Equivalent circuit parameters of graded-bandgap base GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors are derived by analysing static and microwave characteristics. Here, the estimated base transit time of 1.4 ps indicates that the average electron velocity is enhanced under the built-in field of the graded base. Additionally, ECL ring oscillators are simulated using the obtained parameters. The simulated propagation delay time of ECL gates agrees well with an experimental result of as short as 65 ps/gate.


Foreign policy of Pakistan seems to have been facing grim challenges since the very existence of the country. Indeed the challenges posed in 21st century are more serious threat to the foreign policy and state of Pakistan. The challenges like the event of 9/11, globalization, extremism, terrorism and economic decline have impeded the effectiveness of the foreign policy of Pakistan. The State is perceived by the world community as the most dangerous place on earth and hub of terrorism. This research paper unleashes the threats and challenges to the state and foreign policy of Pakistan and suggests some viable options for the stability, progressiveness and effectiveness of the state and foreign policy of Pakistan as linchpin for the stability of the South Asian region and an important ally of US in war on terrorism.


Cells, recovered from the efferent lymphatics of the popliteal nodes of sheep during in vivo responses to dinitrophenylated bovine serum albumin (DNP-BSA), were examined for their responsiveness to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) in vitro during the first 4--5 days of the immune response. The response was almost totally depressed when cells collected throughout the response were cultured with supra-optimal doses of the mitogen. Optimal and suboptimal doses of PHA resulted in greatly enhanced responses in cells collected in the first two periods (0--6 h; 6--12h) of the response; the presence of high doses of DNP-BSA in the culture media prevented the enhancement in the second period but had no adverse effects on the cells collected during the first 6 h. Efferent cells collected after 12 h generally showed decreased responses, this depression being maximal in cells collected 2--3 days after antigenic stimulation. Later in the response the cells again exhibited enhanced responses. The possible interpretations of these results in terms of regulation of the response are discussed.


 The Ph.D. student course includes four areas oriented on analytical training in the field of nano-scale materials. The first one is focused on the computer modeling of nano-structured systems using the molecular simulation in Cerius modeling environment, the second deals with nanoscale surface analysis using Atomic Force Microscopy, and the third brings advanced information about crystal structure analysis using single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction methods. The last area is oriented on analysis of materials by electron microscopy techniques. The Ph.D. student analytical course includes both theory and applications (training) of individual analytical procedures for various nano-structured materials (for example, nanotubes, intercalated and grafted clays, graphite, silicon wafers, polymer/clay nano-composites, and metalic thin multilayer materials). Index Terms  Atomic Force Microscopy, computer modeling, electron microscopy, Ph.D. student course, X-ray diffraction.


The circular economy and digital transformation are two of the major trends over the last decade. Integrative methodological advances such as life cycle assessments, material flow analysis, and input-output tables are some of the current trends in circular economy case studies and scenarios. However, more efficient processes are required, and methods need to be adapted to the unique attributes of circular economy systems. This paper presents a descriptive analysis of current technological trends and topics in the circular economy. A scoping review and an automated content analysis were conducted in over 6000 abstracts available in Springer journals. Strategies such as applying data-driven design in the field of circular economy and using innovative information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer new possibilities for optimizing existing integration methods. New circular economy approaches, and systems could emerge based on taking advantage of technologies such as: artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Advanced Data Analytics, etc. Also, emerging topics in circular economy technologies focus on energy, policy, models, and global systems. The paper concludes with an outline of emerging technologies and identifies several future research directions.


No generally valid and accepted views, applicable to all severities, have so far existed regarding aetiopathogenesis and therapeutic strategies for surgical approach to anorectal prolapse in childhood. More ground has been assumed in recent years by sclerosing therapy. The injections therapy has proved to be highly suitable for severity stages One and Two and for Type I according to Reifferscheid and Altemeier. It should be used before more invasive surgical interventions are decided. This conclusion has been drawn by the authors of this paper from their own therapeutic results obtained from 37 cases of anorectal prolapse in childhood, with therapeutic sclerosing being used in 23 instances.


Reservoir management in offshore fields is a challenging task, particularly for mature fields because of a typical excessive production of water and/or gas. Because of several constraints on facilities capacity, an assisted reservoir management process can deliver solutions to optimally operate offshore fields, seeking to increase oil production with better assessment of water and gas production and injection. Optimal reservoir management (ORM) can be applied aiming at maximizing reservoir performance and to deliver well controls applicable to field operations. In this work, we implemented an assisted optimization procedure to maximize overall oil production for a field offshore Brazil in Campos Basin.We applied our ORM technique in an important field offshore Brazil, where cumulative oil production is maximized by optimally controlling water rates through injection wells. Injection rates can vary with time, honoring operational requirements of smoothness. Geomechanical limits on injection pressures are considered to avoid loss of rock integrity, and platform constraints on overall production and injection are imposed at all times. Our approach deals with reservoir uncertainties described within a large set of calibrated simulation models to decide on optimal injection rates, taking into account possible risks.The model-based ORM under uncertainty that we developed showed gains in total oil production over 20 years of operation up to 7.2% with respect to the base strategy currently applied. On average, results show an increase of near 4% in oil production, with concomitant reduction in total water production and in overall water injection.To guarantee that the gains forecast by our study are feasible, a pilot test in the actual field has been implemented to verify the consistency between modeling and reality (data observation). We have chosen an area in the field to proceed with the optimal injection control pilot, aiming to check the quality of the uncertain models in comparison to the observed data in practice. The pilot area has been selected on the basis of aspects related to geological description, connectivity expected in the reservoir, and operational constraints. The results of 8 months of the pilot show clear coherence between models and reality that is well within the uncertainty range accepted at the reservoir of interest.To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that an offshore field is actually operated on the basis of a set of controls obtained through an assisted ORM procedure, although it was performed at a pilot scale. Results suggest robust benefits under reservoir-uncertainties consideration, and large-scale application will take place soon, but that is outside the scope of this work. The pilot provided more confidence in field applications, leading to a broader perspective for full-field implementations.


In a recent work [1] we expounded a non-local Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) which predicted a linear two-photon absorption by an atom placed in a laser field of appropriate intensity and frequency. In this paper we extend our earlier work to show that the theory allows for linear 2n-photon absorption by gaseous matter where, under suitable conditions, n may literally run upto thousands. The consequences of this extension of the theory are outlined and predictions are made which may be verified in laboratories.


The article addresses the problem of decoding creolized "small" poetic forms with the reference to Russian and English Internet literature. Thus, we focus on the phenomenon of Russian Internet poetic texts poroshki and their authorized English language versions. Comic poetic texts poroshki are popular among Russian Internet users and reflect the reality of modern life. The novelty of the work lies in the new literary paradigm of interpreting poetic texts poroshki, which originally appeared within the Russian Internet.
The article aims at finding the mechanisms of decoding creolized "small" poetic forms as they appear in the Russian language and their English variants. Thus, we have implemented the lexical-semantic, stylistic, cognitive-discursive, and comparative analyses as we attempted to create original literary analysis which will allow to find algorithms in interpreting poetic texts poroshki (and any other "small" poetic forms) and to explain using image transformations based on creolization of verbal and non-verbal components of the texts. The suggested strategy takes into account the linguistic and extralinguistic literary codes and their creolization with non-verbal code of poroshki and allows creating semantic unity between verbal and non-verbal components of the poems. The results of the research help to promote poetic texts poroshki in the English language social networks and thus distribute this poetic form within other linguocultures.


This study reviews the production performance, challenges and opportunities of goat production with the aim of delivering summarized and synthesized information for the beneficiaries and users. In developing countries, huge goat resources are present and the demand for meat products is strongly increasing. Ethiopia has one of the largest livestock population in Africa with the estimated domestic animal number of 57.83 million cattle, 28 million sheep, 28.6 million goat, 1.23 million camels, 60.5million poultry, 2.1 million horses, 0.4 million mules and 7.88 million donkeys. Ethiopian possesses one of the largest goat populations in the continent that serves multiple functions to communities that herd them. The growth rate of goat population is 1.1% with off-take rate of 35%.  In Ethiopia,  goat  production  accounts  for  16.8%  of  total  meat supply and 16.7%  of  milk  consumed  in  the country. The average annual meat consumption per capita is estimated to be 8kg/year which was lower than consumption of meat in the USA (124kg per capita per year) and that of the global average meat consumption. The average carcass weight of Ethiopian goats is 10 kg, which is the second lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopian indigenous goats are genetically   less   productive   as   compared   to   temperate breeds. They constitute over 95% of the small ruminant population of Africa and 99.77% of Ethiopia. Goat productions are highly influenced by feed shortage, disease and parasites, market fluctuation, high predatory, genetically less productive breed, severe water shortage and high shortage of labor. There are opportunities to increase goat production like several development partners involved in higher learning; research and development are currently committed to goat development. Depending on this review it is important to use modern production systems with improved technology in urban and per-urban area, and in rural area improve traditional system through feed supplementation and better health care. Keywords : goat production, challenges, opportunities, Ethiopia.


Due to a spill from an unregulated pipeline in 1993 the legislature granted the Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (Division) jurisdiction over oil and gas production pipelines. As a result new pipeline regulations were promulgated in 1994 and 1998. The first regulations were broad construction standards and the second were a two tiered risk based system that included construction, maintenance, and testing requirements. Part of the regulation adoption process included statistics on oil spill frequency and clean-up cost estimates of between $15 and $25 million. Combining these statistics with a case study that demonstrates the potential reduction in the spill frequency clearly shows the benefit of initiating an integrated pipeline management plan. This is especially important in urban areas and environmentally sensitive areas when considering the potential for penalties imposed by any one of a number of regulatory agencies.


