This study examined gender attitudes and sexual violence‐supportive beliefs (rape myths) in a sample of South African men and women at risk for HIV transmission. Over 40% of women and 16% of men had been sexually assaulted, and more than one in five men openly admitted to having perpetrated sexual assault. Traditional attitudes toward women's social and gender roles, as well as rape myths, were endorsed by a significant minority of both men and women. Multivariate analyses showed that for men, sexual assault history and rape myth acceptance, along with alcohol and other drug use history, were significantly related to cumulative risks for HIV infection. In contrast, although we found that women were at substantial risk for sexually transmitted infection (STI), including HIV, women's risks were only related to lower levels of education and alcohol use history. We speculate that women's risks for STI/HIV are the product of partner characteristics and male‐dominated relationships, suggesting the critical importance of intervening with men to reduce women's risks for sexual assault and STI/HIV.


Background: Rotator cuff repair has a relatively high (20%-90%) chance of retears. Patients with an intact rotator cuff 6 months after surgery have better subjective and objective outcomes at 6 months and 2 years after rotator cuff repair than those who do not have an intact repair. Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine if, and if so which, intraoperative factors predict an intact repair 6 months after rotator cuff repair. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: The study consisted of a cohort of 500 consecutive patients who had an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair performed by a single surgeon and an ultrasound evaluation using standard protocols of the repair 6 months after surgery. Exclusion criteria included previous fracture or shoulder surgery, incomplete or partial rotator cuff repair, and concomitant arthroplasty. Rotator cuff tear size was measured intraoperatively and mapped. The quality of the tendon, tendon mobility, and repair quality were assessed and ranked based on predetermined scales (1-4) and recorded on a specifically designed form. Logistic regression analysis was performed, with cuff integrity at 6-month follow-up as the dependent variable and tear/repair factors as the independent variables. Results: The overall postoperative retear rate was 19% at 6 months. The best predictor of rotator cuff integrity was preoperative tear size (correlation coefficient, r = 0.33; P < .001). Patients with small (≤2 cm2) rotator cuff tears were least likely to have retears (retear rate, 10%). As the tear size increased, the retear rate increased in a linear fashion: ≤2 cm2 (10%), 2 to 4 cm2 (16%), 4 to 6 cm2 (31%), 6 to 8 cm2 (50%), and >8 cm2 (57%). Other surgeon-ranked intraoperative assessments did correlate with retears, but the correlations were relatively weak: repair quality (r = −0.17; P < .001), tendon mobility (r = −0.15; P < .001), and tendon quality (r = −0.14; P < .01). Regression analysis showed that the retear rate at 6-month follow-up was best predicted from the preoperative tear size and the surgeon-ranked repair quality: chance of retear = 0.38 + (0.02 × tear size in cm2) – (0.08 × repair quality). Tendon quality and tendon mobility did not contribute significantly to this prediction. Conclusion: Tear size was the best intraoperative predictor of repair integrity after rotator cuff repair, with tears less than 2 cm2 twice as likely to heal than tears greater than 6 cm2.


This paper presents an on-line handwriting authentication system for text-independent Chinese handwriting. The proposed strategy is implemented on the stroke level, and the writing strokes and interstrokes are separated stepwise. The writing features are extracted from the dynamics of substrokes and interstrokes, including the writing velocity, the pressure, and the angle between the pen and the writing surface. To alleviate the effect of writing character number on the performance of the algorithm, we adopt the feature vectors of selected dimensions. In live experiments the authentication result is promising.


1 See Dunford, N., and J. T. Schwartz, J. Rational Mech. Anal., 5, 129-178 (1956). In what follows, m will denote a general measure space with points x, y, . ., and measure dx. 2 The case p = 2 of the theorem is due to D. L. Burkholder and Y. S. Chow, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 12, 490-495 (1961). This article was brought to our attention by G. C. Rota. We had independently obtained the general theorem in 1958, but did not publish it. Recently Rota has obtained another approach to the theorem which will appear elsewhere. See also C. Herz, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 12, 229-233 (1961). 3These notions were used in the article of E. M. Stein and G. Weiss, Tohoku Math. J., 9, 318-339 (1957), especially section 3. 4Stein, E. M., Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 83, 482-492 (1956). 5 See the argument in R. E. Paley, Proc. London Math. Soc., 31, 289-300 (1930). 6 In the cases mentioned, the kernels are nonnegative. See G. N. Watson, J. London Math. Soc., 8, 189-192, 194-199, 289-292 (1933). 7McKean, H. P., Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 82, 519-548 (1956).


1 In a geographical context, "access" is the quality of having interaction with, or passage to, a particular good, service, facility, or other phenomenon that exists in the spatiotemporal world (Talen 2001). In the public services context, "access" describes a state in which people can get to key services at reasonable cost, in reasonable time and with reasonable ease. The term includes a spatial aspect that focuses on evaluating the geographical distribution of specific objects – in our case, elements of public infrastructure. In the scientific research we find many definitions of accessibility, including spatial, economic, and social perspectives. Often-used definitions include: opportunities for interactions Hansen (1959), the ease with which any activity can be reached from a given location via the public transport system (Dalvi & Martin 1976), or the freedom of individuals to decide whether or not to participate in different activities (Burns 1979, cited in Geurs & van Wee, 2004). Aoyama et al. (2011) state that the term "can be used for people to describe the ease with which they can reach places they want to go, such as hospitals, schools, shops, workplaces or national parks". The ways the term "accessibility" is used include referring to simple physical distance separating people and places, the ability (and willingness) to overcome those distances, and the ability to connect with information or people (usage of information technology). The concept of accessibility is still a central notion in socio-economic geographical studies. Access to public services can be interpreted either as the measure of social capital development or an indicator (element) of quality of life, or even, according to Tsou et al. (2005) as spatial equity, which means equal access to basic public facilities, measured in distance and would even include choice of jobs. The concept also includes a social dimension, by considering whether societies are inclusive (enabling their members to participate in usual activities) and fair (by giving all members the opportunity to do so). This helps us to establish the relationship between the lack of accessibility to basic services and situations of exclusion in a geographical context. Studies of accessibility to public services, regardless of spatial scale, are getting more common as the level of observed inequalities (economic and social) starts to rise. Polish geographers' growing interest in accessibility research is partly the consequence of the population's increased income and its tendency to stratify (Śleszyński 2014); therefore, more and more importance is being attached to quality of life and living conditions. However, existing studies are usually restricted to an isolated type of services, e.g. educational (Guzik 2003), or one specific area (Dominiak 2009). The first comprehensive study of differentiations in the level of public services accessibility in all municipalities in Poland was done by Stępniak et al. (2017). They looked at access to many categories of public services: public administration, childcare centres, different educational services, primary and specialist medical care, and cultural services (cinemas and theatres). There is also only a limited number of such studies focusing on Warsaw. Murawska (2013) elaborated a ranking of Warsaw city districts in relation to quality of life. The ranking serves as a major reference source for the discussion of our findings. A recent study by Kościńska (2019) must also be mentioned, but it is restricted to only three out of 18 city districts Accessibility of public services in districts of Warsaw: a comparative study


Autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantations serve as effective therapy for a variety of hematologic and other diseases. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an important source of HSCs. However, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient number of HSCs with complete self‐renewal capability derived from a single unit of UCB for use in adult transplantation. In this study, we investigated two novel three‐dimensional (3D) culture systems (static and rotating) for ex vivo expansion of HSCs from UCB.


In this paper, we examine the bit error rate (BER) performance of square orthogonal space-time block codes (OSTBCs) under arbitrarily correlated Rayleigh fading channels. We consider a mismatched maximum-likelihood receiver that obtains the channel state information through pilot-based linear minimum mean-square error channel estimation. For PAM and QAM constellations, a closed-form approximation of the BER is presented, which yields very accurate BER results over a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios.


In this paper, the author deals with the question of communion ecclesiology in the context of the current migration crisis in Europe. Contextual theology based on the correlation method tries to develop the understanding of the Church's essence and mission by using the ecclesiological model called communion and putting it in the contemporary social context. The notion of the 'stranger' introduced by the sociologists into the public discourse seems to be very operative and useful category for ecclesiology as well. The first part of the article presents the phenomenon of the stranger in sociological perspective. The second part discusses Jesus as Sacrament of God in the encounter with strangers. The author analyses Jesus' words and his attitude to strangers and socially alienated people. The third part describes the Church as the sacrament of responsibility and open home for strangers and poor people. The Church can be also understood as the mother with a heart open especially to those who suffer from war and misery. In the final part of this paper the author presents some pastoral implications. He draws attention to the necessity to enhance the social aspect of Eucharist and to encourage the believers to create the 'culture of solidarity' with refugees and strangers in need.


The nitration method of aromatic compounds using a mixture of metal nitrates and acetic anhydride, commonly called the Menke method, was applied for the synthesis of 5- and 3-nitroacenaphthenes. 5-Nitroacenaphthene was obtained in a yield of ca. 90% even at 30°C, when an amount of metal nitrate equivalent to the acenaphthene dissolved in acetic anhydride was added. However, 3-nitroacenaphthene was formed together with the 5-isomer by the reversed treatment at -10°C in a yield of 18%. Of various metal nitrates tested, cupric and zinc nitrates proved most satisfactory.


