Postcardiac arrest brain injury significantly contributes to mortality and morbidity in patients suffering from cardiac arrest (CA). Evidence that shows that mitochondrial dysfunction appears to be a key factor in tissue damage after ischemia/reperfusion is accumulating. However, limited data are available regarding the cerebral mitochondrial dysfunction during CA and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and its relationship to the alterations of high-energy phosphate. Here, we sought to identify alterations of mitochondrial morphology and oxidative phosphorylation function as well as high-energy phosphates during CA and CPR in a rat model of ventricular fibrillation (VF). We found that impairment of mitochondrial respiration and partial depletion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PCr) developed in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus following a prolonged cardiac arrest. Optimal CPR might ameliorate the deranged phosphorus metabolism and preserve mitochondrial function. No obvious ultrastructural abnormalities of mitochondria have been found during CA. We conclude that CA causes cerebral mitochondrial dysfunction along with decay of high-energy phosphates, which would be mitigated with CPR. This study may broaden our understanding of the pathogenic processes underlying global cerebral ischemic injury and provide a potential therapeutic strategy that aimed at preserving cerebral mitochondrial function during CA.


ABSTRACT Purpose Power is crucial in influencing the parties' mutual relations during supply chain transactions. In this context, power can be defined as the ability of a firm, which is in the position of buyer or seller, to influence the behaviors and decisions of the other party or to move them in line with their wishes. In some cases, the power may lie with the commercial buyer and, in some cases, with the seller. The characteristics of the sector usually shape this position. In addition, power itself is classified as coercive and non-coercive power according to how it is exercised. Coercive power directs the other party to the target behaviors with imposition and punishments. Non-coercive power, on the other hand, directs the target behaviors by using rewards and creating attraction points. According to the resource dependency theory, companies with coercive power are usually the leading companies due to having vital resources for other stakeholders in the supply chain. Studies have shown that non-coercive power should also be considered an essential factor in terms of maintaining the relationship in the long term. However, no study has been found on the effect of non-coercive power and the coercive power of the companies that are in a strong position in making the supplier selection decision of the buyers at the beginning. As a reason for this, it can be shown that the coverage of non-coercive power elements in the literature is insufficient, and some of them are used as coercive power elements. In this sense, it is suggested for the first time that the concept of soft power, generally used in the literature to explain power relations among countries or organizations, should be included in the analysis to explain power relations within the supply chain. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effect of soft power, including non-coercive power factors, in buyer-seller relations and to determine whether the soft power elements differentiate the supplier selection decisions of the buyers. Methodology The decision problem discussed in the study is considered a multi-criteria decision-making problem since many factors are influential in evaluating alternatives, and the solution is conducted with multi-criteria decision-making techniques. Accordingly, soft power factors constitute the effective criteria in the decision problem. Suppliers are the alternatives in the decision problem. As a result of the literature review and subsequent expert comments, eight soft power factors were identified as the criteria for evaluating alternatives in the decision problem: culture (CU), values (VA), policies (PL), image (IMG), knowledge sharing (KS), expert power (EXP), reference power (RFP), and agenda setting (AS). The smartphone and accessories sector, where suppliers hold power, is the sector to be implemented. The data were obtained from Eskişehir, Turkey. The choice of the province was influenced by the city having three universities, and the market being relatively large by national standards. With the sector research, 15 big buyer companies were determined. These buyer companies constitute the decision makers in the decision problem. The data required to solve the problem were obtained from the decision-makers to be evaluated by DEMATEL and Fermatean Fuzzy (FFS) WASPAS techniques. For this purpose, original questionnaires specific to DEMATEL and Fermatean Fuzzy (FFS) WASPAS techniques were applied to senior purchasing managers of buyer companies, and data to be analyzed were collected. It was determined that 13 questionnaires were valid for analysis. In the first stage of the problem's solution, 13 questionnaires were analyzed by applying the steps of the DEMATEL technique, and the weights of the criteria (soft power elements) were determined as a result. To determine the best alternative (supplier) by applying the Fermatean Fuzzy (FF) WASPAS technique to the decision problem, the suppliers that all buyers work with were taken into account, and non-partner suppliers were excluded from the analysis. As a result, three important supplier companies were determined out of the five big buyer companies worked with. Accordingly, in the second stage of the solution of the problem, five experts (decision makers in the role of the buyer) evaluated three big suppliers (alternatives) according to 8 soft power factors (criteria) using a questionnaire developed for the application of the Fermatean Fuzzy (FF) WASPAS method. Findings According to the findings obtained from the DEMATEL analysis, the PL criterion is the most critical soft power factor with the 14% weight value, CU with 13%, VL with 13%, and RFP has stood out as other important criteria with its 13% weight value. On the other hand, IMG, which has the smallest value (6.13) according to the D values found by DEMATEL analysis, is the criterion most affected by other criteria. However, the EXP with the highest D-R value is generally considered the criterion whose interaction with other criteria significantly impacts the system. In the second stage, using the FF-WASPAS method, the suppliers were ranked as A3>A1>A2. Accordingly, when the three largest suppliers are evaluated according to their soft power characteristics, it is clear that they differ in the eyes of the buyers. In other words, soft power factors influence buyers' supplier selection. In addition, the results of the validation and sensitivity analysis at the last stage showed no change in the ranking of the alternatives. Research Implications The techniques applied in the study are effective in solving the decision problem discussed. In this sense, the most influential factors of soft power can be determined with the DEMATEL technique and the interactions between these criteria. In addition, the FFS-WASPAS technique has proven helpful for the analysis and consistency of the decisions made. It is consistent because the obtained supplier ranking did not change as shown by validity and sensitivity analyses. The overall results and consistency of the analyses show that the integrated application of DEMATEL and FF-WASPAS is a suitable method to explain soft power criteria and determine whether suppliers have changed among buyers. On the other hand, the interrelationships between the criteria strengthen our understanding of the formation of total soft power. Finally, resource dependency theory helps interpret and clarify the results, significantly improving our understanding of the phenomenon. Practical Implications The research findings highlight many vital points that will benefit practitioners in real life. Accordingly, the fact that the most critical power factor is policies shows that the policies created by powerful suppliers will also be followed by the buyers they interact with. Thus, managers should determine their policies by considering the benefits of their relevant stakeholders. According to the resource dependency theory, it is accepted that policies are one of the most fundamental elements of soft power. Furthermore, EXP's effect on other factors indicates that the historical relations and contacts of the suppliers with the buyer companies enhance creating an attractive atmosphere in bilateral partnerships. Another important inference can be drawn from the IMG. The fact that IMG is the most affected criterion shows how complex it is to shape IMG. Therefore, it is vital to understand how IMG distinguishes a supplier from its competitors in the eyes of buyers in terms of its relationship with other soft power aspects. Originality This study offers original and distinctive contributions from various angles. For the first time in the literature, the concept of soft power contributes to the concept of non-coercive power in a broader context. Second, the integrated DEMATEL and FFS-WASPAS technique was used for the first time in research evaluating power relations in the supply chain. In addition, research findings will shed light on improvements in research and practice regarding the novel contributions.


Abstract Diesel oil spills in marine environments pose a severe threat to both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Photocatalysis is an environment-friendly method for marine oil remediation; however, its practical usage is limited due to several issues. In this study, we demonstrate the enhanced efficacy of doped CuO/ZrO2 photocatalyst at degrading marine diesel in comparison to undoped ZrO2. The photocatalysts were prepared using co-precipitation method, and their physical and chemical properties were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). XRD analysis showed that the photocatalytic crystallite size of ZrO2 and CuO/ZrO2 was 28.80 nm and 40.32 nm, respectively. Both catalysts exhibited stable crystalline forms. UV-Vis analysis showed that doping of ZrO2 with CuO significantly reduced its band gap from 4.61 eV to 1.18 eV, thus enhancing the utilization of visible light. The effect of catalyst dosage, doping ratio, and initial diesel concentration on the degradation rate of diesel was investigated by performing single-factor experiments. The optimization experiment results showed that 96.96% of diesel could be degraded under visible light. This study laid an experimental foundation for expanding the practical applications of photocatalytic technology.


To aid in the search for better adaptive filter structures, a method is presented to obtain the gradients required to adapt general state-space filters. Unfortunately, the number of computations for this general case is quite high. To reduce the number of computations, two new state-space adaptive filters are introduced. One application where these new structures are shown to be useful is in oversampled filtering where an estimate of the final pole locations is known and the adaptive filter is required only to fine-tune the transfer function. It is shown that for this type of application, the new adaptive structures can have much improved adaptation rates and roundoff noise performance as compared to the corresponding direct-form realizations. >


Purpose: Long sitting time and physical inactivity due to technological advancements may lead to an increase in thoracic kyphosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of thoracic kyphosis degree on physical activity and respiratory function tests in healthy subjects. Methods: A total of 54 healthy individuals (35 female, 19 male, mean age: 21.37±1.63 years) were included in the study. Thoracic kyphosis degree was measured by inclinometer. Respiratory volumes were evaluated using a respiratory function test device. Physical activity level was assessed by International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Results: It was found negative correlations between thoracic kyphosis degree and maximum voluntary ventilation (r=-0.278, p<0.042). There was correlation between the maximal inspiratory pressure and physical activity level (sitting time) (r=-0.270, p<0.05). Conclusion: Increase in kyphosis degree in the thoracic region causes a decrease in maximal respiratory capacity and muscle endurance. We believe that it is important to encourage healthy individuals to engage in physical activity as well as stretching and posture exercises to reduce kyphosis degree in order to improve respiratory parameters.


