In this study, the ability for the function of double pipe inserted liquid pipe with small diameter in the gas pipe with large diameter for the circulating of liquid of high temperature and high pressure and low temperature and low pressure at the same time is presented. And in this double pipe, liquid pipe of high temperature and pressure is used to connect condenser and expansion valve and gas pipe of low temperature is used to connect evaporator and compressor. Also, when liquid refrigerant of high temperature and gas refrigerant of low temperature is circulated by reversed flow in the double pipe. The contribution of liquid gas heat exchange pipe is studied by comparison of the effect of heat transfer by temperature difference when liquid pipe and gas pipe is installed separately.


State-insensitive trapping plays a significant role in many cold atom experiments. In this technique, trapping at a specific "magic" wavelength leads to identical shifts of the ground and excited states of a particular transition. Hence, the internal state of the trapped atoms remains essentially unaffected by the trapping light. This leads to increased coherence times and loading efficiency, and allows for the use of free-space manipulation techniques. However, the applicability of state-insensitive trapping is limited in terms of light sources available, with restrictions coming from either the required frequency or power. In this thesis, state-insensitive trapping of caesium atoms is considered. It can be achieved at the wavelength of 935.6 nm. However, the present work shows that this wavelength is impractical for experimental realizations of atom trapping in free space due to lack of laser sources with sufficiently high power. We therefore propose bichromatic trapping, as produced by two independent laser fields with different frequencies, to overcome the limitations related to monochromatic trapping. We show that bichromatic trapping extends the range of possible magic wavelengths compared to the specific magic wavelength associated with monochromatic trapping. Specifically, we present results for the magic wavelength combinations for caesium atoms with particular attention to the frequency range of currently available laser sources. Simultaneous state-independent trapping of atomic mixtures of caesium with rubidium and lithium atoms was also investigated, and appropriate magic wavelength combinations were identified. Additionally, species-selective state-independent trapping of atomic mixtures of caesium and lithium was explored and common wavelength pairs for tune-out and magic wavelengths of these atoms were determined.


This study examines real export data from two common sources: IMF and UN Commodity Trade Statistics to determine the comparability of these data in level and percentage change form, and if the export-led growth models are robust to the data source. Additionally, the comparability of the data deflated at a disaggregated level data or by a single export unit price index is examined. The results reveal that the data are neither comparable nor in a number of cases, correlated, suggesting that much of the debate regarding export led growth is fuelled by data choice and methodology of deflation.


Thick crack-free AlGaN films have been grown on inclined-facet GaN templates. Light emitting diodes with λ = 323 nm has been achieved on these epilayers. The GaN template was grown at a low temperature in order to obtain triangle-facet growth fronts. Subsequent growth of AlGaN on this template involving a lateral overgrowth process exhibits interesting properties. The microstructure and optical characterizations were done using transmission electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence. At the AlGaN/GaN interface, a high density of dislocations was created due to lattice mismatch strain. Another unexpected set of triangular boundaries was observed inside the AlGaN layer, which grew without any change of the growth parameters. These boundaries were found to arise from domains grown in different directions. Mono-chromatic cathodoluminescence images indicate that Al content is different between the vertically-grown and the laterally-grown domains, suggesting that lattice mismatch strain exists between them. Dislocations were created at these mismatched boundaries to relax the strain. (© 2003 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Objective To evaluate the efficacy of the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii in the prevention of pseudomembranous colitis (PMC). Data Sources A MEDLINE search (January 1966–April 2000, updated July 2001) of English-language medical literature was conducted. Key search terms included Saccharomyces boulardii, pseudomembranous colitis, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and Clostridium difficile. Additional information was obtained from pathophysiology and medical textbooks. Data Synthesis S. boulardii is a nonpathogenic yeast used to treat and prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea, including PMC, a serious, sometimes refractory complication of antibacterial drug therapy. A literature search was conducted to determine its efficacy in preventing PMC. Conclusions When administered in combination with standard treatments, S. boulardii does not appear to prevent the first relapse but does appear to reduce subsequent recurrences of probable PMC in patients experiencing antibiotic-associated diarrhea. It has also shown promise as monotherapy in preventing the development of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in patients not experiencing diarrhea. Further well-designed, controlled studies are needed.


The medical records of all patients discharged over a 3-year period with a diagnosis of pancreatic insufficiency were reviewed. In some patients, abdominal radiographs or sonograms provided adequate information. However, computed tomography (CT) was a key diagnostic tool in understanding the cause of pancreatic insufficiency in 11 of the 13 patients in whom it was performed. CT study detected previously undiagnosed carcinoma in one patient, enabled diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis in five, confirmed complete surgical removal of the pancreas in two, and--despite optimal use of contrast material and 5-mm contiguous sections--was unable to detect any pancreatic tissue in three patients, suggesting complete idiopathic atrophy. Pancreatic insufficiency is a difficult clinical diagnostic problem. CT scanning should be employed early if abdominal radiographs or sonograms do not detect an abnormality.


OBJECTIVE
To establish a comprehensive and simple assay using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) for the diagnosis of most common mutations and deletions of α-thalassemia gene in Southeast Asians and Southern Chinese.

METHODS
This assay has included a duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by DHPLC analysis. An improved PCR was also performed followed by DHPLC analysis. With this assay, a blinded study of 160 samples was screened for three common mutations and three common deletions.

RESULTS
The duplex PCR-DHPLC combined with the improved PCR-DHPLC analysis has detected all mutations and the wild-type allele. The results were consistent with those by the original methods.

CONCLUSION
This molecular assay may be used for the diagnosis of α-thalassemia patients from this geographical region. The method is accurate, rapid, semi-automatic and cost-effective, which makes it suitable for large-scale screening.


The main goal of this research is to analyze and design a database configuration of migration and replication in PT Metro Batavia. Research methodologies used in this research are data collecting, analysis and design model. Data collecting method is conducted with library research and direct survey in the company. Analysis method is conducted by analyzing hangar system, migration and reflection process and the available problems. Design method is conducted by designing a prototype for migration process with the implementation of Oracle SQL Developer and replication process with implementation of Oracle Golden Gate. The result of this research is a prototype for configuration of migration and replication process by using Oracle Golden Gate, which can produce two sets of identical data for the purpose of backup and recovery, and also design a simple tool that is expected to help active-active or active-passive replication process. The conclusion of this research is migration process of MySQL database to Oracle database by using Oracle Golden Gate hasn't been conducted, because Oracle Golden Gate still has bug related to binary log, so database of migration is conducted by using Oracle Golden Gate. However, replication of bi-directional in between database of Oracle by using Oracle SQL Developer can guarantee data availability and reduce work burden from primary database.


A model for the temperature dependence of the isobaric heat capacity of associated pure liquids C(p,m)(o)(T) is proposed. Taking the ideal gas as a reference state, the residual heat capacity is divided into nonspecific C(p) (res,ns) and associational C(p) (res,ass) contributions. Statistical mechanics is used to obtain C(p)(res,ass) by means of a two-state model. All the experimentally observed C(p,m)(o)(T) types of curves in the literature are qualitatively described from the combination of the ideal gas heat capacity C(p)(id)(T) and C(p)(res,ass)(T). The existence of C(p,m)(o)(T) curves with a maximum is predicted and experimentally observed, for the first time, through the measurement of C(p,m)(o)(T) for highly sterically hindered alcohols. A detailed quantitative analysis of C(p,m)(o)(T) for several series of substances (n-alkanes, linear and branched alcohols, and thiols) is made. All the basic features of C(p,m)(o)(T) at atmospheric and high pressures are successfully described, the model parameters being physically meaningful. In particular, the molecular association energies and the C(p)(res,ns) values from the proposed model are found to be in agreement with those obtained through quantum mechanical ab initio calculations and the Flory model, respectively. It is concluded that C(p,m)(o)(T) is governed by the association energy between molecules, their self-association capability and molecular size.


We investigate the rigidity of hyperbolic cone metrics on 3‐manifolds which are isometric gluing of ideal and hyper‐ideal tetrahedra in hyperbolic spaces. These metrics will be called ideal and hyper‐ideal hyperbolic polyhedral metrics. It is shown that a hyper‐ideal hyperbolic polyhedral metric is determined up to isometry by its curvature and a decorated ideal hyperbolic polyhedral metric is determined up to isometry and change of decorations by its curvature. The main tool used in the proof is the Fenchel dual of the volume function.


In this paper we report a recent application of the idea of the enclosure method to an inverse problem related to a crack (inverse crack problem) in an elastic body. The problem is to extract information about the location and shape of an unknown crack from a single set of the surface displacement field and traction on the boundary of an arbitrary homogeneous elastic plate. Both anisotropic and isotropic bodies are considered. In states of both plane stress and plane strain, an extraction formula of an unknown crack is given provided: the crack is linear; one of two end points of the crack is known and located on the boundary of the body; a well-controlled surface traction is given on the boundary of the body.


