While sensor network deployment is becoming more commonplace in environmental, business, and military applications, security of these networks emerges as a critical concern. Without proper security, it is impossible to completely trust the results reported from sensor networks deployed outside of controlled environments. Much of the current research in sensor networks has focused on protocols and authentication schemes for protecting the transport of information. However, all of those schemes are useless if an attacker can obtain a node from the network and extract the appropriate information, such as security keys, from it. We focus our research on the area of secure systems. In this paper we demonstrate the ease with which nodes can be compromised as well as show exactly what information can be obtained and how it can be used to disrupt, falsify data within, or eavesdrop on sensor networks. We then suggest mechanisms to detect intrusions into individual sensor nodes. Finally, we come up with security measures that can be implemented in future generation nodes to improve security.


Horizontal gene transfer and recombination play a major role in microbial evolution and have been detected in diverse groups, including many of medical relevance such as HIV and dengue virus. In the absence of mechanistic barriers, the evolutionary success of a particular recombination event is determined by whether the recombinant genotype suffers a fitness cost through the disruption of favorable epistatic interactions within the genome, and if so, the extent to which this fitness cost might be mitigated by subsequent compensatory evolution. To investigate the importance of epistatic interactions between genes and the evolutionary viability of a homologous recombination event between diverged ancestral genotypes, we constructed two recombinant microvirid bacteriophages by exchanging their alleles of the gene encoding the coat protein. The coding sequences for this gene differ by approximately 8% at the amino acid level and were interchanged between two ancestral phages related to varphiX174 and well adapted to their culture conditions. Because the recombinant phages showed drastically reduced fitnesses, we further explored their evolutionary viability by subjecting replicate lines of each of them to selection. We found that all four lineages achieved fitnesses commensurate with ancestral fitnesses in as few as 60 generations, and on average, the first substitution accounted for more than half of the total fitness recovery. Fitness recovery required three to five substitutions in each lineage, and overall eight of the nine essential phage genes were involved, suggesting extensive epistatic interactions throughout the genome. Interestingly, the proteins with the most extensive and apparent physical interactions with the exchanged protein in the viral capsid did not appear to have much of a role in fitness recovery. This result appears to be a consequence of the conservation of the amino acid residues involved in the interactions. It suggests that strong epistatic interactions are less important than weaker, transient ones in producing genic incompatibilities because they preclude variability in the interacting regions of the proteins.


Network education given in the universities and in the other education areas constitutes the backbone of computer science. This education is provided not only in theoretical form but also in the practical way. Since it is hard to settle some information of computer networks in learners' mind practices are the necessary activities of learning process. As the visuality increases, learners start learning easier. So, network education is given in the applied form with real devices such as switches, routers, servers, etc. Although it is necessary to perform this education in this way, it may not always be possible with some reasons like high cost and installation hardness. The reason of planning to do this project comes exactly from this point. We are supposed to get over the difficulties of a qualified network education with some techniques used for distance learning and the remote communication with the network devices. To realize the project we will use the network labs of computer engineering department of Düzce University. With only this lab we will reach many learners and this will be profitable for both the client and the manufacturer. The system will include authorization, network knowledge assessment test, application, and logging out operations. After opening the system some questions are directed to the users optionally and according to the result of the assessment related part of the lesson is given. In this point, users first interact with the authorization server and then they are directed to the application server. Next, they will be using the network devices out of classroom wherever they want.1


In our field, the study of therapeutic change processes lags behind the study of treatment efficacy. Nonetheless, in the past 10 years major strides have been made in delineating change process mechanisms in couple and family therapy. To focus the efforts of future change process researchers, the authors discuss 5 critical needs: (a) more well-articulated, midrange theory about systemic change processes; (b) more attention to client change processes; (c) more attention to covert intrapersonal processes (emotion, cognition, and clients' experience of the alliance); (d) better articulation of strategies for analyzing data from multiple participants; and (e) more focus on the degree to which various change processes work similarly (or not) for diverse couples and families.


This article analyses the Irish Provisional Republican movement and the evolution of its approach to the politics of apology. The first section analyses recent scholarship regarding 'political apologies', and provides a challenge to the existing literature, which concentrates upon 'official' or state apologies, rather than examples involving non-state armed groups (paramilitary or 'terrorist' organisations). This section argues that it remains difficult to discern an adequate general model for establishing criteria for a 'successful' or 'sincere' political apology involving such groups. The second section considers a number of case studies, including the statements of the IRA in 2002, and after the Enniskillen bombing in 1987. It is argued that the Provisional movement's apologies have not generally proven helpful to its declared aim of post-conflict reconciliation. This article argues that attempted apologies or quasi-apologies by non-state groups may not ameliorate the sense of grievance experienced by victims/survivors, and may also serve to revivify social and political 'framing battles' over the past.


Recent research shows that one of remarkable characteristic is the fractal nature of the investigated network traffic, especially the multifractal phenomena over small time scale. In this paper, based on multifractal wavelet analysis, we perform the efficient queue tail analysis in an infinite capacity single server queue serviced at a constant rate driven by general multifractal input process. With the scale nature of wavelet, it is more convenient and accurate to perform the tail asymptotic analysis in wavelet domain than the analysis one. These results are validated by queuing simulation of the measured network traffic traces.


Purpose Even mild iodine deficiency may negatively affect cognitive performance, especially at a young age. Our aim was to investigate iodine status in very young children and to assess the importance of iodized salt in processed foods as an example for a country with voluntary salt iodization. Methods 24-h urinary iodine excretion (UIE) as a marker of iodine intake was measured in 378 repeatedly collected 24-h urine samples (2003–2010) of 221 3-< 6 year old participants of the DONALD Study. Parallel 3-d weighed dietary records and measurements of urinary sodium excretion provided data on the daily consumption of the most important iodine providers in the children's diet (iodized salt, milk, fish, meat and eggs). Time trends of UIE (2003–2010) and contributions of the different food groups were analysed by using linear mixed-effects regression models. Results Median UIE of 71 µg/d in boys and 65 µg/d in girls, corresponding to an iodine intake of 82 and 75 µg/d, respectively (assumption: 15% non renal iodine losses) was below the WHO intake recommendations of 90 µg/d. Milk, salt and egg intake were significant predictors of UIE; milk and salt together accounted for >80% of iodine supply. Between 2003 and 2010, UIE decreased significantly by approximately 1 µg/year. The contribution of salt intake to UIE decreased from 03–06 to 07–10. Conclusion In countries where salt is a major iodine provider, already modest decreases in the iodized proportion of salt used in processed foods may relevantly impair iodine status even in preschool children.


All chronic wounds are colonized by micro-organisms. Although the presence of bacteria is not necessarily harmful, and may be beneficial in some instances, accurate evaluation of wound-related bacterial damage and infection is crucial. A cross-sectional validation study involving 112 patients was conducted to estimate the specificity and sensitivity of clinical assessment variables individually and in combination to determine the presence and quantity of bacteria in the wound. The average age of study participants was 66 years (range 33 to 95 years) and most had leg (44) and foot (68) ulcers of approximately 6 months' duration. Wounds were evaluated using a mnemonic developed to evaluate the presence or absence of clinical signs of critical colonization (NERDS) or infection (STONEES) and results compared to semi-quantitative swab cultures. Wounds with debris, increased exudate, and friable tissue were found to be five times more likely to have scant or light bacterial growth; whereas, wounds with elevated temperature were eight times more likely to have moderate or heavy bacterial growth. When combining any three clinical signs, the sensitivity was 73.3% for scant or light and 90% for moderate and heavy bacterial growth and the specificity was 80.5% and 69.4%, respectively. Considering the importance of this clinical diagnosis, studies to examine the predictive validity of these assessment variables and culture results are warranted.


In this paper, we report on the integration of laser-annealed junctions into a state-of-the-art high-k/metal gate process flow. After implant optimization, we achieve excellent Lg scaling of 15/30 nm over a spike reference, for nMOS and pMOS respectively, without any performance loss. This enables to fabricate transistors with Lgmin meeting the 32 nm node requirement. In addition, we highlight the implication of the metal gate integration flow (ldquogate-firstrdquo vs. ldquogate-lastrdquo) on the junctions design. Also, we demonstrate that a millisecond anneal only (MSA-only) process can fulfill even the stringent junction leakage requirement for low power applications. Finally, based on a combination of physical and electrical characterization, we show for the very first time that micro-uniformities specific to this diffusion-less process have a negligible electrical impact in nominal devices.


The Electricity is contemplated as the back bone for the industrial revolution and in order to conclave the meeting of both industrial and household needs electricity needs to be at an larger transmission. For this paving of the electricity and also regulating the issues which are cascading on the power system something Flexible need to be adapted. Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS) has been a promising aspect in terms of the power system performance analysis. In this paper a comprehensive analysis on the Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) which being one of the FACTS device is presented. Accordingly the UPFC for different cases is perceived using a Proportional Integral(PI) controller and an Fuzzy logic controller (FLC). The Fuzzy logic controller is introduced, developed by the MAMDANI method replacing PI controller on a transmission line under different power system operating conditions. MATLAB/SIMULINK was used in order to delineate the controller network. It was observed that the UPFC with the Fuzzy logic based control technique in lines of alleviating the power quality issues like voltage sags, swells, damping had an superior performance than that of UPFC with the PI controller. It could be concluded that the Fuzzy logic controller(FLC) for mitigating the issues of power quality.


The earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra on 26 December 2004 unleashed a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that affected more than a dozen countries throughout South and Southeast Asia and stretched as far as the northeastern coast of Africa. The two worst affected areas - North-East Sri Lanka and the Aceh region in Indonesia - have both been marked by protracted intra-state armed conflicts. In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, international journalists and humanitarian actors argued that the disaster could actually constitute and opportunity for conflict resolution, as the scale and urgency of humanitarian needs should bring the protagonists together in joint efforts for relief, reconstruction and conflict resolution. In contrast, research on the impacts of natural disasters often concludes that disasters tend to deepen rather than resolve conflicts. Four years after the tsunami it can be observed that Aceh and North-East Sri Lanka have followed highly divergent trajectories. In Aceh, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Indonesia and Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) was signed shortly after the tsunami and has been followed by peace and a process od political integration into Indonesian democracy. In Sri Lanka, the tsunami created a humanitarian pause from the gradual escalation of hostilities and an attempt to create a joint mechanism between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for handling humanitarian aid, but Sri Lanka has since the returned to full-scale warfare between the GOSL and LTTE. This brief article, which is based on work in progress, will highlight some key lessons and preliminary conclusions for each of these research quetions: (1) How and to what extent has reconstruction/development been linked to processes of conflict resolution and rights based democratization?; (2) How and to what extent has a process of rights based democratization been related to the parallel processes of revonstruction/development and conflict resolution?; (3) How and to what extent have the parallel processes of reconstruction/development, conflict resolution and democratization generated political transformations of the armed insurgency movements?


The dinuclear copper(II) complexes [Cu(2)(tmihpn)(prz)](ClO(4))(2).2CH(3)CN (6) and [Cu(2)(tmihpn)(O(2)CCH(3))](ClO(4))(2).CH(3)CN (7) were prepared, where tmihpn is the deprotonated form of N,N,N',N'-tetrakis[(1-methylimidazol-2-yl)methyl]-1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol and prz is the pyrazolate anion. The crystal structures of 6 and 7 were determined and revealed that both complexes contain bridging alkoxide ligands as well as bridging pyrazolate and acetate ions, respectively. Crystal data: compound 6, triclinic, P&onemacr;, a = 18.089(2) Å, b = 22.948(3) Å, c = 9.597(2) Å, alpha = 93.37(2) degrees, beta = 94.49(2) degrees, gamma = 81.69(2) degrees, V = 3925.1 Å(3), Z = 4; compound 7, triclinic, P&onemacr;, a = 12.417(2) Å, b = 15.012(3) Å, c = 10.699(2) Å, alpha = 104.76(2) degrees, beta = 102.63(2) degrees, gamma = 99.44(2) degrees, V = 1830.1 Å(3), Z = 2. In compound 6, the coordination geometry around both copper centers resembles a distorted square pyramid, while the stereochemistry around the copper centers in 7 is best described as trigonal bipyramidal. Both complexes display well-resolved isotropically shifted (1)H NMR spectra. Selective substitution studies and integration data have been used to definitively assign several signals to specific ligand protons. Results from the solution (1)H NMR studies suggest that the basal and apical imidazole groups do not exchange rapidly on the NMR time scale and the solid state structures of the complexes are retained in solution. In addition, the magnetochemical characteristics of 6 and 7 were determined and provide evidence for "magnetic orbital switching". Antiferromagnetic coupling in 6 (J = -130 cm(-)(1)) is strong, while the copper centers in compound 7 are ferromagnetically coupled (J = +16.4 cm(-1)). Differences in the magnetic behavior of the two copper centers have been rationalized using the "ligand orbital complementary" concept. The ground state magnetic orbitals involved in spin coupling in 6 (d(x)()()2(-)(y)()()2) are different from those in 7 (d(z)()()2).


Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), is the new generation theme in business, every company need a successful ERP system, but mostly of company that want to implement ERP have many problem, financial and managerial. This paper tend to analyze which critical success factors affect the ERP implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because unfortunately in this country, there is a lack in information about ERP implementation and many firms have big problem during approaching the new system, and fail in their intents. Many researchers in developed country, have brought their conclusion about which factors are most affecting ERP implementation, and through their studies it will be much easier to determine what affect ERP implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are the same problem affecting the implementation like in developed country or there are different problems and factors that cause unsuccessful usage of ERP system in companies, and how firms can easily and successful use ERP systems in this country.


BACKGROUND: Pneumonia developing in the community is defined as community-acquired-pneumonia (CAP) and causes serious mortality. We aimed to investigate the characteristics and factors affecting the treatment success of severe CAP patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Demographic characteristics (age and gender), presence of comorbidity, duration of ICU and intubation, laboratory data, chest X-ray findings, mechanical ventilation (MV) supports, presence of sepsis, septic shock, requirement of inotropic, reintubation, tracheostomy, microbiological etiology in cultures, nutritional characteristics, and mortality of 121 CAP cases who were admitted to our ICU within 4 years were recorded retrospectively. Pneumonia severity index, predisposition, infection, response, organ dysfunction (PIRO), confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure-Age (CURB-65), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores were examined. RESULTS: Mortality in male gender was found to be higher (P = 0.009). It was determined that the nonsurvivor patients stayed longer in the ICU (P = 0.006). Mortality rate was higher in patients with bilateral and multilobar infiltration (P < 0.001), pleural effusion (P = 0.001) on chest X-ray, who were admitted to the ICU as intubated (P = 0.01), and who required MV (P < 0.001) and tracheostomy (P = 0.002). Statistically significant relationship was found between duration of intubation (P = 0.01), presence of sepsis (P < 0.001), and septic shock (P = 0.003) on admission to ICU and mortality. Only, a positive correlation between procalcitonin (PCT) and negative correlation between SaO2 (P = 0.03) and pH (P = 0.009), pO2 (P = 0.006) in arterial blood gas from the laboratory values on admission to ICU and mortality was determined. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that male gender, intubation, tracheostomy, supports of MV and inotropic, presence of sepsis, septic shock and multilobar, bilateral infiltration and pleural effusion on chest X-ray, low levels of pH, pO2, SaO2, and SpO2 may be factors affecting mortality in CAP patients in the ICU, PCT values, APACHE II, CURB-65, and PIRO scores can be used as a marker to predict mortality.


Objective: In subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), interference during memory consolidation may further degrade subsequent recall of newly learned information. We investigated whether spatial and object memory are differentially susceptible to interference. Method: Thirty-nine healthy young subjects, 39 healthy older subjects, and 12 subjects suffering from MCI encoded objects and their spatial position on a 4-by-5 grid. Encoding was followed by either: (i) a pause; (ii) an interference task immediately following encoding; or (iii) an interference task following encoding after a 6-min delay. Type of interference (no, early, delayed) was applied in different sessions and order was counterbalanced. Twelve minutes after encoding, subjects saw objects previously presented or new ones. Subjects indicated whether they recognized the object, and if so, the objects' position during encoding. Results: Interference during consolidation provoked a negative effect on spatial memory in young more than older controls. In MCI, object but not spatial memory was affected by interference. Furthermore, a shift from fine- to coarse-grained spatial representation was observed in MCI. No differential effect of early vs. late interference (EI vs. LI) in either of the groups was detected. Conclusions: Data show that consolidation in healthy aging and MCI differs from consolidation in young controls. Data suggest differential processes underlying object and spatial memory and that these are differentially affected by aging and MCI.


Bill Simmons, also known as "The Sports Guy," has been perhaps the most prolific and polarizing figure in US sports journalism since joining ESPN, the "worldwide leader in sports," in 2001. Simmons is the most visible representative of a huge contemporary shift in sports journalism, which is increasingly leaving behind the traditional, serious-minded "reporterly" mode associated with print media and turning toward the growing influence of a free-form aesthetic, derived from the writing style of non-professional bloggers. This style treats sports as a component of pop culture, rather than a sanctified space apart from it. I argue that the astounding popularity of Simmons' work, which includes columns for ESPN.com, audio podcasts, television documentaries, a Twitter feed, two New York Times-bestselling books, and until recently a monthly column in ESPN: The Magazine, is a result of his particular style of mobilizing his intersectional identity as an upper-middle class white male sports fanatic. Simmons' journalistic work is more comprehensible and legible as the demonstration of a particular identity that he models and offers to his fans than as a literary exercise or as a means to deliver information and analysis. The Simmons phenomenon models a new mode of sports journalism production and consumption that is not built on insider information or authority but on the construction of a unique, immersive identity projected by the writer and shared in by his or her fans. Following on this point, I suggest that Simmons' particular identity is attractive to sports fans because it offers a palatable way for them to define and experience themselves as white and white-collar, both of which are fraught positions in the sports world and the media complex that surrounds it.


Public service provision is in most cases handled with loose hands when it comes to the achievement of intended outcomes. This is so because public services are facilitated and or implemented by government departments with the aim of satisfying specific policy demands which are usually not strictly bound by time. Most of such government initiatives are handled as programmes and not projects and their anticipated impact is usually seen beyond a particular government which is in power at that time. These conditions in development implementation have the tendency of giving room to other interested factors that seek promotion to exert influence on development activities. One of the factors that influence development, particularly Community Development is Party politics. The influence of party politics has in recent times emerged as a significant factor in community development since the adoption of multi-party politics in most African countries including Malawi.
The influence of party politics in Malawi has drawn the interest of many development conscious Malawians who have at times gone to an extent of comparing development between different regimes belonging to different parties. The main aim of the study was to critically assess the effects of party politics on the implementation of community projects in Malawi with the case reference of school development projects in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kwataine in Ntcheu. School development projects was singled out for the study because it is commonly found in most communities and is one of the development initiatives that most politicians use for campaign promises.
Among other findings the study established that most communities believe that government and ruling party business are one and the same thing. This political party influence has resulted in poorly managed community projects which have suffered due to lack of credible community participation, politically motivated project decisions and corrupt practices that are motivated by the desire to achieve political appeasement.
Through the use of PESTLE in analysing the findings, this study proposed a range of recommendations that can contribute to the improvement of public community development project implementation in Malawi as well as other African countries. Through this study the author proposes the review of decentralisation efforts through the transformation of all community based development committees.