This work addresses the issues related to improving the overall quality of the requirements tracing process for independent verification and validation analysts. The contribution of the paper is three-fold: we define requirements for a tracing tool based on analyst responsibilities in the tracing process; we introduce several measures for validating that the requirements have been satisfied; and we present a prototype tool that we built, RETRO (REquirements TRacing On-target), to address these requirements. We also present the results of a study used to assess RETRO's support of requirements and requirement elements that can be measured objectively.


BACKGROUND
This case report describes a method for coronally repositioning gingiva for root coverage over the maxillary central incisors while simultaneously performing a frenectomy.

METHODS
The patient was a healthy 43-year-old Brazilian female. Her chief complaint pertained to the unesthetic appearance of the gingival recession involving both maxillary central incisors. Intraoral examination revealed a thick biotype with an adequate band of keratinized gingiva, Miller Class I mucogingival defects, and a broad frenum extending beyond the mucogingival junction. The surgical technique used to treat the areas of recession involved making semilunar incisions over the maxillary central incisors that blended into a frenectomy.

RESULTS
Complete root coverage was achieved over the maxillary central incisors that initially presented with 2 mm of recession on the facial surface. The residual frenum no longer attached at a point coronal to the mucogingival margin. Small white scars were detectable at the mucogingival junctions above both incisors but were not an esthetic concern because of the patient's moderate smile line.

CONCLUSIONS
This case report shows the possibility of applying a combined semilunar coronally repositioned flap with a frenectomy in a case in which maxillary central incisors were impinged upon by a broad aberrant frenum, probed </=3 mm, and presented with Miller Class I mucogingival defects. Further controlled investigations are needed to define the efficacy of this surgical technique.


Background: Exposure factors for consumer products have been developed since the 1980s. Such exposure factors are important in risk assessment. Since the exposure/use patterns of consumer products in a country may reflect its respective cultural, meteorological, and socio-economic circumstances, unique Korean exposure factors for consumer products are needed. Such exposure factors are required for newly-enacted chemical regulations in Korea. For this review, published papers and survey reports on exposure factors of consumer products were examined for their assessment methodologies. Results: Investigation into exposure factors for consumer products used a variety of methods: home visit, online, telephone, and mail surveys using questionnaires; face to face interviews; modeling using a constructed database; and direct measurement. To collect more accurate exposure information or to check the reliability of the sampling method, some studies were repeated using the same questionnaire, in-home observation, direct measurement of usage, and videotaping. In Korea, nationwide exposure surveys were conducted five times over five years to obtain Korean exposure factors. However, with the exception of the 5th-year study, the surveys were online questionnaires and only the 5th-year study validated the accuracy of exposure information by re-visits and direct measurement. Conclusion: Accurate exposure factors are an essential part of risk assessment to assure safe use of consumer products. For better and safer management of consumer products, accurate exposure factors in Korea should be assessed for various exposure pathways.


In post-Cold War Europe the risk of major armed conflicts has been reduced to a very low level, and unconventional threats such as terrorism currently dominate European security concerns. In Asia by contrast, the picture is much gloomier; there is still a risk of conventional inter-state conflicts and power struggles, as well as unconventional threats. There are two flash-points in East Asia, the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait, where the risk of inter-state conflict involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD) cannot be ruled out in the worst case of conflict escalation. Additionally, the East China Sea and Spratly Islands can be counted as a risk zone. China's rapid military build-up is a challenge to many countries in the region. Meanwhile, the USA's overseas forces are undergoing global re-deployment and re-organization, another factor of regional security uncertainty in the coming years. The lack of credible regional confidence and security building measures in East Asia can only aggravate this already volatile situation.


In order to understand the characteristics of the topography change in front of an impermeable breakwater, a coupled model for a two-way analysis of the existing LES-WASS-2D and newly developed morphodynamic model was suggested. A comparison to existing experimental results revealed that the results computed using the 2-D hydro-morphodynamic model were in good agreement with the experimental results for the wave form, pore water pressure in the seabed, and topographical change in front of a submerged breakwater. It was shown that the two-way model suggested in this study is applicable to a morphological change in the seabed around a submerged breakwater. Then, using the numerical results, the topographical changes in front of an impermeable submerged breakwater were examined in relation to partial standing waves. Moreover, the characteristics of the local scour depths in front of them are also discussed in relation to incident wave conditions, sediment qualities, and submerged breakwater shapes.


Ole B. Jensen: The city: power and network. A new urban sociology's reading of the representational logic of urban interventions

This article presents an analytical framework for revitalising the field of urban sociology. It draws on two forms of discussion within sociology. On the one hand, there is the contemporary discussion among sociologists such as Sassen and Castells. On the other hand, the framework involves an understanding of social practices as spatial and material, as well as being embedded in cultural and normative contexts of meaning. Thus by applying a general frame for understanding social action as both spatial and symbolic practices, the article suggests that we can gain a better understanding of how particular interventions in urban space are embedded in a network of representations, institutions and agents, as well as how they reflect a particular power and rationality configuration. The analytical framework is tentatively applied on the empirical case of the urban harbour front development in Aalborg, Denmark.


Chatbots have been studied for more than half a century. With the rapid development of natural language processing (NLP) technologies in recent years, chatbots using large language models (LLMs) have received much attention nowadays. Compared with traditional ones, modern chatbots are more powerful and have been used in real-world applications. There are however, bias and fairness concerns in modern chatbot design. Due to the huge amounts of training data, extremely large model sizes, and lack of interpretability, bias mitigation and fairness preservation of modern chatbots are challenging. Thus, a comprehensive overview on bias and fairness in chatbot systems is given in this paper. The history of chatbots and their categories are first reviewed. Then, bias sources and potential harms in applications are analyzed. Considerations in designing fair and unbiased chatbot systems are examined. Finally, future research directions are discussed.


The article analyzes comprehensive studies of the unique natural and cultural-historical territory on the Middle Volga – Samara Luka and one of the largest landlords in Russia – the Usolsky Patrimony of the Orlovs and Orlov-Davydovs. This example shows the role of historians and modern methods of "local history" in interdisciplinary studying the past of Russian regions, including the processes of the colonization and the development of the South-East of European Russia.


Bulk precipitation & groundwater samples collected from Mandya city during 2011-12 were analysed for pH, EC, calcium, magnesium,sodium, potassium, chloride, sulfate, bicarbonate, fluoride & nitrate using standard procedure (IS10500:1991). The results revealed that all the samples were below the limits accordingly to standards. To ensure accuracy of major ions, the samples were tested by calculating cation/anion ratios and charge balances (CB). The mean value of charge balance was found to be 2.85 & 5.47 respectively, which indicates that all the major ions were considered in the analysis. Based on the ionic composition of precipitation of Mandya city was estimated as: 38.5% of Ca 2+ followed by 12.7% of NO3 - & groundwater of Mandya city was estimated as: 28% of HCO3 - followed by 24% of Mg 2+ . The comparison between precipitation and groundwater quality in Mandya region shows that the pH and conductivity values in bulk precipitation are generally lower than those of groundwater.


A new prototype of large area Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) with long readout strips was built. This Long-strip Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (LMRPC) is double stacked and has ten 250 μm-thick gas gaps. Signals are read out from the two ends of each strip with an active area of 50 cm × 2.5 cm in each. The detector was tested at FOPI in GSI, using the secondary particles of proton beams (E = 3.5 GeV) colliding with a Pb target. The results show that the LMRPC prototype has a time resolution of about 60–70 ps; the detecting efficiency is over 98% and the ratio of cross-talk is lower than 2%. The detector also has a good spatial resolution of 0.36 cm along the strip direction.


Protein plasticity, while often linked to biological function, also provides opportunities for rational design of selective and potent inhibitors of their function. The application of computational methods to the prediction of concealed protein concavities is challenging, as the motions involved can be significant and occur over long time scales. Here we introduce the swarm-enhanced sampling molecular dynamics (sesMD) method as a tool to improve sampling of conformational landscapes. In this approach, a swarm of replica simulations interact cooperatively via a set of pairwise potentials incorporating attractive and repulsive components. We apply the sesMD approach to explore the conformations of the DFG motif in the protein p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase. In contrast to multiple MD simulations, sesMD trajectories sample a range of DFG conformations, some of which map onto existing crystal structures. Simulated structures intermediate between the DFG-in and DFG-out conformations are predicted to have druggable pockets of interest for structure-based ligand design.


As a new energy system, microgrid has gradually become an important means to solve the problems of traditional power grid. This paper summarizes the current operation strategy, optimization objective and solution objective model of microgrid. The control method of microgrid operation is also described.


