Energy minima on the potential energy surfaces of the ground and excited states have been characterized for three photoactive molecules that undergo excited-state intramolecular proton transfer: 3-hydroxychromone, N-salicylideneaniline, and 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole. Both the CC2 method and the TDDFT methodology with different exchange-correlation (XC) functionals differing by the amount of Hartree-Fock (HF) exchange have been employed. Besides the analysis of the structures along the reaction paths, this study has compared the TDDFT and CC2 results to provide guidelines for selecting the best XC functionals. Several geometrical parameters as well as the excitation energies are found to vary monotonically with the amount of HF exchange. Systematically, this study has addressed the ground-state geometries, those of the excited states, and their variations upon excitation, showing that the M06 XC functional provides the closest agreement with the CC2 results. Still, large differences of geometries have been observed between the different levels of approximation, mostly for the excited states: (i) Not all methods locate the same number of minima, (ii) the bond length variations upon excitation might be reversed, and (iii) the H-bond network can be modified from one level to another, changing the keto/enol character. Moreover, TDDFT/M06 and B3LYP-35 vertical excitation energies are in good agreement with the CC2 values. All in all, these results call for being cautious when using these optimized geometries for predicting the spectroscopic signatures of these compounds to understand the processes that take place during photoexcitation.


Buthidazole {3-[5-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl}-4-hydroxyl-1-methyl-2-imidazolidinone} was incubated for 30 days and then leached through Norfolk loamy sand, Lakeland loamy sand, Davidson clay, and Alamance silt loam soils. Similar amounts of the herbicide leached through all of the soils, but distribution in the soils varied greatly. 14C-buthidazole distribution in the Lakeland and Norfolk sandy soils was relatively uniform throughout the soil columns. In the Alamance silt loam and Davidson clay, much greater amounts of buthidazole were found in the upper soil zones than in the lower zones. Six metabolites of buthidazole (dihydroxy, desmethyl dihydroxy, dehydrate, methylurea, urea, and amine) were distributed in varying amounts in each of the soils.


The effect of cardiogenic shock (tamponade) on respiratory muscles performance was studied in 13 dogs breathing spontaneously. These 13 dogs were compared with 7 dogs artificially ventilated and paralyzed. Cardiac output amounted in both groups to 25-35% of the control value and was maintained constant. None of the dogs were hypoxic. All the spontaneously breathing dogs died on the average 140 +/- 15 min after the onset of cardiogenic shock, whereas the seven dogs artificially ventilated were all alive after 3 h and then killed. Death in the spontaneously breathing dogs was secondary to respiratory failure. Transdiaphragmatic pressure increased during the 1st h by 152 +/- 25% of control and then decreased by 286 +/- 18% in relation to the peak value before the death of the animals. No major changes in the mechanical properties of the respiratory system occurred. The decrease in transdiaphragmatic pressure occurred despite a marked increase per breath in the amplitude of the integrated electrical activity of the diaphragm and of the phrenic nerve. It is concluded that the ventilatory failure of cardiogenic shock is due to an impairment of the contractile process of the respiratory muscles. Artificial ventilation avoids respiratory failure and prolongs survival, which may bear important therapeutic implications.


The article presents, briefly and on a general level, the challenge of feminist perspectives to exegetical work with issues concerning the formation of the Early Church. As a concrete example, the author presents her understanding of the construction of Christian identity in the Book of Revelation.The article is a revised version of a paper read at the 7th Nordic New Testament Conference in Stavanger 2003.


We introduce a contractive map involving an altering distance function. The class of such maps need not be continuous and it is larger than the class of contractive maps. We prove the existence of fixed points of contractive maps involving an altering distance fuction in complete metric spaces. Our results generalize the results of Geraghty [M.A. Geraghty, On contractive maps, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 40 (1973) 604–608] and improves a result of Sastry et al. [K.P.R. Sastry, G.V.R. Babu, M.V.R. Kameswari, Fixed points of strip ϕ -contractions, Mathematical Communications 14 (2) (2009) 183–192]. Examples are provided in support of our results.


The environmental behaviour of perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAA) and their precursors was investigated in lake Tyrifjorden, downstream a factory producing paper products coated with per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). Low water concentrations (max 0.18 ng L-1 linear perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, L-PFOS) compared to biota (mean 149 µg kg-1 L-PFOS in perch livers) resulted in high bioaccumulation factors (L-PFOS BAFPerch liver: 8.05x105-5.14x106). Sediment concentrations were high, particularly for the PFOS precursor SAmPAP diester (max 1 872 µg kg-1). Biota-sediment accumulation factors (L-PFOS BSAFPerch liver: 22-559) were comparable to elsewhere, and concentrations of PFAA precursors and long chained PFAA in biota were positively correlated to the ratio of carbon isotopes (12C/13C), indicating positive correlations to dietary intake of benthic organisms. The sum fluorine from targeted analyses accounted for 54% of the extractable organic fluorine in sediment, and 9-108% in biota. This, and high trophic magnification factors (TMF, 3.7-9.3 for L-PFOS), suggests that hydrophobic precursors in sediments undergo transformation and are a main source of PFAA accumulation in top predator fish. Due to the combination of water exchange and dilution, transformation of larger hydrophobic precursors in sediments can be a source to PFAA, some of which are normally associated with uptake from water.


Objective: Infection with genital Mycoplasmas may have harm effects on the reproductive health of men, thus leading to male infertility. This study was performed to detect the prevalence of these bacteria and to study the sperm parameters in infertile men who referred to Royan Institute during 2009. Materials and Methods: Semen samples were collected from 220 infertile men and divided into three sections. The first section was used for semen analysis, the second section for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in which U4 and U5 primers were used for the amplification of the urease gene of U. urealyticum, and RNAH1 and RNAH2 primers were used for amplification of the 16S rRNA gene of M. hominis. Results: From a total of 220 semen samples cultured, 15.5% of M. hominis and 40.5% of U. urealyticum were isolated. Evaluation of semen parameters showed a lower pH in the U. urealyticum positive group and the group which was positive for both bacteria, rather than the group which contained no bacteria (p=0.007 and p=0.000, respectively). Also, the mean sperm motility was lower in the group which was positive for both bacteria when compared with the U. urealyticum positive group (p=0.009). Conclusion: The results of this study show that a high percent of infertile men are infected with these bacteria which may lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and infertility, thus isolation of these bacteria in infertile couples with no clinical symptoms is necessary and can be a part of a sexual transmitted disease (STD) control program.


It is critical for a keyword spotting model to have a small footprint as it typically runs on-device with low computational resources. However, maintaining the previous SOTA performance with reduced model size is challenging. In addition, a far-field and noisy environment with multiple signals interference aggravates the problem causing the accuracy to degrade significantly. In this paper, we present a multi-channel ConvMixer for speech command recognitions. The novel architecture introduces an additional audio channel mixing for channel audio interaction in a multi-channel audio setting to achieve better noise-robust features with more efficient computation. Besides, we proposed a centroid based awareness component to enhance the system by equipping it with additional spatial geometry information in the latent feature projection space. We evaluate our model using the new MISP challenge 2021 dataset. Our model achieves significant improvement against the official baseline with a 55% gain in the competition score (0.152) on raw microphone array input and a 63% (0.126) boost upon front-end speech enhancement.


Synergistic chemo-phototherapy has offered tremendous potential in cancer treatment. Nevertheless, nanosystems usually suffer from the complexity of multicomponents (polymeric or inorganic materials), which results in carrier-related toxicity issues. Moreover, the GSH over-expression of tumor cells seriously compromises ROS therapeutic efficiency. Herein, we designed a self-delivered nanodrug via Cu(II) coordination-driven co-self-assembly of celastrol (CST, a chemo-drug with anti-angiogenesis activity) and indocyanine green (ICG, a photosensitizer) for synergistic chemo-phototherapy with GSH depletion. The nanodrug was further cloaked by an erythrocyte membrane (RBC) to prolong the circulation time. Within the tumor microenvironment, the nanodrug would be disassembled upon intracellular GSH triggering. Moreover, the released Cu(II) could efficiently deplete the GSH, thus damaging the ROS-scavenging system and amplifying the phototherapeutic efficiency upon laser irradiation. The in vivo experiments validated the highly effective accumulation at tumor sites, potent tumor growth inhibition, and inappreciable systemic toxicity. The tumor microenvironment-responsive coordination-driven self-assembled biomimetic nanodrug may hold potential applications in tumor theranostics.


Case Report & The patient was a 13-year-old boy who fell from a bicycle. On arrival at our hospital, the patient was hemodynamically stable, with his chief complaint being heavy right fl ank pain. Laboratory fi ndings showed a creatine phosphokinase level of 263 IU / L, lactate dehydrogenase of 429 IU / L, aspartate amino transferase of 73 IU / L and alanine transaminase of 49 IU / L. Blood urea nitrogen was 16 mg / dl, creatinine was 0.8 mg / dl, hemoglobin was 13.2 mg / dl, and urinalysis showed many red blood cells per high power fi eld. Coagulation studies and other laboratory fi ndings were within normal limits. Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated hepatic and splenic lacerations, a retroperitoneal hematoma around the renal laceration (Grade 3) [1] and an IVCT without a urinoma ( ● ▶ Fig. 1 ). Successful Conservative Treatment of Pediatric Renal Trauma and Inferior Vena Caval Thrombosis


Cooperative Learning (CL) has been adopted in many countries in recent years. This pilot study looked at a one-year investigation into the teaching of English in Hong Kong secondary school classrooms. The teachers were given support to assist them in designing and carrying out group learning activities. These were organized so that learning was dependent on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in the groups. The data indicated that there were no significant differences in the per formance of the experimental group. However, what did become clear were the difficulties of transferring laboratory-based studies of task performance to the realities of the curriculum-in-action in normal classroom conditions.