While label fusion from multiple noisy annotations is a well understood concept in data wrangling (tackled for example by the Dawid-Skene (DS) model), we consider the extended problem of carrying out learning when the labels themselves are not consistently annotated with the same schema. We show that even if annotators use disparate, albeit related, label-sets, we can still draw inferences for the underlying full label-set. We propose the Inter-Schema AdapteR (ISAR) to translate the fully-specified label-set to the one used by each annotator, enabling learning under such heterogeneous schemas, without the need to re-annotate the data. We apply our method to a mouse behavioural dataset, achieving significant gains (compared with DS) in out-of-sample log-likelihood (-3.40 to -2.39) and F1-score (0.785 to 0.864).


College students' green development concept education is an organic unity of environmental education and development concept education, and it is also the integration and surpass of pure environmental education and development concept education. The concept education of green development for college students has distinct realistic orientation and profound value implication, which is embodied in enhancing the quality of green development for college students, strengthening the backbone of promoting green development and enriching the content of ideological and political education for college students.it is a systematic project to carry out the education of green development concept for college students, which should focus on improving the construction of curriculum system, building educational practice platform and optimizing the external environment of education.


Background: Unlike acute unilateral cerebellar infarct (UCI), acute bilateral cerebellar infarcts (BCI) have attracted little attention. To evaluate the clinical significance of BCI, we compared UCI and BCI and analyzed potentially prognostic factors. Methods: Patients who were consecutively admitted at a university hospital over a 4-year period with acute cerebellar infarcts, proven by diffusion-weighted imaging, were studied. Cerebellar infarcts were topographically classified, and divided into 2 groups: UCI and BCI. The demographics, involved territories, concomitant lesions outside the cerebellum (CLOC), bilateral involvement, infarct volume, hospital courses, and mechanisms were analyzed. We performed multiple regression analysis to predict the poor outcome at discharge [≧3 on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS)]. Results: Among 162 patients with acute cerebellar infarcts, 31% (n = 50) were BCI. Territorial infarcts were 74% (n = 120) and non-territorial infarcts 26% (n = 42) of the total. Posterior inferior cerebellar artery infarcts were the most common, and combined-territorial infarcts were the rarest. Baseline demographics were not significantly different between UCI and BCI, except for initial stroke severity (modified NIH Stroke Scale and infarct volume) and diabetes. Large-artery atherosclerosis was significantly higher in BCI, whereas undetermined causes were higher in UCI (p = 0.028). By multiple regression analysis, BCI was the only independent radiological factor for poor prognosis (odds ratio, 6.96; 95% CI, 1.80–26.92), and represented a significantly more unstable hospital course, longer hospital stay, worse mRS at discharge, and higher mortality. Conclusions: In acute cerebellar infarcts, bilateral involvement is common and appears to be a superior determinant for early prognosis rather than territories involved or CLOC.


Image measurement based on machine vision is a promising method for the precise measurements of machine parts. As for a large sized work piece that exceeds the FOV (field of view) of the camera, image mosaic must be performed to acquire the panorama of the work piece. The problematic behavior of image mosaic is the contradiction between the precision of mosaic and the complex of algorithm adopted. Image mosaic based on template matching is an effective method for its' high precision. However, the robustness and complexity of the algorithm depend largely on the selected template. The optimal template pick-up strategy using run length encoding index was proposed and it made a breakthrough in the robustness and speed of template matching algorithm. The optimal template contains image characteristics as much as possible while only the pixels which have edge character and distinct gray value changes participate in the matching operation. Both the precision and speed of template matching algorithm were improved remarkably.


Spissistilus festinus (Say) (Hemiptera: Membracidae) was shown to transmit Grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) in a greenhouse study. Grapevines infected with GRBV exhibit reduced sugar accumulation, altered secondary metabolite production and delayed berry maturation that negatively impacts wine quality and economics. Augmentative biocontrol may be a useful integrated pest management (IPM) tool for suppressing S. festinus populations in vineyards, but minimal research has been conducted on testing potential predators against the different life stages of S. festinus. The susceptibility of S. festinus adults and nymphs (1st through 5th instar) to predation by six commercially available biocontrol agents in petri dish and bell bean plant arenas was determined under greenhouse conditions. No significant mortality of S. festinus nymphs or adults occurred when exposed to Cryptolaemus montrouzieri adults, C. montrouzieri larvae and Sympherobius barberi adults in petri dish or bell bean plant arenas. Significant mortality of 1st and 2nd instar nymphs of S. festinus in the presence of Zelus renardii nymphs was observed in petri dish but not in bell bean arenas. Hippodamia convergens adults and Chrysoperla rufilabris larvae both consumed a significant number of S. festinus nymphs in petri dish and bell bean arenas. No significant predation of S. festinus adults was documented in this experiment. Results of this study aid in identifying predators that may be suitable candidates for additional field testing to determine their potential efficacy as biocontrol agents of S. festinus in a vineyard setting.


Introduction : The urban family physician program for increase the utilization of health services has been implemented in Fars and Mazandaran provinces since 2012. In this way, this study aimed to determine the benefit level for population covered by the urban family physician program in Iran. Materials and Methods : This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017. Participants on the households covered by the urban family physician program; were selected by random cluster sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of 2 parts: individual variables and benefit level of health services with 33 open and closed questions; its validity and reliability were confirmed. Results: Among 1768 households with a population of 5628 people, 5521(98.1%) had one type of basic insurance. 0.31% of the people who had supplementary insurance. The average time between the home and the work place for the family physician was 18.6±18.9 minutes on foot and 5.7±5.1 by car. Correspondingly, 75.8% of those who had basic insurance were visited at least once by their family physician. The average family physician visits for participants over 15 years old was 5.14 times per year. Factors such as health records, household size, supplementary insurance, illness, education, occupation, physician replacement, availability time, and familiarity with the Family Physician Program were effective in terms of coverage of the affected population with a meaningful level (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that all covered individuals did not benefit from the urban family physician program, and a number of individual factors influenced the benefit of the urban family physician program.


BACKGROUND: The click sounds of auditory evoked potentials (AEP) might have some effect on electroencephalogram indices and Bispectral Index (BIS) but many studies, unconcerned about this effect, have measured both indices simultaneously. In this study, I examined the effects, of AEP click sounds on the BIS, and also on the response entropy (RE) and state entropy (SE) of the entropy monitor. METHODS: Forty patients aged 40–70 yr and scheduled for surgery of lower extremities under spinal anesthesia were anesthetized with 0.5% bupivacaine or tetracaine. Patients were sedated with midazolam 1 mg followed by propofol infusion started at 1 mg · kg−1 · h−1. Propofol infusion was controlled to keep BIS or SE at 80, 60, or 40 for several minutes, and then click sounds (65 dB) of the AEP were given for 60 s. The changes in BIS, RE, and SE were observed continuously for 60 s after the click sounds had stopped. RESULTS: BIS, SE, and RE significantly increased during the click sounds. The longest duration of increase was at BIS or SE 60. CONCLUSION: AEP monitor click sounds transiently increased the simultaneously measured BIS, RE, and SE during different levels of sedation by propofol infusion during spinal anesthesia. Therefore, the effects of the click sounds should be considered when these monitors are used simultaneously in the same patient.


Electron field emission is a quantum tunneling phenomenon whereby electrons are emitted from a solid surface due to a strong electric field. Graphene and its derivatives are expected to be efficient field emitters due to their unique geometry and electrical properties. So far, electron field emission has only been achieved from the edges of graphene and graphene oxide sheets. We have supported graphene oxide sheets on nickel nanotip arrays to produce a high density of sharp protrusions within the sheets and then applied electric fields perpendicular to the sheets. Highly efficient and stable field emission with low turn-on fields was observed for these graphene oxide sheets, because the protrusions appear to locally enhance the electric field and dramatically increase field emission. Our simple and robust approach provides prospects for the development of practical electron sources and advanced devices based on graphene and graphene oxide field emitters.


Aiming to reduce the resources invested in the laboratory assessment of un-fired clay bricks incorporating natural wastes as additives, this paper proposes an evaluation of the surface porosity of unfired clay bricks with almond husk powder using processing of the SEM (Scanning electron microscope) images of representative cubes and its relationship with the bricks' strength. Used clay is extracted from Bensmim red soil in Ifrane - Morocco and determined as an Illite. One control specimen with pure clay and four specimens were prepared using the proportions 2, 5, 10, and 20 wt.% of almond husk powder. After drying, SEM analysis is done on the specimens. The processing of the issued images is done using ImageJ software. The results show, in general, an increase in the surface porosity with the increase of almond husk powder in the matrix. This is reported due to the formation of coagulant volumes that generates a porous network depending on the size and the amount of the additive. However, a considerable decrease in the porosity is shown using 2 wt.% additive which is reported to the fiber bridging mechanism. The increase in the surface porosity was followed by an increase in strength. Theoretical models are evaluated for the best fit in the relationship between strength and porosity. Nevertheless, the polynomial modeling of degree 3 is considered the most adequate. The findings in this research establish a potential road to predict unfired clay bricks quality using the processing of SEM images of only representative specimens of the surface porosity.