Objectives To compare perioperative outcomes of obese vs. non-obese patients undergoing gynecologic surgery on an ERAS program. Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients undergoing open surgery 11/2014–11/2018. Patients were classified into three categories based on body mass index (BMI) and obesity class:: normal/overweight [BMI 18.0–29.9 kg/m2], class I [BMI 30.0–34.9 kg/m2], class II [BMI 35.0–39.9 kg/m2], and class III or greater [BMI ≥40.0 kg/m2]. Obese patients were matched to non-obese patients by age, procedure date, and surgical indication. Standard statistical methods were utilized. Primary outcome was postoperative length of stay [LOS]. Results After matching, 696 patients were included in the analysis [normal/overweight, n=348; class I, n=163 class II, n=88; class III or greater, n=97]. All groups had a median postoperative LOS of 3 days. Obese patients had longer procedure times [median OR time: 218 min vs. 192.5 min, p<0.001] and greater estimated blood loss [median EBL: 300 mL vs. 200 mL, p<0.001]. Compliance with individual program elements was not different overall [70.1% vs. 69.8%, p=0.3262], although lower early mobilization was observed among obese patients [89.9% vs. 94.5%, p=0.023]. No differences were observed in severe [grade III-IV] perioperative complications [10.9% vs. 6.6%, p=0.06], reoperation [2.3% vs. 1.4%, p=0.577], and readmission [11.8% vs. 8.0%, p=0.128]. Mild complications [grade I-II] were more frequent in obese patients [62.4% vs. 48.3%, p<0.001], influenced by more wound complications in this group [4.9% vs. 17.8%, p<0.001]. Conclusions Even after longer operative time and greater blood loss, obese ERAS patients had comparable compliance, perioperative complications, and length of stay to non-obese patients.


Holocaust education is a responsibility of all academic institutions; we are obligated to teach students about the reality of crimes perpetrated during WW2, to commemorate the victims, and to sustain a meaningful dialogue between history and memory. The Holocaust was not the first or the last genocide in the history of humanity, but it was unprecedented in many ways and is still the most radical attempt to destroy every member of a group without exception. This paper presents the Holocaust education strategies of the USA Coast Guard Academy. The paper argues that Holocaust education must provide future political and military leaders with an understanding not only of the human rights violations that happened under the Nazis, but also with modern examples of prejudice, discrimination and persecution that motivate genocide, and that this is best accomplished through active learning methods that include discussions with survivors and with peers who have visited historic Holocaust sites.


A review of the current state of the quasinuclear quark model and of its application to hadronhadron and hadron-nucleus collisions at high energies is presented. Particular attention is devoted to multiple production of secondary particles. It is shown that such processes can be used as a basis for a detailed verification of the hypotheses of quark additivity and quark statistics. Comparison of calculations performed in this model with experimental data provides information on the quark hadronization mechanism.


White radish, scientifically known as Raphanus sativus L., is a yearly vegetable. Currently, it was being grown and widely used in the world, including Vietnam. These plants have been used as food or food processing. The osmotic treatment of vegetables involves the removal of water from plants in which the solids from the osmotic solution are transported to the plant material by osmosis. By this procedure, sucrose and saline solution are usually performed. White radishes were dehydrated in different hypertonic solutions by combined sucrose and NaCl at three different concentrations, including 9 runs. Mass transfer behaviour was applied according to three common models such as Fick's second law, Weibull and Peleg's equations based on the change of moisture and solid content of white radish during osmotic dehydration. The obtained results showed that the mass transfer was fast at initial stage and became slowly at the later stage. The effective moisture (Dm) and solid diffusivities (Ds) were ranged from 1.0186 to 1.2826x10-8 and from 1.0692 to 2.3322x10-8 (m2/s) respectively. The Peleg's equation was found to be the best fitting for water loss and solid uptake thanks to the high determination coefficient (>97.64%) and the low average relative error (<3.174%). Raised up solution concentration resulted in higher water loss and mass gain.


The burstiness of multimedia traffic and the long propagation delays in Geosynchronous (GEO) satellite systems call for an efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol and an equally efficient Call Admission Control (CAC) scheme, in order to provide acceptable Quality of Service (QoS) to multimedia users. This paper proposes a fair and dynamic CAC and MAC framework, named Fair Predictive Resource Reservation Access (FPRRA), which is based on accurate videoconference traffic prediction and makes decisions after taking into account the provider revenue. The framework¿s performance is evaluated in comparison to other efficient schemes from the literature.


BENI OKARDA (2010). Potential Habitat and Spatial Distribution of Anoa (Bubalus spp.) in Lore Lindu National Park. Under supervision of TANIA JUNE and ABDUL HARIS MUSTARI. Anoa (Bubalus spp.) is endemic to Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and Buton. These mammals are divided into two species: Mountain Anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) and Lowland Anoa (Bubalus depressicornis). Both live in undisturbed rainforest and avoid direct contact with human. This animal has been classified into endangered species by International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and fully protected under Indonesian Law. Threat for Anoa is coming from illegal hunting and habitat degradation. Habitat loss or degradation caused by agriculture wood plantations, infrastructure development, and human settlement reported as serious threat for Anoa population by IUCN. This research aims to develop Anoa habitat suitability model using logistic regression and analyze ecological factors in Anoa's habitat preference. Approximately 2,300 hectare research area in Toro village, Lore Lindu National Park has been analyzed in generated Anoa habitat suitability model. Logistic regression GIS coupled model use to predict Anoa habitat suitability in Lore Lindu National Park. Anoa presence and absence data were obtained from field survey while environmental variable used in model were taken from GIS data layer and remote sensing data. Environmental variable were consists of elevation, slope, distance from river, distance from settlement and distance from forest edge. Vegetation analysis also conducted in place where Anoa found. As result, distance from settlement, distance from forest edge, slope and altitude has significant factor while distance to river has insignificant factor for Anoa in prefering their habitat. The overall classification accuracy assessment was resulted on 93.2% with 93.64% absence area and 93.17% presence area correctly classified. Habitat suitability model tested using Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness of fit resulted 0.942 and Nagelkerke's R2 score 76.3 % as result of variable representation in this model. The simulation result shows that suitable habitat for Anoa located in core zone area, deep in undisturbed forest. This result is consistent with Anoa behaviors that tend to avoid human activity area. This result also indicating there are human activities inside national park that force Anoa to move deeply to undisturbed forest area. From vegetation analysis result, 25 species from 14 families Anoa feed vegetation were found in sampling plot. Pinanga caessia Blume, Alpinia sp., Cyathea contamminans, Frecynetia insignis Blume, Syzygium accuminatissima, and Lythocarpus celebicus were dominated. Dominant feed vegetation indicated the feed supply still can meet Anoa demand. From morphological characteristic, two from five samples collected inside and around study area shown the characteristic of Lowland Anoa. The fact that inside and around study area is mountainous area has derive to possibility that Lowland Anoa has moving into mountainous area because pressure from human activities in lowland area around national park. Anoa habitat suitability was affected by human activities. Anoa sign that found deeply into forest indicated there are disturbance from human activities inside the forest. The species sample taken from hunter also indicated there are pressures in lowland area that dominated with settlement and plantation area. From the model, distances from settlement and distance from forest edge that represent human activities parameter become the most influence factor. Those facts indicated Anoa tends to avoid human activities area in choosing their habitat.


This project combines linguistic and statistical information to develop a term extraction tool for Basque. Being Basque an agglutinative and highly inflected language, the treatment of morphosyntactic information is vital. In addition, due to late unification process of the language, texts present more elevated term dispersion than in a highly normalized language. The result is a semi-automatic terminology extraction tool based on XML, for its use in technical and scientific information managing.


Abstract. Zahra U, Kartika Y, Batubara I, Darusman LK, Maddu A. 2016. Short Communication: Screening the potency of Zingiberaceae leaves as antioxidant and antiaging agent. Nusantara Bioscience 8: 221-225. Zingiberaceae is a family of plant with antioxidant, anticancer, and antiaging activities. The use of the leaves part of this family has never been explored. Therefore, the aim of this research is to evaluate the antioxidant and antiaging activities of some Zingiberaceae's leaves. The species of Zingiberaceae used in this study are Alpinia galanga (L), Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb, Curcuma longa L, Curcuma zedoaria, Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb, Boesenbergia rotunda (L.), Elettaria cardamomum, Zingiber zerumbet, Zingiber officinale Roscoe, and Zingiber purpureum Roscoe. Leaves were extracted with 2 different solvents sequentially: ethyl acetate and methanol. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extracts were determined spectrophotometrically. Antioxidant activities were tested by using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl ) and ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethyl benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), whilst antiaging activity was tested by using antiglycation method. The results showed that the flavonoid content of the extracts was in the range of 0.83-25.17 g QE/100 g extract with total phenolic content ranging from 9.80-91.71 GAE mg/100 mg extract. The methanol extract of Curcuma xanthorrhiza displayed the highest antioxidant capacity in the DDPH (IC50 282.35 mg/mL) and TEAC (10.08%) assays, followed by the ethyl acetate extract of C. longa, ethyl acetic extract of C. xanthorrhiza and methanol extract of Z. officinale, while the most active antiglycation is the methanol extract of Z. officinale (IC50 203.85 mg/L).