In this study, the authors describe a modified non-blind and blind deconvolution model by introducing a regularisation parameter that incorporates the spatial image information. Indeed, they have used a weighted total variation term, where the weight is a spatially adaptive parameter based on the image gradient. The proposed models are solved by the split Bregman method. To handle adequately the discrete convolution transform in a moderate time, fast Fourier transform is used. Tests are conducted on several images, and for assessing the results, they define appropriate weighted versions of two standard image quality metrics. These new weighted metrics clearly highlight the advantage of the spatially adaptive approach.


Background: Under the impact of globalization and the coming of the Information Age, there is a paradigm shift occurring in the engineering curriculum and academic structure. Apart from the creation of new programs for the emerging fields in engineering, the approach and orientation have also been shifted from objective-based/input-based education to outcome-based education. The criteria for the new generation of quality engineering graduates have been much broadened. Engineering program structures are being revised to facilitate student mobility, and set to meet global recruitment needs. Focus of discussion: This paper is divided into two parts: The first concerned with the general engineering education development and the second describes the developments in the European Union, the United States, and Japan. Suggestions: To meet the new learning outcomes, approaches to learning, teaching, and assessments are revised and realigned. Not only have the graduates to update their professional knowledge, they should also have acquired various generic thinking and communication skills, the ethical sense of social responsibility, learning how to learn and life-long learning, knowledge of foreign language and other culture as well as authentic experience in doing research. Conclusion: As engineering education is being internationalized, the government can keep in step with the international community by joining regional and international cooperation initiatives in engineering education. Students should be encouraged to participate in international research exchange programs. Institutions of higher learning must design new program structures, identify desired learning outcomes, determine ways to align and attain their outcomes through revising course content, provide pedagogical training for faculties, adopt a variety of teaching and learning methods, and devise appropriate assessment criteria and methods.


Along with the proliferation of mobile devices and wireless signal coverage, IoT devices, such as smart wristbands for monitoring its owner's activity or sleep patterns, get great popularity. Wearable technology in human life has become quite useful due to the information given (sleep hours, heart rate, etc). However, wearables for animals does not give information about behaviour directly: they collect raw data that is sent to a server where, after a post-processing step, the behaviour is known. In this work, we present a smart IoT device that classifies different animal behaviours from the information obtained from on-board sensors using an embedded neural network running in the device. This information is uploaded to a server through a wireless sensor network based on Zigbee communication. The architecture of the device allows an easy assembly in a reduced dimension wearable case. The firmware allows a modular functionality by activating or deactivating modules independently, which improve the power efficiency of the device. The power consumption has been analyzed, allowing the 1Ah battery to work the system during several days. A novel localization and distance estimation technique (for 802.15.4 networks) is presented to recover a lost device in Donana National Park with unidirectional antennas and log-normalization distance estimation over RSSI.


In this contribution we present a simple method to evaluate harmonic distortion in the frequency domain of amplifiers embedded in a generic nonlinear feedback network. The closed-form expressions obtained are accurate and extend our understanding of nonlinear frequency behavior in general feedback circuits. As an example, linearity of an active-RC integrator is considered and analyzed in detail. The suitability of the proposed approach was confirmed by comparison with computer simulations.


The modal distributions of coherent structures evolving near the nozzle of a circular jet are considered. The effects produced on the instability modes by transverse curvature, flow divergence, inhomogeneous inflow conditions, and the detailed shape of the mean velocity profile, are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Linear stability analysis applied to a thin shear layer surrounding a large-diameter jet (i.e. a jet whose diameter is large in comparison with a typical width of the shear layer) indicates that many azimuthal modes are equally unstable. An increase in the relative thickness of the shear layer limits the number of unstable modes, and only one helical mode remains unstable at the end of the potential core. The linear model used as a transfer function is capable of predicting the spectral distribution of the velocity perturbations in a jet. This provides a rational explanation for the stepwise behaviour of the predominant frequency resulting from a continuous increase in the jet velocity.


The performance of a mobile robot with a vision system is assessed in an everyday object categorisation task. The ability of the robot to arrive at a specified object, behavioural categorisation, is compared to the moment to moment results from the computations of its vision system, here called perceptual classification. It is found that the mobile robot using the vision system is significantly more accurate at behavioural categorisation than the underlying performance of the visual system's perceptual categorisation. This result is discussed as supporting the hypothesis that embodied systems using real time algorithms find that 'fast, cheap' visual systems are sufficient for their needs.


Fibulin-1 is a calcium-binding glycoprotein present in the extracellular matrix and in the serum. The gene coding for fibulin-1 (FBLN1) was located by in situ hybridization of 3H-labeled cDNA probes to human and mouse metaphase chromosomes. The gene was assigned to the q13.2-q13.3 region of human chromosome 22 and to the E-F band of mouse chromosome 15. This finding extends the evolutionary conservation between human chromosome 22 and mouse chromosome 15.


Registration methods for point clouds have become a key component of many SLAM systems on autonomous vehicles. However, an accurate estimate of the uncertainty of such registration is a key requirement to a consistent fusion of this kind of measurements in a SLAM filter. This estimate, which is normally given as a covariance in the transformation computed between point cloud reference frames, has been modelled following different approaches, among which the most accurate is considered to be the Monte Carlo method. However, a Monte Carlo approximation is cumbersome to use inside a time-critical application such as online SLAM. Efforts have been made to estimate this covariance via machine learning using carefully designed features to abstract the raw point clouds [1]. However, the performance of this approach is sensitive to the features chosen. We argue that it is possible to learn the features along with the covariance by working with the raw data and thus we propose a new approach based on PointNet [2]. In this work, we train this network using the KL divergence between the learned uncertainty distribution and one computed by the Monte Carlo method as the loss. We test the performance of the general model presented applying it to our target use-case of SLAM with an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) restricted to the 2-dimensional registration of 3D bathymetric point clouds.


In this paper, we have considered the development of predictive collision avoidance as an individual driver behavior modeling. First, our investigation focuses on developing a subjective collision risk estimation model. Through the game theoretic estimation of the counterpart's behaviors and the corresponding time-evolution of the unsafe collision areas, we compute an objective collision model. In turn, we design a human-like predictive perception model for the collision with an adjacent vehicle, based on the objective collision model and the driver's subjective level of safety assurance. Next, a driving controller is designed to optimally avoid the anticipated collision for the prediction time horizon using model predictive control, which is founded on the subjective collision estimate that varies for every individual who has different aggressiveness. Simulation results indicate that the subject vehicle can react to the surrounding vehicles even without immediate actions from the counterpart. This simulates a typical driver's reasoning in view of his/her disposition so that the driver's reaction in response to roadway traffic is appropriately considered.


A rigorous mathematical model was developed for a complex
liquid-liquid-solid system in a batch reactor. The approach is general
but particularly well applicable for the indirect epoxidation of
vegetable oils according to the concept of N. Prileschajew. The model
considers intra- and interfacial mass transfer effects coupled to the
reaction kinetics. The liquid phases were described with chemical
approach (aqueous phase) and a reaction-diffusion approach (oil phase).
The oil droplets were treated as rigid spheres, in which the overall
reaction rate is influenced by chemical reactions and molecular
diffusion phenomena. The model was tested with a generic example, where
two reactions proceeded simultaneously in the aqueous and oil phases.
The example (i.e. fatty acid epoxidation à la Prileschajew) illustrated
the power of the real multiphase model in epoxidation processes. The
proposed modelling concept can be used for optimization purposes for
many applications, which comprise a complex water-oil-solid catalyst
system.


Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with memory deficiencies. In the current study we compared different aspects of verbal memory using standard and constructed measures of the Rey auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT). Performance on learning and recognition measures of RAVLT was similar in both ADHD and control groups. In contrast, adults with ADHD committed more double recalls and intrusion errors, indicating inaccurate recall processes. These findings suggest that memory problems in adults with ADHD may be caused by deficient executive processes that support retrieval from memory.


Abstract This essay challenges the ubiquitous and rarely questioned assertion that legal property rights are necessary for economic growth and argues that this view of development is incomplete, misleading, and dangerous. The faith in legal property rights emerged from neo-institutional economics, particularly from the work of Ronald Coase, Harold Demsetz, and Douglass North, who recognized that economic assets depended on informal social norms as well as formal legal ones. To date, however, development assistance policies have been narrowly focused on formal legal institutions and have resulted in limited success and often destabilized existing property regimes, leaving societies worse off than before. Through a comparative and historical analysis, this essay preliminarily addresses these theoretical and policy failures and aims to deepen and complicate our understanding of the role of formal legal property rights in changing societies. Examples from the 16th century English enclosure movement, postwar Japanese land reform, late 20th century Chinese economic growth, and 21st century Cambodia demonstrate that the role of formal property rights in economic growth is complex and contradictory. Law and property rights have sometimes slowed the process of change, sometimes legitimated it, sometimes become the very agent of change, and sometimes played no role at all. This essay contributes to the literature of law and development as well as contemporary policy debates by deconstructing the conventional paradigm of property rights and suggesting a more nuanced and contingent view.


