Crop residue mineralization affects soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics during crop residue management in crop production. C and N mineralization dynamics of rice and wheat residues incorporated with and without mineral N under two moisture conditions were evaluated under laboratory conditions. Mineral N was applied @ 0.015 g/Kg (»30 Kg/ha), whereas soil moisture was maintained at high (» – 15 KPa, near field capacity) and at low (» – 500 KPa)moisture levels during course of study.Periodic determinations on CO2 – C and N mineralized were performed over a period of 120 days. The highest peaks for CO2 – C occurred during first week of the study which then reduced gradually until it attained an equilibrium. High moisture level enhanced CO2 – C flux by 14% than low moisture level. Combined application of crop residues and mineral N released 17% more CO2 – C than crop residue treatments without mineral N.In residue applied treatments, immobilization was 40% higher at high moisture level than that at low moisture level. Application of rice and wheat residues in combination with mineral N caused both immobilizations followed by mineralization phases at both moisture levels. At high moisture level, maximum immobilization occurred during initial 15 days, while at low moisture level it continued till about 30 days. After day15, mineralization started which continued to increase during remaining period of study at high moisture and at low moisture mineralization initiated from day 60 onward. Mineralization in rice residue was faster than that in wheat residues. Immobilization of N continued progressively in residue alone treated soils at both moisture levels during study period. In residue treated soils, increase in soil moisture increased soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil water stable aggregates (WSA) significantly by 14% and 55% over control respectively.Combined application of crop residues and mineral N increased SOC by 43% and WSA by 59%. This study indicated that incorporation of crop residues along with addition of mineral N in the presence of optimum moisture promoted its faster decomposition with a quicker mineral N release, more organic matter build up and soil structure improvement than crop residues incorporated without mineral N.


: In fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe , the cdc31 gene encodes a member of the conserved Ca 2+ -binding centrin/ CDC31 family, which is a component of spindle pole body. Here, we demonstrate that the S. pombe cdc31p is also a component of TREX-2 complex, which influences mRNA export from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Repression of the cdc31 gene expression caused growth defect with accumulation of poly(A) + RNA in the nucleus. On the other hand, over-expression of cdc31 exhibited no defects of both growth and bulk mRNA export, but showed somewhat longer cell morphology. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that Cdc31 interacted with Sac3 and Pci2, the subunits of TREX-2 complex. These results suggest that S. pombe Cdc31 is also involved in mRNA export as a component of TREX-2 complex. fission yeast


Systems with large amounts of disorder have some remarkable properties induced by localisation of the electronic wavefunctions [1, 2]. Current formulations of quantum transport have limited relevance to the case of strong disorder and require the use of scaling theories to apply them to these systems [3]. We have been developing a first principles theory of quantum transport that addresses the problem of localisation directly without resort to scaling [4-6]. The theory reproduces well known results for the d.c. conductivity, but goes beyond that to describe the bandwidth of localised structures when used to convey electrical signals, as well as the non-linearity in the d.c. conductivity implicit in these systems. We have also been able to show that the localised states behave as extremely long lived traps with a distribution of lifetimes that leads to the generation of 1/f noise at surfaces and interfaces.


Solid-state carbon nitride materials are useful in a number of areas in industry, ranging from heat retardation, photocatalysis, electrochemistry, as well as the potential to form a new super hard material to rival diamond. The flexible nature of the chemical bonding and environment of C and N atoms in a carbon nitride system gives rise to wide structural diversity, which present challenges in characterisation of the material. Theoretical modeling for such a versatile system is an essential part of scientific research. Quantum mechanical computational methods are employed to study carbon nitride materials in dense sp3 bonded and planar polymeric graphitic phases. The computer codes used for this study are CRYSTAL and CASTEP, both based on DFT. Synthesis of dense and graphitic carbon nitride materials, using ionothermal and thermal methods were also conducted towards part of this research. The results from each theoretically calculated investigation in this thesis are compared with experimental data, to guide the understanding of the experimental results for the system under study. Experimentally synthesised and recovered carbon nitride material, with defective wurtzite structure and C2N3H stoichiometry, was investigated for its stability over a range of pressures. Three possible C2N3H phases arising from different proton arrangements were modeled to determine the most stable arrangement. A metastable C2N3H phase was detected experimentally; an ab initio structure prediction method was employed, which identified a structure that complied with experimental observations. CASTEP was tested and used to calculate NMR chemical shifts for 13C and 15N atoms for a number of carbon nitride materials. Predictions were focused on determining the atom connectivity and structural topology for thermal synthetic methods that yielded dense and graphitic carbon nitride solid‐state materials. Calculated NMR chemical shifts were also employed in a collaborative study to guide the understanding of planetary tholins, formed in Titan's atmosphere.


Conjugation of biomolecules to colloidal nanoparticles, such as quantum dots (QDs), often leads to change in mobility. We discover that linking DNA molecules to quantum dots alters their surface charge density without significantly increasing the hydrodynamic radius, causing a prominent shift in electrophoretic mobility. In this study, a high‐resolution molecular quantification method named quantification by QDs electrophoretic mobility shift (qQEMS) is developed based on the charge‐dominant transformation that closely associates DNA quantity to QDs electrophoretic mobility. The versatility of qQEMS is demonstrated by a number of quantification assays in which DNA molecules functioned as enzyme substrates, target‐specific probes, and competitive charge carriers. qQEMS shows a great potential as a generic and versatile quantification platform for a wide range of applications.


Abstract: South Korea's diplomatic and security focus has inevitably been on northeast Asia and its difficult relationship with its northern neighbour, but South Korea also has a role to play in the broader Asian Pacific region. This article analyzes South Korea's increasing economic, political, and cultural links with the wider region, in particular with Southeast Asia, and its role in the development of Asian Pacific regionalism. Utilizing the concept of "middle power," it argues that, while clearly South Korea cannot ignore what is happening in its immediate geographical environment of North-east Asia, it does have the economic and political resources to enable it to take advantage of the opportunities for greater interactions with other parts of the Asian Pacific region, particularly Southeast Asia, if the political will exists.


In the framework of intermediate wave-packets for treating flavor oscillations, we quantify the modifications which appear when we assume a strictly peaked momentum distribution and consider the second-order corrections in a power series expansion of the energy. By following a sequence of analytic approximations, we point out that an extra time-dependent phase is merely the residue of second-order corrections. Such phase effects are usually ignored in the relativistic wave-packet treatment, but they do not vanish non-relativistically and can introduce some small modifications to the oscillation pattern even in the ultra-relativistic limit.


Background : Wood's lamp examination is a useful diagnostic test in many dermatological disorders. However, there was limited data on knowledge of physicians about this tool. Objective : To evaluate basic knowledge of physicians on Wood's lamp and its applications. Methods: The study used questionnaires in Thai general physicians who attended the 2013 Dermatology Annual Meeting. The questionnaire composed of a picture of a Wood's lamp instrument and two open-end questions including 1) What is the name of this device? 2) Which diseases can this device help to make the diagnosis? Results : Eighty-two physicians enrolled in this study. Only 55 physicians (67.1%) answered the name of a Wood's lamp correctly. There were 29 out of 55 physicians (52.7%) knew at least one application of Wood's lamp. About half did not know any applications. Tinea versicolor, followed by melasma, tinea captitis, erythrasma, acne, porphyria, and vitiligo, respectively were the common applications that most physicians answered. Conclusion: This study showed around two-third of physicians know Wood's lamp, but only half of them were knowledgeable about its' application in dermatoses. Education regarding Wood's lamp and application should be emphasized more in physicians to assist in dermatologic diagnoses. Keywords: Wood's lamp examination, application, knowledge


Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) is a well-established technique for the treatment of titanium-based materials. The formed titania-PEO surface can improve the osseointegration properties of titanium implants. Nevertheless, it can not address bacterial infection problems associated with bone implants. Recently, 2-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene oxide (GO), MXene, and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) have received considerable attention for surface modifications showing their antibacterial properties. In this paper, a comparative study on the effect of partial deposition of these three materials over PEO titania substrates on the antibacterial efficiency and bioactivity is presented. Their partial deposition through drop-casting instead of continuous film coating is propsed to simultaneously address both antibacterial and osseointegration abilities. Our results demonstrate the dose-dependent nature of the deposited antibacterial agent on the PEO substrate. GO-PEO and MXene-PEO samples showed the highest antibacterial activity with 70 (±2) % and 97 (±0.5) % inactivation of S. aureus colonies in the low concentration group, respectively. Furthermore, only samples in the higher concentration group were effective against E. coli bacteria with 18 (±2) % and 17 (±4) % decrease in numbers of colonies for hBN-PEO and GO-PEO samples, respectively. Moreover, all antibacterial samples demonstrated acceptable bioactivity and good biocompatibility, making them a considerable candidates for the next generation of antibacterial titanium implants.


To the Editor.— The article by Hanson and Zimmerman (242:154, 1979) points to a new aspect of an old problem now appearing on the clinical scene, heatstroke. The present problem is with the young and healthy who collapse on hot and humid days while fun running. As we have shown 1 such incidents as heatstroke are occurring in fun runners even when environmental conditions would not ordinarily have been suspected to predispose to heat injury. Experience with Sydney's The Sun City-to-Surf Run, now in its tenth year, has resulted in a number of recommendations to prevent and treat victims of heat injury. This run now attracts 21,000 to 22,000 entrants annually, and the accumulated experience since the first race in 1971, with 2,005 entrants, to the present is with approximately 93,563 runners. 2 Since the inaugural race, when 29 runners collapsed, the incidence of heat casualties has declined mainly from rescheduling


ABSTRACT Foraging parameters of two ant species, Pseudomyrmex triplarinus and Crematogaster sp., on P. triplarinus-occupied shrubs of Triplaris surinamensis were evaluated in a semi-deciduous forest of Mato Grosso, western Brazil. Live workers of the termite Microcerotermes strunckii, used as baits for ants, were placed on leaves in the lower, medium and upper thirds of the crown of thirty experimental Triplaris (nine baits/plant). Besides attacking more than twice as many baits as Crematogaster (131 against 59), Pseudomyrmex also attacked them signifi cantly faster. Pseudomyrmex patrolled the plant uniformly, while Crematogaster patrolled more intensively the lower portion of the crown of Triplaris. Baits retrieved by Pseudomyrmex were taken to their nests in the stem galleries of Triplaris; those retrieved by Crematogaster were carried to nearby nests in the forest understory. Greater aggressiveness and alertness to foreign objects (i.e. baits), better eyesight, larger size, and an individual foraging technique appear to be responsible for the greater foraging success of Pseudomyrmex when compared with Crematogaster.


