A severe mucilage problem appeared as a major environmental disaster in the Marmara Sea, Turkey, during March-May 2021 period, imposing significant implications for the fishing industry, marine life and tourism. The mucilage layers covered areas of hundreds of kilometers of coastline along the Marmara Sea. This study aimed to provide an insight into the mucilage outbreak observed in the Marmara Sea during March-May 2021 period by establishing some links between meteorological factors including SST anomalies and changes in wind speed and mucilage occurrence and puts some emphasis on the importance of monitoring variability of such parameters to assess mucilage outbreaks. For this purpose, mean and maximum SSTs and wind speed variability at several locations along the shores of Marmara and Black Seas are analyzed for the April-June period, when the mucilage problem peaked. Both surface and satellite data are used to identify the spatial and temporal extent of the SST anomalies. Furthermore, the relationship between turbidity in the Marmara Sea and the SSTs is sought as a contributing factor to mucilage formation and enhancement. The findings indicate that most of the stations are characterized by warming trends and positive SST anomalies, with a few stations indicating periodic warming and cooling. Moreover, the NOAA NCEP Optimum Interpolation SST (OISST) data supported the warming event especially in central and eastern parts of the Marmara Sea. The wind observations at different locations along the shores of Marmara and Black Seas indicate decreasing trends in the mean wind speed. The view taken in this paper is that both the increased SSTs and reduced wind speed generate a favorable environment both for the formation and enhancement of the mucilage episode over the Marmara Sea during the March-June 2021 period. Therefore, analysis of such meteorological parameters can provide a better understanding of mucilage aggregation in addition to other causative factors involved. The study also concluded that the modest turbidity conditions caused increase in the SSTs to some extent in addition to the climate change-related warming.


Frequent and intense defoliation of grasses has been associated with the evolution of "grazing morphotypes" that exhibit a variety of vegetative traits correlated with improved grazing resistance. While recovery from a seed bank is not considered an important grazing resistance mechanism, relatively little is actu ally known regarding seed (caryopsis) production in grazing morphotypes of caespitose grasses. The goal of this research was to compare components of seed production in 2 populations of sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula var. caespitosa Gould & Kapadia) from nearby sites with different histories of livestock grazing. This was done using vegetative propagules of genotypes from both populations in a greenhouse study. The study was con ducted in 2 flowering seasons under conditions considered favor able for seed production. The population exposed to livestock grazing showed a genetically based decrease in seed production relative to the ungrazed population. Lower seed production per plant in the grazed population was at least partially due to reduced numbers of tillers and panicles per plant and spikes per panicle that may be associated with selection for grazing tolerance. The grazed population also exhibited lower average seed production per spike indicating lower inherent floral fertility. Seed production was not closely correlated with vegetative traits associated with increased grazing tolerance, nor was there evidence of obvious physiological trade-offs related to decreased seed production in the grazed population. Lower seed production potential in populations of sideoats grama intensively grazed by livestock may lead to reduced potential for seedling colonization.


Nasal Chondromesenchymal Hamartoma (NCMH) is a rare tumour of the sinonasal tract with a benign clinical behaviour. Locally destructive symptoms may occur. Due to the extreme rarity of this entity, only a few case reports are present in literature and most of them describe paediatric patients, usually under 12 years. Occasionally it may occur in adults. Symptoms are usually due to nasal localization, as nasal obstruction or mass effect or local compression caused by the lesion itself, as visual disturbances or facial pain. Cases described in the adult population are exceedingly rare. We describe the eldest case reported in literature of NCHM with peculiar features: geriatric patient, septal localization and asymptomatic clinic despite its voluminous size. The treatment of choice should be radical surgical resection however the best management strategy should be defined after multidisciplinary assessment of frailty in elderly patients.


Colistin is regarded as an antibiotic of last resort against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. Colistin resistance is acquired by microorganisms via chromosome-mediated mutations or plasmid-mediated mobile colistin resistance (mcr) gene, in which the transfer of mcr is the predominant factor underlying the spread of colistin resistance. However, the factors that are responsible for the spread of the mcr gene are still unclear. In this study, we observed that mcr-1 inhibited the transfer of the pHNSHP45 backbone in liquid mating. Similar inhibitory effect of mcr-1.6 and chromosomal mutant ΔmgrB suggested that colistin resistance, acquired from either plasmid or chromosomal mutation, hindered the transfer of colistin resistance-related plasmid in vitro. Dual plasmid system further proved that co-existing plasmid transfer was reduced too. However, this inhibitory effect was reversed in vivo. Some factors in the gut, including bile salt and anaerobic conditions, could increase the transfer frequency of the mcr-1-containing plasmid. Our results demonstrated the potential risk for the spread of colistin resistance in the intestine, provide a scientific basis against the transmission of colistin resistance threat.


Proportional-derivative (PD) is a popular algorithm in the field of building structure vibration control, but there are infrequent broadcasted theory results of PD controller in connection to structural vibration control applications. In order to maintain minimum regulation error, a PD control requires sufficiently high proportional and derivative gains. The effect of these diminishes the transient performances of the vibration control. In this paper, a straight forward combination of PD control with fuzzy compensation is laid down. We state comprehensive sufficient conditions for choosing the PD gains. The stability theories are verified through numerical simulations and a two-story building prototype. The extracted results validates our theory analysis.


The 2002 IOC Contaminant Baseline Survey in the western Pacific Ocean was the fourth in a series of cruises intended to establish the contemporary concentrations of trace elements and other materials in the major water masses of the ocean and to illuminate the pathways by which materials delivered to the surface ocean are incorporated in the subsurface waters. The expedition occupied 9 vertical profile stations encompassing the subtropical and subarctic gyre of the western North Pacific. In addition, underway surface water samples were collected during transits between the stations. This paper uses the temperature, salinity, nutrient, oxygen, and chlorophyll data to set the hydrographic and biological background for the other papers in this theme.


This study represents a modern approach to design and calculation of ring springs which are used as spring elements of the wagon buffers. During exploitation these springs are exposed to an effect of the longitudinal forces of great intensity, there are intensive friction, wear as well as great surface pressure on the adjacent tapered ring surfaces. All these specifications should be taken into consideration during design and calculation and beside that, ring spring has to satisfy recommendations of UIC connected with: capacity, space capacity, final force, working capacity, etc. A modern approach to design includes mathematical (theoretical) model combined with simulation model in order to get main indices connected with the quality of future work. The results of these analyses are confirmed by experiments, too. The experiments are done on the ring spring for "B category" buffer (capacity 50 kJ).


An outbreak of dermatological disease in piglets from backyard piggery in Makurdi Benue State, Nigeria was investigated and detected to be "Greasy pig disease" which was also confirmed by bacteriological identification of the etiology as Staphylococcus hyicus. The disease is characterized by exudative inflammation of the epidermis in pigs. The natural infection and characteristic lesions were observed in the piglets which include; abscess that varied from small nodular type to deep intramuscular containing pus, ulcerative-crusted skin lesion on the cheek region, emaciation and general weakness. From the 16 piglets in the farm, 10 piglets were found to present signs typical to the disease, and the bacterium was identified from 7 piglets out of the 10 clinical cases. The causative agent S. hyicuswas was identified by bacterial culture. Based on antibiotic disc sensitivity test, the organism was sensitive to rifampin, levafloxacin, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin and was resistant to amoxycillin, erythromycin, chloramphenicol and ampicillin.

 Key words: Management, exudative, epidermitis, piglets and Staphylococcus hyicus.


The need for efficient and reliable tools for programming of CNC coordinate measuring machine is rapidly increasing in modern production. The proposed concept based on genetic algorithms assures generation and optimization of NC programs for measuring machine. Therefore, the structure, undergoing simulated evolution, is the population of NC programs. The NC programs control the tactile probe which performs simple elementary motions in the discretized measuring area. During the simulated evolution the probe movement becomes more and more optimized. The intelligent solutions emerge gradually as a result of the low level interaction between the simple probe movements and the measuring environment. Different examples of CNC programming of measuring machine are given. Results show universality and inventiveness of the approach.


Physical Education is the area where the pupil develops their motor conduct by meeting four levels, which should be worked on the same way with the objective to obtain a pedagogical success within them. This pedagogical success will be acquired in the moment in which the motor, cognitive, social and affective levels are worked on in a complementary way. Emotions claim special importance in this area by the fast experience of them in any motor situation, especially in traditional sport game where anything changes any aspect of the internal logic, it can cause the experimentation of one type of emotion or another. The aim of this study was to analyze the emotional intensity of positive and negative emotions experienced by pupils of Primary Education in three different social motor games. Moreover, the emotional intensity was analysed in terms of each of the roles experienced in a socio-motor game. The study was made of 47 pupils of year three of Primary School in a school centre where they filled two instruments (GES-C and emotional experience in the roles) which reflected greater expressions of positive emotions against negative ones.


Sex differences in the structures of human hypothalamus and adjacent brain structures have been observed that seem to be related to gender, to gender problems such as transsexuality, and to sexual orientation, that is, heterosexuality and homosexuality. Although these observations have yet to be confirmed, and their exact functional implications are far from clear, they open up a whole new field of structural-functional relationships in human brain research. Biomedical Reviews 1997; 7: 17-32.


A unified formal treatment of the two-state potential-curve-crossing problem in atomic collision theory is presented, and the case of close crossings analyzed in detail. A complete solution for this case, including necessary computations, is given using a suitable generalization of the linear model originally suggested by Landau, Zener, and Stueckelberg. Our solution is based upon a hierarchy of approximations concerned with (i) choice of a discrete basis set for electronic coordinates, (ii) semiclassical treatment of the nuclear motion, (iii) an appropriate model for the two-state electronic Hamiltonian, and (iv) a complete solution to that model.