The increasing complexity of embedded systems imposes system designers to use higher levels of abstraction than RTL in order to model, validate and analyze a system performances. It permits to prevent costly redesign efforts at RTL, which can adversely affect time-to-market. For this purpose transaction level modeling (TLM) approach is used. It allows the designers to rapidly verify and develop their designs at earlier design stages. In this paper we define the methodology we used to construct the STARSoC (Synthesis Tool for Adaptive and Reconfigurable System-On-Chip) TLM simulation environment. This platform aims to provide a rapid and accurate design space exploration at higher levels of abstractions for multiprocessor system on chip architectures. The platform reference design contains several OpenRISC 1200 Instruction Set Simulators (ISSs) wrapped under SystemC, and some basic peripherals within the SystemC simulation framework. In order to assist the system designer to find the best MPSoC solution depending on the application, we used SystemC language for modeling and simulating the design. The platform includes models for OpenRISC ISSs, bus model based on wishbone protocol and memory models. The simulation is based on different high level of abstractions.


The first part of this review on event-related potentials (ERPs) in children summarizes the role of ERPs in the study of normal cognitive development. The ERPs vary both as a function of the age of the child and also as a function of the cognitive processes that are required by the tasks. Topographical studies allow one to identify cortical regions involved in specific cognitive processes, and monitor their age-related changes. The second part of this paper reviews two examples of abnormal cognitive development (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and childhood autism) where the ERPs allow a better understanding of the dysfunction underlying the observed cognitive disorders.


Important advances in healthcare management by means of Operations Research techniques have been achieved over the past few years. One area in particular
is in helping patients in need of a kidney reduce their usually long waiting times.
One way to do this is through a kidney exchange program. If a patient needing a
kidney brings along a person (a relative or friend) willing to donate one of her/his
kidneys and if they both are clinically compatible then the donation can be done
immediately by mutual agreement. However, if this patient-donor pair (PDP) is not
compatible, an exchange with another PDP could take place. This could happen for
instance when the donor of one pair is compatible with the patient of another pair
and vice-versa. If such a pair is found, then they can agree to have a simultaneous
donation, have their kidney exchange surgeries relatively faster, avoiding the waiting
list. In some other cases, altruist donors, those without requiring a kidney in return,
may trigger a sequence of donations involving a series of incompatible PDPs. Now,
given a pool of PDPs with their compatibility information among pairs, finding the
largest amount of matches implies finding the largest amount of people that could
have their needed kidney surgeries in a timely fashion, rather than going to the
waiting list. Formally, the kidney exchange problem (KEP) is defined as finding the
largest amount of matches (either in form of cycles or chains) among a pool of PDPs.
In this thesis, we address the KEP by presenting and comparing a variety of existing
models and algorithms that cover almost all the kidney exchange variants known so
far. In particular, for one of the fundamental Kidney Exchange Problem formulations
encountered in the literature, a reduction method for substantially decreasing
the size of the problem is proposed. Moreover, we will set a natural partition on
the directed graph based on graph theory concepts in order to model reduced-size
instances, while keeping optimality. The proposed approach turns out to be very
effective to solve the KEP in terms of quality of solution and computational effort,
in many cases outperforming other KEP formulations.


Governments across Africa have faced increasing challenges to maintain fuel subsidies over recent years. In Ghana, in the face of a near 12% fiscal deficit in 2012, their burgeoning cost has drawn attention to questions of fiscal sustainability as well as their overall efficiency and effectiveness. In 2013, the Ghanaian Government would have spent cost 2.4 billion GHS (approximately 1.2 billion USD) on fuel subsidies, equaling 3.2% of GDP and more than half of Ghana's allocation to the entire education sector. Fuel subsidies around the world have been proven to be generally regressive, benefiting largely the richest group with very little reaching those living below the poverty line. In Ghana, this paper finds that almost 78% of fuel subsidies benefited the wealthiest group, with less than 3% of subsidy benefits reaching the poorest quintile.The richest quintile of the population received 15.86 GHS per year from the fuel subsidies per capita, while the poorest received just 2.23 GHS per capita. In early 2013 the Ghanaian Government introduced the removal of fuel subsidies over the first half of the year. Prices of petrol, kerosene, diesel and LPG saw rises of between 15% and 50%, until prices reached their market level in mid-September 2013. Following the subsidy removal and before the 2013 budget was finalised, the Government welcomed the initiation of this research in order to assess the impact of the reform on the poor and to ensure a mitigating response in the form of a social safety net. Based on recent studies of social protection in Ghana this paper identifies the national cash transfer programme, LEAP, as being well targeted, having positive impact, and functioning at national scale with immediate plans for expansion. This report builds on UNICEF technical support to reform fuel subsidies and scale-up social protection to respond to rising inequality. It aims to provide evidence of the magnitude and the distribution of the impacts of the 2013 fuel subsidy reforms on household welfare in Ghana, and to determine to what extent an expansion of social protection, through the LEAP cash transfer programme, is an effective mitigating measure.


Nonlinear static procedures are finding widespread use in performance based seismic design since it provides practitioners a relatively simple approach to estimate inelastic structural response measures. However, conventional Nonlinear static procedures using lateral load patterns recommended in FEMA-356 do not adequately represent the effects of varying dynamic characteristics during the inelastic response or the influence of higher modes. To overcome these drawbacks, some improved procedures have recently been proposed by several researchers. A method of modal combinations that implicitly accounts for higher mode effects is investigated in this paper. Modal pushover analysis method is based on invariant force distributions formed from the factored combination of independent modal contributions. The performance of Modal Pushover Analysis (MPA) in predicting the inelastic seismic response of multi-span concrete bridge is investigated. The bridge is subjected to lateral forces distributed proportionally over the span of the bridge in accordance to the product of mass and displaced shape. The bridge is pushed up to the target displacement determined from the peak displacement of the nth mode inelastic Single Degree of Freedom System.


SUMMARY Although more than 50% of women gain weight above the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines for weight gain in pregnancy and excessive weight gain is an independent risk factor for significant maternal and neonatal morbidity and offspring obesity, there is little consensus over the ideal weight gain during pregnancy. Surprisingly, the 2009 IOM guidelines varied minimally from the 1990 IOM guidelines, and many critics advocate lower weight gain recommendations. This review explores the energy costs of pregnancy, the relationship between gestational weight gain and birth weight, and considers what gestational weight gain minimizes both large-for-gestational age as well as small-for-gestational age infants. An extensive examination of the current data leads this author to question whether the current weight gain recommendations are too liberal, especially for obese pregnant women.


Nowadays, the need of activated charcoal as adsorbent and purification materials is increasing. In Ogan Komering Ulu regency has a lot of biomass waste which can be processed to be activated charcoal. Therefore this potency will be analysed comprehensively in order to develop the activated charcoal comodity. Based on field study in Ogan Komering Ulu regency, the potency of biomass waste as activated charcoal raw material can be analysed. Based on the field study at activated charcoal factory Palembang and Bogor, the data of activated charcoal process production and production cost can be collected. From the litrature study and the data collected of the field study, the opportunity to establish the activated charcoal factory in Ogan Komering Ulu regency can be investigated. The biomass waste in Ogan Komering Ulu consist of the wood residue in logged forest is 6.428 m 3 , the sawmills waste is 3.806 m 3 , the coconut shell is 75.506 tons, the palm shell is 15.520 tons, the rice husk is 69.103 tons. If the biomass waste above will be processed to be charcoal, therefore the big amount of charcoal from coconut shell is 22.652 tons. The activated charcoal from coconut shell has higher adsorptive capacity of iodine than other raw material. The analysis of supply and demand showed the value of market share was 96 %. Based on the assumption that activated charcoal factory will be operated for 10 years, to establish the activated charcoal factory need  investment capital Rp.128.000.000,-. Based on the financial evaluation the profit will be Rp. 32.972.000,- every year. Pay back period after tax is 3 years 1 month, Net Present Value is (+) Rp. 20.230.196,-, Internal Rate of Return is 22 %, and Break Event Point is 52 %. Sensitivity analysis shows 10 % increasing raw material's price, the Net Present Value will be positive by Rp. 11.981.048,- and 10 %, decreasing of product's price, the Net Present Value will be negative by Rp 41.638.414,-, therefore the factory is more sensitive to the product's price. Based on the research and evaluation, the activated charcoal factory is feasible.


We determine the combined performance of linear joint detection schemes with FEC coding, and specifically turbo-codes, as proposed for the UMTS third generation mobile communication system. We consider zero-forcing (ZF) decorrelation and minimum mean square error (MMSE) detection, and compare them with the conventional matched filter. Thus we obtain a bound based on the Shannon (1949) bound, and also estimate performance with turbo-codes of various rates with interleaver length 1024. In each case we find the required bit energy to noise density ratio on the channel in terms of the cell spectral efficiency, assuming perfect power control. The results show that there is in general, and especially in the case of ZF, a non-zero optimum code rate. At the Shannon bound there is little to choose between MMSE joint detection and the matched filter, but with turbo-codes joint detection gives a significant improvement.


The purpose of this study was to examine depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction as problems related to relational ethics in one's family of origin and current partner relationships in a sample of 68 other-sex couples seeking therapy at a large university clinic. We used the Actor Partner Interdependence Model to analyze dyadic data collected prior to beginning therapy. Specifically, we found significant actor effects between relational ethics in one's family of origin and depressive symptoms, as well as between depressive symptoms and low relationship satisfaction for both male and female partners. We also found significant partner effects for relational ethics in current partner relationship, depressive symptoms, and low relationship satisfaction. Clinical application of contextual therapy theory is discussed.


A 6-year-old white male had a myelodysplastic syndrome (refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation) and was treated with high dose chemotherapy. A combined esterase stain of the marrow blasts showed granulocytic differentiation. Subsequently, persistent pancytopenia with a severely hypocellular bone marrow developed, which was treated with a combination of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Sixteen days after the initiation of therapy, histologic examination of the bone marrow revealed a marked proliferation of histiocytes. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of histiocytic proliferation in the bone marrow after colony-stimulating factor therapy.


