The findings presented in this paper are drawn from a qualitative study which used in-depth interviews, facilitated by a flexible topic guide, to explore the attitudes and experiences of insulin initiation and management in amulti-ethnic population with type 1 diabetes. The 15 South Asian adults who participated were recruited, using purposive sampling,through specialist care clinics in Leicester, UK. Progressive focusing was used to identify key themes for further exploration and interpretation of the data. This paper focuses on a major theme regarding disclosure of diabetes status. Some of those interviewed described experiencing and observing negative perceptions and views about diabetes and the use of insulin. These perceptions did not deter participants from revealing their diabetes in certain situations. Disclosure of diabetes was seen as beneficial in terms of work and social occasions at which they would need to inject, and in terms of ensuring that they would receive insulin during hypoglycaemic episodes. However, disclosing diabetes was sometimes problematic in the context of marriage prospects. This paper suggests that the disclosure of diabetes is influenced by the cultural and social contexts in which people live and work. The participants in this study generally adopted a pragmatic approach to disclosure, because this facilitated selfcare activities in their social and working lives. They were less inclined towards disclosure in relation to marriage prospects. This factor may have implications for both the management of diabetes and psychological well-being.


We identify a fundamental problem in policy gradient-based methods in continuous control. As policy gradient methods require the agent's underlying probability distribution, they limit policy representation to parametric distribution classes. We show that optimizing over such sets results in local movement in the action space and thus convergence to sub-optimal solutions. We suggest a novel distributional framework, able to represent arbitrary distribution functions over the continuous action space. Using this framework, we construct a generative scheme, trained using an off-policy actor-critic paradigm, which we call the Generative Actor Critic (GAC). Compared to policy gradient methods, GAC does not require knowledge of the underlying probability distribution, thereby overcoming these limitations. Empirical evaluation shows that our approach is comparable and often surpasses current state-of-the-art baselines in continuous domains.


In northeastern Russia, reconnaissance analysis of the Anadyrsky and Khatyrsky sedimentary basins indicates that oil and gas fields were formed where strata of potential reservoir quality are present, and faults or zones of high permeability connect the source rocks to zones where impermeable strata overlie reservoir formations. Upper Cenozoic rocks, which have been subjected to Paleocene to Quaternary tectonic reactivation, the degree of which generally increases southward within individual basins, contain known oil and gas deposits in these basins. The formation of these basins is the result of extension and rifting along the northwestern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula, specifically in the Penzhinskaya Guba region.


Despite the abundance of literature on Six Sigma, we know only a little about how project leaders' behaviours create and manage effective Six Sigma teams. To address this gap, the present study investigates the influence of leaders' coaching behaviours on operational absorptive capacity in Six Sigma teams. Hypotheses linking leaders' coaching behaviours and the two components of operational absorptive capacity, potential and realised operational absorptive capacity, were tested using data from 324 members of 102 improvement teams from two European engineering manufacturing companies deploying Six Sigma. The study establishes that leader coaching has a positive impact on both potential and realised operational absorptive capacity. By considering absorptive capacity, a construct from the strategy literature in the context of operations improvement teams, this study demonstrates the usefulness of absorptive capacity in a new context and at a new level.


— The Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) binds IP address blocks to owners' public keys. RPKI enables routers to perform Route Origin Validation (ROV), thus preventing devastating attacks such as IP prefix hijacking. Yet, despite extensive effort, RPKI's deployment is frustratingly sluggish, leaving the Internet largely insecure. We tackle fundamental questions regarding today's RPKI's deployment and security: What is the adoption status of RPKI and ROV? What are the implications for global security of partial adoption? What are the root-causes for slow adoption? How can deployment be pushed forward? We address these questions through a combination of empirical analyses, a survey of over 100 network practitioners, and extensive simulations. Our main contributions include the following. We present the first study measuring ROV enforcement, revealing disappointingly low adoption at the core of the Internet. We show, in contrast, that without almost ubiquitous ROV adoption by large ISPs significant security benefits cannot be attained. We next expose a critical security vulnerability: about a third of RPKI authorizations issued for IP prefixes do not protect the prefix from hijacking attacks. We examine potential reasons for scarce adoption of RPKI and ROV, including human error in issuing RPKI certificates and inter-organization dependencies, and present recommendations for addressing these challenges.


Introduction: In order to study the consequences of having both asthma and sinusitis compared to having asthma only, four Swedish centres studied cohorts of asthma patients (A), and asthma+sinusitis patients (AS). The study was part of the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA2LEN) survey and follow-up.

Methods: Participants in the survey were invited for a clinical follow-up visit for interviews, and measurements of lung function, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and quality of life. Group allocations were based on the interviews. A was defined as self-reported diagnosis of asthma and presence of at least one asthma symptom or use of asthma medication. AS was defined as having asthma as well as at least two sinusitis symptoms, providing that nasal blockage or nasal discharge were reported.

Results: A consisted of 470 subjects (mean age 44, BMI 27, 60% females) and AS of 130 subjects (mean age 45, BMI 27, 57% females). AS had lower FEV1%pred, FVC%pred and quality of life (mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire-AQLQ), compared to A. There were no differences in FeNO, FEV1/FVC1 and reported nasal allergies.

View this table:

Table 1

Conclusion: We conclude that having both asthma and sinusitis results in lower lung function and lower quality of life compared to having asthma only.


Since distributions of qualitative variables can be represented by multinomial distributions, the role of multinomial distribution in entropy considerations is essential in statistics. Moreover for larger sample sizes multinomial distributions can be approximated well by multivariate normal distributions. The measures of qualitative variations depend on either class frequencies or some functional forms of class frequencies. Therefore the connection between qualitative variation statistics and normality seems straightforward for larger sample sizes. Asymptotic distributions of Shannon, Rényi and Tsallis entropies make some hypothesis testing and inferential techniques applicable to qualitative variations because some entropy measures are also frequently used in qualitative variation calculations. In this study, first we will give few examples of such applications by three entropy measures. Then we make a comparison between the performances of these three entropy measures. Finally, the degree of uncertainty, which is a significant factor that affects the speed of convergence to normality, is emphasized.


Title of Document: IDENTIFYING AND TRACKING MARINE PROTEIN AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE NITROGEN CYCLE USING PROTEOMICS Elisha Kelly Moore, Ph.D., 2011 Directed By: Professor H. Rodger Harvey, Marine Estuarine and Environmental Science Protein comprises the largest compartment of organic nitrogen in the ocean, and makes up a major portion of organic carbon in phytoplankton. Protein has long been thought to be highly labile in the environment and rapidly lost during diagenesis. However, the analysis of dissolved and particulate organic matter with NMR has revealed that much of dissolved and particulate marine organic nitrogen is linked by amide bonds, the very bonds that join amino acids in proteins. Throughout the global ocean, total hydrolysable amino acids (THAAs, the building blocks of proteins) can be measured in the water column and sediments, yet their biosynthetic source has remained elusive. Here, analytical techniques were developed combining protein solubilizing buffer extractions, gel electrophoresis, and proteomic mass spectrometry in order to investigate the biogeochemical significance of marine protein from primary production during transport and incorporation in sediments. These techniques enabled the detection and classification of previously unidentified marine sedimentary proteins. Specific proteins were tracked through the water column to continental shelf and deeper basin (3490 m) sediments of the Bering Sea, one of the world's most productive ecosystems. Diatoms were observed to be the principal source of identifiable protein in sediments. In situ shipboard phytoplankton degradation experiments were conducted to follow protein degradation, and it was observed that individual proteins remained identifiable even after 53 days of microbial recycling. These studies show that proteins can be identified from complex environmental matrices, and the methods developed here can be applied to investigate and identify proteins in degraded organic matter from a broad range of sources. The longevity of some fraction of algal proteins indicates that carbon and nitrogen sources can be tracked down the marine water column to sediments in diatomdominated systems as well as other types of phytoplankton. Using proteomic techniques to understand the marine carbon and nitrogen cycles will become increasingly important as climate change influences the timing, location, and phylogeny of those organisms responsible for oceanic primary production. IDENTIFYING AND TRACKING MARINE PROTEIN AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE NITROGEN CYCLE USING PROTEOMICS


This study aims to test whether the institutions listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange have a significant correlation between the level of conservative accounting practice with the level of market share returns during the Coronavirus pandemic period as one of the policies to confront the economic repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, the sample included institutions listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange during the 2019 and 2020 years, i.e., the period before the Coronavirus pandemic and during the Coronavirus pandemic for the purpose of comparison. The market value to book value model was used, and the study found that conservative institutions had achieved the highest level of market share prices compared to non-conservative institutions, and the study also found that conservative institutions during the Coronavirus pandemic had achieved a higher correlation coefficient during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, where it reached Pearson correlation coefficient (0.932) during the 2020 year for conservative institutions, while the Pearson correlation coefficient between conservatism and the market value of shares reached (0.853) during 2019,and A study found that the effect of accounting conservatism on market share prices for the year 2019 amounted to (0.731), which is significant regression, and in 2020 it reached (0.852), which is a significant regression, that is, the effect increased by (0.121) during the pandemic period , and this is evidence of the market need for conservatism. Therefore, our study recommends the adoption of accounting conservatism, but in a reasonable manner without exaggeration to face challenges and crises, because the market trusts more conservative accounting policies compared to the impulsive policy.


