Background Adverse events associated with poor dose calculation skills among nurses on paediatric wards are frequent and may lead to increased morbidity and mortality. An E-learning program has successfully been implemented in one paediatric ward in Denmark and is used for competency training and revision. Purpose To evaluate a nationwide up-scaling of an E-learning program on paediatric nurses' dose calculation skills. Materials and methods The intervention contained training on dose calculation skills using an E-learning program and a teaching session provided by the hospital pharmacy. Nurses in 8 paediatric wards throughout Denmark participated. Dose calculation skills were evaluated by a "before" and "after" test containing 15 generic calculation tasks. Nurse satisfaction with study participation was evaluated by a questionnaire survey. Results Of the 97 nurses completing the "before" test, only 36 (37%) completed the "after" test and 15 (42%) of those had trained 1 h or less using the E-learning program. The questionnaire was filled in by 55 nurses. The test results showed mean scores of 75.9% (pre-training) and 79.9% (post-training) of correct answers. According to the questionnaire survey, the majority of the nurses reported: improvement in their calculation skills (30 out of 54), satisfaction with the E-learning program (33 out of 36), satisfaction with the teaching lesson (36 out of 41) and satisfaction with the collaboration with the hospital pharmacy (47 out of 53). The majority were positive towards the E-learning program, test and teaching in the future. Conclusions The study found a tendency to improvement in dose calculation skills among nurses completing both tests, despite only a little training using the E-learning program. The majority of the participants were satisfied with the E-learning program and were positive towards it as a future initiative. However, the study completion rate was low suggesting that the up-scaling model needs further development for successful implementation. No conflict of interest.


The continuing growth and widespread popularity of the internet means that the collection of useful data available for public access is rapidly increasing both in number and size. These data are spread over distributed heterogeneous data sources like traditional databases or sources of various forms containing unstructured and semi-structured data. Obviously, the value of these data sources would in many cases be greatly enhanced if the data they contain could be combined and queried in a uniform manner. The research work reported in this dissertation is concerned with querying and integrating a multiplicity of distributed heterogeneous structured data residing in relational databases and semi-structured data held in well- formed XML documents produced by internet applications or human- coded. In particular, we have addressed the problems of: (1) specifying the mappings between a global schema and the local data sources' schemas, and resolving the heterogeneity which can occur between data models, schemas or schema concepts (2) processing queries that are expressed on a global schema into local queries. We have proposed an approach to combine and query the data sources through a mediation layer. Such a layer is intended to establish and evolve an XML Metadata Knowledge Base (XMKB) incrementally which assists the Query Processor in mediating between user queries posed over the global schema and the queries on the underlying distributed heterogeneous data sources. It translates such queries into sub-queries -called local queries- which are appropriate to each local data source. The XMKB is built in a bottom-up fashion by extracting and merging incrementally the metadata of the data sources. It holds the data source's information (names, types and locations), descriptions of the mappings between the global schema and the participating data source schemas, and function names for handling semantic and structural discrepancies between the representations. To demonstrate our research, we have designed and implemented a prototype system called SISSD (System to Integrate Structured and Semi- structured Databases). The system automatically creates a GUI tool for meta-users (who do the metadata integration) which they use to describe mappings between the global schema and local data source schemas. These mappings are used to produce the XMKB. The SISSD allows the translation of user queries into sub-queries fitting each participating data source, by exploiting the mapping information stored in the XMKB. The major results of the thesis are: (1) an approach that facilitates building structured and semi-structured data integration systems (2) a method for generating mappings between a global and local schemas' paths, and resolving the conflicts caused by the heterogeneity of the data sources such as naming, structural, and semantic conflicts which, may occur between the schemas (3) a method for translating queries in terms of a global schema into sub-queries in terms of local schemas. Hence, the presented approach shows that: (a) mapping of the schemas' paths can only be partially automated, since the logical heterogeneity problems need to be resolved by human judgment based on the application requirements (b) querying distributed heterogeneous structured and semi-structured data sources is possible


The article analyzes demographic, migration, social and economic dynamics of large cities in the South of Russia at the beginning of the 21st century. It is concluded that this period was characterized by the process of metropolization of the urban network, associated with the rapid development of administrative centers, which concentrated a significant share of financial resources, investments, trade, services, and the real estate market in their regions. The share of the regional capitals in these segments of social and economic activity significantly exceeded their share in the population. Other large cities took an intermediate position between the administrative centers and the rest of the territory of their regions, although in many respects they were noticeably closer to the latter. The exception was the large resort centers of the Black Sea region, whose rapid growth was determined their general recreational potential. The largest social and economic centers of the South of Russia are currently Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar, which together account for about 25–35% of fixed assets, investments, retail trade turnover, and commissioned housing in the macroregion. Volgograd remains the leading industrial center of the South of Russia. However Volgograd has not fully realized its significant social and demographic potential in modern economic clusters. Among the other large cities of the macroregion, two subgroups can be distinguished. They unite centers comparable in their complex social and economic potential. The first group includes Astrakhan, Sochi, and Sevastopol. The second one consists of Novorossiysk, Simferopol, Volzhsky, and Taganrog. The spatial asymmetry of the group of large cities in the southern macro-region continued to increase in the post-Soviet period: 2/3 of them are currently located at a distance of up to 100 km from the coast of the Black or Azov Seas, forming a zone of advanced development of the South of Russia. In the next 10–15 years, only the Black Sea centers of the Kuban and Crimea, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don with the satellite city of Bataysk, can show demographic growth.


Today, more and more emphasis placed on the energy usage and the electricity supply. Rising energy prices and the effect of greenhouse gases in the past few decades caused subjective improvement and optimization of energy efficiency in the industry. In this regard, many technologies such as distributed generation, energy storage and distribution lead times for energy optimization are presented. We live in a high-technology society and for improving these technologies, electricity share of global energy resources are expected to grow. With a smart production, distribution and energy consumption in the future, we hope to continue the electrical energy posterity. This paper reviews concepts and researches done on optimizing the energy efficiency.


Abstract Depression is long sadness and anxiety that enclosed by worthless feeling and dominated by uncomfortable feeling and long strong intensity. The purpose of the research was to determine the factors that influenced the level of depression in cancer patient that being treated at RSUD Arifin Achmad Riau Province with descriptive correlation research design and cross sectional study . S ample of this research was 60 respondents based on inclusion criteria by using purposive sampling technique. Measuring tool s of this research are questionnaire for family support, the level of knowledge and level of depression. The univariate analysis used to showed the frequency distribution and bivariate analysis using Chi Square test for family support variable and alternative Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for age, gender, and level of knowledge . The results of univariate analysis show ed that most cancer patients was 41-60 years (60.0%), female (81.7%), has been married (100%), the last of educational was senior high school (38.3%), most medical diagnosis was breast cancer (80.0%), family support system was high (55.0%), level of knowledge was low (73.3%), level of depression was moderate (38.3%). The results of b ivariate analysis show ed that there is a correlation between family support system (p value 0.002) with the level of depression and there are no relationship between age (p value 0.949), gender (p value 0.917), the level of knowledge (p value 0.645) with the rate of depression. Recommended for health workers , family and social environment can reduce the rate of depression by providing information support, appreciation, emotional and instrumental. Keywords: Cancer, family support system, level of depression, level of knowledge


India is Sri Lanka's closest neighbour. The relationship between the two countries is more than 2,500 years old and both countries have a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction. Relations between the two countries have also matured and diversified with the passage of time. The shared cultural and civilization heritage of the two countries and the extensive people to people interaction of their citizens provide the foundation to build a multi-faceted partnership.


Juncus acutus (Juncaceae) is a perennial wetland plant and it is commonly known as spiny rush or sharp rush. It is the most abundant plant in Kizilirmak grassland, Samsun, Turkey. Heavy metals are significant environmental contaminants in delta and their toxicity is an increasing problem for animals whose natural habitat is delta. The objective of this study was to evaluate heavy metal concentrations mainly As, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb and Hg in stem and seed of Juncus acutus for grazing animals and birds in delta. The Juncus acutus stem and seed samples were collected from Kizilirmak Delta in July, August and September. Heavy metal concentrations of collected samples were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). The obtained mean values of three months for As, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb and Hg of stem and seed samples of Juncus acutus were 0.11 and 0.23 mg/kg; 0.07 and 0.11 mg/kg; 0.02 and 0.02 mg/kg; 5.26 and 1.75 mg/kg; 0.05 and not detectable in July respectively. Hg was not detected in both stem and seed of Juncus acutus, Pb concentration was determined only in stem of Juncus acutus but not in seed. There were no significant differences between the values of three months for As, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb and Hg of stem and seed samples of Juncus acutus. The obtained As, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb and Hg results of stem and seed of Juncus acutus show that seed and stem of Juncus acutus may be safely consumed for grazing animals and birds regarding to heavy metals contamination in Kizilirmak Delta. Keywords—Heavy metals, Juncus acutus, Kizilirmak Delta, wetland.