Hydrogen-producing bacteria are of environmental and biotechnological importance in anoxic environments, since hydrogen is an important electron donor for prokaryotes and of interest as an alternative energy source. Epsilonproteobacteria, inhabiting ecologically, clinically or biotechnologically relevant environments, are currently considered to be hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria exclusively. Here, we report hydrogen production for a genus of free-living Epsilonproteobacteria, Sulfurospirillum spp. inhabiting sediments, wastewater plants, bioelectrodes, oil reservoirs, contaminated areas, or marine habitats. The amount of hydrogen production was largely different in two subgroups of Sulfurospirillum spp., represented by S. cavolei and S. multivorans. The former is shown to be the more potent hydrogen producer and excretes acetate as sole organic acid, while the latter exhibited a more flexible fermentation, producing additionally lactate and succinate. The observed hydrogen production could be assigned to a group 4 hydrogenase similar to Hydrogenase 4 (Hyf) in E. coli. We propose that Sulfurospirillum spp. produce molecular hydrogen with electrons derived from pyruvate oxidation by pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase and reduced ferredoxin. This hypothesis is supported by comparative proteome data, in which both PFOR and ferredoxin as well as hydrogenase 4 are up-regulated. A co-culture experiment with S. multivorans and Methanococcus voltae cultivated with lactate as sole substrate shows a syntrophic interaction between both organisms, since the former cannot grow fermentatively on lactate alone and the latter relies on hydrogen as electron donor. This opens up new perspectives on microbial communities, since Epsilonproteobacteria could play a yet unrecognized role as hydrogen producers in anoxic microbial communities.


Suggests that managing performance should not just be a once-a-year appraisal of people, but should be a dynamic process integrating the various aspects of organizational and human resource management, including staff appraisal and development, as well as quality, standards, targets and outcomes, etc. Points out that the best route to organizational success is through people, and that service industries particularly are highly dependent on people to achieve the business goal. States that managing performance is achieved by managing change and communication, motivating and developing, and equipping the organization with the skills needed to move forward successfully. Integrating into the overall strategy, performance links inextricably with reward, job design, workforce profiling, competences and development. To be a learning company needs commitment to employee development--this, in turn, means commitment to managing human resources effectively, therefore managing reward and performance.


Existing insulation monitoring methods have problem that the measured signal is weak and the accuracy is low. Based on the analysis of the transient fault in distribution network, a new insulation monitoring method by using transient fault signals is proposed in this paper. The insulation monitoring method utilizes the characteristics that the transient fault occurs frequently and the fault signal contains massive insulation information of the cable. Using power theory to decompose the distortion zero sequence signal generated by the transient fault, extract the components related to the cable insulation. Deriving the formula for calculating the cable insulation, and realize cable insulation on-line monitoring. The simulation results show this method is correct and effective, and improves the accuracy of insulation monitoring.


Copyright protection of digitized information has become one of the challenges for researchers. For this reason, several techniques are being implemented to resolve this problem, and watermarking is the most adequate with its methods . This paper represents a new approach to digital image watermark based on the Mojette Transform. This approach is to select a pixel block of the original image, where the hidden massage insertion will be made. Each message bit is inserted into a different pixel. The results have been encouraging, especially as regards the imperceptibility, detection robustness and capacity of hidden message.


Abstract. Mercury (Hg) bound to fine aerosols (PM2.5-Hg) may undergo photochemical
reaction that causes isotopic fractionation and obscures the initial isotopic
signatures. In this study, we quantified Hg isotopic compositions for 56
PM2.5 samples collected between 15 September and 16 October 2015 from
Beijing, China, among which 26 were collected during daytime (between 08:00
and 18:30 LT) and 30 during night (between 19:00
and 07:30 LT). The results show that diel variation was statistically
significant (p < 0.05) for Hg content, Δ199Hg and
Δ200Hg, with Hg content during daytime (0.32±0.14 µg g−1) lower than at night (0.48±0.24 µg g−1) and Δ199Hg and Δ200Hg
values during daytime (mean of 0.26 ‰±0.40 ‰ and
0.09 ‰±0.06 ‰, respectively) higher than during
nighttime (0.04 ‰±0.22 ‰ and 0.06 ‰±0.05 ‰, respectively), whereas PM2.5 concentrations and
δ202Hg values showed insignificant (p > 0.05)
diel variation. Geochemical characteristics of the samples and the air mass
backward trajectories (PM2.5 source related) suggest that diel variation
in Δ199Hg values resulted primarily from the photochemical
reduction of divalent PM2.5-Hg, rather than variations in emission
sources. The importance of photoreduction is supported by the strong
correlations between Δ199Hg and (i) Δ201Hg
(positive, slope = 1.1), (ii) δ202Hg (positive,
slope = 1.15), (iii) content of Hg in PM2.5 (negative),
(iv) sunshine durations (positive) and (v) ozone concentration (positive)
observed for consecutive day–night paired samples. Our results provide
isotopic evidence that local, daily photochemical reduction of divalent Hg is
of critical importance to the fate of PM2.5-Hg in urban atmospheres and
that, in addition to variation in sources, photochemical reduction appears to
be an important process that affects both the particle mass-specific
abundance and isotopic composition of PM2.5-Hg.


Laser surface modification is an emerging process that can produce texture on a work surface and effectively enhance surface topography while altering surface roughness. Laser surface modification is a sensitive process that depends on various laser processing parameters such as power, scanning speed, hatching distance. The significance of this work is to examine the influence of hatching distance on the surface characteristic of 2205 duplex stainless steel samples. The surface transformation and variation of the surface roughness properties of the materials were examined. The hatching distance was varied from 0.1 to 0.005 mm. Results indicate that, as the hatch spacing decreases, the overlap of laser track increases, thereby resulting in a decrease of surface roughness. Meanwhile, with the increase of hatch distance, the clear overlay tracks were transformed to irregular wavy surface. The best hatch distance parameter obtained was 100 μm that resulted in the highest roughness of 8.45 μm. Experimental results illustrate that, when the optimum hatch distance of 100 μm was adopted, the polished smooth surface of 2205 duplex stainless steel with initial average roughness value of 0.19 μm increased by 42 times of the polished surface roughness. A strong correlation between hatching distance and roughness was established in 2205 duplex stainless steel. High depth of the altered surface topography and increased roughness were linked to higher levels of hatching distance.


Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) materials are classified as a silicone and commonly present a hyperelastic behaviour. Many researchers have studied PDMS in recent years, motivated by its applications in the biomedical field. In the present manuscript, a biaxial tensile test performed at different speeds is described. The displacement field for the different experimental test conditions is measured using the digital image correlation technique. Numerical studies were also carried out using the most popular constitutive models, namely Mooney-Rivlin, Yeoh and Ogden, for comparison with the experimental measurements. From the experimental displacement profile taken along the central section of each sample, that this tensile test presents linear behaviour; it is an independent speed test. The same conclusion can be found from the numerical results. The results of the numerical simulation show that they are strongly dependent on the constitutive model of the material. The numerical simulations with the Yeoh model presented the most accurate results for PDMS behaviour. Another important conclusion is that the digital image correlation technique is well suited for the analysis of hyperelastic materials.


Assembling a coherent view of distributed heterogeneous information and information processing resources is a challenging and important process for inter-organizational collaboration and service provision. We refer to this process as information integration. However, traditional information integration approaches do not consider human intervention and exceptions, such as obtaining access approvals from service providers. Therefore, we propose a workflow-based approach to address this problem. This is particularly suitable in a loosely coupled and autonomous Web services environment. In this paper, we propose an implementation framework of workflow-based information integration (WII) comprise four layers, namely, application layer, workflow layer, service layer, and message layer. In particular, our paper focuses on the workflow layer from the aspects of control-flows, data-flows and exception-flows by using the business process execution language for Web services (BPEL4WS), extended with our proposed data-integration and exception-handling assertions. Each service provider provides Web services at the service layer and BPEL4WS orchestrates them together in order to achieve workflow-based information integration plans. The message layer comprises SOAP message specifications. We map information into SOAP messages and link the proposed exception-handling assertions in BPEL4WS to SOAP-fault implementations. Lastly, we demonstrate the feasibility of our approach with a practical health administrative information integration case study at the application layer and examine some typical use cases of exceptions.


In this paper, we present a free-and-easy data publishing and sharing system based on folksonomy. The system accepts data objects described with user-created metadata, called data units. The system supports flexible structure on the data units, and places no restrictions on the vocabulary used. We devise a generic table model for storing and representing the data units of various structures. We propose a framework for managing the data units and providing browsing, searching and querying services over them. We present our current approaches and discuss relevant research issues.


