare signal TSVs and bare ground TSVs. First, by solving Poisson's equation for cylindrical P-N junctions, the bare signal TSVs are shown to be equivalent to conventional signal TSVs according to the simulation results. Then the bare ground TSV is proved to have improved noise-absorption capability when compared with a conventional ground TSV. Also, the proposed bare TSVs offer more advantages to circuits than other noise isolation methods, because the original circuit design, routing and placement can be retained after the application of the bare TSVs.


In adjudicating sexual violence offenses perpetrated against child soldiers in Ntaganda case, the Appeals Chamber holds that having regard to the established framework of international law, members of an armed force or group are not categorically excluded from the protection against war crimes of rape and sexual slavery under article 8 (2) (b) (xxii) and (2) (e) (vi) of the Statute when committed by members of the same armed force or group. This research explores the drawbacks of the finding and considers its legal consequences.


Ready to use infant food, namely 7 types of fruit and vegetable juices, 7 types of vegetable-meat soups and 8 types of dinner vegetable-meat meals, was investigated by the flame AAS towards the copper and the zinc content. The average levels of the copper and the zinc were respectively--for the juices: 0.31 mg/kg and 0.51 mg/kg, for the soups: 0.38 mg/kg and 2.60 mg/kg, for the dinner meals: 0.42 mg/kg and 2.98 mg/kg. Consumption of a single unit pack of all the 3 types of food products will cover 29% of recommended daily copper intake and 22% of zinc.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the vulnerability of projects implemented in enterprises. The paper focuses on the issue of vulnerability assessment in the planning stages of a project, before its realization.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the realization of the project has been analyzed through the phases of delivery, and the fuzzy approach has been deployed for mathematical modeling of uncertainties. An appropriate expert and management team has assessed the variables of the project's vulnerability by using linguistic expressions, as this way of assessment is close to the human way of thinking. The model of project's vulnerability assessment has been verified on real life data by means of an illustrative example.

Findings

A very significant part of business operations in enterprises all over the world is realized through the practice of project management. In daily business practice, project activities may be exposed to different risk sources. These risks may be studied from different perspectives, but without reevaluation, risk sources increase the vulnerability of projects as well as of the whole enterprise.

Originality/value

The results of the analysis of the obtained data gives good direction to future research in the scope of vulnerability management in the enterprises oriented to long-term sustainability.


AIM OF STUDY
There is growing concern that amplified music in discotheques can cause hearing loss. This study attempts to evaluate the noise hazard of employees exposed to amplified music in our discotheques.

METHOD
Employees comprising of disc jockeys, bartenders, waiters, cashiers and security officers of five selected discotheques were used for the study. Personal noise dosimetry was carried out on 40 employees throughout their workshift. The audiometric examination results of another 46 employees were compared with 37 subjects from a non-exposed match control group.

RESULTS
The range of exposure to noise level above 85 dBA for the employees is 3.6 to 6.9 hours with a mean of 5.1 hours. All the occupational groups are exposed to noise level of at least 89 dBA Leq for their whole work shift. The discotheque group has statistically significant higher prevalence (41.9%) of early sensorineural hearing loss compared to the control group (13.5%). A higher proportion of employees in the older age group (above 30 years old) and working longer (above 1 year) suffer from hearing loss. A significant proportion of the discotheque study subjects (21%) also complained of recurrent tinnitus compared to 2.7% in the control group. The younger (< 30 years) and those with shorter exposure duration (< 1 year) appeared to complain of tinnitus more.

CONCLUSION
The study shows that all the employees regardless of occupations are exposed to noise above the permissible level of 85 dBA Leq A high proportion of them also suffer from early sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus.


This paper analyses numerical and experimental data gathered from a shrouded rotor-stator wheelspace supplied with a radial outflow of cooling air introduced along its central axis. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) investigations into plain disc, roughened disc, roughened stator and stator protrusions were carried out and the results compared to previously gathered experimental data in order to validate the CFD code and improve confidence in its ability to model the given situations. Comparisons of cooling air flow enthalpy rises, torques required to drive the disc and one-sided moment coefficients for the disc have been made between the experimental and the computational models and agreement was obtained across the range of nondimensional numbers analysed. For the plain disc analyses this agreement was within 2% to 15% and was from 6% to 20% for the static protrusions on the stator. Results for the roughness on the rotor models corresponded closely with the experimental findings of previous authors. It was also confirmed that increasing roughness on the rotor increased moment coefficient and that increasing roughness from hydrodynamically smooth up to a roughness ratio of 1125 (corresponding to a roughness height of 0.2 mm) caused a doubling of torque at all rotational and throughflow Reynolds numbers. The same magnitude of roughness on stator was also found to double the torque experienced by the stationary casing but this only corresponded to a 5% increase in disc moment coefficient


