Historically assessment of juvenile offenders began during colonial era, when every young people who disobeyed colonial rules of regional zoning, labour provision, and hut tax among others were considered offenders and detrimental to colonial interests. Subsequently, the colonial government sentenced such people to institutional rehabilitation, which employed punitive measures to deter the young offenders from reoffending, thereby protecting the colonial interests. The independent government inherited this system of handling offenders. Generally, juvenile rehabilitation practices in Kenya have undergone paradigm shifts from the punitive disciplinarian, to caritative, egalitarian, and systematic paradigms between 1909 and 1995. On the contrary, policies guiding assessment of offenders have not undergone as much evolution. To date, courts of law still process children in conflict with the law. The court makes a ruling to either release the child or commit the child to rehabilitation or probation care. The main policies on which juvenile rehabilitation anchors on are the Children Act, and Special Needs Education Policy. These policies are largely silent on assessment and do not provide opportunities for diversion of children from the courts. Consequently, every child in conflict with the law is processed through a court of law. The interaction of the child with a law court is labeling and impacts on the rehabilitation outcomes. The paper created a basis for comparing policy versus practice in the assessment of juvenile offenders aiming to shed light on the status quo, and project policy on assessment for diverting children from the courts of law. The study utilized mixed method research approach, which borrowed aspects of both phenomenology and descriptive survey research designs. The findings indicate lack of policy on assessment of offenders, and ineffective assessment procedures and tools.


This study assessed the amount of apically extruded debris during root canal preparation using XP-endo shaper and the supplemental use of XP-endo finisher comparing the use of traditional endodontic access or conservative endodontic access cavities and liquid or gel-based formulations of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite or distilled water as supplemental agents. Maxillary first premolar teeth (N = 148) were randomly divided based on their access cavity design and sub-grouped according to the supplemental agent used. The amount of extruded debris was analysed based on the dry weight of the debris collected using a previously established laboratory methodology. Debris extrusion occurred in all groups. Overall, the traditional endodontic access cavity design was associated with more debris extrusion compared to the conservative type. The use of sodium hypochlorite solution showed higher debris extrusion than the gel, whilst distilled water had intermediate values.


OBJECTIVE
To study the patterns of referral to a paediatric specialist out-patient clinic.

DESIGN
Descriptive study.

SETTING
Regional hospital, Hong Kong.

PATIENTS
The 1985 referral letters of patients who were referred to the paediatric specialist clinic during 1998 were studied.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Common referral diagnoses according to sources of referral.

RESULTS
The common sources of referral were maternal and child health centres (34.7%), accident and emergency departments (26.9%), the Student Health Service (12.9%), private practitioners (10.5%), and general out-patient clinics (9.8%). The common referral diagnoses from maternal and child health centres (n=689) were growth problems (37. 7%), heart murmurs (16.8%), and neonatal jaundice (10.9%). Asthma or suspected asthma constituted the majority of referrals from accident and emergency departments (227/533; 42.6%). Deviations in growth (41. 4%), problems regarding puberty (13.7%), apparent heart problems (13. 3%), and nocturnal enuresis (11.7%) were the common referral diagnoses from the Student Health Service (n=256).

CONCLUSIONS
Studying referral patterns from various sources is helpful in organising medical services and identifying training needs.


This study demonstrates that the multiple myeloma cell (MMC) in its plasma cell form is morphologically indistinguishable from human osteoclast‐like cells that form in culture when peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are plated at high density in serum containing medium. MM has been described as a disease of B‐cell lineage, monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig) producing cells with unique properties: MM precursor cells lodge in bone, where they proliferate and differentiate into plasma cell tumors. Then, by some mechanism, presumably involving cytokines, these cells mediate an increase in neighboring osteoclast numbers and activity, leading to excessive bone erosion and hypercalcemia. Three days after plating PBMCs, tartrate resistant acid phosphatase‐ (TRAP‐) blasts as well as TRAP+ cells, each with an eccentric nucleus, appear in culture. By day 10, TRAP+, vitronectin+ (VR+) cells, appear to be morphologically indistinguishable from multiple myeloma plasma cells (MMPCs) on cytocentrifuge preparations. These cells are CD19‐ and CD38++, as are MMCs reported by others. Other surface markers are also shared. Furthermore, Ig mRNA is demonstrated in the cytoplasm of cells at 8 days by in situ hybridization with the IgG FcA3 sequence. This novel finding is not unusual, in light of reports, demonstrating non‐B‐lineage Ig‐producing cells. Thus, this study raises some serious questions about the true nature of MMCs. J. Cell. Biochem. 71:559–568, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This study examines the evolution of the two-factor authentication method and its adaptability to the online education system. Two-factor authentication is a security measure used especially in areas where information such as banking is valuable. Parallel to technological developments, it has developed as much as daily. It aims to take security one step forward because it is composed of two phases. Today, banking, IOT devices, public transport tickets and many other areas are used. Two-factor authentication methods against security attacks in the field of information are also being updated. In recent years, new technologies such as biometric (iris pattern, retinal pattern, etc.) or behavioral biometry (location tracking, walking information, touch speed etc.) were studied. Instead of physically studying somewhere like going to a course in modern society, online trainings become more advantageous. Most of these online trainings are given certificates such as participation certificate, success certificate, etc. The main problem here is whether the person who is being certified is true. In the study conducted in line with these details, there is a proposal for the application of the Mimic Control Method with Sound Intensity (MCMSI) method for on-line training by examining the two-factor authentication techniques up to the day.


Background: Use of herbal medicines alongside conventional anticancer drugs is common among cancer patients. This may potentially cause reduced adherence to conventional anti-cancer drugs, unpredictable side effects and unknown drug-herb interactions. This in the long run could result in poor clinical outcomes. Aim: This study was conducted to investigate how use of herbal medicines affects adherence to Original Research Article Karungi et al.; EJMP, 31(17): 1-20, 2020; Article no.EJMP.61271 2 conventional anti-cancer drugs, to determine the proportion of patients using both conventional and herbal anticancer medicines and to identify the common herbal medicines used alongside conventional anti-cancer drugs by patients at the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital Oncology unit. Methods and Findings: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the oncology clinic of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital found in Mbarara district, Uganda. Data was collected between 20 March and 20 th April 2019 from 122 participants who met the inclusion criteria with subsequent consenting. Our primary outcome was adherence and secondary outcome was to investigate whether cancer patients use herbal medicines alongside conventional anti-cancer drugs. Our study had 122 patients most of them belonging to the Banyankole tribe, 75 (61.5%) being males. Of the 72 (59.02%) patients who used herbal medicine, 40 (55.56%) were males and 66.67% of the herbal users reported relief from herbal medicines. Aloe Vera was the most commonly used herb. Most of the patients 77 (63.1%) showed high adherence, this was greater in the non-herbal users than in the herbal users (COR=1.62) though this was not significant (p=0.399). Conclusion: It is most likely that majority of cancer patients use at least one herb during their course of life. The results did not show a significant relationship between herbal medicine use and adherence to conventional anti-cancer drugs. The high proportion of herbal medicine users calls for more research into the area to provide further information that can help optimize cancer treatment outcomes.


The use of blood transfusion as a therapeutic measure in an ever widening variety of disease conditions is increasing constantly. With the more frequent use of blood transfusion, the opportunity for the accidental transmission of syphilis naturally increases. The listed cases of infection in this manner is not large, but it is quite possible that for obvious reasons many instances in which this accidental infection occurs are withheld from publication. In 1917 in his book on blood transfusion, Bernheim 1 reported the first case of transmission of syphilis from donor to recipient. In this case a son transmitted syphilis to his father, who was suffering from pernicious anemia. It is possible that the son knew that he had the disease, since he refused a Wassermann test. Unfortunately, his father's condition became so critical that he was used as the donor with the result that his father contracted syphilis. Spillmann and


An automatic, low‐pressure packing unit has been designed with control of packing time and pressure to prepare powder samples for diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). This unit also provides a polished packing surface that ensures constant measurement height of the sample in the spectrometer. Use of this unit coupled with sample rotation during measurement and control of particle size and size distribution, provides excellent precision in obtaining DRIFTS spectra. For example, repackings by a single person or by several untrained people gave coefficients of variation from 0.8% to 2.3% for each digital spectral value for a coal sample and from 1.3% to 3.7% for thymol blue, a sharp spectral featured organic, rather than the 15%–30% normally found for repackings of the same sample. Thus representative DRIFTS spectra can be obtained quickly and efficiently from a powder sample with a single spectrum using this low‐pressure, mechanical packing device, control of particle parame...


We present a new approach to the voice activity detection (VAD) problem for speech signals embedded in non-stationary noise. The method is based on automatic lipreading: the objective is to detect voice activity or non-activity by exploiting the coherence between the speech acoustic signal and the speaker's lip movements. From a comprehensive analysis of lip shape parameters during speech and non-speech events, we show that a single appropriate visual parameter, defined to characterize the lip movements, can be used for the detection of sections of voice activity or more precisely, for the detection of silence sections. Detection scores obtained on spontaneous speech confirm the efficiency of the visual voice activity detector (VVAD)


We address an important issue the Supreme Court left unaddressed this spring in its blockbuster Google v. Oracle decision: are computer interfaces copyrightable at all? We argue that they aren't, and that the Federal Circuit's decision to the contrary is an aberration that should not undermine a quarter century of consensus on the importance of interoperability and open APIs. In our view, denying copyright protection for APIs and encouraging interoperability is important not only for innovation in the software world but for restoring competition to a technology industry dominated by a few incumbent firms.