Background

Cancer is a significant problem for the South Pacific region due to a range of complex and unique health challenges caused by shared social, environmental and economic factors. Currently gaps in diagnosis, treatment and palliative care are significant, and while governmental commitment is strong, economic constrains limit health system strengthening. Collaboration, alliances and partnerships in cancer control have been successful in resource constrained settings. A regional approach has therefore been recommended as an effective solution to addressing many of the challenges for cancer control in the South Pacific. However, comprehensive and appropriate information detailing how to effectively scope and establish a multi-national or regional coalition is scarce. This study therefore aimed to 1) create a Coalition Development Framework, and 2) use the Framework to co-design a South Pacific Cancer Control Coalition through consultation with key cancer control stakeholders working within Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.
Results

Analysis of the consultations with key cancer control stakeholders identified overwhelming appetite and support for a South Pacific Cancer Control Coalition. This paper details the following six coalition development outputs: coalition design and purpose, strategic imperatives, structure, South Pacific foundations, barriers and facilitators to coalition establishment and ongoing operations, priorities for action. Concurrent evaluation of the Coalition Development Framework using theory of change revealed the framework to be an effective mechanism to drive engagement, discovery, unification and action in alliance-building.
Conclusions

A regional Coalition to drive cancer control in the South Pacific has significant support among key Pacific stakeholders. Likewise, design and scope of the Coalition has been synthesised and mapped to guide feasible and appropriate establishment. Importantly our results also describe the effective implementation of a Coalition Development Framework in an applied setting, to guide future use. If momentum is continued, and a regional South Pacific Coalition established, the benefits in reducing the burden of cancer within the region will be substantial.


The problem of sending two Gaussian sources over the Gaussian multiple access channel (MAC) with bandwidth expansion is studied. In this problem, two distributed transmitters desire to describe the two Gaussian sources to a common receiver subject to desired communication quality requirements and bandwidth expansion constraint. Of our interests is the minimum power and the transmission schemes to achieve power efficiency. Achievable bounds on the minimum power are given in this work.


A study was conducted to determine the findability of known print U.S. government documents using five different resources:  the Catalog of Government Publications, in-house library catalog, library discovery service, HathiTrust, and Google.  Overall, Google was the most effective finding tool, followed by the library discovery service, the in-house library catalog, Catalog of Government Publications, and HathiTrust.  Three-quarters of documents were available full text via Google.  Implications of the online availability of government publications on the need for large print documents collections, and the continuing reconsideration of library spaces, are discussed, as are future studies.


: Wing twist is an  aerodynamic feature added to  aircraft wings to adjust lift distribution along the wing. Often, the purpose of lift redistribution is to ensure that load distribution is uniform from wing tip to root, it ensures that the effective  angle of attack is always lower at the wing tip than at the root, meaning the root will stall before the tip. This is desirable because the aircraft's  flight control surfaces are often located at the wingtip, and the variable stall characteristics of a twisted wing alert the pilot to the advancing stall while still allowing the control surfaces to remain effective, meaning the pilot can usually prevent the aircraft from stalling fully before control is completely lost . Twist that decreases the local chord's incidence from root to tip is sometimes referred to as  washout . In this project the design is done in GAMBIT software, and CFD simulation of twisted wing is done in fluent software, the designed model is tested in software at different twist angles, and at different angles of attack to find the aerodynamic properties like C D , C L , and pressure.


Shot peening is one of the most popular surface enhancement technique used to improve fatigue performance of different materials. This paper focuses on to study the effect of different shot peening parameters on micro-structural and mechanical properties of DIN 1.2714 tool steel specimens. Shot peening treatments were carried out by varying shot size and peening intensity. X-ray stress analysis, micro-hardness testing and micro-structural analysis were performed to characterize these specimens. In addition, pin on disk wear testing was executed to recognize wear behavior of this shot peened tool steels. It was observed that along with compressive residual stress generation, shot peening also induces work hardening effect and modifies surface structure which are responsible for significant improvement in this tool steel.


2, 6-Diacetylpyridine Bis (benzoyl hydrazone) and 2, 6Diacetylpyridine Bis (2-hydroxybenzoyl hydrazone) as Spectrophotometric Reagents for Determinations of Iron (III) and Vanadium (V) (Commemoration Issue Dedicated to Professor Toshio TAKADA On the Occasion of His Retirement) Author(s) Sasaki, Yoshihiro Citation Bulletin of the Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University (1986), 64(4): 140-149 Issue Date 1986-12-06


Abstract Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has been an effective treatment for human patients with haematological malignancies (Baron & Storb, 2006; Bair et al., 2020; Copelan et al., 2019). However, the optimal pretransplant conditioning treatment is unclear in canine allogeneic HCT. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for a nonmyeloablative HCT conditioning. Six healthy dogs were treated with 8 or 12 Gy TLI using VMAT. Haematological and physical changes were recorded over 8 weeks. To assess the effect of peripheral lymphocyte condition, lymphocyte subset and proliferative ability were examined. At the end of the experiment, necropsy was performed. All dogs showed mild‐to‐moderate neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, and these haematological changes resolved spontaneously. One dog treated with 8 Gy TLI developed transient cutaneous infection. No major complication was seen in the other seven dogs. Myelocytes and erythroblast cytopenia of bone marrow were detected in two dogs treated with 12 Gy TLI. This study is the first report of TLI using VMAT in dogs, and results suggest that this regimen is a feasible nonmyeloablative treatment.


BACKGROUND
The predictive value of the El-Ganzouri risk index (EGRI) for difficult intubation has been evaluated using Macintosh laryngoscopy as reference standard. The Glidescope videolaryngoscope provides improved visualization of the glottis. We studied the predictive value of the EGRI using videolaryngoscopy as reference standard.

METHODS
Data from two subsequent groups of patients, intubated with Macintosh laryngoscopy (ML, n = 994) and videolaryngoscopy (VL, n = 843), were retrospectively analysed. The EGRI was taken as index test. The two types of laryngoscopy were adopted as reference for the presence of Cormack and Lehane grading III-IV. For both groups, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative post-test probabilities (PTP) were calculated for thresholds on the EGRI scale. Receiver operating characteristic curves and corresponding areas (AUC) were obtained.

RESULTS
Sensitivity and specificity were 69.7% and 66.3% at the cut-off value of 2 in the ML group, and 93.3% and 76.6% at the cut-off value of 3 in the VL group. Corresponding positive and negative PTP were 12.81% and 3.15% in the ML group, and 6.73% and 0.16% in the VL group. At the threshold of 4, positive and negative PTP were 31.34% and 4.85% in the ML group. At the threshold of 7, positive and negative PTP were 85.71% and 1.08% in the VL group. The AUC was 0.74 in the ML group and 0.91 in the VL group.

CONCLUSIONS
The predictive value of the EGRI may have been underestimated due to limited accuracy of Macintosh laryngoscopy. Using videolaryngoscopy, the EGRI might be reconsidered as a decisional tool.


To the Editor.— Tinea pedis, whose frequence among the general population is said to be from 5% to 11%, 1-3 has a widespread geographic distribution but its pathogenic flora, epidemiology, and clinical manifestations may vary from country to country. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic investigation of athlete's foot in Greece. The clinical material consisted of 200 subjects presenting clinical signs of tinea pedis, and 100 healthy controls. The laboratory methods used were direct potassium hydroxide examination of the scrapings and multiple cultures in Sabouraud's agar with and without antibiotic; for the identification of Candida species fermentation and utilization of sugars, assimilation of nitrates, sensitivity to cycloheximide, and reduction of tetrazolium were also used. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by laboratory means in 49.5% of the cases. Of the infections, 31.0% were attributable to C albicans , 22.9% to Trichophyton mentagrophytes , 13.5% to T rubrum , 10.8% to Epidermophyton floccosum


Rationale and Objective: It has been well known that patients with diabetes had shorter life expectancy, compared to patients without diabetes. Although several studies have been reported the significance of microciculatory dysfunction particularly in the early phase of critical illness, it has been not reported the association between microcirculatory dysfunction and long-term prognosis. Therefore, we evaluated the relationship between microcirculatory dysfunction and the risk of total death in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A total of 1017 patients with diabetes (657 men and 360 women), who were admitted to the department of internal medicine from September 2015 to December 2017, were included in this study. We measured perfusion index (PI), which could reflect microcirculation, using a pulse oximeter (Masimo Radical 7; Masimo Corp., Irvine, CA, U.S.) on the day of admission. Cox proportional hazards models was used in multivariate analysis. Results: The median duration of follow-up was 670.0 days and a total of 117 patients died during follow-up duration. The average age, HbA1c and PI value was 71.0 ± 11.6 years, 7.7 ± 1.9% and 3.2 ± 2.4%. PI value was negatively correlated with age (β = -0.18, P Conclusion: The present study indicates the importance of microciculatory dysfunction and monitoring as a potential independent prognostic factor of mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes. Disclosure H. Okada: None. Y. Okada: None. M. Fukui: Research Support; Self; Astellas Pharma Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., Merck & Co., Inc., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Novo Nordisk Inc., Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Sanofi, Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, Kowa Pharmaceutical Europe Co. Ltd., Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., Merck & Co., Inc., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Novo Nordisk Inc., Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Sanofi, Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho, Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.


Analysis of magnetic modulators, which includes low-level transducer amplifiers and magnetometers, usually is based on control-signal displacement of fixed hysteresis loops of some particular shape. Experience shows, however, that many qualitative aspects of the device operation do not agree with the analysis. In this paper, an analysis is based on the d\phi/dt widening of the hysteresis loop, which is applicable to metal alloy tape cores. The analysis makes possible the comparison of amplifiers using different magnetic materials by relating small-signal gain and output waveform to measurable properties of the material.