Every July, in Letkes and Ipolyszalka (Slovakia), the St. Laszlo Division of the Comrade Union of Hungarian Parachutists commemorates – related to the King St. Laszlo festivals – Hungarian soldiers who served in the Division in the last months of WWII. The Division had nothing to do with the Waffen-SS nor with the armed corps of the Hungarist Movement. It was a part of the Royal Hungarian Defence Forces, which still kept some elements of old traditions. King Laszlo, compared to other supporter or branch patron saints, was a decisive hero to Hungarian soldiers until WWII and the establishment of the Soviet type bolshevik regime in Hungary. Although after the regime change, St. Laszlo was again recognised as 'the patron saint of riflemen', and from time to time he is commemorated with a mass or a concert, his influence remains far behind the period before WWII. In this study we are trying to get answers, why the cult of St. Laszlo – and other branch patron saints – has not developed in the Hungarian Defence Forces since the change of the political system, although the legislative environment makes it possible. We would like to reveal those deeper historical and intellectual historical reasons that prove that not only leftist ideology, and its extreme Bolshevik form, but also the ideology of liberal democracy cannot identify with St. Laszlo's – and other patron saints' – figure. We are pointing out that in the current ideological milieu, there are insufficient grounds for the branch patron saints, besides ceremonial activities, to become an awareness-raising power. It is not a judgement, but a hypothesis which is formulated so that we can reflect on the phenomenon authentically. We can say that the democratic legislation has reached its maximum with allowing religious freedom in the Hungarian Defence Forces. As numerous works have been written about St. Laszlo's life and cult, his role in tradition and arts, we touch upon this when it serves to prove the assumption.


The technique was examined to prevent errors during thermal spraying by setting up a spray on-line monitoring system (Spray Watch-2i System) at the starting position in the production line using plasma spraying, and monitoring the characteristics of the particles in the plasma flame between each spraying cycle. The tests were carried out with several spray conditions, changing the gas flow, and the arc current. The state of the plasma flame was measured as the velocity, temperature and flux density of the flying particles. The coating properties were then evaluated by measuring the dielectric breakdown test. It has been found that the evaluation result of the coating correlates very well with the monitoring results of the flame particle characteristics. Therefore there is a possibility that monitoring the state of the particle characteristics within the flame during spraying can control the coating characteristics comparatively easily.


C-terminal binding protein-2 (CtBP2), a transcriptional corepressor, has been reported to correlate with tumorigenesis and progression and predict a poor prognosis in several human cancers. However, few studies on CtBP2 in gastric cancer (GC) have been performed. In this research, we evaluated the correlations between CtBP2 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics, as well as prognosis of GC patients. The effects of silencing CtBP2 expression on GC cells biology activity were also assessed. The results showed that CtBP2 was overexpressed in GC tissues and closely correlated with poor differentiation, advanced tumor stage and poor prognosis in GC patients. CtBP2 induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and repressed PTEN to increase proliferation rate, migration, and invasion in GC cells. Silencing CtBP2 inhibited GC growth in nude mice model. In conclusion, CtBP2 is overexpressed in GC and may accelerate GC tumorigenesis and metastasis, which could represent an independent prognostic marker and promising therapeutic target for GC.


Very recently, electric‐field‐induced superconductivity in an insulator was realized by tuning charge carrier to a high density level (1 × 1014 cm−2). To increase the maximum attainable carrier density for electrostatic tuning of electronic states in semiconductor field‐effect transistors is a hot issue but a big challenge. Here, ultrahigh density carrier accumulation is reported, in particular at low temperature, in a ZnO field‐effect transistor gated by electric double layers of ionic liquid (IL). This transistor, called an electric double layer transistor (EDLT), is found to exhibit very high transconductance and an ultrahigh carrier density in a fast, reversible, and reproducible manner. The room temperature capacitance of EDLTs is found to be as large as 34 µF cm−2, deduced from Hall‐effect measurements, and is mainly responsible for the carrier density modulation in a very wide range. Importantly, the IL dielectric, with a supercooling property, is found to have charge‐accumulation capability even at low temperatures, reaching an ultrahigh carrier density of 8×1014 cm−2 at 220 K and maintaining a density of 5.5×1014 cm−2 at 1.8 K. This high carrier density of EDLTs is of great importance not only in practical device applications but also in fundamental research; for example, in the search for novel electronic phenomena, such as superconductivity, in oxide systems.


The interest in the Airbnb phenomenon is represented in the fast growth of publications indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) since the research inception of this topic in 2010. However, there are no studies that analyze the incidence of this phenomenon from a bibliometric approach using WoS. Therefore, this paper aims to quantify the incidence and composition of the Airbnb phenomenon through bibliometrics taken it as a data source. To achieve this aim, the WoS statistical instruments and the bibliometric tool VOSviewer are used. The results obtained, such as the number of articles and citations per year, the main categories of these articles, the nationalities of the authors, the most productive institutions, the sources and authors in terms of publications, and the H-Core of the most cited articles, are presented. Finally, concept maps are exposed, representing the relatedness of co-authorship and co-citation among authors, as well as the co-occurrence of the keywords in the articles analyzed. Satisfaction, trust, and innovation appear as the main research lines. This paper can be useful for academics and professionals, giving them a holistic overview of the topic, identifying new research areas, or as an objective manner to literary review approaches.


This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of calcification detected by computed tomography (CT) for the differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. This is a retrospective study of 930 consecutive patients (709 women, 221 men; mean age 51 years) with pathologically proven thyroid nodules. The characteristics of calcification on CT images were correlated with the pathological results. A total of 168 patients were pathologically diagnosed with thyroid carcinomas and 762 patients with benign thyroid nodules. Calcification was found in 231 cases (24.84%). The incidence of calcification was significantly higher in patients with thyroid carcinoma (52.38%) than in those with benign nodules (18.77%; P < 0.001). Detection of calcification in diagnosing thyroid carcinoma had a sensitivity of 52.38% (88/168) and specificity of 81.23% (619/762). No significant difference was noticed in the incidence of microcalcification (≤ 2 mm) between malignant and benign nodules (P = 0.305). Calcification is more frequently found in thyroid carcinomas than benign nodules. CT detected-calcification may suggest malignant disease. Further confirmation of the suspected malignancy with fine-needle aspiration or surgery is still needed.


Background
Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health challenge. Currently it is the 7th leading cause of death worldwide, and Nigeria ranks fourth amongst 22 high-burden countries for the disease. This study sought to appraise the direct and indirect costs borne by TB patients attending the Chest Clinics at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja and Mainland Hospital, (formerly Infectious Disease Hospital), Yaba, both in Lagos, Nigeria.
Method
A cross-sectional study was conducted in July 2008, recruiting all consenting TB patients that had commenced treatment at the Chest Clinics of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja and Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Data were collected with the aid of 205 pretested, self-administered questionnaires and analysed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 12.0; SPSS Inc. 2003). Long-run average costs were employed in accordance with the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Guidelines for Cost and Cost-
Effectiveness Analysis of Tuberculosis Control, converting at US$1=N120.
Result
Throughout the duration of treatment, the typical TB patient earned an annual income of fifteen thousand, seven hundred and ninety five thousand naira only (N15, 795), equivalent to about one hundred and thirty-two dollars (US$132) and spent 7% of this on transport fare to attend his clinic daily. Direct costs (medical and non-medical) ranged between US$113 and US$401 with an average of US$161.28. This equates to 10% of the typical patient's annual income (123% of the mean monthly income). Mean number of days lost from work due to TB was 45. TB disrupted working relationships, threatened jobs and led to actual loss of jobs (8%). Patients also lost about 13% of their annual income (US$199) in indirect costs.
Conclusion
Direct and indirect costs of TB are exorbitant in Nigeria, and are especially due to poor social infrastructure and transport facilities.


Ultrasonic absorption measurements have been used to study the vibrational and rotational relaxation in SO2 from 290 to 1090°K. This work extends the temperature range of earlier investigations by 500°K and is in agreement with the other studies in the low‐temperature region. The vibrational data has been analyzed by assuming that the 518‐cm−1 node exhibits a relaxation time τ1, that the 1151‐ and the 1361‐cm−1 modes relax together with a relaxation time τ2,3, and that the two relaxations occur in parallel. It is found that τ1 increases with increasing temperature, while τ2,3 decreases with increasing temperature in the normal manner. The two vibrational collision numbers are a factor of 10 apart at room temperature but approach each other at high temperature. This is the first ultrasonic measurement of rotational relaxation in SO2, and the results confirm those of a previous thermal transpiration measurement but conflict with an earlier thermal conductivity measurement.


This research was aimed at examining just-world beliefs, system justification, authoritarianism, and cognitive style in a nationally representative sample (N = 1000) in Hungary, and at relating these phenomena to various demographic and political variables to find out whether the findings in Hungary would differ from its Western counterparts. According to system justification theory, there is a psychological motive to defend and justify the status quo. This theory has been tested several times in North American and Western European samples. The core finding of our study was that Hungarian people, unlike people in Western democracies, did not justify the existing establishment. There was strong pessimism with regard to the idea that the system serves the interests of the people. Members of disadvantaged groups (people with low economic income and/or far right political preference) strongly rejected the system. System justification beliefs were moderately related to just world beliefs, and there was a significant relationship between some aspects of need for closure (need for order, discomfort with ambiguity, and closed-mindedness) and authoritarian beliefs. Need for cognition was only related to one aspect of need for closure: closed-mindedness. The voters of right-wing parties did not display higher levels of authoritarianism than the voters of the left social-democrat party. The role of demographic and political variables, limitations, and possible developments of this research are discussed.