My presentation will contain situation in schools all across the Europe (at least 13 countries/results from a survey and info which I get from our Associations, mem-bersof ENCA). It is serious situation. First I will present the problems, we, parents, are struggling with every day. I will also prepare and present possible solutions. One country is extragoodinsolutions andthey reallytake goodcareforchildrenwithautoimunne conditions and we can learn from them. I will also present a concrete good solution.Solutions should be used as a prepared document for all the countries. That is a goal ofENCA. patients. This talk will summary the new upcoming treatments in myositis. However, treatment of a rare disease not only involves administering pharmacothera- peutic agents, but recognising when to treat and which poor prognostic groups requiredintensification. Antibodytestingofthespectrumofnewlyidentifiedmyosi- tisserologynowallows forbetterstratification ofpatients andassiststhephysician with treatment, monitoring and prognosis. New EULAR/ACR criteria are available for classification to assist inclusion into clinical trials, as well as agreed definitions for minimal, moderate and major response. A better understanding of the patho- genesis has now led to randomised controlled trials now being conducted in the inflammatory myopathies, including targeting the innate immune pathway that will hopefullylead toalicensed treatment forthis difficult orphan disease. The introduction of tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFis) about 20 years ago has led to the hope of disease modification of ankylosing spondylitis, since biologics showed for the first time a decrease of inflammatory activity on MRI, with the latter being theoretically also directly linked to new bone formation. However, the first open-label extensions of randomized-controlled trials with a treatment dura- tion of 2 years failed to show any positive effect on the radiographic progression in AS patients when compared to historical cohorts that had not been exposed to biologics. Nevertheless, later data indicated that this lack of influence on radiographic progression might have been due to many different reasons that were not taken into account in these first analyses, such as the radiographic status of patients at baseline, CRP levels or insufficient duration of follow-up. Furthermore, most recent data from MRI studies also indicated that the most important link to influence radiographic progression with biologics might not be the suppression of inflammation but the protection of bone to show tissue metaplasia to post-inflam-matory findings, while early suppression of inflammation might be the key to even completelyinhibit radiographicprogressioninAS patients. Indeed, cohort data able to demonstrate an association between TNF-blocker treatment and reduced risk of spinal structural progression (e.g. formation of syndesmophytes). Furthermore, early escalation of treatment from NSAIDs to biologics and long-term treatment with biologics have inde-pendently been able to show positive effects on radiographic progression in patients with AS. Finally, also newer biologics such as IL-17A inhibitors have also provided promising results in terms of overall low radiographic progression rates as measuredby validated scoringsystems. Currently, first head-to-head trials of different biologics are underway to examine any possible differences between the available compounds with a primary outcome oftheir effectonspinalradiographicprogression. It remains to be shown whether and how these results will also become clinically relevant in terms of decrease or even inhibition of spinal mobility restrictions, in order to be able to postulate a ' real ' disease modifying effect of biologic treatment inaxialspondyloarthritis. Sex hormones are implicated in the immune response, with estrogens as enhancers at least of the humoral immunity and androgens and progesterone (and glucocorticoids) as natural immune-suppressors. Several physiological, pathological and therapeutic conditions may change the serum oestrogen milieu including the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, postpartum period, menopause, eld- erly, chronic stress, altered circadian rhythms, inflammatory cytokines, use of glu-cocorticoids, oral contraceptives, and steroid hormonal replacements. Cortisol and melatonin circadian rhythms are altered, at least in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and partially involve also sex hormone circadian synthesis and levels. Abnormal regulation of aromatase activity (i.e. increased activity) by inflammatory cytokines production (i,e, TNF-alpha, IL-1, IL-6) may partially explain the abnormalities of peripheral oestrogen synthesis in RA (i.e. increased availability of 17-beta estradiol


Vertical sacral fracture is one of the most difficult fractures to treat. Posterior fixation using spinal dual rods is a novel method for treating this fracture, but its biomechanical strength has not yet been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical strength produced by posterior fixation using spinal instrumentation. Sacral fractures were created in eight pelvic bone models and classifi ed into a posterior plate fixation group [P group, n=4] and a spinal instrumentation group [R group, n=4]. The biomechanical strength was tested by pushing down on the S1 vertebra from the top. The mean maximum loads were 1,057.4 N and 1,489.4 N in the P and R groups, respectively (p= 0.014). The loads applied to the construct at displacements of 5mm and 7.5mm from the start of the universal testing machine loading were also significantly higher in the R group. The mean stiffness levels in the P and R groups were 88.3N/mm and 119.6N/mm, respectively (p=0.014). Posterior fixation using spinal instrumentation is biomechanically stronger than conventional posterior plate fixation. This procedure may be the optimal method for treating unstable sacral fracture fixation.


In this ubiquitous age of terrorism threat facing most nations, the question arises in this study is whether democratic states like Malaysia, India and the United Kingdom (UK) who uphold the concept of Rule of Law, have encouraged or lessened terrorist happenings through their various legislative responses to terrorism. There appears to be a continued worrying trend in not applying the Rule of Law by the courts in Malaysia and its counterparts in India and the UK during a state of emergency. Whilst both countries share similar legal system and process with Malaysia in many aspects, it is further observed that the enacted terrorism legislations were insidious which allow for the circumvention of constitutional and procedural safeguards. Therefore, it is expected that protecting basic human rights is overlooked whenever a democratic nation fights terrorism. Hence, the focus study of these selected jurisdictions seeks to identify and examine the similar pattern of enacted terrorism legislations with considerable impact in these key areas such as, the abnegation of individual human rights; the doctrine of separation of power; judicial activism or restraint towards upholding the Rule of Law; and finally, the impact on the democratic functionality of the States in combating terrorism. The study will also examine what lessons can Malaysia develop from the Indian and UK's experience in countering terrorism. This research will reveal the values of the Rule of Law have been sacrificed, and it creates undemocratic results not only in Malaysia but in the jurisdictions compared when enforcing counter-terrorism measures. It fails to consider human rights values whenever a conflict in balancing between individual rights and national security arises.
iii
The interest of the States appears to dominate the constitutional rights of the citizen. The study will conclude that a democratic nation must always uphold the values and respect for everyone which is central to human rights even if that person is an enemy of the State. It is, therefore, indispensable for democratic nations to preserve the tradition of having a respectable legal system.
Keywords: Anti-terrorism, National Security, Rule of Law, POTA 2015.


West Nile virus (WNV) is a re-emerging pathogen responsible for outbreaks of fatal meningoencephalitis in humans. Previous studies have suggested a protective role for monocytes in a mouse model of WNV infection, but the molecular mechanisms have remained unclear. In this study, we show that genetic deficiency in Ccr2, a chemokine receptor on Ly6chi inflammatory monocytes and other leukocyte subtypes, markedly increases mortality due to WNV encephalitis in C57BL/6 mice; this was associated with a large and selective reduction of Ly6chi monocyte accumulation in the brain. WNV infection in Ccr2+/+ mice induced a strong and highly selective monocytosis in peripheral blood that was absent in Ccr2−/− mice, which in contrast showed sustained monocytopenia. When a 1:1 mixture of Ccr2+/+ and Ccr2−/− donor monocytes was transferred by vein into WNV-infected Ccr2−/− recipient mice, monocyte accumulation in the CNS was not skewed toward either component of the mixture, indicating that Ccr2 is not required for trafficking of monocytes from blood to brain. We conclude that Ccr2 mediates highly selective peripheral blood monocytosis during WNV infection of mice and that this is critical for accumulation of monocytes in the brain.


PURPOSE
We present the preliminary results of patients with advanced stage renal malignancy treated with high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), and investigate the safety and feasibility of using HIFU in the treatment of selected patients with renal tumors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
HIFU treatment was performed in 12 patients with advanced stage renal cell carcinoma and 1 patient with colon cancer metastasized to kidney. Patients were followed after treatment to observe complications and long-term therapeutic efficacy. Complications and changes in symptoms seen at presentation were recorded. Mid stream urine specimens were sent for microscopy and serum creatinine was measured postoperatively. Followup radiological examinations were performed to detect tumor response to the ablation.

RESULTS
A total of 13 patients received HIFU treatment safely, including 10 who had partial ablation and 3 who had complete tumor ablation. After HIFU hematuria disappeared in 7 of 8 patients and flank pain of presumed malignant origin disappeared in 9 of 10 patients. Postoperative images showed decrease in or absence of tumor blood supply in the treated region and significant shrinkage of the ablated tumor. Of the 13 patients 7 died (median survival 14.1 months, range 2 to 27) and 6 were still alive with median followup of 18.5 months (range 10 to 27).

CONCLUSIONS
This preliminary experience suggests that HIFU could be safe and feasible in the treatment of patients with advanced renal malignancy.


On 13 September 1993, life-long foes Yasir Arafat, Chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, signed an agreement to "put an end to decades of confrontation and conflict ... and strive to live in peaceful coexistence and mutual dignity and security ...." To this end, they agreed to establish an "elected Council for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip" and declared that "in order that the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip may govern themselves according to democratic. principles, direct, free and general political elections will be held for the Council...."(1) For political scientists no less than for political practitioners, peace and democracy often seem to be natural partners. We are told that democracies do not go to war with each other, and the prospects of armed conflicts are said to be further enhanced by the high profile of the military in many non-democratic regimes.(2) Skeptics were quick to question the commitment of both the Israeli and the Palestinian leadership to democratic government in Palestine, however, even after the conclusion of the agreement. As Edward Said, one-time member of the Palestine National Council (PNC), wrote: Will there ever be truly representative institutions? One cannot be very sanguine, given Arafat's absolute refusal to share or delegate power, to say nothing of the financial assets he alone knows about and controls.... Alas one can already see in Palestine's potential statehood the lineaments of a marriage between the chaos of Lebanon and the tyranny of Iraq.(3) These concerns were not allayed by the draft of the "provisional basic law" for the transitional period that was later envisioned in the Oslo Accords. The Palestinian human-rights lawyer Naseer Aruri noted "a serious question about whether the new constitution protects the Palestinian people against autocratic rule." There was also ample evidence that a concentrated, personalistic power structure was envisioned in which, as stated in the document, the basic law "must not infringe [upon] the tasks and responsibilities of the PLO."(4) Although the fate of democracy in Palestine was not sealed when the Israelis evacuated Jericho and the Gaza Strip in May 1994, its prospects appeared dim. Elsewhere in the Arab world, advocates of democracy have been faced with similar challenges. In Algeria, for example, the government steadfastly refused to entertain calls for democratization or liberalization, and instead waged a war against its Islamist opponents that cost more than 40,000 lives in the 3 years after parliamentary elections were cancelled in 1992. The Tunisian government jailed the country's leading human-rights advocate when he declared his candidacy in the country's presidential race in 1994; the incumbent President, who had come to power in a palace coup 7 years earlier, preferred to run unopposed, and claimed 99 percent of the popular vote. Neither Syria nor Iraq, nor most of the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, bothered with even the trappings of democracy, while a number of those that did - Lebanon, Algeria, Yemen and perhaps even Egypt - seemed to see their democratic experiments degenerate into uncontrolled violence. Why have the Middle East and North Africa been so inhospitable to democratic change, when much of the rest of the world seems convulsed by liberal revolutions? Many observers attribute the region's reluctance to democratize to its culture and traditions, particularly Islam. As Elie Kedourie writes, "democracy is alien to the mind-set of Islam."(5) Yet the repeated demands for human rights, political liberalization and democratic government in the Arab world in the 1980s and 1990s - demands which actually yielded contested parliamentary elections in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen - belie uniform hostility to democracy. Clearly, a substantial number of Arab Muslims supports the adoption of democratic procedures and institutions. …