Background Correcting false cognitions and establishing preventive behaviors in patients with chronic low-back pain can improve self-efficacy and self-discovery of these patients against the physical and psychological consequences of chronic back pain through reinforcing thoughts and constructive behaviors. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral training in self-efficacy, self-discovery, and pain perception of patients with chronic low-back pain. Methods Based on a quasi-experimental design, 40 patients with chronic low-back were selected through purposive sampling and assigned into two groups of intervention (n = 20) and control (n = 20). After administering the pain self-efficacy (PSE) scale, the self-discovery scale (SDS), and the pain perception questionnaire (MPQ) to both groups, the intervention group received the cognitive-behavioral training while the control group did not receive the intervention. The post-test was performed on both groups and the data were analyzed using SPSS. Results The scores of pain self-efficacy and self-discovery (self-awareness and acceptance, commitment and attraction, transcendence and development, and personal growth) were higher in the intervention group than in the control group (P < 0.01). The highest increase with an effect size of 0.514 was related to the self-awareness and acceptance subscale. In addition, the pain assessment perception was the only reduced subscale among the other dimensions of pain perception (P < 0.01). Conclusions Psychosocial complementary therapies can provide patients suffering from chronic pain with better physical and mental conditions to have a higher quality of life.


Gellan gum microspheres of ondansetron hydrochloride, for intranasal delivery, were prepared to avoid the first pass metabolism as an alternative therapy to parentral, and to improve therapeutic efficiency in treatment of nausea and vomiting. The microspheres were prepared using conventional spray-drying method. The microspheres were evaluated for characteristics like particle size, incorporation efficiency, swelling ability, zeta potential, in-vitro mucoadhesion, thermal analysis, XRD study and in-vitro drug release. Treatment of in-vitro data to different kinetic equations indicated diffusion controlled drug delivery from gellan gum microspheres. The results of DSC and XRD studies revealed molecular amorphous dispersion of ondansetron into the gellan gum microspheres.


Distributed computing systems have come about due to the rapid increase in processor and/or memory hungry applications coupled with the advent of low-cost powerful workstations. We present fuzzy functions to model load balancing in distributed computing systems. Due to lack of communication delays in message passing, a complete and consistent view of the entire system may never be available to a node of the system. Most of the previous work in load balancing, and distributed decision making in general, does not effectively take into account the uncertainty and inconsistency in state information. Also, both the load patterns and task length descriptions are based on crisp values, which may be inconvenient. Most of the research that uses fuzzy descriptions considers fixed fuzzy function parameter values that can only match in fixed load patterns. The aim of this paper is to solve the uncertainty problem in state information and task selection for migration using proposed fuzzy functions of variable membership values, and to propose an expert system that uses these fuzzy functions in decision making. The proposed approach has been studied by means of simulation. Performance, measured in terms of the mean response time, is improved in all cases.


If identity is culturally constructed, then the context in which it develops impacts on its stability during a time of social change.Within Aotearoa/New Zealand, communities are experiencingmultiple forms of change due to the repercussions of political, economic and social policies. A further significant transformation is that of the ethnic composition of communities, instantiated by the Auckland metropolis. While communities are evaluating levels of social and economic sustainability, principals within secondary schools are also grappling with a school character that is dynamic, complex and challenging. It is within such school communities that benefit is gained from proactive leadership strategies that facilitate social cohesion. Conceptually, if identity relates to both the 'internal experience of place and external participation in world and society' (Cockburn, 1983, p. 1) then school identity should provide an inclusive environment whereby students can belong to the school while retaining their own sense of cultural self. This paper refers to the research findings of an international study, to show that while deliberate practices can draw together diverse groups to achieve social inclusion, tension exists when the focus is not fully multi-dimensional.


In this issue of Blood, Shen et al demonstrate that the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-murine interferon β (IFNβ)-sodium iodide symporter (NIS) (VSV-mIFNβ-NIS) oncolytic virus has significant antileukemia activity, which is enhanced when combined with an anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody.


Training a deep convolutional neural net typically starts with a random initialisation of all filters in all layers which severely reduces the forward signal and back-propagated error and leads to slow and sub-optimal training. Techniques that counter that focus on either increasing the signal or increasing the gradients adaptively but the model behaves very differently at the beginning of training compared to later when stable pathways through the net have been established. To compound this problem the effective minibatch size varies greatly between layers at different depths and between individual filters as activation sparsity typically increases with depth leading to a reduction in effective learning rate since gradients may superpose rather than add and this further compounds the covariate shift problem as deeper neurons are less able to adapt to upstream shift.
Proposed here is a method of automatic gain control of the signal built into each convolutional neuron that achieves equivalent or superior performance than batch normalisation and is compatible with single sample or minibatch gradient descent. The same model is used both for training and inference.
The technique comprises a scaled per sample map mean subtraction from the raw convolutional filter output followed by scaling of the difference.


The Human Rights Act 1998 (UK) incorporates the European Convention of Human Rights into the domestic law of the United Kingdom. The model for incorporation is unique among domestic rights instruments. The Human Rights Act imposes an interpretive obligation on the judiciary, requiring it to interpret legislation in a manner that is compatible with Convention rights wherever it is possible to do so. Where such interpretation is not possible, the judiciary is empowered to make declarations of legislative incompatibility. Such declarations do not affect the validity of the legislation; rather, notify the executive and parliament of the violation, and shift the onus to remedy the defect on them. This model attempts to marry rights promotion and protection with the retention of parliamentary sovereignty. It also ensures that rights are a matter of inter-institutional dialogue, as opposed to judicial monologue. This article critically assesses the capacity of the HR Act to retain traditional notions of parliamentary sovereignty, whilst committing to human rights protection and sharing the responsibility for human rights across all three arms of government. It also critically assesses the capacity of the judiciary to fulfill its mandated human rights contribution to an inter-institutional dialogue in the context of a strong commitment to parliamentary sovereignty.


This paper presents a few design considerations in implementing building block-based Computer Aided Design (CAD) for analog switched circuits. The considered synthesis include four independent levels: 1) system level, 2) building block level, 3) circuit simulation level, and 4) layout generation, which multistage can separate a larger size circuit into a few major basic building blocks. The aim of this paper is to show how to integrate a few existing programs to shorten the design period, from the user friendly interfacing to the corresponding building blocks. A CAD tool for Switched Capacitor (SC) analogue circuit is shown briefly.


1 The effect of chlorpromazine (CPZ) on the metabolism of dopamine and 5‐hydroxytryptamine in dog brain was investigated by following the concentrations of the acid metabolites of these amines, homovanillic acid, 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and 5‐hydroxyindolylacetic acid, in the ventricular cerebrospinal fluid (C.S.F.) of dogs over a period of 5 hr after intravenous administration of CPZ (2·5, 5, 10 and 15 mg/kg), using the technique of serial sampling of lateral ventricular C.S.F. "Low" doses (2·5–10 mg/kg) produced a rise in the concentration of homovanillic acid and smaller increases in the concentrations of 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and 5‐hydroxyindolylacetic acid. "High" doses (10–15 mg/kg) had a lesser effect on the concentration of homovanillic acid and had no effect on, or decreased, the concentrations of 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and 5‐hydroxyindolylacetic acid. The concentration of 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid was maximal in the ventricular C.S.F. 2 hr after CPZ 5 mg/kg and was unaltered from the control level 2 hr after 15 mg/kg. 2 The effects on the metabolism of brain amines of CPZ (5 mg/kg), doses which the serial sampling of C.S.F. experiments had indicated as producing maximal and minimal effects on dopamine metabolism in brain tissue, were studied by estimating the concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine, metanephrine, methoxydopamine, homovanillic acid, 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and 5‐hydroxyindolylacetic acid in the hypothalamus, midbrain, thalamus, hindbrain, cortex, globus pallidus and caudate nucleus of control dogs and of dogs treated with CPZ intravenously 2 hr before killing. The concentrations of homovanillic acid, 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and 5‐hydroxyindolylacetic acid were estimated in samples of ventricular C.S.F. withdrawn from these dogs 2 hr after the injection of CPZ (i.e., immediately before death). 3 The following changes in concentrations were observed. Dopamine: CPZ 5 mg/kg produced no change in the concentration in the caudate nucleus, globus pallidus and midbrain and increased the concentration in the thalamus; CPZ 15 mg/kg appeared to cause a reduction in the concentration of this amine in the caudate nucleus and globus pallidus. Homovanillic acid and 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid: CPZ 5 mg/kg increased the concentrations of both acids in the caudate nucleus and had no effect on the concentrations of the acids in the globus pallidus, hypothalamus and thalamus; CPZ 15 mg/kg produced no change in the concentrations of the acids in any area of the brain. Methoxydopamine: CPZ 5 mg/kg and 15 mg/kg reduced the concentration in the caudate nucleus. Noradrenaline: The concentrations in the hypothalamus, midbrain, thalamus and hindbrain were slightly increased by CPZ 5 mg/kg and 15 mg/kg. Only in the thalamus was a statistically significant increase in noradrenaline observed. 4 It was concluded that the actions of chlorpromazine on catecholamine synthesis and metabolism in the brain of the dog are dose dependent. A dose of CPZ 5 mg/kg was postulated to have the following actions: (i) to increase dopamine synthesis; (ii) to activate mitochondrial monoamine oxidase. A dose of CPZ 15 mg/kg was postulated to act as follows: (i) to decrease dopamine synthesis; or (ii) to release dopamine from its storage sites. 5 The ratios of the concentrations of homovanillic acid, 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and 5‐hydroxyindolylacetic acid in the caudate nucleus to the concentrations of these acids in the ventricular C.S.F. were the same in the control dogs as in the dogs treated with CPZ (5 mg/kg and 15 mg/kg). It was concluded that the levels of the acid metabolites of dopamine in lateral ventricular C.S.F. reflect the levels of these acids in the caudate nucleus.