"The spiral of silence" theory was first funded by Professor Elizabeth Noelle Neumann in 1972. This theory indicates that, if a person feels that his opinion is belonging to minority, he is less likely to express it, because he is afraid of being retaliated or isolated by majority. This theory assumes that people are always estimating what the public opinion is, and they often judge it through the media. The theory also assumes that we have an inherent fear of isolation and that we know what perspectives can lead us to isolation by majority. This theory also explains why there are always such minority groups in the society and they dare to raise different opinions. With the flash development of the Internet, more and more self media have broken the old pattern of mass media as the information publisher. So it is a big question whether "the spiral of silence" theory is still applicable to the Internet environment. This paper, from the perspective of the basic hypothesis and core theory of "the spiral of silence", focuses on whether the theory is applicable to the communicative behavior in We-Media.


Bacterial mechano-sensitive (MS) channels reside in the inner membrane and are considered to act as emergency valves whose role is to lower cell turgor when bacteria enter hypo-osmotic environments. However, there is emerging evidence that members of the Mechano-sensitive channel Small (MscS) family play additional roles in bacterial and plant cell physiology. MscS has a large cytoplasmic C-terminal region that changes its shape upon activation and inactivation of the channel. Our pull-down and co-sedimentation assays show that this domain interacts with FtsZ, a bacterial tubulin-like protein. We identify point mutations in the MscS C-terminal domain that reduce binding to FtsZ and show that bacteria expressing these mutants are compromised in growth on sublethal concentrations of β-lactam antibiotics. Our results suggest that interaction between MscS and FtsZ could occur upon inactivation and/or opening of the channel and could be important for the bacterial cell response against sustained stress upon stationary phase and in the presence of β-lactam antibiotics.


Data fusion is becoming of paramount importance in Earth observation. A Special Interest Group "data fusion" has been created within EARSeL and SEE to better understand data fusion for a better exploitation of the synergy between all instruments observing and measuring our environment. The SIG also intends to make recommendations to agencies, industries and the scientific community. The communication presents the SIG and its objectives. The achievements already accomplished are: i) statement of the importance of data fusion in Earth observation, ii) dissemination of the fundamentals and properties of data fusion, iii) concept, definition and terms of reference, and iv) assessment of methods for the synthesis of images at higher spatial resolution. Further tracks are indicated. Several publications have been made, resulting from the SIG meetings. The SIG has a wide audience world-wide, benefiting from the use of Internet. It has also launched a series of high-quality international conferences in Cote d'Azur.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The process of creating healthy organization‐physician relationships is critical to organizational success. Partnerships in process improvement can nurture these relationships and mitigate burnout by meeting physicians' psychological needs. To flourish, physicians need some degree of choice (control over their lives), camaraderie (social connectedness), and an opportunity for excellence (being part of something meaningful). Organizations can provide these opportunities by establishing constructive organization‐physician relationships and developing physician leaders. We present a case study from the Mayo Clinic that supports the foundational principles of a physician‐engagement model. We developed the Listen‐Act‐Develop model as an integrated strategy to reduce burnout and engage physicians in the mission of the organization. The intent of the model is to maximize physician wellness by fostering engagement and mitigating the drivers of burnout. This model provides a path to increase physician satisfaction and meaning in work and to improve organizational effectiveness.


Korea has become the 5th country to own and operate the high speed railroad in 2004. However, there were many difficulties until Koreans enjoy the first bullet train service with the average hourly speed of 300km. The high speed railroad requires elevated quality standards differently from the traditional railways. In addition to the technical difficulties, the construction project itself was an unpleasant case with huge delays and cost overruns mainly due to the lack of experiences, deficiency of owners role, and increase of public resistances triggered by environmental concerns. This paper analyzes the reasons for delays on this mega-project. With respect to the characteristics of the whole project level, it is very complicated/linear project, whose total length is around 412 km with the composition of various sections in the route of the railway which have basically different conditions. For that reason, the analysis is performed in both macro and micro level. First, macroscopic analysis is performed to find critical subdivisions in the railway route that induces the significant delay in the opening due date. Then, microscopic analysis is followed to quantify the causes and effects of delays focused on these critical subdivisions in more detailed way. Finally, this paper provides lessons learned from this project to avoid the decisive delays in performing the similar large-scaled projects.


The article provides the results of Vitaprost efficacy in 40 infertile men with chronic prostatitis. Vitaprost treatment was found effective, safe and well tolerated.


Objective To quantitatively analyze the effect of nicotine on orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) and bone remodeling in rats using micro-computed tomography and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase immunostaining. Methods Thirty-nine adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomized into three groups group A, 0.5 mL normal saline (n = 9, 3 per 3, 7, and 14 days); group B, 0.83 mg/kg nicotine (n = 15, 5 per 3, 7, and 14 days); and group C, 1.67 mg/kg nicotine (n = 15, 5 per 3, 7, and 14 days). Each animal received daily intraperitoneal injections of nicotine/saline from the day of insertion of identical 30-g orthodontic force delivery systems. A 5-mm nickel-titanium closed-coil spring was applied between the left maxillary first molar (M1) and the two splinted incisors. The rate of OTM and volumetric bone changes were measured using micro-computed tomography. Osteoclasts were counted on the mesial alveolar bone surface of the distobuccal root of M1. Six dependent outcome variables, including the intermolar distance, bone volume fraction, bone mineral density, trabecular thickness, trabecular volume, and osteoclast number, were summarized using simple descriptive statistics. Nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to evaluate differences among groups at 3, 7, and 14 days of OTM. Results All six dependent outcome variables showed no statistically significant among group-differences at 3, 7, and 14 days. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that nicotine does not affect OTM and bone remodeling, although fluctuations during the different stages of OTM in the nicotine groups should be elucidated in further prospective studies.


An outbreak of typhoid fever was observed in a group of students and accompanying teachers during a journey to Haiti in summer 1991. All (6) infected persons were symptomatic and rapidly cured by antibiotics. The Salmonella typhi strains isolated from blood cultures were all identical by ribotyping. All the participants had a medical checkup and stool cultures were obtained; asymptomatic carriers could be excluded. Secondarily infected persons were not observed. The infectious source has not been identified, but various hypotheses are considered. Oral vaccination does not appear to modify the risk of infection in exposed persons.


Recent popular-press articles have recommended planting rows in a north-south (N-S) orientation. However, effects of row orientation and configuration on light spectra within corn (Zea mays L.) canopies and the resultant growth response are not well defined. Field studies were conducted in 1985 and 1986 on Norfolk (fine-loamy, siliceous, thermic Typic Paleudult) loamy sand near Florence, SC, to measure those effects. Corn was planted in single rows spaced 76 cm (30 in.) apart and in twin rows spaced 19-57-19 cm (7-23-7 in.) apart. Rows were oriented in a N-S or east-west (E-W) direction. Canopy light spectra, vegetative response at growth stages (g.s.) V6 and R2, days to silking and tasseling, yield, and yield components were measured. Far red:red light ratios were calculated from spectral data. Leaf area, stalk length, and stalk diameter at g.s. V6 were not affected by row orientation or configuration. Rows planted in an E-W orientation yielded more than those planted N-S in 1985 but less in 1986. Row orientation has been shown to affect root and shoot development. This reversed yield response to orientation was presumably the result of early water stress in 1985 vs. late-season water stress in 1986. Previous studies showed an advantage for planting twin rows when compared to single rows spaced 96 cm (38 in.) or more apart, but there was no apparent advantage for twin rows when compared to single rows spaced 76 cm (30 in.) apart. These results suggest that for irrigated or nonwater stressed corn, maximum yield will occur when rows are spaced approximately 76 cm (30 in.) apart and planted in a N-S orientation.


There are limited data on the risks of aneuploidy for normal-appearing fetuses with amniotic fluid volume (AFV) abnormalities. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative risks of aneuploidy associated with second-trimester abnormal AFVs and fetal structural anomalies in a cohort of 2,823 singleton, viable fetuses. Compared to gravidas younger than 35 with normal ultrasounds, normal fetuses had an increased incidence of aneuploidy with polyhydramnios, increased AFV, i.e. subjectively increased but normal by maximum vertical pocket (MVP) and/or amniotic fluid index (AFI), oligohydramnios, and decreased AFV, i.e. subjectively decreased but normal by MVP and/or AFI. These included: increased AFV [odds ratio = 12.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.1-39.4], polyhydramnios (odds ratio = 4.6, CI = 0.6-36.8), and decreased AFV (odds ratio = 3.8, CI = 1.1-13.1). There were no aneuploidies among the 28 normal fetuses with oligohydramnios. Anomalous fetuses had a markedly increased incidence of aneuploidy (odds ratio = 13.4, CI = 7.2-24.9). We conclude that fetal structural anomalies as well as isolated AFV abnormalities were associated with an increased risk for aneuploidy.