Sirtuin enzymes are NAD+-dependent protein deacylases that play a central role in the regulation of healthspan and lifespan in organisms ranging from yeast to mammals. There is intense interest in the activation of the seven mammalian sirtuins (SIRT1-7) in order to extend mammalian healthspan and lifespan. However, there is currently no understanding of how to design sirtuin-activating compounds beyond allosteric activators of SIRT1-catalyzed reactions that are limited to particular substrates. Moreover, across all families of enzymes, only a dozen or so distinct classes of non-natural small molecule activators have been characterized, with only four known modes of activation among them. None of these modes of activation are based on the unique catalytic reaction mechanisms of the target enzymes. Here, we report a general mode of sirtuin activation that is distinct from the known modes of enzyme activation. Based on the conserved mechanism of sirtuin-catalyzed deacylation reactions, we establish biophysical properties of small molecule modulators that can in principle result in enzyme activation for diverse sirtuins and substrates. Building upon this framework, we propose strategies for the identification, characterization and evolution of hits for mechanism-based enzyme activating compounds. We characterize several small molecules reported in the literature to activate sirtuins besides SIRT1, using a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques including label-free and labeled kinetic and thermodynamic assays with multiple substrates and protocols for the identification of false positives. We provide evidence indicating that several of these small molecules reported in the published literature are false positives, and identify others as hit compounds for the design of compounds that can activate sirtuins through the proposed mechanism-based mode of action.


We propose Delay Sensitive Smoothed Round Robin scheduling algorithm for provisioning services over light- trail and SLiT networks. Compliance to latencies of services such as PWE3, VoD, Voice and data and good efficiency are observed.


The prime motive of the automobile industry is to improve safety in driving machines and avoid accidents. Traffic rules and regulations drafted by the law aren't followed by many citizens. This is another reason for an accident. Accidents sometimes are unintentional. Some serious acts like drunk and drive, ignoring the signboards, and over speeding might result in severe causalities. To prevent situations like these we seek the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). ADAS has the potential to increase safety and provide comfort driving. Driving situations are electronically controlled and decisions are simplified for the driver. Old people may also receive plenty of benefits from this technology. ADAS is designed with a humanmachine interface which tends to improve road safety marginally. Accidents caused by human error can also be minimized. ADAS helps the driver to automate, adapt and enhance the vehicle system for safe driving. Passive safety technologies like wearing seatbelts and airbags cannot prevent road fatalities. Modern technology like ADAS is different from traditional and passive technology and minimizes the fatalities consistently. ADAS also alert the driver of potential problems and helps in maintaining the stability of the vehicle under critical circumstances. Safety features are implemented to take control of the vehicle during collisions. ADAS relies on inputs from multiple sources like the brake assistant, pressure control system, lane departure warning system, road sign identification, etc. Additional features can also be customized based on the needs of the driver. In this paper methods to prevent over speeding, vehicle collisions, and driver alertness systems are discussed. RFID readers are used for sensing the speed limit in the signboards. The speed of the vehicle is managed based on the reading obtained from the tags. Sensors like ultrasonic, alcohol detector, gas sensor, temperature sensor are used to measure other parameters to enhance the safety measure while driving.


Caffeinated beverages are the most widely consumed beverages globally with coffee and tea as the two most prominent sources of caffeine. Caffeine content varies across different types of beverages. In addition to caffeine, coffee and tea have other biologically active compounds, and all may affect general and cardiovascular (CV) health. Moderate caffeine consumption (<300-400 mg/day), regardless of the source, is considered safe by both European and US Health Authorities, as it is not associated with adverse health and CV effects, while it may confer certain health benefits. There is a nonlinear association between coffee ingestion and CV risk; moderate coffee drinking is inversely significantly associated with CV risk, with the highest benefit at 2-4 cups per day, while heavy coffee drinking might confer increased risk. With regards to tea, due to a lower caffeine content per serving, its consumption is only limited by the total caffeine daily intake. Both these caffeinated beverages, coffee and tea, have additional phenolic compounds, with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, which confer cardioprotective benefits. Of the several coffee compounds, chloroacetic acids and melanoidins offer such beneficial effects, while diterpenes may have unfavorable effects on lipids. Most of the tea ingredients (polyphenols) are cardioprotective. A major concern relates to energy drinks with their much higher caffeine content which puts individuals, especially adolescents and young adults, at high health and CV risk. All these issues are herein discussed, including pertinent studies and meta-analyses, pathogenetic mechanisms involved and relevant recommendations from health authorities.


OBJECTIVE To assess the outcome of a policy of emergency coronary angiography with or without rescue angioplasty in patients with acute myocardial infarction and ECG evidence of failed reperfusion after thrombolysis. DESIGN A cohort study. SETTING Regional cardiothoracic unit. PATIENTS 197 patients with acute myocardial infarction fulfilling a simple ECG criterion of failed reperfusion. INTERVENTIONS Emergency coronary angiography proceeding to rescue angioplasty for inadequate antegrade flow. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Hospital mortality for all 197 patients; incidence of successful and failed rescue angioplasty; need for additional revascularisation in those receiving rescue angioplasty compared with those not treated in this way. RESULTS 197 patients had emergency angiography for ECG evidence of failed reperfusion; 156 patients received immediate rescue angioplasty. Overall hospital mortality for those undergoing rescue angioplasty was 11.5%. Rescue angioplasty achieved TIMI 2 (11) or TIMI 3 (124) in 135 patients, who had a hospital mortality of 5.9%. Failure to achieve at least TIMI 2 flow following rescue angioplasty occurred in 21 patients, with a hospital mortality of 48%. In the 41 patients in whom immediate rescue angioplasty was not performed, reinfarction or requirement for revascularisation occurred in 37%. Reinfarction occurred in three patients (1.9%) who had immediate rescue angioplasty. Hospital mortality for the whole cohort was 10.7%. CONCLUSIONS A policy of emergency coronary angiography proceeding to rescue angioplasty where appropriate reduces mortality in a high risk group to a level less than expected for patients with acute myocardial infarction and ECG evidence of failed reperfusion. Unsuccessful rescue angioplasty is associated with a high mortality.


The 'smart city' concept entirely relies on a permanent stream of massive amounts of data acquired by a great variety of sensors distributed throughout the city. Smart use of all this data requires integration with 3D city maps for which point clouds, acquired by laser scanning or photogrammetry, are the main sources. The author of this article identifies the abilities of point clouds to support the smart city concept.


The 5α-reductase type 1 isozyme is a key enzyme in the metabolism of the androgen steroid hormones and inhibitors of this enzyme represent a new pharmacological treatment for several androgen dependent diseases. We developed a radiosubstrate in vitro incubation method for the determination of 5α-reductase type 1 activity using rat liver microsomes as an enzyme source. With this method we have studied the inhibiting activity of novel (5' S )-17ß-(4,5-dihydrooxazol-5-yl)androst-5-en-3-one compounds containing various derivatized phenyl substituents coupled to the exo -heterocyclic moiety. Tests revealed moderate inhibitory actions compared to finasteride, nevertheless, results provide interesting structure-activity relationship data.


Social capital is a term, which is widely used in social sciences today. The concept has been coined by the French philosopher and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and popularized by the American political scientist Robert Putnam. However, the two authors talk of rather different phenomena while using the same term; they assign different importance (cause-effect) to different components and events of the social life; they draw rather dissimilar recommendations concerning actions of the public authorities and individuals.
In this text the two theories are outlined, then some data from the survey "Social capital in Kaunas and Kaunas region" conducted in spring 2003 are presented and interpreted. The interpretation does not allow much hope that the social capital understood as participation in social activities and voluntary organizations might in some automatic (miraculous) way – without changing power relations and increasing material well being of the majority of social groups – lead to enhanced citizenship and community development.
Active and responsible role of the municipalities (local authorities) might be one of the actual leverages to encourage and improve development of civil society (non-governmental organizations). Sociological research shows that the social capital in a constructive way shall be understood as dependent variable, which might be positively influenced (affected) by the "good" governance.


Atrophic dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (atrophic DFSP) is a variant of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP), and is clinically characterized by depressed lesions. We report a patient with a typical atrophic DFSP lesion with marked eosinophilic infiltration. The patient was a 55‐year‐old woman with a dark‐red, depressed lesion in the epigastric region. Histopathological examination of the lesion showed proliferation of fibroblast‐like cells in a storiform pattern in the dermis and subcutaneous tissue. Immunohistochemical staining of tumor cells was positive for CD34. The lesion was histopathologically typical of DFSP, but no elevated lesion was clinically observed. Thus, a diagnosis of atrophic DFSP was made. Moreover, this tumor tissue exhibited marked eosinophilic infiltration. To our knowledge, they are no reports of eosinophilic infiltration in DFSP tissue. Therefore, this seems to be an extremely rare case of DFSP.