Bacterial species belonging to the Clostridium genera have been recognized as causative agents of blown pack spoilage (BPS) in vacuum packed meat products. Whole-genome sequencing of six New Zealand psychrotolerant Clostridium isolates derived from three meat production animal types and their environments was performed to examine their roles in BPS. Comparative genome analyses have provided insight into the genomic diversity and physiology of these bacteria and divides Clostridia into two separate species clusters. BPS-associated Clostridia encode a large and diverse spectrum of degradative carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes). In total, 516 glycoside hydrolases (GHs), 93 carbohydrate esterases (CEs), 21 polysaccharide lyases (PLs), 434 glycosyl transferases (GTs) and 211 carbohydrate-binding protein modules (CBM) with predicted activities involved in the breakdown and transport of carbohydrates were identified. Clostridia genomes have different patterns of CAZyme families and vary greatly in the number of genes within each CAZy category, suggesting some level of functional redundancy. These results suggest that BPS-associated Clostridia occupy similar environmental niches but apply different carbohydrate metabolism strategies to be able to co-exist and cause meat spoilage.


The Marquis of Tábara, once he acquired Villafáfila manor and appurtenant properties, thought he had a right to use and abuse his new property as he deemed fit. The council and dwellers of the State opposed themselves to this conduct and brought an action against the Marquis before the Court of Chancery at Valladolid. The claimed that their custom and usage be respected as the forrner owners, the Comendadores of the Order of Santiago had done. The Court established thad there was case for the plaintiffs.


The purpose of learning the Sigeh Pengunten Dance with the VAK (Visual) learning method is to determine the extent to which students are able to demonstrate the Sigeh Penguten Dance according to what is taught by the teacher. The research method used is descriptive qualitative with a population of UPTD SMPN 3 Metro students and a sample size of 5 students.
The results of this study are the learning process using the visual method, auditory kinesthetic in practice has increased in the first meeting to the eighth meeting. This can be seen from 3 aspects of VAK, namely visual and auditory in the form of students listening to teacher instructions and paying attention and seeing the teacher demonstrating the Sigeh penguten dance, namely the Lapah tebeng movement, Seluang going home, jong simpuh, sitting down, jong silo Ratu and Sembah, flashback, biting. , samber floated. Guuh gakhang, ngiyau bias, makuraccang, kenui floating and tipping at high levels, Sabung Hovering, reject slashing and splitting hui, able to bias, end to moderate level and end to low level, Lipetto and Jong Simpuh Sembah. Regarding the kinesthetic aspect of students dancing the Sigeh Penguten dance With the various movements mentioned above, starting from the first meeting to the seventh meeting, the eight students took practical tests to take scores and evaluations. The value obtained from the practical test carried out was an increase in understanding which could be seen in the increase in the value obtained, although it decreased slightly at the third meeting. The results of the VAk learning test (Visual, auditory., Kinesthetic) as a whole show the data that students have been able to demonstrate the Sigeh Penguten dance with an average score of Good.


The construction of a surface mine always involves the necessity of accessing deposits through the removal of the residual overburden above. In the beginning phase of exploitation, the masses of overburden are located outside the perimeters of the excavation site, on the external dump, until the moment of internal dumping. In the case of lignite surface mines, these dumps can cover a ground surface of several dozen to a few thousand hectares. This results from a high concentration of lignite extraction, counted in millions of Mg per year, and the relatively large depth of its residual deposits. Determining the best place for the location of an external dump requires a detailed analysis of existing options, followed by a choice of the most favorable one. This article, using the case study of an open-cast lignite mine, presents the selection method for an external dump location based on graph theory and the A-star algorithm. This algorithm, based on the spatial distribution of individual intersections on the graph, seeks specified graph states, continually expanding them with additional elementary fields until the required surface area for the external dump – defined by the lowest value of the occupied site – is achieved. To do this, it is necessary to accurately identify the factors affecting the choice of dump location. On such a basis, it is then possible to specify the target function, which reflects the individual costs of dump construction on a given site. This is discussed further in chapter 3. The area of potential dump location has been divided into elementary fields, each represented by a corresponding geometrical locus. Ascribed to this locus, in addition to its geodesic coordinates, are the appropriate attributes reflecting the degree of development of its elementary field. These tasks can be carried out automatically thanks to the integration of the method with the system of geospatial data management for the given area. The collection of loci, together with geodesic coordinates, constitutes the points on the graph used during exploration. This is done using the A-star algorithm, which uses a heuristic function, allowing it to identify the optimal solution; therefore, the collection of elementary fields, which occupy the potential construction area of a dump, characterized by the lowest value representing the cost of occupation and dumping of overburden in the area. The precision of the boundary, generated by the algorithm, is dependent on the established size of the elementary field, and should be refined each time by the designer of the surface mine.


The paper addresses the issue of implementation research in the XXIst Century. Research on the implementation of EU law and policies remains mainly centred upon the rather simplistic issue of the transposition of directives and framework decisions, taking as a point of departure the different types of 'scoreboards' published by the European Commission. Development of this kind of research is however essential in order to better understand EU policy making, to assess the real impact of enlargement and to contribute to legislative impact assessment. Implementation research should further improve its quantitative methodology but also developing qualitative methodologies. Amongst available information, which is probably not being used enough, the European Commission's Register of complaints which is being managed by the General Secretariat, as well as the databases of the European Ombudsman should be far more used. ECJ case law could also be analysed in a different perspective, i.e. not only as a source of EU law, but also as an indicator of compliance issues.


Objective: We investigated psychological factors that might predispose individuals to sad-fish or exaggerate their emotional state online to generate sympathy. Participants: Participants (N = 347) were collegiate social media users from a large university in the Southcentral United States. Methods: Participants completed an anonymous online survey and were categorized as sad-fishers or non-sad-fishers. Groups were compared on attachment style and levels of interpersonal and online social support. Results: Sad-fishers trended toward anxious attachment. Groups did not differ on perceived interpersonal or online social support. Anxious attachment was significantly negatively associated with interpersonal support. Conclusions: Sad-fishing may not be triggered by an acute perceived lack of social support, but rather, may be more strongly related to the persistent trait of anxious attachment. This is a starting-point for understanding the relatively new phenomenon of sad-fishing and may aid in discerning how best to clinically intervene with those who sad-fish.


Water-soluble poly(m-ethynylpyridine)s were designed to realize saccharide recognition in protic media. UV/Vis, 1H NMR, and fluorescence measurements revealed that the polymer forms a helical higher order structure by solvophobic interactions between the ethynylpyridine units in the protic medium. The resulting pore in the helix behaves like a binding pocket in proteins, by taking advantage of inwardly directed hydrogen-bonding functional groups of the polymers. Molecular recognition of native saccharides by the polymers was investigated by circular dichroism (CD). The chirality of the saccharide was transferred to the helical sense of the polymers, accompanied by the appearance of induced CDs (ICDs) in the absorptive region of the polymers. In MeOH/water (10/1), mannose and allose showed intense ICDs, and the apparent association constant between the polymer and D-mannose was 14 M(-1).


Many existing algorithms for solving the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) first construct initial tours and then apply a tour optimization algorithm to refine the solution. In this two-stage approach, the tour optimization stage is often hampered by the tour construction phase that produce initial solutions that are skewed, namely, the initial tours are very good, but the later tours are often very poor. This often leads to difficulties in the tour-optimization stage that often get trapped in local optimal quickly. In this paper, we propose a new multi-agent algorithm for solving the VRPTW that involves the uses a distributed, multi agent approach for the tour-optimization phase. Our approach can be considered as a combination of multi-agent system and heuristic local search. A prototype system has been developed and extensive experimentation on the Solomon benchmarks show that our multi-agent approach is effective and has comparable performance to the best results in the literature.


We report on a low-temperature fabrication of organic–inorganic nanohybrid nonvolatile memory transistors using molecular layer deposition combined with atomic layer deposition. A 3 nm ZnO:Cu charge trap layer is sandwiched between 6 nm tunneling and 20 nm blocking self-assembled organic layers. First, we identify a large memory window of 14.1 V operated at ±15 V using metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitors. Second, we apply the capacitor structure to the nonvolatile memory transistors which operate in the low voltage range of −1 to 3 V. The writing/erasing (+8 V/−12 V) current ratio of ∼103 of the memory transistors is maintained during the static and dynamic retention measurements. The reported organic–inorganic devices offer new opportunities to develop low-voltage-driven flexible memory electronics fabricated at low temperatures.


The mechanism of space flight-induced bone mass loss is unknown. We conducted experiments aboard the Space Shuttle using primary cultured osteoblasts. During flight, quadruplicate cultures were treated with 1 nM of 1alpha,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 for one day, then fixed with guanidine isothiocyanate solution on board. After return to the Earth, the mRNA levels were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. Microgravity increased the mRNA levels of JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase or stress-activated protein kinase, in rat osteoblasts, as compared to the 1G ground control. Microgravity decreased the mRNA levels of the principal heat shock protein, Hsp 70. JNK is known to play a key role particularly in the stress-activated cell apoptosis. Data suggested apoptotic and anti-apoptotic effects of microgravity on rat osteoblast.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show and critically discuss the motivations, conflicting narratives, practices and effects around the marketisation of cultural heritage. The work focusses on the exemplar case study of the ancient temple of the Athenian Parthenon, as a proto-brand, to explore ancient, medieval and modern marketing forces and practices through which various stakeholders have promoted, gifted, commercially traded, exchanged, acquired and illegally removed national cultural artefacts and historical monuments.

Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a structured historical periodisation that covers three main eras – classical age, late antiquity and modern period – that triggered the marketisation of the ancient temple in diverse ways. First, historical research was conducted through the use of a range of secondary sources and archives. Second, observation techniques were used to study heritage marketisation practices at the New Acropolis Museum and the Parthenon in Athens and the British Museum in London. Third, visual material further facilitated the analysis.

Findings
This paper identifies multifarious institutional forces, political interests, technologies and sociocultural events that shape the commodification of history and marketisation of heritage offering a broader discussion on the evolution of early marketing practices and brands used to promote particular values, cultures and places, as well as the emergence and growth of illicit arts and antiquities markets.

Originality/value
Considering the lack of marketing research on the commercialisation of heritage, the work discloses novel insights around the use of cultural proto-brands and the formation of illegal markets and questionable arts trade practices. It, therefore, questions the ethical, socio-political, economic and aesthetic implications of the extensive marketisation of history and raises issues around the legitimate ownership, promotion and consumption of heritage.


Abstract This study investigated the normal and parallel ground reaction forces during downhill and uphill running in habitual forefoot strike and habitual rearfoot strike (RFS) runners. Fifteen habitual forefoot strike and 15 habitual RFS recreational male runners ran at 3 m/s ± 5% during level, uphill and downhill overground running on a ramp mounted at 6° and 9°. Results showed that forefoot strike runners had no visible impact peak in all running conditions, while the impact peaks only decreased during the uphill conditions in RFS runners. Active peaks decreased during the downhill conditions in forefoot strike runners while active loading rates increased during downhill conditions in RFS runners. Compared to the level condition, parallel braking peaks were larger during downhill conditions and parallel propulsive peaks were larger during uphill conditions. Combined with previous biomechanics studies, our findings suggest that forefoot strike running may be an effective strategy to reduce impacts, especially during downhill running. These findings may have further implications towards injury management and prevention.


The current organ shortage in hepatic transplantation leads to increased use of marginal livers. New organ sources are needed, and deceased after circulatory death (DCD) donors present an interesting possibility. However, many unknown remains on these donors and their pathophysiology regarding ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI). Our hypothesis was that DCD combined with abdominal normothermic regional recirculation (ANOR) is not inferior to deceased after brain death (DBD) donors. We performed a mechanistic comparison between livers from DBD and DCD donors in a highly reproducible pig model, closely mimicking donor conditions encountered in the clinic. DCD donors were conditioned by ANOR. We determined that from the start of storage, pro-lesion pathways such as oxidative stress and cell death were induced in both donor types, but to a higher extent in DBD organs. Furthermore, pro-survival pathways, such as resistance to hypoxia and regeneration showed activation levels closer to healthy livers in DCD-ANOR rather than in DBD organs. These data highlight critical differences between DBD and DCD-ANOR livers, with an apparent superiority of DCD in terms of quality. This confirms our hypothesis and further confirms previously demonstrated benefits of ANOR. This encourages the expended use of DCD organs, particularly with ANOR preconditioning.


1
A bibliometric analysis of the literature on the sei whale Balaenoptera borealis is presented. Research output on the species is quantified and compared with research on four other whale species. The results show a significant increase in research for all species except the sei whale. Research output is characterized chronologically and by oceanic basin.

2
The species' distribution, movements, stock structure, feeding, reproduction, abundance, acoustics, mortality and threats are reviewed for the North Atlantic, and the review is complemented with previously unpublished data.

3
Knowledge on the distribution and movements of the sei whale in the North Atlantic is still mainly derived from whaling records. Movement patterns and winter distribution are not clear. Surveys in some known summering areas show that the species has changed its distribution in parts of its previously known range.

4
With the present information, it is impossible to determine whether or not the North Atlantic sei whale population is subdivided into biological units. Abundance estimates are fragmentary and cover a restricted part of the summering habitat.

5
In the North Atlantic, sei whales seem to be stenophagous, feeding almost exclusively on calanoid copepods and euphausiids. On feeding grounds, they are associated with oceanic frontal systems, but how they find and explore these structures has not been fully investigated.

6
The available data on vital rates are based on whaling-derived studies and are 25 years old or older. Despite increasing human and environmentally induced pressures, there are no current estimates for mortality and population trends.

7
Current research needs include the clear definition of stock units, reliable abundance estimates, studies of distribution and migration that incorporate the identification of wintering areas, acquisition of up-to-date data on reproduction and mortality, and investigations into the consequences of environmental changes for the species.


The reported higher efficiency of UTP, relative to ATP, as phosphate donor for deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), has been extended and found to apply to both dCyd and dAdo as acceptors. UTP as phosphate donor was shown to follow strictly Michaelis kinetics, with Km = 1 microM, in striking contrast to ATP, which exhibits marked negative cooperativity (Hill coef. = 0.7) with a several-fold higher Kmapp = 15 microM. Phosphate transfer was followed directly with use of mixtures of [gamma-32P]ATP and cold UTP as donors, or with 3H-labeled acceptors and cold donors. With equimolar concentrations of ATP and UTP (50 microM or 1 mM each), and dCyd or dAdo as acceptor, only minimal phosphate transfer occurred from ATP (3-10%). With a 6:1 ratio of ATP:UTP, hence exceeding the intracellular ratio, phosphate transfer from ATP increased, but still did not exceed 25-40% with either dCyd or dAdo as acceptor. Moreover, relative ATP transfer is dependent on the dCyd concentration. We conclude that the major intracellular phosphate donor for dCK is not ATP, but UTP. Preliminary data for human thymidine kinases (TK1 and TK2) exhibit quite different behaviour. The foregoing, together with literature data, are highly relevant to in vitro studies on the properties of the nucleoside kinases, and to the design of chemotherapeutically active nucleoside analogues.


The concentration and charge of a submicron aerosol were measured during the venting cycles of a quartz sputtering system. The concentration of submicron particles in the aerosol measured after the plasma was turned off and the chamber vented was of order 20/cm3. A Faraday cup was used to collect the particles by filtration and the total electrical current was measured with an electrometer. From these measurements, the average charge on each particle was estimated to be 1.4×104 negative elementary charges. Mutual electrostatic repulsion rates of the gas‐borne particles revealed the charges on 0.4 and 0.6 μm particles to be proportional to the diameter squared. No agglomerates were seen in the scanning electron microscope images of these submicron particles collected on a filter, even when the surface density was extremely high. This also suggests that particles were highly charged during the collection process.


Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) are a key source of tax revenues for the Australian states and territories permitting their operation. Due to their accessibility, they are also a major contributor to problem gambling and its impacts. This paper introduces the use of a concentration measure, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, in assessing the distribution of EGMs and the associated expenditure and tax yields that typically trigger gambling impacts. In its regulation of EGM gambling, the New South Wales (NSW) State Government has relied on 'EGM density', expressed as the ratio of resident adults to total EGMs in an area, to assess impacts. The approach proposed in this paper provides an alternative and complementary measure of distribution based on EGM numbers across venues within a defined area, which may also be applied in relation to other gambling modes and jurisdictions.


Anonymity may facilitate disclosure of maltreatment-related variables among parents, particularly in the perinatal period. This study was conducted in order to (a) confirm the effect of anonymity on commonly used measures in the field of child maltreatment; (b) examine the extent to which quasi anonymity (in which identifying information is collected but not linked to research data) can also facilitate disclosure on maltreatment-related measures; and (c) examine potential explanatory mechanisms of any association between level of anonymity and disclosure. This study further sought to evaluate these associations in the perinatal period, a crucial point for intervention that is also a time when rates of disclosure may be particularly low. A total of 150 postpartum, primarily African American women were randomly assigned to conditions involving traditional confidentiality, quasi anonymity, or full anonymity. Overall, disclosure on maltreatment-related measures was more than twice as likely for participants in the anonymous condition; quasi anonymity resulted in similar but somewhat smaller increases in disclosure. Anonymous methods may be greatly underutilized in child maltreatment research, and quasianonymous methods show promise as an alternative for longitudinal designs.


The Twenty-Fifth Annual German Conference on Artificial Intelligence (KI- 2002) was held 16 to 20 September 2003 in Aachen (Aix-La-Chapelle), Germany. KI is the main German national conference in AI, but it addresses an international audience by adopting English as the conference language and having the proceedings published in the Springer Lecture Notes in AI series.


Human language, the most powerful communication system in history, is closely associated with cognition. Written text is one of the fundamental manifestations of language, and the study of its universal regularities can give clues about how our brains process information and how we, as a society, organize and share it. Still, only classical patterns such as Zipf's law have been explored in depth. In contrast, other basic properties like the existence of bursts of rare words in specific documents, the topical organization of collections, or the sublinear growth of vocabulary size with the length of a document, have only been studied one by one and mainly applying heuristic methodologies rather than basic principles and general mechanisms. As a consequence, there is a lack of understanding of linguistic processes as complex emergent phenomena. Beyond Zipf's law for word frequencies, here we focus on Heaps' law, burstiness, and the topicality of document collections, which encode correlations within and across documents absent in random null models. We introduce and validate a generative model that explains the simultaneous emergence of all these patterns from simple rules. As a result, we find a connection between the bursty nature of rare words and the topical organization of texts and identify dynamic word ranking and memory across documents as key mechanisms explaining the non trivial organization of written text. Our research can have broad implications and practical applications in computer science, cognitive science, and linguistics.


The study of prevention and protection against failures is a central problem in Optical Networks due to the growth of capacity demand for data transmission, especially with the Internet traffic. Without protection, failures of links or nodes cause huge losses of data. The ρCycle protection is a novel approach based on pre-configured protection cycles to provide a fast recovery for single link failure. This work proposes a Genetic Algorithm to solve the ρCycle protection question. Experimental tests carried out on different topologies have shown that this new proposal is a promising approach to achieve better results when compared to a well-known state-of-the-art alternative called Capacitated Iterative Design Algorithm - CIDA.