The lattice formulation of Quantum Field Theory (QFT) can be exploited in many ways. We can derive the lattice Feynman rules and carry out weak coupling perturbation expansions. The lattice then serves as a manifestly gauge invariant regularization scheme, albeit one that is more complicated than standard continuum schemes. Strong coupling expansions: these give us useful qualitative information, but unfortunately no hard numbers. The lattice theory is amenable to numerical simulations by which one calculates the long distance properties of a strongly interacting theory from first principles. The observables are measured as a function of the bare coupling g and a gauge invariant cut-off approx. = 1/..cap alpha.., where ..cap alpha.. is the lattice spacing. The continuum (physical) behavior is recovered in the limit ..cap alpha.. ..-->.. 0, at which point the lattice artifacts go to zero. This is the more powerful use of lattice formulation, so in these lectures the author focuses on setting up the theory for the purpose of numerical simulations to get hard numbers. The numerical techniques used in Lattice Gauge Theories have their roots in statistical mechanics, so it is important to develop an intuition for the interconnection between quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics. Thismore » will be the emphasis of the first lecture. In the second lecture, the author reviews the essential ingredients of formulating QCD on the lattice and discusses scaling and the continuum limit. In the last lecture the author summarizes the status of some of the main results. He also mentions the bottlenecks and possible directions for research. 88 refs.« less


Anxiety in Parkinson's disease (aPD) is underdiagnosed, undertreated, and understudied. As many as 50% of persons diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) are reported to suffer from anxiety. Current treatment is largely pharmacologic, which can result in a myriad of undesirable and unsafe side effects. The aim of this paper is to examine intervention studies of self-managed nonpharmacological strategies for the treatment of anxiety. A comprehensive review was conducted on experimental or quasi-experimental trials that included self-management approaches for the nonpharmacologic treatment of anxiety as a primary or secondary aim or outcome measure. Thirteen studies were identified from four databases. Study quality demonstrated variability in design and delivery of self-managed interventions; sample sizes were small; anxiety was most commonly a secondary aim; and the use of anxiety measures varied widely. Statistical significance was evident in slightly more than 50% of the anxiety intervention studies. A common element in the interventions in all studies was the focused use of breath. Further research is needed to determine the feasibility of using focused breathing, alone, as an intervention for the self-management of anxiety in Parkinson's disease.


In this paper we examine the chemical composition results obtained on a collection of 18 dinosaur fossil bones from Spain studied using a portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometer together with a reverse Monte Carlo numerical technique of data analysis. This approach is applied to the hypothesis of arbitrarily rough surfaces in order to account for the influence of the surface state of specimens on the chemical content evaluation. It is confirmed that the chemical content of elements is essential for understanding the changes brought about by diagenetic and taphonomic processes. However, for precise knowledge of what changes fossil bones have undergone after animal life and burial, it is necessary to use a multi-technique approach making use of other instruments like x-ray diffraction in order to describe accurately the transformations undergone by the mineralogical and bioinorganic phases and the properties of specific molecular groups.


Recent Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the protoplanetary disk around HD 169142 reveal a peculiar structure made of concentric dusty rings: a main ring at ∼20 au, a triple system of rings at ∼55–75 au in millimetric continuum emission, and a perturbed gas surface density from the 12CO,13CO, and C18O (J = 2–1) surface brightness profile. In this Letter, we perform 3D numerical simulations and radiative transfer modeling exploring the possibility that two giant planets interacting with the disk and orbiting in resonant locking can be responsible for the origin of the observed dust inner rings structure. We find that in this configuration the dust structure is actually long lived while the gas mass of the disk is accreted onto the star and the giant planets, emptying the inner region. In addition, we also find that the innermost planet is located at the inner edge of the dust ring, and can accrete mass from the disk, generating a signature in the dust ring shape that can be observed in mm ALMA observations.


Metabolomics, i.e., the global analysis of cellular metabolites, is becoming a powerful tool for gaining insights into biological functions in the postgenomic context. However, absolute quantitation of endogenous metabolites in biological media remains an issue, and available technologies for the analysis of metabolome still lack robustness and accuracy. We describe here a new method based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and (15)N uniform metabolic labeling of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for accurate and absolute quantitation of nitrogen-containing cell metabolites in metabolic profiling experiments. As a proof of concept study, eight sulfur metabolites involved in the glutathione biosynthesis pathway (i.e., cysteine, homocysteine, methionine, gamma-glutamylcysteine, cystathionine, reduced and oxidized forms of glutathione, and S-adenosylhomocysteine) were simultaneously quantified. The analytical method has been validated by studies of stability, selectivity, precision, and linearity and by the determination of the limits of detection and quantification. It was then applied to the analysis of extracts from cadmium-treated yeasts. In these conditions, the intracellular concentrations of most of the metabolites involved in the glutathione biosynthesis pathway were increased when compared to control extracts. These data correlate with previous proteomic results and also underline the importance of glutathione in cadmium detoxication.


Asia-Pacific security and consequent regional architecture have always posed a complicated question to security analysts and policy makers given the region's vast economic and political diversity. The rising dichotomy between growing regional economic integration and inter-dependence on the one hand, and rising tensions between the major powers and countries in the region on the other, once again raises the issue of how to manage the strategic transformations to ensure peace and stability conducive to economic development and prosperity. It appears that the ASEAN-centred and ASEAN-led mechanisms that have evolved over time can be developed to cope with "new shared interests" and "perception of shared challenges". The growing linkages between the major sea lines — the Indian and Pacific oceans — and enhanced connectivity among India, ASEAN and China are also influencing strategic transformations. Despite its limitations, the East Asia Summit may be best positioned to develop the Indo-Pacific idea.


Recently, BIM has been widely applying in civil engineering projects centering on the private construction industry in order to establish self guidelines for spreading in practice. However, most BIM technologies and software are based on the architectural projects. In these environments, it is not easy to apply the BIM to a infrastructure field. Even BIM standards with IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) are also focusing on architectural projects. Especially, both private and public sectors do not know about how BIM delivery system should be performed, and how such deliverable should be submitted to the government yet. Thus, we need to analyze an application level of BIM S/W (Software) in real projects and verify their interoperability. Besides, since there are not any common standards that can exchange IFC models for civil engineering projects, we have many issues in converting as-built infrastructure models into IFC and delivering their design documents to the government. Accordingly, this study aims to perform a BIM process with commercial software for real road project after a detailed design process is finished and verify interoperability between diverse BIM software for securing BIM data reliability.


A supersymmetric technique for the solution of the effective mass Schrödinger equation is proposed. Exact solutions of the Schrödinger equation corresponding to a number of potentials are obtained. The potentials are fully isospectral with the original potentials. The conditions for the shape invariance of the potentials are discussed.


party t o create and control a military force during the last few months of the Third Reich. Massively documenting his arguments with almost one hundred pages of notes, Yelton mainrains that historians have failed to understand the real objective behind the creation of the Volkssturm, which he admits was a failure. Yelton argues that Adolf Hitler and his close advisers still thought that they could win the war even after the disastrous military reversals of summer 1944. Germany had only to generate a fanatic will to resist the Allies long enough to produce a stalemate that would undermine Allied morale and induce them to offer Germany a favorable peace. Controlled by the party, the Volkssturm was to play the crucial role in creating that will. Martin Bormann, the head of the Party Chancellery, convinced Hitler to establish the Volkssturrn under party control. Bormann believed that the Volkssturm would create a vigorous people's community (Volksgemeinschafr) and help complete the total coordination (Gleir,hschaltung) of German society the Nazis started in 1933. Yelton describes in great detail the power struggle between Bormann, Heinrich Himmler, and other important Nazi leaders over control of the m In describing Bormann's victory, Yelton adds to our knowledge of the internal power structure during the final phase of the Third Reich and complements Eleanor Hancock's National Socialist Leadership and Total Wac 1941-1945 (1991). The Volkssturm was established as a traditional local militia to overcome the public's fear of serving in guerrilla units. Although Bormanri guarded the party's control over indoctrination, Yelton notes that the army came "to dominate Volkssturm military issues'' ( 1 18). The last two chapters of Hirler's Wkssturm evaluate the m erally poor performance on the western and eastern fronts, although the "record against the Soviets is glaringly better" (135) because of fear and desperation and good cooperation between the army and the militia. Like other scholars, Yelton attributes the failure of the Volkssturm to low morale, lack of weapons, and inadequate training. But he also blames Bormann for stifling local and regional party initiatives and suggests that the "Nazi political system helped strangle enthusiasm for the Volkssturm" (72). Alastair Noble's brief article "The People's Levy: The Volkssturm and Popular Mobilization in Eastern Germany 1944-1 945," (Journal ofstrategic Studies. Vol. 24, No. I ) confirms Yelton's negative assessment. Yelton's valuable study will be of interest to graduate and undergraduate students.


We have searched 75 unidentified radio sources selected from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey catalog for the presence of rapidly spinning pulsars and short, dispersed radio bursts. The sources are radio bright, have no identifications or optical source coincidences, are more than 5% linearly polarized, and are spatially unresolved in the catalog. If these sources are fast-spinning pulsars (e.g., sub-millisecond pulsars), previous large-scale pulsar surveys may have missed detection due to instrumental and computational limitations, eclipsing effects, or diffractive scintillation. The discovery of a sub-millisecond pulsar would significantly constrain the neutron star equation of state and would have implications for models predicting a rapid slowdown of highly recycled X-ray pulsars to millisecond periods from, e.g., accretion disk decoupling. These same sources were previously searched unsuccessfully for pulsations at 610 MHz with the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank. This new search was conducted at a different epoch with a new 800 MHz backend on the NRAO 43 m Telescope at a center frequency of 1200 MHz. Our search was sensitive to sub-millisecond pulsars in highly accelerated binary systems and to short transient pulses. No periodic or transient signals were detected from any of the target sources. We conclude that diffractive scintillation, dispersive smearing, and binary acceleration are unlikely to have prevented detection of the large majority of the sources if they are pulsars, though we cannot rule out eclipsing, nulling or intermittent emission, or radio interference as possible factors for some non-detections. Other (speculative) possibilities for what these sources might include radio-emitting magnetic cataclysmic variables or older pulsars with aligned magnetic and spin axes.