On 11 June 1832 Humphrey O'Sullivan, a schoolteacher living in Callan, County Kilkenny, made the following entry in his diary: The lower classes of the Irish are a credulous people. Some practical joker sent a fool out with a small piece of charred stick, or some other bit of kindling, which had been extinguished in Easter-water, or holy water, and told him to divide it into four parts, and give it to four persons in four houses, telling them that the cholera would kill them unless each one of them did the same thing. By this means 16 persons, and 64, and 256, and 1,024, and 4,096 etc., etc., got this fire, until the entire country was a laughing stock for protestants. O'Sullivan did not exaggerate. The events which he described were part of a remarkable popular panic which in the space of six days swept across the greater part of Ireland, from County Wexford in the south-east to County Donegal in the north-west, and from County Cork to the outskirts of Dublin city. It was an episode regarded by some contemporary observers with amused condescension, by others with deep alarm. For the modern historian it offers a brief but vivid insight into the mental world of a section of the catholic population in pre-Famine Ireland, and an opportunity to document in detail features of that mental world which are rarely reflected in conventional historical records.


The increased availability of metals in biological environments, due to human intervention in the last century, raised concerns on the effects that metals might have on living organisms. Consequently, the toxicology of metals and bioinorganic chemistry has emerged as very active in this field of metals research. Different chemical forms can influence metal toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics and should be considered to improve human health risk assessment. Factors that influence metal speciation include: carrier-mediated processes for specific metal species; valence state; particle size; the nature of metal binding ligands; whether the metal is an organic versus inorganic species and biotransformation of metal species. The recent studies of the co-ordination chemistry of metal ions in biological systems (mostly X-ray crystallographic data) show the potential grouping metal ions according to their binding preferences (i.e. whether they seek out 0-, N- or S-containing ligands), on the other hand, the scientific results have shown us for the possibility of metal-metal interaction in biological systems despite their level of concentration. This review provides a compilation of research done on metal - metal interaction in biological system.


In the GC and GC-MS analyses of pesticide residues, various adverse effects occur due to matrix co-extractives, which worsen the accuracy of analyses. In this review, the methods of overcoming the problems resulting from matrix effects are described. So far the most effective approach has been the use of matrix-matched calibration standards. Also some other methods such as sample purification or the GC injection technique can partly reduce the matrix effects. A novel approach utilizing analyte protectants has been proposed. The protectants have some advantages over the matrix-matched standards. Further studies of their application are necessary before implementing them into analytical practice.


Summary Serviceability and strength of concrete structures have been a topic of intense research for many years. Reported herein is the work conducted in this area, especially in the past decade, which ranges from the development of the layered finite element method and the associated theoretical studies to elaborate laboratory tests of highstrength concrete elements. In particular, serviceability studies reviewed include natural frequency, cracking and crack patterns, deflection and damping characteristics; strength investigations reviewed cover beams, slabs and walls, as well as the punching shear strength of flat plates. A long-term on-site study of column shortening in an 80-storey residential building recently completed at Gold Coast in Southeast Queensland, Australia is also reported. In addition, a separate section discusses the serviceability studies specific for high-strength concrete structures. Summarized herein is the review of research findings published during the period spanning mainly from 1995 to 2005. Relevant formulas and analytical procedures which may assist practising engineers in the design of concrete structures are reported for completion.


This paper considers a generalized multiple-input multiple-output (GMIMO) with practical assumptions, such as massive antennas, practical channel coding, arbitrary input distributions, and general right-unitarily-invariant channel matrices (covering Rayleigh fading, certain ill-conditioned and correlated channel matrices). Orthogonal/vector approximate message passing (OAMP/VAMP) has been proved to be information-theoretically optimal in GMIMO, but it is limited to high complexity. Meanwhile, low-complexity memory approximate message passing (MAMP) was shown to be Bayes optimal in GMIMO, but channel coding was ignored. Therefore, how to design a low-complexity and information-theoretic optimal receiver for GMIMO is still an open issue. In this paper, we propose an information-theoretic optimal MAMP receiver for coded GMIMO, whose achievable rate analysis and optimal coding principle are provided to demonstrate its information-theoretic optimality. Specifically, state evolution (SE) for MAMP is intricately multi-dimensional because of the nature of local memory detection. To this end, a fixed-point consistency lemma is proposed to derive the simplified variational SE (VSE) for MAMP, based on which the achievable rate of MAMP is calculated, and the optimal coding principle is derived to maximize the achievable rate. Subsequently, we prove the information-theoretic optimality of MAMP. Numerical results show that the finite-length performances of MAMP with optimized LDPC codes are about 1.0 - 2.7 dB away from the associated constrained capacities. It is worth noting that MAMP can achieve the same performance as OAMP/VAMP with 0.4% of the time consumption for large-scale systems.


The authors report two cases of menstrual irregularities associated with bupropion treatment. This is the first report of such an association, and it is supported by data collected by the Burroughs Wellcome Co. Since the mode of action of this effective new antidepressant is basically unknown and does not operate through any of the putative mechanisms of the classical antidepressants, its side effect profile is of heuristic as well as practical importance.


The diversity among some Nigerian accessions of Cucurbita species was investigated using 19 quantitative and 14 qualitative characters. The result showed that the accessions evaluated differed significantly (p < 0.05) in most of the quantitative characters evaluated. The clustering based on quantitative character, grouped the various accessions into two clusters. However, clustering based on the qualitative variations revealed a more realistic relationship by grouping the accessions into three distinct clusters that appeared to have some bearing with agro-ecology from which the accessions were collected. The variations in qualitative characters showed higher discrimination with some implications on the the genetic diversity and relationship among the accessions of Cucurbita. The Shannon diversity index (HS) was found to be 4.136 suggesting that the evaluated Nigerian Cucurbita accessions are truely diverse. The correlation analyses revealed that the weight of harvested fruits had significant and positive relationships with days to 50% flowering, number of male flowers, number of female flowers, number of fruits per plant, number of healthy fruits, fruit diameter, fruit length, number of seeds per fruit, 100-seed weight and seed weight. The days to 50% emergence showed negative but significant correlations with days to 50% flowering, number of female flowers, fruit length, seed length and 100-seed weight, suggesting that early crop emergence would imply prolonged vegetative growth phase and the production of higher number of female flowers that would translate to higher seed yield.


Optical control of chirality in chiral superconductors bears potential for future topological quantum computing applications. When a chiral domain is written and erased by a laser spot, the Majorana modes around the domain can be manipulated on ultrafast time scales. Here we study topological superconductors with two chiral order parameters coupled via light fields by a time-dependent real-space Ginzburg-Landau approach. Continuous optical driving, or the application of supercurrent, hybridizes the two chiral order parameters, allowing one to induce and control the superconducting state beyond what is possible in equilibrium. We show that superconductivity can even be enhanced if the mutual coupling between two order parameters is sufficiently strong. Furthermore, we demonstrate that short optical pulses with spot size larger than a critical one can overcome a counteracting diffusion effect and write, erase, or move chiral domains. Surprisingly, these domains are found to be stable, which might enable optically programmable quantum computers in the future.


The central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) orchestrates autonomic and other behavioral and physiological responses to conditioned stimuli that are aversive or elicit fear. As a related CeA function is the expression of hypoalgesia induced by conditioned stimuli or systemic morphine administration, we examined postsynaptic opioid modulation of neurons in each major CeA subdivision. Following electrophysiological recording, biocytin‐filled neurons were precisely located in CeA regions identified by chemoarchitecture (enkephalin‐immunoreactivity) and cytoarchitecture (DAPI nuclear staining) in fixed adult rat brain slices. This revealed a striking distribution of physiological types, as 92% of neurons in capsular CeA were classified as late‐firing, whereas no neurons in the medial CeA were of this class. In contrast, 60% or more of neurons in the lateral and medial CeA were low‐threshold bursting neurons. Mu‐opioid receptor (MOPR) agonists induced postsynaptic inhibitory potassium currents in 61% of CeA cells, and this ratio was maintained in each subdivision and for each physiological class of neuron. However, MOPR agonists more frequently inhibited bipolar/fusiform cells than triangular or multipolar neurons. A subpopulation of MOPR‐expressing neurons were also inhibited by delta opioid receptor agonists, whereas a separate population were inhibited kappa opioid receptors (KOPR). The MOPR agonist DAMGO inhibited 9/9 CeM neurons with projections to the parabrachial nucleus identified by retrograde tracer injection. These data support models of striatopallidal organization that have identified striatal‐like and pallidal‐like CeA regions. Opioids can directly inhibit output from each subdivision by activating postsynaptic MOPRs or KOPRs on distinct subpopulations of opioid‐sensitive neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 497:910–927, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This paper describes query translation using language resources and a concept base method for Cross-language Information Retrieval (CLIR). In the proposed method, queries are translated by multiple machine translation systems on the Language Grid. The queries are then expanded by using a bilingual dictionary to translate compound words or word phrases. In addition, documents related to the translated query are retrieved with a TFIDF term weighting model. The top 100 retrieved documents are re-ranked by a specificity-considered concept base with the noun phrases and compound words extracted from the query. The reranked results are combined with the results retrieved by the probabilistic model. For evaluation of the proposed method, we use the average precision of the non-interpolated recall and precision to compare our method with the NTCIR1 participation systems. The proposed method achieved the highest precision.