Abstract Background The deltoid is a large triangular muscle at the shoulder. It attaches proximally to the clavicle, acromion and scapula, while distally it attaches to the lateral deltoid tuberosity. Ruptures are rare, and the literature only reports cases of proximal detachment. In this article, we report the first case of distal traumatic deltoid muscle detachment and its successful management. Case A young female sustained a traumatic injury following a Jet Ski accident with loss of consciousness. A complete distal rupture of the deltoid muscle was diagnosed after the basic functions were regained and a thorough musculoskeletal examination could be conducted. A conservative approach helped her to regain an acceptable shoulder function, but there was persistent pain upon activity and cosmetic scarring. The patient underwent surgical reconstruction. Postoperatively, she recovered satisfactorily. Discussion Distal detachment of the deltoid muscle is rare. The choice for surgical treatment may be undertaken based on several factors including functional status and patient-based assessment.


With the rapid growth of vehicle ownership in China, more and more roads are equipped with road monitoring fill lights to regulate the driving behavior of drivers and ensure the accuracy and efficiency of public security law enforcement. According to the statistics of relevant departments, in recent years, the number of traffic accidents caused by the flicker interference of high brightness road monitoring fill light affecting the driver's vision, has increased by 12% annually in recent years. During driving, the difference between the high brightness of the fill light and the low brightness of the normal driving environment is too large after the driver is illuminated by the fill light during driving, resulting in the driver's visual disability. The vision of driver can be divided into two stages from being stimulated to returning to normal, which are light adaptation stage and dark adaptation stage. In the restoration process, the time of dark adaptation was significantly longer than that of light adaptation. Based on the study of various factors such as brightness of fill light, illumination time of fill light and background brightness of road that affect the driver's vision in the process of dark adaptation, this paper concludes that, firstly, in the process of driver's pupil area recovering from the minimum pupil area after stimulation to the normal environment before stimulation, the pupil area changes regularly and rapidly when the minimum pupil area recovers to 80% of the normal, while the subsequent 20% pupil area fluctuates greatly and takes a long time to recover. Secondly, with the increase of the illumination time of the fill light, the visual recovery time of the driver increases first and then decreases. Thirdly, the change of the brightness of the fill light has great impact on the longest visual recovery time of the driver. This experiment aims to provide the relevant theoretical basis for the design and the improvement of the bad effect of the road fill light on the driver's vision. Glare and Human Eyes


Seed storage proteins of plants commonly comprise several groups of multiple isoforms encoded by gene families. From about 300 expressed sequence tag (EST) clones in maturing jelly fig (Ficus awkeotsang Makino) achenes, gene families encoding precursor polypeptides of two storage protein classes, including six 11S globulin isoforms and two 2S albumin isoforms, were identified. Complete sequences encoding the precursor polypeptides of these eight storage proteins were obtained by sequencing the pertinent EST clones that contained full-length cDNA fragments. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry analysis confirmed the presence of these storage protein isoforms in the extract of jelly fig achenes resolved in SDS–PAGE. The amino acid compositions of the deduced storage proteins indicated that achene proteins in jelly fig are nutritive, for both isoforms of 2S albumin are sulfur-rich, and one of them is also rich in tryptophan.


The Poyi ultramafic intrusion is part of the 278 Ma Pobei mafic-ultramafic complex located in the northeastern margin of the Tarim craton. Significant Ni-Cu sulfide mineralization associated with ultramafic rocks has been discovered through an ongoing state-funded drilling campaign. The Poyi intrusion is a pipe-like body with a surface exposure measuring 1 × 3 km and a downward extension >1,600 m. It is composed of dunite, lherzolite, and olivine websterite. Minor plagioclase is ubiquitous in the ultramafic rocks. Sulfide mineralization occurs as concordant layers or zones of disseminated sulfides with thicknesses varying from 10 to 80 m within the steeply dipping layers of lherzolite. Olivine in dunite and lherzolite contains forsterite and Ni up to 89 mol % and 3,000 ppm, respectively. Olivine in olivine websterite has slightly lower forsterite content (86 mol %) and significantly lower Ni content (1,100 ppm). The rapid decrease in olivine Ni contents from lherzolite to olivine websterite indicates cotectic sulfide segregation during olivine crystallization. The Poyi ultramafic rocks are characterized by nearly flat REE patterns, negative Nb anomalies, arc-like Th/Yb and Nb/Yb ratios, positive ɛ Nd values (4.7–6.6) and low initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios (0.7037–0.7066). The arc-like trace element ratios coupled with positive ɛ Nd values for the Poyi ultramafic rocks indicate the involvement of a subduction-modified lithospheric mantle or a granitic melt derived from a juvenile arc crust. The contents of PGE in the Poyi sulfide separates are significantly higher than in sulfide-poor rocks, indicating that immiscible sulfide liquids were the primary collectors of PGE in the intrusion. Sulfide-poor samples from the Poyi intrusion have low γ Os values (10–18). In contrast, sulfide separates from mineralized lherzolites have distinctly higher γ Os values (54–154). It is perplexing that the sulfide separates have mantle-like δ 34 S values (−0.3 to −2‰). Based on the contrasting γ Os values between sulfide-poor rocks and sulfide separates, we suggest that external sulfur played a role in triggering sulfide saturation in the Poyi magma.


The energy levels of a double-quantum-well system can be expected to occur in closely spaced pairs, due to 'tunnelling', so raising the possibility that oscillations can occur at the tunnelling frequencies. This paper gives a detailed theory of the excitation of such a pair by an incident electron wavepacket, using a time-dependent formalism and a one-dimensional system of barriers. It is confirmed that transient oscillations can be expected to occur in currents and charge densities near quasi-resonances. It is further reasoned that to increase the temporal coherence of an incident pulse, it is desirable to have inelastic scattering into a quasi-bound state.


The current scoping review aimed to map current literature investigating the relationship between pain extent extracted from pain drawings with clinical, psychological, and psycho-physiological patient-reported outcome measures in people with pain. Electronic databases were searched for cross-sectional cohort studies that collected pain drawings using digital technology or a pen-on-paper approach and assessed for correlations between pain extent and clinical, psychological or psycho-physical outcomes. Data were extracted by two different reviewers. The methodological quality of studies was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Mapping of the results included: 1, description of included studies; 2, summary of results; and 3, identification of gaps in the existing literature. Eleven cross-sectional cohort studies were included. The pain disorders considered were heterogeneous, ranging from musculoskeletal to neuropathic conditions, and from localized to generalized pain conditions. All studies included pain and/or pain-related disability as clinical outcomes. Psychological outcomes included depression and anxiety, kinesiophobia and catastrophism. Psycho-physical measures included pressure or thermal pain thresholds. Ten studies were considered of high methodological quality. There was heterogeneity in the associations between pain extent and patient-reported outcome measures depending on the pain condition. This scoping review found that pain extent is associated with patient-reported outcome measures more so in patients presenting with musculoskeletal pain, e.g., neck pain or osteoarthritis, rather than for those with neuropathic pain or headache.


Study Design. Retrospective chart review. Objectives. To determine the success rate and duration of relief of repeat radiofrequency neurotomy for lumbar facet joint pain. Summary of Background Data. Radiofrequency neurotomy is an effective but temporary management of lumbar facet pain. When pain recurs, radiofrequency neurotomy is usually repeated, but the outcome and duration of relief for repeat radiofrequency neurotomies are unknown. Methods. Record review of consecutive patients who had an initial successful radiofrequency neurotomy, subsequent recurrence of pain, and then repeat radiofrequency neurotomy. Responses of repeat radiofrequency neurotomies were compared with initial radiofrequency neurotomy for success rates and duration of relief. Results. There were 16 women and 4 men. Mean age was 48 years (range, 26–63). Radiofrequency neurotomy denervated one segment in two patients, two segments in 16 patients, and three or more in two patients. There were 10 bilateral and 10 unilateral radiofrequency neurotomies. Mean duration of relief after initial radiofrequency neurotomy was 10.5 months (range, 4–19). To date, two patients had a series of two radiofrequency neurotomies performed, six had three, five had four, three had five, and four had seven or more. Twenty patients had a second radiofrequency neurotomy, which was successful in 17 (85%) but unsuccessful in two. The mean duration of relief in 16 of these 17 patients was 11.6 months (range, 6–19), and relief is continuing in one. Sixteen patients had a third radiofrequency neurotomy, of which 15 were successful and one was unsuccessful. The mean duration of relief in nine of the 15 was 11.2 months (range, 5–23), and relief is continuing in the other six. Eight patients had a fourth radiofrequency neurotomy, which was successful in seven but unsuccessful in one. The mean duration of relief was 9 months (range, 5–14) in three patients, and relief is continuing in the other four. None of these differences is significant. The frequency of success and durations of relief remained consistent after each subsequent radiofrequency neurotomy. Conclusions. Repeated radiofrequency neurotomies are an effective long-term palliative management of lumbar facet pain. Each radiofrequency neurotomy had a mean duration of relief of 10.5 months and was successful more than 85% of the time.