The role of oxygen concentration on the formation/evolution of residual defects in implanted and rapid thermal annealed silicon was studied in samples with various oxygen concentrations. Photoluminescence (PL) study showed a strong correlation between the D-line intensity and the oxygen concentration. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements also suggested the extended defects were more favored in the high oxygen sample. High frequency capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements revealed excess acceptors that were further investigated by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). A hole trap with activation energy of 450 meV was detected and was suggested to relate to agglomerations of point defects associated with more than one type of 3D-metal related deep levels.


Currently, there are many issues in the field of cultural values of science that are not studied and require study at the modern level. The fundamental changes that have taken place in the political, social, economic, cultural and spiritual spheres of society since the republic of Kazakhstan gained independence have set the task of studying them in a new way for cultural scientists. In order to take a fresh look at our work in this task, it is necessary to use research methods. It is important to study the stages of development, activities and directions of cultural values of the Kyzylorda region, which are the subject of research. The cultural values of the Kyzylorda region are considered a cultural artifact that provides complete information about the kazakh cultural world. Since the scientific and theoretical issues of the analysis of cultural values of the Kyzylorda region were not the subject of special research in cultural anthropology, an attempt to consider it in a complex interdisciplinary field on the basis of semantic, pragmatic ideas, classification of various basic elements that form culture, elements of the Turkic worldview, defining the concept of the sanctity of cultural values in the Turkic worldview are an urgent problem. In the article, we conducted cross-cultural research and identified specific problems, requirements and research directions in cross-culture.


In the current political and economic environment, jobs are at the center of political debates in both developed and developing economies. There are many expectations that small enterprises can create new jobs, although recent studies suggest that small enterprises contribute more to the employment share in low-income economies than in high-income countries. The role of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) will also depend on the context, including the availability of other service providers. Analyzing the competitive environment is another important step that will help identify the MFI's competitive advantages and priority market segments. To adequately support small enterprises, MFIs will need to better understand their unique needs and to tailor financial services and build appropriate infrastructure to meet them. Successfully serving small enterprises is a process, not a one-time event-so careful planning is crucial. This will require a commitment from top management to create a client centric approach, hire dedicated and knowledgeable staff, and invest in appropriate technologies. The track record of MFIs serving small businesses is mixed, and providers should not add this new segment to their microbusiness without acquiring new data, capacity, and tools. MFIs are increasingly interested and aware of the need to improve their capacity to serve the small business market.


The interaction between plane waves and multilayer elliptic cylinders with one or more layers made of metamaterials is considered. An analytical solution is proposed, which extends to double-negative metamaterials an efficient recursive procedure previously developed for double-positive dielectrics. Two cases are considered: multilayer dielectric cylinders and perfectly conducting cylinders with a lossy dielectric coating. Numerical results and comparisons are provided concerning both the internal field and the scattering cross section per unit length, allowing a significant assessment of the scattering properties of metamaterials.


Recently, the doubly differential cross section for double ionization of helium by fast bare carbon ions has been measured as a function of the longitudinal momentum components of both electrons (see Bapat et al 2000). These data show that the two electrons are preferentially emitted back to back. In this work we investigate the influence of various forms for the initial and final state wavefunctions on the calculated doubly differential cross sections in the first Born approximation. It is found that both an appropriate representation of the derivative discontinuities of the initial bound state wavefunction at the two-particle coalescence points and of the Coulomb repulsion of the electrons in the final continuum state are necessary to reproduce this experimental feature. The accuracy of the calculated initial helium atom binding energy is not a reliable criterion for an adequate description of correlation effects in a collisional situation.


We investigate the mechanical properties and stabilities of planar α-boron monolayers under various large strains using density functional theory (DFT). α-Boron has a high in-plane stiffness, about 2/3 of that of graphene, which suggests that α-boron is four times as strong as iron. Potential profiles and stress-strain curves indicate that a free standing α-boron monolayer can sustain large tensile strains, up to 0.12, 0.16, and 0.18 for armchair, zigzag, and biaxial deformations, respectively. Third, fourth, and fifth order elastic constants are indispensable for accurate modeling of the mechanical properties under strains larger than 0.02, 0.06, and 0.08 respectively. Second order elastic constants, including in-plane stiffness, are predicted to monotonically increase with pressure, while the trend of Poisson's ratio is reversed. The surface sound speeds of both the compressional and shear waves increase with pressure. The ratio of these two sound speeds increases with the increase of pressure and converges to a value of 2.5. Our results imply that α-boron monolayers are mechanically stable under various large strains and have advanced mechanical properties - high strength and high flexibility.


In order to study the relationship between the diversity of BGP prefix hijacking impact and the topology of participants, we apply a data mining method. We get instances from numerous prefix hijacking simulations on the authentic Internet topology, and evaluate the importance of topology attributes using information gain-based attribute selection. Then we estimate the precision of classification by running decision tree algorithm with different topology attributes to determine which ones should be taken into consideration in efficient impact evaluation of prefix hijacking.


The thermal conductivities kappa of the crystalline phases and amorphous solid states of water as well as clathrate hydrates are summarized and discussed. In particular, this review concerns the unusual temperature T and pressure p behaviors of kappa for some phases and states, which include glass-like K for crystalline clathrate hydrates and crystal-like kappa for low-density amorphous ice. The latter result implies that glassy water and low-density amorphous ice are different states. The results for the various phases and states are in most cases described well by the equations: kappa = D x T(-x) and 1n kappa = E + F x p, under isobaric and isothermal conditions, respectively. All phases that exhibit negative values for F are known to amorphize upon pressurization at low temperatures. Ice XI, which is obtained by annealing ice Ih below 70 K, exhibits positive F, which indicates that this phase does not amorphize like ice Ih upon pressurization.


Spatially-explicit harvest scheduling models optimize the spatiotemporal layout of forest management actions to best meet management objectives such as profit maximization, even flow of products, or wildlife habitat preservation while satisfying a variety of constraints. This investigation focuses on modeling maximum harvest opening size restrictions whose role is to limit the size of contiguous clear cuts on a forested landscape. These restrictions, a.k.a. green-up constraints, allow adjacent forest stands to be cut within a pre-specified timeframe, called green-up period, only if their combined area does not exceed a limit. We present a strengthening procedure for one of the existing integer programming formulations of this so-called Area Restriction Model and test the computational performance of the new model on sixty hypothetical and seven real forest planning applications. The results suggest that the strengthened model can often outperform the other three existing formulations. We also find that the original Path Model is still competitive in terms of solution times.


The manual and visual dominance of one side has in recent times attracted much attention from many aspects. Crossed dominance (right eye - left hand) seems significant in strabismus of childhood. For the first time recently it has become obvious, that the structure of the body and its muscles, especially of the trunk is asymmetrical. Even in normal persons the centre of gravity of the body is not in the midline, but displaced usually some distance to the left. We have examined the stabilographic proportions in 30 normal and 30 squinting children. In the normal children, with closed eyes the centre of gravity of the body was displaced in 80% to the right, in the quinting children this point was in 73% displaced to the left. We can deduce from this, that the marked right-eye dominance in squinting children is responsible for the displacement of the centre of gravity. If the right eye is open, then the vertical body-axis tends a little to the left. This tendency demands an increase of muscle tone on the left side of the body and with this a displacement of the body centre of gravity to the left; this not only, when the right eye is open, but also, when both eyes are opened or closed. From our experience this adjustment is especially suited to normalise the working together of the hand and the eye in squinting children.


Operational efficiency is a simple way of addressing nonproductive time of diesel-powered construction equipment that performs a construction activity and is defined as the ratio of nonidle activity time to total activity time including idle time. The effects of diesel equipment operational efficiency on total emissions for construction activities have not been fully established; thus a fundamental understanding of operational efficiency is needed to evaluate the effects on total pollutant emissions of diesel-powered construction equipment. This paper presents a methodology to assess the effects of equipment operational efficiency on the total pollutant emissions of construction equipment performing construction activities. This methodology estimates the percentage of additional pollutants emitted due to a reduced operational efficiency, based on the ratio of idle to nonidle emissions. Results for a case study of six bulldozers indicate that pollutant emissions, in addition to the minimum amount required to complete a specific quantity of work, increase as operational efficiency decreases. This conclusion allows the savings resulting from increased efficiency to be determined. Furthermore, additional pollutant emissions for a specified operational efficiency increase as the ratio of idle to nonidle emissions increases. The ratio of idle to nonidle emissions varies according to pollutant and is approximately 1:2 for hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, 1:5 for nitrogen oxides, and 1:7 for particulate matter.