Prismant, the major institute for health-care research in the Netherlands, presented differences in mortality data from hospitals in the Netherlands. The data from the Prismant study were front-page news. However, the Prismant study was only published on their own website, and contained only raw data. The author did not consider relevant issues, e.g., the differences in case mix in the various hospitals and demographic factors. The public debate on quality of health care would benefit greatly if research institutes published only data that were peer reviewed and if journalists checked with experts before they published an article on such a specialist medical issue.


Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are commonly associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The LUTS‐BPH complex consists of both voiding and storage symptoms that may overlap with overactive bladder symptoms. Drug therapy for men with LUTS may include α1‐antagonists, 5‐α‐reductase inhibitors, combination therapy, and over‐the‐counter phytotherapy. Anticholinergic agents are effective in relieving overactive bladder symptoms in patients without bladder outlet obstruction. However, anticholinergic therapy has historically been contraindicated in patients with LUTS associated with BPH because of concerns for developing acute urinary retention. To assess the safety and efficacy of anticholinergic therapies for LUTS associated with BPH, a MEDLINE search and a bibliographic search of the English‐language literature were conducted. Two nonrandomized, open‐label studies; two randomized trials that assessed anticholinergic therapy alone; and eight trials that assessed anticholinergic therapy in combination with an α1‐antagonist were identified. Trials were of short duration (6–12 wks) and included only men with low postvoid residual volumes at baseline. Small nonsignificant changes were seen in objective measures of urinary function. Several trials demonstrated an increase in postvoid residual with anticholinergic therapy, which was statistically significant in two trials. Despite the increase in postvoid residual, rates of acute urinary retention were low and the drugs were well tolerated. Of the five trials that used a validated symptom scoring scale, two demonstrated subjective improvement in urinary function. Men with symptomatic overactive bladder and BPH who are not adequately relieved with α1‐antagonists may benefit from the addition of an anticholinergic agent. Before starting therapy, however, a postvoid residual volume should be measured to measure to rule out baseline urinary retention.


This paper investigates discriminative language modeling in a scenario with two kinds of observed errors: errors in ASR transcription and errors in utterance classification. We train joint language and class models either independently or simultaneously, under various parameter update conditions. On a large vocabulary customer service call-classification application, we show that simultaneous optimization of class, n-gram, and class/n-gram feature weights results in a significant WER reduction over a model using just n-gram features, while additionally significantly outperforming a deployed baseline in classification error rate. A range of parameter estimation approaches, based on either the perceptron algorithm or conditional log-linear models, for various feature sets are presented and evaluated. The resulting models are encoded as weighted finite-state automata, and are used by intersecting the model with word lattices. ! 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


This paper presents the first application of polynomial modeling as a means for validating phonological pitch accent labels to German data. It is compared to traditional phonetic analysis (measuring minima, maxima, alignment). The traditional method fares better in classification, but results are comparable in statistical accent pair testing. Robustness tests show that pitch correction is necessary in both cases. The approaches are discussed in terms of their practicability, applicability to other domains of research and interpretability of their results.


A two-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising system composed of ferrimagnetically ordered chains with alternating spin- and spin-S atoms is investigated by the use of Ising spin identities and the differential operator technique, in order to clarify the magnetic properties of bimetallic molecular-based magnetic materials. The correlated effective-field approximation is used for the discussion. The numerical results of total magnetization M and inverse susceptibility are obtained and discussed for the two systems with S = 1 and . Some unexpected features are observed in the temperature dependences of when the crystal-field interaction constant d on a spin-S atom becomes negative, such as the non-divergence of the in the systems with .


The study explores career women's experiences and seeks to understand their predicament in their daily interactions with domestic workers. It also  highlights the tensions between employers and employees, given that they belong to different economic worlds. Domestic workers have a high turnover  which frustrates their employers, who then find it difficult to increase wages to acceptable rates beyond the stated amounts. Drawing from in-depth  interviews with 14 employers of domestic workers, this qualitative study explores the experiences of these employers utilising the National University of  Lesotho as the research site. The study confirmed the interdependence of employers and domestic workers. The study also unearthed that the  employment relationship between employers and domestic workers is complex and often crammed with mistrust, ill-treatment, and stress, but also relief  and support. There is a need for the Lesotho government to monitor domestic work policies to avoid exploitation and abuse, which prevail in the  interrelationship of employers and employees in this sector.


SUMMARY A case of massive proteinuria following an A-match living donor transplantation is described. All attempts to define the cause of the proteinuria failed. The proteinuria resolved while the patient was on triple-drug therapy. Presently, the patient remains well with minimal proteinuria and excellent renal function.


Studies of introduced subject matter in rock-art assemblages typically focus on themes of cross-cultural interaction, change and continuity, power and resistance. However, the economic frameworks guiding or shaping the production of an assemblage have often been overlooked. In this paper we use a case study involving a recently recorded assemblage of introduced subject matter from Marra Country in northern Australia's southwest Gulf of Carpentaria region to explore their production using a hybrid economy framework. This framework attempts to understand the nature of the forces that shape people's engagement with country and subsequently how it is being symbolically marked as adjustments to country occur through colonization. We argue that embedding these motifs into a hybrid economy context anchored in the pastoral industry allows for a more nuanced approach to cross-cultural interaction studies and adds another layer to the story of Aboriginal place-marking in colonial contexts. This paper aims to go beyond simply identifying motifs thought to represent introduced subject matter, and the cross-cultural framework(s) guiding their interpretation, and instead to direct attention to the complex network of relations that potentially underpin the production of such motifs.


ABSTRACT The environmental agency in the metropolitan area of Mexico City has launched a program to introduce more energy-efficient modes of transport, one of which is the use of alternative and less polluting fuels. With that perspective in mind, a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fleet of vehicles is exempt of the mandatory "one day without a car" program if the emission of pollutants is below the standard authorized for that specific purpose. Today, about 28,000 light-duty vehicles and heavy-duty trucks circulate in the area, most of them as aftermarket converted vehicles. In this work, we evaluated regulated exhaust emission and other parameters on 134 representative vehicles of that fleet. From the data obtained, an estimate of emission factors and their contribution to the global emission in the metropolitan area is provided. It is concluded that more than 95% of the in-use vehicles using LPG presented regulated emissions which exceeded in one or more the environmental regulations values required for certification. The poor maintenance of the vehicles and the type of conversion kit installed could be the culprits of the results obtained.


Quantitative microscopy has strengthened conventional diagnostic scheme through better understanding of microscopic features from clinical perspective. Towards this, pathological image analysis has gained immense significance among medical fraternity through visualization and quantitative evaluation of clinical features. Till today pathological inspection of human blood is solely dependent on subjective assessment which usually leads to significant inter-observer variation in grading and subsequently resulting in late diagnosis of certain disease. This paper introduced a systematic approach to morphologically characterize five types of white blood cells (WBC) through statistical pattern analytics. Marker controlled watershed segmentation embedded with morphological operator is employed to segment WBC and its nuclei from light microscopic image of blood samples. Henceforth, one cellular and eight nuclei-based geometric features are computed mathematically and analyzed statistically with t-test and kernel density functions to show their discriminating potentiality among the groups. Amongst all these features, only four statistical significant features are fed to Naïve Bayes classifier for pattern identification with 83.2% overall accuracy. Detailed results are also given here.


Despite efforts to improve access to palliative care services, a significant number of patients still have unmet needs throughout their continuum of care. As such, this project was conducted to increase recognition of patients who could benefit from palliative care, increase referrals, and connect regional sites. This study utilized Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles through a quality improvement approach to develop and test the Palliative Care Screening Tool and aimed to screen 100% of patients within 24 hours who were admitted to selected units by February 2017. The intervention was implemented in 3 different units, each within community hospitals. Patients 18 years or older were screened if they were admitted to one of the selected units for the project, regardless of their diagnosis, age, or comorbidities. The percentage of newly admitted patients who were screened and the total number of palliative care consults were assessed as outcome measures. The tool was met with varying compliance among the 3 sites. However, there was an overall increase in consults across all hospital sites, and an increase in the proportion of noncancer patients was demonstrated. Although the aim was not reached, the tool helped to create a shift in the demographic of patients identified as palliative.


Does the association between household characteristics and household CO2 emissions differ for different areas such as home energy, transport, indirect and total emissions in the UK? Specific types of households might be more likely to have high emissions in some areas than in others and thus be affected differently by climate mitigation policies that target these areas. Using the Living Costs and Food Survey and Expenditure and Food Survey for the years 2006 to 2009, this paper compares how household characteristics like income, household size, rural/urban location and education level differ in their association with home energy, transport, indirect and total emissions. We find that the association between household characteristics and emissions differs considerably across these areas, particularly for income, education, the presence of children, female headed, workless and rural households. We also test the implicit assumption in the literature that the association between household characteristics and CO2 emission is constant across the CO2 emission distribution using quantile regressions and compare results for poor and rich households. The analysis considers policy implications of these findings throughout.


The energy crisis engulfing Europe is a crisis of both gas and electricity markets, with huge cost impacts on consumers across all European countries. In Britain, half of typical household energy expenditure arises from electricity. This paper examines how the cost of gas-powered generation feeds through to electricity bills, on the principle of marginal cost pricing, setting the price for most of the time though it accounts for only about 40% of GB generation. Combined with the steep decline in wind and solar costs over the past decade, this has resulted in an unprecedented degree of 'cost inversion' in the electricity system. We offer estimates of the increase of revenues across the wholesale market, and outline five principles for reform for addressing the combined challenges of energy costs and accelerating low-carbon transition.