During secondary growth, the thickening of plant organs, wood (xylem) and bast (phloem) are continuously produced by the vascular cambium. In Arabidopsis hypocotyl and root, we can distinguish two phases of secondary growth based on cell morphology and production rate. The first phase, in which xylem and phloem are equally produced, precedes the xylem expansion phase in which xylem formation is enhanced and xylem fibers differentiate. It is known that Gibberellins (GA) trigger this developmental transition via the degradation of DELLA proteins and that the cambium master regulator BREVIPEDICELLUS/KNAT1 (BP/KNAT1) and the receptor like kinases ERECTA and ERL1 regulate this process downstream of GA. However, our understandings on the regulatory network underlying GA-mediated secondary growth, are still limited. Here, we demonstrate that DELLA-mediated xylem expansion is mainly achieved through RGA and GAI and that RGA and GAI promote cambium senescence. We further show that AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF6) and ARF8, which physically interact with DELLAs, specifically repress phloem proliferation and induce cambium senescence during the xylem expansion phase. Moreover, the inactivation of BP in arf6 arf8 background revealed an essential role for ARF6 and ARF8 in cambium establishment and maintenance. Overall, our results shed light on a pivotal hormone cross-talk between GA and auxin in the context of plant secondary growth.


A year-long experiment was conducted to better understand the potential of web-based deliberations to inform public policy. Focused on health care reform, the project drew from periodic surveys and a series of online group deliberations to examine the interaction of policy elites and ordinary citizens in online settings, and to test hypotheses related to group composition, discussion processes, and decision making.


Organisations function in a flexible and changing environment that requires dynamic responses to diverse forces influencing their sustainability and growth. Employers wish to recruit graduates who can capably and successfully transfer their university-acquired skills and knowledge to the workplace. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the contribution of universities to labour market requirements in South Africa from an employer's perspective. Signalling theory assists as the theoretical framework to establish: (1) whether the skills and knowledge required by labour markets are reflected in the advertised degree programmes of universities; and (2) whether skills and knowledge shortcomings could have been addressed sufficiently by universities.


We demonstrate single-pulse retrieval of coherent vibrational evolution of molecules by geometrical space-time mapping combined with non-linear signal imaging. The method is tested experimentally to yield spectrum of simple liquids.


We demonstrate an optical asynchronous transfer mode/wavelength division multiplexing (OATM/WDM) optical access network, using a router based on an optical header decoder to conduct next-generation communications. The router consists of a decoder or hardware analysis processing of the header bit and switches. The router in the OATM/WDM optical access network is a key technology by which to satisfy subscribers' requests, including reliability, cost efficiency, high speed, large-capacity transmission, and elevated information security. In this study, we carry out experiments in which a header decoder delivers to 16 and 32 subscribers with a single wavelength in the router. These experiments confirm the decoder's successful operation via hardware using 4 and 5 header bits. We propose that this system may significantly contribute toward the realization of an optical access network that provides high-quality service to subscribers of
 next-generation communications.


Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) methods were applied to check the possibility of determination of hafnium in zirconium at a level lower than 100 ppm. A zirconium matrix of hafnium content lower than 10 ppm was obtained using a worked-out separation method exploiting ion exchange on Diphonix resin. Both methods give results in good agreement with each other as well as with those for certified reference material BCR-098 (Zircaloy-4). They were utilized in determination of Hf in the samples collected during separation of microamounts of hafnium from zirconium by the mentioned ion exchange. These results proved the earlier described method of separation on Diphonix resin to be effective even when the initial concentration of hafnium in zirconium decreases from 2.4% to 0.0082%.


The birth of a neonate with chromosomal abnormalities, e.g. Down syndrome has very serious problems for family, society, and for the neonate itself, and therefore prenatal evaluation is imperative in determining the fate of the fetus. This research aimed to assess the association and accuracy of amniocentesis with first-trimester combined screening. In this study, specimens from 1066 cases were analyzed for free Beta human chorionic gonadotropin, pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, along with nuchal translucency and nasal bone ultrasonography from October 2013 till November 2014. Upon observing positive screening, mothers underwent amniocentesis. Finally the amniocentesis results were compared with that of first-trimester screening. Our results determined a direct relation between the high age of the mother and gravidity with P of 0.001 and 0.020 with positive first-trimester screening. Our study attained a 92% accuracy rate of amniocentesis due to one case of mosaicism of trisomy 21, that was not diagnosed, because it was not requested by physician. Only 12 (17.1%) cases out of 70 (mothers with positive first-trimester screening) showed positive amniocentesis, which had a significant relationship with chromosomal abnormality. First trimester combined screening has very high accuracy (94.6%) in prediction of genetic abnormalities. The probability of positive first-trimester screening is directly influenced by number of factors, including the mother age and gravidity. Amniocentesis is necessary for all of mothers with positive first-trimester screening and will almost always detect chromosomal abnormalities. © 2019 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved. Acta Med Iran 2019;57(6):359-362.


Holography is now more than 60 years old since the time when Dennis Gabor published his first paper in 1948, introducing the new coherent imaging technique. Holography had to wait for its first practical applications a little over 10 years until the laser was invented and laser light could be used for recording the first holograms. This happened almost simultaneously in both the USA and the former USSR. Since that time, interest in holography has been growing at an increasing rate, and has given rise to numerous applications of holographic techniques in science, industry, medicine, and art. During the first decades mainly analog holograms were recorded, using continuous-wave and pulsed lasers. Display holograms, holographic optical elements (HOE), holographic interferometry, and holographic nondestructive testing (HNDT) used different types of recording materials, often combined with wet processing. It was a time-consuming technique and required special expertise to obtain good results. When computers became faster and their storage capacity increased, very simple computer-generated holograms (CGHs) were introduced to show the potential of generating holograms and HOEs without having to record a real object. Very soon computer programs were introduced for the evaluation of interference fringes in metrology and nondestructive testing. Since the beginning of the new millennium, there has been a dramatic progress in computer technology in regard to computer storage capacity, speed, and graphics, which has made applications of CGHs and holographic displays an important part of current holographic techniques. HNDT and speckle interferometry are now only performed with the help of computers, images being recorded on electronic holographic recording devices. For example, CGHs are also used as null elements in optical testing. Today computers and electronic recording devices are used in different ways. The possibility of recording very high spatial frequencies employing electronic devices is, however, still very limited. For ultrahigh-resolution holographic recording, spatial frequencies of up to 10,000 line pairs/mm are required. For example, to display a full-parallax hologram in real time on a 40-in. wide screen with 30-deg horizontal and 10deg vertical field of view, a bandwidth of 10 Hz is required. The ultimate goal is to computer generate the interference fringe structure which is necessary to generate a holographic image for display. For a large-sized hologram, it is not possible to generate the necessary data fast enough to get a refreshment rate of 25 to 30 Hz. If we compare this with the analogue technique, using a pulsed laser to record a very large hologram of a complex object or scene, the interference structure is created and stored in a high-resolution photographic material in 20 ns, provided the pulsed laser energy is sufficient. Holographic microscopy using in-line holography combined with charge-coupled device (CCD) recording devices is common practice today. Some CCDs have sufficient spatial frequency resolution and can be used for holographic particle studies in real time, using fast Fourier transform programs. CGHs are also used to generate small holographic optical variable devices for important security document applications. Today a combination of techniques is used in order to obtain various types of CGHs. A technique for recording large, color display holograms is to print them pixel by pixel on a high-resolution holographic material. Each pixel hologram, or hogel, is computer generated and displayed on a LCD or liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) device. Using this technique to obtain a large one-square-meter color display hologram, the printing of the entire hologram can take many hours, depending of the RGB laser's pulse repetition rate. Using this type of hologram printing technique, both completely computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) images can be recorded, as well as a combination of a large number of photographically recorded images, such as those captured by a digital camera moving along a horizontal rail, for example. The two-dimensional images are then transformed and used to create the printed hologram. For holographic displays, HOEs can be used as a stereo projection screen generating autostereoscopic moving 3D images. There is a lot of research going on in these fields, aiming to create 3D images in real time for potential 3D television techniques. In the future, when computers become even faster, and when nanotechnology-based electronic display devices have sufficient spatial frequency resolution to display full parallax real-time color holograms directly, electronic ultrarealistic 3D images could become a reality. This special section contains state-of-the-art papers on the applications mentioned above. The papers are ordered according to the date of acceptance. I would like to thank all the authors for providing the papers for this issue, as well as the peer reviewers for their comments and meticulous work, the SPIE staff, and finally Ron Diggers, the Optical Engineering editor, for giving me the opportunity to edit this special section.


A morphometrical study of the tumor-free pancreatic regions has been performed in 18 patients with carcinoma of the pancreas, who were divided into three groups, i.e., diabetics, patients exhibiting impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and normoglycemics. Tissues were stained for A, B, D and PP cells by immunocytochemistry and, for comparative purposes, the results were expressed as the number of cells/mm2. The diabetic and the IGT groups presented reduced A and B cell populations, with B cell counting lower in diabetics than in the IGT group. In addition, an inverse correlation was found between the number of B cells and the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) values, which suggests that the destruction of B cells may be the primordial cause of the glucose abnormality found in those patients. Possibly, a destructive process and fibrosis, similar to those occurring in chronic pancreatitis, are implicated in the reduction of such endocrine cells.


Little is known about the cleaning behaviour of shrimps in comparison to that of cleaner fish, and only recently have cleaner shrimps been shown to remove parasites effectively from coral reef fish. Here we describe patterns of cleaning interactions between Pederson shrimp Ancylomenes pedersoni and fish clients in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Clients observed here were members of at least 16 fish families, including three previously unreported client families. Most cleans lasted <20 seconds; surgeonfish were cleaned most frequently, but lizardfish and groupers received the longest cleans. The shrimp formed social groups of varying sizes on individuals of the host sea anemone Bartholomea annulata, which served as the centres of their cleaning stations. The number and duration of cleans per station increased with the number of resident shrimp, however most anemones hosted small groups of fewer than four individuals, while larger groups of up to nine individuals were relatively rare. Some client fish chased away other fish and competitively excluded them from anemone stations. We conclude that these shrimp clean a wide diversity of clients, vary their clean duration with fish identity, and clean more when in large groups. In addition, clients in part control these patterns of interaction by interfering with access to these stations by other clients.