BACKGROUND
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the most reliable tumor marker available and is widely used for the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. Unfortunately, PSA cannot distinguish efficiently between benign and malignant disease of the prostate, especially within the range of 4-10 microg/L. Among the refinements developed to enhance PSA specificity is the free/total PSA ratio, which is useful in discriminating between the two diseases within the diagnostic "gray zone". Recent data indicate that human glandular kallikrein (hK2), a protein with high homology to PSA, may be an additional serum marker for the diagnosis and monitoring of prostate cancer.

METHODS
We analyzed 206 serum samples (all before treatment was initiated) from men with histologically confirmed benign prostatic hyperplasia (n = 100) or prostatic carcinoma (n = 106) with total PSA in the range of 2.5-10 microg/L. Total and free PSA and hK2 were measured with noncompetitive immunological procedures. Statistical analysis was performed to investigate the potential utility of the various markers or their combinations in discriminating between benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic carcinoma.

RESULTS
hK2 concentrations were not statistically different between the two groups of patients. There was a strong positive correlation between hK2 and free PSA in the whole patient population. hK2/free PSA ratio (area under the curve = 0.69) was stronger predictor of prostate cancer than the free/total PSA ratio (area under the curve = 0.64). At 95% specificity, the hK2/free PSA ratio identified 30% of patients with total PSA between 2.5-10 microg/L who had cancer. At 95% specificity, the hK2/free PSA ratio identified 25% of patients with total PSA between 2.5 and 4.5 microg/L who had cancer.

CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that hK2 in combination with free and total PSA can enhance the biochemical detection of prostate cancer in patients with moderately increased total PSA concentrations. More specifically, the hK2/free PSA ratio appears to be valuable in identifying a subset of patients with total PSA between 2.5 and 4.5 microg/L who have high probability of cancer and who should be considered for biopsy.


This study addresses mergers and acquisitions in Australia, particularly fluctuations in the
merger rate, the role of the business cycle in such fluctuations, the reasons for mergers
and their role in explaining any cyclical variability and the parallels between the timing
of merger fluctuations in Australia and in USA and UK. The international and Australian
merger literature is reviewed, consistent merger data for Australia for 1949-2007 are
assembled for the first time and both qualitative and econometric analyses are undertaken
of merger trends and business cycles in the three countries.
Six main conclusions are reached. First, the Australian merger rate has had a significant
downward trend over 1949-2007, with pronounced periods of variability over time.
Secondly, these fluctuations in the merger rate show clear pro-cyclical behaviour in some
cycles but limited or no pro-cyclical variation in other cycles, a phenomenon we refer to
as selective cyclical sensitivity. Thirdly, this finding is confirmed by simple econometric
analyses: there are limited signs of the significance of a cyclical measure over the full
period, but when the 1972-1984 period is excluded the cyclical variable is significant at
the 5% level. Fourthly, merger reason variables do not appear to explain selective nature
of cyclical sensitivity nor, fifthly, is there any evidence that merger reasons can explain
the overall temporal pattern of merger waves in a systematic fashion. Finally, merger
activity in Australia is closely correlated with that in UK, while there is no significant
relationship between mergers patterns in Australia and USA.


The validity of approximating the efficiency of a multilayer grating operating at close to normal incidence in the soft-X-ray-EUV range with a product of the relative grating efficiency by the reflectance of its multilayer coating has been studied by the rigorous integral method. The widely used approximated approach has until recently been considered accurate enough for analysis of short-wavelength normal-incidence multilayer-coated gratings. Real gratings employed in the soft-X-ray-EUV range are used to demonstrate the inapplicability of this approximation to an analysis of precise positions of efficiency maxima for the external (n > 0) and internal (n < 0) diffraction orders, despite the small ratios of wavelength and groove depth to period. The present authors have performed an analysis of the accuracy inherent in a derived simple expression for spectral separation of the same plus and minus orders with respect to the wavelength, order's number, incident angle, period, and groove depth. The reason for the observed substantial (a few Angstrom or even nm) wavelength separation between the maxima of positive and negative orders is related to oblique, close-tonormal incidence of radiation on a grating operating in the short-wavelength spectral region and different angles of deviation of respective orders. The modeling carried out with the commercial code PCGrate-S(X) v.6.1 permitted not only prediction of the separation between positive and negative orders for a multilayer Mo/Si 4200-gr/mm grating with FM-measured trapezoidal groove profile, which is designed for operation in the EIS spectrometer on the Solar-B spacecraft, but obtaining a good agreement with synchrotron radiation measurements, including high orders as well. A conclusion is drawn that high-precision calculations of the efficiency of multilayer normal-incidence soft-X-ray-EUV range gratings have in some cases to be performed, although this may require increasing the computation time by several times compared to the commonly used approximate approach.


The aim of the present study is to examine and evaluate the evolving character of sustainability management in corporations, the significance of environmental protection and sustainability, and barriers to carrying out an incorporated and strategic firm-wide advance of social responsibility. In the present paper, we focus on the contribution of sustainability undertakings towards enhancing corporate performance, the financial involvements of sustainability position and operation, and the chief function of values in corporate policy. Our paper contributes to the literature by supplying proof of elements that lead to the triumph of business patterns for sustainable development, processes through which stakeholders are affecting corporate sustainability conduct, and the link between economic growth and the environment.


Image inpainting techniques are usually employed to reconstruct small areas of images that may have been damaged, producing results which are often aesthetically indistinguishable from the original. In this paper these techniques are used in a more error critical manner, as the aim is to reconstruct areas of real-world noisy cDNA microarray images and, thus, help reduce variation and remove background artifacts before post processing of this data. The paper evaluates a number of existing techniques and proposes some directions to further develop them in the context of microarray image processing.


AIMS
To determine whether a coupling of plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and renal excretion of urodilatin (U(URO)V)--recently observed during supraphysiological concentrations of ANP--may also be detected during moderate changes in ANP levels, i.e. if ANP is increased by supine positioning and decreased by applying continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We investigated 10 healthy male volunteers, orally hydrated with 200 ml water/h, in a randomized crossover study for periods of 1 hour following 2 protocols. Protocol 1: sitting and supine position. Protocol 2: sitting with and without a CPAP of 8 cm H2O.

RESULTS
ANP increased ongoing from the sitting to the supine position (SIT-1: 13.2 +/- 4.7; SUP: 27.9 +/- 21.9 pg x ml(-1); p < 0.01) during protocol 1 and decreased after the onset of CPAP in seated subjects (SIT-2: 16.9 +/- 7.9; SIT-CPAP: 13.9 +/- 6.5 pg x ml(-1); p < 0.05) during protocol 2. U(URO)V decreased slightly, but not significantly, during protocol I (SIT-1: 63.9 +/- 21.7; SUP: 49.9 +/- 13.2 fmol x min(-1)) and remained unchanged after institution of CPAP in the sitting position (SIT-2: 68.5 +/- 25.2; SIT-CPAP: 68.5 +/- 50.2 fmol x min(-1)). Correlation analysis revealed no relationship between plasma ANP and U(URO)V.

CONCLUSIONS
Moderate variations in the levels of ANP in water-loaded volunteers do not induce parallel changes in the urinary excretion of urodilatin.


Background and importance Daratumumab is an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody now extensively used for multiple myeloma. Due to the high risk of infusion related reactions (IRRs), it is administered over a period of 4 hours. The French Myeloma Intergroup, as part of COVID-19, has authorised infusions of daratumumab over 1.5 hours in clinical trials (CT) based on studies showing a safety profile comparable with long infusions. Aim and objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate IRRs associated with rapid injection of daratumumab in a real life population. Material and methods From June to July 2020, after medical approval, patients who were given two or more doses of daratumumab with standard infusion rates were authorised to receive 'rapid dara' (infusion 1.5 hours). A group was organised by the pharmacy for the nursing team to present the new infusion rate and to remind them of the risks of IRRs. Patient characteristics (age, sex, comorbidities), previous daratumumab infusions (including if patients experienced IRRs) and type of protocols were collected. IRRs were directly recorded in validation administration software. Results 23 patients received 'rapid dara' during the study period and no IRRs were reported. Mean age was 69.5 years; 5/23 patients were between 45 and 65 years old, 13/23 between 65 and 75 years old and 5/23 were >75 years old. 15/23 were women and 8/23 were men. 15/23 patients had at least one comorbidity; 13/23 had at least one cardiovascular comorbidity, 3/23 had one pneumological comorbidity and 6/23 had renal impairment. In terms of treatment, 21/23 patients were receiving multidrug therapy (compared with 2/23 on daratumumab monotherapy). 6/23 had previously received between 3 and 10 INJ, 14/23 between 11 and 20 INJ and 3/23 had received >20 INJ. Conclusion and relevance Our findings suggest that in real life patients, 'rapid dara' is safe in terms of IRRs. These results are in agreement with those presented in previous CT. In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, decreased infusion time allows a reduction in contact time, decreased hospitalisations, and optimises nurse timing. Rapid daratumumab appears to be a safe and economic alternative while waiting for subcutaneous daratumumab. References and/or acknowledgements Conflict of interest No conflict of interest


Two organizations--the Commission on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission/URAC--are developing accreditation standards for case management departments. Both will be available sometime next year. Just as certification has helped establish a benchmark for individual practice, these organizations hope their programs will establish larger-scale benchmarks for whole departments. It's expected that the CARF standards will be geared more toward acute care, while the Commission/URAC will apply more to payer-based programs.


Blood pressure and heart rate were recorded in 37 patients with cardiac disease while they were resting quietly and talking. Heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were all significantly greater while the patients were speaking than while they were resting silently. In addition, ventricular and atrial arrhythmias were more frequent while they were talking than while they were quiet. Higher resting systolic blood pressure levels also were associated with larger blood pressure increases while the patients were speaking. Older patients exhibited significantly greater systolic pressure increases while talking than younger patients. Therapeutic doses of antihypertensive medications, including beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and diuretics did not block the heart rate and blood pressure increases while the patients were talking. These findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid to the hemodynamic consequences of communication in patients with coronary heart disease. Coupled with previous research findings, these data also suggest that clinicians need to attend to verbal communications during routine diagnostic procedures for evaluating cardiovascular function.