Stipa krylovii Roshev ( Stipa L.) is one of the most important grass species for rangeland ecology and animal husbandry. But some populations of this species are under threat due to landscape fragmentation and habitat isolation resulting from the reclamation and cultivation in ecotone. To determine if and how these disturbances have impacted on genetic structure of S. krylovii populations, an inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers was used to characterize them for the first time in China. S. krylovii populations from 10 isolated patches were compared with population from unbroken natural rangeland. Eight primers screened were employed to assess genetic diversity within and among populations. The results revealed the total genetic diversity (Ht) and the within population genetic diversity (Hs) were 0.2054 and 0.1388 respectively, while the coefficient of genetic differentiation (Gst) were 0.3241 suggesting more variability within the populations than among them. The cluster pattern of S. krylovii indicated that the populations with larger habitat size were grouped together with CK population in one cluster; likewise, populations with moderate habitat size and smaller area were also grouped together respectively, while the smallest population formed itself into a solo cluster due to genetically different from others. These findings may be early signs of fragmentation effects that in the future will result in species loss even if the present populations are maintained.


With more than 60 percent of the United States in private hands, a great deal of the nation's wildlife lives on privately owned land. A major challenge of wildlife law has been to prescribe the legal relationship between the private owner of land and publicly owned wildlife. We have already seen some of the legal principles that apply to private land. Other pieces, though, are required to complete the legal picture. What rights do landowners themselves have in such wildlife? What legal protections do landowners enjoy when engaged in wildlife-related activities? What can they do when wildlife causes harm? Finally, what legal issues arise when landowners allow outsiders to hunt on their lands? These issues are taken up here, leaving to chapter 8 a consideration of issues that arise most vividly in the context of private game reserves and captive breeding operations.


We implemented a micromachined probe for the measurement of biological properties using MEMS technology. We experimentally showed the suitability of the micromachined probe in biological applications through liquids and solid experiments. The micromachined probe consists of a CPW and strip line between benzo cyclo butene (BCB) layers because it has excellent properties such as high resistivity, low loss tangent and low permittivity at higher frequencies. The aperture size of the micromachined probe is only 650 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 70 /spl mu/m. We measured the permittivity of a number of well- known liquids - 0.5, 0.9 and 1.3 % saline, acetone, and muscle and fat of pork - as biological samples using the micromachined probe after liquid calibration. In this paper, we first demonstrate that the micromachined probe can provide broadband measurement of measurable solid materials, such as biological samples, and also of well-known liquids at microwave frequencies.


Trauma is the cause of 5 to 10% of all cases of osteoarthritis of the hip. One third of patients with a dislocation or fracture-dislocation of the hip or an acetabular fracture develop osteoarthritis of the hip within one to 20 years. Symptoms may be minor or absent during the interval. In addition to severe injuries, simple contusions resulting for instance from a blow to the greater trochanter or knee or from forced abduction of the hip (e.g., splits) can also result in osteoarthritis of the hip. We developed a set of five imputability criteria, of which three are essential: 1) documentation of the exact nature of the trauma; 2) absence of osteoarthritis in the uninjured hip; 3) consistency between the estimated duration of osteoarthritis and the date of the injury. Causality assessment problems which arise when a trauma worsens or accelerates preexisting osteoarthritis are discussed on the basis of clinical and roentgenographic findings. Mechanical and biochemical factors involved in the pathophysiology of contusion-related osteoarthritis of the hip are briefly reviewed.


This paper describes the development of noninfectious disease epidemiology and the subsequent organization of the Society for Epidemiologic Research. It defines epidemiology as "the study of the health of human populations," and outlines its four basic functions. Certain negative trends in epidemiologic research are indicated. The current tasks of epidemiology are reviewed, as well as the objective and subjective factors which will determine the future of epidemiology.


The paper reviews the essential functions which apply to any kind of suspension, and distinguishes between the various inputs to which a suspension is subjected. These are used to assess the particular characteristics of an electromagnetically suspended (Maglev) vehicle, and to identify considerations which have important implications for the controller design, irrespective of the design method. Some general equations are developed which interrelate the vehicle speed, the quality of the track and the passenger comfort requirements, and these are used to identify operational conditions for which a second stage of suspension becomes necessary (that is, in addition to that provided by the magnets). The importance of understanding the suspension's response to deterministic track inputs is also highlighted. Although the paper is directed towards Maglev, the analysis is strongly based upon a consideration of the suspension transfer functions, and so many of the principles are applicable to actively controlled supensions in general.


The Karroo dolerites represent the intrusive phase of the early Jurassic basalts which built up the Basutoland lava plateau. Those in the Union of South Africa are described. Both basalts and dolerites are of tholeiitic magma type and are characterized by low Fe 2 O 3 and alkalies. Most of the dolerites show little differentiation, but olivine rich types and acidic veins and schlieren are recorded. The differentiation trend was toward moderate iron enrichment. The magma was extremely active toward the associated sedimentary rocks causing widespread rheomorphic and syntectic phenomena. Many of the rocks previously described as "diorite" or "granophyre" were found to be transfused siltstones. The dolerites occur chiefly as sills, dikes, and inclined sheets, but "bell-jar" intrusions occur near the focus of activity southwest of Basutoland. The mechanism of intrusion is discussed. The authors believe that the Karroo dolerites were injected under conditions of tension following the buckling of the Samfrau geosyncline and represent only one phase of the pronounced igneous activity which spread over a large portion of Gondwanaland during Trias-Jura time.


Through the launching of ASEM, the EU sought to strengthen interregional cooperation and dialogue with East Asia on economic, political and cultural pillars. This paper aims to explore the driving forces of the EU's interregional approach towards East Asia and shed some light on the importance of ASEM in a European perspective. We argue that, firstly, EU seeks to enhance its interregional relation with emerging Asia in order to protect and advance Europe's commercial interests. European business has been given a privileged role to influence the ASEM process for ensuring market access to the dynamic Asian markets. Secondly, the EU seeks to set a normative agenda through the ASEM to promote the human rights and democracy in the Asian region. Exporting European values and norms to its Asian counterparts will not only strengthen Europe's profile as a normative power, but will also further expand its influence as a global actor. Thirdly, the EU tends to enhance its interregional relation with emerging Asia to foster a multipolar world order, countering unilateralism of Washington and future hegemonic power, and to maintain and establish an effective multilateral governance system. 'Europe can only play a leading role on the world stage if it is able to offer a robust political proposal for a more effective and democratic international architecture.' -Romano Prodi


Our aim was to study the cell kinetics and epithelial structure in the ileum and colon of conventional and germfree AGUS rats by means of a classic stathmokinetic technique. A slight hyperplasia was observed in the villi of germfree animals (p < 0.05), associated with a comparatively short cell cycle time. The crypt cell production rate was reduced in the colon of germfree rats (p < 0.05), and their crypts contained fewer cells than those of conventional animals (p < 0.05). It is concluded that intraluminal bacteria influence cell proliferation in the colon. The absence of microflora prolongs the cell cycle time and reduces the proliferative activity in the colonic crypts, which contributes to a steady state that is different from that of conventional animals.


In many applications, the continuum electromagnetic (EM) theory needs to be replaced by a discrete theory on a spatial lattice. A lattice EM theory has well-known phenomena not present on the continuum counterpart, such as finite frequency cut-off and rotational symmetry breaking. These may be viewed as approximations of to the continuum theory, but not as inconsistencies. The latter usually leads to pervasive and more deleterious phenomena such as a spurious model and unconditional instabilities. The authors explore the natural path to find a lattice approximation to a field theory formulated in terms of differential forms. This will employ the known mapping of forms onto linear functions (cochains) on the space of some lattice elements (chains). Then, we use the natural factorization of Maxwell's equations (MEs) into a topological part and a metric part to describe the exact (combinatorial) lattice counterparts to the topological equations and the nature of the lattice approximation to the metric equations. The objective is to discuss basic requirements for an ab initio consistent lattice EM theory, clarifying their relationship with topological and metric aspects of the theory.


This paper explores three female swimmers' relationships with their male coaches and the body practices they were exposed to within Australian swimming. Particular attention is given to how the relationships and practices might relate to gender. Additionally, the article examines how (if at all) the conduct contributed to the social construction of an accepted female swimmer body. Through narrative accounts, the three adolescent female athletes articulate hierarchical male coach–female athlete relationships and specific body encounters they were exposed to and/or engaged with. Their experiences reveal how a sexually maturing body (growing breasts, female body shape and menstruating) was deemed unsuitable for performance and the swimmers were thus encouraged to transform their bodies and behaviours towards that of the boys. Using a feminist Foucauldian perspective, these accounts points to how the three swimmers came to regulate their diet, training and appearance in order to fulfil expectations. This self-regulation is problematic in two ways: first, no scientific evidence shows that a boy like physique is essential for best performance. Second, the stress from being pressured to achieve a particular body, as well as the shame that resulted from being unable to achieve the idealised physique, eventually caused the swimmers to develop an unhealthy relationship with their developing bodies. We highlight how those immersed in sporting contexts should recognise the serious implications of gender practices and power relations underpinning the male coach–female athlete dynamic in competitive sport.