There is tremendous interest in exploiting smartphones as a "community of sensors". It is envisioned that this community-driven smartphone sensor network has unprecedented potential to sense heterogeneous phenomena ranging from sound pollution to urban social dynamics. However, designing smartphone-resident middleware for opportunistic and objectiveoriented sensing of these phenomena is an open challenge. In this paper, we propose USense, a novel utility-driven smartphone middleware for executing community-driven sensing tasks. USense is different from other mobile phone sensing frameworks in the following ways: it is (i) Application aware, i.e., it adapts its operation based on demands of the application (ii) User aware, i.e., it incorporates preferences, policies as well as behavioral history of the user carrying the phone, and (iii) Situation aware, i.e. it considers resource dynamics on the phone at any given point. We argue that these three aspects are essentially decoupled in nature and combining them effectively is the key towards designing a re-usable and scalable middleware. Based on an extensible model for `Sensing Moments', USense first allows application developers to easily create sensing tasks. Secondly, we propose a unified device middleware to simultaneously execute the sensing tasks at the right moments across multiple applications. We have implemented USense on the Android platform, and demonstrate its effectiveness through real-life data traces.


Machine learning enables a computer to learn a relationship between two assumingly related types of information. One type of information could thus be used to predict any lack of informaion in the other using the learned relationship. During the last decades, it has become cheaper to collect biological information, which has resulted in increasingly large amounts of data. Biological information such as DNA is currently analyzed by a variety of tools. Although machine learning has already been used in various projects, a flexible tool for analyzing generic biological challenges has not yet been made. The recent advancements in the DNA sequencing technologies (nextgeneration sequencing) decreased the time of sequencing a human genome from weeks to hours and the cost of sequencing a human genome from million dollars to a thousand dollars. Due to this drop in costs, a large amount of genomic data are produced. This thesis implemented the supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms for the genomic data. Distances are an integral part of all machine learning algorithms and hence play a central role in the analysis of most genomic data. The distance that is used for any particular task can have a profound effect on the output of the machine learning method and thus, it is essential that users ensure that the same distance method is used when comparing machine learning algorithms.


OBJECTIVE
We propose that elucidation of the pathophysiology of preterm labor can be achieved with genome-scale analyses of differential gene expression.

STUDY DESIGN
CD-1 mice on day 14.5 of a 19- to 20-day gestation were assigned to one of 4 treatment groups modeling different clinical conditions (n = 5 per group): group A, infection with labor (intrauterine injection of 10(10) heat-killed Escherichia coli, which causes delivery within an average of 20 hours); group B, infection without labor (intrauterine injection of 10(7) heat-killed E coli, which leads to normal delivery at term); group C, labor without infection (ovariectomy, which causes delivery within an average of 27 hours); and group D, no infection and no labor (intrauterine injection of vehicle). Total pooled myometrial RNA was prepared 3.5 hours after surgery for groups A, B, and D and 5 hours after surgery for group C. The relative expression of 4963 genes was assayed in these pools by using DNA microarrays. Transcripts specifically involved in infection-induced labor were identified by subtracting from the list of differentially regulated genes in group A those with common expression in groups B and C.

RESULTS
In group A 68 differentially expressed transcripts (>or=2-fold upregulation or downregulation) were identified. Among these are 39 characterized genes. Fourteen (45%) are involved in inflammatory responses, 7 (18%) are involved in growth-differentiation-oncogenesis, and 3 (8%) are involved in apoptosis. Subtraction identified 13 gene products most likely to be important for bacterially induced labor, as opposed to labor without infection or bacterial exposure without labor.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrates the potential of the subtractive DNA microarray technique to identify transcripts important specifically for bacterially induced preterm labor.


Abstract An albite-omphacite rock, containing the three sodic pyroxenes of the jadeite-omphacite-diopside/ hedenbergite ternary system, has been investigated in detail to better characterize the phase relationships in this system. The rock is from a serpentinite mélange in the Kurosegawa Zone of Central Kyushu, Japan, and exhibits an omphacite overgrowth over diopside/hedenbergite and the further overgrowth of jadeite over omphacite, indicative of the successive replacement of pyroxenes during metamorphism. Partial replacement of omphacite by diopside/hedenbergite at the margins of K-feldspar veins suggests that all three pyroxenes were stable locally at the same stage of metamorphism. The peak temperature and pressure conditions are roughly estimated to be 350 °C and 5-10.8 kbar. Partitioning of Fe2+-Mg between pyroxene pairs is consistent with a recent thermodynamic model, indicating the attainment of local equilibrium for pyroxene pairs. The observed compositional gap is also consistent with the miscibility gap reported in many previous studies. The compositional field of omphacite in the ternary jadeite-aegirine-diopside/hedenbergite diagram extends from the jadeite-diopside/hedenbergite line toward the aegirine-rich field, maintaining approximately constant the jadeite content, resulting in an asymmetric phase diagram.


Abstract. Wulandari E, Yurmiati H, Subroto T, Wismandanu O, Khairani S. 2022. The potential of Lactobacillus buchneri isolated from spontaneous rabbit meat fermented - bekasam against Salmonella typhimurium by in vivo evaluation. Biodiversitas 23: 2304-2310. Rabbit meat bekasam is a traditional fermented food and is considered a healthy and functional food due to its nutrient content and microorganism. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) was dominant microorganism and Lactobacillus buchneri E3 is one of LAB isolated during fermentation of the bekasam. Lactobacillus buchneri E3 has antimicrobial activity against pathogen bacteria. The present study aimed to investigate in vivo assessment of antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhimurium using BALB/c mice. Oral administrations of three doses of L. buchneri E3(108, 109, and 1010 CFU/day/mouse) were performed for seven consecutive days. On the 8th day, each animal was inoculated with a single S. typhimurium, and on the 13th day, the mice were sacrificed for observation. The result showed that oral administration of L. buchneri E3 significantly increased the total population of LAB, significantly decreased S. typhimurium populations in the intestines, liver, and spleen, while increasing beneficial bacterial population and maintaining the normal hematology in the mice. The probiotic also maintained the histological examination of spleen and liver. These suggest that L. buchneri E3 is safe and could be used as the starter for fermentation products.


: A new galenic form of glibenclamide (with a higher specific surface area for better absorption) was compared with the conventional form in 12 insulin-dependent and glibenclamide-treated diabetics (three women, nine men; aged 37-60 years) in a double-blind controlled crossover study. There was more rapid absorption, with a maximal serum concentration after 1 1/2 hours, compared with the usual preparation which gave a lower longer-sustained maximum of serum-glibenclamide level between 1 1/2 and 4 hours. In addition, there was more complete absorption so that the needed daily dose was decreased: 3.5 mg of the new form was bio-equivalent to 5 mg of the ordinary form. Duration of effect of the new form was not shorter despite different pharmacokinetics. Response of serum insulin and C-peptide level was the same in the two forms. On the other hand, the blood-glucose profile was significantly better with the new form.


This paper reports on a study investigating the relationship of nursing students' approaches to learning and processing of information, science content knowledge, ability in interpreting and organizing clinical data (nursing assessment), and logical reasoning ability with the accuracy and quality of the nursing diagnosis made in a simulated diagnostic reasoning task. One hundred and sixty-nine second-year pre-service nursing students participated in the study. Results of path analyses indicated a set of pathways from surface approach to low-quality nursing diagnosis that reflected less competent diagnostic reasoning; and a second set from deep/achieving approach through content knowledge and logical reasoning to higher-quality nursing diagnosis that reflected more competent diagnostic reasoning. The implications of these findings for nurse education are discussed.


ABSTRACT The rhizocephalan barnacle Loxothylacus texanus parasitizes the blue crab Callinectes sapidus in the Gulf of Mexico. In Tamiahua Lagoon, Mexico, although 4 species of Callinectes co-occur, only C. sapidus is parasitized. Parasite prevalence, number of parasite externae per host, host size, and host sex ratio were recorded during 5 sampling trips from November 1984 to October 1985. Overall parasite prevalence in Tamiahua Lagoon (13.3%) can be considered high, compared to values reported for other areas along the northern Gulf of Mexico, and contrary to what previous studies had suggested.


Recombinant NMDA receptors comprising NR1/NR2D subunits have unique properties when compared with other subtypes. These include low channel conductance with a characteristic pattern of transition between subconductance states and reduced sensitivity to Mg2+ blockade. Native NMDA receptors matching the low conductance and Mg2+ sensitivity of NR1/NR2D recombinant channels have been found in a few neuronal populations, in particular in developing Purkinje neurons (Momiyama et al. 1996). Ultra-rapid agonist application by means of a piezoelectric translator to excised outside-out membrane patches allows concentration jumps in the milliseconds range similar to those occurring during vesicular synaptic release. The high affinity of glutamate for NR1/NR2D receptors produces an extremely slow channel deactivation in response to brief glutamate applications (Monyer et al. 1994). This property has now been identified for the first time by Misra et al. (this issue of The Journal of Physiology, Misra et al. 2000b) for native NMDA channels in mammalian neurons.


Amyloglucosidase from Halobacterium sodomense was purified by a combination of hydrophobic interaction chromatography and immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography at analytical and preparative scale with 75% recovery. The enzyme was found to be a dimer of two different subunits with molecular weights of 72,000 and 82,000 D, respectively, combining in a 175,000 D native protein. The specific activity, KM, and amino acid composition of the enzyme was determined.


Abstract The Pocono till barrens ecosystem sustains a large number and high diversity of treehoppers (Membracidae). A total of 6,861 adult oak-feeding treehoppers were collected from sticky cards attached to scrub oak in the Pocono till barrens, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania in 2007 and 2008. Thirty species were collected, dominated by males of Ophiderma definita and Smilia camelus. Glossonotus nimbatulus, apparently restricted to scrub oak, is a noteworthy species in this ecosystem. Cyrtolobus inermis is a NEW STATE RECORD for Pennsylvania. Most treehoppers were trapped in mid-late June, similar to recent studies performed in the nearby Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, although the first treehoppers appeared slightly later in 2008 than in 2007. Scrub oak, due to its physical dimensions and ability to support numerous treehopper species, should be considered as a model host tree to study treehopper biology.