Background. Measured utility data have a discrete distribution, and the discreteness is particularly pronounced for EQ-5D utilities. Given the discreteness of the data, modeling the distribution parametrically is likely to be difficult. Moreover, since the distribution is bounded, the linearity assumptions made by many models are questionable. This article suggests using semi-parametric models and illustrates the use of generalized additive models (GAMs) for handling nonlinear associations. Methods. A simulation study is used to explore whether bias arises when applying parametric models to discrete utility data. A further simulation investigates the bias in semi-parametric linear and quasi–beta regression models when the assumed linearity does not hold and also investigates the use of GAMs. The use of GAMs in practice is shown through a recent study of health utilities among patients with diabetes. Results. Using parametric beta models to analyze discrete EQ-5D utility data led to substantial bias. Both semi-parametric linear regression and quasi–beta regression led to biased estimates of marginal and incremental effects when the mean model was misspecified. The use of GAMs reduced these biases. Conclusions. Parametric models for EQ-5D utility data should be used with caution. Semi-parametric modeling of utility data should check for nonlinearity. GAMs can help in diagnosing and accommodating nonlinearity.


The Space Technology 7 (ST-7) payload, flying on the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Pathfinder (LPF) mission, will demonstrate drag-free control of a test mass with acceleration disturbances below 3 × 10−14 m s−2 Hz−1/2 over a frequency range of 1 mHz to 30 mHz. Low-frequency acceleration noise introduced by the electrostatic force needed to counter static mass distribution imbalance is expected to be a significant contributor to the acceleration noise budget. For this reason, the self-gravity (due to mass imbalance) is minimized by adding trim mass to bring the total differential acceleration between the two test masses due to self-gravity below 5 × 10−10 m s−2 in any axis and the dc acceleration gradient due to self-gravity below 4 × 10−8 m s−2 m−1 in any axis of either test mass. A plan has been established to develop the distribution and placement of the compensation masses. Compensation for the self-gravity effects on the two test masses is handled in a two-step process. A nominal compensation mass is defined and incorporated early and is located very near the test masses. The final trimming for self-gravity occurs after the integration on the spacecraft with small mass added externally to the test-mass vacuum enclosures. The plan identifies three preliminary points in the hardware maturity where the trimming to the as-built configuration can take place: (1) during build-up of the sensor vacuum enclosure, (2) prior to delivery of the integrated ST-7 to Europe and (3) prior to environmental testing of the integrated LPF system. The sensitivity of the self-gravity to knowledge errors in the actual mass distribution is taken into account in the determination of final trimming opportunities and mounting locations.


Aims 1) To identify risk factors for death or unplanned readmission within one year following hospital discharge after cardiac intervention for congenital heart disease. 2) To characterise patient groups at highest risk who would benefit from targeted intervention. Methods Records in the national congenital cardiac surgical audit (NICOR) pertaining to UK infants who had a cardiac surgery or intervention aged under 12 months between 01/01/2005 and 31/12/2010 were matched with intensive care admission records in Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network (PICANET); linked records with known life-status were obtained for 7634 infants. Outcome measures were: Outcome 1 – death within 1-year following discharge; Outcome 2 – Outcome 1 or emergency readmission to PICU within 1-year following discharge. Potential risk factors available from either dataset were pre-specified and univariate and multivariate logistic regression used to investigate the effects of these on each outcome. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was used to identify distinct patient groups differentiated by risk of Outcome 2, each defined by a set of patient characteristics. Results 3.2% (246/7643) and 6.7% (514/7643) of infants experienced Outcome 1 and 2 respectively. Fitted multivariate models for both outcomes were robust in risk factor selection (Outcome 1 - ROC AUC = 0.78, 95% CI [0.75, 0.82]; Outcome 2 - ROC AUC = 0.78 [0.75, 0.80]). Risk factors significant in the multivariate Outcome 2 model were: age at procedure, weight z-score, cardiac procedure, cardiac diagnosis, non-cardiac congenital anomaly, neurodevelopmental condition, prematurity (<37 weeks gestation), ethnicity, and length of stay in specialist centre (LOS). Clinical deterioration was additionally significant to Outcome 1 whilst neurodevelopmental condition and acquired diagnoses were not. Key defining characteristics of infants in the patient groups identified as higher risk were [% Outcome 2]: (1) neurodevelopmental conditions [24%]; (2) Hypoplastic left heart, single ventricle or pulmonary atresia [15%]; (3) Congenital anomalies and LOS > 1 month [24% risk]; (4) No congenital anomalies and LOS > 1 month [9% risk]. Conclusions Understanding patient risk groups should inform recommendations for improving services, support development of interventions to mitigate each profile of risk and facilitate evaluation of the priority and feasibility of targeting each group.


Abstract In this paper, a current-mode square/triangular wave is presented. Due to operation in current-mode, the proposed circuit provides a wide frequency response, a low supply voltage, low power consumption and electronic controllability. Thus, it is very suitable for use in portable and battery-powered equipments. The proposed square/triangular wave generator consists of merely current mode Schmitt trigger and current mode integrator with current squarer, which can be fabricated into Integrated Circuit (IC) form through a CMOS technology. The features of the proposed circuit is that it can provide simultaneously both a square wave and a triangular wave whose frequency and amplitudes can be independently controlled by input bias currents. The performances of the proposed circuit are explored through HSPICE simulation program using BSIM3v3 parameters of AMIS 0.5μm, they demonstrate good agreement to the theoretical anticipation. The proposed circuit works at as low as ±1V supply voltages; power consumption is merely 10.9μW.


: 4 maternal deaths from abortion that took place during the 6-year period from March 1968 to February 1974 in the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur are reviewed with focus on the avoidable causes and preventive aspects. The total maternal deaths from all causes for the 1699 admission was 13. The mortality rate from abortion during this period was 0.241/1000 pregnancies. The number of abortion cases admitted into the hospital during the 6-year period increased steadily. Of the 4 abortion deaths, 3 patients admitted to attempts at inducing abortion. 1 patient denied having induced abortion, although her husband felt that it could have occurred. All 4 cases of abortion deaths occurred in patients with septic abortions and were, theoretically, avoidable deaths. It is most important to prevent sepsis in a case of abortion. Patients with endotoxic shock are often given intravenous steroids in pharmacological doses every 4-6 hours.


We document that investors derive nonpecuniary utility from investing in dual-objective VC funds, thus sacrificing returns. Impact funds earn 4.7 percentage points (ppts) lower IRRs ex post than traditional VC funds. In random utility/willingness-to-pay (WTP) models investors accept 2.5-3.7 ppts lower IRRs ex ante for impact funds. The positive WTP result is robust to fund access rationing and investor heterogeneity in fund expected returns. Development organizations, foundations, financial institutions, public pensions, Europeans, and UNPRI signatories have high WTP. Investors with mission objectives and/or facing political pressure exhibit high WTP; those subject to legal restrictions (e.g., ERISA) exhibit low WTP.


Intense orange Na * emission was observed in different spatial locations from blue emission during multibubble sonoluminescence in sulfuric acid. The color change from blue to orange was observed along the streamer in the filamentous structure of a bubble cloud. By stroboscopic observation, the Na * emission seemed to occur when a large bubble ejected tiny bubbles at the positions toward a pressure node after bubble coalescence around a pressure antinode. The intensity of Na * emission in the sulfuric acid increased at lower frequency in contrast with that in water. By comparing a high-resolution Na * spectrum of sulfuric acid with that of water, the widths of the spectra were almost the same, except for something being superimposed in the water case. The estimations of the temperature and pressure inside the Na * emission bubbles at 28 and 150 kHz were 1900 K and 100 atm and 2200 K and 150 atm, respectively.


This study examines the effect of working time flexibility and autonomy on time adequacy using the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) in 2010. Drawing on gender theory and welfare state theory, gender differences and the institu-tional contexts of the UK, Sweden, Germany and the Nether-lands are taken into account. The study reveals that time ar-rangements have gendered meanings. While working time flexibility and autonomy are positively related to time adequa-cy for women, men tend to experience overtime and work in-tensification in connection with working time autonomy. Fur-thermore, working time regimes also shape time arrange-ments. In the UK, employees have time adequacy primarily when they work fixed hours, while in the Netherlands, em-ployees profit most from working time autonomy. Moreover, unlike in Germany and the UK, men and women in the Nether-lands and Sweden benefit more equally from working time flexibility and autonomy.


Light scattering and rheological properties of chitosan solutions in 2% acetic acid aqueous solution were measured by means of a low angle laser light scattering photometer (Chromatix, KMX6) and a cone-plate Weissenberg Rheogoniometer (Sangamo Controls, R18). Chitosan samples of CS62 and CS79, which have degrees of deacetylation of 0.62 and 0.79, respectively, associate even in very low concentrations such as 10-5g/ml and a degree of association is 2~3. On the other hand, the molecular association does not occur in a chitosan CS96, which has a relatively high degree of deacetylation of 0.96. Rheological properties show that the solutions of CS62 and CS96 are homogeneous and the solutions of CS79 are heterogeneous, with a certain relaxation mechanism having relatively long relaxation times. The effect of the molecular association and the heterogeneous structure on stress overshoot is also discussed.


If the patient is older or has certain underlying diseases, urinary tract infection can persist or recur, and unusual pathogens may be at work. Consider broader-spectrum coverage and a longer treatment course.