The purpose of the research is to analyze pedagogical problems stemming from the emergence of a new "digital" generation in Russian educational organizations of various levels (secondary schools, universities), and search for possible solutions to these problems primarily aimed at reducing the negative impact of digital devices in students' activities.Materials and research methods are based on a number of foreign publications in the field of pedagogy, psychology, neurophysiology, conducted in the USA, Great Britain, Singapore and other countries since the 2000s, as well as studies of the "digital" generation of Russia in the mid-2010s. This research applied a specially developed technique that enabled conducting a relative assessment of the impact of digital devices on the activities of various students' groups of an educational system (secondary schools - university) in one of the major Russian regions.Results of the study conducted in 2018 in one university and several schools of various types in a region of the Russian Federation reveals that the ninth grade lyceum students show a noticeably lower degree of the effect of digital devices on their daily activities compared to the first-year students of the same university. A similar indicator of a ninth-grade students' group of a comprehensive secondary school, on the contrary, is significantly higher when compared to that of the first-year university students. The author substantiates two main reasons that lead to this result: 1) a more optimal workload of learning and cognitive activity of lyceum students, which, as a result, significantly reduces their free time, that could be spent on entertainment/ communication; 2) better control from the parents of lyceum students.Conclusion. The article describes two pedagogical models that allow, according to the author, to reduce the negative impact of digital devices on the younger generation. The first model (demonstrated at the Singapore Institute of Education), aimed at encouraging students to use gadgets for educational purposes, suggests a number of pedagogical conditions, both artificial (organizational and technological) and natural (age restrictions). The second model, on the one hand, does not impose strict age restrictions, but, at the same time, requires an educational organization to implement the training system that would effectively motivate students to learning and cognitive activity (with or without gadgets) on school days.


Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is a highly contagious disease of young chickens, which occurs world-wide, and is responsible for severe losses in poultry industries. In birds surviving an acute infection, lymphoid cells in the bursa of Fabricius are destroyed, resulting in B-cell-dependent immunodeficiency. This causes increased susceptibility to diseases by otherwise harmless agents. The decisive role in the pathogenesis of IBD is played by the bursa, representing the target organ of the aetiological agent, infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). By adaptation of IBDV to chicken embryo cells, we obtained several variants of a pathogenic wild type strain. These variants had altered abilities for replication in actively dividing B lymphocytes and, consequently, had altered pathogenic properties. An IBDV isolate from turkeys, non-pathogenic for chickens, was used to create reassortant virus strains. The virological and the biological characterization of these IBDV variants is reported.


A patient presented with a large pleomorphic adenoma of roof of mouth measuring 6.5 cm in diameter and weighing 90 grams. Surgical exeresis was by simple enucleation with immediate covering of the roof of mouth by an extemporaneous palatine plate fixed with transcortical screws, this allowing rapid institution of normal feeding and reduction of postoperative management.


Complex segregation analysis was applied to a sample of 107 Italian families with probands with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), using regressive logistic models to test for possible models of genetic transmission. We used two different phenotypic definitions of affection: 1) OCD; and 2) OCD plus Tourette's syndrome/chronic motor tics (CMT). Because of the potential relationship between OCD, Tourette's syndrome (TS), and other tic disorders, we considered these diagnoses to be determined by the same liability in subsequent steps of the analysis. For the 107 OCD families, the best fit was a dominant model of transmission (with a higher penetrance for females). When the phenotype boundaries were widened (OCD + CMT + TS), an unrestricted model of transmission became the best fit. We concluded that additional data are needed to support the hypothesis that Tourette's syndrome and OCD share a common etiology: on the basis of clinical and epidemiological considerations, the OCD phenotype probably presents a higher level of heterogeneity than the TS phenotype, and it could be regulated through different etiologic pathways.


Abstract On the margins of Israeli society, in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, there is a lively and fierce debate over the status of Modern Hebrew. At the beginning of the resistance, the reservations and opposition concerning Hebrew formed part of the reaction to the innovative activities of secular Zionists. Despite the fact that it was taken as a continuation of the beloved "Holy Tongue" of the Bible, the Ultra-Orthodox viewed it as a modernist innovation. This paradoxical situation produced an extensive literature rejecting Modern Hebrew on ideological and educational grounds. Later, during the second stage of the resistance, opposition to Hebrew also acquired a pseudo-halakhic tone. This article describes the various opinions of members of the Ultra-Orthodox community regarding Modern Hebrew, the different stages of their resistance to it, and the reasons given for this resistance. The changes that occurred in the attitude of Ultra-Orthodox society toward Hebrew are not only of interest in their own right but also provide an interesting case study on the emergence of a binding norm that quickly became phrased in halakhic terminology.


Background: Sodium valproate (VPA), an anticonvalsant drug, has been reported to stimulate viral replication.  A combination therapy with VPA and acyclovir (ACV) is used for the treatment of herpesvirus encephalitis, the commonest sporadic encephalitis of viral origin. Objective: To determine a possible interaction between VPA and ACV leading to a modification of antiviral activity of ACV. Methods: Cultured Hela cells were treated with 5 m M of ACV and various concentrations of VPA followed by infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1).  Virus replication was monitored by quantal assay.  Further investigations comprised electron microscopy, immunoperoxidase and immunoblot procedures.  Possible chemical interaction between VPA and ACV was studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. Results: Combined treatment of infected cells with ACV and VPA revealed 50- to 250-fold potentiation of antiviral activity of ACV by increasing VPA concentrations.  Examination by NMR spectrometer showed a strong chemical interaction between amino groups of ACV and carboxyl part of VPA. Conclusion: The present in vitro studies should be paralleled by appropriate in vivo investigations, and if substantiated, a combination therapy with ACV and VPA may supersede single ACV therapy for herpesvirus encephalitis.  Further studies are thus needed to establish which of VPA metabolites or newly-formed compounds is accountable for augmentation of antiviral effect of ACV.


Due to their on-body and ubiquitous nature, wearables can generate a wide range of unique sensor data creating countless opportunities for deep learning tasks. We propose DeepWear, a deep learning (DL) framework for wearable devices to improve the performance and reduce the energy footprint. DeepWear strategically offloads DL tasks from a wearable device to its paired handheld device through local network connectivity such as Bluetooth. Compared to the remote-cloud-based offloading, DeepWear requires no Internet connectivity, consumes less energy, and is robust to privacy breach. DeepWear provides various novel techniques such as context-aware offloading, strategic model partition, and pipelining support to efficiently utilize the processing capacity from nearby paired handhelds. Deployed as a user-space library, DeepWear offers developer-friendly APIs that are as simple as those in traditional DL libraries such as TensorFlow. We have implemented DeepWear on the Android OS and evaluated it on COTS smartphones and smartwatches with real DL models. DeepWear brings up to 5.08X and 23.0X execution speedup, as well as 53.5 and 85.5 percent energy saving compared to wearable-only and handheld-only strategies, respectively.


Objectives: a) To assess the efficiency of preoperative stabilization with the use of high‐frequency oscillatory ventilation in the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia; b) to determine early prognosis factors. Design: Prospective, consecutive patient study. Setting: A tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in a university hospital. Patients: All patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit with a diagnosis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia between April 1990 and June 1993 (n = 18). Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Eleven infants had an antenatal diagnosis. Ventilatory settings, blood gas values, arterial‐alveolar oxygen ratio, and oxygenation index were recorded on admission and every 3 hrs thereafter until surgery. Surgery was performed if the Fio2 was <0.3 and mean airway pressure was ∽9 cm H2O, while the infants were ventilated with high‐frequency oscillation. Mean duration of high‐frequency oscillatory ventilation was 57 ± 52 hrs before surgery and 60 ± 104 hrs after surgery. Overall survival rate was 72%. Infants were divided into two groups, according to the time of surgery. Group 1 (n = 12) patients were operated on in the first 48 hrs of life; on admission, all group 1 patients had an arterial‐alveolar oxygen ratio of ≥0.3 and an oxygenation index of ≤10, and all recovered. Group 2 (n = 6) consisted of patients for whom preoperative stabilization was difficult to achieve. One infant died before surgery. Four other infants had congenital malformations and subsequently died. Only one infant survived. In this group, the arterial‐alveolar oxygen ratio and oxygenation index on admission were 0.08 ± 0.05 and 33.2 ± 14.6, respectively (p < .01 vs. group 1). Conclusions: a) This study demonstrated the efficiency of preoperative stabilization using high‐frequency oscillation in the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia. b) An arterial‐alveolar oxygen ratio of ≥0.3 and an oxygenation index of ≤10 on admission are associated with a rapidly completed surgical procedure and a good outcome. (Crit Care Med 1994; 22:S77‐S82)


The endophytic bacterial diversity of rose was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rDNA and functional prediction of the bacterial community. The number of bacterial sequence reads obtained from 18 rose samples ranged from 63,951 to 114,833, and reads were allocated to 1982 OTUs based on sequences of the V3-V4 region. The highest Shannon Index was found in Luogang rose (1.93), while the lowest was found in Grasse rose (0.35). The bacterial sequence reads were grouped into three different phyla: Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. At the genus level, Bacillus and Staphylococcus had the highest abundance across all 18 samples; Bacillus was particularly abundant in Daguo rose (99.09%), Rosa damascena (99.65%), and Fenghua rose (99.58%). Unclassified OTUs were also found in all samples. PICRUSt gene prediction revealed that each endophyte sample contained multiple KEGG functional modules related to human metabolism and health. A high abundance of functional genes were involved in (1) Amino Acid Metabolism, (2) Carbohydrate Metabolism, (3) Cellular Processes and Signaling, (4) Energy Metabolism, and (5) Membrane Transport, indicating that the endophytic community comprised a wide variety of microorganisms and genes that could be used for further studies. The rose endophytic bacterial community is rich in diversity; community composition varies among roses and contains functional information related to human health.