CATCH 22 is a medical acronym for cardiac defects, abnormal faces, thymic hypoplasia, cleft palate, and hypocalcemia, and a variable deletion on chromosome 22. It includes DiGeorge syndrome, conotruncal anomaly face syndrome, and velo-cardio-facial syndrome. It has a prevalence estimated at 1 :3,000-1:6,000. Most deletions occur at de novo, but autosomal dominant inheritance is observed in 6-10% of cases. Hormonal disorders are common in patients with CATCH22 syndrome. While hypoparathyroidism was the predominant endocrine disturbance that has been documented in the DiGeorge syndrome, other hormonal defects, such as growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism, and hyperthyroidism have been occurred in patients with CATCH22 syndrome. The spectrum of parathyroid gland dysfunction in this syndrome ranges from severe neonatal hypocalcemia to normal parathyroid function. Most patients are usually diagnosed in young age, but a few patients with mild abnormality are presented later in life. We report a case of CATCH22 syndrome with normal parathyroid hormone and calcium level in an adult. The diagnosis of CATCH22 syndrome was confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. (Endocrinol Metab 27:151-154, 2012)


Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) data gathered onboard Indian Remote Sensing satellite (IRS P4), in eight VNIR bands covering Gulf of Kutch and adjoining regions were digitally processed using an image processing system. False colour composite images of actual data and principal components were generated to study sediment transport, depth variation and associated processes by mapping coastal and underwater geomorphic features and suspended sediment plumes. Submerged shoals, located as deep as 20 m below water level, were correctly marked. By studying turbidity distribution patterns and sediment transport indicators, sediment distribution and dispersion have been inferred. The study demonstrates that OCM data have been derived from up to 20 m water depth in the high-energy tide dominated Gulf and hence are useful for mapping underwater bedforms, sediment plumes, and other geomorphic features. The study indicates that the sediments are transported to the Gulf from the north as well as from the south and are mainly season dependent. It is concluded that the OCM data can be used for depth variation and sediment distribution studies.


A 72-year-old non-diabetic uremic woman underwent right nephrectomy for urolithiasis at the age of 50. Because pyuria, fever, chilliness and left flank pain developed during preparing for arteriovenous fistula, she was admitted to National Cheng Kung University Hospital. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) complicated with emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN) was diagnosed and immediately treated with antibiotics and CT-guided percutaneous catheter drainage. Cultures of pus and blood yielded Escherichia coli. She received left radical nephrectomy later for the control of persistent sepsis and removal of left renal tumor. The pathology of the tumor was composed of a glandular arrangement of granular cells with the occasional atypism, and renal parenchyma had been totally replaced by RCC. The non-tumor part of the kidney showed chronic pyelonephritis. Five months later, multiple metastases developed. We reported this first uremic case with EPN and RCC, but without diabetes mellitus and urinary tract obstruction. The gas formation may be due to large RCC, which caused impaired tissue perfusion and E. coli infection.


In Europe, Cytauxzoon spp. infection was documented in domestic and wild felids. Cats often develop a subclinical infection, while fatal disease is rare. Currently, information on the epidemiology, risk factors and clinicopathological findings of Cytauxzoon spp. infection remains limited and obtained by a single subject or small groups of cats. The objective of this case-control study was to evaluate clinicopathological findings and to describe risk factors associated with Cytauxzoon spp. infection in domestic cats. Infected cats (n = 39) and non-infected (n = 190) cats were selected from the database of the referral San Marco Veterinary Laboratory between 2008 and 2021. Demographic information, a preset questionnaire considering lifestyle, environment, and clinical status, and a CBC performed contextually with the PCR analysis were recorded for all cats. Data on the biochemical profile and serum protein electrophoresis were also evaluated when available. Compared to the control group, infection was more likely to occur in stray cats (24/39, 61.5%, P < 0.001), living totally/partially outdoors (36/39, 92.3%, P < 0.001), in an urban context (37/39, 94.9%, P = 0.002), taken or recently adopted from colonies (34/35, 97.1, P < 0.001), with irregular or absent parasite preventive treatments (39/39, 100%, p = 0.005), without fleas (28/35, 80%, P = 0.047) and without clinical signs (22/39, 56.4%, p = 0.026) at the time of medical evaluation. Anemia was not associated with infection, but in cats without clinical signs, the percentage of anemic-infected cats (7/22, 31.8%, P = 0.009) was higher compared to non-infected cats (5/65, 7.7%). Furthermore, a decrease in total iron serum concentration approximating the lowest reference interval [median values (IQR): 79 μg/dL (52.25) vs. 50.5 μg/dL (34), P = 0.007] was likely in infected cats. No other laboratory findings were associated with infection. Interestingly, a partial/total outdoor lifestyle was a risk factor for infection (OR: 8.58, 95% CI: 2.90–37.0, P < 0.001). In conclusion, the present study revealed that Cytauxzoon spp. infection manifests itself prevalently as a subclinical infection, based on physical examination and laboratory findings, in domestic European cats. However, subclinical infected cats were more likely to be anemic compared to non-infected.


This paper proposes a cooperative control algorithm for a dual-arms robot which is carrying an object to the desired location. When the dual-arms robot is carrying an object from the start to the goal point, the optimal path in terms of safety, energy, and time needs to be selected among the numerous possible paths. In order to quantify the carrying efficiency of dual-arms, DAMM (Dual Arm Manipulability Measure) has been defined and applied for the decision of the optimal path. The DAMM is defined as the intersection of the manipulability ellipsoids of the dual-arms, while the manipulability measure indicates a relationship between the joint velocity and the Cartesian velocity for each arm. The cost function for achieving the optimal path is defined as the summation of the distance to the goal and inverse of this DAMM, which aims to generate the efficient motion to the goal. It is confirmed that the optimal path planning keeps higher manipulability through the short distance path by using computer simulation. To show the effectiveness of this cooperative control algorithm experimentally, a 5-DOF dual-arm robot with distributed controllers for synchronization control has been developed and used for the experiments.


A 57 year-old, male presented with a chronic unilateral nasal obstruction and epistaxis. Intranasal endoscopy showed multiple polypoid lesions. The computed tomography exam revealed a heterogeneous mass that occupied the right nasal cavity with osteolysis of the middle and lower cone causing fluid retention of the right maxillary sinus. He underwent resection of these lesions. Pathological examination revealed malignant transformation of nasal inverted papilloma into sarcomatoid carcinoma. This case report highlights the importance of considering malignant transformation in the differential diagnosis of polypoid lesions.


The Program for Risk Information on Climate Change (SOUSEI) is a national project for projection of global change, with an aim to generate information to evaluate the probability of the occurrence of extreme events and the risk of various disasters, damage, etc., and to play a role in risk management. This project began in FY2012 and will continue for five years. The project ′ s specific research is divided into five themes which are being pursued concurrently, as follow. Theme A: Prediction and diagnosis of imminent global climate change, Theme B: Climate change projection contributing to stabilization target setting, Theme C: Development of basic technology for risk information on climate change, Theme D: Precise impact assessments on climate change, and Theme E: Promotion for climate change research and linkage coordination. Theme A focuses on the development of the basic model that is the basis of this program. In this program ′ s precursor, the Innovative Program of Climate Change Projection for the 21st Century, research on the basic model was also driving the overall program, but in the current program, we aim to strengthen the basic model itself and to add more advanced functions. Theme B has a sibling relationship with Theme A. It adds elements such as the environmental biogeochemical cycles and biological activity to the basic model, develops a more detailed earth system model, and studies target levels for stabilization of the climate. The aim of Theme C is to extract more detailed prediction information and to describe the ″ conceivable scenario ″ including the probability of a particular scenario occurring, such as Isewan Typhoon (Typhoon Vera). In response, Theme D aims to produce risk projections and assessments to provide adaptation to minimize the impact to natural hazards, water resources and ecosystem and biodiversity under climate change. Theme E is unique in that it is dedicated to supporting other research themes (Theme A-D) including technical issues, such as establishment and maintenance of data storage server with ˜3PB data space. Theme E is also expected to link SOUSEI Program with another IT project in Japan, i.e., Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS), which in turn is serving as the Japan Node for the Earth System Grid. In the presentation, results obtained so far under SOUSEI Program and ongoing coordination in Japan regarding preparation for CMIP6 will be reported for both scientific and technological aspects.


In recent years, low salinity flooding has attracted significant attention as a new method for improving/enhancing oil recovery for both sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. Extensive laboratory experiments investigating the effect of low salinity injection are available in the literature, which show a wide range of responses in the extra oil recovery, ranging from 0 to more than 20%. In this paper, we report experimental programs performed using cores and fluids from several reservoirs in Abu Dhabi with the objective of quantifying low salinity effect in both secondary and tertiary modes and to establish a procedure to screen reservoirs for their suitability for low salinity waterflooding.
 To quantify the low salinity effect, multi-rate unsteady state flooding experiments have been performed in both secondary and tertiary mode using reservoir fluids and core material at reservoir conditions of 120 C and 4000 psi. All core floods were performed using 30 cm long and 2 inch diameter core samples. In addition, fluid-fluid interaction experiments were performed using fluids from more than 20 carbonate reservoirs in Abu Dhabi. The fluid-fluid experiments were performed to measure the water in oil micro-dispersion formed upon contacting crude oil with both formation water and low salinity water in order to screen ADNOC's oil reservoirs for suitability for low salinity waterflooding.
 The fluid-fluid interaction experiments showed that a number of crude oil samples from carbonate reservoirs in Abu Dhabi were able to create micro-dispersion upon contact with low salinity water. These crude oils are called positive crudes in this paper. On the other hand, several crude oil samples did not show micro-dispersion upon contact with the same low salinity water, hence they are referred to as negative crude oils. Two positive crude oils and two negative crude oils have been used in the flooding experiments. The main conclusions of the study are: 1- The flooding experiments using positive crude oil samples have led to extra oil recovery upon injecting low salinity water, while the negative crude oil resulted in either no or little extra recovery, 2- The data base developed in this study is used for screening ADNOC's oil reservoirs for low salinity waterflooding based on fluid-fluid interaction and shows a significant potential of this promising EOR technology for carbonate reservoirs, and 3- The flooding experiments show up to 6.5% extra recovery in tertiary mode and up to 12.5% extra recovery in secondary mode.
 The study presented in this paper demonstrates that the use of fluid-fluid interaction experiments and measuring the creation of micro-dispersion upon contacting crude oil with low salinity is a robust screening method for low salinity water flooding. Moreover, this screening method can lead to significant saving in both time and cost of running low salinity flooding experiments.