The argJ gene coding for N2-acetyl-L-ornithine: L-glutamate N-acetyltransferase, the key enzyme involved in the acetyl cycle of L-arginine biosynthesis, has been cloned from thermophilic procaryotes: the archaeon Methanoccocus jannaschii, and the bacteria Thermotoga neapolitana and Bacillus stearothermophilus. Archaeal argJ only complements an Escherichia coli argE mutant (deficient in acetylornithinase, which catalyzes the fifth step in the linear biosynthetic pathway), whereas bacterial genes additionally complement an argA mutant (deficient in N-acetylglutamate synthetase, the first enzyme of the pathway). In keeping with these in vivo data the purified His-tagged ArgJ enzyme of M. jannaschii only catalyzes N2-acetylornithine conversion to ornithine, whereas T. neapolitana and B. stearothermophilus ArgJ also catalyze the conversion of glutamate to N-acetylglutamate using acetylCoA as the acetyl donor. M. jannaschii ArgJ is therefore a monofunctional enzyme, whereas T. neapolitana and B. stearothermophilus encoded ArgJ are bifunctional. Kinetic data demonstrate that in all three thermophilic organisms ArgJ-mediated catalysis follows ping-pong bi-bi kinetic mechanism. Acetylated ArgJ intermediates were detected in semireactions using [14C]acetylCoA or [14C]N2-acetyl-L-glutamate as acetyl donors. In this catalysis L-ornithine acts as an inhibitor; this amino acid therefore appears to be a key regulatory molecule in the acetyl cycle of L-arginine synthesis. Thermophilic ArgJ are synthesized as protein precursors undergoing internal cleavage to generate alpha and beta subunits which appear to assemble to alpha2beta2 heterotetramers in E. coli. The cleavage occurs between alanine and threonine residues within the highly conserved PXM-ATML motif detected in all available ArgJ sequences.


Abstract: Background: Dasotraline is a long-acting dopamine/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor with a PK profile characterized by slow absorption and a t½ of 47-77 hours, permitting once-daily dosing. In a previous flexible dose study, dasotraline demonstrated significant efficacy in the treatment of binge-eating disorder (BED). The aim of this confirmatory fixed-dose study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of dasotraline in the treatment of patients with BED. Methods: Patients meeting DSM-5 criteria for BED were randomized to 12 weeks of double-blind treatment with dasotraline (4 mg/d or 6 mg/d), or placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint was change in number of binge-eating days per week at week 12. Secondary efficacy endpoints included changes at Week 12 on the Binge Eating Clinical Global Impression of Severity Scale (BE-CGI-S), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Modified for Binge Eating (Y-BOCS-BE), and the proportion of patients with 100% cessation of binge-eating episodes during the final 4 weeks of treatment. Efficacy was assessed using an MMRM analysis (and a logistic regression model for cessation) with a pre-specified sequential testing procedure used to control overall type I error rate. Results: A total of 486 were in the ITT population (dasotraline 6 mg/d (N=162), 4 mg/d (N=161), or placebo (N=163). At week 12, treatment with dasotraline was associated with significant reduction in number of binge-eating days per week in the 6 mg/d group vs. placebo (-3.5 vs. -2.9; P=0.0045), but non-significant improvement in the 4 mg/d group vs. placebo (-3.2; P=0.12). Greater improvement was observed vs. placebo for dasotraline 6 mg/d and 4 mg/d, respectively, on the BE-CGI-S (P<0.01 and P<0.03) and the Y-BOC-BE (P<0.001 and P<0.02; all P-values were nominal, not adjusted for multiplicity). The proportion of patients who achieved 4-week cessation of binge-eating episodes was only significant for the dasotraline 6 mg in the completer population (P<0.05; post-hoc analysis) but was not significant for either dose of dasotraline vs. placebo when drop-outs were included in the analysis. The most common adverse events on dasotraline 6 mg/d and 4 mg/d were combined insomnia (early, middle, late), dry mouth, headache, decreased appetite, nausea, and anxiety. Changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure were minimal. Mean baseline to endpoint changes in supine pulse rate on dasotraline 6 mg/d and 4 mg/d vs. placebo was +6.2 bpm and +4.8 vs. +0.2 bpm. Conclusions: In this 12-week, placebo-controlled, fixed-dose study, treatment with dasotraline 6 mg/d was associated with a significant reduction in frequency of binge-eating days per week; efficacy was not demonstrated for the 4 mg dose. Treatment with both doses of dasotraline resulted in improvement in the Y-BOCS-BE and the BE-CGI-S. Dasotraline was safe and generally well-tolerated at both doses; most common adverse events were insomnia, dry mouth and headache. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03107026 Funding Acknowledgements: Supported by funding from Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.


The transport process of sputtered atoms has been studied experimentally through deposition rate measurement by changing the target-to-substrate (T–S) distance systematically along with the gas pressure and target element. The deposition rate showed power-law decay with the T–S distance, and the slope of the log–log plot became steep at a transition pressure. The transition pressure decreased as the mass of the sputtered atoms decreased, which suggested that the transition was related to the transport of the sputtered atoms and their thermalization. Two separated thickness monitors showed that the thickness uniformity was worsened by the thermalization.


This monograph provides research findings on guidance and counseling services in Kenyan secondary schools. The objective of the study was to examine student's perception towards guidance and counseling public secondary schools. The monograph draws conclusions from the data analysis which revealed that most students in South Kisii public secondary schools are generally aware of the existence of guidance and counseling services in their respective schools The study further found out that the outcomes of guidance and counseling services in South Kisii public secondary schools has a positive influence in social personal students roles, students career development roles and students academic improvement roles. The study found out that guidance and counseling services in most of the public secondary schools in South Kisii District has been hindered by a number challenges such as lack of cooperation from students, lack of good time management, lack of trained personnel, inadequate resources materials, poor influence from peers and general ignorance of the students on the importance of the services.


Abstract. The purpose of this study is the verification of the BOLAM weather prediction model over the area of Cyprus. The verification period spans from 1 January 2007 till 31 December 2007 and the parameters studied are: temperature, wind and precipitation. The model forecasts are compared to the observations recorded at three locations on the island, where Automatic Weather Observing Systems are operated by the Meteorological Service of Cyprus, namely, those of Larnaka and Paphos Airports and at Athalassa. The statistical analysis includes calculation of the mean error, the mean absolute error and the standard deviation. Based on the construction of a contingency table, the probability of detection of a precipitation event and the false alarm rate are calculated. Finally, an example of BOLAM forecasts for a case study of a low pressure affecting Cyprus during winter is presented and discussed.


This work is the second and last part of a study whose aim is to present the vibrational aspects of a system with a centrifugal pendulum vibration absorber (i.e. CPVA). The aim of this work, specifically, is to develop a mathematical model of a front engine–front wheel drive powertrain to study gear rattle phenomenon, and to install on its clutch disk's flange a CPVA in order to understand what are the effects of this device on the dynamics of this system.Results from the linear analysis show that the eigenfrequencies of the system vary with the engine speed. They oscillate between the eigenvalues of the system without the CPVA and, for regions away from the tuning frequency of the pendulum, which is the second order of rotation of the engine, the behaviour of the system remains the same. However, near the tuning frequency of the pendulum, the behaviour of the system varies very much, and the amplitude of vibration of the gearbox's inner parts diminishes.Simulations of the powertrain without and with the nonlinear model of the studied device show that its presence reduces dramatically the vibrations inside the gearbox and its nonlinear character does not influence the effectiveness of this solution.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


ABStr Act Automatic target detection like oil tank from satellite based remote sensing imagery is one of the important domains in many civilian and military applications. This could be used for disaster monitoring, oil leakage, etc. We present an automatic approach for detection of circular shaped bright oil tanks with high accuracy. The image is first enhanced to emphasize the bright objects using a morphological approach. Then, the enhanced image is segmented using split-and-merge segmentation technique. Here, we introduce a knowledge base strategy based on the region removal technique and spatial relationship operation for detection of possible oil tanks from the segmented image using minimal spanning tree. Lastly, we introduce a supervised classifier, for identification of oil tanks, based on the knowledge database of large amount data of oil tanks. The uniqueness of the proposed technique is that it is useful for detection bright oil tanks from high as well as low resolution images, but the technique is always better for high-resolution imagery. We have systematically evaluated the algorithm on different satellite images like IRS – 1C, IKONOS, QuickBird, and CARTOSAT – 2A. The proposed technique is detected bright structures but unable to detect the dark structure. If the oil tank structures are bright relative to the background illumination in the image then the detection accuracy by the proposed technique for the high resolution image is more than 95 per cent.


Simple, sensitive and rapid spectrophotometric methods are developed for the determination of Nicardipine in pharmaceutical formulations. Method A is based on the extractive spectrophotometry and the final color developed is due to ion association complex formation with Bromothymol blue (BTB) at P 3.7 resulting in the formation of a yellow color solution that exhibited maximum absorption at wavelength 380nm. Method B is based on the yellow color developed which is due to ion association complex between methyl orange (MO) at P 3.7 and nicardipine that exhibited maximum absorption at a wave length of 430nm. Both ion association complexes are extracted into chloroform and Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration ranges 1.0-10.0 μgml and 2.010.0 μgml for methods A and B respectively. Both the methods have been successfully applied for the assay of the drug in pharmaceutical formulations. There is No interference was observed from common pharmaceutical adjuvants. The reliability and the performance of the proposed methods are established by point and interval hypothesis tests and through recovery studies.