As a forming method for curved hull plates more efficient than the flame bending, mechanical bending using multi point press forming and die-less forming is discussed in this paper. the mechanical forming is a flexible manufacturing system for automatically forming of hull parts. It is especially suited to varied curved parts. This paper discusses a multiple point pressing machine composed of a pair of reconfigurable punches in order to achieve the rapid forming of curved hull plates using division forming and presents how forming information is obtained from the given design surface. Although the mechanical forming can be efficient in the metal forming, spring back after pressing is a phenomenon which must be carefully considered when quantifying the process variables. If the spring back is not accurately controlled, the fabricated shell plate cannot meet assembly tolerance. This paper describes the principles to calculate the proper stroke of each punch at the divided areas. the strokes are determined by an iterative process of sequential pressing and spring back compensation from an unfolded flat shape to its given design surface. FEA(finite element analysis) is used to simulate the spring back of the plate and the IDA(iterative displacement adjustment) method adjusts the offset of pressing punches from the deformation results and the design surface. The shape deviations of two surfaces due to spring back are compensated by integrated system using FEA and IDA method. For the practical application, It is aimed to develop an integrated system that can automatically perform the compensation process and calculate strokes of punches of the double sides' reconfigurable multiple-press machine and some experimental results obtained with mechanical bending are presented.


Introduction. The carcinogenic ultraviolet range of sunlight plays a major role in the development of malignant skin tumours with a steadily increasing incidence. It shows a significant upward trend in our country, with 2,742 new cases registered in 2016, nearly 15% of which were under 40 years of age. With conscious behaviour and the use of sunscreen products, the incidence of skin tumours can be reduced. The aim of the study is to assess the Hungarian population's knowledge about skin cancer and attitudes towards sun protection.Methods. Quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in a dermatology clinic and among 7th and 8th-grade students and 11th and 12th-grade students of two high schools. The self-administered questionnaire used in the study included questions on socio-demographic data, addictions, skin type, family history of skin cancer, sunburns, sunbathing habits, sunscreen use, knowledge about sun protection and skin cancer, screening and self-testing.Results. 83.9% of respondents (n=356) have experien- ced sunburn 3 or more times, and 27.8% use sunscreen regularly (n=118). 62.7% of respondents (n=266) have never had a skin cancer/melanoma screening. A significant association was found between education, gender and sunscreen use (p<0.001). A significant association was also found between risky behaviour and going to a tanning salon (p<0.001).Conclusions. The Hungarian population has a lack of knowledge about skin cancer. The results indicate that more emphasis should be placed on increasing the knowledge and awareness of the population about sun protection and on developing good habits, starting at the primary and se- condary level.


A well-known feature of magnetic field driven dynamics of domain walls in ferromagnets is the existence of a threshold driving force at which the internal magnetization of the domain wall starts to precess -- a phenomenon known as the Walker breakdown -- resulting in an abrupt drop of the domain wall propagation velocity. Here, we report on micromagnetic simulations of magnetic field driven domain wall dynamics in thin ferromagnetic strips with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy which demonstrate that in wide enough strips Walker breakdown is a multistep process: It consists of several distinct velocity drops separated by short linear parts of the velocity vs field curve. These features originate from the repeated nucleation, propagation and annihilation of an increasing number of Bloch lines within the domain wall as the driving field magnitude is increased. This mechanism arises due to magnetostatic effects breaking the symmetry between the two ends of the domain wall.


Satoyoshi syndrome is a very rare disorder, characterized by progressive painful intermittent muscle spasms beginning in adolescence. Universal alopecia, diarrhea, amenorrhea and bony deformities are also cardinal features of this syndrome. Skeletal abnormalities, such as joint deformity, epiphysial destruction and retarded growth, are observed in approximately half of patients. However, no bony changes have previously been reported in the region of the head. We present here a male patient with Satoyoshi syndrome. Muscle cramps began in the lower extremities when he was 13 years old, and gradually spread. At the age of 17 years, masticatory muscle cramps made it difficult to eat and speak fluently, and were considered a cause of malacia in this patient. Finally, recurrent severe cramps in the masseter muscles caused marginal gingivitis of the mandible, necessitated extraction of the teeth and caused dislocation of the temporomandibular joint. After treatment with dantrolen sodium at doses up to 150 mg/day, painful spasm decreased significantly. Since masticatory muscles can cause significant stress to the teeth and the temporomandibular joint, sufficient attention should be paid to the oral region to avoid complications in patients with Satoyoshi syndrome.


Being in the twentieth century, it is undeniable that technology is playing a vital role in the lives of everyone. As time passes by, technology continues to grow and flourish as more studies are being done. The proponents took hold of that concept and applied it in the field of agriculture, thus producing another method of planting. Automatic seeder is basically the application of technology to the seeder activities done manually. This paper presented an automated seeder system using python programming, both were implemented in Raspbian Operating System. A Raspberry Pi 3 was used for the hardware part as a control mechanism. Code processing was done by the use of terminal panel in Raspbian to control the motion of the seeder. A stepper belt system was implemented to run the stepper motor which was controlled by the Raspberry Pi. Series of tests were conducted to test the functionality of the system. Results showed that the system was quite accurate with about 80 % of recognition rate, with roughly 21 cycles per hour.


Summary Sweden is widely believed to have an exceptionally low incidence of child maltreatment deaths. Since Sweden is also the first country to have outlawed all forms of corporal punishment, proponents of a total ban on corporal punishment, in the UK and else where, have argued that this demonstrates that such a ban prevents fatal child abuse. While not taking sides on the corporal punishment issue, this paper demonstrates that the argument is misleading on several counts. The available evidence suggests that Sweden has a low, though not uniquely low, incidence of child maltreatment deaths. Widely cited statistics suggesting that Sweden is in an entirely different league from other countries are, however, seriously misleading. Nor does the evidence really allow us to conclude that Sweden's relative success in this area is attributable to the ban on corporal punishment. Other countries without a corporal punishment ban also have low or lower child maltreatment death rates; the figures that are commonly cited in any case pre-date Sweden's corporal punishment ban and there are a number of other important variables, other than a ban on corporal punishment, that could account for international variations. The article concludes with some thoughts about the selective use of evidence in debates of this kind.


With the benefit of being able to adjust to varying acoustic conditions in real-time, adaptive approaches to active noise control (ANC) show promise to attain optimal noise attenuation. A reliable estimate of the secondary path is necessary for adapting the control filter. An estimate can be obtained by using an auxiliary noise signal played back via the loudspeaker. Depending on its power, temporal and spectral form, the auxiliary noise might be perceived as unpleasant. This reduces the comfort of use. In this contribution, we introduce pre-processing to the auxiliary noise signal, such that it mostly remains under psycho-acoustic masking thresholds. It is therefore less audible and can be of higher power without creating unpleasantness. This increases the overall ANC performance, due to an improved signal-to-noise ratio for the secondary path estimation. We evaluate the ANC performance using measurements of acoustic paths and realistic disturbance signals.


In order to determine the significant substitute products in each one of the consumption sectors in the Principality of Asturias, the correspondent bivariant and partial statistical correlations of NG against other energies in demand are calculated. The functions among the value-pair sequences of the analyzed variables are linear. The measurement of the dependence level is carried out by Pearson's linear correlation coefficient. To evaluate this coefficient and to confirm whether there exists or not a significant correlation between the variables (p-value<5%) a hypothesis test based on the t-Student distribution is done. The results obtained show a clear substitution of coal by NG.


A wide-range, calibration-free tunable diode laser spectrometer is established by combining wavelength modulation and direct absorption spectroscopy (WM-DAS) with continuous wave cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CW-CRDS). This spectrometer combines the benefits of absolute concentration measurements, wide range, and high speed, using WM-DAS with enhanced noise reduction in CW-CRDS. The accurate baseline ringdown time, τ0, is calculated by the absorption peak (measured by WM-DAS) and the ringdown time containing gas absorption information (measured by CW-CRDS at the center wavelength of the spectral line). The gas concentration is obtained without measuring τ0 in real time, thus, greatly improving the measuring speed. A WM-DAS/CW-CRDS spectrometer at 1.57 μm for CO detection was assembled for experimental validation of the multiplexing scheme over a concentration ranging from 4 ppm to 1.09% (0.1 MPa, 298 K). The measured concentration of CO at 6374.406 cm−1 shows that the dynamic range of this tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer is extendable up to five orders of magnitude and the corresponding precision is improved. The measurement speed of this spectrometer can extend up to 10 ms, and the detection limit can reach 35 ppb within 25 s.


For an access to specified helicopter simulator qualification′s level C or FID(Flight Training Device) level 5 of FAA(Federal Aviation Administration) AC(Advisory Circular) 120-63, the mathematical model of a single rotor helicopter flight dynamics is investigated. From the rotorcraft simulation model validated by evaluation of its flight performance, the feasibility of the flight dynamic model that is selected for its effectiveness has been proved. Thereby the simulation environment for evaluation of helicopter flying quality is established with the development of FTD for training and testing the flight performance.


Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia worldwide, yet the development of therapeutics has been hampered by the absence of suitable biomarkers to diagnose the disease in its early stages prior to the formation of amyloid plaques and the occurrence of irreversible neuronal damage. Since oligomeric Aβ species have been implicated in the pathophysiology of AD, we reasoned that they may correlate with the onset of disease. As such, we have developed a novel misfolded protein assay for the detection of soluble oligomers composed of Aβ x-40 and x-42 peptide (hereafter Aβ40 and Aβ42) from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Preliminary validation of this assay with 36 clinical samples demonstrated the presence of aggregated Aβ40 in the CSF of AD patients. Together with measurements of total Aβ42, diagnostic sensitivity and specificity greater than 95% and 90%, respectively, were achieved. Although larger sample populations will be needed to confirm this diagnostic sensitivity, our studies demonstrate a sensitive method of detecting circulating Aβ40 oligomers from AD CSF and suggest that these oligomers could be a powerful new biomarker for the early detection of AD.


This research aims was examined the anticancer activity of rosella extracts (Hibiscus sabdariffa) on myeloma cell culture by myeloma cell viability method. Myeloma cancer cells incubated in medium Rosewell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Rosella extract concentration consists of 10%, 20%, 30%, 60%, and 100%. Rosella extract was added to the myeloma cell cultures that had been placed in a microwell plate and incubated for 24 h at 37 ° C with carbon dioxide gas (CO2) 5%. Anticancer activity seen by the MTT Cell Proliferation assay were read by ELISA reader, with optical desity (OD) of the number of dead cells. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Duncan s multiple range test showed that the rosella extract has the ability to kill myeloma cells.


The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) technology's fast advancements aided smart healthcare systems to a larger extent. IoMT devices, on the other hand, rely on centralized processing and storage systems because of their limited computational and storage capacity. The reliance is susceptible to a single point of failure (SPoF) and erodes the user control over their medical data. In addition, Cloud models result in communication delays, which slow down the system's overall reaction time. To overcome these issues a decentralized distributed smart healthcare system is proposed that eliminates the SPoF and third-party control over healthcare data. Additionally, the proposed Fortified-Chain 2.0 uses a blockchain-based selective sharing mechanism with a mutual authentication technique to solve the issues, such as data privacy, security, and trust management in decentralized peer-to-peer healthcare systems. Also, we suggested a hybrid computing paradigm to deal with latency, computational, and storage constraints. A novel distributed machine learning (ML) module named random forest support vector machine (RFSVM) also embedded into the Fortified-Chain 2.0 system to automate patient health monitoring. In the RFSVM module, a random forest (RF) is used to select an optimal set of features from patients data in real-time environment and also support vector machine (SVM) is used to perform the decision making tasks. The proposed Fortified-Chain 2.0 works on a private blockchain-based distributed decentralised storage system (DDSS) that improves the system-level transparency, integrity, and traceability. Fortified-Chain 2.0 outperformed the existing Fortified-Chain in terms of low latency, high throughput, and availability with the help of a mutual authentication method.


A relatively simple He-Ne laser anemometer arrangement has been developed for detection of Reynolds stresses, namely those shear stresses that play a dominant role in turbulent fluid dynamics. After a brief discussion of some common anemometer systems, which are provided also for two-component measurements, the detection method is described in more detail. Its efficiency is demonstrated in a highly turbulent shear flow (free-mixing layer) of water as well as of a polymer solution, showing strong drag reduction. Results are given not only about the Reynolds stress distribution but also about the temporal structure, namely the cross correlation of two turbulent fluctuations across the mixing layer.


We present the design and strength evaluation of an anodically bonded pressurized cavity array, based on the energy release rate measured from the anodically bonded plates of two dissimilar materials. From a theoretical analysis, a simple fracture mechanics model of the pressurized cavity array has been developed. The energy release rate (ERR) of the bonded cavity with an infinite bonding length has been derived in terms of cavity pressure, cavity size, bonding length, plate size and material properties. The ERR with a finite bonding length has been evaluated from the finite element analysis performed for varying cavity and plate sizes. It is found that, for an inter-cavity bonding length greater than the half of the cavity length, the bonding strength of cavity array approaches to that of the infinite plate. For a shorter bonding length, however, the bonding strength of the cavity array is monotonically decreased with the ratio of the bonding length to the cavity length. The critical ERR of 6.21J/m2 has been measured from anodically bonded silicon-glass plates. A set of critical pressure curves has been generated for varying cavity array sizes, and a design method of the pressurized cavity array has been developed for the failure-free wafer-level packaging of MEMS devices.


The history of radio development in the United States is considered in great detail. Transmitters, detectors, antennas, a number of detailed parts of radio apparatus, and various branches of radio communication are classified, and their progress studied. Such topics as standardization, financial procedure, litigation, radio laws, and their consequences are treated fully.


Recently we showed that the glycine-rich loop in the N-terminal portion of protein kinases and the client-binding site of Cdc37 are both necessary for interaction between Cdc37 and protein kinases. We demonstrate here that the N-terminal portion of Cdc37, distinct from its client-binding site, interacts with the C-terminal portion of Raf-1. This interaction might expose the client-binding site of Cdc37. In addition, we provide evidence indicating that Cdc37 is monomeric in its physiological state, and that it becomes a dimer only when it is complexed with both Hsp90 and protein kinases.


Aim: To determine the static frictional resistance of different lingual brackets at different second order angulations when coupled with stainless steel (SS) archwire in dry and wet conditions. Materials and Methods: Using a modified jig, frictional resistance was evaluated under different conditions for a total of 270 upper premolar lingual brackets (0.018″ × 0.025″ - conventional - 7 th generation and STb, self-ligating - evolution) with no in-built tip or torque together with 0.016″ × 0.022″ straight length SS archwires. For conventional brackets, the archwire was secured with 0.008″ preformed SS short ligature ties. Statistical Analysis: One way analysis of variance with Tukey HSD as post-hoc test was applied for degree wise and bracket wise comparison within dry condition and wet condition. For pair wise comparison Student′s t-test was used. Results: Under both conditions the static frictional resistance is significantly higher for self-ligating brackets at 0°, while at 5° and 10° it is higher for 7 th generation brackets. Statistically, significant difference does not exist at 0° between conventional brackets and the same was found at 5° and 10° between STb and self-ligating brackets. With an increase in second order angulations, all the evaluated samples exhibited an increased frictional value. Wet condition samples obtained a higher value than their corresponding dry condition. Conclusion: The self-ligating bracket evaluated in this in vitro study is not beneficial in reducing friction during en-mass retraction due to its interactive clip type.


This article examines the concept and features of the disciplinary administrative liability in the Romanian law. The article analyzes the subjects of the disciplinary administrative liability, the objective and subjective basis of such liability, and the types of disciplinary administrative punishments. Finally, I stressed the need to uniform regulations in the matter of disciplinary administrative punishments through the adoption in the future of a Code of Administrative Procedure.


Plastic excise duty is one of the programs prescribed to combat the marine waste problem in Indonesia. This article presents an insight into the formulation of the government regulations needed to implement plastic excise duty. Initially planned to be implemented by 2018, the program is still in the process almost five years later. This article aims to identify the core issues discussed in the process, the stakeholders playing the central role, and their perspectives by interviewing key informants involved in the inter-ministerial committee. This research identified four ministries as definitive stakeholders as representatives of fiscal, industrial, and environmental groups. These groups have distinct interests in five core issues discussed during the negotiation process: the urgency of implementing an excise duty, its goals, scope of implementation, rate of tariff, and the settings for earmarking. This research found that environmental consideration was the central premise during the interministerial negotiation. However, the government's hesitation to immediately implement an excise on plastic bags shows that currently, the government tends to prioritize economic considerations


Objective As we all know, marathon exercise can induce dramatic changes in amino acid and hormone concentration in the plasma. However, little attention has been given to the role of sex in metabolic changes.
Methods We compared the changing rates of amino acid and hormone after marathon running in male and female runners. Twenty-seven female (mean age: 41±15 years) and 66 male (mean age: 40±16 years) non-professional runners performed a marathon race. Amino acid and cortisol levels were assessed before and at 1h after race.
Results At pre-race and post-race, cortisol concentrations in female runners were lower than in males. Cortisol increased in all subjects at post-race but the rising rate was substantially higher (P<0.05) in females [median (range): 3.5 (21~ -0.25)] than in males [median (range): 2.09 (14.3~-0.43)]. Post-race, the glycogenic amino acid concentrations of Arg, Asn, Gly, Ile, Met, Ser and Thr were significantly decreased in females and males. But females have higher decreased rate (P<0.02) [median (range):Arg -45% (12%~ -69%), Asn -42% (25%~ -72%), Gly -45% (5%~ -73%), Ile -35% (16%~ -64%), Met -28% (48%~ -62%), Ser -34% (17%~ -58%), Thr -33%(32%~ -52%)] than males [median (range):Arg -35% (65%~ -64%), Asn -29%(46% ~ -59%), Gly -33% (13%~ -64%), Ile -23% (37%~ -57%), Met -14% (92%~ -52%), Ser -23% ( 21%~ -56%), Thr -17% ( 84%~ -58%)]. This is because, during exercise, cortisol has the function of inducing gluconeogenesis to maintain plasma glucose supply.
Conclusions There is significant sex differences in the change of cortisol and some glycogenic amino acid concentration before and after marathon race, which has potential value for training and nutrition supplement in marathon running.


Photoplethysmography imaging (PPGI) is a cost-effective and reliable contactless optical technique for assessing cutaneous microcirculation. Its applications extend beyond extracting vital signs, such as heart rate and respiratory rate, to include spatiotemporal perfusion measurements from human skin. We propose an algorithm that provides real-time estimation of perfusion maps with adequate spatial resolution (320x240 pixels) and temporal resolution (0.2 s), which can be executed on a mid-range laptop computer. The algorithm was tested for determining perfusion changes in skin regions during regional anesthesia (RA) procedures. Seven patients (aged 18-80 years) undergoing hand surgery received peripheral nerve brachial plexus blocks during RA procedures. At baseline and after the RA procedure, 4, 10, 15, and 20 minutes later, the perfusion map density showed median values of 53.7%, 57.3%, 64.3%, 70.6%, and 71.1%, respectively, indicating an increase in perfusion due to the local anesthetic. Our easy-to-implement real-time video processing algorithm demonstrates potential for skin perfusion monitoring during RA procedures.