Innovative cultivation and processing facilities are needed in order for the increased production in Türkiye to be efficient, low energy consumption, and high quality. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of the US California-based walnut producer has been made, which can also be an industrial role model to Turkish producers. The orchard of Chandler variety walnut was 70 decares and contains 17-year-old trees. Fuel consumed by agricultural machines during field operation, the rate of meeting the electricity need from solar panels for irrigation and processing, and the data of the hybrid drying (solar wall-natural gas) which is one of the few agricultural applications samples in the world were recorded for sustainable walnut production. In walnut production, spraying (pesticide) had the highest fuel consumption by far compared the all-year applications. The photovoltaic panels in the orchard met 62.8% of the required energy for irrigation engines. To process 42837 kg of walnuts, it was determined that 18.05% of the daily produced energy by roof-top photovoltaic panels was used. It is presenting that walnut production makes a significant direct contribution to the economy as a result of high-quality products with full mechanization and methods of utilizing solar energy technologies in walnut production.


tory complicationsand, with ne previousexperienceto guide them, the authors evolved the methods outlined in this book. The authors included aneesthetists,physicians, otorhino-laryngologists,pathologistsand physiotherapists,who, betweenthem, contribute19 chapters. Following a survey of the epidemic an attempt is made to classify the types of respiratory insufficiency encountered. This classification follows the orthodox lines but adds a condition called "cerebralia", which denotes a defect of consciousnessnot primarily due to the virus, but to one or more associated factors, such as anoxia, carbon dioxide retention, urremia et cetera. Chapters on the mechanicsand physiology of artificial respiration follow, but, even for one acquainted with respiratoryphysiology, theseare hard to understandpossibly owing to over-condensation. The chapterson the clinical features of acute respiratory insufficiency and its complicationsare excellent, as is that on tracheotomyand bronchoscopy. There is a chapteron the various types of mechanicalrespiratorswhich is of great interest,but which describes only those manufacturedin continental Europe, and thesedescriptionsare very brief. It is evident that in emergenciessatisfactorypositive pressurerespirationcan be immediately commencedand maintained by the use of a Water's canister and a manually compressedbag. There are interesting and informative chapters on lung physiotherapy, complications, special conditions and laboratory control in the patient undercontinuousartificial respiration, some of whom were so maintainedfor three years. There is a short chapteron the electrocardiographic hangesin the disease.Their resultsare clearly tabulatedand collectedwith autopsy findings in many cases. There is, however, no information as to the final functional result in thosepatients who recoveredfrom respiratoryinsufficiency.


Mitochondria are multifunctional subcellular organelles whose operations encompass energy production, signal transduction, and metabolic regulation. Given their wide range of roles, they have been studied extensively as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of various diseases including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. Mitochondria-mediated pathways have been identified as promising targets in the context of these diseases. However, the delivery of specific probes and drugs to the mitochondria remains as one of the major problems yet to be solved. Over the past decade, many efforts have been made to develop mitochondria-targeted delivery methods based on the membrane characteristics and the protein import machinery of mitochondria. While various methods utilizing small molecules to polymeric particles have been introduced, it is notable that many of these compounds share common structural elements and physicochemical properties for optimal selectivity and efficiency. In this perspective, we will overview most recently developed mitochondria-targeting peptides and peptidomimetics to outline the key aspects of structural requirement and design principle. We will also discuss successful and potential applications of mitochondrial delivery to assess opportunities and challenges in mitochondria-targeting.


The identification of localized discrete populations is particularly important to the management and conservation of animal species, especially in the marine environment, where potential for dispersal is high but barriers to gene flow are often not clear. We investigated population genetic structuring of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus found along the west coast of Ireland, with particular attention to the Shannon Estuary, which is the only candidate Special Area of Conservation designated for this species in Irish waters. A genetic structure analysis using 62 biopsy samples from free ranging dolphins and 23 necropsies from stranded dolphins revealed fine‐scale population structure among three distinct populations. The Shannon Estuary population appears to be genetically isolated from adjacent coastal areas, with the exception of four animals sampled from a small group of six dolphins that are now resident in Cork Harbour (south coast) indicating ongoing gene flow or recent dispersal between these two areas. A second genetically distinct aggregation was identified in the Connemara–Mayo region, where recent photo‐identification studies have suggested that dolphins found in this area show a degree of site fidelity. We found moderate nuclear (15 microsatellites) and low mitochondrial (544 bp of the control region) gene diversity in dolphins using the Shannon Estuary and the Connemara–Mayo region, while dolphins that stranded along the coast showed markedly higher levels of gene diversity at both classes of markers. Specifically, these stranded dolphins formed a third genetically distinct cluster, which may be part of a larger pelagic population, as also suggested by the high levels of gene diversity. These results provide new insights into population structure of bottlenose dolphins in Irish waters and will aid future management and conservation of the species in the eastern North Atlantic.


The paper analyses the performance of simple interest rate rules which feature a response to noisy observations of inflation, output and money growth. The analysis is based on a small empirical model of the hybrid New Keynesian type which has been estimated on euro area data by Stracca (2007). To assess the magnitude of the measurement problems regarding the feedback variables, we draw upon the real-time data set for Germany compiled by Gerberding et al. (2004). We find that interest rate rules which include a response to money growth outperform both Taylor-type rules and speed limit policies once real-time output gap uncertainty is accounted for. One reason is that targeting money growth introduces history dependence into the policy rule which is desirable when private agents are forward-looking. The second reason is that money growth contains information on the "true" growth rate of output which can only be measured imperfectly.


We aimed to examine the change in adherence to annual diabetic eye disease (DED) testing in an integrated healthcare system (Johns Hopkins Community Physicians 30+ community based primary care clinics) before and after deployment of autonomous artificial intelligence (AI). Adherence to annual DED testing is defined as completed evaluation by either a human ophthalmology provider, or autonomous AI within a given calendar year. During the COVID pandemic, autonomous AI (IDx-DR, Digital Diagnostics, Coralville, IA) was deployed at multiple clinics, so that by 2021, some clinics had autonomous AI (AI sites), while others did not (non-AI sites). Overall adherence in 2019 (pre-AI) and 2021 (with AI) were compared, and stratified by demographics, using chi-square or Fisher's exact test. Changes from 2019 to 2021 in odds of adherence within each subgroup were assessed for significant differences by site type (AI vs. non-AI), using logistic regression with a site type-by-time interaction term. From 2019 to 2021, the overall adherence rate increased from 42.6% to 55.5% at AI sites (1949 patients), and increased from 38.0% to 41.0% at non-AI sites (5379 patients). The increase in overall adherence rate at AI sites was significantly greater than that at non-AI sites (p<0.001). Various patient subgroups (M, F, ≥65 yo, <65 yo, Black, White, Medicare/military/commercial insurance) at AI sites demonstrated a significantly greater (p<0.05) compliance rate increase when compared to the same subgroups at non-AI sites. For Black patients, there was no difference in adherence rate between AI sites and non-AI sites (38.5% vs. 37.1%, p=0.45) in 2019, but the difference became significant (p<0.001) in 2021 due to increased adherence at the AI sites (58.0%) vs. 38.8% at non-AI sites. Autonomous AI improved DED testing adherence in a large, diverse patient cohort and decreased disparity in Black patients, a historically-disadvantaged subgroup.

 T.Liu: None. J.Huang: None. H.Lehmann: None. R.M.Wolf: Research Support; Dexcom, Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim Inc. R.Channa: None. M.D.Abràmoff: Board Member; Digital Diagnostics, Consultant; AbbVie Inc., NovaGo Therapeutics AG, Other Relationship; Digital Diagnostics, Stock/Shareholder; Digital Diagnostics.

 Digital Diagnostics


Aims:  In response to a dramatic change in the epidemiology of Salmonella Enteritidis in England and Wales thought to be associated with raw shell eggs, the Health Protection Agency initiated public health investigations to establish the incidence of Salmonella contamination and origin of eggs used by catering premises implicated in outbreaks of Salm. Enteritidis.


2014 Abstract Many changes of female reproductive system are based on the vascular activity and blood flow. In ovarian follicular development, re-anastomosis is critical and permits cells and oocytes to utilize nutrients as well as the hormones. Moreover, it plays a main role in corpus luteum formation. Female reproductive system undergoes several angiogenesis programs which are considered essential in order to reach a follicle to preovulatory stage and to set up a network between granulosa cells and blood vessels through the theca layer. Up to the first 3 days after transplantation and reanastomosis start, a large number of follicles especially advanced types, begin an early death due to their severe dependence on nutrients of blood supply. Loss of the nutritional sources of granulosa cells leads to a decrease in survival and supporting factors and thus, cell death increases. Considering the importance of this issue, the present study intends to investigate the activity of angiogenic and apoptotic factors in transplanted ovarian


We propose a scheme for an experimental verification of the reversed Cherenkov effect in left-handed media. The scheme uses optical-to-terahertz conversion in a planar sandwichlike structure that consists of a nonlinear core cladded with a material that exhibits left-handedness at terahertz frequencies. The focused into a line femtosecond laser pulse propagates in the core and emits Cherenkov wedge of terahertz waves in the cladding. We developed a theory that describes terahertz generation in such a structure and calculated spatial distribution of the generated terahertz field, its energy spectrum, and optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiency. The proposed structure can be a useful tool for characterization of the electromagnetic properties of metamaterials in the terahertz frequency range.