The SPf66 hybrid malaria vaccine is a polymeric, synthetic protein with amino-acid sequences derived from the pre-erythrocytic and asexual-blood-stage proteins of Plasmodium falciparum. SPf66 has already been found to have a 31% protective efficacy in Tanzanian children aged 1-5 years who lived in an area of intensive malaria transmission. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of SPf66 was carried out in Gambian infants. Overall, 630 children, aged 6-11 months at the time of the first dose, each received three doses of SPf66 or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). Morbidity was monitored during the following rainy season by means of active and passive case detection. Cross-sectional surveys were carried out at the beginning and at the end of the rainy season. Analysis of efficacy was restricted to 547 of the children (316 receiving SPf66 and 231 IPV). Although the efficacy of SPf66 on the first or only clinical attack was found to be 8% when results were compared with those for the children given the placebo (IPV), the malarial vaccine had no significant effect on fever with any parasitaemia, the overall incidence of clinical attacks, packed-cell volumes, parasite prevalences or spleen rates. Compared with the present vaccine, insecticide-treated bednets appear to offer better prospects for control of malaria in Africa.


International fragmentation of production and economic integration change the structure of international trade. Novel datasets reveal how production processes are unbundled across borders and connected internationally through Global Value Chains (GVCs). Yet, the impact of Economic Integration Agreements (EIAs) on GVCs is still poorly understood. This paper investigates how the accession of 10 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) to the European Union (EU) affected trade in value added in Europe. Using a gravity model of international trade for a sample of 40 countries over the period 1995-2009, we find that EU accession mainly fostered Eastern entrants' integration in other CEECs' value chains. Smaller integration benefits arise for East-West trade in services stemming from low-skill value adding activities.


Abstract The volatiloma of four Helichrysum species (H. anomalum, H reflexum, H. retortum and H. rugulosum) was analysed here for the first time by GC-MS for a chemotaxonomic contribution to this genus. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (SHs) prevailed in the aroma profile (VOCs) of H. reflexum, H. rugulosum and H. anomalum (74.7%, 93.6% and 41.6%, respectively), even though the main compounds were different (β-caryophyllene, α-humulene and α-copaene, respectively). The VOCs of H. retortum showed a high percentage of aliphatic hydrocarbons (NTs, 77.7%) mainly represented by octyl ether. The essential oil composition of each of H. rugulosum and H. retortum followed the same trend as VOCs related to the main class (SHs and NTs, respectively). In H. reflexum EO, the SHs were replaced by oxygenated sesquiterpenes (OS, 49.0%) with caryophyllene oxide as the main compound, while in H. anomalum the SHs were swapped in NTs (37.3%).


The origins of demography as a scientific discipline are usually seen as intimately connected to the organisational and economic needs of the early modern state. This paper, by contrast, presents an early demographic enterprise that falls outside this framework. The calculations performed by the Italian Jesuit Giovanni Battista Riccioli in an appendix to his Geographia et hydrographia reformata ("Geography and hydrography brought up to date," 1661) are the first systematic attempt presently known to arrive at an estimate of the entire world population. Yet they appear to have no political purpose and rather belong to a learned, bookish tradition of demographical thinking that may be termed "humanist". The article starts from a summary of Riccioli's life, of the book wherein his demographic exercise is contained and of this exercise itself. Thereafter, Riccioli's motives, sources, methodology and results are discussed. By way of conclusion, some preliminary reflections on the place of Riccioli and the humanist tradition in the early modern history of demography as a whole are offered. Two appendices present a translation of the Coniectura and tabulate its literary sources in order to provide some possible starting points for a study of the aforementioned tradition.


Carbon hollow fiber membranes (CHFMs) derived from polymer blend of polyetherimide (PEI) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were extensively prepared through stabilization under air atmosphere followed by carbonization under N2 atmosphere. The effects of the stabilization temperature on the morphological structure, chemical structure, and gas permeation properties were investigated thoroughly by means of scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and single gas permeation system. The experiment results indicate that the transport mechanism of small gas molecules of N2, CO2, and CH4 is dominated by the molecular sieving effect. Based on morphological structure and gas permeation properties, an optimum stabilization condition for the preparation of CHFM derived from PEI/PVP was found at 300°C under air atmosphere. The selectivity of ˜55 and 41 for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2, respectively, were obtained for CHFMs prepared at stabilization temperature of 300°C. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013


A chamber with glass coverslip at top and bottom is filled with a beta-emitting radioactive isotope (e.g. P32). A drop of cell-suspension placed on top of the chamber may then be irradiated at dose-rates up to 20,000 rep/hour, while the optical conditions remain unimpaired for microscopical examination. Extra protection for the observer is unnecessary.


We report on the improvement in photostability of solid-state dye materials. The photostability is the amount of energy that can be deposited in the material before its luminescence or lasing intensity has dropped to 50% of the initial value. It is shown that the photostability can be prolonged by a factor 100 by reducing the oxygen content in the material. The realized oxygen removal procedure and encapsulation of the solid state dye does not affect the luminescence properties and thus might be applicable in dye lasers.


Although quality function deployment (QFD) is mostly used in the development of new products, the methodology is equally varied and applied as a packaging design/development tool. Since the demands of the market, i.e. users are constantly changing, the designers of all products, including packaging food designers must implement the introduced requirements into the design of their products. The aim of this paper was to explain the QFD method, the mode of its operation and implementation and its potential for practical application in the packaging design process, as well as highlighting all the advantages and disadvantages of this method. The goal of the implementation of the QFD method during the development of the packaging is to find out exactly what the user expects from the packaging, i.e. customers' voice transforms by means of this method into new products that really meet their needs. It can be concluded that the application of QFD methods can reduce the length of the product development cycle, in this case the packaging, while simultaneously improving the quality and marketing of products in the market.


This book offers a look at the lives of Elizabethan era women in the context of the great female characters in the works of William Shakespeare. Like the other entries in this fascinating series, Women in the Age of Shakespeare shows the influence of the world William Shakespeare lived in on the worlds he created for the stage, this time by focusing on women in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras in general and in Shakespeare's works in particular. Women in the Age of Shakespeare explores the ancient and medieval ideas that Shakespeare drew upon in creating his great comedic and tragic heroines. It then looks at how these ideas intersected with the lived experiences of women of Shakespeare's time, followed by a close look at the major female characters in Shakespeare's plays and poems. Later chapters consider how these characters have been enacted on stage and in film, interpreted by critics and scholars, and re-imagined by writers in our own time. Includes over 30 excerpts from letters and diaries, plays, poems, educational and religious treatises, and legal documents from the 16th and 17th centuries Presents photos of actors playing female Shakespearean characters, including Emma Thompson, Claire Danes, Sarah Bernhardt, and Peggy Ashcroft


We take advantage of different generalizations of the tangent manifold to the context of graded manifolds, together with the notion of super section along a morphism of graded manifolds, to obtain intrinsic definitions of the main objects in supermechanics such as, the vertical endomorphism, the canonical and the Cartan's graded forms, the total time derivative operator and the super-Legendre transformation. In this way, we obtain a correspondence between the Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian formulations of supermechanics.


Abstract How do native speakers process texts with anomalous learner syntax? Second-language learners of Norwegian, and other verb-second (V2) languages, frequently place the verb in third position (e.g., *Adverbial-Subject-Verb), although it is mandatory for the verb in these languages to appear in second position (Adverbial-Verb-Subject). In an eye-tracking study, native Norwegian speakers read sentences with either grammatical V2 or ungrammatical verb-third (V3) word order. Unlike previous eye-tracking studies of ungrammaticality, which have primarily addressed morphosyntactic anomalies, we exclusively manipulate word order with no morphological or semantic changes. We found that native speakers reacted immediately to ungrammatical V3 word order, indicated by increased fixation durations and more regressions out on the subject, and subsequently on the verb. Participants also recovered quickly, already on the following word. The effects of grammaticality were unaffected by the length of the initial adverbial. The study contributes to future models of sentence processing which should be able to accommodate various types of "noisy" input, that is, non-standard variation. Together with new studies of processing of other L2 anomalies in Norwegian, the current findings can help language instructors and students prioritize which aspects of grammar to focus on.


A graph of environmental degradation versus income often has an inverted-U shape. Some policy analysts hypothesize that there is a causal relationship between income and environmental degradation, yielding this shape and suggesting that the solution to environmental problems is to alleviate poverty. Others suggest that there are important omitted variables, and that political institutions responding to public demand — and not rising income — improved environmental quality. To examine the relationship between environmental quality, income, and political institutions, we use an institutional variables approach to mitigate the problems caused by simultaneity bias and omitted variable bias. We find causal evidence for an inverted-U relationship between income and environmental degradation for seven out of eleven water pollutants; as well, political institutions have a significant effect on environmental quality for five of the eleven pollutants. The results suggest that both increasing income and improving political institutions reduce water pollution.