Most fast-moving aquatic predators face the challenge of bow wave formation. Water in front of the predator alarms or even displaces the prey. To mitigate the formation of such a bow wave, a strategy aiming at pressure reduction via suction has evolved convergently in several animal groups: compensatory suction feeding. The aquatic larvae of dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) are likely to face this challenge as well. They capture prey underwater using a fast-moving raptorial appendage, the so-called prehensile labial mask. Within dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera) two basic shapes of the prehensile labial mask have evolved, with an either flat and slender or concave distal segment. While the former is a pure grasping device, the latter is also capable of scooping up smaller prey and retaining it inside the cavity by arrays of bristle-like structures. The hydrodynamics of the prehensile labial mask was previously unknown. We used computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations of the distal segment of the mask, to investigate for the first time how different shapes of the mask impact their function. Our results suggest that both shapes are highly streamlined and generate a low-pressure area, likely leading to an effect analogous to compensatory suction feeding. This presents a vivid example of how convergent evolution enables very different animal groups to successfully deal with the challenges of their environment. It may also be an interesting concept for technical application in small scale grasping devices; e.g. for simple sampling mechanisms in small-sized autonomous underwater vehicles (μAUVs).


Abstract We presented the complete mitochondrial genome of the Platax teira in this study. The mitochondrial genome is 16,561 bp long and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and a control region. The gene order and composition of Epinephelus tukula mitochondrial genome was similar to that of most other vertebrates. The nucleotide compositions of the light strand are 28.80% of A, 31.16% of C, 24.44% of T and 15.60% of G. With the exception of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 (ND6) and seven tRNA genes, all other mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand.


Abstract This paper proposes a discrete-time risk model that has a certain type of correlation between premiums and claim amounts. It is motivated by the well-known bonus-malus system (also known as the no claims discount) in the car insurance industry. Such a system penalises policyholders at fault in accidents by surcharges, and rewards claim-free years by discounts. For simplicity, only up to three levels of premium are considered in this paper and recursive formulae are derived to calculate the ultimate ruin probabilities. Explicit expressions of ruin probabilities are obtained in a simplified case. The impact of the proposed correlation between premiums and claims on ruin probabilities is examined through numerical examples. In the end, the joint probability of ruin and deficit at ruin is also considered.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
The mechanisms responsible for the development of obstructive sleep apnea (phenotypic "traits") are known to differ between individuals and may differ across ethnicities. We aimed to examine whether loop gain, arousal threshold, pharyngeal collapsibility and muscle compensation differ between Chinese and Caucasian individuals with OSA.

METHODS
We noninvasively determined the relative contribution of loop gain, arousal threshold, pharyngeal collapsibility and muscle compensation from the ventilatory flow pattern recorded during a standard clinical polysomnography in a cohort of age and AHI matched Caucasian and Chinese patients with moderate-severe OSA (n=90).

RESULTS
Chinese participants had significantly more collapsible pharyngeal airways as indicated by a lower Vpassive (68.9 [51.5 - 75.2] vs. 74.0 [65.1 - 80.4] %Veupnoea, U=703, p=0.012), but less ventilatory control instability as indicated by a lower loop gain (0.60 [0.50 - 0.67] vs. 0.63 [0.57 - 0.81], U=762, p=0.043) compared to Caucasian participants. Further, multiple logistic regression analyses demonstrated that the combined pharyngeal collapsibility (Vpassive) and loop gain traits help to better explain the differences between the groups beyond upper-airway collapsibility alone. No statistically significant group differences were found in muscle compensation or arousal threshold traits between groups.

CONCLUSION
Individuals of Chinese descent appear to have OSA that is driven much more by the relative contribution of their anatomical predisposition and to a lesser extent non-anatomical causes compared to Caucasians. Future research should focus on determining if Chinese versus Caucasian ethnicity is an important contributing factor to clinical outcomes and therapeutic responses in OSA.


Introduction: In a sustainability report you'll read about an organization'sambition, vision and strategy for activities that relate to sustainable development. Sustainability reports are separate from the financial reports and it shows the companies economic, social and environmental work over the past year. The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences between state-owned and private companies in various issues related to the sustainability report.Theory: The theoretical perspective is primarily Deegan & Unermans (2011) four main issues that a company must consider when producing a sustainability report. In addition, the study shows how the companies communicate the information in their sustainability report to their stakeholders. Method: A qualitative approach is used in this study for description and analysis of how companies work with these issues.Empirical data: Six interviews over phone have been conducted with respondents from three state-owned companies and three private companies. The empirical data is used for analyzes of differences and similarities between state-owned and private companies in issues related to the sustainability report.Analyzes & Conclusions: The main difference between the companies in this study, is in the question of why they produce a sustainability report. The state-owned companies argue that the requirement that came 2007 is the main reason why they started to report, where as the private companies describe that they started because their stakeholder was asking for it, and that they see sustainability as an integral part of their business. All companies agreed that stakeholders have a major impact on the content of the sustainability report.


Managers in the manufacturing environments are faced with the assembly line balancing problem which is to assign tasks to workstations with the objective of maximizing the line efficiency and workload smoothing to balance the workload among the workstations. Assigning tasks to workstations in its simplest form is a NPhard
(nondeterministic polynomial-time hard) combinatorial optimization problem and it is obviously further complicated when workload smoothing is introduced into
the problem. Despite the large amount of work done on assembly line balancing problems, there are only a few published papers with problems that incorporate
workload smoothing and constraints found in industry into their proposed solutions. Problems with complex zoning constraints and workstation parallelization are not
explicitly addressed in the literature. The goal of this research is to develop a technique to solve a
multi-constraint assembly line balancing problem with parallel workstations. The objectives are three-fold; firstly, to design and develop a genetic
algorithm model to balance an assembly line with optimized number of workstations. The second objective is to develop a workload smoothing heuristic to distribute
workload equitably among the workstations. Thirdly a validation and testing methodology is developed to ensure that the proposed technique can solve both a
specific case study addressed by this thesis and generic problems that exhibit similar characteristics but involve more complex constraints. The proposed technique is
novel as the genetic algorithm model incorporates new heuristics for population initialization and tasks assignment. The workload smoothing heuristics introduced
new transfer procedures and a performance measure. Extensive computational tests carried out in this research indicate that the proposed technique performed well when tested with established test problems as well as with newly developed multi-constraint
problems. This set of new test problems is useful as a benchmark for future research on assembly line balancing.


Existence of acceleration pole points in special Frenet and Bishop motions for spacelike curve with a spacelike binormal in Minkowski 3-space E 1 are dependence into that, the curve α is not a general helix or planar. The ratio of torsion and curvature is by taking as a constant or non constant in our study. Then we show that, if the ratio of curvatures is constant, then there is not acceleration pole points of motion. AMS subject classifications. Primary 53A04; 53A17


This review considers the prognostic factors recently distinguished in malignant lymphomas. Whatever the histological type, clinical and biological factors have a major role in defining the forms having poor prognosis. These prognostic factors are essentially linked to the tumoral mass (stage, number of metastases, and LDH and beta-2-microglobulin levels). Age is also an important factor. When treatment of lymphoma is considered, whatever the histological type, the presence or absence of these prognostic factors must be taken into account in choosing treatment.


The beryllium-doped Be3B11- cluster has two nearly isoenergetic isomers, adopting the smallest trihedral spherical geometries with a boron single-chain skeleton. The B11 skeleton in the global minimum (C2v, 1A1) comprises three conjoined boron rings (one B8/two B7) on the waist, sharing two B3 equilateral triangles at the top and bottom, respectively. However, the local minimum (Cs, 1A') has one deformed B4 pyramid at the top. The drastic structural transformation of B11 skeletons from perfectly planar B11 clusters mainly profited from robust electrostatic interaction between Be atoms and B11 skeletons. The dynamic simulations suggest that two species can interconvert via a novel mechanism, that is "triangle-pyramid-triangle", which facilitates the free migration of boron atoms in the B11 skeleton, thereby showing the fascinating dynamic fluxionality. The chemical bonding analyses reveal that the B11 skeleton is covered by two types of delocalized π bonds in an orthogonal direction, which leads to its spherical aromaticity.


We develop a test to determine whether a function lying in a fixed $L_2$-Sobolev-type ball of smoothness $t$, and generating a noisy signal, is in fact of a given smoothness $s\geq t$ or not. While it is impossible to construct a uniformly consistent test for this problem on every function of smoothness $t$, it becomes possible if we remove a sufficiently large region of the set of functions of smoothness $t$. The functions that we remove are functions of smoothness strictly smaller than $s$, but that are very close to $s$-smooth functions. A lower bound on the size of this region has been proved to be of order $n^{-t/(2t+1/2)}$, and in this paper, we provide a test that is consistent after the removal of a region of such a size. Even though the null hypothesis is composite, the size of the region we remove does not depend on the complexity of the null hypothesis.