Factors that contribute to cognitive load during reading were examined using a secondary task procedure. In three experiments, subjects read sets of passages twice in succession while auditory probes were presented. The N1-P2 and P300 components of the event-related brain potential and reaction time (RT) responses to secondary auditory probes were used as measures of load. N1-P2 responses indicated decreased load during the second reading, whereas P300 and RT responses indicated increased load during the second reading. The results are interpreted as reflecting changes in task demands. Lower level elements of the task, such as word recognition and local aspects of comprehension, required fewer resources during the second reading. The N1-P2 reflected this reduction in resource demands. By contrast, the amount of resources devoted to higher level processes, such as comparing the text with one's prior representation and updating memory, increased during the second reading. This resulted from task demands, which emphasized memory of the material. P300 and RT reflected this increase in higher level demands. Results are described in terms of attentional and task demands and are taken as support for a componential description of reading and task difficulty.


The article presents the results of scientific research devoted to the study of the productivity of spelt wheat depending on the varietal characteristics and pre-sowing treatment of seeds with biopreparations. Field tests were carried out during 2016-2018 on the experimental field of the Educational, Scientific and Practical Center of the Mykolaiv National Agrarian University in four repetitions by the method of the split sites. It was studied the influence of varietal characteristics and pre-sowing seed treatment with Organic-balance and Liposam biopreparations on the main elements of productivity of winter wheat spelt in conditions of southern Ukraine. We found that all the studied factors had an impact on grain yield and the main elements of spelt wheat productivity. The largest number of productive stems (780 PCs/m²) and the highest height (131.5 cm) were formed by plants of the variety Zorya Ukrainy in the variant with pre-sowing treatment of seeds Organic-balance (1 l/t) + Liposam (0.3 l/t). We also determined that factor B (pre-sowing treatment of seeds with biopreparations) did not significantly affect the formation of the main elements of the ear productivity, while factor A (varieties) had a significant impact. The most productive ear was at the Europa plant variety in the variant of pre-sowing seed treatment with Organic-balance + Liposam: ear grain content was 32.3 PCs the weight of the grain on 1 spike was 1.26 g. 1000 seeds weight was formed on the variety Zorya Ukrainy as 46.3 up to 47.0 g depending on pre-sowing seed treatment with biopreparations. It was found that the highest yield of spelt wheat (5.74 t ha -1 ) was obtained by sowing the variety Europa in the variant with pre-sowing treatment of seeds with Organic-balance and Liposam, but the difference between the first variant of seed treatment (Organic-balance) was insignificant.


This study presents 13 new U-Pb zircon ages obtained by laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) together with whole-rock geochemical, Sr-Nd isotopic and zircon Hf isotopic data for a mafic dike swarm in the southern Qiangtang area of Tibet. These data provide the basis for a new model of the late Paleozoic evolution of the Tethys. Combined with the results of previous zircon U-Pb dating, the magmatic zircon grains extracted from mafic dikes yield latest Carboniferous to Early Permian ages (317–279 Ma). The geochemistry of the southern Qiangtang mafic rocks indicates the presence of low-Ti (QLT) and high-Ti (QHT) suites. The magmas that formed the QLT suite underwent higher degrees of partial melting (>5%) and display evidence of crustal contamination, whereas the QHT suite was derived from magmas generated by low-degree (1%–5%) partial melting of a garnet-bearing mantle source, with a greater extent of fractional crystallization than the QLT suite, and no evidence of crustal contamination. We propose that the QHT and QLT suites may have been derived from magmas from different parts of a single mantle plume. The formation of the southern Qiangtang mafic dikes (latest Carboniferous to Early Permian; 317–279 Ma) may have been related to the northward drift of the Cimmerian continent from the northern Gondwana margin, which resulted in the opening of the Meso-Tethys Ocean.


The relative contribution of extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms to cortical development is an intensely debated issue and an outstanding question in neurobiology. Currently, the emerging view is that interplay between intrinsic genetic mechanisms and extrinsic information shape different stages of cortical development [1]. Yet, whereas the intrinsic program of early neocortical developmental events has been at least in part decoded [2], the exact nature and impact of extrinsic signaling are still elusive and controversial. We found that in the mouse developing visual system, acute pharmacological inhibition of spontaneous retinal activity (retinal waves-RWs) during embryonic stages increase the rate of corticogenesis (cell cycle withdrawal). Furthermore, early perturbation of retinal spontaneous activity leads to changes of cortical layer structure at a later time point. These data suggest that mouse embryonic retina delivers long-distance information capable of modulating cell genesis in the developing visual cortex and that spontaneous activity is the candidate long-distance acting extrinsic cue mediating this process. In addition, these data may support spontaneous activity to be a general signal coordinating neurogenesis in other developing sensory pathways or areas of the central nervous system.


The lube oil separator is widely used in lube oil system of merchant vessel. The lube oil separator functions to purify the lube oil to ensure its good working performance. The working condition of the oil separator will greatly influence the normal running of many plants. The lube oil separator used in our laboratory is Mitsubishi SJ700. In the processing of purifying, oil leakage from the water outlet is found. In order to find failure point, the basic structure and the working principle of the separator is introduced. The separator is dismantled according to the procedure. After cleaning some parts found dirty and replacing some sealing elements, the separator is reassembled. When starting the separating process again, the failure remains. Through further analyzing the structure and working principle of the separator, the trouble spot is found out. After removing the failure, the separator finally is repaired. To prevent similar accident occurring again, some suggestions are presented.


The commercial products humic acid (Actosol®), humic acid (Actosol®) + NPK and humic acid (Actosol®) + micro-elements (Fe, Mn, Cu) were tested against the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, in vitro and in vivo on tomato and compared with the nematicide, Vydate. In vitro, Vydate at 2 ml l–1 water was the best treatment for inhibiting hatch (30.8% inhibition) and was significantly more effective than all other treatments, except Vydate at 4 ml l–1. Humic acid + micro-elements (2 ml l–1 water) was the least effective treatment for inhibiting hatch. Humic acid supplemented with micro-elements was significantly better than other products in reducing the number of surviving juveniles and achieving the highest percentage of nematode inhibition (49.2%), followed by the two concentrations of Vydate, which were not significantly different from one another. In vivo, all treatments significantly reduced the numbers of galls, embedded stages in roots, final population and population build-up (Pf/Pi) in all types of soil as compared to the untreated control. Materials appeared to be more effective at preventing nematode penetration of roots in sandy loam soil than in the other two soil types (sandy and clay). The double application of humic acid + NPK gave the best plant growth (fresh and dry weights) in sandy loam soil. All treatments reduced plant content of NPK in sandy soil except for humic acid + micro-elements and the two doses of Vydate.


IL-1 signaling is mediated by the type I IL-1R (IL-1RI). The nonsignaling type II receptor has a regulatory function, since it reduces IL-1 effects by scavenging free IL-1 molecules. This regulatory function has been demonstrated only for the soluble form, released from the membrane receptor by action of specific proteases, but is still ill-defined for the membrane receptor itself. To assess the function of membrane IL-1RII, a modified IL-1RII cDNA was constructed, in which the cleavable domain was replaced with the corresponding uncleavable sequence of the epidermal growth factor receptor. The human keratinocyte line HaCaT, which does not express wild-type IL-1RII (wtIL-1RII), was stably transfected with this modified cDNA (unconventionally cleavable IL-1RII (uIL-1RII)). Cells transfected with uIL-1RII expressed the membrane form of IL-1RII, but were unable to produce the 60-kDa soluble receptor. Upon analysis of IL-1 responsiveness, parental HaCaT and vector-transfected cells (E27), expressing IL-1RI and the accessory chain IL-1R accessory protein, were responsive to IL-1. Conversely, cells overexpressing wtIL-1RII (811) or uIL-1RII (9D4) showed comparable reduction in responsiveness to both IL-1α (bound by membrane and soluble receptors) and IL-1β (recognized by the membrane receptor only), suggesting that the membrane form of the IL-1RII is mainly responsible for IL-1 inhibition. In contrast with wtIL-1RII, uIL-1RII did not interact with IL-1R accessory protein. Thus, the membrane form of IL-1RII possesses strong IL-1-inhibitory activity, independent of sequestration of the accessory protein and circumscribed to its ligand sink function.


Abstract Kilit, B and Arslan, E. Effects of high-intensity interval training vs. on-court tennis training in young tennis players. J Strength Cond Res 33(1): 188–196, 2019—This study aimed to examine the effects of 6 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) vs. 6 weeks of on-court tennis training (OTT) on the psychophysiological responses, performance responses, and technical scores of young tennis players. Twenty-nine young male tennis players (aged 13.8 ± 0.4 years) were divided into HIIT (n = 14) and OTT groups (n = 15). Both groups trained for the same total training duration with passive rest in each session. Pre-test and post-test included maximum oxygen consumption ( max), sprinting, jumping, 400-m running time, a tennis-specific technical test, and the t-drill agility test. The training interventions resulted in similar improvements in max responses (HIIT: +5.2%, d = 1.36 [large effect]; OTT: +5.5%, d = 1.50 [large effect]). Both training protocols increased jumping and sprinting performances significantly from pre-testing to post-testing (p < 0.05, d values ranging from 0.40 to 1.10). The OTT group showed significantly higher performance responses in terms of the agility test performance and technical scores (p < 0.05, d = ranging from 0.77 to 0.88 [moderate effect]) compared with the HIIT group. By contrast, the HIIT group exhibited significantly higher performance responses in terms of the 400-m running time (p < 0.05, d = 1.32 [large effect]). Our results showed that tennis-specific on-court drills might be a more effective training strategy to improve agility and technical ability with greater physical enjoyment, whereas HIIT may be more appropriate for speed-based conditioning in young tennis players.