Pigeon haemoproteosis caused by Haemoproteus columbae (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae) is globally prevalent in rock doves (Columba livia), although little is known regarding this disease in pigeons and doves in Indonesia. Blood samples of 35 farmed domestic pigeons (C. livia f. domestica) from four localities in Yogyakarta Special Region, Central Java, Indonesia, were collected from March to June, 2016, subjected to a hemogram, and analyzed for the presence of hemoprotozoan infections. Microscopic examination of blood smears revealed a prevalence of 62.5–100% of H. columbae at the four localities (n = 8–10 for each locality), and geometric means of 3.0–5.6% of erythrocytes were parasitized by young and mature gametocytes, suggesting that all infected pigeons were in the chronic phase of infection with repeated recurrences and/or reinfections. Nucleotide sequencing of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cytb) for haemosporidian species demonstrated the distribution of four major cytb lineages of H. columbae (mainly HAECOL1, accompanied by COLIV03, COQUI05, and CXNEA02 according to the MalAvi database). Hemogram analysis, involving the estimation of packed cell volume, erythrocyte counts, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and plasma protein and fibrinogen levels of 20 parasitized pigeons and five non-infected pigeons demonstrated significant macrocytic hypochromic anemia with hypoproteinemia and hyperfibrinogenemia in the infected pigeons. This study shows the profound impact of long-lasting subclinical pigeon haemoproteosis caused by H. columbae on the health of farmed domestic pigeons.


One of the issues pursued in the framework of geodetic activity is the determination of the surface of various objects. These objects are usually parcels of land and the measurements are made for the needs of agriculture, administration and scal. In Europe – due to the introduction of uni ed subsidies to agriculture – there is a need of monitoring of the sown area [17]. The EU – wide millions of parcels of land are measured each year. At least 5% of farms are measured for an inspection [8]. In Poland tens of thousands of control measurement of farms applying for subsidies to agriculture are made each year. For example, in 2006 more than 98 thousand farms were indicated for inspections [5]. Control measurements of crops area are carried out either by digitizing the surface imagery (satellite images or aerial photogrammetry) or by direct measurements in the eld [14]. Direct measurements of an area on side can be performed with classic geodetic method starting from sideband gauge up to measurements using Total Station, which support the indication of surface measurements relevant programs [13]. Also, the GPS system gives great opportunities in this range [9, 16]. Many years ago satellite technology came into general use in many areas of human life many years ago. The army, transport, agriculture, and the extractive industry use satellite technology every day – practically are dependent upon them. Also, in geodesy has been a signi cant turning point in an application of these technologies [11]. Yet not so long ago measurements with GPS technology were recognized as modern and innovative and now have became a common and basic. Basic factors of the rate of development of these technologies are: reducing the cost of their use and giving access to services ensuring su cient accuracy [1].


Abstract Over a seven-year period, we used mark-recapture in a population of Flammulated Owls (Otus flammeolus) in the Zuni Mountains, New Mexico, to estimate adult breeding-site fidelity, mate fidelity, natal philopatry, and dispersal distances. We also used DNA fingerprinting to examine the genetic population structure of Flammulated Owls among four mountain ranges in New Mexico and one range in Utah. Mark-recapture revealed that adults are site-faithful and tend to maintain pair bonds between years, whereas juveniles show little natal philopatry. DNA fingerprinting revealed very low differentiation among populations, even between the New Mexico and Utah ranges, with population subdivision (FST) estimates ranging from 0.00 to 0.04. Heterozygosity values were high within each mountain range and, together with the low FST values, suggest that this Neotropical migrant may have long-distance natal dispersal and frequent intermountain dispersal. Datos de Marcado-Recaptura y Huellas Dactilares de ADN Revelan Alta Fidelidad a los Sitios de Cría, Baja Filopatría Natal y Bajos Niveles de Diferenciación Genética Poblacional en Otus flammeolus


Marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (MZL) is the second most common subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Korea (17.3%). Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) can develop in almost any organ as a result of exposure to a persistent stimulus, such as chronic infection or certain autoimmune processes. Under conditions of prolonged lymphoid proliferation, a malignant clone may emerge, which is followed by the development of a MALT lymphoma. Whereas MALT lymphoma of the stomach is the most common and the most extensively studied, we focus on non-gastric MZL studies conducted in Korea that highlight the most recent advances with respect to MZL definition, etiology, clinical characteristics, natural history, treatment approaches, outcomes, and prognostic factors. Moreover, we discuss current organ-specific considerations and controversies, and identify areas for future research.


A facile strategy to increase the selectivity of heterogeneous Fenton oxidation is investigated. The increase was reached by increasing selective adsorption of heterogeneous Fenton catalyst to a target pollutant. The heterogeneous Fenton catalyst was prepared by a two-step process. First, zeolite particles were imprinted by the target pollutant, methylene blue (MB), in their aggregations, and second, iron ions were loaded on the zeolite aggregations to form the molecule imprinted Fe-zeolites (MI-FZ) Fenton catalyst. Its adsorption amount for MB reached as high as 44.6 mg g-1 while the adsorption amount of un-imprinted Fe-zeolites (FZ) is only 15.6 mg g-1. Fenton removal efficiency of MI-FZ for MB was 87.7%, being 33.9% higher than that of FZ. The selective Fenton oxidation of MI-FZ for MB was further confirmed by its removal performance for the mixed MB and bisphenol A (BPA) in solution. The removal efficiency of MB was 44.7% while that of BPA was only 14.9%. This fact shows that molecular imprinting is suitable to prepare the Fe-zeolites (FZ)-based Fenton catalyst with high selectivity for removal of target pollutants, at least MB.