The importance of renewable energy has been increasingly recognized. This paper discusses the significance of offering a renewable energy course in the undergraduate freshman level. It is proposed to adopt the inquiry-based concept in the offered course, where students seek knowledge, rather than been delivered to them. Surveys are provided to three groups of students; one group of graduate students who completed a course on renewable energy and two groups were of undergraduate students, one who have taken a course on renewable energy and the other did not. The objective of the survey is to assess the participants' opinion on the importance of having a course on renewable energy in the undergraduate engineering curriculum. The different questions in the survey were modeled to challenge the attitude towards renewable energy sources and the knowledge of renewable energy system and sustainable development. This is important to identify and reveal the attitude toward acceptance of renewable energy system. The results of the survey clearly show that most participants believe that renewable energy course and/or related activities should be included. It is also found that most participants thought that solar energy is the most suitable for UAE and will be a major source of income by 2020.


We herein report the functionalization of plant oil with norbornene (NB) and subsequent polymerization to prepare biobased thermoset films and biobased binders for silicon/mesocarbon microbead (MCMB) composite electrodes for use in lithium-ion batteries. A series of NB-functionalized plant oils were prepared as biobased thermoset films via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) in the presence of a second-generation Grubbs catalyst with tunable thermomechanical properties. Increasing the catalyst loading and cross-linking agent increased cross-link density, storage modulus (E′), and glass transition temperature (Tg), while the numbers of unreacted or oligomeric components in the films were reduced. High number of NB rings per triglyceride in the plant oil encouraged monomer incorporation to form a polymer network, therefore accounting for the high Tg and E′ values. Furthermore, the NB-functionalized plant oil and 2,5-norbornadiene (NBD) were copolymerized as bioderived binders for silicone/MCMB composite electrodes of lithium-ion batteries via ROMP during electrode preparation. Cell performance investigation showed that the silicone/MCMB composite electrode bearing the NBD-cross-linked NB-functionalized plant oil binder exhibited a higher C-rate and cycle-life performance than that using a conventional poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) binder. Finally, the electrode based on the bioderived binder exhibited a high specific charge capacity of 620 mA h g–1 at 0.5 C.


This perspective paper explores the rising impacts of the COVID-19 and the Russia–Ukraine war from different perspectives, with an emphasis on the role of climate financing in achieving equitable and just transition mechanisms and that of peace in expediting this pursuit and sustaining this drive. It is motivated by the realization that there is an urgent need for accelerating the decarbonisation agenda, as highlighted in pre-COP26 debates and in the resulting Glasgow Climate Pact, through the mitigation measures that can be unpacked at both cost and scale. This is further reiterated in the third instalment of Assessment Report 6 (AR6) the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, dwelling on Mitigation of Climate Change, underlining the required policy shifts and technology developmental needs. Green technology, however, comes at a green premium, being more expensive to implement in geographies that cannot absorb its cost in the immediate short term. This engenders an inequitable and unjust landscape, as those that require green technology are unable to have access to it but are most often on the frontlines of the impacts of climate change. While it is urgent to review this issue and to encourage more cooperation for technology development and transfer, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war are posing mounting challenges for achieving these objectives. These two crises are causing an unprecedented rise in commodities and labour pricing, with further knock-on impacts on global supply chains for technology. This is in turn rendering green technology unattainable for developing and less developed countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).


In this paper, we study problem of efficient service relocation (i.e., changing assigned data center for a selected client node) in elastic optical networks (EON) in order to increase network performance (measured by the volume of accepted traffic). To this end, we first propose novel traffic model for cloud ready transport networks. The model takes into account four flow types (i.e., city-to-city, city-to-data center, data center-to-data center and data center-to-data center) while the flow characteristics are based on real economical and geographical parameters of the cities related to network nodes. Then, we propose dedicated flow allocation algorithm that can be supported by the service relocation process. We also introduce 21 different relocation policies, which use three types of data for decision making – network topological characteristics, rejection history and traffic prediction. Eventually, we perform extensive numerical experiments in order to: (i) tune proposed optimization approaches and (ii) evaluate and compare their efficiency and select the best one. The results of the investigation prove high efficiency of the proposed policies. The propoerly designed relocation policy allowed to allocate up to 3% more traffic (compared to the allocation without that policy). The results also reveal that the most efficient relocation policy bases its decisions on two types of data simultaneously – the rejection history and traffic prediction.


Owing to the complication in organisation, the dangerous job nature and the rise of demonstrations and protests across the world in the past decade, police work-related stress has become a topic of global concern. This review aimed to provide an understanding of predictors, mediators and moderators of police work-related stress from a multi-level perspective. Using a scoping review approach underpinned by the six-stage methodological framework, studies were found from six electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, Scopus, PsycINFO and PsychiatryOnline) and grey literature sources. Thirty studies were yielded across 35,446 participants from 12 locations. This review contributes to a systematic understanding of the factors affecting police work-related stress by identifying six predictors, four mediators and three moderators. It then discusses limitations and future research.


This paper examines the effectiveness of capital account policy in terms of its ability to affect the volume and composition of capital flows, relieve pressures on real exchange rates, and foster monetary policy independence. Ten emerging Asian economies are used as case studies to assess the effectiveness of capital account policy during 2000–2015. The results suggest that some types of capital controls are effective in reducing the volume of capital flows and pressure on real exchange rates. The choice of exchange rate regime matters in terms of the effectiveness of capital controls for fostering monetary policy independence. Although some types of capital controls are effective in creating macroeconomic stability, implementing capital account policy needs to be undertaken with caution. This is because substitution or complementarity among capital controls is evident, both within and across countries in the region. It seems that strong economic fundamentals are more important than capital account policy for changing the composition of capital inflows toward more stable and long-term flows.


This study was aimed at characterizing four Tunisian pistachio cultivations ( Pistacia vera ) from the Mateur (North), Nabeul (North-East), Kairouan (Middle) and Sfax (Middle- East) regions and two varieties, Mateur and Ohadi, considering fatty acid composition and main lipid class contents (polar lipids, diacylglycerols, triacylglycerols and free fatty acids) in ripe seeds. Lipid classes were separated using thin layer chromatography, and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were analyzed by gas chromatography. Oleic acid (C18:1 Δ 9 ) was the major fatty acid for all samples; those of the Mateur region (the northern region) differed significantly with the lowest content in C18:1 (54.2 % of total fatty acids) and the highest in C18:2 (24.1 %). The total amount of fatty acids (TFA) in the seeds of Ohadi variety was significantly lower than that of the Mateur variety from the Sfax region. Triacylglycerols were most abundant in pistachio seeds from Nabeul (98.5% of total glycerolipids).


Regulations imposed on the use of chemical insecticides call for the development of environmental-friendly pest management strategies. One of the most effective strategies is the push–pull system, which takes advantage of the behavioral response of the insect to the integration of repellent stimuli; it expels the pest out of the main crop (push), while attracting stimuli (attractants) pull the pest to an alternative crop or trap (pull). The objective of this study was to design a push–pull system to control Spodoptera frugiperda in maize crops (Zea mays) in Morelos, Mexico. Data on reproductive potential, larvae development, food consumption and olfactometry were used to obtain a Trap Plant Selection Index (TRAPS) based on Principal Component Analysis. This TRAPS was used to select the most suitable plants. The degree of repellency of potential plants to be used as the trap crop was studied with four-way olfactometers. S. frugiperda females oviposited more eggs on Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II, Panicum maximum cv. Mombasa and Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania than on Z. mays, regardless of the fact that these plants delayed the development of their offspring. Dysphania ambrosioides, Tagetes erecta and Crotalaria juncea were less attractive to S. frugiperda females. Therefore, the former plants could be used as crop traps, and the latter as intercropped repellent plants in a push–pull system.


We present an experimental and theoretical characterization of the sym- metric four-qubit entangled Dicke state with two excitations D (2) . We investigate the state's violation of local realism and study its characteristic properties with re- spect to quantum information applications. For the experimental observation of the state we used photons obtained from parametric down conversion. This allowed, in a simple experimental set-up, quantum state tomography yielding a fidelity as high as 0.844 ± 0.008.


Experiences gained in 5 patients subjected to endobronchial intubation with a double-lumen tube on account of several causes are reported. The mean length of application was 45.3 (6.5-67.5 h), and depending on the underlying diagnosis, several techniques of controlled ventilation or spontaneous breathing were used. In all cases arterial blood pressure and central venous pressure were continuously monitored throughout the duration of the treatment, and in some cases the airway pressures were measured. Frequent blood gas analyses were carried out and x-rays of the chest regularly taken. In one case the haemodynamic patterns were studied via a Swan-Ganz catheter. In all cases an improvement of the predominantly unilateral pathology of the lungs was observed under independent ventilation or spontaneous breathing, as assessed by blood gas analysis and of x-ray examination. Irrespective of synchronization, the simultaneous application of 2 ventilators for the controlled ventilation of the patient had clinically no relevant effects on haemodynamics. In cases of unilateral pulmonary complications we therefore see at present the following indications for using a double lumen endobronchial tube: 1. Therapy resistant resorption atelectasis, 2. interstitial or intraalveolar pulmonary edema, 3. therapy resistant pulmonary fistula, 4. pulmonary infiltrations and 5. pulmonary contusions with endobronchial bleeding. We believe that double lumen endobronchial plastic tubes with hi-lo cuffs are, when properly applied, an advance in long term intubation and mechanical ventilation managements.