In the membrane distillation bioreactor (MDBR) process, flux increases with increasing feed temperature, but the presence of microorganisms limits the feed temperature. Also, the accumulation of cells and other substances on the membrane surface can affect the efficiency of MDBR. In this study, hospital wastewater was treated by thermophilic activated sludge MDBR. In the MDBR, the initial flux was 7.87 L‧m−2·h−1 and the stable flux was 3.88 L‧m−2·h−1. The particle size, zeta potential and hydrophobicity of the activated sludge in MDBR were 2.25 µm, −14 mV and 24%, respectively. In addition, EPS (extracellular polymeric substances) and SMP (soluble microbial products), having a significant effect on membrane fouling, were determined to be 201.50 mg·L−1 and 669.35 mg·L−1 in MDBR, respectively. Contact angle, FTIR (Fourier transform infrared), SEM (scanning electron microscope) and EDX (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) measurements were also made on a virgin membrane and used membrane. Analysis of EDX, SEM and F-TIR showed that the membrane fouling was caused by CaCO3 and EPS.


The people of Lagos state depends on fishes and other aquatic products for their source of protein. Thus, the need to verify the safety of the fishes for consumption by the people. The sampling, handling and process were as directed by American Public Health Association (APHA).The species checklist indicated that the Bagrids, Chrysicthys nigrodigitatus ; Cichlids , Tilapia zillii and fresh water prawn of genus Macrobrachium were the dominant fin and shell fish species in the Creek. Results of the analysis of trace metals in the organs of Tilapia zillii indicated that the metals were differentially accumulated in different organs of the fish. In the tissue, the orders of accumulation were gills (52.360±25.964 Fe), Gut (2.180±0.480 Zn), Gills (0.300±0.056 Mn), Bone (0.091±0.125 Pb), Bone, gills, Gut and flesh (0.010±0.00 Cr) and 0.001±0.000 Cd) i s uniform for all the organs under investigation in mg/kg respectively.While the order of metals bioaccumulation in the Macrobrachium macrobrachion (most dominant freshwater prawn) the order of bioaccumulation is Cu > Zn > Mn > Fe > Cr > Pb > Cd with the value of 26.100±6.280, 21.250±1.744, 14.585±28.277, 6.067±3.608, 0.257±0.049, 0.023±0.009, 0.002±0.000 respectively with all values in Mg/Kg. However, the general trend of accumulations in all the organisms were Tilapia zillii > Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus > Macrobrachium macrobrachion . The results of analysis of variance showed that different organisms accumulate different metals in their organs differently (P<0.05). The observed level of metals in the sediments and different organisms analyzed were below the WHO standards. Therefore, there is no foreseeable adverse health problem that may arise from the consumption of the analyzed fish species.


There is something extraordinarily evocative about great fiction or literary narratives by great writers of fiction on the theme of coercive authority. The celebrated South Asian Urdu essayist and short story writer Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) belongs to a long tradition of highly gifted authors who had the occasion of personally encountering and confronting the cumbersome machinations and the at times mindless and oppressive logic of authority. Like other eminent writers of his ilk, his reflections on his experiences – Manto underwent several criminal trials for allegedly obscene writing – have left posterity with much more than the irate chronicles of someone confounded by an exhausting personal ordeal. We are bequeathed instead with a wealth of deep, astute, and compelling observations of a keen-eyed, sensitive, and articulate man – observations that continue to hold great relevance and wide appeal so many decades later. This article endeavours to capture Manto's unique critique of imposed legal frameworks for 'acceptable' creative expression, as well as his memorable picturization of the spectacle of the legal trial in colonial and post-colonial contexts.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Metastatic cells are a subset of primary tumor cells that have the skill to complete multi-step metastatic cascades, including dissemination, migration, extravasation, and eventual proliferation) at a discontinuous secondary site. Understanding the molecular biology of cancer metastasis may provide novel intervention strategies to control metastatic lesions, and/or to improve the quality of life for the patients with these advanced diseases. MicoRNAs are naturally occurring single-stranded RNA molecules that posttranscriptionally regulate the expression of target mRNA transcripts. Many of these target mRNA transcripts are involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, processes commonly altered during tumorigenesis. Recent findings have shown that microRNA-10b (miR-10b) is highly expressed in metastatic breast cancer cells and positively regulates cell migration and invasion. Expression of miR-10b is induced by Twist, a transcription factor that binds to putative promoter of miR-10b. We hypothesized that whether nullification of CCN5/WISP-2, an antiinvasive gene has any role in miR-10b expression. We found that nullification of CCN5/WISP-2 in ER-positive noninvasive breast tumor cell upregulates the miR-10b expression. Interestingly, we also found the upregulation of Twist by silencing CCN5/WISP-2. Collectively, we conclude that CCN5/WISP-2 may be a critical regulator of miR-10b expression through the HIF-1α-Twist signaling.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2053.


To best support students with low vision in the general education classroom, special education teachers can facilitate use of several adaptations including: (a) attention to curriculum access (e.g. text magnifiers), (b) mechanisms for promoting social connectedness, (c) managing physical space, and (d) effective instructional techniques. This article provides an overview for special educators on how they can support general education teachers in providing research-based practices for students with low vision in their classroom. Description of effective practices along with resources helpful for continuing professional development are provided.


BACKGROUND
Estrogen is considered to be cardioprotective, but estrogen replacement therapy for postmenopausal women has not shown results for either primary or secondary cardiovascular event prevention. During normal pregnancy, women have significantly higher levels of estrogen and it may be endogenous estrogen that helps prevent atherosclerosis.

METHODS AND RESULTS
The present cross-sectional study examined the association between pregnancy followed by delivery and clinical atherosclerosis using the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV). A total of 2,560 women undergoing annual health screening at the Institute of Hyogo Prefecture Health Promotion Association in Japan were recruited. Pregnancy history (the age of menarche/menopause and the number of gravida/para), conventional coronary risk factors, and brachial-ankle PWV were recorded. Multivariate linear regression by stepwise selection analysis demonstrated that women who had 1 or more deliveries had a significantly lower PWV, independent of age and other conventional coronary risk factors.

CONCLUSIONS
Pregnancy followed by delivery may decrease arterial stiffness and prevent the progress of atherosclerosis in women. The contribution of such a pregnancy followed by delivery-related decrease in arterial stiffness to the reduction of cardiovascular disease in women should be further evaluated.


The traditional design process of fluid power systems such as hydraulic excavators has placed much emphasis on technical performance rather than human components. This research aims to develop human‐performance models to assess operator performance and human interaction during excavation processes. Task analysis, time studies, and statistical distributions were developed into task‐network models and imbedded into four Micro Saint simulation models with regard to various expertise and control types. An empirical study was conducted using the simulation models. Results indicated that both expertise and control type had a significant impact on operator performance, resulting in both time and consistency differences at various points during excavation processes. Models also revealed implications of operator fatigue leading to stress for the operator. Recommendations suggest that designers consider the placement of controls and measures to reduce operator workload for better performance in future systems. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


: Study of the spontaneous impulse activity of 193 m. triceps receptors in cats revealed that the units of dynamic type characterized by high dynamic sensitivity have the mean firing rate lower than positional those. The higher is the mean firing rate at 10-mm muscle stretching, the higher is the probability that these receptors have spontaneous discharges of higher mean frequency. A close linear correlation exists between the mean frequency of the receptors spontaneous discharges and the value of their static responses to stretching. The data obtained suggest that the spontaneous activity is inherent in receptors capable of responding to an increased resting tone of the passive muscle spindle.


We examine the relationship between stock returns and foreign investment in Brazil, and find that the inflows of foreign investment boosted the returns from 1995 to 2005. There was a strong contemporaneous correlation, although not Granger causality. Foreign investment along with the exchange rate, the influence of the world stock markets and country risk can explain 73% of the changes that occurred in the stock returns over the period. We also find that positive feedback trading played a role, and that the market promptly assimilated new information.


This research sought to find out the influence of appropriate instructional resources on retention of pupils with disabilities in mainstreamed Primary Schools in Bomet County, Kenya. The challenge that this study sought to address was low retention of Pupils with Disabilities (PWDs) in mainstreamed schools. This study was embedded in Systems Theory by Von Bertalanffy [1]. It adopted survey research design. The target population was 840 teachers. Yamane formula was applied to get a sample size of 278 teachers. Multi-stage sampling procedure was applied. The findings of the study revealed that appropriate instructional resources significantly influenced the retention of PWDs by = 42.1% (p<0.05). The study also reports a positive and statistically significant relationship between appropriate instructional and retention of pupils with disabilities (r = 0.842; p<0.05). The study concludes that appropriate instructional resources positively and significantly influence the retention of pupils with disabilities. Therefore, when appropriate instructional resources are provided, retention of pupils with disabilities increase and conversely, in the absence of these resources, retention of pupils with disabilities will be challenging. The study recommended that appropriate instructional resources such as textbooks, supplementary curriculum support materials, learning devices or aiders including braille kits, printouts, pointers, embossers friendly to pupils with disabilities be supplied to improve their retention in mainstreamed primary schools.


We classify six-dimensional homogeneous nearly K\"{a}hler manifolds and give a positive answer to Gray and Wolf's conjecture: every homogeneous nearly K\"{a}hler manifold is a Riemannian 3-symmetric space equipped with its canonical almost Hermitian structure. The only four examples in dimension 6 are $S^3 \times S^3$, the complex projective space $\CM P^3$, the flag manifold $\mathbb F^3$ and the sphere $S^6$. We develop, about each of these spaces, a distinct aspect of nearly K\"{a}hler geometry and make in the same time a sharp description of its specific homogeneous structure.