Background: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite which has significant medical and veterinary impact on all around the world. Tracking of specific antigens or antibodies for toxoplasmosis is the main choice in its diagnosis. Recom- binant proteins will improve sensitivity and specificity and reduce problems of standardization and reproducibility of diagnostic kits. Toxoplasma gondii Subtilisin-like protein (TgSUB1) is a novel example of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol) GPI (-anchored protein which can be considered as a potential marker for serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Objectives: The aims of this study were to find out major antigenic parts of this whole protein and to develop a recombinant prokaryotic plasmid. Methods: In this experimental study, using bioinformatics softwares Parker Hydrophilicity prediction and Bepipred linear Epitope prediction to select best highly antigenic region of this protein, a 744 bp fragment was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on cDNA obtained from T. gondii RNA. The PCR product was cloned in PCR2.1 vector and subcloned into expression pET28a vector. The PCR2.1-SUB1 and PET28a-SUB1constructs were analyzed by PCR, restriction analysis and sequencing. Results: A highly antigenic region in the hydrophilic part of the protein including amino acid residues 549 to 795 was successfully cloned and the sequences were confirmed. All nucleotide sequences in the PCR product have 100% homology with the published reference sequence. Conclusions: Pairing bioinformatics tools and cloning of the candidate molecules in vaccine development studies and diagnostic approaches will have powerful impact on promotion of research in infectious diseases. This strategy is considered as available and inexpensive technology even in less developed countries where the infectious diseases like toxoplasmosis is prevalent.


Individual soccer performance is notoriously difficult to measure due to the many contributing sub-variables and the variety of contexts within which skills must be utilised. Furthermore, performance differs across rather specialised playing positions. In research, soccer performance is often measured using combinations of, or even single, sub-variables. All too often these variables have not been validated against actual performance. Another approach is the use of proxies. In sports research, the age of athletes when winning championship medals has been used as a proxy for determining their age of peak performance. In soccer, studies have used the average age of players in top European leagues or in the Champions League to determine the age of individual peak performance. Such approaches have methodological shortcomings and may underestimate the peak. We explore the use of a new proxy, the age at nomination for major individual awards, to determine the average age at peak individual soccer performance. A total of 1,981 players nominated for major awards from 1956 to 2019 were included, and a subset of 653 retired players was extracted, thus including players' complete careers. Players' average ages at nomination, at their first nomination, and at their last ever nomination were calculated, and differences across playing positions were calculated together with changes over time in the average age at peak. Based on our proxy, the age of individual peak soccer performance occurs around 27–28 years, varying across playing positions from 26 to 31 years. A player's first peak, on average, seems to coincide with known peaks of physiological variables; their last-ever peak occurs long after physiological performance has started to decline, indicating that the decline can be compensated for by other variables. The peak age is higher than previously reported for soccer; however, it is similar to those in other team ball sports. The average age at peak performance has increased over time, especially in the last decade. Our approach of using proxies for unearthing information about hidden features of otherwise immeasurable complex performance appears to be viable, and such proxies may be used to validate sub-variables that measure complex behaviour.


In this chapter we present the major transitions in Maya history from the Late Preclassic through Terminal Classic periods in the Maya Lowlands, focusing first on major settlement and subsistence systems, followed by major social and environmental costs. We particularly focus on how the Maya built and relied on increasingly complex water and agricultural systems to adapt in the humid tropics where everything in life was rainfall dependent. The seasonality of rainfall required innovative strategies to contain water throughout the long dry season in the face of growing population and socio-political complexity. Drastic changes occurred when several prolonged droughts struck the Maya area, resulting in them exploring new areas and subsistence practices. The chapter concludes with a few thoughts on how understanding ancient Maya water and land use is relevant for today's issues regarding sustainable land and water use.


This article integrates Popular Music Studies, Film Studies and Fashion Studies tooffer a comparative analysis of Joy Division and U2 in the cinema. It focuses prima-rily on the filmsControl(Corbijn, 2007) andRattle and Hum(Joanou, 1988), andlooks at how popular musical performance and sub-cultural style are intertwinedwith the representation of city space and the construction of metropolitan identities. It does this via consideration of filmic style but in a manner sensitive to the broader sociopolitical and popular musical discourses that frame these representations. The article argues that popular music's relationship to the cinema, and to representationsof place, has been much neglected in Film Studies. As such, it considers the rock/ performance/fashion/place nexus in some detail.


Genetic basis of partial resistance to leaf rust in wheat involving cross combination of slow rusting × susceptible parents was investigated using generation mean analysis. In order to examine the effect of minor genes, major genes (Lr1, Lr10, Lr13, Lr23 and Lr26) for resistance present in the slow rusting parents were nullified by inoculating with virulent leaf rust races. The partial leaf rust resistance was studied using area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) and final disease severity (FDS). Scaling and joint scaling tests for all the crosses indicated the importance of additive (d), dominance (h) as well as epistatic (i, j and l) gene effects in the inheritance of partial leaf rust resistance based on AUDPC and FDS. Three out of four crosses exhibited duplicate type of epistasis, whereas, additive (d) and additive × additive (i) interactions were significant in most of the crosses offering good scope of selection in early segregating generation for durable leaf rust resistance.


To gain meaningful insights from non-metric trait analysis in the field of human osteological study, issues of reliability and context need to be addressed, especially for the analysis of discrete cranial traits. A preliminary study tested the reliability of different methods of quantifying wormian bones, with the purpose of establishing a consistent method that would enable further applicability for this and other non-metric traits in mortuary analysis. The determination of reliability for both methods was made using Olsson and Janson's (2001) iota statistic together with Pearson's product-moment correlation. This study examines the reliability of scoring methods on an interobserver scale, an imperative step for the utility of these techniques for the wider archaeological community, as the majority of current data collection is a collaborative effort. The results of this study support the initial application in a case study involving a Bayesian probability analysis utilizing individuals from the Milwaukee County Institutional Grounds collection.


Background: Close contact with asymptomatic children younger than three years is a risk factor for a primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. In pregnant women, such primary infection increases the risk of CMV-induced feto- or embryopathy. Daycare providers have therefore implemented working restrictions for pregnant daycare workers (DCWs) in accordance with legislation and guidelines for maternity protection. However, little is known about the infection risk for DCWs. We therefore compared the prevalence of CMV antibodies of pregnant DCWs to that of female blood donors (BDs). Method: In a secondary data analysis, the prevalence of anti-CMV IgG among pregnant DCWs (N=509) in daycare centers (DCCs) was compared to the prevalence of female first-time BDs (N=14,358) from the greater region of Hamburg, Germany. Data collection took place between 2010 and 2013. The influence of other risk factors such as age, pregnancies and place of residence was evaluated using logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence of CMV antibodies in pregnant DCWs was higher than in female BDs (54.6 vs 41.5%; OR 1.6; 95%CI 1.3–1.9). The subgroup of BDs who had given birth to at least one child and who lived in the city of Hamburg (N=2,591) had a prevalence of CMV antibodies similar to the prevalence in pregnant DCWs (53.9 vs 54.6%; OR 0.9; 95%CI 0.8–1.2). Age, pregnancy history and living in the center of Hamburg were risk factors for CMV infections. Conclusion: The comparison of pregnant DCWs to the best-matching subgroup of female first-time BDs with past pregnancies and living in the city of Hamburg does not indicate an elevated risk of CMV infection among DCWs. However, as two secondary data sets from convenience samples were used, a more detailed investigation of the risk factors other than place of residence, age and maternity was not possible. Therefore, the CMV infection risk in DCWs should be further studied by taking into consideration the potential preventive effect of hygiene measures.


The physiology of light-induced phototropic curvature has been studied extensively in coleoptiles of grasses, particularly in Avena and Zea mays L. In Z. mays L., we have found that, in addition to curvature, blue light also induces rapid phosphorylation of a 114-kD protein in the tips of coleoptiles, and, in a previous report, we reported several characteristics of the phosphorylated substrate protein and kinase (J.M. Palmer, T.W. Short, S. Gallagher, W.R. Briggs [1993] Plant Physiol 102: 1211–1218). Here, we compare the phosphorylation response to several known aspects of phototropism physiology. Blue light-induced phosphorylation occurs only in the upper portion of the coleoptile and is absent from the node and mesocotyl. The specific activity of phosphorylation is highest in the extreme apical portion of the tip, which is also the site of maximal sensitivity to phototropic stimuli (A. W. Galston [1959] In Physiology of Movements, Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, Springer, Berlin). Fluence-response determinations indicate that light dosage levels that stimulate curvature also stimulate phosphorylation. However, the threshold for inducing detectable phosphorylation in maize cannot be matched to the threshold for curvature induction. The recovery of sensitivity to phototropic stimuli after exposure to high fluences of light occurs with kinetics that are very similar to those for recovery of the phosphorylation response after a previous high-fluence light exposure. In addition, wavelengths of light in the blue and near-ultraviolet regions of the spectrum that maximally stimulate phototropic curvature also maximally stimulate in vitro phosphorylation in maize. The pattern of stimulation matches the absorption spectra of flavoproteins, which have been proposed as candidates for blue light photoreceptors.