This paper tests whether the correlation between wages and the spatial concentration of employment can be explained by unobserved worker productivity differences. Residential location is used as a proxy for a worker's unobserved productivity, and average workplace commute time is used to test whether location based productivity differences are compensated away by longer commutes. Analyses using confidential data from the 2000 Decennial Census Long Form find that the agglomeration estimates are robust to comparisons within residential location and that the estimates do not persist after controlling for commutes suggesting that the productivity differences across locations are due to agglomeration, rather than productivity differences across individuals.


Our recent advancements in RNA nanotechnology introduced novel nanoscaffolds (nanorings); however, the potential of their use for biomedical applications was never fully revealed. As presented here, besides functionalization with multiple different short interfering RNAs for combinatorial RNA interference (e.g., against multiple HIV-1 genes), nanorings also allow simultaneous embedment of assorted RNA aptamers, fluorescent dyes, proteins, as well as recently developed RNA–DNA hybrids aimed to conditionally activate multiple split functionalities inside cells.


The work presents ab initio results on structure and electronic properties of Br2*-.nH2O(n=1-10) and Br2.nH2O(n=1-8) hydrated clusters to study the effects of an excess electron on the microhydration of the halide dimer. A nonlocal density functional, namely, Becke's half-and-half hybrid exchange-correlation functional is found to perform well on the present systems with a split valence 6-31++G(d,p) basis function. Geometry optimizations for all the clusters are carried out with several initial guess structures and without imposing any symmetry restriction. Br2*-.nH2O clusters prefer to have symmetrical double hydrogen-bonding structures. Results on Br2.nH2O(n>or=2) cluster show that the O atom of one H2O is oriented towards one Br atom and the H atom of another H2O is directed to other Br atom making Br2 to exist as Br+-Br- entity in the cluster. The binding and solvation energies are calculated for the Br2*-.nH2O and Br2.nH2O clusters. Calculations of the vibrational frequencies show that the formation of Br2*- and Br2 water clusters induces significant shifts from the normal modes of isolated water. Excited-state calculations are carried out on Br2*-.nH2O clusters following configuration interaction with single electron excitation procedure and UV-VIS absorption profiles are simulated. There is an excellent agreement between the present theoretical UV-VIS spectra of Br2*-.10H2O cluster and the reported transient optical spectra for Br2*- in aqueous solution.


There is considerable evidence that early life exposures influence later blood pressure1 and the disease end point most strongly associated with blood pressure—haemorrhagic stroke—is also related to indicators of early life adversity.2 In particular, the number of siblings that a person had was positively associated with haemorrhagic stroke risk.2 A small case-control study found that an infant or perinatal death in one or more siblings was associated with increased risk of stroke.3 Both haemorrhagic stroke4 and blood pressure5 declined across the 20th century in developed countries, and both show cohort effects, such that each subsequent birth cohort has lower haemorrhagic stroke risk and lower levels of blood pressure than previous birth cohorts.5 Across countries infant mortality rates 70 years ago correlate strongly with current stroke mortality.6 One early life factor that would be related to all these indicators of early life exposure is infant diarrhoea. We postulate that severe dehydrating diarrhoea in infancy is associated with higher subsequent blood pressure.

The …


Background: According to CDC, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by a new coronavirus which was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Although most people who have COVID-19 have mild symptoms, it can also cause severe illness and even death. Some groups, including older adults and people who have certain underlying medical conditions, are at increased risk of severe illness. On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced an official name for the disease that is causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak. The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19. Objectives: Analysis of COVID 19 data in the Davanagere district from April 2020 to August 2020. Methods: In this current study the secondary data is obtained from the Official Website of Government of Karnataka, Covid-19 Informational Portal – Media Bulletin. By using different indicators Davanagere district COVID data is further used to calculate Attack rate, Case fatality rate and complete case fatality rate. Results: In this study it is found that, in the month of April there were no COVID positive cases reported till fourth week of month, by fourth week, total two positive cases were reported the first case being encountered on 28th April 2020, with discharge of those patient in the end of the month. The attack rate has steeped up from 8.018 to 355.74 per one lakh population i.e. about 44 times more than initial months of pandemic. The strict preventive measures were followed by public and government too. So the prevalence rate is less in May, June and went on increasing once the unlocking is done. In summer the total positive cases steeping up from 2 cases to 154 total positive cases for the month April to May, and there is steady in rise of total positive cases for the month June with total positive cases of 153. In the beginning of summer there were fewer cases as pandemic was just begun and chances of transmission were very less. As monsoon appeared in June last week there is surge in total positive cases. With added burden of Unlock 1.0 phase, as public started moving out from home without any freak of infection. Conclusion: In this study it is found that due to strict nationwide lockdown and social distancing, hygiene practices among the Davanagere people has made it possible to restrict the spread of covid among the people, although the international immigration of Davanagere residents lead to transmission of infection. Further removal of lockdown after three months has lead to three fold spread of disease. Also there is rise in death rate, attack rate and case fatality in Davanagere district


One of the most prominent industries is bending, while using rotary draw bending method is known to be the most conventional approach for thin wall tube bending. Pressure die is one effective tool which boosts the tube during the process and eventually improves the bending quality. Other effective parameters are mandrel and the amount of clearance between tube and mandrel. In the present study, the process was modeled by finite element method and comparing practical results, the precision of the model was validated. Following this, using the validated model, the effects of pressure die movement and the mandrel and its clearance were investigated. Specifically, the force vicissitudes and bending quality respect to mandrel clearance and pressure die movement were evaluated. It was shown that reducing the clearance between mandrel and tube, results in force increase while the bending quality was improved. Also it was indicated that the pressure die movement has less effects on process forces and flattening of the tube.


Over the last 20 years, studies of material culture have increasingly come to rely on the assumption that cultural and material forms are co-constitutive. Indeed, it is thought that the co-constitutive nature of culture and materiality guarantees the significance of materiality in the constitution of social relations. This article illustrates the limitations of the co-constitutive relation by characterizing it as overly secular. Specifically, it argues that the co-constitutive relation grounds the significance of material culture in a set of earthly dynamics that rob materiality of its privileged position. The article develops this position through two manoeuvres: (1) it describes a particular conception of absence as it is developed in current debates in continental theory; and (2) it demonstrates how a blindness to absence provides a limited understanding of the significance of material objects within social relations. In conclusion, the author argues that the recognition of absence re-orients the way we understand the significance of material objects by attuning us to how materiality marks that which is necessarily beyond the social.


Gesture interfaces are needed for natural intuitive communication with machine devices. Hand gesture intuitiveness is the cognitive association between a command or intent, and its physical gestural expression. Using an automated tool we quantified intuitive indices for static gesture commands for a car navigation task. A small number of gestures were selected to express most of the commands with 1/3 used only by single individuals. This followed a power function analogous to Zipf's Law for languages. We found gesture preferences to be highly individualized, providing evidence to refute the hypothesis of the universality of gestures. A mathematical program was formulated to obtain a consensus gesture vocabulary for a car navigation system with the objective of maximizing total intuitiveness. We also introduced the notion of complex consensus gesture vocabularies in which multi-gestures are associated with single commands and multi-commands are associated with single gestures. We recommend hybrid gesture vocabularies, decided by consensus with several gestures selected individually.


The Ambient Wood project aims to facilitate a learning experience using an adaptive infrastructure in an outdoor environment. This involves sensor technology, virtual world orchestration , and a wide range of devices ranging from hand-held computers to speakers hidden in trees. Whilst performing user trials of the Wood, the activities of children participating in the experiments were recorded in detailed log files. An aim of the project has been to replay these log files using adaptive hypermedia techniques to enable the children to further reflect on their experience back in the classroom environment.


National Wildlife Refuge System policies reference both historical condition and naturalness, but these concepts may not be valid management goals in a world with rapid climate change. Currently, within the refuge system, managers and biologists can individually decide whether management actions to maintain historical condition (retrospective) or actions to promote and enhance future condition (prospective) are appropriate. In February 2008, we surveyed 203 refuge system managers and biologists (via email) about climate change and management strategies to facilitate adaptation to climate change. Our goal was to explore factors that influence preference for retrospective or prospective strategies. Most managers and biologists (76%) believe that climate change has already influenced their refuge, but land-use change and invasive species were considered more important landscape drivers. We did not find evidence that refuge purpose or inclusion of climate change in planning documents influenced individual preferences about strategies to facilitate adaptation. However, managers and biologists who conceptualize climate change as anthropogenic in origin were more likely to prefer retrospective strategies. Written responses indicate that managers and biologists prefer historical condition, but believe that retrospective strategies will be costly or impossible. Written comments also indicate that managers and biologists prefer strategies that allow species to adapt naturally and without intervention. We conclude that land management agencies need to provide the rationale for how climate change should be conceptualized in the short and long terms. Explicitly addressing conservation values may help to refine agency priorities in a rapidly changing world and to build the consensus necessary to strategically coordinate management across individual units in conservation reserves. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.