: Since the reform and opening up, with the continuous strengthening of China's economic strength, the continuous improvement of the financial market, and the increasing appeal of investors to avoid market risks. Since China's first stock index futures contract was listed and traded, the research on the relationship between this financial derivative and the corresponding spot market has been a hot spot in academic circles. It refers to the hot events triggered by the futures market, and it has also been widely concerned by the media, the government and the people. China's financial derivatives market is still in its infancy, the market system is not yet perfect, and the professional quality of institutions and individuals engaged in trading still lags far behind that of investors in western mature markets. How to improve the futures index market mechanism and maintain the stable operation of the market deserves the government's in-depth consideration. China's financial futures market supervision authorities should continue to vigorously promote the improvement and development of China's stock index futures market. Specific measures include: speeding up the introduction of institutional investors to participate in futures trading and cultivating mature market trading subjects; Establish an investor suitability management system to lower the entry threshold of the stock index futures market; Perfecting the risk management system of the futures market will provide the necessary risk barrier for the healthy and stable development of China's financial market.


I estimate the effect of the minimum wage on formal wages, informal wages and employment in Colombia. I exploit an unexpected increase in the real minimum wage during the 1999 Colombian economic crisis to estimate short term effects of the minimum wage along the distribution of wages in both sectors. I find evidence of wage responses, with stronger incidence in the formal sector. Markets with a 10 % higher incidence of the minimum wage, measured by the number of workers affected, experienced wage increases of 4 % and 1.3 % in the formal and informal sector, respectively. I find negative employment effects on the informal sector, but no employment effects on the formal sector, and a lack of pass-through across sectors. My results suggest that minimum wages affect the informal labor market directly and not through the formal sector.


Recent work indicated that pretrained language models (PLMs) such as BERT and RoBERTa can be transformed into effective sentence and word encoders even via simple self-supervised techniques. Inspired by this line of work, in this paper we propose a fully unsupervised approach to improving word-in-context (WiC) representations in PLMs, achieved via a simple and efficient WiC-targeted fine-tuning procedure: MirrorWiC. The proposed method leverages only raw texts sampled from Wikipedia, assuming no sense-annotated data, and learns context-aware word representations within a standard contrastive learning setup. We experiment with a series of standard and comprehensive WiC benchmarks across multiple languages. Our proposed fully unsupervised MirrorWiC models obtain substantial gains over off-the-shelf PLMs across all monolingual, multilingual and cross-lingual setups. Moreover, on some standard WiC benchmarks, MirrorWiC is even on-par with supervised models fine-tuned with in-task data and sense labels.


While it does not cost a great deal to make a difference in the life of a child living in poverty, that does not mean that they are cheap to care for. To avoid confusion there is a need to distinguish between expenditures on care, marginal costs of care and total cost of care. Expenditures on children are the amounts of money spent on their care. The marginal cost of care is the cost of achieving a specific increase in the level of care. The total cost of care is the cost of providing a given level of care. While much can be said about differences in expenditures and marginal costs, little can be said about differences in total costs. Clearly, expenditures are far greater among the rich, while the marginal impact of additional spending is far greater among the poor. Total costs of care, however, cannot be compared easily because the care itself is not comparable. To compare care requires a definition of care. This article focuses upon this issue and points to the limitations inherent in conceptualizing aspects of care as cumulative rather than interactive. The focus on the interactive nature of care highlights the importance of the care environment. As most children live in families and communities, the strengths, resources and capacities of these care environments and their interactive nature is similarly highlighted.


Lung tissue elastic recoil and the dimension and number of pulmonary gas-exchange units (alveoli) are major determinants of gas-exchange function. Loss of gas-exchange function accelerates after menopause in the healthy aged and is progressively lost in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The latter, a disease of midlife and later, though more common in men than in women, is a disease to which women smokers and never smokers may be more susceptible than men; it is characterized by diminished lung tissue elastic recoil and presently irremediable alveolar loss. Ovariectomy in sexually immature rats diminishes the formation of alveoli, and estrogen prevents the diminution. In the present work, we found that estrogen receptor-alpha and estrogen receptor-beta, the only recognized mammalian estrogen receptors, are required for the formation of a full complement of alveoli in female mice. However, only the absence of estrogen receptor-beta diminishes lung elastic tissue recoil. Furthermore, ovariectomy in adult mice results, within 3 wk, in loss of alveoli and of alveolar surface area without a change of lung volume. Estrogen replacement, after alveolar loss, induces alveolar regeneration, reversing the architectural effects of ovariectomy. These studies 1) reveal estrogen receptors regulate alveolar size and number in a nonredundant manner, 2) show estrogen is required for maintenance of already formed alveoli and induces alveolar regeneration after their loss in adult ovariectomized mice, and 3) offer the possibility estrogen can slow alveolar loss and induce alveolar regeneration in women with COPD.


A method for the simultaneous determination of furans, 2-methylfuran and 3-methylfuran in some food by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has successfully developed. Analysed samples were treated by a headspace technique using furan-d4 as an internal standard. The detection limit of the method is 0.3 μg/kg, the quantitative limit of the method is 1.0 μg/kg. The recovery of the method is in the range of 72 to 110 %. The relative standard deviation ranges from 3.3 to 13 %. The method was applied to analyze 100 food samples, including: coffees, canned meats, baby foods, powdered milk. The results showed that furans, 2-methylfuran, 3-methylfuran were detected in 30 samples out of 100 collected samples. In particular, furans were found in a ranges of 5.7 to 2,803 μg/kg in all of coffee samples, including instant coffee and roasted coffee. In addition, furans were detected in one baby food sample contains, furans and 2-methylfuran in four canned meat samples, and no furans milk were detected in powder sample among 25 analysed samples. Simultaneous determination of furan and its derivatives in food by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS)


In any classroom context, different factors affect on the learners' achievement of knowledge from which the most crucial one is the role of teacher. According to Goffman's Footing theory, the speaker's role is categorized in three types of animator, author, and principal. The problem is that what kind of teacher's role students prefer for their teacher to be more motivated. And another important issue is the effect of students' gender on their selection. Also, this research wants to investigate if students of different majors have the same or different views toward their own and their ideal professors. In this study, 57 Iranian BA students of English (30 male & 27 female) and 57 Iranian BA students of Literature (30 male & 27 female) are asked to fill metaphor checklist to represent their teacher's role in learning context. Consequently, statistical results of Chi-Square indicated that the English students prefer teachers who have principal role in English learning context. But Literature students prefer author role for their professors.


In direct ethanol fuel cell technology, the sluggish kinetics of the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) at the anode is the main obstacle, and it is thus urgent to develop high performance catalysts. In this work, a new class of porous Ir3Pb nanodendrites (NDs) was successfully synthesized. The specific activity and mass activity of the synthesized ND-Ir3Pb/C reach 1.337 mA cm−2 and 801.1 mA mgIr−1, respectively, which are 5.79 and 5.82 times higher than those of the commercial Pt/C-JM. Moreover, the much higher CO2 selectivity and enhanced durability of ND-Ir3Pb/C were also evaluated compared to those of the commercial Pt/C-JM. Unexpectedly, we found that the EOR performance, especially the durability and CO2 selectivity of ND-Ir3Pb/C can be enhanced dramatically by alloying trace Au (Ir : Au = 3 : 0.05). The specific activity loss of ND-Ir3PbAu0.05/C was only 13.9% after 6000 potential cycles, which is much smaller than that of ND-Ir3Pb/C (34.3%) and Pt/C-JM (53.7%). This study provides a strategic design of efficient Ir-based EOR catalysts for fuel cells.


RNA hairpins are the most commonly occurring secondary structural elements in RNAs and serve as nucleation sites for RNA folding, RNA–RNA, and RNA–protein interactions. RNA hairpins are frequently capped by tetraloops, and based on sequence similarity, three broad classes of RNA tetraloops have been defined: GNRA, UNCG, and CUYG. Other classes such as the UYUN tetraloop in histone mRNAs, the UGAA in 16S rRNA, the AUUA tetraloop from the MS2 bacteriophage, and the AGNN tetraloop that binds RNase III have also been characterized. The tetraloop structure is compact and is usually characterized by a paired interaction between the first and fourth nucleotides. The two unpaired nucleotides in the loop are usually involved in base‐stacking or base‐phosphate hydrogen bonding interactions. Several structures of RNA tetraloops, free and complexed to other RNAs or proteins, are now available and these studies have increased our understanding of the diverse mechanisms by which this motif is recognized. RNA tetraloops can mediate RNA–RNA contacts via the tetraloop–receptor motif, kissing hairpin loops, A‐minor interactions, and pseudoknots. While these RNA–RNA interactions are fairly well understood, how RNA‐binding proteins recognize RNA tetraloops and tetraloop‐like motifs remains unclear. In this review, we summarize the structures of RNA tetraloop–protein complexes and the general themes that have emerged on sequence‐ and structure‐specific recognition of RNA tetraloops. We highlight how proteins achieve molecular recognition of this nucleic acid motif, the structural adaptations observed in the tetraloop to accommodate the protein‐binding partner, and the role of dynamics in recognition. WIREs RNA 2014, 5:49–67. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1196


There is currently much uncertainty about the extent to which EU law can affect national rules on res judicata. The reason for this is the mainly casuistic approach which has so far prevailed both in the case law and in the doctrine. This article puts forward a new framework for examining the matter. It argues, in essence, that EU law can - and should - impose, on the one hand, stricter limits on the authority of res judicata of national judgments incompatible with EU law and, on the other hand, allow retrial in certain circumstances for the purpose of remedying a violation of that law.


In this paper a new technique for determining surface impedance is developed. The technique is derived from an eddy current modelling technique, the impedance method. Considerable extension and development of the impedance method has been undertaken, enabling the prediction of surface impedance measurements for horizontally stratified media and in the vicinity of vertical dislocations. The method is compared with surface impedance theory for horizontally stratified media and with field based results near laterally discontinuous structures.