Since ancient times spices and herbs have been used as food additives and also as flavoring agents and possess antimicrobial activity against different micro organisms and food pathogens. Different factors influence the antimicrobial activity of spices including type of spices or herbs, their chemical composition, content of extracts and essential oils and the type of micro organisms against they are used.The present study was evaluated to determine the antimicrobial potential of spice extracts of Black pepper (Piper nigrum), Coriander (Coriandrum sativum), Aniseeed (Pimpinella anism) and Bay leaf (Laurus nobilis) against Gram positive and Gram negative microorganisms. The study was performed disc diffusion method , the extract of Black pepper, Coriander, Aniseed and Bay leaf exhibits antimicrobial activity against all tested microorganisms with an inhibition zone diameter (IZD) ranging from 22mm to 16mm.The inhibitory effect was found in all tested microorganism except against Pseudomonas which shows resistance to spice extract.


Four temperature-sensitive mutations in the divIB gene of Bacillus subtilis have been localized to the region corresponding to the C-terminal half of the 263-residue DivIB protein. Antiserum was raised to the 80% C-terminal portion lying on one side of a putative transmembrane (hydrophobic) segment, and used to examine aspects of the nature and localization of the DivIB protein in the cell. A single DivIB species of a size equal to the full-length protein encoded by the divIB gene was detected in wild-type cells. Cell fractionation studies established that DivIB is associated preferentially with the cell envelope (membrane plus cell wall), with approximately 50% being released into solution upon treatment of cells with lysozyme under conditions that yield protoplasts. Of the remaining 50%, approximately half remained firmly associated with the membrane fraction. On the basis of the 'positive-inside rule' of von Heijne (1986) it is suggested that the topology of membrane-bound DivIB is such that the long C-terminal portion is directed to the outside and the smaller N-terminal portion to the inside of the cell. DivIB in protoplasts was rapidly degraded by proteinase K under conditions where there was no general proteolysis of the cytoplasmic proteins. This is consistent with its absence from the cytoplasm, and with the predicted membrane topology. Septum positioning in a divIB null mutant, which grows as filaments at temperatures of 30 degrees C and below, was found to be normal. It appears that DivIB is needed for achieving the appropriate rate of initiation of septum formation at normal division sites. It is proposed that the C-terminal portion of DivIB, localized on the exterior surface of the membrane and in juxtaposition to the peptidoglycan, normally interacts with another protein (or proteins) to initiate septum formation.


The flower industry today is a fairly dynamic international industry. Proof of this is the significant growth rates achieved in recent years in this area. Thus transportation of perishable goods is one of the most difficult types of delivery, and transportation of flowers is even more difficult. Because it is necessary not only to strictly adhere to the temperature regime, but also to preserve the appearance of such a demanding cargo. Conducted analysis of the flower industry has shown that market demand is stagnant, while supply is in surplus. In part, this is due to the fact that flowers are highly correlated with income, not being essential commodities. Although on the other hand, consumer demand is becoming more demanding and differentiated. The main factors influencing the market of floriculture products were identified and studied. It was noted that the market of floriculture products in Ukraine is relatively small and young, but promising and growing rapidly. In addition, it is one of the most complex and time-consuming, due to its features. First of all, the floriculture market is represented by a significant number of participants that have different basic and current resources, goals for the market, needs, and so on. Studies have shown that the floriculture industry can suffer huge losses, mainly due to the lack of proper infrastructure for storage and transportation, as well as due to the lack of control over the conditions of supply. Lack of visibility in supply chains leads to quality problems, which leads to product loss, product returns, rising costs, and time delays. In addition, changing consumer demands, an active lifestyle and an open economy are forcing manufacturers and suppliers to produce higher quality goods and constantly look for ways to optimize costs. The proposed conceptual model of floriculture supply chain management will make it possible to form a new infrastructure that will unite all the subjects of the floriculture market into a single system. Thus, we can say that the priority areas of infrastructure development of the floriculture market should be determined in terms of a systematic approach and consist in the interaction of elements of production, intermediary, floristic, design, marketing, financial, information and agricultural components. Each part of the chain must perform its function effectively in order to maintain the optimal conditions of the environment in which the products of floriculture are located, during its supply from the manufacturers to the final consumers. To this end, a combination of innovative technologies that help to manage the supply of floriculture products in real time through the supply chain was proposed. Therefore, in order to satisfy consumers, it is necessary to form an effective supply chain for floriculture products, all parts of which must work in a whole, so that end consumers can get high quality products.


Microarrays are increasingly requested as a first-line genetic investigation for chromosome anomalies in the neonatal population. Consent is usually taken by paediatricians, frequently trainees, often without specific training in how to consent for genetic tests. Unlike in the paediatric population,1 there are no consensus guidelines on the indications for neonatal microarray testing. Our local guideline recommends microarray testing in babies with multiple congenital anomalies or ambiguous genitalia. However, studies have also suggested the utility of microarray testing in congenital heart disease2 and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) without congenital anomalies.3

Informed genetic consent needs to cover prognostication (most pathogenic copy number variants (CNVs) are associated with a significant risk of learning disability); potential implications for family members; incidental findings and the risk of identifying variants of uncertain significance (VUS).

We conducted a retrospective study on …


The supplier-buyer relationship has been increasingly undertaken in recent years, by academics, consultants and operations management. Present and especially future development strongly urge for more systematic and transparent decision-making. Developing longer-term relationships and using longer-term contracts, are additional ways to manage, develop and improve supplier performance (Monczka et. al 1998) who, often becomes a partner with the purchaser. This paper investigates the supplier development programme initiated by the government of Malaysia to stimulate the economic growth through SMIs sector in co-operation with the large firms (LFs). The economic and industrialisation development propelled by the government has encouraged the development of SMIs working closely with large firms (LFs). This programme was successfully implemented when the government introduced it in the heavy industrial program - the manufacturing of national car PROTON in 1988. The success story of PROTON has initiated the government to disseminate this programme into other industries. Empirical findings from a survey of 15 SMIs and 6LFs (from 4 different industrial sectors) within the Klang Valley in the supplier development programme indicated that the success rate is not encouraging. Suppliers lack skills and financing to make the necessary investments in training, new technology, research and development to make an effective partnership with final producers.


Static program analysis is concerned with the computation of approximations of the runtime behavior of programs. Precise information about a program's runtime behavior is, in general, uncomputable for various different reasons, and each reason may necessitate making certain approximations in the information computed. This article illustrates one source of difficulty in static analysis of concurrent programs. Specifically, the article shows that an analysis that is simultaneously both context-sensitive and synchronization-sensitive (that is, a context-sensitive analysis that precisely takes into account the constraints on execution order imposed by the synchronization statements in the program) is impossible even for the simplest of analysis problems.


Recent developments of new ultra-deep logging-while-drilling (LWD) resistivity tools have increased usage for on-demand computational infrastructure. The tools are capable of providing much deeper determinations on formation geologies than conventional electromagnetic (EM) resistivity tools, allowing more accurate real-time wellbore adjustment and optimization. This technique efficiently explores reservoir insights for maximizing oil production; however, the time to process raw measurements into useful geological information is long owing to the complexity and large amount of data associated with the tools. The conventional computation platforms are not efficient enough for both real-time and post-well formation evaluations based on this tool's measurements.
 This paper introduces a high-performance computing (HPC) platform which provides flexibility among different deployment architectures and large-scale cloud infrastructure. This enables numerous computational resources to quickly process raw data and provide the information needed to successfully steer a well. The new HPC platform has 50% more efficiency compared to conventional parallelization methods, such as Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP), using same amount of CPUs. Furthermore, faster computation is achievable owing to the scalability of the HPC implementation as well as the flexibility of available assets in the cloud or on-premises environments, which are beneficial for applications with heavily computational requirements and short time constraints.


Spectral imaging permits two-dimensional mapping of the backscattering properties of biological systems. Such mapping requires broadband illumination of the entire area of interest. However, imaging of turbid biological media under these conditions often involves mean photon path lengths that exceed the pixel size. Using a numerical Monte Carlo model, we have studied the effects of photon scattering in a hemoglobin-bearing model system. We find that photon migration and the resulting wavelength-dependent optical coupling between pixels can complicate the analysis of imaging spectroscopy data. In fact, the wavelength dependence of photon trajectories also alters the distribution of photon exit angles at the tissue surface. We therefore find that the finite optical field of view of an imaging spectrometer can affect the measured spectra in the absence of chromatic aberrations.


Ovulated alcohol‐activated or inactivated mouse oocytes were fused with mouse thymocytes. Activated oocytes react to the presence of foreign nuclei by forming in the peripheral cytoplasm incorporation cones. In this region the cell membrane is smooth and a cortical layer of thin filaments underlies it. It resembles the fertilization cone. In non‐activated oocytes a layer of thin cortical filaments of the same thickness is formed over the foreign chromatin but the surface protuberance (cone) is absent. These results suggest that the cortical alteration in the oocyte architecture may be a general reaction of the oocyte surface to various chromatins introduced, not only to sperm chromatin. The role of oocyte activation in the evolution of these cortical changes is discussed.