Background. One of the earliest prerequisites for the development of inflammation after ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) is local chemokine expression. We recently demonstrated that apoptosis, characterized by intracellular caspase-activation, contributes to the development of inflammation after I/R. Methods. The contribution of apoptosis was investigated using the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-Val-Ala-Asp(OMe)-CH2F in a murine model of renal I/R. Renal expression of the chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2) and KC was studied using RT-PCR and immunohistology. Measuring myeloperoxidase activity and serum ureum and creatinine levels assessed neutrophil influx and kidney dysfunction. Results. We demonstrate renal up-regulation of KC and MIP-2 after 1 to 16 hr of reperfusion. Treatment with the caspase inhibitor Z-Val-Ala-Asp(OMe)-CH2F effectively prevented I/R-induced renal apoptosis, KC, and MIP-2 up-regulation after 2 hr of reperfusion as well as neutrophil influx and functional impairment after 24 hr of reperfusion. Conclusions. These data for the first time show that chemokine induction following I/R is dependent on caspase activation.


During a period of several days when the solar wind was relatively quiet, the magnetotail boundary near lunar distance swept back and forth past Explorer 33 as the spacecraft traveled through a distance perpendicular to the Earth-sun line of about 17 Re. The boundary crossings are remarkably well-correlated with peaks in the AE index, even though the magnitudes of the peaks are only on the order of 200 nT. Examination of the regions of multiple crossings on other Explorer 33 and 35 orbits reveals that they commonly cover large distances perpendicular to the Earth-sun line, although correlation with AE is often obscured, probably by external solar wind conditions. We conclude that a substantial fraction of the scatter in published statistical plots of boundary crossing positions can be accounted for in terms of an internal substorm-related motion with an amplitude of 5-8 Re. The data suggest that the motion takes the form of a compressional deformation wave convecting down the tail.


In this paper, a broadband sleeve-conical antenna with arbitrary sleeve shape is studied. The frequency range of the antenna is aimed at 300 MHz to 3 GHz. The reflection coefficients, obtained by using conventional equations, are compared with simulated data obtained by using the CST MW Studio. The validity of the software has been confirmed by analysing many canonical structures. The given structure subsumes the scattering problem that is considered in the existing literature dealing with special cases. The simulated results of this antenna system are obtained for various values of the length and the radius of the sleeve, through which the effect of these parameters on the radiation field behavior is studied.


Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (PNETs) remains an unmet clinical problem and epidemiologic studies indicate that their incidence has significantly increased over the years. Surgery remains the only curative option in patients with localized tumors. However, there is no effective therapy in patients with advanced or metastatic disease. Thus, unfortunately, 65% of PNET patients with advanced/unresectable disease die within 5 years after diagnosis. Current therapeutic approaches for advanced PNET patients include chemotherapy (Capecitabine, Temolozomide, 5FU etc), targeted therapies (everolimus, and sunitinib), hormonal therapies [somatostatin analogs (octreotide or lanreotide)] and the novel peptide receptor radionuclide therapy. Nevertheless, all these therapeutic modalities show only minimal response in patients with PNETs in the clinic. Therefore, novel targets need to be identified that could improve the dismal outcome of advanced PNETs. An analysis of PNET tissue identified p21-activated Kinase 4 (PAK4) and nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) as two new therapeutic targets. PAK4 is the downstream effector of Rac1 (members of the Rho family of GTPases) and is involved in critical cellular processes such as cell motility, proliferation, and survival. More importantly, PAK4 protein has been implicated in the activation of Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling in cancers. Similarly, NAMPT is an enzyme that catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the principal salvage pathway of NAD biosynthesis in mammals. Tumor cells have highly active glycolytic, pentose and fatty acid synthesis pathways that require persistent high levels of NAD. Consequently, most cancers rely more heavily on NAMPT for rapid NAD biosynthesis. Earlier we demonstrated that biological or chemical inhibition of PAK4-NAMPT by RNAi or by a dual inhibitor (KPT-9274 a Phase I drug and its analogs) can suppress PNET proliferation and reduce the growth of subcutaneous xenografts. Our new studies show that PAK4-NAMPT dual inhibition can suppress PNET anchorage independent growth and metabolomic analysis of KPT-9274 treated PNET cells revealed significant alterations in a series of metabolites related to NAD signaling. KPT-9274 synergistically enhanced the anti-tumor activity of everolimus (combination index Citation Format: Gabriel B. Mpilla, Amro Aboukameel, Md Hafiz Uddin, Mohammed N. Al-Hallak, Bayan Al-Share, Yosef Landesman, Yiwei Li, Steve Kim, Rafic Beydoun, Ramzi M. Mohammad, Philip A. Philip, Bassel El-Rayes, Asfar S. Azmi. Novel targets for therapy resistant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 1122.


Aim: This study aimed to address the lack of detailed information on the fascia, and the potentially diverse attachments of the Extensor Carpi Radialis Brevis and Extensor Digitroum Communis on the lateral epicondyle. Methodology: Twenty cadavers were dissected by layers consisting of the skin, subcutaneous fat, superficial fascia, deep fascia, and muscles. Results/Conclusion: The separable attachment of the Extensor Capri Radialis Brevis and Extensor Digitorum Communis on the lateral epicondyle is best described as the Common Extensor Origin. This Common Extensor Origin is formed by the Extensor Digitorum Communis at its superficial portion (approximately 65-75% of the Common Extensor Origin thickness) and by the Extensor Carpi Radialis Brevis at its deepest quarter (approximately 25-35% of the Common Extensor Origin thickness). Distal to the radiocapitellar joint, the proximal bellies of the Extensor Carpi Radialis Brevis and Extensor Digitorum Communis appear tightly attached to the deep fascia. The attachments of lateral intermuscular septum and superficial fascia in the lateral elbow appear to be tight. Clinical relevance: Cadaveric findings on the location of the Extensor Carpi Radialis Brevis and Extensor Digitorum Communis at the lateral elbow may potentially guide the sonologists during diagnostic scan and surgeons during operation in localizing pathological changes within the Common Extensor Origin in the elbow.


The cultivation of dessert apples has to meet the consumer's increasing demand for high fruit quality and a sustainable mostly residue-free production while ensuring a competitive agricultural productivity. It is therefore of great interest to know the impact of different cultivation methods on the fruit quality and the chemical composition, respectively. Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of High Resolution Magic Angle Spinning (HR-MAS) NMR spectroscopy directly performed on apple tissue as analytical tool for metabonomic studies. In this study, HR-MAS NMR spectroscopy is applied to apple tissue to analyze the metabolic profiles of apples grown under 3 different cultivation methods. Golden Delicious apples were grown applying organic (Bio), integrated (IP) and low-input (LI) plant protection strategies. A total of 70 1H HR-MAS NMR spectra were analyzed by means of principle component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Apples derived from Bio-production could be well separated from the two other cultivation methods applying both, PCA and PLS-DA. Apples obtained from integrated (IP) and low-input (LI) production discriminated when taking the third PLS-component into account. The identified chemical composition and the compounds responsible for the separation, i.e. the PLS-loadings, are discussed. The results are compared with fruit quality parameters assessed by conventional methods. The present study demonstrates the potential of HR-MAS NMR spectroscopy of fruit tissue as analytical tool for finding markers for specific fruit production conditions like the cultivation method.


ABSTRACT Alpha-2a interferon (IFN-α2a) has beneficial clinical effects on human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection, but its antiviral mechanism of action is unknown. Antiviral effects of IFN-α2a were studied in 293T cells expressing HTLV-1 proviral DNA and in HTLV-1-infected cells (HOS/PL, MT2, and HUT102). In 293T cells, an 50% inhibitory concentration of 10 U of IFN-α2a/ml was determined by p19 antigen ELISA. Analysis of IFN-treated cells demonstrated no defect in viral protein synthesis but did show a decrease in the level of released virus, as determined by immunoblot assays. Electron microscopy studies of IFN-treated cells revealed neither a defect in the site of virus budding nor tethering of virus particles at the plasma membrane, thus arguing against an effect on virus release. Cell fractionation studies and confocal microscopy showed no effect of IFN on Gag association with membranes. However, the level of Gag association with lipid rafts was decreased, suggesting a role of IFN in inhibiting HTLV-1 assembly.


This paper discusses the relevant technology about applying the Semantic Grid in Digital Library, research on the the application of Semantic Grid technology as a point of departure, explore the new ideas of implementing resources sharing in digital library via the Semantic Grid technology. Next, it addresses the problem of interoperability in Digital Library and set up a hierarchical model of knowledge management platform of Digital Library based on Semantic Grid. The paper designs a Digital Library application System based on Semantic Web, including User-Level module、Grid-layer module、Semantic Web module and Digital Library module four parts. And it constructs the whole architecture via J2EE. At last, this paper also presents a digital library security model (SMDL)in grid computing environment aims to support user taking different security policies and the source database.