The work shows the objective nature of the pre-revolutionary reform of school education, dictated by the need to educate the population of Russia as an indispensable condition for the democratic restructuring of society and its economic development. The main historical reason that caused the emergence of the general school as a new institution of socialization, in addition to the existing ones – the family and the church, was modernization. The school of the church parish was focused on teaching children literacy in order to independently read the Bible translated into their native languages, for religious and moral education of students, ensuring the unity of faith. And this meant the universal, extraterrestrial nature of such a school. In the future, as the most important socio-cultural institution of society, as the institution of state policy, the school receives its main tasks from the state in order to modernize society, providing universal compulsory primary education. At the end of the XIX century (1906), political parties and sociopedagogical organizations of Russia proposed the introduction of universal primary education. However, in pre-revolutionary Russia, such a bill was never adopted. Soviet power inherited 73 % of the population (over 9 years old) elementary illiteracy.


Conventional cognitive assessment is based on a pencil-and-paper neuropsychological evaluation, which is time consuming, expensive and requires the involvement of several professionals. Information and communication technology could be exploited to allow the development of tools that are easy to use, reduce the amount of data processing, and provide controllable test conditions. Serious games (SGs) have the potential to be new and effective tools in the management and treatment of cognitive impairments Serious games for screening pre-dementia conditions: from virtuality to reality? A pilot project in the elderly. Moreover, by adopting SGs in 3D virtual reality settings, cognitive functions might be evaluated using tasks that simulate daily activities, increasing the "ecological validity" of the assessment. In this commentary we report our experience in the creation of the Smart Aging platform, a 3D SGand virtual environment-based platform for the early identification and characterization of mild cognitive impairment.


Environmental toxicants can modulate endocrine function. Interest has been directed at those chemicals which interact with sex hormone because of their potentially irreversible effects on brain development. Studies on the effects of in utero and lactational exposure to hormone-modulating pollutants have focused on cognitive function. Study objectives included: a) identification of a combination of behaviours that differentiate between boys and girls; and b) determination if early chemical exposure affects variability in sex-dimorphic behaviours. We utilized an established epidemiologic cohort (New York State Angler Cohort Study) assembled to assess the influence of contaminated sport fish consumption on health in adults and their offspring. Children 5 to 11 years of age were targeted. Using a postal questionnaire survey methodology in which a parent served as the informant, 1,112 of 1,692 households contacted (66%) returned completed questionnaires on 1,415 children (52% male, 48% female). Maternal report confirms both pre- and postnatal contaminant exposures: 40% of the mothers consumed sport fish for ≥1 yr and 28% of their offspring ate contaminated fish. Consumption durations do not differentiate respondents from nonrespondents. A discriminant function based upon gender behaviour scale scores was robust in differentiating boys and girls. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that masculine behaviour increased among boys with age and the number of years of maternal sport fish consumption whereas feminine behaviour increased among girls with the duration of breast-feeding. Increased age and previous live-births were associated with more masculine behaviour in the girls. For both sexes, exposure was unrelated to the prevalence of learning problems, non-right handedness, or behavioural problems. Although this study does not rule out differential gender socialization influences, the findings are consistent with an effect of contaminant exposure on sex-dimorphic behaviours in humans. This study was in part funded with grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH (R03ES08500-01), the Great Lakes Protection Fund (RM791-3021), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (H75/ ATH298338).


Sputum specimens from culture-positive tuberculosis patients were examined for the presence of Myobacterium tuberculosis on container surfaces. Although specimens were in transit for several days, M tuberculosis was isolated from 18 (6.5%) of 279 containers examined. Sputum specimens from local patients were examined for evidence of upper respiratory bacterial flora on the outside of containers as an indicator of contamination with sputum. Of 300 containers examined, 41 (14%) were contaminated. A technique for disinfecting specimen containers from tuberculosis patients has been evaluated and recommendations are made for handling sputum containers.


We systematically investigate the embedding of U(1)_X Froggatt-Nielsen models in (four-dimensional) local supersymmetry. We restrict ourselves to models with a single flavon field. We do not impose a discrete symmetry by hand, e.g., R-parity, baryon-parity or lepton-parity. Thus we determine the order of magnitude of the baryon- and/or lepton violating coupling constants through the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism. We then scrutinize whether the predicted coupling constants are in accord with weak or GUT scale constraints. Many models turn out to be incompatible.


In Part I, the relevant statistical properties of the recently developed statistical-physical model of generalized impulsive interference have been briefly reviewed (for sub Class A noise) and then applied specifically to optimum coherent detection. It is shown that by using optimum and (locally optimum) detection algorithms (canonically and explicitly derived), substantial savings in signal power and/or spectrum space can be achieved for operation in these highly nonGaussian interference environments. This paper (Part II) extends the preceding analysis to cover various important cases of incoherent reception. The same general model for narrow-band (Class A) impulsive interference and interference examples used in Part I are again employed here. In addition to providing both canonical LOBD structures and expressions for performance, this permits explicit quantitative comparisons between coherent and incoherent reception for common classes of specific digital signal waveforms.


Bioinsecticides based on Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely used to control agricultural pests. However, there are concerns about their impact on non‐target organisms, with for example, the green lacewing Ceraeochrysa claveri, a polyphagous predator with important value in the biological control of insect pests in agroecosystems. This study aimed to analyse the effects of Agree® bioinsecticide (containing Bt serovar aizawai GC‐91) on the post‐embryonic development of C. claveri. For this, neonate larvae of C. claveri were fed with Diatraea saccharalis eggs contaminated with different concentrations of Agree® (0.62, 1.25, 2.50 and 5.00 g L−1) until their pupation. Samples of the midgut of larvae were collected for histological and ultrastructural analysis. The larval and pupal inviability data were collected at the end of the respective developmental stages. After the emergence of adult insects, were considered inviable those with morphological alterations. To evaluate the reproduction, adult insect couples were formed, and the oviposition was collected. No significant differences in the viability of eggs, larvae, pupae and adults of C. claveri contaminated with Agree® were reported. Midgut analyses did not reveal cellular damage in the epithelium, indicating a possible lack of insecticidal proteins receptors. The oviposition and their viability were similar between treated and control groups. Our results demonstrated that Agree® bioinsecticide did not affect the post‐embryonic development of C. claveri. This illustrates that the combined use of Bt and C. claveri for the biological control of arthropod pests can be a sustainable strategy for integrated pest management.


Several reports suggest that urinary albumin excretion may be elevated in patients with essential hypertension and that this index may be a good predictor for cardiovascular complications. The aim of this study was to compare 24-hour urinary albumin excretion in a group of normotensives, borderline, and untreated mild hypertertensives and to assess, in a subgroup of them, the possible relations between microalbuminuria and arterial blood pressure. Fifteen normotensives, 16 borderline, and 19 mild hypertensive patients were studied. Slightly but significantly higher values of microalbuminuria were observed in the mild hypertensives compared to the other two groups. In 21 borderline and mild hypertensive patients 24-hour microalbuminuria was related to casual blood pressure and noninvasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. A significant correlation was found between microalbuminuria and average day-time diastolic blood pressure. Our data suggest that albumin excretion is slightly increased in mild arterial essential hypertension; the direct association between microalbuminuria and arterial diastolic blood pressure during daily activities seems to confirm a pathophysiological link between transcapillary protein escape and arterial blood pressure that warrants further studies.


The problem of antimicrobial resistance is so dire that people are predicting that the era of antibiotics may be coming to an end, ushering in a 'post-antibiotic' era. A comprehensive policy response is therefore urgently needed. A part of this response will require framing the problem in such a way that adequately reflects its nature as well as encompassing an approach that has the best prospect of success. This paper considers framing the problem as a slowly emerging disaster, including its potential benefits and difficulties, from a conceptual and policy perspective.


The project area is along the northeastern flank of the Anadarko basin, near Geary, Oklahoma. In the area, basal Pennsylvanian Morrow-Springer sandstones subcrop beneath the pre-Atokan, Wichitan unconformity and form the prolific gas condensate-producing Watonga-Chickasha trend. Productive Morrow-Springer distributary channel sandstones form discontinuous lenticular reservoirs. Dense well control is normally required to map sandstone geometry and distribution. Integration of high resolution seismic data, with the application of geoseismic modeling techniques which use geologically derived input parameters, can better delineate the shape and extent of these reservoirs between points of well control. Vibroseis®seismic data, filtered conventional dynamite data, synthetic seismograms from sonic logs, one-dimensional geoseismic models, and geologic/lithologic data from well cuttings, cores, and logs, can be used to construct meaningful sandstone distribution maps. Geoseismic models constructed by use of a remote computer terminal demonstrate that high resoluti n 12 to 67-Hz seismic data can distinguish sandstones to a minimum thickness of 20 ft (6 m) when stratigraphic conditions are such that high interval velocity (15,000 to 15,500 ft/sec or 4,572 to 4,724 m/sec) sandstones are encased in lower interval velocity (10,000 to 11,500 ft/sec or 3,048 to 3,505 m/sec) shales. Reflection coefficients between sandstones and shales range from 0.1 to 0.3. Results of the modeling indicate that sandstones exceeding 20 ft (6 m) in thickness are arranged in a NW-SE trend, approximately 2,500 ft (762 m) wide, across the project area in T13N, R10W. Subsequent development drilling has yielded both positive and negative results. Two wells encountered the predicted basal sandstone; one well encountered thin interbedded tight sandstones and shales. Lateral facies change from thick porous sandstone to interbedded high interval velocity facies (17,000 ± ft/sec or 5,182± m/sec); tight, highly indurated sandstones and shales can produce similar seismic signatures. Modeling of high resolution seismic data can accurately predict the presence of high velocity zones within the basal Morrow-Springer section, but further criteria must be applied to distinguish productive sandstones from thin, high-velocity sandstones interbedded with shales.