Tabanids (horseflies and deerflies) represent the main vectors of Trypanosoma theileri species complex and are frequently infected by them. In these insects, the trypanosomes are transiently present in the midgut and develop predominantly in the ileum. During a survey of infections in tabanids, we encountered a horsefly, in which trypanosomatids were present not only in the ileum but also in the rectum. The analysis of 18S rRNA sequences of the parasites in both locations demonstrated that they represented a T. theileri -like trypanosome and the monoxenous species Wallacemonas raviniae previously described from a flesh fly, respectively. The investigation using light and transmission electron microscopy showed that the two parasites differed not only in their affinity to distinct hindgut sections, but also in the patterns of attachment to the cuticular lining, interaction between individual cells, and development of extracellular structures. Unlike most monoxenous trypanosomatids inhabiting the rectum, W. raviniae was not observed on rectal glands or in the close proximity to them indicating either a peculiarity of the parasite species or specific conditions in the insect host. Our results demonstrated that the two trypanosomatid species partitioned their niches within the horsefly host due to strikingly dissimilar life strategies.


In this paper we present the modeling, design, and experimental testing of a nerve cuff multi-electrode system for diameter-selective vagus nerve stimulation. The multi-electrode system contained ninety-nine platinum electrodes embedded within a self-curling spiral silicone sheet. The electrodes were organized in a matrix having nine parallel groups, each containing eleven electrodes. Preliminary testing of the nerve cuff was performed in an isolated segment of a swinish left cervical vagus nerve. For selective vagus nerve stimulation, precisely defined current quasitrapezoidal, asymmetric and biphasic stimulating pulses were applied to preselected locations along the left vagus segment via appointed group of three electrodes within the cuff. Selective stimulation was obtained by anodal block. However, these pulses may not be safe for a long-term application because of a frequently used high imbalance between the cathodic and anodic part of the stimulating pulse. Preliminary results show that the cuff was capable of exciting A and B-fibres, and, that for a certain range of parameters used in stimulating pulses, the contribution of A-fibres to the CAP was slightly reduced and the contribution of B-fibres was slightly larger. Results also showed that measured CAPs are not greatly influenced by the imbalance between a charge Qc injected in cathodic and Qa in anodic phase of quasitrapezoidal, asymmetric and biphasic pulses. Keywords—Vagus nerve stimulation, multi-electrode nerve cuff.


This study aims to study the demographics, clinical presentation, treatment and outcome of neonatal tetanus patients managed at Hospital Duchess of Kent from January 1st 2006 to December 31st 2006. Five neonates were studied. All presented with fever, poor sucking and limb stiffness, with a history of unsterile delivery and uncertain maternal tetanus immunity status. All were nursed in a minimal-stimuli environment and were given IV penicillin G, IM tetanus immunoglobulin and sedatives to control spasms. Nutrition and chest physiotherapy were rendered. Three patients required artificial ventilation. Duration of treatment ranged from 25 to 44 days. All survived. Inadequate maternal immunization, unsterile delivery and inappropriate umbilical cord care are major contributing factors of neonatal tetanus in our study. Supportive measures are the mainstay of treatment in our setting with very limited resources.


We present a detailed theoretical investigation of the sodium-helium interaction and report results of quantum close-coupled calculations for the pressure-broadened widths and shifts of the sodium D lines and the 819.48 nm line over the temperature range 70-500 K, and for the total and fine-structure cross sections in the 3p 2P level. We also present the first theoretical investigation of the hyperfine pressure shifts using a semiclassical scattering formalism and report results for the hyperfine transition in the 3s 2S1/2 ground state over the temperature range 70-1000 K. Finally, we calculate the refractive index of helium for sodium matter waves with velocities up to 2000 m s-1. Several of the calculations were performed using two versions of the adiabatic molecular potentials of Peach (Peach G 1996 unpublished) and the results compared with those obtained using the l-dependent pseudo-potentials of Pascale (Pascale J 1985 XIII Summer School on Quantum Optics ed J Fiutak and J Mizerski pp 39-91) and Peach (Peach G 1996 unpublished). Detailed comparisons with other theoretical calculations and experimental results are also made.


The report presented here provides an inventory of reports and conference papers  produced by the partners of the livestock and grassland modelling theme (LiveM) of the  Modelling European Agriculture with Climate Change for Food Security (MACSUR)  knowledge hub. The findings presented illustrate the diverse nature of the multidisciplinary  LiveM research community, and provide a reference source for those seeking  to identify and pull out farm-level modelling outputs from the work of MACSUR and its  partners. The survey of farm-scale outputs from LiveM revealed the interdependent, dual  role of a knowledge hub: to increase the capacity of modelling to meet stakeholder and  societal needs under climate change, and to apply that increased capacity to provide new  understanding and solutions at the policy and (the focus here) farm scale. While capacity  building work across disciplines is time-consuming, difficult, and to a large extent invisible  to stakeholders, such work is vital to ensuring that subsequent scientific outcomes reflect  best practice, and integrated expertise. Long term, sustained funding of network-based  capacity building activities is highlighted as essential to ensuring that the farm-scale  modelling work highlighted here can continue to build on ongoing improvements in model  quality, flexibility and stakeholder relevance.


Evaluating the severity of knee osteoarthritis (OA) accounts for significant plain film workload and is a crucial component of knee radiograph interpretation, which informs surgical decision-making for costly and invasive procedures such as knee replacement. The Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grading scale systematically and quantitatively assesses the severity of knee OA but is associated with notable inter-reader variability. In this study, we propose a deep learning method for the assessment of joint space narrowing (JSN) in the knee, which is an essential part of determining the KL grade. To determine the extent of JSN, we analyzed 99 knee radiographs to calculate the distance between the femur and tibia. Our algorithm's measurements of JSN and KL grade correlated well other radiologists' assessments. The average distance (in pixels) between the femur and tibia bones as measured by our algorithm was 9.60 for KL=0, 7.60 for KL=1, 6.89 for KL=2, 3.75 for KL=3, 1.25 for KL=4. Additionally, we used 100 manually annotated knee radiographs to train the algorithm to segment the femur and tibia bones. When evaluated on an independent set of 20 knee radiographs, the algorithm demonstrated a Dice coefficient of 96.59%. An algorithm for measurement of JSN and KL grades may play a significant role in automatically, reliably, and passively evaluating knee OA severity and influence and surgical decision-making and treatment pathways.


Nigeria is the most populous African nation, comprising over 250 ethnic groups. The Yoruba and Fulani are the second and fourth largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, respectively. Forensic genotyping of short tandem repeats (STRs) is used in computation of Combined DNA Index System databases of individuals and ethnic groups. We examined allele diversity, haplotype frequency, haplotype diversity, and forensic genotyping data of autosomal STRs in Fulani and Yoruba residents in Ilorin, Kwara State, North Central Nigeria, in-order to further provide forensic genotyping data of these ethnic groups.
Samples of 25 Fulani males and 23 Yoruba males whose ethnicity was confirmed by three generations (paternal and maternal) were collected with informed consent using purposive sampling. All individuals in the samples were unrelated. The samples were amplified and then genotyped using the SureID® 21G PCR Amplification Kit containing Amelogenin and 20 autosomal STR loci.
Statistical analyses of forensic genotyping parameters confirmed no deviation from expectation of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium and no dependence of alleles between loci.
All tested loci were polymorphic. Expected Heterozygosity and gene diversity parameters showed lower genetic diversity amongst Fulanis compared to Yorubas. This is possibly due to the prevalent custom of marriage between cousins amongst Fulanis, which is forbidden in Yoruba customs.


Electrochromic devices change their color and optical properties with applied voltage. A new symmetrical electrochromic configuration was constructed in previous works, where PEDOT acted as electrochromic layer or as counter electrode layer, depending on the polarity of the applied voltage. Devices of around 500mm2 and switching voltages from 0,5V to 2V are used in this work. Measured electrochemical impedance is fitted to an equivalent circuit based on a Randies cell, with Warburg impedance simulating ionic diffusion at low frequencies. Voltage dependence is analyzed for the first time in this kind of devices. Results show homogeneity problems in the contact layers, not seen in normal operation, and the voltage dependence on some construction parameters. This will be used to improve the devices construction, but improvements in the equivalent circuit should also be made. The proposed equivalent circuit is not valid after the redox reaction, from 1.5 to 2V.


ABSTRACT This ethnographic study examined women's friendships in Red Hat Society (RHS) chapters. Qualitative data included in-depth interviews (n = 25), a focus group interview (n = 7), participant observation, and examination of RHS publications. Results suggest that participation in the RHS (1) aids in developing and enhancing positive attitudes about self and aging that contribute to overall well-being, (2) offers the opportunity to obtain instrumental and emotional support, and (3) provides social connections that prevent feelings of social isolation. Collectively, these findings highlight the potential buffering role of RHS participation in women's lives.