Abstract This study aims to predict the shooting range based on damage the type of lead a projectile without jacket caliber.38 special fired from handguns kinds brand Revolver S & W caliber .38 specials. Based on the phenomenon of criminal cases of abuse handguns types Revolver and the fact that real data it was found that 8% of the amount of lead projectiles without jacket as forensic evidence, the condition has broken the deformed moderate to severe. The study was conducted at the Police Forensic Laboratory experimental method test-fired in the shooting box at short throw distance range of 0.5 to 6 meters , where the bone is positioned at the target position changes location every 0.5 meters, so the total number of shots is 12 times shot on 12 position target location, and finally obtained 12 variations of deformation projectile shot results. Stages test firing conducted through three stages as follows: 1). Phase sample preparation equipment and materials firearms, bullets and target bone. 2). Phase shooting target accurately. 3). Stages of deformation measurements and weighing projectile, arranged in the form of table data. Material samples of bullet used was the type of lead bullets without jacket caliber .38 special with technical specifications diameter of projectile 9.09 mm (real 9.05 mm), length of projectile 17.90 mm (real 18.61 mm), projectile material lead antimony, projectile weight of 10.25 grams, muzzle velocity (initial) 265 m / sec, rounded nose shape, coefficient of form C = 2, the ballistic coefficient i = 0,9 effective range or the distance accurately of 25 meters. Material samples of bone were used as target is 1694 SR veal ribs with bone hardness values (87 ± 1.5) shore, is used for the calibration test firing, a human skull age adults (≥ 35 years) with a value of hardness (78 ± 6 ) shore, is used as the target subjects of research, human ribs (costal C-3 / C-6) adult (≥ 35 years) with a value of hardness (69 ± 19.5) shore, is used as the target subjects of research. Keywords : deformation; projectiles; bones


Background: Patient compliance with the recommendations and treatments of healthcare providers is critical to the efficacy of those interventions. Unfortunately, poor patient compliance is a widespread problem in health care that carries with it substantial medical, social, and economic consequences, particularly among patients undergoing hemodialysis. Compliance to diet and fluid restrictions by adults on hemodialysis treatment is challenging. Aim : The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nursing guideline on dietary and fluid compliance among patients undergoing hemodialysis. Methodology: A quazi experimental design was utilized for conducting the study. A convenient sample of 60 adult patients on hemodialysis management at the Hemodialysis Department in El Manial University, Kasr Al-Aini hospital affiliated to Cairo University, Egypt,  was recruited, and randomly divided into study and control groups (30 patients each). Data were collected through six tools; Socio-demographic and medical data sheet, Biochemical indicators data sheet,  Knowledge assessment sheet, Attitudes towards dietary and fluid compliance sheet, Self-reported dietary and fluid compliance sheet and Food frequency sheet. Results : There were statistically significant improvement of knowledge; attitude and compliance regarding diet and fluid regimen in the study group after implementation of the nursing guideline when compared to the control group. Conclusion : A nursing guideline may improve the patient's knowledge regarding diet and fluid regimen as well as enhance dietary and fluid compliance among patients undergoing hemodialysis. Recommendations: It is suggested to apply this nursing guideline on the hemodialysis patients in their early course of treatment, and to replicate the study on a larger study sample in different settings to generalize the results. Keywords :  Nursing guideline, dietary and fluid compliance, hemodialysis.


There exists a strong and growing body of scientific research evidence that supports the belief that to achieve the targets set by the Paris climate change conference, greenhouse gas must be actively removed from the atmosphere and stored. Carbon capture and storage technology will also have a key role in reducing future greenhouse gas emissions. There is a range of storage options. Storage underground is technologically and financially feasible but gaps in capability still exit and implementation time may be significant. It may be possible to store large volumes of carbon in the ocean; however, this will require very large sums of capital investment in infrastructure and may have unforeseen, adverse environmental consequences. Carbon sequestration from revegetation and plantation programs can provide a significant but shorter-term contribution to atmospheric greenhouse gas reduction. Actively increasing soil carbon can make a significant contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere while improving the quality and productivity of our agricultural soils. Key Points


A number of successful applications of automated planning and scheduling applications to spacecraft operations have recently been reported in the literature. However, these applications have been one-of-a-kind applications that required a substantial amount of development effort. In this paper, we describe ASPEN (Automated Planning/Scheduling Environment), a modular, reconfigurable application framework which is capable of supporting a wide variety of planning and scheduling applications. We describe the architecture of ASPEN, as well as a number of current spacecraft control/operations applications in progress.


In this study, we investigate the limits of the current state of the art AI system for detecting buffer overflows and compare it with current static analysis tools. To do so, we developed a code generator, s-bAbI, capable of producing an arbitrarily large number of code samples of controlled complexity. We found that the static analysis engines we examined have good precision, but poor recall on this dataset, except for a sound static analyzer that has good precision and recall. We found that the state of the art AI system, a memory network modeled after Choi et al. [1], can achieve similar performance to the static analysis engines, but requires an exhaustive amount of training data in order to do so. Our work points towards future approaches that may solve these problems; namely, using representations of code that can capture appropriate scope information and using deep learning methods that are able to perform arithmetic operations.


Total reaction cross sections are calculated for light composite projectiles (d, t, 3He and alpha ) incident on a wide range of targets (12C-208Pb) at medium energy (150<or approximately=ECM/A<or approximately=350 MeV). The internal motion of the nucleons in the projectile is taken into account adiabatically. The calculated results reproduce the experimental deuteron and alpha -particle reaction cross sections. The adiabatic effect predicts a reduced dependence of reaction cross sections on projectile size compared with simple geometrical predictions. For small projectiles it is found that in the adiabatic approximation the geometrical reaction cross section reduces to a quadratic function of the target radius, with coefficients which allow a simple physical interpretation.


Developing saloplastics composed of Compacted Polyelectrolyte Complexes (COPECs) represents a promising strategy for assembling multifunctional and processable polymer matrices in a simple manner. Here, a comprehensive investigation of the potential application of saloplastics as ion reactors for designing catalysts has been performed. First the propensity of saloplastics to exchange and concentrate ions has been elucidated through investigating the influence of Na+ to Cu2+ cation exchange within COPECs assembled from poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH). The multi-scale responses of PMAA/PAH COPECs upon incubation with CuCl2 solutions at pH 3 and 4.5 were investigated chemically by ATR-FTIR, ICP, XPS, DSC and TGA, morphologically by SEM, and mechanically by strain-to-break measurements. Both the amplitude and the kinetics of the COPEC response were driven by the deprotonation rate of PMAA chains, enabling the formation of bridge complexes with Cu2+ and impacting the saloplastic's composition (water content and polyelectrolytes), structure (emergence of macropores) and mechanical properties. Kinetic-based tuning of the molality of copper ions trapped in PMAA/PAH COPECs was demonstrated, enabling the usage of saloplastics as reactors. This ability allowed controlling the growth of Cu(0) nanoparticles in saloplastics by thermal annealing, ultimately adjusting their catalytic activity toward carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation. This work highlights how the ionic reservoir properties of saloplastics must be accounted for when designing the applications of COPEC-based materials.


In the theoretical analysis, dependency of variables is stochastic. Consideration of the residual variable within such a model is needed. Other factors that influence the score variable are grouped in the residual. Uni-factorial nonlinear models are linearized transformations that are applied to the variables, the regression model. So, for example, a model of the form turns into a linear model by logarithm of the two terms of the above equality, resulting in linear function. Sometimes, for estimating parameters using other techniques of estimation, which cannot be incremental transformations, linear estimation of parameters is made by numerical methods. Linear regression model is based on the series of data for the two features. They are represented by vectors x (the variable factor) and y (variable score).


During the past few decades, the power sectors of several countries have been substantially reorganized, and liberalized markets for trading of electricity have been established. In this report, evidence from six electricity markets are studied in order to identify characteristics of electricity prices. The market structures, statistical quantities, as well as long-term dependence, are investigated. Detrended fluctuation analysis and the average wavelet coefficient method are employed in order to estimate the Hurst exponent, which quantifies the presence of long-termed dependence. Since it is concluded that the price series are periodic on several time scales, all characteristics are investigated for both the original and deseasonalised versions of the time series. In particular, it is confirmed that the electricity prices are volatile, but that a considerable amount of the volatility is caused by the daily and weekly periodicities. Furthermore, the characteristic return distributions, volatility clustering and price spikes are analysed.


SUMMARY American lobsters produce carapace vibrations, which also lead to waterborne acoustic signals, by simultaneously contracting the antagonistic remotor and promotor muscles located at the base of the second antenna. These vibrations have a mean frequency of 183.1 Hz (range 87–261 Hz), range in duration from 68 to 1720 ms (mean 277.1 ms) and lead to waterborne sounds of similar frequencies. Lobsters most often produce these signals using only one pair of muscles at a time and alternate between the muscles of the left and right antennae when making a series of vibrations. Occasionally, they vibrate their carapace by simultaneously contracting both sets of muscles. While the remotor muscle is required for producing carapace vibrations, the promotor appears to play a secondary role. Electrical stimulation of the remotor, but not the promotor, results in the production of vibrations, while lesions of the remotor, but not promotor, eliminate the ability of lobsters to vibrate their carapace. Lobsters of all sizes and both sexes produce these signals when startled, grasped or threatened. However, at this time, the behavioral significance of vibration and/or sound production by American lobsters is not known.