The results of studies of the factors of the production environment in the workplace in the performance of welding works to eliminate casting defects of castings and measures to protect workers from their impact are researched. It is established that in the workplace of welders there are increased levels of noise in various welding methods, as well as when stripping welds with a hand tool; increased levels of local vibration when working with hand grinders; exceeding the permissible values of the intensity of infrared (thermal) radiation. The results of the study of ultraviolet radiation in various welding operations.


Education cannot go without reading, self-interpretation, dialogue and writing. There is no authentic education without critical discerning. It is necessary to turn, in our pedagogical practice, towards the restitution of our native language as a central instrument for thinking and re-creating our own reality. The task that we refer to is equally valid and urgent in urban and rural contexts, in Occident as in Latin America. It is not just a need for a few towns or nations, but rather something that concerns and is suitable for all.


The present study is an attempt to find out whether there is a significant relationship between EFL teachers' Big Five personality traits and their self-concept. In addition, ittried to examine if there is any significant relationship between teachers' teaching experienceand their self-concept. 112 EFL teachers participated in this study. They were asked to complete NEO Five Factor Inventory and Teacher Self-concept Evaluation Scale. Data were analyzed using Correlation, Multiple Regressions, and ANOVA. Results indicated thatself-concept was significantly correlated with four components of the Big-Five personality traits.It was positively related with "Neuroticism", "Openness to experience" and "Conscientiousness", but negatively related with "Agreeableness". It was also revealed that there was not any statistically significant difference among the three groups (low, mid, and high experience EFL teachers) with respect to their self-concept. The overall results of the study were discussed, and the implications for policy and practice were made.


Objectives To illustrate the effects that minor social or environmental disruptions could have on the food access of low-income households in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and provide suggestions for how cities can better incorporate food into emergency planning. Methods Using publicly available data and stakeholder interviews (n = 8) in 2017, we projected the number of meals that would be missed during environmental and social disruptions in Philadelphia, a major US city with a high poverty rate. Results As our projections in Philadelphia indicate, even just 3 days of school closures could result in as many as 405 600 missed meals for school-aged children. Conclusions These scenarios provide valuable lessons for other cities to proactively plan for food access continuity in times of uncertainty. Public Health Implications City planners and other city agencies need to include food as a routine part of emergency planning and redefine the threshold at which emergency response protocols are triggered to better ensure protection of low-income and underserved populations.


The phenomenon of film boiling heat transfer for high wall temperatures has been investigated. Based on the assumption of laminar flow for the film, the continuity, momentum, and energy equations for the vapor film are solved and a Bromley-type analytical expression for the heat transfer coefficient versus the film length is obtained. The Helmholtz instability for the steam-liquid interface is analyzed, and it is shown that films beyond a certain length are unstable. Assuming the most unstable wavelength for disturbances at the steam-liquid interface is a reasonable expression for the film length, an average film boiling heat transfer coefficient is obtained.


Amiodarone is unique among the antiarrhythmic agents. Despite its unusual pharmacokinetics and its potential toxicity, it is successful in managing both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias. Therefore, it is destined to become an important drug in our antiarrhythmic armamentarium.


While there has been consistent academic interest in the link between the media and politics, this attention has mostly bypassed lifestyle journalism. Yet this can reflect the political and social realities of a country if less clearly than more overtly political coverage. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the Singapore government has used food to help construct a national identity and how the local print media have been a partner in this. It analyses how food has been represented in the Singapore press in relation to attitudes that contribute to nation-building. The findings suggest that the food-related articles studied usually reflected a culture of self-improvement, an ethnic-cultural element and cosmopolitan attitudes, all of which were identified as touchstones of Singapore's government-approved national identity. In addition, there is also marginally more press coverage of cosmopolitan and foreign food compared to local food, in concurrence with government initiatives to place the country as a globalised hub.


Disulfidptosis is a newly discovered mode of cell death induced by disulfide stress. However, the prognostic value of disulfidptosis-related genes (DRGs) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains to be further elucidated. In this study, consistent cluster analysis was used to classify 571 RCC samples into three DRG-related subtypes based on changes in DRGs expression. Through univariate regression analysis and LASSO-Cox regression analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among three subtypes, we constructed and validated a DRG risk score to predict the prognosis of patients with RCC, while also identifying three gene subtypes. Analysis of DRG risk score, clinical characteristics, tumor microenvironment (TME), somatic cell mutations, and immunotherapy sensitivity revealed significant correlations between them. A series of studies have shown that MSH3 can be a potential biomarker of RCC, and its low expression is associated with poor prognosis in patients with RCC. Last but not least, overexpression of MSH3 promotes cell death in two RCC cell lines under glucose starvation conditions, indicating that MSH3 is a key gene in the process of cell disulfidptosis. In summary, we identify potential mechanism of RCC progression through DRGs -related tumor microenvironment remodeling. In addition, this study has successfully established a new disulfidptosis-related genes prediction model and discovered a key gene MSH3. They may be new prognostic biomarkers for RCC patients, provide new insights for the treatment of RCC patients, and may inspire new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of RCC patients.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between pure tone audiometry results and distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) results in college age males. Twenty-four college age males participated in this study. Twelve subjects had normal hearing and twelve subjects had sensorineural hearing loss. All participants had to have otoscopic examination results and tympanometry results within the normal range to be included in the study. Subjects were administrated a pure tone threshold test and a DPOAE test between the frequencies of 500 Hz and 8000 Hz. The results of the two tests were analyzed at various octaves to determine if a relationship existed between them. The findings of this study indicated that there was a significant relationship between pure tone results and DPOAE results in the hearing-impaired group, whereas the two measures did not significantly correlate in the group with normal hearing status other than to document normal hearing.


Climate change has a large impact on vegetation dynamics. A series of statistical analyses were employed to demonstrate the relationship between Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Global Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data with an 8 × 8 km resolution and meteorological data, during the period 1982–2005. Rainfall has a great impact on vegetation with varying time lags. The sensitivity of NDVI to the threshold of accumulated temperature varies regionally. To identify a 'best factor' for each meteorological station simple and partial correlation analyses were carried out. Multiple correlation analysis was used to validate the association between the two climatic factors and monthly maximum NDVI (MNDVI). This study led to the conclusion that good correlations between MNDVI and two climatic factors are prevalent in China. It also indicated that the 'best factors' for some regions identified by partial correlation analysis are better than those selected by simple correlation analysis. The partial correlation coefficients of MNDVI and each climate factor were calculated to describe the singular influence of each meteorological variable. The results indicated that the impact of other variables on vegetation should be considered in the 'best factor' selection for one climatic variable. Temperature has a significant positive influence on vegetation growth in China. Precipitation is the most important climatic factor that closely correlates with MNDVI, particularly in arid and semi-arid environments. However, in some wet regions, precipitation is not a limiting factor on vegetation growth. A trend analysis was carried out to study climate change and its impacts on vegetation. The annual accumulated temperature had an increasing trend in China during 1982–2005. Temperature increases had different influences on vegetation dynamics in different parts of China. The results coincided with those of the multiple and partial correlation analysis.


A novel method using capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the separation of four organotin compounds has been developed. Semi-permanent coating of dioctadecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC) was applied and investigated to enhance separation efficiency of trimethyltin (TMT) chloride, tributyltin (TBT) chloride, dibutyltin (DBT) dichloride and monobutyltin (MBT) trichloride. The electrolyte composition and ionic strength were optimized. Running buffer containing 0.608 mol L−1 HAc and 7 mmol L−1 NaAc was selected for the separation. The detection limits of the four organotin compounds ranged from 0.037 to 0.112 mg L−1 (as Sn) and the values of the relative standard deviation (RSD) were below 3.1% for migration time, less than 7.8% for peak height and not more than 8.4% for peak area. The developed method was successfully applied for speciation analysis of four organotin compounds in one certified reference material (CRM 477, mussel tissue), and environmental samples including water samples, grape wine and biological samples (Mya arenaria Linnaeus). The determined values (as organotin compounds) of CRM 477 (1.81 ± 0.13 (TBT), 1.36 ± 0.16 (DBT), 1.17 ± 0.18 (MBT)) were in good agreement with the certified values (2.20 ± 0.19 (TBT), 1.54 ± 0.12 (DBT), 1.50 ± 0.28 (MBT)). 0.325 mg L−1 MBT and 1.02 μg g−1 (as Sn) TBT were found in grape wine and Mya arenaria Linnaeus samples.


Youth criminality has been a source of concern for criminologists and scholars of social problems. In Nigeria, empirical studies on youth criminality are largely focused on economic and socio-demographic characteristics of offenders. There is a dearth of research linking school maladjustment and family disruption to youth criminality, and this spurred us to embark on this study. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. Male inmates detained for the various offences of violent crime in Abakalike prisons constituted the target population. A Questionnaire was used in the data collection and descriptive statistical analysis was done. Using the prison records as a guide, we employed simple random sampling technique in the selection of 212 respondents. The findings show that there is a positive relationship between maladjusted behaviour and youth criminality. Also, chi-square values of 59.002 and p >0.001 show a positive connection between family problems and youth offending behaviour. There is thus an urgent call for a proactive and sustainable youth empowerment; the teeming unemployed youth should be engaged in meaningful national reorientation and income-yielding activities to discourage them from contemplating crime. ________________________________________________________________________


Cereal cyst nematodes (CCN; Heterodera avenae and H. filipjevi), cause substantial worldwide yield loss in small grain cereals such as wheat, barley, and oat. H. avenae was first detected in the United States in western Oregon in 1974 and had spread to northeast Oregon by the mid-1980s. Although H. avenae was detected in eastern Washington in 1984, extensive infestations were not recognized until 2010. H. filipjevi, first detected in Oregon in 2008, was found in eastern Washington in 2014. To gain more information about the distribution of these two species, an extensive survey was undertaken in eastern Washington, and methods were developed to distinguish species using DNA sequencing of single cysts. In this study, we surveyed 356 wheat and barley fields in eastern Washington from 2007 to 2017. CCN from the infested locations were identified to species level by sequencing the ribosomal internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and/or 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The sequences were compared in the GenBank database in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) to identify species. The results show that H. filipjevi is primarily confined to southern Whitman County, WA; and H. avenae has a wider distribution across the higher precipitation annual cropping area of eastern Whitman County. Knowledge of species identification is critical for deployment of host resistance as an effective means of management, since resistance genes for one species of CCN may not be effective against the other.