The aim of this study is to discuss on the issues related to the use of a new proposed four-tier architecture for online applications of 3D GIS visualization. Conventional design of the system is generated from client/server based architecture. This architecture is the main platform for designing online system architecture, which works based on the distributing concept, which is a tier. The tier is normally set by the developers to separate the works/tasks between the system architecture. Currently, three tiers architecture is the most well-known architecture used in GIS applications and also other application. However, this architecture has some drawback on scalability, maintainability, and also its need more processing power in the middle tier to process the request from multiple of users. Based on the literature study, GIS applications, especially systems, which involve 3D visualization generate a massive amount of data. Due to this situation, the current three-tier architecture used for online application of 3D GIS visualization decrease the performance of the system in terms of time for processing the request from the users. This research explores the use of the four-tier framework to overcome current impediments in the use of the three-tier framework for online applications of 3D GIS visualization. The new framework is designed based on client/server architecture with the tasks distributed using the tier"s concept. It is formalized into four tiers framework by advancing one more tier into the existing three tiers framework for handling the visualization process. The four tiers framework is divided into the client, logic, visualization process, and database tiers respectively. The unique part of this new architecture is the middle tier which is divided into two other tier"s, which handle the visualization process and logical process separately and make the framework more flexible and increase its performance. The framework has been successfully implemented in oil palm plantations application using a prototype developed to prove that the framework functions well based on the requirements. Several experiment related to terrain visualization application conducted to give an operational guidelines for developer. The results of experiments helps developer on utilising the best data and technique for developing the required system. The prototype shows that it can aid the oil palm plantation management to visualize their plantation easily in 3D. The oil palm trees can be visualized with 3D terrain in an online environment with GIS capabilities. The characteristic of the oil palm tree data is stored in the database tier, and the data can be modified based on users need. The 3D terrain is generated from the topographic data (LiDAR Data) and overlaid with the high- resolution satellite image (QUICK BIRD). The validation of the framework was performed by comparing the results from the existing three-tier framework with the new four tier framework. The new framework shows superiority in its performance based on loading time, response time, frames per second, CPU usage and memory usage. These results show that the approach in this research helps solve the processing power problem. The framework can be applied by users to visualize a multitude of applications with GIS capabilities in an online 3D environment.


OBJECTIVE
Candida-induced denture stomatitis is a common debilitating problem among denture wearers. Previously, we described the fabrication of a new denture material that released antifungal drugs when immersed in phosphate buffered saline. Here, we use more clinically relevant immersion conditions (human saliva; 37°C) and measure miconazole release and bioactivity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Disks were prepared by grafting PNVP [poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone)] onto PMMA [poly(methylmethacrylate)] using plasma initiation (PMMA-g-PNVP) and then loaded with miconazole. Drug-loaded disks were immersed in 10-100% human saliva (1-30 days). Miconazole release was measured and then tested for bioactivity vs miconazole-sensitive and miconazole-resistant Candida isolates.

RESULTS
HPLC was used to quantify miconazole levels in saliva. Miconazole-loaded disks released antifungal drug for up to 30 days. Higher drug release was found with higher concentrations of saliva, and, interestingly, miconazole solubility was increased with higher saliva concentrations. The released miconazole retained its anticandidal activity. After immersion, the residual miconazole could be quenched and the disks recharged. Freshly recharged disks displayed the same release kinetics and bioactivity as the original disks. Quenched disks could also be charged with chlorhexidine that displayed anticandidal activity.

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that PMMA-g-PNVP is a promising new denture material for long-term management of denture stomatitis.


BACKGROUND
The introduction and operationalization of the Essential Medicines (EM) concept remains a major achievement of the WHO. This study assessed the current knowledge, utilization, and perception of the Essential Medicines programme in Nigeria.

METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study conducted across six tertiary health institutions in Southern Nigeria from January to July 2018. A total of 750 semi-structured questionnaires were administered to doctors, pharmacists, and nurses. The information sought included the demographic characteristics of respondents, knowledge of definition of the essential medicines concept, date of launch at the national level, current edition, current use, the advantages and disadvantages of the EM List (EML). The data were analyzed qualitatively and presented descriptively as means (SD) and percentage frequencies.

RESULTS
A total of 748 respondents (487 doctors, 208 nurses, and 53 pharmacists) participated in the study. Healthcare professionals' (HCP) knowledge of the EM concept and list was poor (15%), as determined by their ability to define or describe the concept of the EML, with less than 3% of respondents aware of the current edition of the EML in use in Nigeria. Less than 20% of all respondents used the EML during their internship, with nurses using it the least and only 8% using it during their first year of practice. Over 70% of respondents could not identify notable advantages of the EML and only 14.6% agreed that the program had been successful in Nigeria.

CONCLUSION
The initial global momentum following the introduction of the EM program appears to have declined with the new generation of HCPs, likely due to lack of educational reinforcement. This negatively impacts the drug use scenario within our healthcare system.


Spike-like magnetic domains play several important parts in the magnetization processes occurring in a hysteresis cycle, especially in a material magnetized in an easy direction of magnetization, such as transformer sheet. This theory is applicable to the spike domains observable in bulk magnetic materials but not, unfortunately, to thin magnetic films. A comparison was made between the calculated shape of a spike domain and that of such domains in 3% silicon-iron, the latter being available in the form of photographs. As far as could be determined from the photographs the calculated shape was an exact fit to the observed shape.


We consider a free-standing metallic nanofilm with a predominant intersubband paring which emerges as a result of the confinement in the growth direction. We show that the Fermi wave vector mismatch between the subbands, detrimental to the intersubband pairing, can be compensated by the non-zero center of mass momentum of the Cooper pairs. This leads to the spontaneous appearance of the intersubband Fulde-Ferrell (IFF) state, even in the absence of an external magnetic field. Our study of the intrasubband pairing channel on the stability of the IFF phase shows that the former strongly competes with the intersubband pairing, which prohibits the coexistence of the two superconducting phases. Interestingly, upon application of the magnetic field we find a transition to an exotic mixed spin-singlet subband-triplet and spin-triplet subband-singlet paired state. Finally, we discuss the possibility of existence of the IFF pairing in novel superconducting materials.


Chemical cross-linking of proteins coupled with mass spectrometry (CXMS) has enjoyed growing popularity in biomedical research. Most CXMS experiments utilize cross-linkers based on N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester, which react selectively with the amine groups found on the free N-termini of proteins and on the side chain of lysine (K) residues. It is also reported that under certain conditions they can react with the hydroxyl groups of serine (S), threonine (T), and tyrosine (Y). Some of the popular cross-link search engines including MeroX and xiSearch set STY, in addition to K, as cross-linkable sites by default. However, to what extent NHS ester cross-linkers react with STY under the typical CXMS experimental conditions remains unclear, nor has the reliability of STY-cross-link identifications. Here, by setting amino acids with chemically inert side chains such as glycine (G), valine (V), and leucine (L) as cross-linkable sites, which serves as a negative control, we show that software-identified STY-cross-links are only as reliable as GVL-cross-links. This is true across different NHS ester cross-linkers including DSS, DSSO, and DSBU, and across different search engines including MeroX, xiSearch, and pLink. Using a published dataset originated from synthetic peptides, we demonstrate that STY-cross-links indeed have a high false discovery rate. Further analysis revealed that depending on the data and the CXMS search engine used to analyze the data, up to 65% of the STY-cross-links identified are actually K-K cross-links of the same peptide pairs, up to 61% are actually K-mono-links, and the rest tend to contain short peptides at high risk of false identification.


Usually ferroelectric thin films are deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at elevated substrate temperatures, in order to obtain a good crystalline quality. Here we report the fabrication of ferroelectric BaTiO3 and BiFeO3 structures by room-temperature PLD combined with post-deposition annealing, and their ferroelectric characterization. A method to control the position of the deposited structures is also presented.


This work evaluated the capability of (electrochemical) impedance spectroscopy (IS, or ECIS as used here) to monitor damp heat (DH) stability of contact materials, CuInGaSe2 (CIGS) solar cell components, and devices. Cell characteristics and its variation of the CIGS devices were also examined by the ECIS. Bare and encapsulated sample sets were separately prepared and exposed in an environmental chamber at 85°C and 85% relative humidity (RH). The ECIS results from bare samples tested within 50-100 h of DH exposure allowed the determination of the use of a conducting Ag paste and a low-melting-point solder alloy for making a DH-stable external connection with Au wires. Bare Mo and AlNi grid degraded (corroded) rapidly while Ni was DH-stable. The moisture-dampened Al-doped ZnO (AZO) and bilayer ZnO (BZO) likely underwent hydrolytic "capacitor-forming" reaction by DH, resulting in "transient" behavior of very high resistance in ECIS that was not detected by four-point probe. Using an encapsulation test structure that allowed moisture ingress control, DH-induced degradation (resistance increase) rates of BZO on glass decreased from 0.21 ohm/h using a moisture-permeable Tedlar/Polyester/Tedlar (TPT) backsheet to 1.0 x 10-3 ohm/h using a moisture barrier FG-200 film, while Mo on glass did not exhibit the same conducting degradation and corrosion as the bare samples after over 1270 h DH exposure. CIGS solar cells encapsulated with a TPT backsheet degraded irregularly over 774 h DH exposure. Key resistance and capacitance parameters extracted by curve fitting of impedance data clearly showed the variation and impact of DH exposure on cell characteristics. Profound "depression" or shorting of the "p-n junction capacitor" by DH was evident. ECIS results are shown to correlate reasonably well with the solar cells' currentvoltage (I-V) degrading trends. Furthermore, ECIS analysis was capable of differentiating cell degradation due to "junction capacitor" shorting, damage or breakdown from that due to electrical conduction failure on AlNi/BZO layers.


Abstract. In this study we present a new regional tomography model of the upper mantle beneath Italy and the surrounding area derived from the inversion of travel times of P and S waves from the updated International Seismological Centre (ISC) catalogue. Beneath Italy, we identify a high-velocity anomaly which has the appearance of a long, narrow "sausage" with a steeply dipping part down to a depth of 400 km and then expanding horizontally over approximately 400 km. Rather than to interpret it as a remnant of the former Tethyan oceanic slab, we consider that it is made up of the infra continental lithospheric mantle of Adria, which is progressively delaminated, whereas its overlying crust becomes progressively accreted into the Apenninic tectonic wedge.