In this paper, we motivate the introduction of multiple feature streams to cover the gap between the noise-free and the estimated features in the context of Model-Based Feature Enhancement (MBFE) for noise robust speech recognition. Especially at low local SNR-levels the global MMSE-estimate might not be optimal and its uncertainty is large. Therefore, it is first shown how a constrained quadratic optimisation problem can improve the linear combination weights in the MMSE-formula. Alternatively, these weights are then approximated by K Kronecker deltas. Both approaches are compared by recognition experiments on the Aurora2 task. Also, Multiple Stream MBFE is validated on the large vocabulary Aurora4 benchmark task. On the latter, a decrease in average Word Error Rate could be obtained from 37.73% (no enhancement) to 26.13% (single stream MBFE) and finally, to 24.89% (multiple stream MBFE).


Abstract In butterflies and moths, which exhibit highly variable sex determination mechanisms, the homogametic Z chromosome is deeply conserved and is featured in many genome assemblies. The evolution and origin of the female W sex chromosome, however, remains mostly unknown. Previous studies have proposed that a ZZ/Z0 sex determination system is ancestral to Lepidoptera, and that W chromosomes may originate from sex-linked B chromosomes. Here, we sequence and assemble the female Dryas iulia genome into 32 highly contiguous ordered and oriented chromosomes, including the Z and W sex chromosomes. We then use sex-specific Hi-C, ATAC-seq, PRO-seq, and whole-genome DNA sequence data sets to test if features of the D. iulia W chromosome are consistent with a hypothesized B chromosome origin. We show that the putative W chromosome displays female-associated DNA sequence, gene expression, and chromatin accessibility to confirm the sex-linked function of the W sequence. In contrast with expectations from studies of homologous sex chromosomes, highly repetitive DNA content on the W chromosome, the sole presence of domesticated repetitive elements in functional DNA, and lack of sequence homology with the Z chromosome or autosomes is most consistent with a B chromosome origin for the W, although it remains challenging to rule out extensive sequence divergence. Synteny analysis of the D. iulia W chromosome with other female lepidopteran genome assemblies shows no homology between W chromosomes and suggests multiple, independent origins of the W chromosome from a B chromosome likely occurred in butterflies.


This analysis explores men's role exit process from being married to divorced in the context of the alimony reform movement in the United States. Those considering potential role exit may face governmental policies that either support or oppose them in making these personal changes. In this case, mostly men want to leave their husband roles behind but legally imposed alimony, in their view, unfairly binds them to their former spouses. This analysis uses 182 narratives to map out how major collective action frames—based upon the highly valued, masculine concept of autonomy—are generated in this social movement. Overall, this research demonstrates the importance of both considering the operation of governmental policies in producing successful or incomplete role exit for individuals, and how these same individuals can respond using collective action frames drawn from privileged notions of masculinity as they aim for significant life change.


High chromium balls are recognized as better grinding media in terms of wear rates than forged steel balls, which are conventional grinding media in the milling process of iron ore. In this research work, the wear rate of high chromium balls and austempered ductile iron (ADI) balls as crushing media in a ball mill are compared. ADI are prepared by austenitizing the spheroidal graphite (SG) iron balls at 920 °C for one hour, and step austempering heat treatments were given, which includes the first step austenitizing at 300 °C for 15 min, followed by a second step austenitizing at 400 °C for 60 min. The wear rates were estimated when both balls were used separately by maintaining the same machining conditions and when the balls are mixed. The grinding wear conduct of both materials is evaluated for wear loss in wet grinding conditions. The experimental results reveal that the performance of ADI balls is better than high chromium balls when tested separately and mixed. Results also indicate that the wear rates/revolutions will decrease when the operating period increases.


We explore the dynamics of a flexible fiber transported by a viscous flow in a Hele-Shaw cell of height comparable to the fiber height. We show that long fibers aligned with the flow experience a buckling instability. Competition between viscous and elastic forces leads to the deformation of the fiber into a wavy shape convolved by a Bell-shaped envelope. We characterize the wavelength and phase velocity of the deformation as well as the growth and spreading of the envelope. Our study of the spatiotemporal evolution of the deformation reveals a linear and absolute instability arising from a local mechanism well described by the Ginzburg-Landau equation.


Bernardi has given a general formula for the number of regions of a deformation of the braid arrangement as a signed sum over boxed trees. We prove that each set of boxed trees which share an underlying (rooted labeled plane) tree contributes 0 or $\pm 1$ to this sum, and we give an algorithm for computing this value. For Ish-type arrangements, we further construct a sign-reversing involution which reduces Bernardi's signed sum to the enumeration of a set of (rooted labeled plane) trees. We conclude by explicitly enumerating the trees corresponding to the regions of Ish-type arrangements which are nested, recovering their known counting formula.


Background: Cuproptosis and necroptosis represent two distinct programmed cell death modalities implicated in neoplastic progression; however, the role of combining cuproptosis and necroptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to be elucidated. Methods: A total of 29 cuproptosis-related necroptosis genes (CRNGs) were identified, followed by an extensive analysis of their mutational characteristics, expression patterns, prognostic implications, and associations with the tumor microenvironment (TME). Subsequently, a CRNG subtype-related signature was developed, and its value of prognostic prediction, TME, and therapeutic responses in HCC were thoroughly investigated. Last, quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting were employed for investigating the signature gene expression in 15 paired clinical tissue samples. Results: Two distinct CRNG subtypes were discerned, demonstrating associations between CRNG expression patterns, clinicopathological attributes, prognosis, and the TME. A CRNG subtype-related prognostic signature, subjected to external validation, was constructed, serving as an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients, indicating poor prognosis for high-risk individuals. Concurrently, the signature's correlations with an immune-suppressive TME, mutational features, stemness properties, immune checkpoint genes, chemoresistance-associated genes, and drug sensitivity were observed, signifying its utility in predicting treatment responses. Subsequently, highly accurate and clinically convenient nomograms were developed, and the signature genes were validated via quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting, further substantiating the stability and dependability of the CRNG subtype-related prognostic signature. Conclusion: Overall, this investigation presented an extensive panorama of CRNGs and developed the CRNG subtype-related prognostic signature, which holds potential for implementation in personalized treatment strategies and prognostic forecasting for HCC patients.


AIM
To study the effects of TNF receptor blocking peptide on adjuvant arthritis in rats.

METHODS
The model of rat adjuvant arthritis was induced by injection of complete Freund's adjuvant. The TNF receptor blocking peptide was injected locally in the ankle. The ankle swelling, the pathologic changes in the ankle joint and the expression of IL-1 beta mRNA and TNF-alpha mRNA by peritoneal macrophages (RT-PCR) were observed.

RESULTS
The model of rat adjuvant arthritis induced by injection of complete Freund's adjuvant was similar to human rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment with TNF receptor blocking peptide for 10 days resulted in complete inhibition of joint swelling, a decrease in infiltration of inflammatory cell into joint tissue, an obvious alleviation of inflammatory pathological damages and an apparent decline of TNF-alpha mRNA and IL-1 beta mRNA of peritoneal macrophages of rats.

CONCLUSION
The TNF receptor blocking peptide can protect the joint from inflammatory damage induced by adjuvant arthritis by suppression of TNF-alpha and IL-1 production, thereby alleviating the pathological injury of joint and controlling effectively the clinic course of arthritis.


Due to the persistent stalemate in the WTO ' s Doha Round negotiations, various smaller-scale options have drawn attention in recent years, including the negotiation of plurilateral agreements (PAs) among interested governments. There are essentially two types of such agreements, an exclusive and an open variant. While the former apply among the signatories only, the latter are implemented on a Most-favoured-Nation (MFN) basis. To preclude ' free riding ' , the entry into force of such open PAs is usually conditioned on the participation of a ' critical mass ' of countries, representing market shares of some 80% or more – quite a challenging benchmark. To promote more frequent use of PAs, given the plethora of pressing policy concerns, whether investment-, competition- or labour-related, the negotiation of exclusive agreements is being (re-)considered in current discussions. However, the entry into force of any non-MFN-based agreement would need to be accepted by consensus among all 160-odd WTO Members, and this may prove virtually impossible to achieve. This article thus proposes, based on past experience, to further explore the potential for open PAs among interested Members in the form of co-ordinated improvements of current commitments or, if not covered by the existing WTO framework, by way of ' WTOextra ' understandings.


Abstract Creative workers have a tendency to co-locate in creative places, and their locational decision-making processes have been the topic of numerous studies. Yet, the vast majority of research has traditionally focused on the quintessential creative cities and metropolises. Much less is known about locational decision-making practices of creative workers in the 'ordinary' second and third tier cities. This paper aims to explore the mechanisms behind co-location in these smaller cities by looking at the influence and importance of place reputation on the attraction and retention of creative workers. Based upon 43 interviews with co-located Dutch creative entrepreneurs in such cities, we argue that in the absence of the metropolitan appeal, place reputation serves a multifaceted, yet essential role. First, tapping into the global creative city narrative provided creative and/or professional legitimation, as well as personal inspiration. Second, respondents commodified this reputation in their branding practices, which subsequently functioned as a pull-factor for other creative workers. Therefore, even though we observed many creatives do not utilise their local networks in their daily professional or creative work, place reputation afforded the development and sustainability of local buzz and knowledge exchange in cities where these networks did not organically occur.