Phytopathogenic cercosporoid fungi have been investigated comprehensively due to their important role in causing plant diseases. A significant amount of research has been focused on the biology, morphology, systematics, and taxonomy of this group, with less of a focus on molecular or biochemical issues. Early and extensive research on these fungi focused on taxonomy and their classification based on in vivo features. Lately, investigations have mainly addressed a combination of characteristics such as morphological traits, host specificity, and molecular analyses initiated at the end of the 20th century. Some species that are important from an economic point of view have been more intensively investigated by means of genetic and biochemical methods to better understand the pathogenesis processes. Cercosporin, a photoactivated toxin playing an important role in Cercospora diseases, has been extensively studied. Understanding cercosporin toxicity in relation to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production facilitated the discovery and regulation of the cercosporin biosynthesis pathway, including the gene cluster encoding pathway enzymes. Furthermore, these fungi may be a source of other biotechnologically important compounds, e.g., industrially relevant enzymes. This paper reviews methods and important results of investigations of this group of fungi addressed at different levels over the years.


ABSTRACT The last few years have seen great leaps in the use of mechano-chemically modified carbon nanotubes in catalysis. While high improvements in catalytic performance have been achieved, the nature of the technique is not compatible with typical strategies for CNT coating of macro-structured catalysts by chemical vapour deposition. Developing macro-structured catalysts is a key step towards the sustainability of multi-phase catalysis and requires a methodology for coating with mechano-chemical modified CNT metallic catalysts. Preparing water-based slurries is not straightforward due to the CNT's hydrophobicity, and the use of organic solvents is unsustainable. A novel methodology for the washcoating of macro-structures with pre-modified monometallic CNT catalysts was assessed. A compromise between surfactant use, post-coating treatment, and the catalyst activity/integrity, was achieved by solubilization of the surfactant in a isopropanol:acetone mixture. The activity of the prepared catalysts was affected by the metallic dispersion, surfactant coverage, and distribution of the palladium throughout the catalytic layer. Palladium centres in the bottommost layers were found to be unavailable for liquid phase reaction. The activity of the catalysts prepared with pre-formed carbon monometallic powders was improved by adopting a coating strategy to maximize the availability of the metallic particles near the surface of the catalytic layer. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Singular they is suggested to be acceptable in the grammar only when referring to indefinite or gender-neutral antecedents. Previous studies have used antecedents of varying gender expectation to test whether singular they can refer to antecedents with gender, but no experimental studies have considered the social variables that could affect the acceptability of singular they in speech. The goal of this study is to compare the acceptability and processing of singular referential they between cisgender and non-binary individuals, as people who identify as non-binary tend to use they, them, and their as their pronouns of personal reference. This study shows thats there are no effects of gender-expectancy in online processing across cisgender and non-binary individuals. I also show that sentences with singular they are overall more natural to non-binary individuals than cisgender individuals, suggesting that social variables affect off-line judgments, but not on-line processing.


CMMI is virtual standard scaling software processes capability, but focuses on "What" and are too general to be suitable for different enterprises, especially for development process. Hence, a suit of "software processes improvement solution " referring CMMI level 2~3 for middle size enterprises is established. It is composed of: (I) The software processes specification, which is titled as "Simplified Parallel Processes"; (2) The software processes management tool "Future" based on SPP. SPP model has three layers and manage to answer "How": the top level is project management processes set, the middle layer is project development processes set, the down layer is project supply processes set respectively. Meanwhile, concrete technical development specification for embedded systems is presented. It's frank and helpful for every process to obey in an orderly way. This specification and tool will be refined through practices.


An effective course in switch-mode power supplies (SMPs) should ideally contain an element of hands-on design and experimental work in addition to the study of the theory and simulations. This element should complement the study of the theory of SMPs and simulation of their operation. However, this approach is extremely time consuming and expensive and can only be offered to a very few number of students. This paper details a course structure that is a compromise between a time-intensive and expensive practical approach and a purely theoretical simulation-based course. The proposed course structure reduces the costs and the staffing/space commitments while still maintaining a very strong emphasis on practical design and experimental work.


We examine questions in a corpus consisting of excerpts from genuine conversations and interviews recorded among English native speakers. More specifically, we describe how intonation is involved in the formation and interpretation of questions. We successively confront syntactic criteria and pragmatic ones with the prosodic forms of questions, and finally propose an interpretation of intonation according to its enunciative value (derived from Antoine Culioli's utterer-centered approach to language, and Mary-Annick Morel and Laurent Danon-Boileau's description of spoken French). We show that a fundamental opposition distinguishes between questions with a modulated curve and those with a flat one. This distinction reflects the nature of the positioning of the utterer relatively to his / her addressee, or co-utterer. Assuming that questions are illustrative of the whole system of oral English, we eventually analyse how each prosodic parameter (melody and intensity in particular) is allowed to have a specific function in the construction of speech. We believe that intonation participates in the encoding into language of mental representations, and first and foremost the representation one has of one's addressee's thoughts-a fundamental dimension of speech acts.


Fever and hypothermia are well-characterized components of systemic inflammation. However, our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying such changes in body temperature is largely limited to rodent models and other mammalian species. In mammals, high dosages of an inflammatory agent (e.g., lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) typically leads to hypothermia (decrease in body temperature below normothermic levels), which is largely driven by a reduction in thermogenesis and not changes in peripheral vasomotion (i.e., changes in blood vessel tone). In birds, however, hypothermia occurs frequently, even at lower dosages, but the thermoeffector mechanisms associated with the response remain unknown. We immune challenged zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) with LPS, monitored changes in subcutaneous temperature and energy balance (i.e., body mass, food intake), and assessed surface temperatures of and heat loss across the eye region, bill, and legs. We hypothesized that if birds employ thermoregulatory mechanisms similar to those of similarly sized mammals, LPS-injected individuals would reduce subcutaneous body temperature and maintain constant surface temperatures compared with saline-injected individuals. Instead, LPS-injected individuals showed a slight elevation in body temperature, and this response coincided with a reduction in peripheral heat loss, particularly across the legs, as opposed to changes in energy balance. However, we note that our interpretations should be taken with caution owing to small sample sizes within each treatment. We suggest that peripheral vasomotion, allowing for heat retention, is an underappreciated component of the sickness-induced thermoregulatory response of small birds.


A number of authors criticise opt-out (or 'deemed consent') systems for failing to secure valid consent to organ donation. Further, several suggest that mandated choice offers a more ethical alternative. This article responds to criticisms that opt-out does not secure informed consent. If we assume current (low) levels of public awareness, then the explicit consent secured under mandated choice will not be informed either. Conversely, a mandated choice policy might be justifiable if accompanied by a significant public education campaign. However, if this entitles us to assume that members of the public are informed, then an opt-out system would also be justified in the same circumstances. The alleged advantages of mandated choice seem to rest on an unfair comparison, between mandated choice with a public education campaign and an opt-out system without one. While it may be that some countries with opt-out systems should do more to inform their publics, I see no reason to assume that this cannot be done. Indeed, advocates of mandated choice seem committed to thinking it possible to raise awareness. If opt-out systems adopt the same methods, such as writing to every individual, this should also address concerns about whether consent is informed.


The National Information Centre for Biological Agents Present at Workplaces and the National Register of Biological Agents were established in the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in 2005. The former carries out consultation and education activities concerned with occupational exposure and risk assessment, planning and implementation of preventive programs and accurate registration of reliable information about the use of biological agents. The latter aims at collecting and analyzing the aforesaid information obtained from employers for research, diagnostic or industrial purposes. The data base is a source of information for occupational environment supervising inspections and occupational health service. useful among others in planning various forms of prevention. As of December 10, 2008 there were 281 notifications from companies using biological agents (for the following purposes: research--34, diagnostic--225 and industrial--22). The majority of notifications were obtained from different diagnostic laboratories and universities/ research institutes. In total, 2197 workers, including 2011 (91.5%) women and 186 (8.5%) men were exposed to biological agents, were registered.


The research problem is how the dynamics of cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia on the placement and protection of labor? The results of the study with qualitative descriptive method is to answer how the dynamics of cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia on the placement and protection of labor. Usefulness theoretically is enriching contemporary studies in the field of government and international relations. Practical usefulness, can provide useful information for the government as the frontline public services. Bilateral relations between Indonesia and Malaysia regarding labor can not be separated from each destination to fulfill the realization of national interests. The results of the study is the first, migrant workers in Malaysia is a rational economic phenomenon which is based interests of the two countries, the demand for high-Malaysia on migrant workers, Indonesia also benefit the economy as the biggest source of foreign exchange and help the national economy. Secondly, the dynamics of cooperation efforts the placement and the protection of migrant workers in Malaysia from time to time is influenced by 2 states internal constraints that the employment system of each country. Malaysia and Indonesia has not ratified the Migrant Workers Convention. Malaysia did not have laws that specifically deal with the informal sector workers. Malaysia is also opposed to the concept of legally binding and illegal migrant worker protection standards based on human rights. Third, Indonesia bargaining power is weak because of the bad image of workforce management that will work overseas, including the presence of illegal workers, migrant workers without the expertise and understanding of the culture of the recipient country, unclear contract of employment, the existence of extortion against migrant workers in the country.