AbstractThis article presents the economic dogma that underlies the reform legislation-Blass-Steagell Act-that was meant to regulate and control the American financial system to prevent another Great Depression or serious recession.AcronymsGDP Gross Domestic ProductIntroductionThe Glass-Steagell Act of 1933 regulated Wall Street investment and finance for sixty-nine years. At the time it corrected the excesses of financial institutions which brought on the Great Depression. But the momentum for the current economic disaster started three decades ago when wage earners' incomes in the United States started to flatten out, while costs in housing, transportation, health care, food, and education have risen precipitously in that same time period. Warnings from regulators and politicians such as Brooksley Born, Elizabeth Warren, Russell Feingold and Bernie Sanders were unheeded, specifically when this led to the speculation on "derivatives" and "credit default swaps" which Warren Buffett describes as "financial weapons of mass destruction."1 The devastation was quickly felt by American society and calls for greater economic accountability were heard, but little was done by way of salvaging the middle class and poor. The focus of this research will be to reexamine possible remedies to the dysfunction of the economy by drawing attention to the tradition of radical political economy and the movements of Fabianism, Syndicalism, and Guild Socialism as a check against neoliberalism which was the theoretical basis for the elimination of the Glass-Steagell Act. The rescinding of this law and policy in essence stripped the American economy of regulatory safeguards and ruined the lives of people (Sherman & Sherman, 2012). What is being presented here is a defense of labor rights and the ownership of surplus value created by workers, both industrial and intellectual, along with the common grounding of Marx's "labor theory of value" and Locke's "labor theory of property."Political-Economic ContextThe economic dogma underlying the rescinding of the Glass-Steagell Act has been based on the concept of "neoliberalism," which argues that the maximization of economic growth must be based on "free trade" and "lassiez faire" theory. The indisputable proof of the success of neoliberalism can be identified in total economic output in terms of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Thus economic growth, understood in terms of GDP, is the fundamental criterion for assessing the effectiveness and success of markets. Moreover, they argue that economic growth provides a progressive force for the rest of the world in terms of liberation from poverty, sickness, starvation, etc. Furthermore, if recovery from the recent economic disaster is to take place, then the deregulation of markets must be maintained in order for financial institutions to remain competitive and profitable (Schultz, 2010).In contrast, the radical traditions argue that neoliberalism, as it has manifested itself in free and relatively unregulated financial markets, has served the economic wants of elites in the United States and world community. Basic human needs are left to the whims of the market. The result of this strategy has become abundantly clear, the "rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer." Thus radical economists argue that market strategies should serve the basic and fundamental needs of people as its first priority focusing on three key issues: (1) the moral and economic limitations on a modern capitalist market economy; (2) the context and rationale for government action in promoting economic justice; and (3) the importance of a democratic economy and social welfare policy as economic security.This does not in any way imply that classical, neoclassical, or conservative critiques of capitalism are not relevant. Nor does this exclude Schumpeter's theory of "capitalist breakdown" as this relates to capitalism's propensity for continuous economic growth and expansion, or as Schumpeter describes "creative destruction. …


The level of quality that can be achieved by modern concatenative text-to-speech synthesis heavily depends on the optimization criteria used in the unit selection process. While effective cost functions arise naturally in the assessment of prosodic characteristics, the criteria typically selected to quantify discontinuities at the speech signal level do not tightly reflect users' perception of the resulting acoustic waveform. This paper introduces a novel discontinuity measure which jointly, albeit implicitly, accounts for both interframe incoherence and discrepancies in formant frequencies/bandwidths. This metric is derived from a distinct feature extraction paradigm, eschewing general purpose Fourier analysis in favor of a separately optimized modal decomposition for each boundary region. This alternative transform framework preserves, by construction, those properties of the waveform which are globally relevant to each concatenation considered. Experimental evaluations are conducted to characterize the behavior of the new measure, first on a contiguity prediction task, and then via a systematic listening comparison using a conventional metric as baseline. The results underscores the viability of the proposed approach in quantifying the perception of discontinuity between acoustic units.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have increased risks of cardiovascular diseases, but the role of traditional and non-traditional cardiovascular risk factors remains unclear. We investigated if the cardiovascular risk profile differs between patients with inflammatory bowel disease and individuals in the general population.

METHODS
We included a population of 108789 participants from the Copenhagen General Population Study of individuals of Danish descent aged 20-100 years. The population included 1203 individuals with prevalent inflammatory bowel disease [347 with Crohn's disease and 856 with ulcerative colitis]. The cardiovascular risk profile was assessed by traditional risk factors [plasma lipids and glucose, body composition measures, and blood pressure] and non-traditional risk factors [inflammatory markers and biomarkers of liver and pancreas function].

RESULTS
Even though patients with inflammatory bowel disease more frequently are diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases, traditional cardiovascular risk factors were not increased. Indeed, patients with inflammatory bowel disease had slightly lower plasma levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Levels of inflammatory markers, particularly high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, were higher in individuals with versus without a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease, when assessed at a random point in time during the disease course.

CONCLUSIONS
The increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in patients with inflammatory bowel disease may be linked to chronic systemic inflammation rather than to traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Further studies need to examine whether cardiovascular-preventive strategies should focus on optimising management of inflammation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease rather than focusing on traditional cardiovascular risk factors.


In this paper we present a novel `spirit level' sensor derived from a well known thermal flow sensor. The operation principle is based on the temperature difference of two identical heaters, caused by buoyancy of air. Heating as well as temperature sensing of the structures is carried out using temperature-dependent platinum resistors. Due to its simplicity the sensor is easily fabricated in silicon micro-machining technology. The theory describing the sensor is presented. The first experiments, using dc signals only, show adequate sensitivity, although high-accuracy operation is hampered by thermal drift.


In this paper, I developed a calibrated optimal dynamic asset allocation model with housing rental market, housing adjustment costs, mortgage collateral borrowing requirement, and try to study the relationship between homeownership and households' portfolio choice. The result showed that the homeownership is hump-shaped in ages, and the liquidity of housing has significant impact on optimal portfolio choice of households. Homeowners tend to be more risk averse in financial investment than renters who are not given a homeownership choice. Downpayment ratio crowds out the housing position at the early stage of life-cycle for saving more wealth to buy a house, and descends the stockholdings of young households because of illiquid home equity restrictions. With the increase of transaction cost on housing, a homeowner want to invest more in stock to acquire more benefit to pay for the increasing potential adjustment cost, and tend to hold their house for a longer period of time.


In recent years, horizontal collaboration in logistics is believed to positively impact business performance by reducing cost and increasing fulfillment rates. However, the implementation of horizontal collaborative logistics in MSME clusters in Indonesia still scarce. This research aims to determine the factors that affect the acceptance of industrial clusters to determine the possibility of implementing the concept of collaborative logistics. By combining equality of benefits, competences equity, leadership, trust, competition, cluster's roles, perceived benefits, and COVID-19 pandemic, a conceptual framework for studying the influencing factors of cooperation intentions is proposed. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) was conducted on 102 respondents (31 pilots and 71 full research) from business owners or operation managers of six MSME clusters. The results show that the role of trust and clusters has significantly promoted MSME's intention to carry out horizontal logistics collaboration. In addition, the changing business conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be one of the influencing factors.
Keywords : Horizontal Collaboration, Logistic, MSME Cluster, Covid-19


Aquaglyceroporins, belonging to the family of aquaporins (AQPs), are integral plasma membrane proteins permeable to water and glycerol that have emerged as key players in obesity. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression profile of AQPs in undifferentiated and differentiated 3T3-L1 cells and to investigate the changes in expression of aquaglyceroporins in 3T3-L1 cells differentiated into adipocytes and subjected to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) mimicking inflammation occurring during obesity. Furthermore, the study aimed at identifying the signaling cascade involved in the regulation of aquaglyceroporins expression upon LPS stimulation. 3T3-L1 cells were grown as undifferentiated cells (UDC; preadipocytes) or cells differentiated into adipocytes (DC, adipocytes). DC were incubated in the presence or absence of LPS with or without inhibitors of various protein kinases. AQPs mRNA expression levels were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). AQP1, AQP2, AQP3, AQP9 and AQP11 mRNA were expressed in both UDC and DC, whereas AQP4, AQP7 and AQP8 mRNA were expressed only in DC. In DC, LPS up-regulated AQP3 mRNA levels (p < 0.05) compared to control; these effects were inhibited by CLI095, SP600125 and BAY11-7082 (p < 0.05). LPS decreased both AQP7 and AQP11 mRNA levels (p < 0.01) in DC as compared to control; this decrease was inhibited by CLI095 and BAY11-7082 (p < 0.05) and additionally by SP00125 for AQP7 (p < 0.05). SB203580 had no effect on LPS-induced AQP3, AQP7 and AQP11 mRNA levels modulations. In conclusion, our results clearly show that many AQPs are expressed in murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Moreover, in DCs, LPS led to decreased AQP7 and AQP11 mRNA levels but to increased AQP3 mRNA levels, resulting from the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-induced activation of JNK and/or NFκB pathway.


Achieving maximum possible rate of inferencing with minimum hardware resources plays a major role in reducing enterprise operational costs. In this paper we explore use of PCIe streaming on FPGA based platforms to achieve high throughput. PCIe streaming is a unique capability available on FPGA that eliminates the need for memory copy overheads. We have presented our results for inferences on a gradient boosted trees model, for online retail recommendations. We compare the results achieved with the popular library implementations on GPU and the CPU platforms and observe that the PCIe streaming enabled FPGA implementation achieves the best overall measured performance. We also measure power consumption across all platforms and find that the PCIe streaming on FPGA platform achieves the 25x and 12x better energy efficiency than an implementation on CPU and GPU platforms, respectively. We discuss the conditions that need to be met, in order to achieve this kind of acceleration on the FPGA. Further, we analyze the run time statistics on GPU and FPGA and identify opportunities to enhance performance on both the platforms.


The mathematical model of the biofilteration of dimethyl sulphide (DMS) in a benchscale biofilter is presented. This model contains the diffusion of the compounds through the c and degradation of the compound along the biofilter column. The model presented here is based on the mass transfer in gas-biofilm interface and chemical oxidation in the gas phase. Analytical expressions pertaining to the dimethyl sulphide concentration in the gas phase and bio-film phase have been derived using the new Homotopy perturbation method for all possible values of parameters. Furthermore, in this paper the numerical simulation of the problem is also reported using the Matlab program to investigate the dynamics of the system. A satisfactory agreement between theoretical predictions and numerical result is observed.