The marine environment is a prolific resource for the isolation of less exploited microorganisms, and as a matter of fact in the sea, untapped habitats exist with unique characteristics. This is partly caused by the lack of effort spent in exploring marine actinomycetes, whereas terrestrial actinomycetes have been, until recently, a successful source of novel bioactive metabolites. Furthermore, scepticism regarding the existence of indigenous population of marine actinomycetes arises from the fact that the terrestrial bacteria produce resistant spores that are known to be transported from land into sea, where they remain available but dormant for many years. Thus, it has been frequently assumed that actinomycetes isolated from marine samples are merely of terrestrial origin. It may be better to seek evidence instead that marine derived actinomycetes are metabolically active or capable of growing in the marine environment. Other useful characteristics include the display of specific marine adaptations, the formation of associations with plants or invertebrates and the demonstration of a role in nutrient cycling, all of which provide an indication that these bacteria are not merely present as dormant spores. When coupled with phylogenetic novelty, evidence for any of the above traits provides a strong case that the specific population under study can be considered as marine. As marine organisms live in a significantly different environment from those of the terrestrial organisms, it is reasonable to expect that their metabolites will differ considerably. Although actinomycetes can be readily isolated from marine sediments using appropriate selective isolation techniques, it is only through the use of molecular phylogenetics, a clear picture of the diversity, distributions and taxonomic uniqueness of certain populations can be obtained. Once recognized as unique, this population can then be selected as the focal point for intensive natural product studies. Clearly, actinomycetes have the potential to continue to play a major role in microbial drug discovery, and the recent observations on significant population of marine-adapted actinomycetes occur in ocean sediments, could certainly emphasize the potential importance of these strains in future drug discovery efforts.


African Americans and contemporary African migrants to the USA do not form a single 'Black community'. Their relations are characterized by simultaneous mutual attraction and repulsion. Based on field evidence, the article discusses the role played in it by the reflection in historic memory and place in mass consciousness of African Americans and African migrants of key events in Black American and African history: transatlantic slave trade, slavery, its abolition, and the Civil Rights Movement in the US, colonialism, anticolonial struggle, and the fall of apartheid regime in South Africa. It is shown that they see the key events of the past differently, and different events are seen as key by each group. Collective historic memory works more in the direction of separating the two groups from each other by generating and supporting contradictory or even negative images of mutual perception.


BACKGROUND
The current study was undertaken to find out the frequency and distribution of ABL kinase domain (KD) mutations showing resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in CML patients from India.

METHODS
A total of 24 TKI resistant CML patients were screened for ABL KD mutation by semi-nested reverse transcription PCR and sequencing. The expression of BCR-ABL transcripts was quantified by Real Time Taqman assay.

RESULTS
Sixteen different point mutations were detected in 14 (58.3%) of 24 TKI resistant patients. Five out of the 16 mutations were located at the four hot spots of ABL kinase domain: one at the P-loop (Q252H), one at the imatinib binding site (T315I), two at the catalytic domain (M351, Y353F) and one at the active A loop (H396P). The three mutations, viz. M244V, T315I and A380V, were the most frequent mutations and accounted for 40.9% of all resistance associated mutations.

CONCLUSIONS
In the present study, the presence of ABL KD mutations was found to be a major cause of drug resistance. The T315I mutation was found to be resistant to second generation drugs such as dasatinib. The study reinforces the need for new therapeutic options which can target this mutation.


Clinical studies and observations found that 42.39% of cows after calving had inflammatory diseases of the uterus. Subclinical (23.19%) and acute forms of endometritis (12.86%) were dominant. Microbiological studies of the contents of the uterus of cows with acute postpartum purulent-catarrhal endometritis showed that the microflora is represented by Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus faecium. After a course of therapy in cows with acute purulent-catarrhal endometritis with various preparations, restoration of sexual cyclicity was noted in all animals to which Enroflon was administered. After the treatment with Lexoflon, the manifestation of sexual cycles was recorded in 88.89% of females. After the treatment with Enroflon, fertilization occurred in 100% of the animals of this experimental group with an insemination index of 1.78. Fertilization of cows after the treatment with Lexoflon was 66.67% with an insemination index of 2.67.


: This research examined teachers' professional development and knowledge of technology as correlates of perceived successful intelligence among students with physio - emotional disability. Successful intelligence is that knowledge which helps adult citizens, given their ability, to be effective and self - reliant in their given society. Animated, mobile and recreational appliances constituted the technologies in the study. Mixed methods of correlational and quasi - experimental designs were employed for the study, using teachers' and students' factors. Students with physical and emotional disabilities in the Education Zones of Nnewi and Onitsha in Anambra State, and Oji River in Enugu State were specific targeted population samples. The nature of the study prevailed on the researchers to use convenience sampling technique to select the studied population (N = 64). Categories of spinal bifida = 11%, cerebral palsy = 16%, visual impairment = 20%, hearing impairment = 23% and other 30% comprised the sample. Findings revealed a negative correlation between teachers' professional qualifications and students' perceived successful intelligence attainment (r = - .774, N = 64, p - value <.000). The researchers also found that boys with disability were more interactive than girls, and believing that their education assures successful intelligence upon graduation. More analyses revealed that 83% of the students did not see their physical or emotional disability as impediment to successful intelligence, while 17% believed that their disability would hamper them in contributing to and benefiting from the society. The researchers' major recommendation is that teachers should be trained to use students' defined technology in their professional development, in order to train students with disability in successful intelligence.


The present work observed the course of the acquisition of collocation relations with Thai learners of Korean as the main subject, and experimented with the aim to find how the theory of analogy was reflected in the course of Korean acquisition of elementary and intermediate level learners who were Thai. When language learners study a foreign language, it is common that the language is acquired in chunks in the case of collocation. Thus while the acquisition of syntagmatic relations is crucial in language learning, the present study holds that it is equally important to study the paradigmatic relations of the language at hand in such an acquisition. ideally the chunks, that is, the syntagmatic relations will be acquired first and the stored database of vocabulary will remind the student of individual words once he faces a new and different collocation, but if this is not the case, the student returns to the stage in which the collocation is relearnt and once again stored up. According to the outcomes of the present research, a new task to be addressed is to find how teach the elementary learner to learn the polysemy of predicates, and how to pull the intermediate learner up to the advanced level. To restate, the aim is to find a way to expand the lexicon of learner substantive. (Ewha Womans University)


Objective As the traditional perils at sea counting shipwrecks, accidents, piracy and infectious diseases have subsided at least for ships embarking from the Western world, the burden of cancer among seafarers has emerged as a focus point for further health improvements. Even aboard modern ships, occupational hazards are numerous and the aim of this study is to offer updated information on the incidence of specific cancers among both male and female Danish seafarers. Method All seafarers employed on Danish ships during 1986–1999 were identified through records from the Danish Seafarer Registry providing a cohort of 33 340 men and 11 291 women. Using the unique Danish personal identification number, information on cancer and vital status was linked to cohort members from the Danish Cancer Registry and the Danish Civil Registration System. Standardised incidence ratios for specific cancers were estimated using national rates. Results Compared to the general population, the overall incidence of cancer was increased for both male and female seafarers (SIR 1.16, 95% CI 1.13–1.20 and SIR 1.12, 95% CI 1.05–1.20). This excess was primarily driven by increases in gastrointestinal, respiratory and urinary cancers among the men, while the women also had increases in cervical and ovarian cancer. The SIR for melanoma of the skin and lip cancer was increased for women and men respectively, while an excess of pleural cancer only affected the men. Conclusion Cancer among Danish seafarers continue to be primarily lifestyle-related. However, occupational exposure to UV-radiation, asbestos and other chemicals may affect the morbidity pattern as well.


Alginate impression material is important in dentistry. In its clinical application, setting time is still considered too fast, and the alginate impression material must have dimensional stability in accordance with ANSI / ADA standard specification no.18. Alginate impression material has a main component, namely sodium alginate which is produced from the seaweed extraction process. In Indonesia, there are several types of seaweed, one of which is the Kappaphycus alvarezii (K. alvarezii). The seaweed from the village of Agel Situbondo has the potential to be a source of sodium alginate and has antibacterial and antioxidant effects. The aim of this study to analyze the dimensional stability and setting time of the alginate printing material with sodium alginate extract of kappaphycus alvarezii seaweed. The study was conducted using laboratory experimental methods with post-test only control group design, there were 2 groups, namely the commercial alginate printing material control group, and the alginate printing material treatment group with sodium alginate extract from the acid method, then the FTIR test was carried out. Then the two groups were tested for setting time and dimensional stability. The results of the FTIR test of red seaweed extract showed an absorption peak that was identical to that of sodium alginate. The results of the setting time test significantly took longer for the red seaweed alginate impression material than the control group, while the dimensional stability showed the same results. Conclusion: The results of the setting time test showed that the treatment group had a longer setting time than the control group and both groups had dimensional stability according to the standard. The results of the setting time test showed that the treatment group had a longer setting time than the control group and both groups already had dimensional stability in accordance with the standard.


This paper presents a series of modeling experiences and problems in simulating the thermal-hydraulic behavior of large PWR steam generators using the RELAP4 and RELAP5 computer codes. Sensitivity studies investigating the heat transfer characteristics of both once-through and U-tube steam generators are discussed. Suggestions and recommendations are given for effective use and potential future improvements of these codes.