A numerical method is proposed to compute three-dimensional magnetic field distributions in nonlinear nonhomogeneous media, neglecting hysteresis and eddy currents. The magnetic field is derived from a scalar potential satisfying a nonlinear elliptic equation, which is solved by a convergent iterative method. A finite element program has been developed to compute the magnetic field distribution in transformer cores. Some numerical results for a butt and lap corner configuration are discussed.


Utilizing data from the Louisiana Tumor Registry, cancer incidence among children younger than 15 years of age is presented by major cancer type, according to the primarily histology-based International Classification of Childhood Cancer scheme. Cases include those diagnosed and/or treated at any hospitals and medical facilities in Louisiana, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, M.D. Anderson in Houston, and from neighboring states. Rates were age-adjusted, presented as rates per million, and were compared to the combined rates of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. The significance of rate differences were assessed at 0.05 level. From 1988-1996, about 125 children were diagnosed with cancer each year. In general, rates are higher in younger than older children, males than females, and white children than African-American children. The five most common childhood cancers are: leukemias (28% of total cases), central nervous system malignancies (22%), lymphomas (13%), renal tumors (8.4%), and soft tissue sarcomas (7.6%). Major findings of these cancers and their associated risk factors are presented.


This article promotes the stance that research effectiveness should be judged by the extent to which it serves the goals of those who fund it, typically the general public. The purposes of basic science (science that develops justified explanations and predictions) and practice science (science that develops justified interventions) are distinguished in terms of their goals of predictive and prescriptive accuracy, respectively. Predictive accuracy is the degree to which a conceptualization successfully forecasts outcomes under a set of pre-conditions. Prescriptive accuracy is the degree to which the outcomes of an intervention under a set of pre-conditions are successfully forecast. It is contended that IS in order to meet societal goals should bridge the chasm between basic and practice science by focusing on developing justified interventions in relevant domains and under certain boundary conditions (i.e., contextual factors) based on the explanatory power and predictive accuracy of its theories.


A methodology of nonlinear analysis of timber frame structures with flexible connections has been developed in this paper. The methodology is based on the results of experimental investigation of connections behavior under static and cycling loading. The adopted numerical method is based on the concept of localized nonlinearity which facilitates the reproduction of the experimentally determined connections behavior in the analysis of frame structures. The methodology is also applicable to other types of timber structures.


Lung cancer is the most common and fatal malignant tumour worldwide with a five‐year overall survival rate of only 15%. Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a heterogeneous disease. The use of microarray datasets along with bioinformatics knowledge might help to clarify the expression profile of cancer, molecular markers for the initial screening of tumour and the underlying biological mechanisms. The present study is designed to identify differential expression genes and molecular mechanisms of LUAD compared to normal lung tissues using systems biology approaches.Methods Four GSE datasets (GSE75037, GSE63459, GSE32863 and GSE10072) were selected from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Data processing and meta-analysis were performed using the R statistical programming language, The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with each stage were obtained. The common and unique DEGs between stages of LUAD and adjacent normal lung tissues were initiated by Venny tool. Common genes, including upregulated and downregulated genes, were then analyzed to a STRING database to obtain protein-protein interaction (PPI). STRING output was analyzed by MCODE and CytoHubba applications of Cytoscape to identify modules of co-expression and hub genes, respectively.Results The shared upregulated and downregulated DEGs among LUAD stages were 22 and 140 genes, respectively, when compared to normal lung tissues. Unique genes for each stage were also identified. The hub genes were PECAM1, TEK, CDH5, VWF and ANGPT1. Most of the top cluster genes were enriched for Gα(s) signalling events, GPCR ligand binding, class B/2 (Secretin family receptors), platelet activation, signalling and aggregation in the main three co-expression clusters. Most of the shared genes (16 genes) were enriched in the metabolic pathway of hemostasis. Meaningful signaling pathways for unique genes were found at each stage.Conclusions In the present study main three co-expression clusters, metabolic pathways and biological processes were identified to understand mechanisms underlying LUAD pathogenesis, development and progression at different stages. Unique upregulated and downregulated DEGs at each stage were identified with FERMT1 and SIX1 as specific early-stage diagnostic biomarkers for stage IB and IIB. 5 hub genes were observed, including PECAM1, TEK, CDH5, vWF and ANGPT1 which might be crucial for the onset and progression of LUAD.


Phoneme restoration in interactive activation models: Yes they can! James S. Magnuson University of Connecticut Abstract: Grossberg and Kazerounian (2011) present a novel model of sequence representation for spoken word recognition, cARTWORD. They claim cARTWORD can simulate key patterns of phoneme restoration in human perception (replacing phonemes with noise yields restoration, replacement with silence does not), but TRACE (McClelland & Elman, 1986) cannot. I show that their TRACE simulations used flawed stimuli. With proper analogs to noise-replaced stimuli, restoration occurs for noise replacement but not silence replacement in TRACE. I rebut other criticisms of TRACE, and argue cARTWORD is implausible because it cannot distinguish sequences with repeated elements (/tot/ "TOTE") from sequences with the same ele- ments but no repetitions (/to/ "TOE"). Until this fundamental issue is resolved, and cARTWORD is tested on more phenomena than just phoneme restoration, the model is simply not comparable to TRACE or other models that have been tested on a wide variety of phenomena from human speech processing.


The tendency to increase crop acreage of oil flax requires the development of new varieties with high indicators of ecological plasticity, productivity and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The application of modern biotechnolog ical approaches based on the use of molecular markers can accelerate the assessment of genetic differences and the dete rmination of potential of the source material for breeding. The research was aimed at assessment of the genotyping parameters of some oil flax varieties of VNIIMK breeding using the system of microsatellite markers. Seventeen variety samples of flax were used as the material for the research. DNA was isolated using CTAB buffer. Eleven SSR loci were used for the identification of varieties. Ten polymorphic loci were identified during the research. The total number of counted alleles is 32. The size of alleles varied in the range of 111-210 bps. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 6 with an average value of 3.20. The value of the index of polymorphic information content (PIC) was from 0.29 to 0.75 with an average parameter value of 0.51. The effective number of alleles for different loci is determined in the range of 1.40-3.94 with an average value of 2.28. The level of information content of the marker system (PIC 0.51) corresponds to that for identifying sets of genotypes from collections with a limitation in geographical origin. There were established differences in the frequency of occurrence of alleles. The discriminatory potential of the used marker system allowed to identify 15 variety samples. Two genotypes with common origin were identical. The degree of genetic relatedness of the studied flax genotypes has been evaluated. The obtained results will serve as the basis for the subsequent construction of genetic passports of oil flax varieties of VNIIMK breeding.


BACKGROUND
Domestic violence is a global health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends training health professionals to respond appropriately to victims of domestic violence. Despite those who experience domestic violence attending general practice, general practitioners (GPs) receive little training in managing this issue. Helplines predominantly exist to support the general public and patients; however, few exist for GPs, and there are none regarding domestic violence.

OBJECTIVE
This article explores how helplines can support GPs in the management of patients who have experienced domestic violence.

METHODS
A scoping review of helplines targeting GPs was used in this study.

RESULTS
Few helplines target health professionals and limited evaluations on these helplines have been undertaken. Health professional helplines cover broad specialist fields, and health professionals value access to specialists. Helplines are educational and increase the confidence of health professionals in providing quality patient care. Key challenges include helpline awareness and timely support.

DISCUSSION
Developing a domestic violence helpline for GPs is unexplored, but there is potential for education and improved response to patients. Helpline workers need tailored training to respond to health professionals' complex, specialist needs. These helplines need extensive marketing to ensure uptake and funding.


Workflows and service oriented computing (SOC) are an integral part of today's business scenarios. The SimTech project aims to leverage these proven technologies in the context of scientific research. Yet, this field of eScience has different requirements on SOC than their business counterparts. One of these differences is, that services and resources needed by scientists are commonly only required for very specific amounts of time and do not need to follow the always-on principle of traditional SOC. Thus, a means is necessary to make services and resources available when required and also free them again as soon as they are no longer needed. As a solution to utilize SOC in eScience scenarios, SimTech promotes the use of Cloud Technologies to enable the on-demand provisioning of services and their necessary infrastructure. This diploma thesis is focused on describing different architectural concepts and designs that enable the on-demand provisioning of services and their underlying infrastructure and middleware. These designs and concepts aim to strike a middle ground between abstract high-level architectures and very low-level architectures that focus solely on software specifics. The concepts have been designed in context of a Scientific Workflow Management System. A prototypical implementation that demonstrates the developed concepts concludes this thesis.


Abstract The permittivity of the title solutions has been measured at frequencies between some MHz and 72 GHz at 20 °C. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone of relative molar mass ranging from 1200 to 360 000 has been used. Referring to the concentration of monomeric repeat units (x = 0.65 maximum) there is no significant chain length effect. The permittivity data are described in terms of discrete Debye type spectral components. Special attention is paid to the contributions ascribable to the solvents, which are discussed with respect to their solvation behaviour. This can be described by a three state solvent model as follows. Besides the "bulk" solvent a further contribution is found in any case which is due to loosely affected (slowed down) solvent. Moreover a part of the solvent appears to be tightly bound to the polymer at high concentrations. All the solvents considered show similar solvation properties, notwithstanding their different tendencies towards selfassociation.