Submersed macrophyte,Potamogeton crispus,was planted in water at depth of 0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0,2.5,3.0,3.5 and 4.0 m in pots,with the aim to study the influence of the water depths on plant adaptability in reproduction,biomass allocation and photosynthetic properties and to elicit the way of energy distribution when they are in different water depths.Results showed that the stem length of P.crispus had an evident correlation with water depth and the appropriate water depth for P.crispus growth was 0.5-2.5 m.At the depth of 0.5 and 1.5 m,Potamogeton crispus turion has the largest clones and highest biomass,and the tallest stem length,respectively.Water depth gradients do not affect the germination of P.crispus turions with germination rates 70% from deep water 0.5 m to 4m in the experimental group.The adaptability of P.crispus to different water depths has a strong phenotypic plasticity.Height and biomass vary with different water depths for P.crispus.With the increase of water depth and the decrease of light intensity,P.crispus distributes more energy to the growth of plant height so that it can get more luminous energy,which leads to the gradually reduction of energy to reproductive organs and eventually to a balance of energy distribution.The phenotypic plasticity can adapt to different light stress and what's more,it can also change the content of the chlorophyll to further respond to different light under stress.Below the depth of 3.0 m,the chlorophyll of P.crispus greatly increased to use of energy efficiently,which is illustrated by the comparable light response capacity of the experimental group from 3.0-4.0 m and is still not lower than other groups.


During the last years more and more procedures came up to render people with refractive errors possible to see without contact lenses or glasses. The different procedures for hyperopia, myopia and astigmatism are performed in increasing numbers in hospitals, laser-centres and in private practise. Modern radial keratotomy was introduced in the late 70 by the Russian Fjodorov. Because of the many complications this procedure was replaced by other procedures. Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) was introduced in 1985, using an excimer laser to vaporize corneal tissue. Because of the side effects as pain and glare and the limited indication area Laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) was developed. In this procedure a corneal lamella is cut in, flapped back and the excimer laser vaporize the corneal tissue. These two procedures are mostly applied nowadays. But there are also new techniques that are still in an experimental state. One of that is the implementation of an intrastromal corneal ring that can reduce myopia up to 4 diopters. During the laser thermo keratoplasty 8 to 16 laser applications are performed in the periphery of the cornea to reduce hyperopia up to + 5 diopters. Another refractive surgery procedure is the phakic intraocular lens implantation for high myopia and +3 to +10 diopters hyperopia and the clear lens extraction with intraocular lens implantation for high hyperopia. The Joint Aviation Authority Requirements allow a hyperopia and myopia for commercial pilots of 3 diopters. Some pilot candidates with higher refractive errors undergo refractive surgery. But there are also pilots who are customers of the refractive operating ophthalmologists to get rid of the crutch glasses. This paper gives an overview about the refractive procedures that are performed nowadays on pilots and pilot candidates and gives information about the relevant indications and complications of refractive procedures in the aviation environment.


B201 Aim : To see the clinical, scintigraphic presentation and frequency of neoplastic lesions of the thyroid in a descriptive cross sectional study. Materials and Methods: All thyroid samples submitted and reported at the Department of Pathology, King Edward Medical University, Lahore during a 5 year period commencing from 1st July 1999 to 30th June 2004. Results: Out of 1623 solitary thyroid nodules, 427 (26.3%) were shown to comprise of neoplastic lesions and were more common in females as compared to males giving a male to female ratio of 1:3.5. Regarding neoplastic lesions 320 (75%) were benign adenoma and 107(25%) were malignant. In the malignant category papillary carcinoma was the commonest (71%), followed by Follicular carcinoma (12%). Other malignant lesions were rare like , Anaplastic carcinoma (6.5%), Medullary carcinoma (3.7%), Lymphoma (1.8%), poorly differentiated carcinoma (1.8%) and Hurthle cell carcinoma (0.9%). A few of the cases (1.8%) comprised of malignancies showing local extension into the thyroid. One case of MC was associated with MEN II and one case of FC was under 20 years and associated with distance metastasis. Conclusions: Neoplastic lesions were more common in middle age women. The prevalence of malignant tumors was high from 31-60 years and the peak age was 31-40 (20-30%), it is increasing in younger patients. Most of the patients of thyroid neoplasms presented as a painless cold solitary nodule on scan, while a few presented with MNG and cysts. Most of the cases have normal thyroid profile. Very few patients were iodine deficient.


Long-term therapy with the macrolide antibiotic erythromycin was shown to alter the clinical course of diffuse panbronchiolitis in the late 1980s. Since that time, macrolides have been found to have a large number of anti-inflammatory properties in addition to being antimicrobials. These observations provided the rationale for many studies performed to assess the usefulness of macrolides in other inflammatory diseases including skin and hair disorders, such as rosacea, psoriasis, pityriasis rosea, alopecia areata, bullous pemphigoid, and pityriasis lichenoides. This paper summarizes a collection of clinical studies and case reports dealing with the potential benefits of macrolides antibiotics in the treatment of selected dermatoses which have primarily been classified as noninfectious and demonstrating their potential for being disease-modifying agents.


The concentration of an analyte in a closed test chamber containing a chemical sensor is affected by the adsorption-desorption processes acting on the sensor surface. This phenomenon is called the "getter" whose effect has been known for many decades to occur in, e.g., vacuum tubes even if its mathematical expression has not been elaborated upon so far for affinity based chemical sensors. In this paper, we describe the "getter" equation and its consequences for affinity based chemical sensors in both the gas phase and the liquid phase with the starting point in the standard kinetic equation leading to Langmuir-like adsorption isotherms. More specifically, we calculate the "getter" isotherm and compare it with the Langmuir isotherm. The getter phenomenon is shown to be important at sufficiently small analyte concentrations (partial pressure in the gas phase or molecular concentration in the liquid phase) and in test chambers or sample cells of small volumes. A simple rule of thumb is given when the "getter" effect may be important. As an example, for a sample cell with a volume of 1 ml and a sensor surface area of 1 cm2 without a constant flow of analyte through it, the "getter" phenomenon may occur around parts per million levels for a gas sensor and around submicromolar concentrations for a sensor in a liquid. Experimental examples from the literature where the "getter" effect is observed will be given. We also show a more general electric equivalent circuit which accounts also for the getter effect by using a coverage dependent series resistance in the equivalent circuit previously suggested for Langmuir adsorption under constant partial pressure/concentration in the test chamber.The concentration of an analyte in a closed test chamber containing a chemical sensor is affected by the adsorption-desorption processes acting on the sensor surface. This phenomenon is called the "getter" whose effect has been known for many decades to occur in, e.g., vacuum tubes even if its mathematical expression has not been elaborated upon so far for affinity based chemical sensors. In this paper, we describe the "getter" equation and its consequences for affinity based chemical sensors in both the gas phase and the liquid phase with the starting point in the standard kinetic equation leading to Langmuir-like adsorption isotherms. More specifically, we calculate the "getter" isotherm and compare it with the Langmuir isotherm. The getter phenomenon is shown to be important at sufficiently small analyte concentrations (partial pressure in the gas phase or molecular concentration in the liquid phase) and in test chambers or sample cells of small volumes. A simple rule of thumb is given when the "getter...


Understanding changes in glacier mass balances is essential for investigating climate changes. However, glacier‐wide mass balances determined from geodetic observations do not provide a relevant climatic signal as they depend on the dynamic response of the glaciers. In situ point mass balance measurements provide a direct signal but show a strong spatial variability that is difficult to assess from heterogeneous in situ measurements over several decades. To address this issue, we propose a nonlinear statistical model that takes into account the spatial and temporal changes in point mass balances. To test this model, we selected four glaciers in different climatic regimes (France, Bolivia, India, and Norway) for which detailed point annual mass balance measurements were available over a large elevation range. The model extracted a robust and consistent signal for each glacier. We obtained explained variances of 87.5, 90.2, 91.3, and 75.5% on Argentière, Zongo, Chhota Shigri, and Nigardsbreen glaciers, respectively. The standard deviations of the model residuals are close to measurement uncertainties. The model can also be used to detect measurement errors. Combined with geodetic data, this method can provide a consistent glacier‐wide annual mass balance series from a heterogeneous network. This model, available to the whole community, can be used to assess the impact of climate change in different regions of the world from long‐term mass balance series.


PROTEIN STRUCTUREResearchers have discovered that in the lab, some normally benign proteins can misfold in ways similar to the misfolding that contributes to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. The findings hint that a certain type of misfolding may be common to all proteins, prompting theories that cells have evolved techniques to guard against such behavior. Scientists caution, however, that the work has been limited to test tubes and that the proteins were exposed to extreme conditions.


Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a very negative impact on people's overall mental health and psychosocial well-being, but the study of available social support to cope with such an adverse situation has received hardly any attention. Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the MOS Perceived Social Support Questionnaire among the Mexican population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Non-experimental cross-sectional study. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Medical Outcomes Study were applied in a non-probabilistic sample. A total of 898 people from different regions in Mexico, 258 males and 640 females, participated in the study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The analysis yielded a bi-factor model with two factors, Emotional/informational support and Tangible support, with satisfactory goodness of fit indices. Reliability was adequate with a high hierarchical omega coefficient, as well as in the factors. Likewise, the H coefficient was adequate in the general factor and its dimensions. Conclusions: Results showed that the scale is a valid and reliable measure of perceived social support among the Mexican population.