The Direct Current Potential Drop (DCPD) method is a common method used to detect the initiation of cracks, measure crack growth rates and monitor crack propagation. The method records total measurement of crack propagation, and can be used without visual accessibility, being suitable for special environments like high temperature, high pressure and sour service. Due to the discontinuity represented by the presence of a crack, when electric current flows through the component the crack size can be measured indirectly by the change of the electrical field. The potential difference can be related to crack size through experimental, analytical or numerical calibration curves. Analytical solutions are only limited to a small number of simpler geometries and homogeneous material. For clad and lined pipe, the clad/liner is stainless steel or nickel base alloys but the base pipe is carbon steel. The conductivities of the different materials are different. For lined pipe a small gap exists between liner and base pipe, this may change the electrical field around the root of girth weld. In this paper, finite element analyses are performed to generate the numerical calibration curves for the fatigue crack growth rate testing in sour service environment for clad and lined pipe girth welds. The method developed and described in this paper measures the fatigue crack growth rate for the crack located at the weld root which is in direct contact with the operating environment.


The interaction between high-brilliance electron beams and counterpropagating laser pulses produces x rays via Thomson backscattering. If the laser source is long and intense enough, the electrons of the beam can bunch on the scale of the emitted x-ray wavelength and a regime of collective effects can establish. In this case of dominating collective effects, the FEL instability can develop and the system behaves like a free-electron laser based on an optical undulator. Coherent x rays can be irradiated, with a bandwidth very much thinner than that of the corresponding incoherent emission. The emittance of the electron beam and the distribution nonuniformity of the laser energy are the principal quantities that limit the growth of the x-ray signal. In this work we analyze with a 3D code the transverse effects in the emission produced by a relativistic electron beam when it is under the action of an optical laser pulse and the x-ray spectra obtained. The scalings typical of the optical wiggler, characterized by very short gain lengths and overall time durations of the process, make possible considerable emission also in violation of the Pellegrini criterion for static wigglers. A generalized form of this criterion is validated on the basis of the numerical evidence.


The disadvantages of cell-adaptive microenvironments and cellular diffusion out of the lesion have limited hydrogel-based scaffold transplantation treatment for neural connectivity, leading to permanent neurological disability from spinal cord injury. Herein, porous GelMA scaffold was prepared, in which the inner porous structure was optimized. The average pore size was 168 ± 71 μm with a porosity of 77.1%. The modulus of porous hydrogel was 593 ± 4 Pa compared to 1535 ± 85 Pa of bulk GelMA. The inner connected porous structure provided a cell-infiltrative matrix for neural stem cell migration and differentiation in vitro and eventually enhanced neuron differentiation and hindlimb strength and movement of animals in in vivo experiments. Furthermore, inflammation response and apoptosis were also alleviated after implantation. This work demonstrated that the porous hydrogel with appropriately connected micropores exhibit favorable cellular responses compared with traditional non-porous GelMA hydrogel. Taken together, our findings suggest that porous hydrogel is a promising scaffold for future delivery of stem cells and has prospects in material design for the treatment of spinal cord injury.


Horizon Scan reports provide brief summaries of information regarding new and emerging health technologies; Health Technology Update articles typically focus on a single device or intervention. These technologies are identified through the CADTH Horizon Scanning Service as topics of potential interest to health care decision-makers in Canada.
This Horizon Scan summarizes the available information regarding vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of post–COVID-19 condition, also known as long COVID. In particular, the Horizon Scan discusses the Dolphin Neurostim, the first medical device to receive a Health Canada emergency authorization for expanded use in post–COVID-19 conditions.
The emerging evidence from early findings of small pilot studies suggests that vagus nerve dysfunction may be implicated in some post–COVID-19 conditions and neurostimulation of the vagus nerve could help improve some symptoms. However, the evidence is limited because the studies were not powered to detect statistically significant differences in outcomes, and it is unclear if the reported findings were clinically meaningful.
Due to the heterogeneity of post–COVID-19 condition and limited understanding of its pathophysiology, the extent of vagus nerve dysfunction's involvement in the condition is unclear. Where that dysfunction is implicated, electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve may be a potentially useful therapeutic option, likely complementary to other treatment options. Emerging evidence from ongoing and future research could help define the clinical effectiveness of the technology and guide its appropriate use.


Background: Surgical site infections are commonest nosocomial infections and responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality as well as increased hospitalizations and treatment cost related to surgical operations.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude and factors associated with surgical site infections at surgical ward of Debre Tabor General Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.Method: Institution based cross sectional study was conducted on patients who underwent a surgical procedure at Debre Tabor General Hospital in 2020. The sample size was determined using single population proportion formula. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21 software. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions analysis were employed. Odds ratio and its 95% confidence interval were taken to test the association between the dependent and independent variables. P-value of less than 0.05 will be considered as statistically significant. Result: In this study, a total of 191 patients have participated in the study yielding a response rate of 100%. The mean age of the respondents was 2.5 (SD ±0.68) years. The most age group 115(60.2%) resides at the age group greater than 40 years. More than one half(62.3) of the surgical clients were females. Most of the clients were farmers(32.5%) and un able to read and write(41.9) based on the occupation. The magnitude of surgical site infection in this study was found to be 11.5% (95% CI: 7.8%, 15.9%).The factors existance of comorbidity and antibiotic prophylaxis given were found to be significantly assoiated with magnitude of surgical site infection.Conclusion: The magnitude of surgical site infection in this study was high. Proper management of patients with co-morbidity especially those with diabetes mellitus, proper administration of anesthesia and delivering intravenous antimicrobial prophylaxis before surgery as ordered would significantly reduce the incidence of surgical site infection.


Research was focused on how a single double-strand break – a model of low-dose ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage – could be studied in a simple model system, budding yeast. Breaks were induced in several different ways. We used the site-specific HO endonuclease to create a single DSB in all cells of the population so that its fate could be extensively analyzed genetically and molecularly. We also used two heterologous systems, the plant DS element and the Rag1/Rag2 proteins, to generate different types of DSBs, these containing hairpin ends that needed to be cleaved open before end-joining could take place. All three approaches yielded important new findings. We also extended our analysis of the Mre11 protein that plays key roles in both NHEJ and in homologous recombination. Finally we analyzed the poorly understood recombination events that were independent of the key recombination protein, Rad52. This line of inquiry was strongly motivated by the fact that vertebrate cells do not rely strongly on Rad52 for homologous recombination, so that some clues about alternative mechanisms could be gained by understanding how Rad52-independent recombination occurred. We found that the Mre11 complex was the most important element in Rad52-independent recombination.


The development of various controlled radical polymerization techniques as well as site- and residue specific strategies to modify peptides/proteins with synthetic polymers have made polymer chemistry a powerful tool to address materials problems at the biology interface. This article will present recent examples for bioactive surface modification and polymer therapeutics; it will highlight the use of controlled radical polymerization techniques and bioconjugation strategies to develop surface coatings for regenerative medicine and diagnostics, respectively, polymer-based nanomedicines.


Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) engineering profoundly relies on modeling methods to represent the system and study the operation and cybersecurity of CPSs. The operation of a CPS is the result of the collaboration between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) components. While OT focuses on the system's process physics, the emphasis of IT is on information flow. Consequently, different system models are utilized to study various aspects of CPSs, which may infer different views of the same system. The increasing complexity of CPSs and the high number of cyberattacks against Industrial Control Systems (ICSs) and CPSs in recent years have highlighted the necessity of considering these interrelations based on a unified model to analyze cybersecurity of CPSs. However, the diversity of engineering fields and implicit relations and dependencies between them have made it difficult to integrate the modeling methods towards a unified IT&OT model of CPSs.In this paper, we propose a comprehensive method, based on bond graphs, to model CPS and analyze their cybersecurity. Unlike existing methods, modeling the cyber layer along with the physical layer based on the system flow provides a holistic graphical representation of a CPS, which facilitates collaboration between IT and OT experts.


Little references actually exist on neutralization therapy which could constitute the missing ring from an efficient treatment. As structural model capable to interact with organophosphoric substances, at the level of phosphor (P) atom, the common chemical element of the hole class of substances, was proposed those of benzimidazole. Different quantities of benzimidazole were put in contact with a fix quantity of trichlorphon in acid conditions and formation of a new compound was evidentiated by infrared spectrometry. Similar experiments were made utilizing benzimidazole derivatives (2 methyl or 2 benzyl benzimidazole) and different temperatures: 35 В°C and 40 В°C. By increasing massic rate: benzimidazole/triclorfon as well an increased reaction temperature, have favourably influenced trichlorphon capture. The obtained results justified an continuation of researches in the direction of new compounds with a structure similar with that of benzimidazole for funding an efficient neutralization therapy for organophosphoric substances.


The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is categorized as a human gamma-1 herpes-virus. The EBV infection can increase the risk of developing certain rare cancers such as sinonasal carcinomas (SNC). That due to the powerful ability of EBV to cause mutations in the cells and make cancerous changes in the tissues. The human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), mainly in tumor tissues, can target different types of cells. In addition, it can cause all hallmarks of cancerous changes in the tissues which is considered as a defining feature of these pathogens. The HCMV strictly exhibits both of cellular tumor-promoting and immune-evasive strategies as well. However, the p27(Kip1) protein, might contribute in many different signal transduction pathways and modulate the intermediate oncogenic roles in cancer. The p27(Kip1) protein combines with cyclin E-CDK2, cyclin A-CDK2, and cyclin D1-CDK4 forming complexes, resulting in preventing their activation. Mitogenic signals that cause reduction of p27 expression allow activation and progression of CDK/cyclin in the cell cycle. The p73 is a protein related to the p53 tumor protein; it considered as tumor suppressor that is significantly involved in the regulation of cell cycle and induction of apoptosis. This study aim at investigating the effect of both the HCMV and EBV infections on the gene expression of both p 27 and p73 in sinonasal carcinomas (SNC). The study involved eighteen (18) formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of sinonasal carcinomas (SNC). The verificatory re-examination for histopathological samples was done. The EBV-EBERs and HCMV-PP65 DNA localization detected by a Chromogenic In Situ Hybridization technique (CISH), while p27 and p73 gene product detected by immunohistochemistry technique (IHC). From the recent data, it is clear that the existence of those two viruses in SNC were at the highest range in poor different grades (45.5%). On the contrary, the co-expression rate of p27 and p73 genes were at elevated in poorly differentiated SNC tissues (73.5%).