The peer-to-peer file sharing application has become increasingly popular for Internet users since the 1999 introduction of Napster. In the past decade, several
more applications have been invented, such as Gnutella, FastTrack, Chord, Freenet, and BitTorrent. However, all of these applications use the downloading method that
requires the source to be downloaded from one or more resources to one requesting peer. Now, alternative methods of file sharing delivery have been introduced; some examples include CELL, CollectCast, DAC, and GnuStream dan PAST, all ofwhich use streaming to deliver media content to the user. Because peer-to-peer file sharing and streaming systems- such as Video on
Demand and IPTV - are popular among Internet users, developers and researchers have a tendency to combine the Video on Demand and peer-to-peer topology into
one system. This way, the channel program of Video on Demand or IPTV can be inexpensively distributed on the Internet by utilizing the availability of peers; each
peer becomes both a receiver and a supplier to another peer. Many problems are associated with media streaming of file sharing applications, some of which include query-saturated networks, high latency in
locating content, attempting to preserve uninterrupted streaming sessions, high peer load, flash crowds, and bottlenecks. As such, proposed system has been introduced in an effort to reduce the maintenance cost of overlay network topology, the routing and access costs of lookup services, and to service costs of streaming sessions. Proposed system is a combination of pure, client-server, and hierarchical peer-to-peer topology, and is categorized as a hybrid peer-to-peer business model.
Five experiments, consisting of four simulations and an expert evaluation, have been executed to determine the performance, scalability, maintenance,
reliability and usability. The results reveal that proposed system can improve the quality of file sharing applications by reducing path length, peer load, and total usage while maintaining the overlay network topology in various chum rates, as well as
locating a file in lookup services. The results also show that proposed system has sufficient scalability whenever the network size and number of queries increase.


Staphylococcus epidermidis has emerged as the main causative agent for graft-related and nosocomial infections. Rampant use of antibiotics and biofilm formed by the organism results in poor penetration of the drug and further aggravates the antibiotic resistance, emphasizing an urgent need to explore alternative treatment modalities. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), produced as effector molecules of the innate immunity of living organisms, have therapeutic potential that can be used to inhibit the growth of microbes. In addition, the susceptibility of a microbe to become resistant to an AMP is relatively low. The AMPs are amphipathic peptides of 12-100 residues, which have broad-spectrum activity against microbes. There are scattered reports of AMPs listed against S. epidermidis and there is an urgent need to systematically study the AMPs. Various natural AMPs as well as synthetic peptides have been investigated against S. epidermidis. These peptides have been shown to inhibit both planktonic culture and S. epidermidis biofilm effectively. The multiple modes of action in killing the organism minimize the chances for the development of resistance. This review focused on various natural and synthetic peptides that demonstrate activity against S. epidermidis.


The emerging aeld of research that examines the link between information and communication technology and socioeconomic development (ICTD) has been carried forward by researchers mapping methods from their home disciplines onto this new terrain. With this journal logging six years of history (Best & Bar, 2003) and with the third International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (Dias et al., 2009) behind us, we have arrived at a point where it is worth taking stock of the distinctive challenges we have encountered as a research community. This article intends to propose some common criteria for identifying high-quality and promising research in the aeld, a signiacant challenge in itself, given the diverse range of disciplines involved—from engineering to public policy, from the social sciences to development theory. The seeds of this article were planted in an exchange on a mailing list between its two authors over what standards were truly applicable across disciplinary and methodological distinctions (Toyama & Burrell, 2008). Despite our initial disagreements, we believe that an understanding of interdisciplinary commonalities and differences will inform how ICTD researchers conduct research, how authors write research papers, how they are reviewed, and how conferences and journals select those for publication. Some of these activities require collaboration or evaluation of work across disciplines, and an explicit recognition of their paradigmatic differences could help build bridges between disciplines by allowing disagreements to remain as such. Given the nature of the topic, some disclaimers are in order. First, we emphasize that the ideas put forth in this article will naturally reoect its authors' particular educational backgrounds, research experiences, and personal perspectives. Burrell's formal background is in computer science and sociology; Toyama's in physics and computer science. Thus, our comments apply primarily to what we believe can be said about the disciplines of engineering (including computer science and the various engineering disciplines), the qualitative social sciences (including some, but not all, of anthropology, sociology, etc.), the quantitative social sciences (including some, but not all, of economics, public health, etc.), and aelds with mixed methodologies drawn from the above (including information science, communications research, etc.). Although we have made an attempt to think through what is important in other disciplines (e.g., social theory, public policy), we refrain from claiming to speak for them. With this in mind, we hope that readers will be persuaded by the arguments we present. As with any aeld of study, what work constitutes ICTD and how quality is judged remain open questions to be determined by the community as a whole. It's a cause for celebration, on the one hand, that such a varied group of people should unite in the quest to understand how technology inter-


This dissertation analyses the relationship between the political process and the governance framework for embryo research in the UK with particular reference to and focus on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill 2008 and the case of human admixed (aka hybrid) embryos. Two interrelated aspects are considered: the extent to which the recent political process has re-constructed the framework developed by Warnock and/or brought to the surface changes that occurred in the intervening period; and the use of the existing governance framework developed in the 1980s (The Warnock framework) as a political resource in the recent political and policy debates. A tentative evaluation of the merits of the governance framework as it emerges from the contemporary debates is suggested from the perspective of research and innovation.


Abstract:Over the last 30 years, expectations for the quality, validity, and objectivity of the outcome measures used to assess the impact of behavior change interventions related to HIV have steadily increased. At this point (mid-2014 at this writing), biologic evidence or biomarkers of the incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in a target population is clearly preferable to self-reports of behavior. This kind of evidence is, however, much more expensive to collect than participants' reports of behavior change (eg, increased condom use, reduced substance use or abstinence from substance use, and high levels of medication adherence). In addition, although potentially less subject to reporting bias, biomarkers and biologic outcomes have their own flaws. In this article, we review the literature on the validity of self-reports of outcomes most relevant to HIV behavior change interventions, sexual behavior (ever having had sex and condom use), substance use, and medication adherence. We note the extent to which they may be adequate outcome measures without biologic data, and the conditions under which they may be most likely to be sufficient. We also argue, like many others, that where possible, both self-report and biologic measures should be collected.


Background Current UK health research policy aims to increase the number of participants entering clinical trials. With the emphasis upon increasing participation, there is a danger that the relatively small numbers of patients with Huntington's disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disease, are repeatedly requested to take part in research. Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of research among people with HD and their carers. The objectives were to explore their understanding of research and their experiences during participation. Methods Twelve participants with HD (ranging from pre-symptomatic to moderately severe HD) and ten carers were recruited to the study. All participants had participated in a clinical study and/or were part of the Euro-HD Registry study. A qualitative approach and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used for the study. Results The main theme to emerge from the data was the substantial role that carers play in studies. Carers described not only a domestic impact but also an increased pressure due to their information-processing and decision-making role in studies. Conversely, service users appeared to play a more passive role in the research process. Nevertheless, both service users and carers reported a high level of motivation for participation in studies. Conclusion Both service users and carers were very committed and enthusiastic about research but the increased burden on carers suggested by the study, needs to be addressed in order to maximise patient recruitment and retention to studies.


The chemical examination of the roots of D. oocarpa afforded ten coumpounds on column chromatography and repeated crystallizations, Lupeol, 5-Hydroxy-4-methoxy-2-naphthaldehyde, 4-Hydroxy-5-methoxy-2- naphthaldehyde, 4-Hydroxy-3, 5-dimethoxy-2-naphthaldehyde, β-sitosterol, Plumbagin, Betulinaldehyde, Diospyrin, 8'hydroxyisodiospyrin, Umbelliferone. Isolation of umbelliferone belongs to coumarin is the first time record from this species and also from Diospyros genus. Occurrence of napthoquinones is very common in Diospyros species. The author could isolate these quinines from this species also and thus justified the species. Distribution of napthaldehydes in nature is very rare and this report of occurrence is new to the literature


Flow diversions are widespread and numerous throughout the semi‐arid mountains of the western United States. Diversions vary greatly in their structure and ability to divert water, but can alter the magnitude and duration of base and peak flows, depending upon their size and management. Channel geometry and riparian plant communities have adapted to unique hydrologic and geomorphic conditions existing in the areas subject to fluvial processes. We use geomorphic and vegetation data from low‐gradient (≤3%) streams in the Rocky Mountains of north‐central Colorado to assess potential effects of diversion. Data were collected at 37 reaches, including 16 paired upstream and downstream reaches and five unpaired reaches. Channel geometry data were derived from surveys of bankfull channel dimensions and substrate. Vegetation was sampled using a line‐point intercept method along transects oriented perpendicular to the channel, with a total of 100 sampling points per reach. Elevation above and distance from the channel were measured at each vegetation sampling point to analyze differences in lateral and vertical zonation of plant communities between upstream and downstream reaches.


In this paper, the testing of the pulse-withstanding capability of metallized polypropylene film (MPPF) capacitors is reported. Four groups of capacitors having the same electrical characteristics but different geometry were considered for the test. Capacitors with long geometry seem to have poorer pulse handling performance for similar electrical stress conditions. However, the premature failure of one of the capacitor groups tested suggests that the quality of the end-edge contact is strongly dependent on the physical features of the manufacturing process. The end-edge contact plays a vital role in the current pulse handling capability of MPPF capacitors, which varies from a few hundred to several thousand discharging cycles depending on the geometry of the capacitor and the end-edge contact manufacturing process.