The aim of this article is to present the concept of bankruptcy as a legal judicial procedure to be followed in case that the legal or natural person becomes insolvent. The paper is focused on the meaning of bankruptcy, the subjects of bankruptcy proceedings, causes for the opening of this proceeding, the competent court and its decision according to the law no.8901, dated 23.05.2002 "On bankruptcy" published in official Journal nr.31/2002. These article deals also with the organs of bankruptcy proceedings, administrator, meeting of creditors and methods of the conclusion of bankruptcy proceedings. A brief description of debtor's possibilities during bankruptcy proceedings is given also in article. It deals with debtor's closeout, rehabilitation/reorganization of the company and debtor's liquidation. However, it should be noted that the bankruptcy procedure is a procedure not very widespread in our country, that due to the small number of cases before our courts. It also has to do with the fact that subjects rarely addressed the court.


D2-40 is a new monoclonal antibody recognizing podoplanin and it is selective for lymphatic endothelium. Several studies have confirmed the reliability of D2-40 in the diagnosis of pleural malignant mesothelioma, but the evaluation of this antibody in other pleural neoplasms is limited. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of D2-40 in segregation of malignant mesothelioma from other pleural or lung neoplasms. Sixty-seven cases, including 36 pleural malignant mesotheliomas, 15 solitary fibrous tumors, 13 pleomorphic carcinomas, and 3 synovial sarcomas, were immunohistochemically studied using a D2-40 monoclonal antibody. Twenty-five (21 epithelioid and 4 biphasic) of 36 (69%) malignant mesotheliomas and 2 of 15 (13%) solitary fibrous tumors were positive for D2-40. The difference of D2-40 positivity between these 2 types of tumor was significant (P<0.001). No D2-40 positivity was detected in pleomorphic carcinomas (n=13) or synovial sarcomas (n=3). These findings showed that D2-40 was frequently positive in malignant mesothelioma, but could also be positive in a small portion of solitary fibrous tumor. These results indicate that D2-40 is a valuable marker for malignant mesothelioma, but caution should be taken when evaluating D2-40-positive pleural spindle cell neoplasms in limited small biopsy specimens, especially when the differential diagnosis includes solitary fibrous tumor and malignant mesothelioma.


We propose a robust blind watermarking algorithm for three-dimensional (3D) mesh models based on vertex curvature to maintain good robustness and improve visual masking in 3D mesh models. In the embedding process, by using the local window of vertex, the root mean square curvature is calculated for every vertex of the 3D mesh model and an ordered set of fluctuation values is obtained. According to the ordered fluctuation values, the vertices are separated into bins. In each bin the fluctuation values are normalized. Finally, the mean of the root mean square curvature fluctuation values of the vertices in each bin is modulated to embed watermark information. In watermark detection, the algorithm uses a blind watermark extraction technique to extract the watermark information. The experimental results show that the algorithm has a very good performance for visual masking of the embedded model and that it can resist a variety of common attacks such as vertex rearrangement, rotation, translating, uniform scaling, noise, smoothing, quantization, and simplification.


Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) is a standard for the treatment of oncological, hematologic, and also some immune diseases, ensuring the restoration of blood counts after high-dose chemotherapy. In children, the success of mobilization and collection of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is especially important. Mobilization schemes for children are decided on an individual basis, which requires the development and implementation of recommendations for improving the efficiency of mobilization and collection of HSCs. Mobilization schemes include the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in the form of monotherapy or in combination with CXCR4 antagonists. These schemes are ineffective in some children, which requires re-mobilization or rejection of transplantation, which negatively affects the prognosis. When preparing a patient for HSCs collection, it is necessary to take into account all previous therapy, the patient's age, weight and height indicators, and general somatic state. Harvesting the required amount of HSCs will allow for high-dose therapy followed by auto-HSCT, and thereby increase the effectiveness of treatment. It is necessary to optimize the protocol for mobilization of HSCs with a large bias for pediatric patients, which will clearly define the criteria for mobilization, give indications for this procedure and determine the criteria for technical collection, which will allow to obtain the optimal number of CD34+ cells, which will ensure the success of the treatment.


A 16-week-old Persian kitten was referred for investigation of constipation and failure to grow. The owner reported that the kitten had always strained to defecate. Abdominal radiographs confirmed megacolon and CT pneumocolography confirmed the presence of a caudal rectal stricture. During a single procedure and under fluoroscopic guidance, the stricture was effaced by sequentially dilating 10-mm and 15-mm balloons. Shortly after discharge, the owner reported complete resolution of clinical signs and oral laxatives were stopped. Repeat radiographs 1 month post dilation showed resolution of the diffuse megacolon and the cat appeared well and had gained weight. This is the first report of a congenital rectal stricture in a kitten and one of the few reports documenting balloon dilation for the treatment of stenotic anorectal lesions (congenital or acquired) in cats.


Since 1989, with the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany has undergone a profound restructuring political and economic process. When the Euro Crisis broke out, Germany was no longer the "sick man" of Europe. Instead, it had recovered its dominance as the strongest and wealthiest economy within the European Union. With the European Debt Crisis, that has been taking place in the European Union since the end of 2009, Germany ́s Chancellor Angela Merkel has gained the power of deciding, so to say, on the fate of the debtor nations, but she neither stands for binding German commitments, nor refuses assistance. A debate on whether Merkel's hesitation has been deliberated and used as a means of coercion has arisen on international print media, and the Portuguese Press has been no exception. This study, which was conducted by using news reporting, opinion articles, interviews and editorials, published in the Portuguese weekly Expresso and the daily Público, from 2008 to 2015, tries to show how Merkel's hesitation, depicted in the press by the term "Merkiavelli", was perceived in Portugal, a country that had to embrace the austerity measures, imposed by the European Central Bank, but defined under Angela Merkel ́s leading role. Keywords—Euro crisis, "Merkiavelli", cultural studies, Portuguese quality press.


In Gabriel A. Almond's famous typology of political systems, first expounded in 1956, he distinguishes three types of Western democratic systems: Anglo-American political systems (exemplified by Britain and the United States), Continental European political systems (France, Germany, and Italy), and a third category consisting of the Scandinavian and Low Countries. The third type is not given a distinct label and is not described in detail; Almond merely states that the countries belonging to this type "combine some of the features of the Continental European and the Anglo-American" political systems, and "stand somewhere in between the Continental pattern and the Anglo-American." Almond's threefold typology has been highly influential in the comparative analysis of democratic politics, although, like any provocative and insightful idea, it has also been criticized. This research note will discuss the concept of "consociational democracy" in a constructive attempt to refine and elaborate Almond's typology of democracies.


The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of team management practices (team formation, team motivation, team communication and team dispute resolution) on the performance of community-based projects in Embu, Kenya. Appropriate research hypothesis was derived from the substantive objective. Descriptive-correlational survey design was used to implement the research inquiry. The target population was 34 community-based projects in being implemented in Embu County. A sample of 32 projects was arrived at using Krejcie and Morgan table of sample determination. Proportionate stratified random sampling was used to select 32 project team leaders. Appropriate data was garnered using structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results suggest that at F (1,156) =4.934, P=0.000<0.05 implying that at 95% the relationship was statistically significant. The correlation coefficient (R=0.653) showed that there exists strong positive correlation between team management practices and performance community-based projects. The coefficient of determination (R2=0.426) implied that team management practices explained 42.6% of performance of community-based projects. The findings have immense contribution to both knowledge and practice in the areas of team management practices and performance of community-based projects. Follow up studies should focus on testing similar variables across different project set-ups while triangulating different methodologies in order to derive more generalizable results.


This study presents a new concept of refining and enhancing the properties of cast aluminum alloys by adding nanoparticles. In this work, the effect of adding alumina (Al2O3), titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zirconia (ZrO2) nano-particles (40 nm) to the aluminum cast alloy A356 as a base metal matrix was investigated. Alumina, titanium dioxide and zirconia nano-powders were stirred in the A356 matrix with different fraction ratios ranging from (0%–5%) by weight at variable stirring speeds ranging from (270, 800, 1500, 2150 rpm) in both the semisolid (600 °C) and liquid (700 °C) state using a constant stirring time of one minute. The cast microstructure exhibited change of grains from dendritic to spherical shape with increasing stirring speed. The fracture surface showed the presence of nanoparticles at the interdendritic spacing of the fracture surface and was confirmed with EDX analysis of these particles. The results of the study showed that the mechanical properties (strength, elongation and hardness) for the nanoreinforced castings using Al2O3, TiO2 and ZrO2 were enhanced for the castings made in the semi-solid state (600 °C) with 2 weight% Al2O3 and 3 weight% TiO2 or ZrO2 at 1500 rpm stirring speed.


This paper shows the overall status of underdevelopment which surrounds the states of Darfur in western Sudan, in terms of the quality and availability of health services. The paper focused on the model of health services, which give clear signals to the reality of the situation, anyway, health services is one of the biggest challenges facing human development in Darfur, so that, health services in any society is one of the main entrances to make a paradigm shift, which leads to a big change in society. The manuscript is based primarily on statistical analysis and social to official data issued by the Central Agency of Statistics of Sudan for the year 2007. The paper used statistical tables to illustrate the extreme vulnerability of various infrastructures also describes the severe shortage of equipment, medicines, health staff assistance and doctors. They also describe the work environment in terms of configuration and attractions. It has been showed clearly how development neglected in Darfur, and also explained the focus of health services in the center (Khartoum and Jazeera), which led to a heightened sense of injustice in the hearts of residents of peripheral and rural areas, and resulted in more conflict on power and wealth in Sudan?