The use of digital accelerometers featuring high sensitivity and low noise levels in wireless smart sensors (WSSs) is becoming increasingly common for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. Improvements in the design of Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) based digital accelerometers allow for high resolution sensing required for SHM with low power consumption suitable for WSSs. However, new approaches are needed to synchronize data from these sensors. Data synchronization is essential in wireless smart sensor networks (WSSNs) for accurate condition assessment of structures and reduced false-positive indications of damage. Efforts to achieve synchronized data sampling from multiple WSS nodes with digital accelerometers have been lacking, primarily because these sensors feature an internal Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) to which the host platform has no direct access. The result is increased uncertainty in the ADC startup time and thus worse synchronization among sensors. In this study, a high-sensitivity digital accelerometer is integrated with a next-generation WSS platform, the Xnode. An adaptive iterative algorithm is used to characterize these delays without the need for a dedicated evaluation setup and hardware-level access to the ADC. Extensive tests are conducted to evaluate the performance of the accelerometer experimentally. Overall time-synchronization achieved is under 15 µs, demonstrating the efficacy of this approach for synchronization of critical SHM applications.


Objective To develop a method to monitor trends in the cost of the Illawarra Healthy Food Basket (IHFB) and report trends from 2000 to 2003. Design Detailed instructions for the method of pricing the IHFB were developed and tested. The price of the IHFB was collected each year in September at a major supermarket, green grocer and butcher in five Illawarra suburbs, representing a range of socio-economic locations. Data on welfare payments available to the reference family, assuming all members were unemployed, were collected from staff of Centrelink. Main outcome measures The average weekly cost of the IHFB, the Illawarra Healthy Food Price Index (IHFPI) values in 2000, 2001 and 2003, and trends in the food basket costs compared to changes in average weekly earning and welfare benefits for the reference family. Results The IHFPI values were 100 in 2000, 111.3 in 2001 and 112.1 in 2003.The average cost of the IHFB in 2003 was $225.86. Over the three year period average weekly earnings increased 14.5% and welfare payments for the reference family increased by 11.9%. The food component of the IHFB with the largest increase in prices was vegetables, which increased 19.8%. Conclusion The results indicate that the affordability of healthy foods has not deteriorated over the time period 2000-2003. Fruits and vegetables and meat may be cheaper at independent grocers and butchers than in supermarkets.


This study investigated the outcomes of psychotic patients after transplantation to develop guidelines for rational decision-making with this group of transplant candidates. A survey was distributed to transplant programs in the United States, Canada, and Australia over a 2-year period, yielding 35 cases from 12 centers. Noncompliance resulted in rejection episodes in 14.7% of patients, with reduced function or graft loss in 11.8%. Noncompliance with immunosuppressant drugs was noted in 45.5% of those living alone versus 9.5% of patients living with someone. Suicide attempts were recorded in 35.7% of patients with psychotic symptoms in the year before transplantation, versus 5.9% for those without psychotic symptoms for 1 year before transplantation. Risk factors associated with problems after transplant included antisocial features, history of assault, borderline features, living alone, positive psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, and a family history of schizophrenia.


Drugs in these categories may have effects on several organs in addition to the liver. For example, amiodarone may produce thyroid and corneal injury apart from or in addition to the phospholipidosis seen in the liver. Oral contraceptive steroids remain a rare but important concern for developing hepatic adenomas and possibly hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as a risk factor for developing Budd-Chiari syndrome in long-term users. Among the antihyperlipidemic agents, nicotinic acid, especially the sustained release formulations, may produce severe of even fatal hepatic injury. Increasing numbers of reports of hepatotoxicity from newer beta blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors require ongoing vigilance in patients receiving these medications.


[H2en][VTeO5]2 (en ethylenediamine) was synthesized by a hydrothermal reaction and structurally charac terized. The structure of [H2en][VTeO5]2 consists of an infinite [VTeO5] layer, which contains VO4 tetrahedral and TeO5 square pyramidal units. Two square pyramidal TeO5 units are connected by sharing an edge to form a Te2O8 binuclear unit. The interlayer space is filled by


One of the distinctive characteristics of the current globalisation process is the emergence of global
value chains. Within global value chains and international production networks, not only are final goods
traded internationally, but intermediate goods (parts and components) and, in recent years, services also
increasingly are. This trend significantly alters the economic relations between countries and increasingly
casts doubt on empirical indicators such as trade and FDI that are traditionally used to measure
globalisation. Input-output tables may provide much finer detail in describing current globalisation as they
offer information on the use of goods instead of the rather arbitrary classification schemes that divide
goods into intermediate and other categories. Moreover, input-output tables also incorporate information
on the use of services, enabling measurement of the increasing offshoring of service activities in today's
business activities. Based on the OECD Input-Output Database, which includes harmonised tables for 38
countries (of which 10 emerging non-OECD economies), this paper brings together empirical evidence on
the growing importance of global value chains and the increasing interdependence between countries.
Input-output indicators are presented for individual countries and individual industries, aiming to
demonstrate the changing characteristics of current globalisation.


Starting this fall in Minnesota, college students will be required to complete training on preventing and reducing the prevalence of sexual assault. The mandate is part of a comprehensive law on sexual-assault prevention (SF 5 [2]) passed by legislators last year. In addition to requiring students to complete training within 10 business days of their first semester, the law expands the rights of victims, creates a new option to report cases online, and ensures that each school has a walk-in location staffed with trained advocates.


Abstract Excessive human-derived nutrient availability has been implicated as a primary driver in the decline of the water quality and biota of coastal ecosystems. In 2003, seven sites along an urbanized section (∼100 km) of the Atlantic littoral coastline in east-central Florida were assessed for the bio-availability of the primary nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus. Ratios of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN = nitrate + nitrite + ammonium) to soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in 74 beach water samples averaged 8:1, indicating strong water column nitrogen-limitation. DIN concentrations ranged from 0.69 to 8.11 µM with a grand mean of 2.10 µM, a value two-fold above the reported threshold value of ∼1 µM that saturates growth of Florida red tide, Karenia brevis and macroalgae species utilized in this study, such as Ulva lactuca. The majority (mean = 56%) of this DIN was in the form of ammonium, even during a peak upwelling event in June and August, suggesting the importance of anthropogenic land-based nitrogen as the primary N source. Macroalgae from subtidal sabellariid worm reefs were assessed for δ15N. At all study sites, macroalgal tissue mean δ15N values ranged from +8.7 to +9.9‰, values similar to those in macroalgae from sewage-polluted coastal areas, such as Boston Harbor. Many of the abundant macroalgae collected on these reefs, including Ulva lactuca, Chaetomorpha linum, Gracilaria tikvihae, and Caulerpa prolifera, are known sewage indicator species in other eutrophic coastal water bodies receiving excessive anthropogenic nutrient loads. These results suggest the need for improved nutrient removal in wastewater treatment facilities that discharge nearly 100 million liters of secondary-treated sewage effluent/day into the highly transmissive silica-sand barrier island of Brevard and Indian River Counties in east-central Florida.


http://jpst.ripi.ir Journal of Petroleum Science and Technology 2019, 9(2), 46-53 © 2019 Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) ABSTRACT Formation of natural gas hydrate is a serious problem in the gas and oil industry because it can plug pipelines and destroy the equipment. This study aimes to evaluate the concentration effect of glycol ethers on their synergism with a commercial kinetic hydrate inhibitor (Luvicap 55W) in sweet natural gas-water systems at a constant temperature of 4 oC and pressure of 95 bar. Hydrate formation experiments have been designed and conducted in a static, stirred autoclave. Finally, the results indicated that concentration changes dosen't affect the inhibition time greatly, while the growth rate of hydrate crystals decreases considerably with the increase in the concentration of glycol ethers.


Summary Diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension are independent risk factors for erectile dysfunction (ED), macrovascular disease and microangiopathy. ED is very common among diabetic patients. Men with DM have ED at an earlier age and with a significantly higher prevalence (as high as 75%). The prevalence of DM also tends to be higher in patients with Peyronie's disease. DM impairs neurogenic and endothelium-mediated relaxation of penile smooth muscle. It is impossible to separate DM from hypertension and from the other vascular risk factors. Good glycaemic and hypertension control in diabetics is very important since these factors increase the risk of both microvascular and macrovascular complications, possibly including ED.


Abstract:Anadromous twaite shad (Alosa fallax Lacépède) and allis shad (Alosa alosa L.) occur in Irish coastal waters, although only twaite shad has been confirmed to reproduce in Ireland. A landlocked subspecies of the twaite shad, known as the Killarney shad (Alosa fallax killarnensis), occurs in Lough Leane in south-western Ireland. Relatively little scientific research has been undertaken on the marine phases of these species in Ireland except for occasional reports of coastal bycatch. The growth, diet and parasite assemblages of twaite and allis shad sampled from Waterford Estuary and the upper tidal reaches of the River Barrow have been investigated since 1995. Similarly, aspects of the Killarney shad have been investigated since 1986. The number of gill rakers or general body size easily separates these subspecies of shad. The perceived threats to the twaite, Killarney and allis shad in Ireland, where they have been categorised as 'vulnerable' to extinction (twaite shad) and 'endangered' (Killarney and allis shad), are listed and discussed.