Background: Humeral retroversion physiologically decreases during growth. However, in throwing athletes, the external forces caused by repetitive throwing are thought to increase humeral retroversion on the dominant side compared with that on the nondominant side. Purpose: To investigate the correlation between humeral retroversion and length of baseball career before age 16 years. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 112 high school baseball players (32 pitchers and 80 position players) with a mean age of 15.6 years (range, 15-16 years) were enrolled in the study. All participants completed questionnaires regarding their player position and the age when they started baseball and were given physical examinations. Shoulder range of motion and humeral retroversion were assessed on the dominant and nondominant sides. Humeral retroversion (rotation angle of the proximal humerus relative to the distal humerus) was measured ultrasonographically. Results: Humeral retroversion was significantly greater on the dominant side than on the nondominant side in both pitchers (P < .0001) and position players (P = .0005). The side-to-side difference in humeral retroversion in pitchers (13.9° ± 11.2°) was significantly greater than that in position players (9.0° ± 11.1°, P = .0361). In pitchers, there was a significant negative correlation between humeral retroversion and the age at which the players had started baseball (P = .033, β = −2.494). Conclusion: These results suggest that humeral retroversion increases with decreasing age at commencement of a baseball career before age 16 years in pitchers.


This research examines inferences about the emotional states of ingroup and outgroup victims after a natural disaster, and whether these inferences predict intergroup helping. Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the southern United States, White and non-White participants were asked to infer the emotional states of an individualized Black or White victim, and were asked to report their intentions to help such victims. Overall, participants believed that an outgroup victim experienced fewer secondary, 'uniquely human' emotions (e.g. anguish, mourning, remorse) than an ingroup victim. The extent to which participants did infer secondary emotions about outgroup victims, however, predicted their helping intentions; in other words, those participants who did not dehumanize outgroup victims were the individuals most likely to report intentions to volunteer for hurricane relief efforts. This investigation extends prior research by: (1) demonstrating infraglobalhumanization of individualized outgroup members (as opposed to aggregated outgroups); (2) examining infrahumanization via inferred emotional states (as opposed to attributions of emotions as stereotypic traits); and (3) identifying a relationship between infra-humanization of outgroup members and reduced intergroup helping.


Effect of sizes and dimensions on the spin density wave (SDW) and charge density wave (CDW) in organic ferromagnets was studied. It was found that the stable ferromagnetic state obtained in a closed ring with periodic boundary conditions would become unstable in an open chain due to the effect of chain ends. There was a competition between the spin-spin (s-s) couplings and the electron-electron (e-e) interactions for the formation of SDW and CDW in the main chain. Interchain couplings would strengthen SDW. It was suggested that the one- dimensional model should be improved to understand the organic magnetism well.


Decision feedback equalizer (DFE)-aided turbo-coded wideband adaptive quadrature amplitude modulation (AQAM) is proposed, which is capable of combating the temporal channel quality variation of fading channels. A procedure is suggested for determining the AQAM switching thresholds and the specific turbo-coding rates capable of maintaining the target bit-error rate while aiming for achieving a highly effective bits per symbol throughput. As a design alternative, we also employ multiple-input/multiple-output DFE-aided space-time trellis codes, which benefit from transmit diversity and hence reduce the temporal channel quality fluctuations. The performance of both systems is characterized and compared when communicating over the COST 207 typical urban wideband fading channel. It was found that the turbo-coded AQAM scheme outperforms the two-transmitter space-time trellis coded system employing two receivers; although, its performance is inferior to the space-time trellis coded arrangement employing three receivers.


The infinite-horizon optimal control problem of nonlinear discrete-time systems with actuator saturation is considered in this paper. In order to deal with actuator saturation, a novel nonquadratic functional is introduced, and the constrained Generalized Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (GHJB) equation and Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation for nonlinear discrete-time systems are derived in terms of non-quadratic functionals. The optimal saturated controller is obtained by a novel iterative algorithm based on the constrained GHJB equation, and a convergence proof is presented, where a neural network is used to approximate the value function. Finally, a nearly optimal saturated controller is obtained. The effectiveness of this algorithm is demonstrated by a numerical example.


The successful production of recombinant protein for biochemical, biophysical and structural biological studies critically depends on the correct expression organism. Currently the most commonly used expression organisms for structural studies are E. coli (ca. 70% of all PDB structures) and the baculovirus/ insect cell expression system (ca. 5% of all PDB structures). While insect cell expression is frequently successful for large eukaryotic proteins, it is relatively expensive and time consuming compared to E. coli expression. Frequently the decision to carry out a baculovirus project means restarting cloning from scratch. Here we describe an integrated system that allows the simultaneous cloning into E. coli and baculovirus expression vectors using the same PCR products. The system offers a flexible array of N- and C-terminal affinity, solublisation and utility tags, and the speed allows expression screening to be completed in E. coli, before carrying out time and cost intensive experiments in baculovirus. Importantly, we describe a means of rapidly generating polycistronic bacterial constructs based on the hugely successful biGBac system, making InteBac of particular interest for researchers working on recombinant protein complexes.


The pressure differences between the positions for gauge connection in a chamber for gauge comparison were measured and evaluated in two ways: (a) by the mutual interchange of two ionization gauges at the positions; and (b) by readings of one ionization gauge at various positions and of a spinning rotor gauge at a fixed position. The pressure in the chamber was set up by simultaneous admission and pumping of the gas. Differences of the order of a few percent were observed, probably caused by imperfect adjustment of the gas-introducing jet. Those differences are specific to the given apparatus, they depend on its adjustment, the geometry and some other parameters. The two methods are suitable for checking and adjusting the apparatus.


A retrospective study of 2,292 tonsillectomies revealed 12 cases of hereditary capillary fragility. These cases showed an increased morbidity from bleeding complications and accounted for 4.8 per cent of those with a secondary hemorrhage. When diagnosed, skin bleeding time should be carried out at the time of premedication, and, if prolonged, the procedure postponed.


The ability to coordinate finger forces to dexterously perform tasks develops in children as they grow older. Following brain injury, either developmental (as in cerebral palsy–CP) or acquired (as in traumatic brain injury—TBI), this developmental trajectory will likely be impaired. In this study, we compared finger coordination in a group of children aged 4–12 with CP and TBI to a group of typically developing children using an isometric pressing task. As expected, deficits were observed in functional tests (Jebsen Taylor test of hand function, Box and Block test) for both groups, and children in both groups performed the pressing task less well than the control group. However, differing results were observed between the CP and TBI groups when using the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis to look at the synergy index. This index measures the relative amount of "good" (does not affect the outcome measure) and "bad" (does affect the outcome measure) variability, where in this case the outcome measure is the total force produced by the fingers. While children with CP were more variable in their performance, their synergy index was not significantly different from typically developing children, suggesting the development of compensatory strategies. In contrast, the children following TBI showed performance that got worse as a function of age (i.e., the older children with TBI performed worse than the younger children with TBI). These differences between the groups may be a result of different areas of brain injury typically observed in CP and TBI, and the different amount of time that has passed since the injury.


It is argued that for the computer to be able to interact with humans, it needs to have the communication skills of humans. One of these skills is the ability to understand the emotional state of the person. This thesis describes a neural network-based approach for emotion classification. We learn a classifier that can recognize six basic emotions with an average accuracy of 77% over the Cohn-Kanade database. The novelty of this work is that instead of empirically selecting the parameters of the neural network, i.e. the learning rate, activation function parameter, momentum number, the number of nodes in one layer, etc. we developed a strategy that can automatically select comparatively better combination of these parameters. We also introduce another way to perform back propagation. Instead of using the partial differential of the error function, we use optimal algorithm; namely Powell's direction set to minimize the error function. We were also interested in construction an authentic emotion databases. This is a very important task because nowadays there is no such database available. Finally, we perform several experiments and show that our neural network approach can be successfully used for emotion recognition.


In this paper, methods are shown how to adapt invertible two-dimensional chaotic maps on a torus or on a square to create new symmetric block encryption schemes. A chaotic map is first generalized by introducing parameters and then discretized to a finite square lattice of points which represent pixels or some other data items. Although the discretized map is a permutation and thus cannot be chaotic, it shares certain properties with its continuous counterpart as long as the number of iterations remains small. The discretized map is further extended to three dimensions and composed with a simple diffusion mechanism. As a result, a symmetric block product encryption scheme is obtained. To encrypt an N × N image, the ciphering map is iteratively applied to the image. The construction of the cipher and its security is explained with the two-dimensional Baker map. It is shown that the permutations induced by the Baker map behave as typical random permutations. Computer simulations indicate that the cipher has good diffusion properties with respect to the plain-text and the key. A nontraditional pseudo-random number generator based on the encryption scheme is described and studied. Examples of some other two-dimensional chaotic maps are given and their suitability for secure encryption is discussed. The paper closes with a brief discussion of a possible relationship between discretized chaos and cryptosystems.