The series of the General Conferences of the Condensed Matter Division of the European Physical Society started in Antwerp 1980. It continued with the conferences in Manchester 1982, Lausanne 1983, The Hague 1984, Berlin 1985, Stockholm 1986 and Pisa 1987. The eighth conference of the series was held in Budapest, Hungary, from 6 to 9 April 1988. The Budapest Conference, just as its predecessors in the years before, covered most of the topics of current interest in the relevant fields of research in condensed matter physics, pure, basic and applied. The program consisted of plenary talks, three parallel sessions of symposia and individual invited contributions. Contributions ranging over the entire field of condensed matter physics were presented in poster sessions. Special attention has been given to the field of high temperature superconductivity: after the opening ceremony the Hewlett-Packard award was handed over to J G Bednorz and K A Muller – the initiators of this new era of superconductivity. Besides their talks, two symposia were devoted to this subject. The present volume of Physica Scripta contains most of the oral communications at the Conference. The structure of the Proceedings and the order of papers follows simply the Program of the Conference (plenary talks, symposia, and individual invited talks). Finally we wish to thank the members of the International Program-, and International Advisory Committees for their cooperation during the organization of the Conference and all the contributors to this volume.


While characteristics of daily travel behavior have been determined from analyses of the reconstructed household travel behavior recorded in travel diaries, such reconstructions are subject to criticisms that people lie or falsely recall information about destinations, times of travel, trip purposes, trip destination, and other critical characteristics, such as under-reporting of short trips and the number of stops in a trip chain. In 1997 the Department of Transportation carried out a one week study in Lexington, Kentucky in which the cars of 100 households were equipped with GPS and in-car computers. Every stop was logged by the GPS receiver and the purpose of the trip was recorded at that time on an in-car computer. The final report of the study gave descriptions of travel behavior but performed little analysis on the data so collected. Using a CD-ROM data record of all transactions provided by DOT, we propose to examine questions such as: To what extent were the travel behaviors recorded on each day highly correlated? Are there recurring cyclic patterns that show similar patterns of repetitive behavior on different days of the week? How well can a model calibrated for activity behavior on one day predict behavior on other dates? How well does this data support panel and/or diary studies? To what extent to discrete choice models of travel behavior fit the data for different days with approximately the same parameters? To what extent did travelers use optimal travel routes (e.g. shortest path?)? What proportion of different trip purposes were undertaken entirely on suburban streets and what proportion relied on different quantities of freeway travel? Knowing the answers to these questions provides the final pieces to the puzzle of repetitiveness in household travel behavior. It is of considerable importance to the calibration of predictive models of behavior and to successfully implementing Advanced Transportation Management and Information Systems (ATMIS).


INTRODUCTION
Hospital environment is a reservoir of wide varieties of microorganisms which are frequently reported colonizing in medical equipment. Stethoscopes are essential tools and of universal use in the medical profession, which might be a source of spreading nosocomial infections. This research project was conducted with an aim to assess the presence of aerobic bacteria in the stethoscope of the medical doctors working at Patan Hospital and students of Patan Academy of Health Sciences.

METHODS
It is a cross sectional study based on structured questionnaire and sample assessment from the stethoscope of doctors and students of Patan Hospital and Patan Academy of Health Sciences. The stethescopes used by the doctors of five major departments of Patan Hospital and students of clinical years were included in this study.

RESULTS
Total of 99 stethoscope owned by different level of professionals (positions) and different departments were examined for bacterial contamination. Out of them, 36 were found to be considerably contaminated. Single strain of bacteria was grown from a single stethoscope. Among them 34 were Gram positive and remaining were Gram negative. Out of 34 gram postive bacteria, 29 were identified as Staphylococcus aureus, six were identified as Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus and remaining were Gram positive bacilli.

CONCLUSIONS
There is presence of aerobic bacteria in diaphragmatic portion of stethoscope of medical professional of which the gram positives were the commonest.


We study finite automata with both nondeterministic and random states (npfa's). We restrict our attention to those npfa's that accept their languages with a small probability of error and run in polynomial expected time. Equivalently, we study Arthur--Merlin games where Arthur is limited to polynomial time and constant space.
Dwork and Stockmeyer [SIAM J. Comput., 19 (1990), pp. 1011--1023] asked whether these npfa's accept only the regular languages (this was known if the automaton has only randomness or only nondeterminism). We show that the answer is yes in the case of npfa's with a 1-way input head. We also show that if L is a nonregular language, then either L or $\bar{L}$ is not accepted by any npfa with a 2-way input head.
Toward this end, we define a new measure of the complexity of a language L, called its 1-tiling complexity. For each $n$, this is the number of tiles needed to cover the 1's in the "characteristic matrix" of L, namely, the binary matrix with a row and column for each string of length $\le n$, where entry [x,y]=1 if and only if the string $xy \in L$. We show that a language has constant 1-tiling complexity if and only if it is regular, from which the result on 1-way input follows. Our main result regarding the general 2-way input tape follows by contrasting two bounds: an upper bound of polylog(n) on the 1-tiling complexity of every language computed by our model and a lower bound stating that the 1-tiling complexity of a nonregular language or its complement exceeds a function in $2^{\Omega (\sqrt{\log n})}$ infinitely often.
The last lower bound follows by proving that the characteristic matrix of every nonregular language has rank n for infinitely many n. This is our main technical result, and its proof extends techniques of Frobenius and Iohvidov developed for Hankel matrices [Sitzungsber. der Konigl. Preuss. Akad. der Wiss., 1894, pp. 407--431], [Hankel and Toeplitz Matrices and Forms: Algebraic Theory, Birkhauser, Boston, 1982].


A source coupled differential CMOS complementary Colpitts (C-Colpitts) oscillator with an on-chip transformer tank is proposed. Additionally, the on-chip transformer is analyzed through electromagnetic simulation, and the equivalent circuit is modeled with lumped components. The Q factor of an on-chip transformer is compared with symmetrical inductors, which have almost the same inductance. The proposed source coupled differential C-Colpitts oscillator is fabricated with 0.18-mum CMOS technology. With 1.4-V supply voltage, the oscillator shows phase noise of -145.6 dBc at 3-MHz offset in 1.8-GHz oscillation frequency.


With the desire to assess genetic variation across the lifespan in large-scale collaborative projects, one question is whether inference of copy number (CN) is sensitive to the source of material for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis (e.g., blood and buccal) and another question is whether CN is stable as individuals age. Here, we address these questions by applying Affymetrix 6.0 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) micro-arrays to 1,472 DNA samples from 710 individuals from the Netherlands Twin Register, including twin and non-twin individuals (372 with buccal and blood derived DNA and 388 with longitudinal data). Similar concordance for CN and genotype inference between samples from the same individual [or from the monozygotic (MZ) co-twins] was found for blood and buccal tissues. There was a small but statistically significant decrease in across-tissue concordance compared with concordance of samples from the same tissue type. No temporal effect was seen on CN variation from the 388 individuals sampled at two time points ranging from 1 to 12 years apart. The majority of our individuals were sampled at age younger than 20 years. Genotype concordance was very high (R2 > 99%) between co-twins from 43 MZ pairs. For 75 dizygotic (DZ) pairs, R2 was ≈65%. CN estimates were highly consistent between co-twins from MZ pairs for both deletions (R2 ≈ 90%) and duplications (R2 ≈ 86%). For DZ, these were similar for within-individual comparisons, but naturally lower between co-twins (R2 ≈ 50–60%). These results suggest that DNA from buccal samples perform as well as DNA from blood samples on the current generation of micro-array technologies.


To the Editor. —It was encouraging to read the article " Healthy People 2000 at Mid Decade" by Drs McGinnis and Lee, 1 but I was unable to find any mention of the importance of health education in our schools as an important component of disease prevention in our society. In August 1989, the National Association of State Boards of Education and the American Medical Association formed a national commission on the role of the school and the community in improving adolescent health. The commission demonstrated that for the first time in the history of this country, young people are less healthy and less prepared to take their places in society than their parents were. In June 1992, with support provided by the American Cancer Society, 100 representatives of 37 national health education and social service agencies gathered to develop an action plan that would move forward an agenda these organizations


Direction of arrival estimation is a well researched topic and represents an important building block for higher level interpretation of data. The Bayesian algorithm proposed in this paper (MUST) can estimate and track the direction of multiple, possibly correlated, wideband sources. MUST approximates the posterior probability density function of the source directions in time-frequency domain with a particle filter. In contrast to other previous algorithms, no time-averaging is necessary, therefore moving sources can be tracked. MUST uses a new low complexity weighting and regularization scheme to fuse information from different frequencies and to overcome the problem of overfitting when few sensors are available.


The Jakarta groundwater is one of the water resources in which people rely on it in great deal. With the limitation of the Water Supply Company to serve its user, groundwater becomes very valuable and dependable resource. The magnitude of extraction reaches out above it's save yield. In the year of 2002 about 1230 to 1590 millions cubic meters water were accumulated from precipitation. Approximately of 1027 million cubic meters each year about to be consumed by the people of Jakarta. The groundwater consumption tend to increase while the land capability to absorb groundwater decreasing as the land development expanding. Hidrologically the hydraulic conductivity of the Jakarta groundwater aquifer system is very low, so that the groundwater flowrate from the south region of Jakarta basin is also low. With the magnitude of extraction's very havily, the cone of depression incident has been occurring in the north Jakarta region. Along with this incident, a land subsidence was also occurring in the neighboring area. To overcome these problems, the assessment of the artificial recharge to the Jakarta aquifer particularly at the critical locations has been done. Schemes of the artificial recharges were simulated. Locations and magnitudes of these schemes were recommended to prevent further depression and saltwater intrusions.