The release of glutamate from astrocytes activates synchronous slow inward currents (SICs) in hippocampal pyramidal neurons, which are mediated by the NMDA receptor and represent a nonsynaptic mechanism to promote the synchronization of neuronal activity. Two recent studies demonstrate that SICs generate neuronal paroxysmal depolarizations resembling those typical of interictal epileptiform activity and proposed that there could be an astrocytic basis of epilepsy (Kang et al., 2005; Tian et al., 2005). We tested this hypothesis using two in vitro models of epileptiform activity in hippocampal slices. Removal of extracellular Mg2+ and application of picrotoxin or perfusion with 0.5 mm Mg2+ and 8.5 mm K+-containing saline result mainly in neuronal ictal- and interictal-like epileptiform activity, respectively. Although both models trigger epileptiform activity, astrocytic Ca2+ oscillations were increased only after slice perfusion with 0 mm Mg2+ and picrotoxin. The activation of astrocytic Ca2+ signaling correlates with an increased frequency of SICs, and, when paired neurons were within 100 μm of one another with synchronous neuronal Ca2+ elevations, the generation of synchronous neuronal depolarizations and action potential discharges. TTX blocked both ictal- and interictal-like epileptiform activity without affecting SICs or SIC-mediated neuronal synchronization. In contrast, NMDA receptor antagonists, which block SICs, did not prevent the generation of either ictal- or interictal-like events. Based on this clear-cut pharmacology, our data demonstrate that nonsynaptic glutamate release from astrocytes is not necessary for the generation of epileptiform activity in vitro, although we cannot exclude the possibility that it may modulate the strength of the ictal (seizure)-like event.


Commercial transportation fuels are complex mixtures containing hundreds or thousands of chemical components, whose composition has evolved considerably during the past 100 years. In conjunction with concurrent engine advancements, automotive fuel composition has been fine-tuned to balance efficiency and power demands while minimizing emissions. Pollutant emissions from internal combustion engines (ICE), which arise from non-ideal combustion, have been dramatically reduced in the past four decades. Emissions depend both on the engine operating parameters (e.g. engine temperature, speed, load, A/F ratio, and spark timing) and the fuel. These emissions result from complex processes involving interactions between the fuel and engine parameters. Vehicle emissions are comprised of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CO, nitrogen oxides (NO(x)), and particulate matter (PM). VOCs and NO(x) form photochemical smog in urban atmospheres, and CO and PM may have adverse health impacts. Engine hardware and operating conditions, after-treatment catalysts, and fuel composition all affect the amount and composition of emissions leaving the vehicle tailpipe. While engine and after-treatment effects are generally larger than fuel effects, engine and after-treatment hardware can require specific fuel properties. Consequently, the best prospects for achieving the highest efficiency and lowest emissions lie with optimizing the entire fuel-engine-after-treatment system. This review provides a chemical perspective on the production, combustion, and environmental aspects of automotive fuels. We hope this review will be of interest to workers in the fields of chemical kinetics, fluid dynamics of reacting flows, atmospheric chemistry, automotive catalysts, fuel science, and governmental regulations.


The study was designed to evaluate the gastro-protective potential of aqueous seed extract of Persea americana on aspirin-induced gastric ulcer in rats. Thirty adult rats were randomly divided into six groups of five. Group 1 was not induced with aspirin while groups 2-6 received a single-dose of aspirin of 400 mg/kg bw to induce gastric ulcer. Groups 2 and 3 received water and omeprazole respectively; while groups 4, 5 and 6 received the aqueous extract (110, 220 and 440 mg.kg bw respectively) for 14 days. Ulcer index, gastric volume, gastric pH, total acidity, total carbohydrate, total protein, pepsin of gastric juice and antioxidant activity of the plant extracts were determined. The extract showed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in ulcer index and total acidity in the extract-treated and the omeprazole-treated groups when compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in the gastric juice volume and total protein of the gastric juice of all the extract-treated groups when compared to the control. There was a significant (P<0.05) decrease in malondialdehyde level in the gastric tissues of the extract-treated and an increase in the reduced Glutathione, catalase, superoxide dismutase, activities compared to the control. The histology of the stomach tissues in the extract-treated groups showed slight and moderate ulceration when compared to the normal control group. The extract therefore has protective activity on aspirin-induced gastric ulceration in rats.


This article provides a nonquantitative social benefits and costs framework for discussing the impact of converged broadband networks on society. Societal benefits discussed include choice, control, convenience, competition, community and connectivity, education, democratization, audience feedback and product improvement, economic growth, telework, multitasking skills, and regulation. Discussion of societal costs focuses on privacy and security, intellectual property and piracy, social isolation and human interaction, journalistic standards, telework, the digital divide, globalization, mass content, community decline, desensitization to violence, audience fragmentation, regulation, and workplace productivity.


This guide aims at providing you with a compiled list of resources, which are relevant to American/British Literature. Online databases with their short annotations, print and electronic journals, reference resources, etc. available in SKL constitute this


Characterization of uncertainty (variance) in ecosystem projections under climate change is still rare despite its importance for informing decision-making and prioritizing research. We developed an ensemble modeling framework to evaluate the relative importance of different uncertainty sources for food web projections of the eastern Bering Sea (EBS). Specifically, dynamically downscaled projections from Earth System Models (ESM) under different greenhouse gas emission scenarios (GHG) were used to force a multispecies size spectrum model (MSSM) of the EBS food web. In addition to ESM and GHG uncertainty, we incorporated uncertainty from different plausible fisheries management scenarios reflecting shifts in the total allowable catch of flatfish and gadids and different assumptions regarding temperature-dependencies on biological rates in the MSSM. Relative to historical averages (1994–2014), end-of-century (2080–2100 average) ensemble projections of community spawner stock biomass, catches, and mean body size (±standard deviation) decreased by 36% (±21%), 61% (±27%), and 38% (±25%), respectively. Long-term trends were, on average, also negative for the majority of species, but the level of trend consistency between ensemble projections was low for most species. Projection uncertainty for model outputs from ∼2020 to 2040 was driven by inter-annual climate variability for 85% of species and the community as a whole. Thereafter, structural uncertainty (different ESMs, temperature-dependency assumptions) dominated projection uncertainty. Fishery management and GHG emissions scenarios contributed little (<10%) to projection uncertainty, with the exception of catches for a subset of flatfishes which were dominated by fishery management scenarios. Long-term outcomes were improved in most cases under a moderate "mitigation" relative to a high "business-as-usual" GHG emissions scenario and we show how inclusion of temperature-dependencies on processes related to body growth and intrinsic (non-predation) natural mortality can strongly influence projections in potentially non-additive ways. Narrowing the spread of long-term projections in future ensemble simulations will depend primarily on whether the set of ESMs and food web models considered behave more or less similarly to one another relative to the present models sets. Further model skill assessment and data integration are needed to aid in the reduction and quantification of uncertainties if we are to advance predictive ecology.


Despite an upsurge of interest in recent years and a proliferation of reports, the field of mental handicap (retitled mental impairment under the 1982 Amend ment Act) remains underfunded and neglected. Social work, no less than psychiatry, psychology and nursing has not yet really grappled with some of the fundamen tal problems of communication, relationships and team work involved in this field. It is gratifying therefore to welcome a book by a social work practitioner written for practitioners in the field of mental handicap. David Anderson has written a balanced appraisal of the subject, paying special attention to the nature of the social work task within this field; he is also fully informed about clinical aspects of handicap but his emphasis, (rightly), is on social factors. One of the best sections of his book is Chapter 5 in which he deals with team-work and relationships. This chapter would make useful reading for psychiatrists in training and especially those preparing themselves for the membership examina tion. He has some penetrating observations to make upon the reasons why those engaged in trying to provide caring environments frequently fail in their tasks and the reasons why "¿ the handicapped . . . react to thatenvironmentbyritualisedbehaviourandlossof personal initiative and spontaneity and acquire a reputation for deference and passivity, which . . (then) . . . justifies a protective environment. It is then very hard for the caring staff to believe that their charges could behave differently: their whole exper ience denies it . . ." (p. 37). Anderson suggests that the social worker can play a distinctive role in seeing beyond the immediate horizons of the mentally impaired individual by alerting other members of staff to these."¿ They oft nhaveresponsibilityforreminding residential staff and specialist consultants that other members of the family have reasons for what they do, and are not just intrusions on the smooth pattern of †̃¿ therapeutic' events. They often have to assert that a world exists outside the hospital, residential home, clinic or school . . . (p. lii). This short book is written in an attractive style, is well produced and indexed and will be of value to all who work in the field of mental handicap/impairment and are concerned with its social implications.


In this paper, optical properties of the system consisting of mesoparticles (small dielectric particles) and nanoparticles (quantum dots) of various shapes have been considered. This system can be characterized by resonant absorption of electromagnetic waves and used for developing the new approach to antiviral therapy.


Most new aircraft programs encounter the challenge of balancing the time required for design optimization with product delivery constraints. The high cost and long lead times of traditional tooling makes it difficult for aircraft manufactures to efficiently meet ever-changing market demands. The large size, low relative stiffness and high positional tolerances required for aircraft components drive the requirement for rigid fixed tooling to maintain the precision part relationships over time. Use of today's advance 3-Dimensional CAD systems coupled with the high accuracy of CNC machines enables the success of the determinate assembly approach for aircraft tooling. This approach provides the aircraft manufacturer significant lead-time reductions while at the same time it supports enhanced system flexibility. Determinate assembly for aircraft tooling has proven to be highly successful for tooling manufacture on large-scale system such as the A380 and A340-600 wing assembly projects.


This study used structural equation modeling to examine the effects of spirituality on positive aspects of caregiving (PAC) among a sample of American Latino family members caring for a relative with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Participants consisted of 209 Latino caregivers (CGs) drawn from baseline data from the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregivers Health II study. The findings indicate that spirituality is positively related to PAC and may partially mediate the effect of subjective stress on PAC. AD CGs typically provide better care when they perceive the caregiving experience to be satisfying and rewarding. Toward this end, gerontological practitioners should adopt a proactive stance to ensure Latino AD CGs can operationalize their spiritual strengths.