Studies have shown a positive correlation between the effective temperature maintained inside a cancerous tumor during hyperthermia treatments and the response rate of that tumor to subsequent radiation therapy (see, for example, [1]). In addition, effective temperature control is crucial to avoid the premature abortion of hyperthermia treatments from patient discomfort due to overheating of the normal tissue surrounding these tumors. Hence, there is a need to optimally heat tumors and surrounding tissue — this is significantly affected by the choice of actuator placement and input powers. In this work, we show how the extended balanced realization model reduction approach [2] can be employed to efficiently determine the optimal scan path for a given hyperthermia treatment.


Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of dysphagia in acute ischemic stroke and relation with Glasgow Coma Score (GCS).
Methods: The data of 54 patients with acute ischemic stroke were retrospectively analyzed. Glasgow Coma Scores were recorded. Modified Massey Bedside Swallow Screen (MBSS) was used for the diagnosis of dysphagia. For statistical evaluation MedCalc 15.8 software program (MedCalcBelgium) was used.
Results: Fifty-four patients (n: 54) with acute ischemic stroke who were admitted to the study were followed up in our hospital Neurology Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Fortynine of the patients were alive, transferred to our service, then discharged. Twenty-six patients had dysphagia (48.1%) while 28 patients did not have dysphagia (51.9%). Glasgow Coma Scores were lower in patients with dysphagia (r=-0.628, p<0.0001. Moreover, survival was inversely correlated with dysphagia (r=-0.331, p= 0.014).
Conclusions: Swallowing disorders can be associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke in intensive care unit. It is also associated with survival and GCS. Dysphagia is common in ICU patients and should be carefully diagnosed since it can be an independent predictor of death.


Nitrogen contamination of groundwater has become an increasingly serious issue affecting the quality of drinking water. An energy efficient and low cost drinking water treatment method involving two attached growth bioreactors were developed for both NH4-N removal and NO3-N removal. Continuous flow of the groundwater through the NH4-N bioreactor resulted in the removal of NH4-N by nitrification without any aeration. The efficiency of NH4-N removal was determined to be 70% in the laboratory and 95% in on-site trials. The higher efficiency of the on-site bioreactor resulted from the presence of various groups of local microorganisms (8 groups and 3 classes) which were cultivated from the on-site groundwater. The NO3-N bioreactor was capable of removing NO3-N from the groundwater efficiently by hydrogenotrophic denitrification at low H2 supply rates. A high NO3-N removal efficiency of 98% was found in the bioreactors that used both local microorganisms and other microorganisms that were cultivated from a drinking water system. Although the microbial community present in both NO3-N bioreactors were different, the dominant bacterial taxonomic groups were found to be similar, i.e., Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria. The NH4-N and NO3-N bioreactors are alternative methods with high efficiency and various microbial groups for nitrogencontaminated groundwater treatment. Evaluation of Performance and Microbial Community of NH4-N and NO3-N Bioreactors


Methods of handling the limbic incision used in cataract operations have never been entirely satisfactory from the standpoint of prevention of postoperative gaping of the wound and herniation of the iris. Serious trouble is avoided in all but a small percentage of cases, but usually at the expense of the patient's comfort and well-being. In order to prevent these postoperative complications, the patient is commonly put on a scanty, constipating diet and immobilized more or less completely for upward of a week—a severe treatment for an elderly person. Various devices and methods of closure have been advocated, but despite these and despite enforced immobilization of the patient, gaping of the incision and prolapse of the iris continue to occur occasionally. The crux of the matter seems to lie in the fact that during the process of healing the anterior chamber refills and intraocular tension returns before the wound is competent


A 25-yr-old Indian (Asiatic) woman investigated for a life-long anemia was found to have a hitherto undescribed structural hemoglobin variant α2Aβ222-glu→gln, which was found independently and designated Hb D Iran by Rahbar in members of a family from Iran. In the present case, Hb D Iran was found in association with high A2 thalassemia. The replacement of glutamic acid by glutamine at β 22 (helical residue B4) was demonstrated by thin-layer chromatography after automated Edman sequencing. This is the fourth substitution to be described at β 22; the previous substitutions were (1) G Coushatta (ala); (2) E Saskatoon (lys); (3) G Taipei (gly). Helical residue B4 is an external residue, does not participate in α-β or protein-heme contacts and hemoglobin D Iran resembles Hb A in visible spectra, O2 equilibria in dilute solutions and heat stability. Since the propositus and her mother who was also heterozygous for β thalassemia had similar degrees of anemia, no interaction between this variant and β thalassemia was evident. The presence of this Hb variant in Iranians and in Western Indians may reflect the migrations of populations in these areas centuries ago.