Knut Nystedt's "Shells" makes a delightful treat for a small women's ensemble. Contrasting the finite world of humanity with shells as symbols of eternity, it launches performers and listeners on a sonic journey that evokes the mysteries of the ocean floor. Contrast is the most striking characteristic of "Shells." It juxtaposes loudness against softness, spoken phrases against sung phrases, three rhythms against two rhythms, ostinatos in thirds against a melody doubled at the octave, unison singing against a fugal ostinato accompaniment, chordal accompaniment against melody, and tone clusters against melody. The extremes of vocal range are explored, from a low Eb for second altos to a high Bb for sopranos. The resonant ostinatos never seem monotonous and contrast with the three-against-two rhythms, thus providing an exercise in developing independence between sections. The students learn how to produce a variety of vocal effects, from pure lyricism to whispering and glissandos. A variety of textures and timbres is achieved through contrasting vocal colors, extreme pitches, alternation of accompaniment and melodic functions, and unusual rhythms. The notation of the whispering, glissandos, and fugal ostinatos also sharpens students' visual perception and makes them more aware of their responsibility to interpret a composer's ideas faithfully. "Shells" can be programed as a multimedia work by inviting the biology teacher to share her collection of shells, reading the lyrics through with the performers to glean the beauty of the poetry, and finally rewarding the audience with an exquisite sound experience.-Sr. Joan M. Whittemore, Choral Director, St. Joseph's Academy, St. Louis


An exposure head, includes: an imaging optical system; a first light emitting element; a second light emitting element; a first TFT circuit that is connected with the first light emitting element via an interconnection wire; and a second TFT circuit that is connected with the second light emitting element via an interconnection wire, wherein the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element are provided between the first TFT circuit and the second TFT circuit, thereby improving the freedom of interconnection wire connected to the light emitting elements.


Indonesian salted-boiled fish, known as pindang, is the second largest traditional fish product in Indonesia and has important economic and social impacts for Indonesian societies, especially those who live in coastal areas. Pindang is made from Scombroid fish, such as tuna, mackerel and scad. Pindang processors are family- or neighbourhood-based industries equipped with basic or traditional processing equipment, with processing techniques passed from generation to generation. Salting and steaming (or boiling) are combined as methods of preservation in pindang processing. Some of the largest pindang processing centres are located in Pelabuhan Ratu-Sukabumi District (West Java Province), Juwana (Central Java Province) and Klungkung (Bali Province).
As with many other Scombroid-based products, pindang has a high risk of being contaminated with histamine. Reports indicate that pindang has caused several histamine fish poisoning (HFP) outbreaks in Indonesia. HFP is one of the major problems in seafood industries worldwide. This foodborne intoxication is caused by the ingestion of fish or other foods containing high levels of histamine. The formation of histamine depends on the availability of free histidine in fish flesh and the presence of histamine-producing bacteria (HPB) that harbour the histidine decarboxylase (Hdc) enzyme and convert histidine into histamine. Histamine is a heat-stable amine and cannot be destroyed by common cooking practices such as boiling, steaming, heating or freezing.
In Pelabuhan Ratu, Sukabumi District, West Java Province, Indonesia, pindang processing relies on the availability of fresh tuna from the local catchment. However, due to the limited number of fresh fish caught from the surrounding waters, pindang processors use frozen tuna as an alternative raw material. When frozen fish is used, a thawing step is introduced in the preparation phase of pindang processing. Improper thawing practices of raw material may lead to HPB growth and histamine formation. Therefore, this study aimed to provide a better understanding of the current processing of pindang in Pelabuhan Ratu and how the processing affects histamine accumulation in the final product.
Field observations and laboratory experiments were combined to collect relevant data on pindang processing, to evaluate the behaviour of HPB isolated from pindang and to identify intervention strategies which can be applied to prevent histamine accumulation in the final product as well as to improve the safety and quality of the product.
To identify HPB that are commonly found in pindang, fish samples were collected from several pindang processors in Pelabuhan Ratu. Fish from different processing stages (raw, thawed/washed, and cooked) were sampled. HPB were screened using modified Niven's agar and a PCR-based assay and identified using the API system and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The ability of the isolates to produce histamine was evaluated using histidine decarboxylase broth and an ELISA method. In total, fourteen different HPB genera were identified, i.e. Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Erwinia, Hafnia, Klebsiella, Morganella, Pantoea, Proteus, Providencia, Pseudomonas, Serratia, Shigella and Vibrio. In particular, Enterobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Morganella morganii and Providencia were found on thawed fish. Further confirmation showed that an Enterobacter aerogenes isolate produced ≥ 4,000 μg/ml histamine in histidine-rich broth media after 24 h incubation at 30°C.
A predictive modelling study was done to understand the growth of E. aerogenes isolated from pindang and its ability to produce histamine, at different conditions relevant to pindang production. The isolate was inoculated into histidine broth with different concentrations of salt (1.5, 6, 10 and 20% w/v) and in fish with 6% of salt concentration, then incubated at 10, 15, 20 and 30°C. Growth and histamine formation during the incubation were recorded. The growth parameters (growth rate-μ and lag time-λ) of E. aerogenes were modelled using the Roberts and Baranyi model as implemented in the DMFit version 3.5 Excel® add-in. A multiple linear regression and the extended Ratkowsky model were used to describe the effect of temperature and salt on the growth of E. aerogenes. Histamine formation during incubation was determined by combining a yield factor to the growth model. The results showed linear relationships among the bacterial growth rate, with temperature and salt. In broth experiment, the highest histamine level (>6,000 μg/ml) was produced at 30°C with 1.5% of salt. Although the isolate survived at 10% salt, the amount of histamine produced was very low (less than 10 μg/ml).
To evaluate the growth and histamine formation of E. aerogenes under conditions that mimic the thawing process of pindang, a broth experiment was done by growing the isolate to different cell densities and freezing at -20°C for 72 h. Thawing of the frozen culture was done at 4, 18 and 25°C for 4 h. The bacterial growth and histamine formation during the thawing process were recorded. The inoculum was reduced from the initial counts after freezing, and no bacterial growth was observed during subsequent thawing at different temperatures for 4 h. For treatment with high initial bacterial counts, the histamine production during thawing was more pronounced than treatment with low initial counts.
To describe the existing processing practices of pindang, field observations were done at several processors located in Pelabuhan Ratu. Two types of pindang processing were observed. The first processing type used fresh Skipjack tuna, while the second used frozen Little Eastern tuna. Pindang processing took four to five hours, depending on the type of raw materials used. When frozen fish were used as raw material, the processing required an additional 60 - 90 minutes of preparation, which predominantly was thawing. The histamine levels of fresh Skipjack and pindang made from this fish were very low (less than 50 μg/g). However, when frozen Little tuna was used as raw material, the histamine levels of some raw fish were higher than 100 μg/g. This greater level of histamine was also observed for cooked fish. Microbial community profiles for fish from different sources and at different processing steps, identified using the Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA), showed that the bacterial composition of pindang was affected by the type of fish used as raw material, fish processing (salt addition and heating), as well as post-processing contamination. Six critical control points (CCPs) were identified from pindang processing, i.e. receiving raw materials, thawing and washing, paper wrapping and arranging fish in the cooking container, salting, cooking and post-process handling.
The first CCP in pindang processing is the choice of raw materials. To prevent high histamine levels in the final product, the histamine levels of raw fish should not exceed the allowable limit of fresh fish (100 mg/kg as regulated by the Indonesian Standardization Body). For processing units that use frozen fish as raw material, the second CCP is the thawing and washing step. Thawing becomes a critical step as temperature abuse and time delays likely occur during this step. These conditions allow HPB, in particular, to grow and to produce histamine. Since histamine is a heatstable amine, the subsequent processing steps of pindang, e.g., paper wrapping, salting and cooking, do not eliminate pre-formed histamine.
In general, the histamine levels of raw tuna used in pindang processing will determine the histamine levels in the final product. When fresh tuna is not available, frozen tuna can be used as raw material. However, the temperature during the preparation step, especially during thawing and washing should be maintained below 18°C to avoid bacterial activity and histamine formation. Furthermore, the use of higher concentrations of salt (10%) is recommended to prevent the growth of halophilic HPB that may otherwise survive salting. Improved hygienic practices during processing are also necessary. For example, clean and circulated water should be used during thawing and washing to prevent contamination from the environment. Proper packaging combined with low storage temperature of the cooked product might also prevent post-processing contamination and increase the product shelf-life.


Abstract. In this article, we are interested in the implementation of an open-source low-level architecture (critical system) adapted to agile and easily replicable close-range remote sensing robots operating in multiple evolution domains. After reviewing the existing autopilots responding to these needs, we discuss the available hardware solutions and their limits. Then, we propose an original solution (software and hardware) that we developed to obtain a universal low-level architecture for all our exploration robots, whatever their environment of evolution, and the steps needed to make it run on our chosen family of micro-controllers: the ESP32. Finally, we present the operational results obtained on our different platforms (land, surface, submarine and air), their limits and the envisaged perspectives.