In this article, we examine the imaginative geographies of the new millennium through a critical reading of cyberfiction. This fiction, we argue, through its use of estrangement and defamiliarization, and its destabilization of the foundational assumptions of modernism, provides a cognitive space in which to contemplate future spatialities given the present postmodern condition–a cognitive space which is already providing an imaginal sphere in which present-day individual and institutional thought and practice are partially shaped. Using a detailed reading of 34 novels and four collections of short stories, we illustrate the utility of this cognitive space, and its appropriation, through an exploration of fictional visions of postmodern urbanism in the early twenty-first century. We assess the viability and utility of these visions by comparing them to academic analyses of the sociospatial processes shaping present-day urban form and spatiality.


The question "what is poetry" is not easy to answer. However it is not commonly agreed that poetry is a total study on human life presented by a poet with all his intelectual power, imaginations, emotions, wishes and aspirations in a kind of language which is concise and compact but very much effective.
This thesis discusses an ancient poem from the middle-east, written by King David, that has been translated into various languages in the world. The English version of this poem is called "Psalm" The aim of this thesis is to study deeply the meaning and significance of every word, phrase and sentence verse in "Psalm 119" through its quality and formal elements namely theme, tone and purpose, diction, images, denotation, conotation, figures of speech, rhymes, rythtns and so on. In addition the poem, is also explored through its extrinsic elements which include the cultural background of the poem and the spiritual condition of its author. Since these two factors are much influential on the writing of the poem.
In the analysis of "Psalm 119", it is discovered that there are a lot of images, simbols and other figures of speech in the poem. In order to reveal their full meaning and significance, the cultures, tradition and customs of the "Hebrew" nation are used to help disclose what lies underneath the surface. From this approach, it can be seen that the poet expresses in "Psalm 119", what he experiences, sees and believes to reveal his closeness, faith, respect and gratitude, to God, the Almighty, the creator of all, the everlastingly admires


AIM
To investigate the value of spiral CT pneumocolon in preoperative colorectal carcinoma.

METHODS
Spiral CT pneumocolon was performed prior to surgery in 64 patients with colorectal carcinoma. Spiral CT images were compared to specimens from the resected tumor.

RESULTS
Spiral CT depicted the tumor in all patients. Comparison of spiral CT and histologic results showed that the sensitivity and specificity were 95.2%, 40.9% in detection of local invasion, and 75.0%, 90.9% in detection of lymph node metastasis. Compared to the Dukes classification, the disease was correctly staged as A in 6 of 18 patients, as B in 18 of 23, as C in 10 of 15, and as D in 7 of 8. Overall, spiral CT correctly staged 64.1% of patients.

CONCLUSION
Spiral CT pneumocolon may be useful in the preoperative assessment of patients with colorectal carcinoma as a means for assisting surgical planning.


Based on proven technology, an upgraded 28-GHz superconducting electron cyclotron resonance ion source is suggested to produce a wide range of different ion beams from protons for isotope separator on-line to uranium for in-flight fragmentation. The suggested ion source has the following characteristics: (1) The shapes of the minimum Bz layer can be controlled using five superconducting solenoid coils. (2) Two solenoid lenses, the first one side a cryostat and the second one outside it, control the beam envelope at the entrance of the analyzing magnet.


Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted widespread and intense interest because of their excellent device performance. However, the existence of poor interface contacts and energy losses in the device are key challenges for the development of PSCs in the future. In this work, we developed a novel perylene diimide-based zwitterion (QAPDI) as a cathode interlayer to improve the device performance of inverted PSCs. QAPDI exhibits excellent solubility, appropriate energy levels, and high electron mobility, suggesting that it is a suitable interlayer engineering material in inverted PSCs. The use of QAPDI as a cathode interlayer between the PCBM layer and metal electrode could improve the interface contact and reduce the energy level barrier, thus facilitating efficient electron injection and transport. Moreover, the application of QAPDI could obstruct the permeation of moisture into the perovskite film to reform the device stability. As a consequence, the optimal QAPDI-based device efficiency reached 20.55% together with enhanced device stability compared with that of the control device (18.6%). This work provides an excellent alternative cathode interlayer material for high-performance inverted PSCs.


HD 66051 (V414 Pup) is an eclipsing and spectroscopic double-lined binary, hosting two chemically peculiar stars: a highly peculiar B star as primary and an Am star as secondary. It also shows out-of-eclipse variability that is due to chemical spots. Using a set of high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations, a weak magnetic field on the primary was found. The investigation of the new high-resolution UVES spectrum of HD 66051 allowed us to decide on the chemical peculiarity type of both components with more reliability.


The Republic of Indonesia has over 40 productive petroleum systems and more than 100 speculative petroleum systems. Since the first oil discoveries in the 1880`s, cumulative discovered ultimately recoverable petroleum resources in Indonesia have reached 50 billion barrels of oil equivalent. There are eight principal producing areas and nearly 1,000 oil and gas fields. Most of these resources have been found in the last 50 years. Successful exploration continues; at least two discoveries per year are made which exceed 50 million barrels of oil equivalent reserves. Productive/petroleum system source types are split almost equally between marine and deltaic-lacustrine facies. The majority of source rocks are Tertiary in age; Mesozoic source rocks are restricted to Eastern Indonesia. Discovery process analysis indicates generally high exploration efficiency in Indonesia. An upwardly convex discovery process curve typifies many systems, reflecting both exploration efficiency and maturity; this pattern is well displayed in areas such as Central Sumatra and Salawati. A much more random or straight line process curve, as seen in West Natuna, occurs where more complex petroleum systems have inhibited exploration efficiency. An inverted, or concave upward curve, seen in some Java petroleum systems, is probably economically driven, related to development of domestic Indonesianmore » gas markets. Several curves, such as those for the North Sumatra:Bampo-Peutu and East Kalimantan:Tanjung systems are dominated by single fields. Different exploration phases can be recognized in many systems, each phase having its own specific exploration statistics.« less


This study extends previous analytical solutions of concentration polarization occurring solely in the depleted region, to the more realistic geometry consisting of a three-dimensional (3D) heterogeneous ion-permselective medium connecting two opposite microchambers (i.e., a three-layer system). Under the local electroneutrality approximation, the separation of variable methods is used to derive an analytical solution of the electrodiffusive problem for the two opposing asymmetric microchambers. The assumption of an ideal permselective medium allows for the analytic calculation of the 3D concentration and electric potential distributions as well as a current-voltage relation. It is shown that any asymmetry in the microchamber geometries will result in current rectification. Moreover, it is demonstrated that for non-negligible microchamber resistances, the conductance does not exhibit the expected saturation at low concentrations but instead shows a continuous decrease. The results are intended to facilitate a more direct comparison between theory and experiments, as now the voltage drop is across a realistic 3D and three-layer system.


A new type of echo-ranging system is described in which the receiver is located at a distance from the transmitter. It is shown that, with a configuration of this type, the range of the target with respect to the receiving station is equal to the difference in path between the direct and reflected waves divided by the versine of the angle of elevation of the receiving antenna (p = δ/1-cos θ). By making the radial writing speed proportional to this function, a PPI presentation system can be realized which shows a profile of the propagation path viewed from the side. This system has particular application in detecting targets such as, for example, atmospheric irregularities, which have a low reflection coefficient at normal incident angles. The system, therefore, promises to be useful in the study of propagation problems.


The significance of the issue lies in the observation that the experience of implementing neoliberal market reforms during the 1990s in Ukraine reveals that disregarding the contributions of Ukrainian scholars led to detrimental consequences for socio-economic transformations. This study focuses on the theories of social change developed by Ukrainian scholars. The aim of this article is to consolidate and structure the concepts put forth by Ukrainian scholars that contribute to the theory of social change within post-Soviet Ukrainian society. The methodology employed to examine the theory of social change in the context of post-Soviet Ukrainian society encompasses systematic, logical, historical, dialectical, and civilizational approaches and techniques. The findings of the research indicate that the theory of social change necessitates an interdisciplinary methodology. The primary criterion for evaluating the nature of social change is its orientation toward upholding societal cohesion. The emergence of crisis phenomena that present challenges to society serves as an indicator of social change. An essential element in understanding social change is an awareness of the socio-cultural distinctiveness of a given society. Effective management of social processes relies on the integration of theoretical principles with practical applications. Several domains have emerged in the evolution of the theory of social change within post-Soviet Ukrainian society, including economic, demographic, civilizational, political, and security-oriented aspects. An analysis of indigenous concepts of social change within post-Soviet Ukrainian society highlights certain characteristics. Ukrainian social researchers consistently grapple with the task of constructing a comprehensive perspective on Ukrainian society. Amidst the multitude of social changes, a central issue pertaining to various concepts of social change has gradually arisen—the examination of the trajectory that society follows. Notably, a significant portion of scholars, predominantly economists, have regarded the economy as the primary determinant shaping the nature of social change. The practical significance of these findings resides in the synthesis and organization of the concepts formulated by Ukrainian scholars, which contribute to the framework of the theory of social change in the context of post-Soviet Ukrainian society.