Technological progress has enormous significance for the development process of a nation as well as an individual business organization. Mobile business technology is the proliferation of mobile telephones, wireless-enabled personal digital assistance and other services that enable the user to make transactions anywhere anytime. In India, mobile business service covers banking industry, share markets, customer shopping, office automation, packaging, hotel & tourism, the pharmaceutical industry, construction industry etc. This paper aims to elicit the perspective of bankers to introduce mobile banking as a new distribution channel and examines the customers' perspective on mobile banking adoption and their behavior on mobile banking services. It also provides suitable policy and regulatory guidelines to strengthen the mobile banking framework in the country.


A series of bis heterocycles comprising of bis-1,2,4-triazoles and 1,3,4-thiadiazoles were synthesized from 3, 5-dimethyl-1H-pyrrole-2,4dicarbohydrazide in two steps via respective thiosemicarbazide intermediates. The compounds 3a-g and 4a-g were evaluated for their anti fungal activity against a panel of four pathogenic fungal strains namely, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terrius and Candida albicans by two fold serial dilution method. The cytotoxic effect of these compounds was also studied against human lung carcinoma cells (A-549) using MTT assay method.


The objective of this study is to identify and analyze the socio-economic factors influencing farmers' response to adoption and use intensity of commercially available organic fertilizer by non-users of fertilizer in Oyo State, Nigeria. A total of 139 respondents selected by multi-stage random sampling technique were interviewed with the aid of structured questionnaires augmented with personal observations on the farmers' farm. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, test of difference between means and proportions, and Tobit regression analysis. Result of the Tobit model estimates showed that number of years spent in acquiring formal education, household size, and number of extension visit received during last cropping season positively influenced adoption decisions, while farming experience, farm size, and distance from source of supply of commercial organic fertilizer negatively influenced adoption decisions. The result confirms the importance of information dissemination and ability to process such information, availability of labour and nearness to the source of technology in adoption decisions.


A multilayer perceptron is a feedforward artificial neural network model that maps sets of input data onto a set of appropriate output. It is a modification of the standard linear perceptron in that it uses three or more layers of neurons (nodes) with nonlinear activation functions, and is more powerful than the perceptron in that it can distinguish data that is not linearly separable, or separable by a hyper plane. MLP networks are general-purpose, flexible, nonlinear models consisting of a number of units organised into multiple layers. The complexity of the MLP network can be changed by varying the number of layers and the number of units in each layer. Given enough hidden units and enough data, it has been shown that MLPs can approximate virtually any function to any desired accuracy. This paper presents the performance comparison between Multi-layer Perceptron (Back Propagation, Delta Rule and Perceptron). Perceptron is a steepest descent type algorithm that normally has slow convergence rate and the search for the global minimum often becomes trapped at poor local minima. The current study investigates the performance of three algorithms to train MLP networks. Its was found that the Perceptron algorithm are much better than others algorithms.


BACKGROUND: Obesity and type 2 diabetes are increasing significantly in the Hispanic population and in the Hispanic population with schizophrenia. In the Diabetes Prevention Project (DPP), cognitive—behavioral (CB) interventions were more effective in reducing weight and preventing diabetes. OBJECTIVE: To test a CB group intervention based on the DPP model among Hispanic individuals with schizophrenia on weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist—hip circumference (WH). STUDY DESIGN: Pilot study using a pre—post quasi-experimental design and convenience sample of 8 subjects from a public mental health clinic who met for 8 weekly group meetings. RESULTS: No significant differences in BMI, weight, or WH scores based on t-test results; the subjects' weight remained stable, there was a trend toward weight loss, and no one gained weight during the trial. CONCLUSIONS: No further weight gain is a finding that merits further research using a larger sample size and a randomized controlled design. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2008; 13(6), 353-359.


The observed questions of estimate stress intensity coefficient, strength of fatique and toughness behavior is considered to be result of a directional variation in the grain size of austenite and size of ferrite pearlite in carbon steel.


The chromosomal region encoding the secA gene of Streptomyces griseus N2-3-11 was cloned and analyzed. The secA gene encodes a polypeptide of 939 aa with a molecular mass of 105 kDa. The growth defect of temperature sensitive Escherichia coli secA mutants was not restored by the S. griseus SecA. The secA promoter was analyzed and the transcriptional start point of the gene was determined. Northern blot and Western blot analyses revealed a growth phase dependent secA expression. The integration of an additional copy of the S. griseus secA gene into the genome of S. lividans TK23 had no visible effect on the efficiency of protein secretion.


In recent years, we have observed the dramatic increase of the use of collateral as an important credit risk mitigation tool. It has become even rare to make a contract without collateral agreement among the major financial institutions. In addition to the significant reduction of the counterparty exposure, collateralization has important implications for the pricing of derivatives through the change of effective funding cost. This paper has demonstrated the impact of collateralization on the derivative pricing by constructing the term structure of swap rates based on the actual market data. It has also shown the importance of the "choice" of collateral currency. Especially, when the contract allows multiple currencies as eligible collateral and free replacement among them, the paper has found that the embedded "cheapest-to-deliver" option can be quite valuable and significantly change the fair value of a trade. The implications of these findings for market risk management have been also discussed.


Many emerging applications of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) in graphene-based nanoelectronics require high-quality monolayers as the ultrathin dielectric. Here, the nucleation and growth of h-BN monolayer on Ru(0001) surface are investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy with a view toward understanding the process of defect formation on a strongly interacted interface. In contrast to homoelemental bonding in graphene, the heteroelemental nature of h-BN gives rise to growth fronts with elemental polarity. This can have consequences in the different stages of film growth, from the nucleation of h-BN magic clusters and their sintering to form compact triangular islands to the growth of patchwork mosaic monolayer with a high density of misfit boundaries. The parallel alignment of triangular islands on the same terrace produces translational fault lines when growth fronts merge, while antiparallel alignment of islands on adjacent terraces produces non-bonded fault lines between domains terminated by like atoms. With these insights into the generation of void defects and fault lines at grain boundaries, we demonstrate a strategy to obtain high-quality h-BN monolayer film based on step flow growth.


This research adopts the coefficient of variation method to construct Linyi inclusive financial development index and rural revitalization index. According to the standard of international inclusive financial development level, when the inclusive financial development index is between 0 and 1, it indicates that inclusive financial development in the region is from a low level to a high level. The research finds that the degree of inclusive financial development in Linyi is different. Apart from Lanshan District, the level of inclusive financial development in other districts and counties is low, with the unstable inclusive financial development index between 0.01 and 0.15 in most years. After measuring the rural revitalization index, it is found that the Linyi's rural development is better and the regional development is more balanced. Through empirical analysis, the research comes to a conclusion that inclusive finance can effectively promote the rural revitalization in Linyi. Based on the above analysis, the paper puts forward the following suggestions: Linyi should optimize the layout of financial resources, improve the rural financial ecological environment, perfect the credit system of farmers, improve the quality of financial services, and increase the investment in agriculture, forestry and water to guide the upgrading of agricultural industry structure.


Dust is a crucial component in the interstellar medium of galaxies. It regulates several physical and chemical processes. Dust grains are also efficient at absorbing and scattering ultraviolet/optical photons and then re-radiating the absorbed energy in the infrared/submm wavelength range. The spatial distribution and properties of dust in galaxies can hence be investigated in two complementary ways: by its attenuation effects at short wavelengths, and by its thermal emission at long wavelengths. Both approaches have their advantages and challenges. In this contribution, we discuss a number of recent interesting results on interstellar dust in nearby galaxies, obtained by our research group at Ghent University.


The Supreme Court's decision in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, invalidating the Trump Administration's rescission of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, focused mainly on administrative law requirements of reasoned decision-making. Commentary on the case has also focused on that aspect of the decision. But a sleeper issue in the case is the Court's rejection of the plaintiffs' equal protection animus claim. Perhaps surprisingly, though, that rejection may well portend a revival of the animus concept that many had speculated the Court would abandon after its primary proponent, Justice Anthony Kennedy, left the Court.

This article considers what the Court's treatment of the animus claim means for that concept. Part I provides the necessary background, tracing the Court's engagement with animus from its early appearance in equal protection cases to its borrowing (by Justice Kennedy) into Free Exercise cases, and, with Regents, its return to equal protection. Part II argues that the Court's very act of engaging the animus issue in Regents is significant, and establishes the viability of animus claims going forward.

Part III turns to the substance of the Court's engagement with animus. It examines how Regents deployed the Court's discriminatory intent jurisprudence in its treatment of the animus claim. It concludes that the Court's connection of animus and discriminatory intent jurisprudence recalls the Court's early understanding of the intent idea, before it rigidified into the familiar classification exercise we know today. If the newly-explicit connection the Court has drawn between animus and intent ends up influencing both concepts with insights from the other, then intent jurisprudence may be susceptible to a rethinking that hearkens back to the Court's earlier, more contextual understanding of discriminatory intent.

Part IV considers the implications of this new connection. For animus doctrine, a new, explicit connection to discriminatory intent methodology places the animus concept on a sturdier doctrinal foundation. The influence of this connection on intent doctrine itself is more mixed, but intriguing. It may be that a new connection with animus will make it harder for equality advocates to prove discriminatory intent, if intent ends up being further suffused with notions of subjective ill-will. On the other hand, if the connection with animus results in a more holistic, less rigid intent inquiry, the way might be open for successful defenses of remedial race-conscious government action.