Chemical investigations on the acetone and MeOH solubles of the soft coral Nephthea erecta have afforded five new sesquiterpenoids (1-5), one known sesquiterpene, kelsoene (6), and two known 19-oxygenated steroids (10 and 11). In addition, three unexpected artificial 19-oxygenated steroids (7-9) were obtained by letting 10 and 11 stand in CDCl(3) for prolonged periods of time. The structures of 1-9 were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses, and their cytotoxicity against selected cancer cells was measured in vitro.


British Telecom International (BTI) has introduced an aeronautica/ telephone service known as the Skyphone. This service uses 9.6 kbit/ s speech codecs because of the limited satellite power available. Because of the need to achieve operation of aeronautical te/ephones between any aircraft and any ground station in any country, the technica/ specifications have been agreed internationally. After extensive testing of the various speech codecs proposed for the service by companies from severa/ different countries , the codec designed at British Telecom Research Laboratories (BTRL) was found to be the best and is to be used both for international te/ephony and for air traffic control. This paper gives a brief description of the Skyphone and the factors which influence the speech codec design and then describes the codec designed by BTRL for the service.


This thesis presents a study on microstructural evolutions of an ultrafine-grained (UFG) Al-Cu-Mg alloy processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT). This work aims to develop a physically based hardening model to predict the strength of cluster strengthened UFG ternary alloys, and to reveal the relation between thermodynamics and high strain in severe plastic deformation (SPD). Experiments by means of Vickers hardness, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Xray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe microscopy (APM) have been carried out to provide the relevant information for the calibration and validation of the models. Analysis of XRD line profile broadening using the Rietveld method and Williamson-Hall method shows that the dislocation density increases significantly due to severe plastic deformation, which contributes to the increase of strength. APM reveals the presence of nanoscale co-clusters and defectsolute clustering. The relation between peak temperature for S phase formation and the equivalent strain for HPT was studied with the aid of a diffusion model. The model suggests that on increasing strain, the exothermic peaks correlated to S precipitation shift to lower temperatures. The model is consistent with the data from DSC thermographs of samples after different number of HPT rotations. In both the strengthening model and the stored energy model, strengthening due to dislocations, grain refinement, co clusters (due to short range order and modulus strengthening) and solute segregation are all incorporated to explain the multiple mechanisms. The models show good correspondences with measured microstructure data, measured hardness and measured enthalpy in DSC. The thermal stability of nanostructures in the Al-Cu-Mg alloy obtained by HPT has been studied during DSC heating processes. A significant increase of crystallite size and a significant decrease of dislocation density are revealed from XRD profile broadening when heat treated up to 210 °C, which correlates with an exothermic peak in DSC thermographs. Clusters are thought to act as obstacles that hinder the movement of dislocations, stabilize the ultrafine microstructures. In single reversal (SR) HPT, the hardness slightly decreases after 1/4 reversal turn; and increases again when the reversal rotations continue to increase. This phenomenon is thought to be due to the geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density which decreases during the inverse straining. This study introduces concepts of the solute-defect complexes and the multiple local interaction energies between solute and dislocations to explain the strengthening mechanisms. The understanding of the HPT processing and microstructural modification has been enhanced through construction of models.


A series of five different concentration erbium-doped tellurite glasses with various hydroxl groups were prepared. Infrared spectra of glasses were measured. In order to estimate the exact content of OH− groups in samples, various absorption coefficients of the OH− vibration band were analyzed under the different oxygen bubbling times. The absorption spectra of the glasses were measured, and the Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Ω i of samples with the different erbium ions concentration and OH− contents were calculated on the basis of the Judd-Ofelt theory. The peak stimulated emission cross-section of 4|13/2→4|15/2 transition of the samples was finally calculated by using the McCumber theory. The fluorescence spectra of Er3+:4|13/2→4|15/2 transition and the lifetime of Er3+:4|13/2 level of the samples were measured. The effects of OH− groups on the spectroscopic properties of Er3+ doped samples with the different concentrations were discussed. The results showed that the OH− groups had great influences on the Er3+ lifetime and the fluorescence peak intensity. The OH− group is a main influence factor of fluorescence quenching when the doping concentration of Er2O3 is smaller than 1.0 mol%, but higher after this concentration, the energy transfer of Er3+ ions turns into the main function of the fluorescence quenching. And basically, there is no influence on the other spectroscopic properties (FWHM, absorption spectra, peak stimulated emission cross section, etc.).


Abstract form only given. During the past five years, femtosecond laser frequency comb synthesizers have firmly established their role as ultraprecise tools for optical frequency metrology. The development of these comb synthesizers will be reviewed, and their present and future role in physics and metrology will be discussed


Pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES) is the largest and most mature form of energy storage available in the world. However, although PHES is a well established technology, it is widely believed that suitable locations to construct new facilities are limited. Typically, the suitability of any location for PHES will be dependent upon its topographical and geological characteristics, the availability of a naturally occurring water storage such as a lake or river, the proximity of the facility to an adequate electricity grid, the difference in height between the upper and lower water reservoirs (commonly known as the head), and the volume of water exchangeable between the two reservoirs. Hence, the potential for PHES is usually not dependent on technological development or the awareness of its benefits, but on the ability to find a potential site which provides the desired capacities at an affordable price. Therefore, identifying the remaining sites available for PHES is becoming vital so that the most beneficial location is chosen: in terms of capacity and economics. In line with this, the primary aim of this work is to search the Counties of Limerick and Clare in Ireland for suitable locations for the construction of freshwater PHES facilities, which could support the development of renewable electricity generation. The search is carried out with the aid of a computer programme which has been developed. After identifying suitable locations, the power generation (MW) and storage (MWh) capacity of the most suitable site(s) are estimated along with the capital costs required, based on typical parameters found at existing PHES facilities.


This Article traces the genesis and subsequent implementation of the billboard control provisions of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. It explains why, more than thirty years after proponents had hoped that billboards would be eradicated, billboards remain a fixture of America's streets and highways. Problems of funding and the law's exceptions and exemptions explain part of the failure of policy, but a large measure of blame belongs to the Act's disincentives for states to act independently to control outdoor advertising within their borders. The author notes that Congress created a novel provision that, as implemented, thwarted states' efforts to use their police powers to control billboards. The power that Congress used to create the national program - the conditional spending power - today stands ready to penalize states that wish to control billboard blight, even though Congress has failed to fund the federal share of obligations due under the Highway Beautification Act. In effect, Congress has created for itself a new constitutional preemptive power akin to a "Dormant Spending Clause" which thwarts state action in the absence of affirmative federal spending legislation. That power is not and should not be a part of the federal constitution for it has the potential of causing Congress's power under the Spending Clause to supplant the autonomy of states. The article concludes by observing that, while the Highway Beautification Act is at its core a weak statute, there exist opportunities under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act for private litigants to compel states and the federal government to enforce the vestiges of the Act.


A good business history, old or new, is increasingly the one able to speak, or to be understood, by other social scientists, unfamiliar with the historians' research methodology but, nevertheless interested in the evidence, and also spillovers, provided by historical research. This has recently brought business historians to examine the possibility of a closer dialogue between business history and areas of management research which are more oriented towards the time dimension as a component of their conceptual framework, such as international business studies, management and strategy, and in particular family business studies. Generally speaking, these reflections have had ambiguous outcomes so far: they recognize the necessity of a closer dialogue, they emphasize the 'history-friendly' nature of some sub-fields of management studies (as well as the isolation of others), and try to identify how business history can fruitfully interact with disciplines oriented towards speculation, synthesis and normative purposes.


This is a qualitative case study of a collaboration among multiple stakeholders in science education who came together in order to create environmental field trips and the surrounding classroom curriculum. The collaboration involves 4 major facets of science education: formal education at the elementary and university levels, informal education, and educational research. The data were collected by means of observation, semi-structured interviews, and written document review. This study examines how shared vision developed within the collaboration, the roles the participants played in its evolution, and how this process benefited both the collaboration and each individual collaborator. Several factors significantly affected the progress towards a shared vision and a successful collaboration including time, communication, understanding others' perspectives, dedication and ownership, as well as the collaborative environment. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 681–705, 2007


Massive and rapid urbanization has led to population loss in rural areas, particularly in emerging and developing countries like China. As a result, houses in rural areas become vacant, and the house prices in cities, at the same time, skyrocket. While the research on the vacant farmhouses market (VFM) is a pressing issue for sustainable urbanization and has profound policy implications in China, few empirical studies have been conducted on analyzing the willingness of house owners and urban residents to participate in the VFM and any influencing factors—as there is no such operating market in China. To bridge the research gap, we first conducted a questionnaire-based survey on rural households and urban residents with a random sampling method in six cities in Sichuan Province, China. A total of 571 valid samples, including 284 rural households and 287 urban residents, were obtained. Based on these survey data, we then used logistic regression to estimate the influencing factors on the willingness of house owners and urban residents in renting in/out or selling/buying vacant farmhouses. The results showed that: (1) more than 60% of rural house owners and urban residents are willing to participate in a potential VFM; (2) the main influencing factors of house owners' willingness to rent out or sell their houses include the sociodemographic characteristics of farmers (e.g., age, household income) and characteristics of the vacant houses (e.g., distance to the main roads, the status of vacant houses), while the major factors that affect the willingness of urban residents to rent in or purchase vacant rural houses are the sociodemographic characteristics of urban residents themselves (e.g., occupation), the status of the potential houses, and the perceived housing market; (3) most farmers want a regulated platform for the vacant farmhouses; urban residents pay more attention to the good natural environment in rural areas and the infrastructure and public service levels of vacant farmhouses in rural areas. This study thus showed the necessity, feasibility, and potential challenges and barriers involved in establishing a VFM in China.