A controversial feature of Medicare Part D is its reliance on private insurers to negotiate drug prices and rebates with retail pharmacies and drug manufacturers. Central to this controversy is whether increases in market power--an undesirable feature in most settings--confer benefits in health insurance markets, where larger buyers may obtain better prices for their members. We test whether insurers that experience larger enrollment increases due to Part D negotiate lower drug prices with pharmacies. Overall, we find that 100,000 additional insureds lead to 2.5-percent lower pharmacy prices negotiated by the insurer, and 5-percent reductions in pharmacy profits earned on prescriptions filled by enrollees of that insurer. Estimated enrollment effects are much larger for drugs with therapeutic substitutes, and virtually zero for branded drugs without therapeutic substitutes. We also present evidence that most insurer savings are, on the margin, passed on as lower premiums. Out-of-sample estimation suggests that modest insurer consolidation would generate significant savings to Medicare, along with premium reductions and enrollment increases. Finally, we find that greater enrollment leads to lower pharmacy prices negotiated by insurers for their non-Part D market--an external benefit to the commercially enrolled associated with administering Part D through private insurers.


The many models of migration depict the various reasons why people move. The stock adjustment model of migration assumes the heterogeneity of individuals, while the flow models of migration assume individuals to be homogenous. Using the Scotland data we get different results compared to the previous studies, at least in the effect of house prices on the migration decision.


Abstract: A geometric interpretation of single shot hit probability (Phit) is a volume of 3D space enclosed above by the surface f(y,z) described the bivariate normal distribution and bounded from below by the YOZ plane with the target's contour (T-region). The Phit is proposed to estimate by a method based on the numerical integration of the double integral. Its integrand is the 2D normal distribution of Y, Z system of random variables. The dispersion characteristics and coordinates of the dispersion center are known in advance. Limits of first and second integrals are described by the analytic functions, which characterize the geometric shape of the Tregion. Implementation of the offered method: the selected shooting target is partitioned into N geometric subregions; for each of it, analytic formula(s) for the subregion's boundaries is determined and each double integral is defined. The Phit estimations are produced using a numerical integration in the computer software Mathcad. The results of the calculus of all Phits (for subregions) are added up (or subtracted) depending on the geometric relationships between them. The schema for numerically Phit solving makes it possible to calculate a likelihood for targets with arbitrary geometric shapes and not just rectangular-shaped silhouettes. For illustrating the operability of the proposed method, the Phit for two kinds of head-type shooting targets had been evaluated. The developed method had been compared with the already existing works.


This patient alignment ruler has been developed to deduce the position of high resolution CT scans relative to an anatomical marker. In addition, the ruler may be used to check the accuracy of the scan plane indicator lights and the consistency of the couch incrementation on any CT scanner. The ruler has been specifically designed for use with scanners employing a 13 mm slice width; however, it may easily be modified for other widths, by altering the hole pattern. An alignment device has been described in a previous publication (Nettle 1979) in which calculations using measurements made on the TV monitor were necessary. However, the ruler described here requires only visual interpretation. This ruler is both inexpensive and easy to manufacture.


Symptoms of clover rot caused by Sclerotinia trifoliorum or S. sclerotiorum are identical, making differentiation and identification of the causal species difficult and time consuming. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and nucleotide sequencing were used to examine 40 isolates of S. trifoliorum (29 from Poland, 11 from the United States) and 55 isolates of S. sclerotiorum (26 from Poland, 29 from the United States). We determined that amplification of the β-tubulin and calmodulin genes with TU1/TU2/TU3 and SscadF1/SscadR1 PCR primers and the presence of introns and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) within the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) as detected with NS1/NS8 and internal transcribed spacer (ITS)1/ITS4 PCR primers are effective for rapidly and accurately differentiating between the two species of Sclerotinia. In addition, our research revealed a lack of intraspecies variation within S. sclerotiorum isolates from the United States and Poland using these same molecular markers. We detected a relatively high degree of intraspecies variability among isolates of S. trifoliorum from the United States and Poland using the presence of introns and SNP within the rDNA. SNP and nuclear small-subunit rDNA analyses revealed distinct groups of S. trifoliorum among the isolates used in this study. The results of this study provide useful information for clover breeders and pathologists looking to develop clover varieties with durable resistance.


A novel and effective approach to impulsive synchronization analysis of two identical and different chaotic systems is investigated by using the nonlinear operator named the generalized Dahlquist constant in this paper. The proposed approach offers a design procedure for impulsive synchronization of a large class of chaotic systems, and simple yet generic criteria are derived ensuring the robust synchronization. Numerical experimental results are given to demonstrate the theoretical results.


We introduce a poroelasticity model that incorporates the two most important mechanisms of solid/fluid interaction in rocks: the Biot mechanism and the squirt-flow mechanism. This combined Biot/squirt (BISQ) model relates compressional velocity and attenuation to the elastic constants of the drained skeleton and of the solid phase, porosity, permeability, saturation, fluid viscosity and compressibility, and the characteristic squirt-flow length. Squirt-flow length is a fundamental rock property that does not depend on frequency, fluid viscosity, or compressibility and is determined experimentally. We find that the viscoelastic response of many sandstones is dominated by the squirt-flow component of the BISQ mechanism and that the viscoelastic properties of these rocks can be expressed through a single dimensionless parameter omega R 2 /kappa , where omega is angular frequency, R is the characteristic squirt-flow length, and kappa is hydraulic diffusivity. The Biot mechanism alone does not give an adequate explanation of the observed velocity dispersion and attenuation, and the viscoelastic behavior of many sandstones.


Reliable and real-time face detection is a basic ability for any Vision Based Interface. This paper combines and exploits the beneflts of two difierent face detectors specialized each one in a speciflc context. The resulting system improves their respective individual performances by means of their cooperation, the integration of temporal coherence, persistence and explicit knowledge about the human face, achieving a robust and close to real-time multiresolution face detector.


Abstract An improvement in automotive fuel consumption has been for many years the most important challenge in engine development. In a century of automotive spark ignition engine development, only two parameters were subject to automatic control: the air-fuel ratio and spark advance. Ever since, a wide range of technologies has been developed in order to improve fuel economy further. The following strategy was used: the identification of the sources of losses in the conventional spark ignition engine and then the attempt to reduce them one by one. The potential of these technologies needs to be evaluated by a cost and consumption benefit trade-off and all these, of course, without affecting the power level. In this context, the authors are about to develop a variable geometrical compression ratio engine, in order to overcome the main drawback of the spark ignition engine: the continuous variation of the real rate of compression, caused by the load control. The concept of the variable geometrical compression ratio (VCR) engine is the subject of a patent and consists of a hinged mechanism. It is an intrinsic, automatic self-regulation system with a fast response time and at the same time is a natural development of the classic engine. So far, two prototypes have been designed and tested. The paper presents some specific features regarding hinge position choice. The following are taken into consideration: the upper block rotational angle, added angle of the piston, tipping torque, and relative motion of the camshaft with respect to the crankshaft.


In this article we compare the accuracy of a diode laser densitometer emitting 675.2 nm to that of a commercial He-Ne laser densitometer emitting 632.8 nm for GafChromic MD-55 film readout. A Leksell gamma unit (AB Elekta Stockholm, Sweden) Model B with a 14 and 8 mm collimator at the same isocenter (combined 11 mm collimator) was used to irradiate GafChromic MD-55 films. Dose response curves, dose cross profile and FWHM were measured with a custom-designed diode laser scanning device, emitting light at 675.2 nm. The same data were recorded with a commercial He-Ne laser densitometer (PTW FIPS Plus, Freiburg, Germany), emitting light at 632.8 nm. Both measurements were compared to dose cross profiles of a radiosurgery dose planning program (GammaPlan 5.12, Elekta, Sweden). Compared to the commercial He-Ne laser densitometer, the custom-designed diode laser scanning device showed better agreement with the calculated dose cross profile. For two axes, the full width half maxima (FWHM) of the diode laser scanning device was within 0.1 mm deviation compared to the data calculated by the dose planning program. The FWHM of the commercial He-Ne laser densitometer was less accurate (1.6 and 2.1 mm deviation). Our data show that a diode laser scanning device using a light source emitting 675.2 nm increases the accuracy of a GafChromic MD-55 film readout. This greater accuracy may be related to the diode laser measuring the optical density close to maximum absorption of the GafChromic film MD-55 (671-675 nm).


In liver transplant recipients, new onset of diabetes mellitus (posttransplant diabetes mellitus or PTDM) is estimated to occur in 9% to 21% of recipients. The limited published data on survival and posttransplant complications in liver transplant recipients who develop PTDM show conflicting results. The objective of our study was to compare the morbidity and mortality of 46 patients who developed PTDM with 92 age‐ and sex‐matched patients without pretransplant or posttransplant diabetes mellitus (DM). The demographics of both groups were similar except that there were more blacks with PTDM. The incidence of following complications was higher in the PTDM group compared with the control group: cardiac (48% v 24%; P = .005), major infections (41% v 25%; P = .07), minor infections (28% v 5%; P = .001), neurologic (22% v 9%; P = .05), and neuropsychiatric (22% v 6%; P = .009). Acute rejection was seen more commonly in the PTDM group (50% v 30%; P = .03). The duration of hospital stay, cost of hospitalization, retransplantation rate, and graft survival were similar in both groups. Patient survival also was similar in the PTDM and control groups at 1 year (93.5% v 83.5%), two years (88.1% v 77.9%), and 5 years (75% v 77.2%); Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis also did not show survival difference. In conclusion, PTDM was associated with significant morbidity, and our findings suggest that patients with PTDM should be monitored very closely to improve long‐term outcome.