Abstract:In Part I of the Roundtable on Social Media and Advertising, academic and industry participants met in San Francisco to discuss where, how, and why social media have become central to advertisers' work in the last fifteen years. Participants agreed that social media connect brands with everyday people. Further, when pressed to consider advertising's older forms of selling products and services, it was acknowledged that social connections have always played a role. However, many practitioners stressed that what is new is the reach and speed of such social relationships through various digital technologies like social media. For some participants, social media have made brands more transparent and responsible in how they treat the environment and their customers, employees, and communities. Although what makes an authentic relationship between companies and everyday people was debated, there was a consensus that social media make brands come to life for individuals, and that such connections seek to make companies more relatable and relevant, and, therefore, more profitable.


Sera from 1,050 persons, 69 cats, 18 goats, 23 bovines, 2 monkeys, and 1 dog from 7 villages in South Kalimantan were tested for indirect hemagglutination Toxoplasma gondii antibodies. A seroepidemiologic study with the methylene blue dye test was conducted 1 year later at one village among 25 families and their cats. Toxoplasma antibody prevalence in man in different villages varied from 9.7% to 51.0%. Forty-one percent of the cats and 61% of the goats also had positive titers. None of the bovines was positive. The epidemiologic study indicated that, in spite of the presence of many infected cats in the village, goat meat was a significant source of Toxoplasma infection for man in this population.


17 beta-Estradiol (E2) induces E2F-1 gene expression in ZR-75 and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Analysis of the E2F-1 gene promoter in MCF-7 cells previously showed that hormone-induced transactivation required interactions between estrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha)/Sp1 bound to upstream GC-rich sites and NFYA bound to downstream CCAAT sites within the -169 to -54 region of the promoter. This same region of the E2F-1 promoter was also E2 responsive in ER alpha-positive ZR-75 cells; however, further analysis of the promoter showed that cooperative ER alpha/Sp1/NFY interactions were not necessary for hormone-induced transactivation in ZR-75 cells. The upstream GC-rich motifs (-169 to -111) are activated independently by ER alpha/Sp1 in ZR-75 but not MCF-7 cells, and a construct (pE2F-1j(m1)) containing the -122 to -54 downstream CCAAT site that bound NFYA was also E2 responsive. E2 also induced reporter gene activity in ZR-75 cells transfected with an expression plasmid for a chimeric protein containing the DNA-binding domain of the yeast GAL4 protein fused to NFYA (pM-NFYA) and a construct containing five tandem GAL4 response elements. Subsequent studies showed that hormonal activation of pE2F-1j(m1) and pM-NFYA are dependent on nongenomic pathways in which E2 activates cAMP/protein kinase A. Hormone-dependent regulation of E2F-1 gene expression in ZR-75 and MCF-7 involves the same cis elements and interacting transcription factors but different mechanisms, demonstrating the importance of cell context on transactivation pathways, even among ER-positive breast cancer cell lines.


In this paper we develop a random coefficients discrete choice model to investigate what affected consumer demand for prepared frozen meals from 1993 to 1998, when government regulation of nutrition labeling changed from voluntary to mandatory. The model links individual consumer characteristics (e.g., income, knowledge about nutrition, nutrition label use) to underlying product characteristics (e.g., price, nutritional attributes) and allows us to obtain preference parameters for each consumer as well as demand elasticities with regard to product characteristics for each product considered. We find that prices, advertising, price reductions, and consumer preferences for taste have a significant effect on the demand for prepared frozen meals whereas concerns and knowledge about nutrition and health do not. Using the estimated demand parameters we then evaluate price competition in the industry and the impact of the new mandatory labeling policy. The results show that collusive pricing behavior by manufacturers is not supported by our data and that the 30% margins in the industry are due to the exercise of unilateral market power and differentiation strategies. The results also show that consumer preferences and purchasing patterns within prepared frozen meals category did not change significantly after the implementation of mandatory nutrition labeling. lEconLit codes: Q130, L110, L150r. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Most elementary numerical schemes found useful for solving classical trajectory problems are {\it canonical transformations}. This fact should be make more widely known among teachers of computational physics and Hamiltonian mechanics. It is very surprising that in order to solve a simple second-order differential equation, one has to invoke the deepest part, the Poissonian formulation, of classical mechanics. From the perspective of advanced mechanics, there are no bewildering number of seemingly arbitrary elementary schemes based on Taylor's expansion. There are only {\it two} canonical second-order algorithms, on the basis of which one can build numerical schemes of any order.


In this study, interconnect layer of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) was built up from spray-dried La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF) and blended LSCF-Ag through atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). Microstructure and phase of each coating was analyzed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. Furthermore, bond strength, micro-hardness, thermal cycle test and oxidation test were performed and compared. The coatings prepared from spray-dried LSCF have higher porosity and cracks at inter-particle boundaries. However, the coatings with silver addition presented reduced cracks and porosity due to relatively high ductility of silver, resulting in higher mechanical properties.


We present how conducting expert design reviews in an undergraduate, capstone design project course can address learning goals related to design, communication, and professionalism. In this course, student teams work on client-based, open-ended projects. At two points in the process, each team participates in a design review that is held outside of class, using external experts with real domain knowledge. External reviewers are critical as they: are able to apply deep domain-specific knowledge and design experience to the project challenges, reinforce the model of the design process that we teach, add credibility due to their status as design professionals, and detect weaknesses in the designs. Having outside experts also changes emphasizes the coaching role of instructors, as they are no longer the main audience that the team must inform and persuade. Prior to the review, students write a design brief that is required to be concise, easy-to-skim, focused on evidence-based decisions, and supported with appropriate visual elements. They also prepare and practice a short presentation aligned with the design brief. During the review, they give the presentation, use interpersonal skills to solicit feedback and guide the conversation, take detailed notes, and sketch concepts to support discussion. Our experience suggests that implementing structured design reviews with well-qualified design professionals can catalyze student achievement in project-based design courses. In addition, when the design review experience includes a series of pre- and post-review design and communication activities, it creates a common thread throughout the course that links the learning goals.


Lead isotope data, from a group of seven zinc–lead deposits in Devonian carbonate strata of northeastern British Columbia, have very radiogenic and variable compositions and form a series of parallel linear arrays on Pb/Pb diagrams. These arrays are entirely separate from the less radiogenic and much less variable lead compositions of the Devonian shale-hosted zinc–lead deposits in the laterally adjacent Paleozoic basinal sequence, which themselves define steeply dipping linear trends. Both of these types of arrays reflect multistage histories during the evolution of Pb compositions. One stage may have been a period of residence of Pb in uranium-rich Paleozoic shale, which caused the development of the radiogenic leads that were emplaced later in the carbonate-hosted zinc–lead deposits.Unlike the Devonian carbonate-hosted deposits the "Silver-rich vein" group of deposits is homogeneous in Pb isotope composition. This contrast in the isotopic homogeneity between deposits may reflect differences in the mech...


Accurate multi-angle spectropolarimetry permits the detailed and unambiguous characterization of a wide range of objects. Science cases and commercial applications include atmospheric aerosol studies, biomedical sensing, and food quality control. We introduce the FlySPEX spectropolarimetric fiber-head that constitutes the essential building block of a novel multi-angle sensing system. A combination of miniaturized standard polarization optics inside every fiber-head encodes the full linear polarization information as a spectral modulation of the light that enters two regular optical fibers. By orienting many FlySPEX fiber-heads in any desired set of directions, a fiber bundle contains the complete instantaneous information on polarization as a function of wavelength and as a function of the set of viewing directions. This information is to be recorded by one or several multi-fiber spectrometers. Not only is this system flexible in the amount of viewing directions and their configuration, it also permits multiplexing different wavelength ranges and spectral resolutions by implementing different spectrometers. We present the design and prototyping for a FlySPEX fiber-head that is optimized for both polarimetric accuracy and commercial series production. We integrate the polarimetric calibration of each FlySPEX fiber-head in the manufacturing process.


ABSTRACT Chen, C.; Chiang, Z.; Liu, Y., and Zeng, X., 2018. Critical success factors in marine safety management in shipping industry. In: Liu, Z.L. and Mi, C. (eds.), Advances in Sustainable Port and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 83, pp. 846–850. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN0749-0208. About three-fourth of global flow of cargo is currently transported through shipping. The boom of international trade, which mainly depends on marine transportation, in past years has shipping industry become the economic focus in coastal countries. Along with the economic development and increasing global trade, the increasing number of ships and large-scale ships, accidents at sea are not eliminated with improving marine technology. It is therefore important for shipping industry, through management, establishing safety management mechanism conforming to regulations and suitable for ships to reduce operational risks and further eliminate accidents caused by personal factors in order to create business performance of enterprises. Shipping industry is the research object in this study. Supervisors and employees of Fujian Shipping Company are sampled for the questionnaire survey. Total 300 copies of questionnaire are distributed, and 256 valid copies are retrieved, with the retrieval rate 85%. The research results are concluded as followings. (1) From the survey, organizational planning was mostly emphasized in safety management in shipping industry. (2) From the overall weights of evaluation indicators, tope five indicators, among 17 evaluation indicators, are competent personnel, censorship, regulation compliance, sound system, and administrative support. Suggestions are proposed according to the results, expecting to analyze the critical factors in the establishment of safety management systems in shipping industry. Proper strategic suggestions are also proposed to solve the problems encountered in safety management systems to enhance the effectiveness of safety management.