The connection Regents has drawn between animus and intent raises the prospect of renewing both concepts. But risks remain, and require careful monitoring of the use litigants and courts make of these renewed doctrinal tools.


ABSTRACT
Drug inventory information system is designed to facilitate the employee's
job Surakarta City Polyclinic Branch PMI data in managing medical supplies. The
objective of this thesis is to create an information system to record computer-
based medical supplies in an effective, efficient, and structured so that it can help
smooth the employee's job Surakarta City Polyclinic Branch PMI.
This information system refers to the conditions and activities at the
Polyclinic PMI employees in managing medical supplies. The method of writing
data collected include observations, interviews, and documentary media.
This information system using Borland Delphi 7.0 and Microsoft Access
2007 as its database. This system can be used to store the drug data, exit-entry of
drug transactions, and to monitor the condition of existing inventory in the
warehouse.

Keywords : information system, medicine stock, indonesian red cross, borland
delphi 7.0, and microsoft access 2007.


PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Challenging behaviour shown by individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) has a major negative impact. There is robust evidence for the efficacy of treatments based on applied behaviour analysis. However, such approaches are limited in important ways - providing only part of the whole solution. We reviewed the literature to provide an overview of recent progress in psychological treatments for challenging behaviour and how these advance the field beyond a purely behavioural approach.

RECENT FINDING
We identified 1029 articles via a systematic search and screened for those implementing a psychological intervention with individuals with NDD (or caregivers) and measuring the potential impact on challenging behaviour. Of the 69 included studies published since 2018, more than 50% implemented a purely behavioural intervention. Other studies could generally be categorized as implementing parent training, meditation, skill training or technology-assisted interventions.

SUMMARY
Greater consideration of the interplay between behavioural and nonbehavioural intervention components; systematic approaches to personalization when going beyond the behavioural model; mental health and broad social communication needs; and models that include cognitive and emotional pathways to challenging behaviour; is needed to advance the field. Furthermore, technology should not be overlooked as an important potential facilitator of intervention efforts.


ONCOGENES AND ANTI-ONCOGENES Dirk Bootsma Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Erasmus University, Rotterdam available, which will simplify the task of determining which gene is mutated and the reason why each causes a characteristic pathology. This is particularly true for those diseases which are locus-heterogeneous, or where more than one gene is involved jointly. Conditions such as coronary artery disease, diabetes and hypertension will be obvious candidates for mapping studies, if accurately diagnosed families of sufficient size are available. For the application of these data, however, it will also be necessary to develop new and inexpensive diagnostic methods for rapid gene analysis using small human tissue samples if these developments are to be applied in communitywide clinical practice.


The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between levels of narcissim and motivational trends in the individual sports branches. The sample of the study includes a total of 350 young athletes in the branches of boxing, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, taekwondo and weightlifting, participated in Turkey Youth Champions in 2011. Sport-specific motive scales (SSMS) and Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) was utilized in order collect the datas in this study. SPSS 15 package software was used for the data analysis. The test of Kolmogorov-Smirnov to determine whether the data had a normal distribution, the test of Levene was applied to determine the homogeneity of variances and it was determined that the datas had an homogeneous and normal distribution. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used in the analysis of the data. In the result of data analysis, there was a statistically significant relationship between the motive to achieve success with exploitation dimension and the power motive with superior dimension. (p<0,05).


Most researches focus on two costs for building cost-sensitive decision trees, such as, misclassification costs, test costs. And the existing literatures always consider the two costs as the same scales, for instance, dollars. However, in real application, it is difficult for us to regard two costs as same scales, for instance, considering misclassification cost as a dollar unit. In this paper, a new splitting attributes criterion which is combined with classification ability, test costs and misclassification costs, is proposed under the assumption of multiple-costs scales and with missing values in the dataset. The experimental results show the proposed method outperforms the existed methods in terms of the decrease of misclassification cost.


This paper presents and discusses the design of the Target Game, an exploratory learning environment for shop–floor workers, addressing concepts of statistical process control (SPC). The SPC is based on a group of techniques and statistical methods for analysis and improvement of productive processes. While the inspection of all pieces in the manufacturing process is impracticable, the SPC is a preventive method used to control or eliminate the variations in the process. Such verification is made through 'control letters' – graphs that allow following a production process by observing the behaviour of a given quality characteristic, over time. The metaphor of a target aims to make concrete in the context of a computer game, some concepts involved in SPC, for example the interpretation of the control letters, random and causal variations in the processes, study of tendencies of a process, etc. The current procedures and representation used in the routine of manufacture do not lead the workers to grasp the underlying concepts necessary to seek continuous improvement for processes. Through the Target Game, instead of simple 'conformity to the specification', the concept of quality can be understood as the uniformity of the product around an objective (the centre of a target).


PURPOSE
The perioperative management of bariatric surgery patients is described.

SUMMARY
Obesity and anatomical changes create unique challenges for clinicians when caring for bariatric surgery patients. Common bariatric surgery procedures performed include Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and adjustable gastric banding. Pain management in the acute postoperative period depends on careful dosing of opioid agents and the use of adjunctive agents. Prevention and management of infectious complications include appropriate surgical prophylaxis, monitoring and rapid treatment of suspected intra-abdominal infections, and detection and treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis and treatment are complicated by obesity, and the use of pharmacologic agents must be balanced with bleeding risk. Bleeding is a serious complication that should be closely monitored in the immediate postoperative period. Blood products remain first-line therapy for the treatment of bleeding in this population. Acute differences in drug absorption as well as emerging hormonal changes necessitate the immediate postoperative adjustment of chronic medications to ensure both safety and efficacy. Pharmacists are valuable members of interprofessional teams for bariatric surgery patients because they provide expertise on the availability of dosage forms and dosage modification to ensure that patient pharmacotherapy is not interrupted; assist in the management of hypertension, diabetes, and psychotropic medications; and ensure appropriate antimicrobial prophylaxis and VTE prophylaxis and treatment dosages.

CONCLUSION
The management of patients in the perioperative period of bariatric surgery requires appropriate selection and dosing of medications for pain management and treatment of infectious complications, VTE, bleeding, and other chronic diseases.


Objective: To determine the frequency of barriers to contraception uptake in women visiting outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital of South Punjab, Pakistan. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Place and Duration: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Nishtar Medical University Hospital, Multan Pakistan from September 2021 February 2022. Methodology: A total of 249 pregnant women between 18-35 years having parity >2 and willing to be part of this research were included. Basic demographic features like age, weight, parity, socioeconomic status, education status, rural/urban residential status, willingness or barriers about various contraceptive measures were recorded and analyzed by SPSS 23. Results: In a total of 249 women, mean age was 30.56±4.74 years. Residential status of 204 (81.9%) women was urban. Mean parity was 3.85±1.07. Educational level was illiterate in 125 (50.2%) women. There were 114 (45.8%) women who belonged to low socio-economic class. There were 36 (14.5%) women who were willing to use contraceptive measures while remaining 213 (85.5%) women had some sort of barriers about contraception uptake. Husband's disapproval accounted for the most frequent barrier to contraception uptake noted in 73 (29.3%) women while ignorance, 'against culture', side effects and misinformation was reported by 54 (21.7%), 34 (13.7%), 34 (13.7%) and 18 (7.2%) women respectively. Educational level (p=0.008) and socio-economic class (p<0.001) were found to have significant association with barriers to contraception uptake. Conclusion: Very high proportion of women was unwilling to contraception. Husband's disapproval for contraception was the biggest barrier behind unwillingness to contraception uptake while ignorance and 'against culture' were the other most frequent barriers behind unwillingness to contraception uptake. Illiteracy and low socio-economic status were found to have significant association with barriers to contraception uptake. Keywords: Culture, contraception, illiteracy, misinformation, side effects.


As part of an ongoing investigation into the development of a dental digital radiographic (DDR) system using a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor, this study developed hardware and software with a graphical user interface to acquire and display intra-oral images from a prototype DDR system. The aim of this study was to develop a DDR system using a CMOS sensor and evaluate its characteristics. Electrical signals that were generated by the CMOS sensor were transformed into digital images by a control computer equipped using a USB board. The distance between the X-ray tube and the CMOS sensor was adjusted within the range of 10-40 cm to provide the optimal image quality. In order to evaluate the image quality according to variations in the dose, phantom images (60 kVp, 7 mA) were obtained at exposure times of 0.03, 0.05, 0.08, 0.10, and 0.12 s, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was calculated from the phantom image data. The modulation transfer function (MTF) was obtained from a Fourier transform of the line spread function, which was itself derived from the edge spread function of a sharp edge image acquired using the exposure conditions of 60 kVp, 7 mA, and 0.08 s exposure time. The best contrast and focus were obtained at 20 cm. The SNR level was found to increase with increasing exposure time ranging from 0.03 to 0.08 s. The results obtained at 10% of the MTF showed that the resolution of the DDR system was approximately 6.2 line pairs per millimeter. The characteristics of the prototype DDR system have potential applications in intra-oral dental radiographic imaging. The fully developed DDR system can be used for making a clinical diagnosis with further improvements in the acquisition time and spatial resolution.