The rationale leading to the present generation of resin composites is surveyed. There are many sub-classes such as flowable materials with specialized clinical indications. But a simplistic categorization of resin-composite materials is inappropriate. It is better to appreciate the factors that have driven recent developments. These include the search for low shrinkage composites and for greater depth of cure. Other necessary features are good handling behavior and sufficient strength for load-bearing situations. The esthetic challenge is for materials with superior and life-like optical properties and it is important to identify products that are good in every critical property. Nanotechnology has led to certain improvements, but the possibilities and limitations of nanoparticles must be appreciated. In all these developments, the structure and properties of the host tissues are a challenge and inspiration. Thus materials that can emulate the features of enamel and dentin are the goal of biomimetic design.


The paper provides an epidemiological characterization of HIV infection spread in a Russia's large region with more than 10 million people. The epidemiological findings show that the significant onset of HIV infection occurred among the population in this region in mid 1988. Homosexuals and bisexuals are prevalent among the HIV-infected, sexual contact is the main mode of HIV transmission. In addition to delivery of HIV infection from foreign countries, there are cases of local transmission. The clinical evidence indicates that most HIV-infected people are asymptomatic. Herpes viruses, Mycobacteria tuberculosis, Toxoplasma and fungi are common among causative agents of AIDS-related infections.


A nonlinear multivariable steam generating unit (200 MW) has been decoupled using the existing decoupling theory. A set of fuzzy logic controllers, which virtually reduce to nonlinear multilevel relay elements, is designed for the decoupled subsystems to make the closed-loop subsystems asymptotically stable. Subsequently it has been shown, through digital simulation and field simulation, that the closed-loop subsystems track the desired state parameters under different operating conditions. A frequency domain stability analysis has been presented assuming that the decoupled subsystems are linear in nature and decoupling is accurate.


Conventional steel rebars are widely used in reinforced concrete structures. They have numerous mechanical advantages such as high stiffness, strength and low cost as well as their wide-spread availability. However, they also present some disadvantages, such as low chemical resistance to corrosion, and their metallic nature that create challenges for structures that require non-magnetic construction. In recent years, fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composite rebars have been developed to address some of the aforementioned shortcomings. Amongst the various ways to produce these rebars, some researchers utilized a combination of braiding and pultrusion techniques. In this combined technique, a unidirectional-continuous fibers core are is encapsulated by one or more layers of braided fiber preforms. One of the major challenges in broader commercialization of FRP rebars are their limitation in continuous, fast and mass production resulting from long curing times. Depending on the type of the resin that is used, curing of the conventional resins may take up to hours at room temperature. This time can be reduced if the curing is done at elevated temperatures in autoclaves or ovens; however, this poses considerable problems in terms of additional handling, storing and overall production time for these rebars. Literature suggests use of electron beam and high frequency microwaves for fast curing in composite materials; however, these techniques also have shortcomings, such as high costs and potential problems with certain fibers (e.g. arcing of carbon fibers), respectively.


A simple and efficient screening model for studying the effects of superstrong magnetic fields (such as those of magnetars) on thermonuclear reaction rates on magnetar surfaces is proposed in this paper. The most interesting thermonuclear reactions, including hydrogen burning by the CNO cycle and helium burning by the triple alpha reaction, are investigated on the surface of magnetars. We find that the superstrong magnetic fields can increase the thermonuclear reaction rates by many orders of magnitude. The enhancement may have a dramatic effect on the thermonuclear runaways and bursts on the surfaces of magnetars.


: This work aims to build a scale of runner support among middle school students and the researchers, and the researchers promised the scale according to the theory of Weiner (1979). It consists of (33) items, three areas, and four alternatives, and the statistical characteristics of the scale were extracted and it was found that all items with distinction and correlation are statistically significant. Also, we obtained the psychometric characteristics of the scale such as virtual honesty and honesty of construction, and the data was analyzed by the program (spss) and a number of statistical means and the researchers reached to achieve the goal of the research by building a scale of runner attribution at the preparatory stage. Based on the results, the study came out with some recommendations and suggestions.


. Based on the experimental studies and mathematical modeling method, we have chosen the optimal conditions of the 2,3-dimethylbuta-1,3-diene and 2-hydro-xyethyl methacrylate cyclization reaction with obtaining of 2-hydroxyethyl-1,3,4-trimethylcyclohex-3-en carboxylate.


In order to combat insecurity and to reduce the rate of accidents caused by commercial motorcyclist; many States Government in Northern Nigeria have substituted the use of motor cycles commonly known as Okada, with the use of three wheeled vehicle commonly known as keke-napep. The Static and dynamic characteristics of these vehicles are not as those of the usual vehicles. Therefore, the need to know more about the effects loading on these vehicles is highly needed by Nigerians in order to ensure good road and passengers' safety. This paper uses simple approach to highlight the effects of number of passengers (loading) on the position of Centre of Gravity (CG) of the three wheeled vehicles. It will serve as a measure for ensuring safe riding and reducing road clashes. As the load on the three wheeled vehicle increases from 3505N to 5410N, the Static Stability Factor decreases. This reduces the safety margin against rollover of the three wheeled vehicles compared to those of the four wheeled vehicles. The keke-napep is a rear wheel drive vehicle with rear engine and rear passenger arrangement. It subjects the vehicle to high weight transfer during braking. This causes the change in position of Centre of Gravity and the instability of the three wheeled vehicles. Therefore, it is hereby recommended that the wheelbase, track length, loading space and the Centre of Gravity position should be given a critical consideration during chassis design in order to improve the static and dynamic stability of these vehicles. Also, Components such as the engine and transmission system should be rearranged to obtain a more reliable position of the Centre of Gravity.


Across the tropics, vast deforested areas are undergoing forest regeneration due to land abandonment. Although secondary forest is an expanding type of landscape matrix that has been shown to buffer some of the negative consequences of forest loss and fragmentation on taxonomic diversity, little is known in this regard about the functional dimension of biodiversity. We took advantage of an ecosystem-wide fragmentation experiment to investigate longer term changes in functional diversity of a mega-diverse Amazonian bat assemblage associated with regrowth development in the matrix. We found that matrix regeneration affected several facets of bat functional diversity in secondary forest over time, increasing functional α diversity, species- and community-level functional uniqueness, altering functional trait composition, and resulting in functional β-diversity changes via trait gains. However, approximately 30 years of matrix regeneration were insufficient for functional diversity to recover to the same levels as in continuous forest. Our results suggest that a combination of natural, human-assisted, and active restoration is likely to be the most successful strategy for restoring functional biodiversity of bats in human-modified tropical landscapes, a finding that most likely also applies to many other taxa.


The application of recycling using Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP), where Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) is a road structure rehabilitation concept, by optimizing the reuse of old materials into new pavement materials. In this study, materials from Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement were used for the Hot Rolled Sheet (HRS) layer by utilizing added material in the form of Styrofoam waste material. Styrofoam has the same properties as asphalt, namely thermoplastic which is one of the reasons it is used as an added material. From the results of the KAO test, it was made with a value variation of 6.2%; 6.7%; 7.2%; 7.7%; 8.2% and obtained the optimum asphalt content value of 7.24%. From the optimum asphalt content obtained, it is continued by searching for the optimum styrofoam content. The search for optimum styrofoam content was carried out using the addition of various values of 0%, 6%, 12%, 18%, 24% of the asphalt weight. Where all test results meet the 2018 Highways specifications with the highest stability value of 3,688.87 kg and optimum styrofoam content of 17.218%. After getting the optimum asphalt and styrofoam content, the cantabro test was carried out with an average weight loss value of 3.81%. The results of this study indicate that the use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) material added with Styrofoam on the Hot Rolled Sheet pavement layer has a high resistance to wear and tear.


The continuing demand for yet smaller and lighter electronic devices requires micro packaging where shrinkage in the geometry of the substrates as well as decrease of the area of the die is needed. Higher device and circuitry integration of the silicon die, finer pitch of fully populated arrays interconnections are examples of how the industry is meeting these miniaturizations demand. Today technology however may be reaching some limitations. The concept of stacking up packages seems to be gaining popularity today as another alternative to nano-electronic packaging. The 3-dimensional (3D) assembly methods bring along several challenges in the assembly process. Small gaps, i.e., short interconnection bumps need to be encapsulated for both, reliability and performance reasons. The present paper addresses encapsulation processes for 3D like packages. It includes successful underfilling processes of Multilayer 3D like packages. Data for "best underfilling practices" of 3D stacked structures is presented. Novel encapsulation techniques leading to fast and void-free are demonstrated. Capillary flow encapsulation, along with new materials, is demonstrated to be an expeditious and robust process for 3D like electronic applications. New "Capillary Assisted" processes are revealed. Data and process parameters for these processes are assessed and benchmark against "Forced Flow Underfill Techniques."


In the face of massive, unanticipated and even disjunctive changes, the balance of the respective interests of the state parties to existing treaties may no longer survive the changed—or changing—climate landscape. While, ideally, the co-contracting states to such treaties could mutually agree to terminate or revise their treaty obligations to accommodate such changes and redress the now imbalance of interests in the treaty, some scenarios are bound to be contentious. In such cases, is there any other procedure that can provide for an orderly and fair adjustment of treaties so as to avert a breakdown of the network of treaties and a destabilization of world order? This article proposes that the rebus sic stantibus doctrine may function as a stabilizing doctrine for maintaining and possibly adjusting treaty regimes in an orderly fashion. Unlike the doctrine of necessity or many explicit treaty carve-outs, such as the security exception of the US Model Bilateral Investment Treaty, the doctrine of rebus sic stantibus may allow for both an objective test and also one that must be pleaded before a third-party arbiter. For this reason, rebus operates within controlled limits. Rebus offers an international tribunal the opportunity to set out a fair termination or revision of a climate-impacted treaty. I trace the evolution of rebus as a stabilizing doctrine and illustrate the potentialities of its application to the climate crisis.