The signal transduction pathways within corporal smooth muscle cells are the intracellular molecular mechanisms of corporal smooth muscle tone regulation. Various neurotransmitters activate the membrane receptor proteins or intracellular enzyme pathways and result in the production of extracellular chemical signals. Second messenger molecules and ions transmit and amplify the signals, and subsequently induce the relaxation of smooth muscle cells and penile erection. Therefore, the study of signal transduction in cavernous smooth muscle play an important role in understanding the physiology of erection and the pathophysiology of erectile dysfunction as well as in developing new selective drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.


The article analyses the Judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada on the Nevsun v. Araya case, which deals with the severe violations of human rights, including slavery and forced labor with respect of the workers of Eritrean mines owned by a Canadian company "Nevsun". By a 5 to 4 majority, the court concluded that litigants can seek compensation for the violations of international customs committed by a company. This decision is underpinned by the tenets that international customs form a part of Canadian common law, companies can bear responsibility for violations of International Human Rights Law, and under ubi jus ibi remedium principle plaintiffs have a right to receive compensation under national law. Being a commentary to this judgment the article focuses its analysis on an issue that is of a key character for Public International Law, namely on the tenet that international customs impose obligations to respect human rights on companies and they can be called for responsibility for these violations. This conclusion is revolutionary in the part in which it shifts the perception of the companies' legal status under International Law. The court's approach is critically assessed against its well-groundness and correspondence to the current stage of International law. In particular, the authors discuss, whether the legal stance on the Supreme Court of Canada, under which companies can bear responsibility for violations of International Human Rights Law is a justified necessity or a head start.


This study aims to investigate whether the stock returns of Taiwanese firms are exposed to exchange rate risks. Our results show that only a small percentage of Taiwanese firms are exposed symmetrically, but a larger percentage of them are exposed asymmetrically no matter in the short or longer time horizons. The traditional symmetric measures may underestimate exchange rate exposure. In addition, this underestimation is associated with wrong direction in the long run due to the J-curve effect of Taiwanese firms. Only when considering potential asymmetric exposure components can firms' financial exposures be estimated and hedged properly.


This article attempts to contribute to the empirical research on inflation targeting (IT) making an inquiry of the relation between macroeconomic variables for 14 countries with explicit IT. The main results denote that the adoption of IT is a good framework for reducing inflation, and thus contributes to diminish interest rate without apparent costs on economic growth, although unemployment increases.


To determine the prognostic factors for leptospirosis, we conducted a retrospective study of data collected in the emergency department of our hospital between 1989 and 1993. Sixty-eight patients, for whom the diagnosis of leptospirosis was based on pertinent clinical and epidemiological data and positive serology, were included in this study. Fifty-six patients (82%) were discharged from the hospital, and 12 (18%) died. Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that five factors were independently associated with mortality: dyspnea (odds ratio [OR], 11.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.8-48.5; P < .05), oliguria (OR, 9; CI, 2.1-37.9; P < .05); white blood cell count, >12,900/mm3 (OR, 2.5; CI, 1.8-3.5; P < or = .01), repolarization abnormalities on electrocardiograms (OR, 5.9; CI, 1.4-24.8; P < or = .01), and alveolar infiltrates on chest radiographs (OR, 7.3; CI, 1.7-31.7; P < or = .01). Identification of these factors on admission might provide useful selection criteria for patients who need early transfer to the intensive care unit.


Manuscripts are a crucial form of evidence for research into all aspects of premodern European history and culture, and there are numerous databases devoted to describing them in detail. This descriptive information, however, is typically available only in separate data silos based on incompatible data models and user interfaces. As a result, it has been difficult to study manuscripts comprehensively across these various platforms. To address this challenge, a team of manuscript scholars and computer scientists worked to create "Mapping Manuscript Migrations" (MMM), a semantic portal, and a Linked Open Data service. MMM stands as a successful proof of concept for integrating distinct manuscript datasets into a shared platform for research and discovery with the potential for future expansion. This paper will discuss the major products of the MMM project: a unified data model, a repeatable data transformation pipeline, a Linked Open Data knowledge graph, and a Semantic Web portal. It will also examine the crucial importance of an iterative process of multidisciplinary collaboration embedded throughout the project, enabling humanities researchers to shape the development of a digital platform and tools, while also enabling the same researchers to ask more sophisticated and comprehensive research questions of the aggregated data.


A code clone is a pair of similar code fragments, within or between software systems. To detect each possible clone pair from a software system while handling the complex code structures, the clone detection tools undergo a lot of generalization of the original source codes. The generalization often results in returning code fragments that are only coincidentally similar and not considered clones by users, and hence requires manual validation of the reported possible clones by users which is often both time-consuming and challenging. In this paper, we propose a machine learning based tool 'CloneCognition' (Open Source Codes: https://github.com/pseudoPixels/CloneCognition ; Video Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYQjmdr8rsw) to automate the laborious manual validation process. The tool runs on top of any code clone detection tools to facilitate the clone validation process. The tool shows promising clone classification performance with an accuracy of up to 87.4%. The tool also exhibits significant improvement in the results when compared with state-of-the-art techniques for code clone validation.


In this project an ECG measurement and wave identification system was made. The measuring system hardware is based on a Texas Instruments ADS1298ECG amplifier and analog-to-digital converter board. The measurement and processing software was created in LabVIEW environment using the built-in functions of the Biomedical toolkit. Initially, the theory behind heartbeat and its effect on the skin surface potential are presented. Then the measurement techniques of these are described. The research group provide information on the mathematical background of how the ECG curve is processed and the waves are identified. The HRV analysis, the statistical analysis of identified R waves are described. Subsequently, publications dealing with electrocardiographic examinations in various fields will be presented. Then an overview of the specifications of the amplifiers used in this work and the capabilities of their original software are given. The final device structure is presented. The system validation process and the properties of the reference devices are illustrated.


Probable maximum precipitation (PMP) is widely used by hydrologists for appraisal of probable maximum flood (PMF) used for soil and water conservation structures, and design of dam spillways. A number of methods such as empirical, statistical and dynamic are used to estimate PMP, the most favored being statistical and hydro-meteorological. In this paper, PMP estimation in mountainous regions of Pakistan is studied using statistical as well as physically based hydro-meteorological approaches. Daily precipitation, dew point, wind speed and temperature data is processed to estimate PMP for a one-day duration. Maximum precipitation for different return periods is estimated by using statistical approaches such as Gumble and Log-Pearson type-III (LP-III) distribution. Goodness of fit (GOF) test, chi-square test, correlation coefficient and coefficient of determination were applied to Gumble and LP-III distributions. Results reveal that among statistical approaches, Gumble distribution performed the best result compared to LP-III distribution. Isohyetal maps of the study area at different return periods are produced by using the GIS tool, and PMP in mountainous regions varies from 150 to 320 mm at an average value of 230.83 mm. The ratio of PMP for one-day duration to highest observed rainfall (HOR) varied from 1.08 to 1.29 with an average value of 1.18. An appropriate frequency factor ( K m ) is very important which is a function of mean for observed precipitation and PMP for 1-day duration, and K m values varies from 2.54 to 4.68. The coefficient of variability ( C v ) varies from minimum value of 28% to maximum value of 43.35%. It was concluded that the statistical approach gives higher results compared to moisture maximization (MM) approach. In the hydro-meteorological approach, moisture maximization (MM) and wind moisture maximization (WMM) techniques were applied and it was concluded that wind moisture maximization approach gives higher results of PMP as compared to moisture maximization approach as well as for Hershfield technique. Therefore, it is suggested that MM approach is the most favored in the study area for PMP estimation, which leads to acceptable results, compared to WMM and statistical approaches.


Concentrations of total soluble phenolics, catechin, proanthocyanidins (PA), lignin and nitrogen (N) were measured in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) needles exposed to either ambient CO(2) concentration ([CO(2)]), ambient plus 175 or ambient plus 350 micromol CO(2) mol(-1) in branch chambers for 2 years. The CO(2) treatments were superimposed on a 2 x 2 factorial combination of irrigation and fertilization treatments. In addition, we compared the effects of branch chambers and open-top chambers on needle chemistry. Proanthocyanidin and N concentrations were measured in needles from branch chambers and from trees in open-top chambers exposed concurrently for two years to either ambient [CO(2)] or ambient plus 200 micromol CO(2) mol(-1) in combination with a fertilization treatment. In the branch chambers, concentrations of total soluble phenolics in needles generally increased with needle age. Concentrations of total soluble phenolics, catechin and PA in needle extracts increased about 11% in response to the elevated [CO(2)] treatments. There were no significant treatment effects on foliar lignin concentrations. Nitrogen concentrations were about 10% lower in needles from the elevated [CO(2)] treatments than in needles from the ambient [CO(2)] treatments. Soluble phenolic and PA concentrations were higher in the control and irrigated soil treatments in about half of the comparisons; otherwise, differences were not statistically significant. Needle N concentrations increased 23% in response to fertilization. Treatment effects on PA and N concentrations were similar between branch and open-top chambers, although in this part of the study N concentrations were not significantly affected by the CO(2) treatments in either the branch or open-top chambers. We conclude that elevated [CO(2)] and low N availability affected foliar chemical composition, which could in turn affect plant-pathogen interactions, decomposition rates and mineral nutrient cycling.