Atrial fibrillation is a common cardiac arrhythmia that has many risk factors including some medications; however, the effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and its risk is not well assessed. This study was conducted to find out if there is an association between the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of atrial fibrillation. The study was conducted at Al-Hussein Medical City Hospital in Karbala-Iraq as a retrospective case-control study between September 2014 and March 2015; including 90 patients with atrial fibrillation and 90 control subjects who were age and sex matched, and based on risk-set sampling. Current use of NSAID was started within one month and chronic use for more than one month was recorded. The current use of NSAIDs by patients with atrial fibrillation was found in 43 patients out of 90 (47.7%) of which new users were 29 (32.2%) and chronic users were 14 (15.5%), while it was found in 27 out of 90 (30%) of the control subjects who were current users of NSAIDs. That difference was statistically significant (p-value was 0.015), the odds ratio (OR) was 2.135 and 95% confidence intervals (CI) was 1.16-3.94. This study suggests that the current use of NSAIDs might be associated with increased risk of incidence of atrial fibrillation.

 Key words: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, atrial fibrillation.


PURPOSE
Quality Assurance (QA) measurements of proton therapy fields must accurately measure steep longitudinal dose gradients as well as characterize the dose distribution laterally. Currently, available devices for two-dimensional field measurements perturb the dose distribution such that routine QA measurements performed at multiple depths require multiple field deliveries and are time consuming.

METHODS
A design procedure for a two-dimensional detector array is introduced whereby the proton energy loss and scatter are adjusted so that the downstream dose distribution is maintained to be equivalent to that which would occur in uniform water. Starting with the design for an existing, functional two-dimensional segmented ion chamber prototype, a compensating material is introduced downstream of the detector to simultaneously equate the energy loss and lateral scatter in the detector assembly to the values in water. An analytic formalism and procedure is demonstrated to calculate the properties of the compensating material in the general case of multiple layers of arbitrary material. The resulting design is validated with Monte Carlo simulations.

RESULTS
With respect to the specific prototype design considered, the results indicate that a graphite compensating layer of the proper dimensions can yield proton beam range perturbation less than 0.1mm and beam sigma perturbation less than 2% across the energy range of therapeutic proton beams.

CONCLUSION
We have shown that, for a 2D gas-filled detector array, a graphite-compensating layer can balance the energy loss and multiple Coulomb scattering relative to uniform water. We have demonstrated an analytic formalism and procedure to determine a compensating material in the general case of multiple layers of arbitrary material. This work was supported by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command under Contract Agreement No. DAMD17-W81XWH-04-2-0022. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the US Army.


This paper is concerned with the pure displacement problem of planar linear elasticity. Our interest is focused on the locking-free FEM approximation of the problem in the case of almost incompressible material. Crouzeix-Raviart linear finite elements are implemented. An optimal order pure algebraic multiplicative two-level preconditioner for the related stiffness matrix is developed. The proposed construction is based on a proper hierarchical basis of the FEM space. It is important to note that the nodal FEM spaces corresponding to successive levels of mesh refinements are not nested for the non-conforming elements under consideration. Local spectral analysis is applied to determine the scaling parameter of the preconditioner as well as to estimate the related constant in the strengthened CBS inequality. The derived estimates are uniform with respect to the Poisson ratio ν ∈ (0, 0.5). A set of numerical tests is presented to illustrate the accuracy of the FEM approximation, and the convergence rate of the two-level PCG method. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We report the atomic structure of a multicomponent Cu45Zr45Ag10 bulk metallic glass investigated by state-of-the-art experimental and computational techniques. In comparison with a binary Cu50Zr50 metallic glass, Zr-rich interpenetrating clusters centered by paired and stringed Ag atoms and Cu-rich icosahedra are widely observed in the ternary Cu45Zr45Ag10 alloy. The atomic-scale heterogeneity caused by chemical short- and medium-range order is found to play a key role in stabilizing the liquid phase and in improving the glass forming ability of the multicomponent alloy.


OBJECTIVES
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation with a transaortic approach (TAo-TAVI) is an alternative to transapical or femoral access. We studied the procedural and midterm efficacy and safety of TAo-TAVI with Edwards Sapien XT and Medtronic CoreValve devices.

METHODS
Among 901 patients receiving TAVI since 2006, 265 consecutive patients underwent TAo-TAVI between January 2011 and September 2014. Procedural and midterm results were evaluated according to Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 criteria.

RESULTS
The mean age was 83 ± 5 years. Sapien XT and CoreValve were used in 191 (72.1%) and 74 (27.9%) patients, respectively. Full sternotomy made elective concomitant off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting possible in 38 patients (14.3%) with severe coronary artery disease unsuitable for percutaneous coronary intervention. The device success rate was 95.5%. Postprocedural paravalvular leak  ≥2/4 was observed in 16 patients (6.4%). Emergency open chest surgery was required in 10 patients (3.8%) (3 aortic dissections, 3 valve embolizations, 2 LMCA occlusions, 1 aortic annulus rupture and 1 aortic rupture). Cerebrovascular accidents occurred in 3 patients (1.1%). Transfusions  ≥4 units were required in 36 patients (13.6%). New pacemakers were implanted in 26 patients (9.8%). Thirty-day and 1-year mortality were 8.7% and 16.2%, respectively. Mean follow-up duration was 24 ± 6 months. At 3 years, freedom from all-cause death was 80% ± 4%. New York Heart Association class <III included 81% (n = 172) of patients alive and without prosthetic echocardiographic dysfunction at follow-up (mean gradient 10.5 ± 5.6 mmHg).

CONCLUSION
The TAo-TAVI approach confirms its safety and effectiveness with satisfactory procedural and midterm outcomes with both currently available devices.


Two independent chemostat cultivations were performed for both wild type and trxB1 over-expression strain, NZ7602. Three hybridization experiments, all with the same hybridization scheme (see overall design), were performed with samples obtained from these chemostats before and after treatment with hydrogen peroxide (30 minutes 2.5 mM peroxide). Two of these experiments used samples obtained from the same fermentation. In each experiment three arrays were used. Per array two cDNA labeled targets were hybridized on custom designed L. plantarum WCFS1 11K Agilent oligo microarrays (GEO Acc. Nr. GPL4318) using the Agilent 60-mer oligo microarray processing protocol version 4.1. These microarrays contained an average of 3 probes per gene. Dried slides were scanned in the Scan Array Express (PerkinElmer Life Sciences; Packard Bioscience) at 10 microns. Spot intensity data was quantified (average intensity) in ImaGene version 5.0 (BioDiscovery, Inc., El Segundo, CA). Signal intensities of all probes were corrected against background and normalized by fitting a plot of M (= 2log [cy5 intensity/cy3 intensity]) against A (= 0.5 • 2log [cy5 intensity • cy3 intensity]) using the lowess algorithm in BASE [32]. The fold change (FC) is defined as 2M. For the statistical analysis we used microarray analysis of variation (R/maanova) [33] In this maanova test we used three variables: fermentation, treatment, and genotype. We tested the model taking into consideration the interaction between genotype and treatment. Significantly regulated genes were defined as genes whose nominal adjusted pvalues were less than 10% and a FC>1.5. The maanova test resulted only in two sets of interesting data because the interaction effect did not reveal significant changes in transcript levels. One dataset representing the transcripts affected as a result of the overproduction of TR and another set representing the transcripts affected due to oxidative stress. These two datasets were denominated genotype and hydrogen peroxide datasets respectively.


Some of the "new viewpoints" in the meridians study of foreign countries were the reappearance of the old mode and connotation of the former meridian research. The meridian theory is an early understanding of the living life and the surface regulation law of the living life. Combined with the relevant viewpoints of biological heterogeneity research, it may not be enough to analyze the biological rationality of the meridian theory with the current biological knowledge. The biological rationality researches of the meridian theory should be based on a clear effect of acupuncture and moxibustion, integrating the knowledge of acupuncture and moxibustion since the Miraculous Pivot: Meridian, absorbing the ideas and techniques of cutting-edge concepts, and conducting researches on the relations between acupoints-symptoms, acupoints-efficacy, and dose-effect.


Abstract What significance should the subjective experiences of poor people have in a normative philosophical critique of poverty? In this paper, we take up this question and answer it by looking at two different normative theories: the capability approach of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and the recognition approach of Axel Honneth. While Sen and Nussbaum are largely quite reluctant toward the role of subjective experiences of poor people, the recognition approach views them as central for its social critique of poverty. We will defend the thesis that a more inclusive view on the role of the subjects of suffering and injustice is needed, that such subjective experiences and the unique first-hand knowledge it produces cannot be substituted by objective criteria, while such criteria are needed to bolster – and in some cases also criticize – the poverty knowledge of poor people.


The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of organizational culture on organizational commitment in the context of the Vietnam telecom industry. The model was tested with a sample of 324 employees working for telecom companies. The result from the partial least squares method (PLS) using SmartPLS 3.0 program revealed a good fit between collected data and measurement scales which were introduced and developed in the Western contexts. Besides, the findings showed that the six dimensions of organizational culture had positive impacts on organizational commitment decreasingly: innovativeness, teamwork, training and development, reward and recognition, organizational communication, empowerment. This discovery highlighted the importance of organizational culture in enhancing employee commitment towards the organization as well as calls the management attention to these dimensions and long-term development policies.