Learning using computer media can stimulate students to do exercises, carry out learning activities because of the availability of animated cartoons, colors, and music. The results of observations at Marsudi Siwi Catholic Middle School Malang show that the use of mathematics learning media is very minimal. This is one of the reasons why students have difficulty understanding mathematics and are less interested in mathematics. The objectives of this study are: (1) to describe the development of panama media using the Macromedia Flash application on the Bangun Datar material and (2) to describe the validity, practicality, and effectiveness of panama media using Macromedia flash. The method used in this research is the Four-D device development method which consists of 4 stages, namely: (1) define; (2) design or design; (3) develop or develop; and (4) disseminate or spread. The development stage is only limited to the develop stage. Data collection techniques used expert assessment questionnaires, student response questionnaires, and test questions for students' conceptual understanding. The data analysis technique used is quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The subjects of this study were students of class VII A of Marsudi Siwi Catholic Middle School Malang. Based on the research results, Panama media uses Macromedia flash which meets the criteria of validity, practicality, and effectiveness. The validity of the media was indicated by the results of the material expert's assessment with an average value of 3.57 (valid criteria and without revision), while the media expert's assessment obtained an average value of 3.63 (valid criteria and without revision). The practicality of the media is indicated by the assessment of the student response questionnaire in the small group test with an average value of 3.51 (very practical criteria), while in the large group test an average value of 3.48 (very practical criteria) is obtained. The effectiveness of the media is indicated by the results of the conceptual understanding test with an average value of 75.83 (good category).


We present a sound type-based 'usage analysis' for a realistic lazy functional language. Accurate information on the usage of program subexpressions in a lazy functional language permits a compiler to perform a number of useful optimisations. However, existing analyses are either ad-hoc and approximate, or defined over restricted languages.Our work extends the Once Upon A Type system of Turner, Mossin, and Wadler (FPCA'95). Firstly, we add type polymorphism, an essential feature of typed functional programming languages. Secondly, we include general Hsskell-style user-defined algebraic data types. Thirdly, we explain and solve the 'poisoning problem', which causes the earlier analysis to yield poor results. Interesting design choices turn up in each of these areas.Our analysis is sound with respect to a Launchbury-style operational semantics, and it is straightforward to implement. Good results have been obtained from a prototype implementation, and we are currently integrating the system into the Glasgow Haskell Compiler.


Proposed is a general physical mechanism of magnetoreception of weak magnetic fields (MFs). The mechanism is based on classical precessional dynamics of a magnetic moment in a thermally disturbed environment and includes a minimum of necessary parameters—the gyromagnetic ratio, thermal relaxation time, and rate of downstream events generated by changes in the state of the magnetic moment. The mechanism imposes general restrictions on the probability of initial biophysical magnetic transduction event before the involvement of specific biophysical and biochemical mechanisms—i.e., regardless of the nature of an MF target and the subsequent cascade of events. It is shown that biological effects of weak MFs have, in certain cases, nonlinear and frequency selective properties. The observation of these characteristics provides information not only on the target's gyromagnetic ratio, but also on the parameters of its interaction with the immediate environment. This enables one to develop experimental strategies for identifying the biophysical mechanisms of magnetoreception including the specific case of effects of a near‐zero MF exposure. The mechanism is universally applicable to magnetic moments of different nature, in particular, of electron and proton orbital motion and of spins. Experimental exposure conditions are derived which would lead to validation of the proposed mechanism. Bioelectromagnetics. 38:41–52, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Research guide describing Gale Virtual Reference Library. GVRL is an online collection of encyclopdedias and specialized reference sources intended for interdisciplinary research. YouTube instructional videos for using Gale Virtual Reference Library


We describe a woman with primary Sjögren's syndrome who presented with an acute pulmonary‐renal syndrome resulting from cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis. Pulmonary manifestations of Sjögren's syndrome are relatively common, whereas overt pulmonary complications of cryoglobulinaemia are rare. Pulmonary haemorrhage is rare in either disorder. The combination of Sjögren's syndrome, cryoglobulinaemia, and acute pulmonary haemorrhage has not been previously reported.


In this article, an attempt has been made to explain the performance of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in the general elections by focusing mainly on the 2009 presidential and parliamentary elections in which the MCP lost overwhelmingly. Specifically, the role of sectionalism of a regional and ethnic nature on the MCP's national level performance was examined. Different kinds of data from the Malawi electoral commission and news media are used in the analysis.  Descriptive statistics are used to summarise the effects of different factors on the party's share of votes. It is found that a complex combination of factors such as district and regional sizes, education level of voters as proxied by district and regional level data, party level policies and organisation, incumbency, campaign expenditure, individual leaders personal characters and past legacy, party conduct in parliament among others, may explain the MCP's 2009 defeat. The findings may be considered as broad guidelines along which efforts to reinvigorate the party may be galvanised.

 Key words: Democracy consolidation, Malawi Congress Party, general elections.


The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) geometry imaging includes geometric distortions, which cause errors. To compensate the geometric distortions, the information about sensor position, imaging geometry, and target altitude from ellipsoid should be available. In this paper, a method for geometric calibration of SAR images is proposed. The method uses Range-Doppler (RD) equations. In this method, the georeferencing is carried out using the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and also exact ephemeris data of the sensor. First, the digital elevation model is transferred to the range and azimuth directions. Then, the original image is registered to the transferred DEM from the previous step with transformation equations: conformal, affine, and projective. The advantage of the method described in this article is the elimination of required control points and rotational parameters of the sensor. Since the ground range resolution of used images is about 30m, in best stance, the geocoded images using the method described in this paper have an accuracy of about 20m (subpixel) in planimetry and of about 33m in altimetry.


Adrenal incidentalomas are defined as asymptomatic adrenal masses occasionally discovered during high-resolution imaging procedures such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR). Pheochromocytoma, a potentially lethal chromaffin tumour, must be excluded before any invasive diagnostic procedures to avoid massive catecholamines release. Chromogranin A (CgA) is a member of the granin family contained in secretory vescicles of chromaffin adrenal cells. Consequently, serum CgA increases in patients affected by pheochromocytoma and other diseases of the chromaffin system. This study investigated the performance of serum CgA assay in diagnosis of pheochromocytoma among patients affected by adrenal incidentaloma. Additionally, we evaluated the role of the CgA assay in selection of patients for 123I-metaiodobenzyl-guanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy, a very accurate but high-cost and time-consuming imaging procedure. We enrolled 104 patients affected by adrenal incidentally discovered masses and 100 healthy blood donors as controls. Serum CgA was assayed by a specific immunoradiometric method (IRMA) and 123I-MIBG scan was performed in all patients. A cytological or histological diagnosis was obtained in all cases. Circulating CgA assay was positive in 12 out of 12 patients with pheochromocytoma and negative in 92 out of 92 patients with non-chromaffin adrenal nodules. Serum levels of CgA clearly increased from blood donors and patients with non-chromaffin adrenal nodules to patients with pheochromocytoma (p<0.0001). All patients with negative CgA assay showed a negative 1231-MIBG scan. Serum CgA assay is effective in evaluating the presence of chromaffin tumour among patients with adrenal incidentaloma. A negative serum CgA assay rules out successive 123I-MIBG imaging.


Solutions of the Einstein field equations are found for the problem of a sphere of constant density surrounded by matter of different constant density. The solutions are discussed and particular attention paid to the topology of the surrounding matter. The Schwarzschild, de Sitter, and Einstein solutions emerge as particular cases of the general problem.


The present study aimed to determine the cultural heritage elements in the social studies course curriculum in Turkey and the awareness of the middle school students about cultural heritage. In the study, the case study approach, a qualitative research design, was adopted. The study group was assigned with criterion sampling method, a purposive sampling approach. The study findings demonstrated that the cultural heritage elements were prominent in 4th grade and 5th grade curricula, respectively, and the least prominent in 6th and 7th grade curricula based on the social studies course curriculum achievements in Turkey. The middle school students associated cultural heritage with historical buildings the most in the physical historical heritage category and customs and traditions in the non-physical historical heritage category. Students mostly considered mosques as physical cultural heritage elements, followed by palaces, towers, castles, madrasahs, bridges, historical buildings, historical places, fountains, and customs and traditions, traditional dishes, oral traditions, performance arts, and crafts as non-physical cultural heritage elements. Students mostly reported that cultural heritage was important since it was inherited from ancestors, it allows us to learn the past events, it reflects us, not to forget the old times, it is our culture, it is our history, for the perpetuity of our state, to learn about past lessons, and they stated that the cultural heritage should be preserved by state protection, followed by allowing it to live on, raising awareness, claiming it as a heritage, remembering, warning, and punishment, respectively.