Waste management is a part of the green campus achievement program. Universitas Gadjah Mada has a Standard Operating Procedure for managing produced waste. Waste produced by each building or work unit is temporarily accommodated in the waste depot before dumped into the landfill. This research aims to study the waste management system in UGM, in accordance with the concept of a green campus. The concept of green campus to improve the efficiency of waste management needs to be supported by various parties. The success of the green campus program relies on an integrated approach, a sustainable implementation that involves stakeholders of the university. In actualizing the concept of a green campus, the university has its own waste processing system. The organic produced waste is processed into compost, while plastic waste is converted into alternative fuel. Overall, the waste management system that UGM owns is ineffective and inefficient, it was proved by the fact that there is still much waste dumped into the landfill. UGM provides a laboratory that is specialized to process waste that is produced by UGM. It is planned to be able to reduce the amount of waste that is dumped into the landfill. According to the results, vermicomposting technology, the manufacture of liquid fertilizer from leachate, and the manufacture of the composite from a mixture of leaves and paper were offered as solutions.


Background

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are found to be involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis, a major cause of tooth loss in adults. However, a comprehensive miRNA-mRNA regulatory network has still not been established.
Methods

One miRNA expression profile and 2 gene expression profiles were downloaded from the GEO database and analyzed using GEO2R. Candidate genes commonly appeared in differentially expressed mRNAs (DE-mRNAs) and target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) were selected for functional and pathway enrichment analyses using Enrichr database. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to screen independent variables among candidate genes. The diagnostic values of screened genes were determined by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC).
Results

A total of 5 DE-miRNAs (4 upregulated and 1 downregulated) and 11 candidate genes (3 upregulated and 8 downregulated) were screened. After the construction of miRNA-mRNA regulatory network, 12 miRNA-mRNA pairs were identified. In the network, the upregulated genes were significantly enriched in cellular triglyceride homeostasis and positive regulation of B cell differentiation, whereas the downregulated genes were enriched in vesicle organization, negative regulation of lymphocyte and leukocyte migration. EPCAM and RAB30 were screened as risk factors of periodontitis. The combined AUC of these 2 genes was 0.896 (GSE10334) and 0.916 (GSE16134).
Conclusion

In this study, we established a potential periodontitis-related miRNA-mRNA regulatory network, which brings new insights into the molecular mechanisms and provides key clues in seeking novel therapeutic targets for periodontitis. In the future, more experiments need to be carried out to validate our current findings.


The inhibition mechanism of the Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) on SAE 1008 carbon steel corrosion in CO 2 saturated 3% NaCl solutions has been studied by weight loss, UV/VIS and electrochemical techniques. The phenoxide, R-Ar-O- ions from the CNSL inhibitor were found to be responsible for the reduction of the corrosion rate of the carbon steel. Also, it was observed that the surface charge of the carbon steel electrodes was positive with respect to the solutions containing CNSL inhibitor. It is likely that the mechanism of the CNSL inhibitor adsorption involved the electrostatic attraction between the positively charged metal surface and the phenoxide ions via their negative ends. Tanz. J. Sci. Vol. 28(2) 2002: 105-116


Abstract The umami seasoning, monosodium l-glutamate (MSG), has been shown to increase satiety in normal body weight adults, although the results have not been consistent. The satiety effect of MSG in overweight and obese adults has not been examined yet. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of MSG in a vegetable soup on subsequent energy intakes as well as food selection in overweight and obese adult women without eating disorders. A total of sixty-eight overweight and obese women (BMI range: 25·0–39·9 kg/m2), otherwise healthy, were recruited to our study. A fixed portion (200 ml) of control vegetable soup or the same soup with added MSG (0·5 g/100 ml) was provided 10 min before an ad libitum lunch and an ad libitum snack in the mid-afternoon. The control soup had equivalent amount of Na to the soup with added MSG. Energy intakes at the ad libitum lunch and ad libitum snack time after the soup preload were assessed using a randomised, double-blind, two-way cross-over design. The soup with MSG in comparison with the control soup resulted in significantly lower consumption of energy at lunch. The addition of MSG in the soup also reduced energy intake from high-fat savoury foods. The soup with MSG showed lower but no significant difference in energy intake at mid-afternoon. The addition of umami seasoning MSG in a vegetable soup may decrease subsequent energy intake in overweight and obese women who do not have eating disorders.


Senescent cells activate genetic programmes that irreversibly inhibit cellular proliferation, but also endow these cells with distinctive metabolic and signalling phenotypes. Although senescence has historically been considered a protective mechanism against tumourigenesis, the activities of senescent cells are increasingly being associated with age-related diseases, including cancer. An important feature of senescent cells is the secretion of a vast array of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors collectively known as the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Recent research has shown that SASP paracrine signalling can mediate several pro-tumourigenic effects, such as enhancing malignant phenotypes and promoting tumour initiation. In this review, we summarise the paracrine activities of senescent cells and their role in tumourigenesis through direct effects on growth and proliferation of tumour cells, tumour angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis, cellular reprogramming and emergence of tumour-initiating cells, and tumour interactions with the local immune environment. The evidence described here suggests cellular senescence acts as a double-edged sword in cancer pathogenesis, which demands further attention in order to support the use of senolytic or SASP-modulating compounds for cancer treatment.


Evidence on the methods followed by non‐Indigenous researchers for conducting research that involves Indigenous people in Australia is sparse. This paper describes the methodology and steps followed by a non‐Indigenous researcher for engaging with men from an Aboriginal community in rural Victoria in conducting mental health services research. It describes the process adopted to initiate research and build research capacity within an Indigenous community where Indigenous researchers were unavailable and the local communities were ill‐equipped to conduct research themselves. The methodology followed was informed by the values and ethics guidelines of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the decolonising methodology of Linda Tuhiwai Smith as well as methods suggested by other authors. Lessons learnt included providing for a long time frame, which is necessary to develop relationships and trust with individuals and their Communities, adopting a flexible approach and engaging cultural advisers who represent different sections of the Community.


Screw conveyors are widely used in various sectors of the economy determining specific requirements for them. One of such requirements is the possibility of safe movement of brittle elements and products with possible increased damage (injury) in pharmaceutical industry, electronics, food industry, as well as in agricultural production during the transportation of seed grain materials. The theoretical substantiation of the increase of efficiency of bulk cargoes transportation by screw conveyors is given in this paper. The problem of their progressive structures development with the possibility of minimal damage of grain materials remains important. The paper presents Recommendations for the auger rotation speed selection in order to minimize the damage of brittle elements and products are presented in this paper. The rational angle at which productivity of the screw conveyor reaches its maximum values is deteermined.


Water management simulation model DRAINMOD-S was calibrated (1995-96) and validated (1997) using 3-year experimental field data (1995-1997) from the installed subsurface drainage system at 1.8 m drain depth with 40, 60, and 80 m drain spacing at Golewala watershed, Faridkot, Punjab, India. Sensitivity analysis of the model parameters revealed that lateral saturated hydraulic conductivity, drain depth, and drain spacing are the most effective parameters in changing the model output. The root means square error, efficiency, and coefficient of determination between observed and simulated soil salinity ranged from 0.01to 0.06 dS.m-1, 0.647 to 0.834 dS.m-1, and 0.957 to 0.999 dS.m-1 for three drain spacings (40, 60, and 80 m), respectively, during calibration and validation period. The calibrated and validated model was used to predict the soil salinity (EC) for five consecutive years (1998-2003). The average soil salinity of root zone (300-600 mm), (600-900 mm), and (900-1200 mm) decreased from January 1998 to December 2003. The predicted values of soil salinity were found to decrease from 2.23, 2.34, and 1.92 dS.m-1 to 1.68 dS.m-1, 1.70, and 1.42 dS.m-1 for 40 m drain spacing at root zone depth of 300-600 mm, 600-900 mm, and 900-1200 mm, respectively. Similarly, the salinity values for the same period and root zone depth were found to decrease from 2.20, 2.31, and 1.90 dS.m-1 to 1.75,1.78, and 1.74 dS.m-1 for 60 m drain spacing; and 2.21, 2.31, and 1.93 dS.m-1 to 1.80,1.82, and 1.48 dS.m-1 for 80 m drain spacing, respectively, at the end of five years. DRAINMOD-S model was reliably applicable for predicting soil salinity under sub-surface drainage system in arid and semi-arid region of Punjab, India


Experiments with Pelomedusa subrufa, a widespread African freshwater turtle, showed that this species consumed large quantities of tadpoles. Tadpoles preyed upon, comprised between 0.05 and 21.55% of the turtle's biomass. This demonstrated that Pelomedusa subrufa was neither gape limited nor did it ignore very small prey. Tadpoles with an ovoid body shape (Hemisus marmoratus, Hyperolius nitidulus, Ptychadena maccarthyensis), which shared, under natural conditions, the pond bottom microhabitat with the turtles, were more threatened than the robust tall-finned Kassina tadpoles that lived in the middle of the water column. The translucent, slow swimming Phrynomantis microps tadpole occurred in larger ponds and preferred the upper water column in deeper parts of the pond. This species was especially at risk in ponds with reduced water levels. Turtles, in contrast to fish or dragonfly larvae, are capable of migrating to other ponds. They therefore might have a profound regional influence on tadpole communities in ephemeral savanna ponds.


Recently, the parallel speed control of two induction motors, which uses only one inverter, has been proposed by the vector control method. However, the conventional control method does not consider both the efficiency of the motor control and the condition of different load torque to each induction motor (IM). This paper proposes a new high efficient parallel speed control method of two induction motors on condition of different load torque, which is based on non-linear programming method. The non-linear programming method requires the information on load torque and speed reference. Each load torque is estimated by disturbance observer and current simulator. The IM drive system requests only speed sensor such as rotary encoder. Hence, it has no current sensor and no voltage sensor. Moreover, this paper discusses the condition of low-resolution rotary encoder, such as 60pulse/rev. The numerical simulation results point out that both induction motors keep the nearly same speed control performance with high efficiency in steady state and the transient state on condition of different load torque.