We propose a novel pipeline for the analysis of imaging mass cytometry data, comparing an unbiased approach, representing the actual gold standard, with a novel biased method. We made use of both synthetic/ controlled datasets as well as two datasets obtained from FFPE sections of follicular lymphoma, and head and neck patients, stained with a 14 and 29-markers panels respectively. The novel pipeline, denominated RUNIMC, has been completely developed in R and contained in a single package. The novelty resides in the ease with which multi-class random forest classifier can be used to classify image features, making the pathologist's and expert classification pivotal, and the use of a random forest regression approach that permits a better detection of cell boundaries, and alleviates the necessity of relying on a perfect nuclear staining.


Abstract. Stony soils that have a considerable amount of rock fragments are widespread around the world. However, experiments to determine effective hydraulic properties of stony soils (SHP), i.e. the water retention curve (WRC) and hydraulic conductivity curve (HCC), are challenging. Installation of measurement devices and sensors in these soils is difficult and the data are less reliable because of high local heterogeneity. Therefore, effective properties of stony soils especially in unsaturated hydraulic conditions are still not well understood. An alternative approach to evaluate the SHP of these systems with internal structural heterogeneity is numerical simulation. We used the Hydrus 2D/3D software to create virtual stony soils in 3D and simulate water flow for different volumetric rock fragment contents, f. Soils with volumetric stone contents from 11 to 37 % were created by placing impermeable spheres in the form of rock fragments in a sandy loam soil. Time series of local pressure heads in various depths, mean water contents and fluxes across the upper boundary were generated in a virtual evaporation experiment. Additionally, a multi-step unit gradient simulation was applied to determine effective values of hydraulic conductivity near saturation up to pF = 2. The generated data were evaluated by inverse modeling, assuming a homogeneous system, and the effective hydraulic properties were identified. The effective properties were compared with predictions from available scaling models of SHP for different volumes of rock fragments. Our results showed that scaling the WRC of the background soil based on only the value of f gives acceptable results in the case of impermeable rock fragments. However, the reduction of conductivity could not be simply scaled by the value of f. Predictions were highly improved by applying the Novák, Maxwell, and GEM models to scale the HCC. The Maxwell model matched the numerically identified HCC best.


To the Editor—Maternal and neonatal tetanus is a significant cause of mortality, estimated to cause 180 000 deaths annually [1]. Since the mid-1970s, tetanus vaccination of pregnant women has been included in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) [2]. Two doses of tetanus toxoid are sufficient to generate an antibody response (immunoglobulin G [IgG] class) capable of protecting neonates from tetanus, 3 doses are recommended for pregnancy, and 5 are recommended for life [3]. Despite these recommendations, WHO has identified a lack of longitudinal data quantifying antitetanus antibody boosting and duration during pregnancy following immunization in the EPI schedule [4].

To address this gap, we determined levels of antitetanus IgG at multiple time points from enrollment to delivery (median, 30 weeks of follow-up) in 376 pregnant women participating in malarial antibody studies at the antenatal clinics of the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit in northwest Thailand (previously published with ethics statement in Fowkes et al [5]). The tetanus vaccination regimen (tetanus toxoid) followed EPI guidelines [3]: dose 1, as early as possible during pregnancy; dose 2, one month after dose 1; dose 3, 6 months after dose 2; dose 4, 1 year after dose 3; and dose 5, one year after dose 4. During the study, 48.9% of women received their first dose, 86.2% received doses 2–4, and 8.2% received the final dose (dose 5).

The boosting and decay of tetanus antibody levels after vaccination was vaccine dose-dependent (Figure (Figure1).1). In the first 8 days after vaccination, antitetanus IgG increased rapidly at comparable rates in all vaccination groups (P > .85 relative to T1). Interestingly, at 8 days after vaccination, IgG responses peaked and then plateaued in those receiving ≥2 doses. In contrast, IgG responses in those receiving their first vaccination peaked later at 50 days after vaccination (Figure (Figure1,1, P < .001). After 50 days postvaccination, antitetanus IgG responses declined and calculated IgG half-life was dependent on vaccination dose: 7.12 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.02–∞) for dose 1; 10.97 years (6.71–∞) for doses 2–4; and 12.28 years (6.15–∞) for dose 5. These estimates are in concordance with published nondose-specific half-life estimates in nonpregnant American women (10 years, 95% CI, 8–14) [6].

Figure 1.

Antitetanus immunoglobulin G (IgG) after vaccination in 376 pregnant women according to vaccination dose. Tetanus IgG levels (optical density) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as previously described [5] with tetanus toxoid coated ...

The close consecutive sampling of antitetanus antibody levels has allowed us to define, in the greatest detail to date, antitetanus IgG kinetics postvaccination, and we provide the first estimates of tetanus IgG half-lives in pregnancy according to vaccination dose in the EPI schedule. These data are important for predicting protection in neonates and are invaluable for understanding the sustainability of protective humoral immunity in high-risk populations such as pregnant women in resource-poor settings.


Roadworks and street works can be highly disruptive, expensive and deleterious to highway structures and infrastructure planning, yet these activities must take place if modern societies are to continue to function. In helping to strike this balance, this study investigates the public policy landscape of highway excavation management in England, UK. Semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders highlighted the complexity of the industry and revealed that a number of issues compromise effective management. Principal problems included street authorities failing to take enough ownership of the coordination process, highway legislation not encouraging joint working due to inherent challenges arising from reinstatement guarantees and entrenched attitudes and adversarial practices in the construction industry encouraging silo working. Key recommendations include amending highway legislation to support and recognise multiagency working and street authorities undertaking reinstatements on behalf of undert...


Karl Marx and the Chartist leader, writer and poet Ernest Jones developed a close intellectual and political partnership from the late 1840s through the late 1850s. Their friendship invites attention because it places Marx in the company of one of Chartism's leading anti-colonial advocates, precisely at a time when he was simultaneously moving in that direction. This article explores the ways in which Marx and Jones converged in their estimation of the 1857 Indian uprising. It is argued that the shift in Marx's thought, whereby the dialectics of colonialism and anti-colonialism are integrated within his materialist conception of history, was not independent of Jones's influence.


Recently, extensive attention has been given to developing an active and durable metal-free economical sensor and catalyst. Graphene oxide (GO)-based sensors and catalysts have been considered as a promising candidate in current material science research. However, the sensing and catalytic properties of GO also need to be further improved to satisfy the specific applications, such as gas detection in harsh environments, medical diagnosis based on human breath, blood glucose detection, catalytic activity, and so forth. Therefore, the effect of nitrogen in GO on the performance of glucose and ammonia sensing, and catalytic activity has been investigated. Herein, we propose a practical, high-sensitive sensor and catalyst based on high-quality defect N-enriched GO. One-step, low-cost solvothermal synthesis of N-enriched GO has been exploited for the development of high-performance sensors and excellent catalyst at room temperature. The resultant N-enriched GO (N8GO) has been studied as a promising sensing material for ammonia, glucose, and para-nitrophenol (PNP) reduction. The prevalent outstanding sensing and catalytic performance may be due to the synergistic effect of nitrogen. A probable mechanism for sensing and catalytic reduction of PNP using N8GO has been proposed.


We demonstrate a pair of 90-45-45 prisms from binoculars appropriately attached to serve as Fresnel rhomb, i.e. achromatic quarter-wave plate. One and two Dove prisms with metallic reflection instead of TIR can work as half-wave plate and polarization rotator, respectively; both achromatic.


Abstract Objective While economic crises can increase socio-economic disparities in health, little is known about the impact of the 2008–09 Great Recession on obesity prevalence among children, especially low-income children. The present study examined whether socio-economic disparities in obesity among children of pre-school age participating in a federal nutrition assistance programme have changed since the recession. Design A pre–post observational study using administrative data of pre-school-aged programme participants from 2003 to 2014. Logistic regression was used to examine whether the relationship between obesity prevalence (BMI≥95th percentile of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's growth charts) and three measures of socio-economic status (household income, household educational attainment, neighbourhood-level median household income) changed after the recession by examining the interaction between each socio-economic status measure and a 5-year time-period variable (2003–07 v. 2010–14), stratified by child's age and adjusted for child's sociodemographic characteristics. Setting Los Angeles County, California, USA. Subjects Children aged 2–4 years (n 1 637 788) participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Results The magnitude of the association of household income and household education with obesity increased after 2008–09 among 3- and 4-year-olds and 2- and 3-year-olds, respectively. However, the magnitude of the association of neighbourhood-level median household income with obesity did not change after 2008–09. Conclusions Disparities in obesity by household-level socio-economic status widened after the recession, while disparities by neighbourhood-level socio-economic status remained the same. The widening household-level socio-economic disparities suggest that obesity prevention efforts should target the most vulnerable low-income children.


The need for an actinic wavelength AIMS™ EUV tool by 2014 has been defined by SEMATECH due to the challenges associated with EUV mask manufacture and defectivity. The AIMS™ EUV development project began in June of 2011 as a collaboration between ZEISS and the SEMATECH EUVL Mask Infrastructure (EMI) consortium. The project remains on track to meet the first commercial tool shipment in September 2014. The current design status of the system after two years as well as recent progress in the prototype build will be presented.