A 58-GHz (V-band) CMOS direct injection-locked frequency-divider (DILFD) using input-power-matching technique for locking-range enhancement is reported for the first time. In an input-power-matching technique, an inductive input-matching-network is added to the gate of the NMOS switch to optimize the input-power-matching, i.e. to maximize the internal power, over the frequency band of interest. This DILFD architecture also features a very low input capacitance; therefore, high operating frequency of 58.2 GHz can be achieved. The DILFD dissipated 8.45 mW power from a 1.3 V power supply, and achieved a total locking range of 9.3 GHz (48.9–58.2 GHz; 17.4%), which is 400% higher than that (1.86 GHz (3%)) of a traditional DILFD without the input-matching-network for comparison. The chip area was only 0.585×0.492 mm2 excluding the test pads.


IRS-1 is phosphorylated on tyrosine residues after insulin stimulation and participates in the early events of signal transduction in peripheral insulin-sensitive tissues. This study determined whether neuronal populations in the rat olfactory bulb and hippocampus (brain regions which have very high concentrations of insulin receptors) also express IRS-1 and contain phosphotyrosine, using in situ hybridization, receptor binding, and immunocytochemistry. IRS-1 mRNA was colocalized with insulin receptor mRNA in neuron cell bodies of hippocampus and olfactory bulb. Similarly, IRS-1 immunoreactivity in hippocampus and olfactory bulb was concentrated in layers that contain synapses of these neurons and have both high insulin binding and phosphotyrosine levels. Thus, IRS-1 and insulin receptors are coexpressed in discrete populations of neurons, suggesting a signal transduction mechanism by which insulin may influence metabolism and gene expression in the brain.


This paper describes an application of hybrid multi criteria decision making (MCDM) technique for the selection of the best car. This study focuses on five alternatives and evaluation criteria such as safety, performance, economic aspect, exterior, convenience, dealer, warranty and emissions to select the best car. Two models are proposed to evaluate the best car. The first model, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) is integrated with Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) technique. The second model, FAHP is integrated with hierarchy grey relation analysis (GRA) technique. Here, the FAHP is used to analyse the structure of car selection problem and to determine the weights of the criteria. The hierarchical GRA and PROMETHEE techniques are used to obtain the final ranking of the cars.


The aim of this study was to explore the occurrence of bullying in the restaurant sector and its potential consequences. The sample consisted of 207 superiors and employees in 70 restaurants. The findings indicated that bullying prevails in the restaurant industry, with apprentices as a risk group. Bullying was negatively related to job satisfaction, commitment, employees' perceptions of creative behavior, and external evaluations of restaurant creativity level, and positively related to burnout and intention to leave the job. Some support was found for a mediation hypothesis, where bullying was the predictor, job satisfaction, commitment and burnout were mediators, and intention to leave was dependent variable. One implication of this study is that there is a need to challenge the attitude, common in this sector, that aggression and bullying is a natural and even necessary part of the work environment.


Andrographolide has low bioavailability due to its low water solubility and short half-life (t1/2 ± 2 hours). Andrographolide-chitosan microparticle was expected to improve bioavailability of andrographolide. Andrographolide-chitosan microparticle was prepared by ionic gelation method-freeze drying with different concentration of chitosan using tripolyphosphate (TPP) as the cross linker. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of chitosan concentration on physical characteristics such as organoleptic, yield, morphology, infrared spectrum, DTA thermogram, X-ray diffraction analysis, redispersion test, and entrapment efficiency of Andrographolide-chitosan microparticles. Microparticles formed as white powder, odorless, slightly bitter, and easy to redisperse in aquadest. The formulas had spherical shape and smooth surface. The DTA thermogram and X-ray diffraction analysis indicate that the Andrographolide has been trapped in the microparticle hence the crystalinity reduced. Infrared spectrum indicates that there was ionic bonding between chitosan and TPP. Based on entrapment efficiency of andrographolide in the microparticle showed that increasing amount of chitosan decrease andrographolide entrapment in microparticle.


National cervical screening programmes are considering a move to HPV primary screening. HPV testing requires the cervical sample to be placed in liquid based cytology (LBC) media and the triage cytology test will be carried out using LBC preparations. The resources required for conversion training from conventional smears to LBC should not be underestimated as errors can be made without the use of a structured training plan and monitoring of performance. In the UK, many labs have converted between the two main LBC technologies, Thinprep and Surepath. The same logic apples: all staff including primary screeners and cytopathologists must undergo a structured conversion course with clear and measurable outcomes to ensure the competence of all staff before going "live" with the new technology. It is expected that conversion training will take approximately 39 hrs and a minimum of 95% high grade sensitivity and 70% specificity must be achieved.


Dementia mainly includes Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and vascular dementia (VaD). In addition to cognitive impairment, patients often suffer from behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Melatonin administration has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy with potential benefits for BPSD. This review focuses on the therapeutic effects of melatonin on the core symptoms of dementia and BPSD. Specifically, the impact of melatonin on memory impairment, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, delusions, and hallucinations is reviewed. The melatonin's role in amyloid-β, synuclein aggregation, reactive oxygen species, and dementia subtypes are discussed. We aim to provide an up-to-date review of the emerging application of melatonin; thus, dementia patient care and social welfare can be improved by the appropriate usage of this medication.


Unrelenting poaching to feed the illegal trafficking of rhinoceros (rhino) horn remains the principle threat to the persistence of south-central black and southern white rhino that live in the Kruger National Park (Kruger), South Africa. Other global environmental change drivers, such as unpredictable climatic conditions, impose additional uncertainties on the management and persistence of these species. The drought experienced in Kruger over the 2015/2016 rainy season may have affected rhino population growth and thus added an additional population pressure to the poaching pressure already occurring. Under drought conditions, reduced grass biomass predicts increased natural deaths and a subsequent decrease in birth rate for the grazing white rhino. Such variance in natural death and birth rates for the browsing black rhino are not expected under these conditions. We evaluated these predictions using rhino population survey data from 2013 to 2017. Comparisons of natural deaths and birth rates between pre- (2013/2014 and 2014/15), during- (2015/2016) and post-drought (2016/2017) periods in Kruger showed increased natural mortality and decreased births for white rhino, but no significant changes for black rhino, supporting our predictions. As a result, despite reduced poaching rates, the total mortality rate of white rhino remains significantly higher than the birth rate. Decreased poaching, decreased natural deaths and no apparent drought effects in black rhino resulted in a lower total mortality rate than the estimated birth rate in 2017. Active biological management and traditional anti-poaching initiatives together therefore represent the most likely way to buffer the impacts of decreased population growth through climate change and wildlife crime on the persistence of rhinos.


Low-viscosity novel bismaleimide was mixed with surface-modified Si 3N4 nanoparticles to form nanocomposites using high shear and ultrasonic process. Impact strength, flexural strength, and storage modulus of the nanocomposites with various contents of Si3N4 nanoparticles were investigated. The mechanical properties were optimal with 3.0% mass fraction of surface-modified Si3N4 nanoparticles. In comparison to the neat bismaleimide resin the impact and flexural strengths of the nanocomposites increased by 52.3% and 20.9%, respectively, and the storage modulus showed a 54% increase at room temperature while the glass-transition temperature of nanocomposites was slightly decreased with the addition of Si3N4 nanoparticles. Surface-modified Si3N 4 nanoparticles as fillers reinforced the toughness of the bismaleimide resin, which was confirmed by scanning electronic microscope.


A design technique for totally self-checking (TSC) error correcting/detection (C/D) circuits of single error correcting, double error detection (SEC/DED) codes is described. The structure of these circuits achieves concurrent fault detection and location under normal input conditions. A separate internal fault indication is provided. This improves the reliability, maintainability, and availability of the entire fault-tolerant system because faults are repaired before the appearance of input errors. The error C/D circuits are composed of TSC error detectors, error locators, and error correctors. These circuits are two-rail TSC checkers and are designed using an algebraic approach. >


To the Editor. —I enjoyed reading the recent article by Prego et al. 1 Their work further justifies the use of early tissue biopsy in the evaluation of unexplained fever among patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Mycobacteria were identified as the predominant pathogens in this New York—based study. 1 However, these results do not take into account the geographic location of the study center. In the southeastern United States, histoplasmosis is an extremely common illness among patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 2 Unexplained fever and the presence of granulomas in tissue sections often lead to the diagnosis of disseminated histoplasmosis rather than mycobacterial infection; a trial of antifungal therapy is often justified in such cases. As Prego and coworkers conclude, tissue biopsy and culture are valuable diagnostic tools. We should not forget, however, that the relative incidence of an opportunistic pathogen may vary strikingly with geographic location.


A pot culture experiment was conducted at the Experimental Farm located in Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar campus during kharif season 2018. This study was carriied out in Completely Randomized Design with three replications comprised of nine treatment combinations of sewage sludge (SS), aquatic weed compost (AWC) and inorganic fertilizers. However, in this study, it was initiate that the conjoint use of sewage sludge with chemical fertilizer (T5) recorded maximum build-up of soil macro nutrients (NPK), plant growth and quality parameters. However, the micro-nutrient concentrations in soil exposed to sewage sludge and aquatic weed compost were significantly higher than those in the untreated plots, with highest concentration found in sole application of sewage sludge (T3). All the micro nutrients studied were within the acceptable limits and did not overcome the maximum levels of phytotoxic. This experiment concludes that the application of sewage sludge and aquatic weed compost did not have any adverse impact on fruit quality and it was suggsetted to for the improvement of plant growth and soil fertilit