The weight distribution and list-decoding size of Reed-Muller codes are studied in this work. Given a weight parameter, we are interested in bounding the number of Reed-Muller codewords with weight up to the given parameter; and given a received word and a distance parameter, we are interested in bounding the size of the list of Reed-Muller codewords that are within that distance from the received word. Obtaining tight bounds for the weight distribution of Reed-Muller codes has been a long standing open problem in coding theory, dating back to 1976. In this work, we make a new connection between computer science techniques used to study low-degree polynomials and these coding theory questions. This allows us to resolve the weight distribution and list-decoding size of Reed-Muller codes for all distances. Previous results could only handle bounded distances: Azumi, Kasami, and Tokura gave bounds on the weight distribution which hold up to 2.5 times the minimal distance of the code; and Gopalan, Klivans, and Zuckerman gave bounds on the list-decoding size which hold up to the Johnson bound.


ABSTRACT To the Editor.— I like to emphasize the necessity of closer cooperation between physician and dentist when it comes to diagnosing and treating disturbances of that region of the human body that should be the domain of members of both these medical sciences. Today's dentist is a medical specialist, not legally though, but de facto for sure. He has been for thousands of years. Yet, dentistry is still a stepchild of the profession. Dr. Charles Mayo once said: "It may be going too far to say that dentists should be doctors of medicine, but certainly all dentists should know more about the practice of medicine and all physicians should know more about dentistry."Much the physicians, generally speaking, know about dentistry is probably self-taught, often not learned in medical school or in postgraduate courses or from books. The other day I looked into a book entitled Surgery of the Alimentary


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the perceived brand equity of professional football clubs on foreign markets as these clubs firmly want to expand and reach a global brand status. Design/methodology/approach – Fitting with an inductive approach, 12 semi-structured interviews are conducted in order to analyse the perceptions of Chinese fans of four English Premier League clubs. Findings – The results of this research highlight the fact that the strength of professional football brand equity on the Chinese market is strongly determined by the level of brand awareness and perceived quality but, due to the increasing competition on foreign markets, professional football clubs need to clearly define their strategic marketing in order to improve the two other dimensions of brand equity, which are brand image and loyalty, which represents crucial stake to distinguish themselves. Originality/value – The results provide useful information for professional clubs in general which want to become global but also provide relevant ways to improve brand equity for the four clubs investigated. This paper is one of the first to analyse perceived brand equity of professional clubs in direct competition among foreign potential or current customers.


Background: A novel stability indicating analytical method was developed and validated by High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) using Design of experiment approach. The proposed method is useful for quantification of Metformin hydrochloride and Empagliflozin in bulk and its dosage forms simultaneously. Design of experiment approach was applied for optimization of chromatographic conditions. Materials and Methods: For optimization process independent variables were used as Isopropyl alcohol proportion in mobile phase, saturation time of chamber and distance travelled by mobile phase. Experiments were carried out on silica gel pre-coated plate using mobile phase as 2 % Ammonium acetate: Isopropyl alcohol: Triethylamine (4:6:0.1 v/v/v). Direct evaluation of chromatograms were done by TLC scanner with reflectance/absorbance mode set at 242 nm. Method was validated as per ICH Q2 (R1) requirements. Results: Correlation coefficients for calibration curves were found to be 0.985 and 0.988, the calibration curve is in concentration range of 5000-30000 ng band-1 and 125–750 ng band-1 for Metformin hydrochloride and Empagliflozin respectively. The method showed % recovery between 99.05 to 102.54 % for Metformin hydrochloride and 99.20 to 101.50 % for Empagliflozin. The method has a prospective to determine Metformin hydrochloride and Empagliflozin simultaneously. The Metformin hydrochloride and Empagliflozin were subjected to forced degradation studies like hydrolysis, oxidation, thermolysis and photodegradation. Conclusion: Proposed method has capacity to separate the Metformin hydrochloride and Empagliflozin in its degradation products. Hence one can apply this method effectively for routine analysis and during stability study as per regulatory requirements.


The focus field is a key component to enable clinical applications in magnetic particle imaging (MPI). Due to physiological constraints, the method of choice is to place the focus of a small acquisition volume at various static positions in space and acquire the full field-of-view using a multi-station approach. In the first experiments, overlapping drive-field patches were used and boundary artifacts between drive-field patches were reduced using image processing. In this work we show that artifact-free reconstruction of non-overlapping focus-field data is feasible by using a joint reconstruction algorithm. This enables maximum scanning efficiency in multi-station focus-field experiments, which is key for reaching sufficiently short acquisition times to image the human heart.


C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and its specific receptor (ANPRB) are richly distributed throughout the brain, especially the anterior pituitary and hypothalamus but not in tissue of nonneural origin. These findings suggest that the actions of CNP, unlike atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), are largely confined to the brain where CNP may participate in the central regulation of hemodynamics and salt and water balance. Therefore, we have studied the hemodynamic, renal, and hormonal effects of continuous intracerebroventricular infusions of CNP (5 micrograms/h for 4 h) in a vehicle-controlled study and compared the responses to those of ANF in normal conscious sheep. Hemodynamic and hormonal responses to ANF were not different from control infusions. There was a trend for urinary sodium and potassium excretion to increase throughout the control infusion but not on the ANF day. Water intake during control infusion (358 +/- 160 ml/4 h) was almost 3-fold that ingested during ANF (127 +/- 89 ml/4 h, NS). In contrast, CNP induced a prompt fall in mean arterial pressure (mean decrement 5 mm Hg), arterial pressure remaining below time control values for the remainder of the infusion (P = 0.006). Rises in both heart rate and PRA observed on the control day tended to be attenuated by CNP. Urine electrolyte response to CNP was similar to that observed with ANF. Compared with control infusions, the responses of both plasma aldosterone (P = 0.006) and cortisol (P = 0.043) were significantly different. Following CNP-induced hypotension, plasma cortisol and aldosterone increased abruptly at 30 min after which values fell to control or lower levels until the infusion was terminated. These studies show that intracerebroventricular CNP lowers arterial pressure without increasing heart rate and also suppresses the adrenocortical response, whereas ANF given under the same conditions has no significant effects. These data support the hypothesis that CNP plays an important role in the central regulation of blood pressure and hormones.


The experimental values of $R_b$ and $R_c$ are the only data which do not seem to agree with Standard Model predictions. Although it is still premature to draw any definite conclusions, it is timely to look for new physics which could explain the excess in $R_b$ and deficit in $R_c$. We investigate this problem in a simple extension of the Standard Model, where a charge $+2/3$ isosinglet quark is added to the standard spectrum. Upon the further introduction of an extra scalar doublet, one finds a solution with interesting consequences.


Growth of the human neuroblastoma IMR-32 in methylcellulose culture was studied. The number of colonies was proportional to the number of seeded cells in all conditions tested: control cultures (CT) and test cultures with epidermal growth factor (EGF), hydrocortisone (HC), combined EGF/HC, fibroblast growth factor (FGF) or nerve growth factor (NGF). A portion of IMR-32 cells formed colonies and all factors were without effect when tested individually. In contrast, the combination of EGF/HC at low cell densities enhanced the number of colonies two-fold as compared to controls. Differentiation in IMR-32 colonies was examined by immunocytochemical detection of cell specific marker proteins. As determined by staining with different markers, at least two cells subpopulations could be established within the same colony. One of them expressed NSE (neuron specific enolase) and was designated as neuronal. The other subpopulation was called non-neuronal since it consisted of vimentin and S-100 protein positive cells which were considerably enhanced in the presence of EGF or EGF/HC. In vitro, the IMR-32 neuroblastoma cell line contains pluripotent stem cells from which are derived distinct phenotypes sensitive to different extrinsic factors. Increasing time in culture enhanced neuronal differentiation. EGF, on the other hand, targeted preferentially the non-neuronal phenotype, and stimulated colony formation and its differentiation.


The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of the different isoforms of tocopherol (T) in seminal plasma (P) and in the sperm fractions of individuals with abnormal (group 1) and normal (group 2) sperm parameters; the relationships between these isoforms and conventional sperm parameters were also explored. Two vitamin E homologues, α-T and δ-T, were identified in the semen of all participants. Although α-T and δ-T concentrations were similar in the semen of the 2 groups, group 1 showed a lower α-T ratio (S/P) (0.90 vs. 1.20, P < .001) and δ-T ratio (0.86 vs 1.13, P = .007) than group 2. In addition, both T ratios were correlated with the percentage of viable cells, detected by eosin staining. These results suggested that α-T and δ-T are not homogeneously distributed in the semen fractions; in normal semen they are more concentrated in the sperm membrane, whereas in abnormal semen the damaged sperm cells may release both Ts in the plasma. To verify whether sperm membrane breakage could alter α-T and δ-T distribution between the seminal plasma and the spermatozoa, normal sperm samples were sonicated; after sonication a consistent sperm plasma membrane fragmentation, highlighted by transmission electron microscopy, and a concomitant release of α-T and δ-T were observed. In conclusion, the Ts coupled directly with the sperm membrane seem to play the main protective role in the semen, and the release of α-T and δ-T in the P fraction is probably an index of lower antioxidant power and sperm quality.


Most of the works on Generation-Based Network Coding (GBNC) consider a fixed generation size. A large generation size maximizes the Network Coding benefits but leads to a long delay while a small generation size reduces the delay but decreases the throughput. This paper presents the DYnamic GEneration Size (DYGES) approach. Our network-aware method adjusts the generation size according to the network variations (network size, congestion, losses) for multicast flows to keep the delay steady. Our goal is to guarantee a Quality of Service (QoS) in terms of delay. The simulation results show the accuracy of DYGES.