Most cardiac diseases are associated with fibrosis. Calcineurin (CaN) is regulated by Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM). The CaN-NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cell) pathway is involved in the process of cardiac diseases, such as cardiac hypertrophy, but its effect on myocardial fibrosis remains unclear. The present study investigates whether the CaN-NFAT pathway is involved in cardiac fibroblast (CF) proliferation induced by electrical field stimulation (EFS), which recently became a popular treatment for heart failure and cardiac tissue engineering. CF proliferation was evaluated by a cell survival assay (MTT) and cell counts. Myocardial fibrosis was assessed by collagen I and collagen III protein expression. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged NFAT was used to detect NFAT nuclear translocation. CF proliferation, myocardial fibrosis, CaN activity, and NFAT nuclear translocation were enhanced by EFS. More importantly, these effects were abolished by CaN inhibitors, dominant negative CaN (DN-CaN), and CaN gene silenced with siRNA. Furthermore, buffering intracellular Ca(2+) with BAPTA-AM and blocking Ca(2+) influx with nifedipine suppressed EFS-induced increase in intracellular Ca(2+) and CF proliferation. These results suggested that the CaN-NFAT pathway mediates CF proliferation, and that the CaN-NFAT pathway might be a possible therapeutic target for EFS-induced myocardial fibrosis and cardiac tissue engineering.


OBJECTIVE
A number of preexisting clinical conditions are generally accepted as contraindications to vaginal hysterectomy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of this concept.

STUDY DESIGN
The study vaginal hysterectomy group consisted of 250 consecutive patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy. These patients (1) had a large uterus (>180 g), (2) either were nulliparous or had no previous vaginal delivery, or (3) had a previous cesarean delivery or pelvic laparotomy. Three control groups used for comparison underwent (1) laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy, (2) vaginal hysterectomy, or (3) abdominal hysterectomy. The records for all patients were analyzed for age, weight, parity, primary diagnosis, uterine size, operative time, blood loss, analgesia, hospital stay, resumption of diet, incidence of morcellation, and surgical complications. Sample size calculations were based on previous studies of complications associated with vaginal hysterectomy (alpha =.05; beta =.20).

RESULTS
Hysterectomy was successfully completed by the intended vaginal route in all study patients. Major and minor complications (3.2%) were significantly less (P <.001) than in the other groups as follows: vaginal hysterectomy, 10.4%; laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy, 11.6%; and abdominal hysterectomy, 13.6%. The decrease in hematocrit was 5.7% in the study vaginal hysterectomy group compared with 6.2% for vaginal hysterectomy, 6.5% for abdominal hysterectomy (P =.009), and 6.6% for laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (P =.002). Hospital stay was shorter for the study group (2.1 days) than for vaginal hysterectomy (2.3 days; P <.001) and abdominal hysterectomy (2.7 days; P <.001). Operative time was shorter in the study vaginal hysterectomy group (49 minutes) than with laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (76 minutes; P <.001) or abdominal hysterectomy (61 minutes; P <.001), although morcellation was carried out more frequently in the study group (34%) than with vaginal hysterectomy (4%) or laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (11%).

CONCLUSION
Our data indicate that a large uterus, nulliparity, previous cesarean delivery, and pelvic laparotomy rarely constitute contraindications to vaginal hysterectomy.


BACKGROUND
Prior to the 1980s, permanent feeding tube placement was limited to an open surgical procedure until Gauderer and colleagues described the safe placement of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes. This procedure has since expanded beyond the realm of surgeons to include gastroenterologists, thoracic surgeons, and interventional radiologists. In some academic centers, interventional pulmonologists (IPs) also perform this procedure. We describe the safety and feasibility of PEG tube placement by IPs in a critically ill population.

METHODS
Prospectively collected data of patients in a medical ICU undergoing PEG tube placement from 2003 to 2007 at a tertiary-care center were reviewed. Inclusion criteria included all PEG tube insertions performed or attempted by the IP team. Data were collected on mortality, PEG tube removal rate, total number of days with PEG tube, and complication rates. Follow-up included hospital length of stay and phone contact after discharge. Procedural and long-term PEG-related complications were recorded.

RESULTS
Seventy-two patients were studied. PEG tube insertion was completed successfully in 70 (97.2%), with follow-up data in 69 of these 70. Thirty-day mortality was 11.7%. No deaths or immediate complications were attributed to PEG tube placement. PEG tube removal occurred in 27 patients, with a median time to removal of 76 days.

CONCLUSIONS
Bedside PEG tube placement can be performed safely and effectively by trained IPs. Because percutaneous tracheostomy is currently performed by IPs, the ability to place both PEG and tracheostomy tubes at the same time has the potential for decreased costs, anesthesia exposure, procedural times, ventilator times, and ICU days.


MAKE EVERY EVENT A SUCCESS
This book is targeted to students, researchers and also event practitioners who are dealing with event management. It is resourceful to postgraduate students who are carrying research work and also to undergraduate students in their final year project where this book describes the research process that includes the analysis of data. This book is organised into five chapters where the first chapter describes the meaning of event and also event management together with event planning process. The second chapter is about MICE event that portraying Malaysia as new international destination for the event. The third chapter identifies success factors of event management. While, the fourth chapter presents a research work on identifying critical success factors of MICE event management and the final chapter elaborates the application of critical success factors in organising MICE event.


The compiler process, the one that transforms a program in a high level language into assembly or binary code, is a much elaborated process that mixes several powerful technologies, some of them developed specifically for this area. Nowadays, compilers are highly developed systems that can analyze and improve quite efficiently the source code, profiting from all the potential of the new processor architectures. This paper introduces a common type of analysis the Data Flow Analysis – that is used to compute flow-sensitive information about programs, whose results are essential to produce many code optimizations. It is also argued that the problem of analyzing the data flow in software programs has many similarities with the problems found in industrial engineering; planning and management. As consequence, it is possible to apply analysis and optimization techniques used by compilers in these areas.


Myoglobin (Mb) was isolated from skeletal muscle of JCL-ICR mice by heat denaturation-gel filtration combined with ion exchange chromatography or chromatofocusing by which isoelectric point of the main component was estimated as 7.63 +/- 0.09 (20 degrees C). The Mb was homogeneous by gel electrophoretic and ultracentrifugal analysis. The molecular weight by sedimentation equilibrium was 1.80 X 10(4) and essentially identical with the values by the iron analysis (1.82 X 10(4)) and amino acid composition (1.78 X 10(4)) in which one residue of cysteine was found per molecule. The spectroscopic properties of deoxy-, oxy-, carboxy- and ferri-derivatives of the protein were determined in ultraviolet, Soret and visible regions. The pK' of acid-alkaline transition of the ferri-form was estimated as 8.57 +/- 0.30 (30 degrees C) from the pH-dependent spectral changes. The oxygen equilibrium studies revealed complete absence of such allosteric properties as heme-heme interaction, anion effect and Bohr effect. Oxygen tension for the half-oxygenation (P50) was 0.69 +/- 0.06 Torr (20 degrees C) and its temperature-dependent change gave the delta H degrees of -14.1 kcal/mole.


Despite a reputation as the only provincial premier who speaks neither of the official languages of Canada, William Bennett, in the interview quoted above, provides a succinct rationale for the economic analysis of constitution-making, a theme for this article, and an accurate paraphrase of the history of Canadian constitutional affairs over the last twelve decades. Although there have been occasional court cases and preemptive intrusions, the dramatic realignment of responsibilities across the three levels of government since 1867 has been accomplished mainly by intergovernmental negotiation. As Alan Cairns has argued, "[m]uch of the change which has occurred has not been formally designated as constitutional, and it has not been accompanied by fanfare. It has simply represented the handiwork of busy men attempting to work an on-going system of government."' 2 Humble tools sometimes accomplish great things, however, and the metamorphosis of Canada's Constitution has been remarkable. 3 Since, in large part, economics is the study of exchange, the negotiation of constitutional accommodations seems a natural subject for economic analysis. The purpose of this article is to see what light an economic analysis may throw on the process by which constitutions are made and remade. The term "constitution" is used here to mean the rules, written and unwritten, that govern the division of responsibilities among the different levels of government in a federal state,4 while "economic analysis" refers to an approach based on the assumption that people's main motivation, at least in their public relations, is to "maximize their utility."' 5 The actors whose "utility maximization" is examined in this article are politicians,


Machinery risk rnalysis has become more important over the past few years with regard to the design of new machines as well as the modification of existing machines. This analysis also includes recommendations for protective measures to reduce the severity of risks and an evaluation of the effectiveness of these measures. The analysis is quite difficult to perform and is also a laborious process, since it has to be done for the entire life-cycle of the reference machinery. It represents the processing of relatively large amounts of data and information and uses a wide range of knowledge. So as to simplify and introduce a certain degree of automation in the hazard analysis process, a software tool was designed to support these activities - the RIAN program application was designed and implemented in cooperation with FAI TBU, and FME, BUT. It is implemented as a problem-oriented information system that includes generic data, a template of basic manufacturing facility types and also the data of specific production facilities. The database is used to store and ensure the basic management of data. The results of analyses performed are available to the user either interactively on computer screens, or in the form of reports. The application uses a client-server architecture and is therefore applicable to supporting the simultaneous work of multiple users.


The effect on learning of some important factors which are difficult to deal with, is very often ignored; fear is a key example of this situation. Due to the crucial influence of this feeling on learning, this paper tries to explain how it appears, which are its mechanisms and the way it acts on our mind, in order to get rid of it, or at least, mitigate its negative consequences.


Abstract After nearly five decades of internal armed conflict, Colombia's children and education system remain firmly under siege. Boys and girls as young as thirteen are pulled out of classrooms and thrown into battlefields. Teachers routinely disappear and/or are subjected to extrajudicial executions. Guerillas, paramilitaries, and the Colombian army all utilize school buildings as posts for their combatants. School zones have become littered with landmines. Child displacement and poverty have reached epidemic levels. In direct contradiction with the Rome Statute and the Colombian Ministry of Defense Directive 30743, the Colombian government is guilty of war crimes by employing children as spies and informants (Amnesty International 2008). Despite this multifaceted attack, however, dedicated individuals and organizations are working tirelessly to safeguard Colombia's youth by ensuring access to education and implementing innovative curriculum that cultivates a vibrant civil society based on the values of peaceful convivencia.