The structural and magnetic properties of (Nd1� xTbx)3Fe27.31Ti1.69 compounds have been investigated by means of X-ray diffraction and magnetic measurements. It is found that all compounds with x ¼ 021:0 retain the Nd3(Fe,Ti)29type of structure and space group A2/m. Substitution of Tb for Nd leads to a decrease of the lattice constants and the unit-cell volume, reflecting the lanthanide contraction. With increasing Tb content, the Curie temperature TC increases slightly, while the saturation magnetization Ms decreases monotonically. The latter can be described in terms of a simple dilution model. At room temperature, the easy magnetization direction of the (Nd1� xTbx)3Fe27.31Ti1.69 compounds depends on the Tb content x and changes from the [4 0 � 2] direction for x ¼ 0 to the [0 4 0] direction for x ¼ 1:0: As the temperature decreases, a spin-reorientation transition is observed at 233 K in the compound Nd3Fe27.31Ti1.69, whereas no spin reorientation is observed in the compounds in which Tb has been substituted for Nd. The anisotropy field Ba at room temperature increases with increasing Tb content from 3.0 T for x ¼ 0 to 5.2 T for x ¼ 1:0: At low temperatures, a first-order magnetization process (FOMP) (of type-II) is observed in Tb3Fe27.31Ti1.69. The critical field Bcr of the FOMP decreases monotonically with increasing temperature. r 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Summary
Observations on human stools exposed in the field at Waycross, Georgia, in July, revealed that they may be buried by dung beetles within a few hours. "Tumble-bugs" (5 species), which form balls of feces and roll them away for burial at a distance, were most abundant and important as agents of removal, particularly during the day. Nine other species, which bury feces directly and produce mounds of disturbed soil at the site of stool deposition, were also significant, especially at night. Five additional coprophagous scarabaeids, of slight importance, were among a total of 74 collected species of insects attracted to human feces. The rest included 26 predatory Coleoptera, 19 Diptera, a few other coprophagous species (ants, cydnid bugs, earwigs, mole crickets), and a few parasitic wasps. The beetles collected in Georgia, Louisiana and Indiana augment the total reported from human feces in the United States to at least 91 Coleoptera, including 33 Scarabaeidae. Collections in feces-baited traps in Georgia also indicated that in seven days sufficient dung beetles were attracted every 24 hours in an area of about 0.2 acre to dispose of about 750 grams of feces, with two species of greatest potential importance. Differences in capacities and abundance of various species, influenced by region, season and local circumstances, would determine the amount and rate of feces-disposal at any particular place. Since feces are buried at varying depths (observed maximum, 9 inches) and carried away from the original site (20 feet or more), dung beetles may constitute an important factor in the epidemiology of hookworm and other enteric parasites of man.


This article examines how Zanzibari women in KwaZulu-Natal are negotiating their identities within the context of local and global realities. In South Africa, while the post-apartheid period gave birth to non-racial democracy, South Africa is haunted by high unemployment, widespread poverty and poor service delivery. Globally, this period has witnessed increased conflict since the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the subsequent War on Terror which has led some to suggest that the irreconcilable fault lines of religion and culture have ushered in a clash of civilisations. This article examines the identities of Zanzibari women in the context of these rapidly changing local, national and international conditions. It also speaks to the local context of apartheid race engineering as the Zanzibari experience underscores the contingent nature of race as a category of identity. The article argues that while religion is important in the lives of the women, their identities are shaped by the complex interplay between religion, politics, class, race, language, community, and geography. An analysis based solely on religious laws and "race" deflects from a nuanced one that takes into account social and economic conditions when it comes to historicising identity


This study was carried out to evaluate the impact of leachate from open landfill in the Ita-Amo area of Ilorin, southwestern Nigeria, on the immediate soil. It is also aimed at assessing the suitability of the soil as liners/barrier to prevent pollution of undergroundwater. Specific parameters, such as grain size distribution, Atterberg consistency limit, density and coefficient of permeability, to assess soil as liner in landfill were tested using the BSI 1377 (1990) standard. The results show that the soils have average acceptable values of 0.75% gravel, 32% sand, 48% clay and 19% silt in a compactable sandyclay soil. The result of the Atterberg limits tests showed that the soils are absolutely inorganic clay of low plasticity with average clay activity value of 0.39 which is suggesting non-reactive kaolinitic clay. The dry density of the soils are 1.80Mg/m and 2.1Mg/m when compacted at standard and modified Proctor energies respectively while the coefficient of permeability of the soils are in the order of 1x10m/s and 1x10m/s respectively. These results compared reasonably with recommendations of several researchers. Thus, the soils satisfied the requirements for use as mineral seals in sanitary landfills. The higher energy of compaction (Modified Proctor) offered lower values of coefficient of permeability and thus recommended.


Molluscs are soft-bodied non-segmented invertebrates,
popularly known as shellfish, though not a fish in the strict
sense. The soft body of molluscs is protected by an outer casing,
usually hard, composed of calcareous material without an
internal skeleton. In cephalopods viz. squid, cuttlefish and
wtopus, an internal skeleton is present. Almost 600 million
years back, during Cambrian period, these animals appeared
on earth and it was in 1757 that Linaaeus first clamifled them
under molluscs.


BACKGROUND
There are currently several different definitions for sepsis. This study looked at what proportion of acute medical admissions were identified by the different definitions, what correlation they have, and how many patients would require a review with results in 1 hour.

METHODS
Data on 212 admissions was collected, on time of admission and review, and number of patients with sepsis by each diagnostic criteria calculated.

RESULTS
The NICE criteria identified 69% of admissions as requiring review within one hour, compared to 6% with qSOFA and 18% with previous sepsis definitions. The mean time to review was 1hr 18min, and only 50% of patients meeting the NICE criteria were reviewed within one hour.

CONCLUSIONS
The proposed NICE guidance will be challenging to implement with current resources.


Children in resource poor settings are at a high risk of inadequate iron and vitamin A intake when diets lack diversity and are dominated by staple foods. Yet comparative information on diet quality among school children is scarce. The objective of the study was to assess the potential of simple food group diversity to serve as a proxy indicator of iron and vitamin A status among rural school children in Uganda. A cross sectional correlation model of associations between Food Group Diversity (FGD) and iron and vitamin A status was used. We analyzed 8 schools in Kumi District, Uganda, randomly selected from the 34 schools that participated in the main part of the study. Our sample included primary school children, aged between 9 - 15 years (n = 172). Food group diversity and food variety (FV) were calculated from both a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and a 24-hour dietary recall. The FGD and FVS were tested against iron (as serum ferritin) and vitamin A (as serum retinol) status. The FGD (based on FFQ data) was 9.6 (±1.9). There was a positive correlation between 24-hour recall and FFQ for consumption of cereals (Corr. Coef = 0.28; p < 0.05), which was also the most highly consumed group (98.9% & 86.9% by FFQ and 24-hour recall; respectively). Consistent with other studies, increase in the number of food groups significantly increased serum ferritin and serum retinol measures (p < 0.001). Presence of at least one food item in the "roots & tubers"; "cereals"; and "pulses/nuts", significantly increased serum ferritin and serum retinol concentrations (p < 0.01). We speculate that simple food group diversity may reflect intake and serve as a simple indicator of iron and vitamin A status among school children. Strategies aimed at increasing dietary diversity in the community may benefit the families of these children and improve their micronutrient status.


We estimate a labor supply model on a random sample of Swedish male and female blue collar workers to study the effect of economic incentives on work absence behavior. We observe work absence for each day during 1990 and 1991 for each worker in the sample. We use non-parametric (Kaplan-Meier) techniques; semi-parametric stratified models, where individual effects are removed; and fully prametric Cox regression models, where observed characteristics are used to control for heterogeneity. An exogenous change in the cost of being absent due to a reform of the sickness insurance, which took place during the time period covered by the data, is used as identifying information. The empirical analysis is focused on explaining gender differences in work absence behavior. We find that about one third of this difference in our sample can be attributed to differences in costs of being absent.


This work begins with reflections on the conduit, and then presents the conduit metaphor as a philosophical and linguistic concept and as an educational idea. Research studies with two teachers and two principals over a sustained period of time are presented, and re-cast in terms of what each reveals about the qualities of the conduit. In the process, each educator's knowledge is featured in its own terms and each school situation is worked through in its own terms. The attributes of the conduit are then distilled through meta-level narrative analysis, and possibilities for the future are imagined.


Abstract Large quantity of sewage sludge originating from wastewater treatment plants is becoming a growing problem from environmental and human health points of view. One of the ways to use sewage sludge is agricultural purpose due to its nutrients and organic matter content, but the condition is that it should be deprived of pathogenic bacteria and parasite egg contamination. Application of ionizing radiation to hygienize sewage sludge can make it appropriate for agricultural use. The process does not require addition of chemicals to sludge; it is environmentally friendly and effective in removal of biological threats. In the past, successful attempts of sewage sludge treatment using ionizing radiation were made. Pilot plants and commercial ones proved that pathogens can be easily removed from sewage sludge by ionizing radiation. The concept of 'zero energy' biogas plant is based on the construction of a complex system consisting of biogas plant and electron accelerator in the biofertilizer manufacturing line. Digestate originating from the methane fermentation of sewage sludge is irradiated to remove all pathogens using electron beam from an accelerator powered by electric energy obtained from burning biogas in a cogenerator. The product is a high-quality, biologically safe fertilizer.


Background After observing persistently low CD4 counts at initial HIV diagnosis in South Africa, we sought to determine risk factors for late-stage HIV disease presentation among adults. Methods We surveyed adults prior to HIV testing at four outpatient clinics in Durban from August 2010 to November 2011. All HIV-infected adults were offered CD4 testing, and late-stage HIV disease was defined as a CD4 count <100 cells/mm3. We used multivariate regression models to determine the effects of sex, emotional health, social support, distance from clinic, employment, perceived barriers to receiving healthcare, and foregoing healthcare to use money for food, clothing, or housing ("competing needs to healthcare") on presentation with late-stage HIV disease. Results Among 3,669 adults screened, 830 were enrolled, newly-diagnosed with HIV and obtained a CD4 result. Among those, 279 (33.6%) presented with late-stage HIV disease. In multivariate analyses, participants who lived ≥5 kilometers from the test site [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.8, 95% CI 1.7–4.7], reported competing needs to healthcare (AOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2–2.4), were male (AOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2–2.3), worked outside the home (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1–2.1), perceived health service delivery barriers (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1–2.1), and/or had poor emotional health (AOR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0–1.9) had higher odds of late-stage HIV disease presentation. Conclusions Independent risk factors for late-stage HIV disease presentation were from diverse domains, including geographic, economic, demographic, social, and psychosocial. These findings can inform various interventions, such as mobile testing or financial assistance, to reduce the risk of presentation with late-stage HIV disease.