Chenopodium album is a common, widespread and troublesome weed in agricultural areas throughout the north temperate regions of the world. A primary reason for this flexible adaptation relies on the complex regulation of seed germination and recruitment. The control of seed germination bythe interaction of light, temperature, after-ripening time, nitrate, and water level was investigated in a factorial experiment under controlled environmental conditions. Stimulation of germination was evaluated in two populations of C. albumseeds collected in 2007 and 2008 at a common Iowa, USA location.Germination of both populations was generally stimulated by light, warm (15-25°C) and hot (25-35°C) temperatures, 0.01 M nitrate, 3 to 5 weeks of after-ripening (4°C, dark, moist), and with the 2008 population, 1.0 and 1.25 ml of water. The interaction of these factors, particularly light, warm temperatures and nitrate, stimulated higher germination than when applied individually. Germination was very lowin cold (5-15°C) temperatures or darkness, regardless of other treatments applied. The goal of this experiment was to lay a foundation with two local Iowa populations to guide further studies developing a seed germination assay to determine variability of dormancy among individual seeds of and between populations. Insights about dormancy variability in C. album gained from the current research included positive responses by both populations to light, warm and hot temperatures, nitrate, and intermediate after-ripening times. However, the populations differed in their response to water quantity and, for most conditions, the 2008 population achieved greater overall germination. The overarching goal of this project is to build a condensed C. album seed germination assay to characterize individual populations to predict seedling emergence patterns in agricultural soils in an effort to decrease interference with crop productivity.


Characterization of elderly (> or = 65) patients with Graves' disease (GD) was discussed. Emaciation was the symptom that was most frequently found in elderly patients. The presence of goiter, exophthalmos and increased appetite decreased with age, while weight loss, anorexia and arrhythmia increased. Elderly patients often have serious complications such as congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Serum levels of free T3, free T4 and TSH receptor antibodies were significantly lower in elderly patients. In addition to fewer clinical signs and symptoms of GD in elderly patients, prominent cardiac or gastrointestinal findings may make the diagnosis more difficult. Elderly GD patients should be treated with antithyroid drugs. Radioiodine therapy may be considered after normalization of serum thyroid hormone levels.


Breast cancer is one of the most lethal cancers, estrogen receptor α Subtype (ERα) is an important target. The compounds that able to fight ERα active may be candidates for treatment of breast cancer. The drug discovery process is a very large and complex process that often requires one selected from a large number of compounds. This paper considers the independence, coupling, and relevance of bioactivity descriptors, selects the 15 most potentially valuable bioactivity descriptors from 729 bioactivity descriptors. An optimized back propagation neural network is used for ERα, The pharmacokinetics and safety of 15 selected bioactivity descriptors were verified by gradient lifting algorithm. The results showed that these 15 biological activity descriptors could not only fit well with the nonlinear relationship of ERα activity can also accurately predict its pharmacokinetic characteristics and safety, with an average accuracy of 89.92~94.80%. Therefore, these biological activity descriptors have great medical research value.


The recent shift toward dispersal rather than vicariant explanations of disjunct distributions has been driven by the use of molecular data to estimate divergence dates between lineages. However, other kinds of evidence can also be critical in evaluating such biogeographic hypotheses. In the present study, we used a multifaceted approach employing diverse analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences to assess explanations for the disjunct distribution of the gartersnake Thamnophis validus. The occurrence of this species in the Cape Region of the Baja California peninsula, isolated from mainland populations that occur along the west coast of Mexico, might be explained by: (1) separation of the peninsula from mainland Mexico through rifting 4–8 Mya (tectonic vicariance); (2) fragmentation of the range of this semi-aquatic species because of post-Pleistocene aridification (vicariance by aridification); (3) natural overwater dispersal across the Gulf of California; or (4) human introduction. Divergence dating indicates that peninsular and mainland T. validus separated from each other within the last 0.5 Myr, thus rejecting tectonic vicariance. In addition, the estimated closest mainland relatives of peninsular snakes are found farther north than expected under this hypothesis. Three findings argue against vicariance by aridification: (1) peninsular snakes and their closest mainland relatives are more genetically similar than predicted; (2) the location of closest mainland relatives is farther south than predicted; and (3) the species is absent from areas where one might expect to find relict populations. Taken together, refutation of the vicariance hypotheses and the fact that the estimated closest mainland relatives are found almost directly across the Gulf from the Cape Region supports some form of overwater colonization. Various additional arguments suggest that natural dispersal is more likely than human introduction. The present study emphasizes the need for multiple kinds of evidence, beyond divergence dates, to discriminate among hypotheses and to provide independent sources of corroboration or refutation in historical biogeography. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 95, 409–424.


Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains are those that cause infections in the urinary tract. They acquired virulence factors which enable them to survive in the urinary tract and elicit pathogenicity. The virulence factors are classified into two categories: (i) bacterial cell surface virulence factors and (ii) bacteria secreted virulence factors. Adhesins, toxins and iron up-take systems are major groups of virulence factors. The variety of virulence factors of UPEC is presented in this chapter.


Waiting for the revolution is a volume of essays examining the diverse currents of British left-wing politics from 1956 to the present day. The book is designed to complement the previous volume, Against the grain: The far left in Britain from 1956, bringing together young and established academics and writers to discuss the realignments and fissures that maintain leftist politics into the twenty-first century. The two books endeavour to historicise the British left, detailing but also seeking to understand the diverse currents that comprise 'the far left'. Their objective is less to intervene in ongoing issues relevant to the left and politics more generally, than to uncover and explore the traditions and issues that have preoccupied leftist groups, activists and struggles. To this end, the book will appeal to scholars and anyone interested in British politics.


This review paper focuses on knowledge, skill, practices, benefits, and experiences pertaining to use of plants as medicinal aids to help, prevent or treat physical and mental illnesses in human  in African continent especially South Sudan. Attitudes towards traditional medicine vary strongly with the tradition and cultures of the people and this has raised a serious confusion between herbal medicine and witchcraft. Millions of Africans and South Sudanese in particular prefer treatment and use of medicinal plant products made from indigenous plants, because it represents an important source of affordable medicine as well as sources of income for rural communities. 25% of the world medicinal plants are found in the African continent, but only 8% are used because information is transferred verbally from generation to generation and much is not unknown. The set back is due to lack of proof that medicinal plants are useful, safe and effective and can be used as alternative medicine. Many plants species are likely to become extinct as well as endangered as population increases demand also increases, giving greater pressure on medicinal plants. As a result, 50% of medicinal plants worldwide are threatened with extinction due to rampant exploration. Traditional herbal medicines are identified and produced by traditional medicinal practitioners in Africa. Many herbs grown in South Sudan and in African continent have valuable medical properties but traditional methods used have many disadvantages that can be corrected and developed to make them effective, stable and reproductive through the methods of scientific research.


Introduction: Preterm infants are at increased risk of having a patent arterial duct (PAD). PADs may cause congestive heart failure, respiratory distress, necrotizing enterocolitis, and renal impairment. Consequently, in some infants, it becomes necessary to attempt closure of the PAD. Surgical closure can be difficult in small infants and is not without its risks; thus, medical closure offers advantages. Cyclooxygenase inhibitors have been used for medical closure of the PAD with both ibuprofen and indomethacin having been used clinically. Methods: We performed a systematic review of the literature to identify all studies comparing ibuprofen and indomethacin. Studies comparing ibuprofen and indomethacin for closure of the PAD in premature infants were included in the meta-analysis. A subanalysis was performed to compare the route of administration. Efficacy endpoints studied were PAD closure and surgical ligation while adverse effects studied were death in the first month of life, necrotizing enterocolitis, gastrointestinal bleeding, intestinal perforation, bronchopulmonary dysplasia in the first month of life, Grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage, and change in the serum creatinine after treatment. Results: Ibuprofen and indomethacin were equally effective in closing the PAD in premature infants and demonstrated no difference in the incidence of adverse events. In respect to the route of administration, oral ibuprofen was as effective as intravenous indomethacin. When comparing both drugs via the intravenous route, the only difference noted between the ibuprofen and indomethacin was that ibuprofen was associated with a lesser increase in serum creatinine after treatment. Conclusion: Ibuprofen and indomethacin are equally effective in PAD closure without any difference in the incidence of adverse events. Importantly, oral ibuprofen was as effective as intravenous indomethacin.


Microsatellites have been popular molecular markers ever since their advent in the late eighties. Despite growing competition from new genotyping and sequencing techniques, the use of these versatile and cost‐effective markers continues to increase, boosted by successive technical advances. First, methods for multiplexing PCR have considerably improved over the last years, thereby decreasing genotyping costs and increasing throughput. Second, next‐generation sequencing technologies allow the identification of large numbers of microsatellite loci at reduced cost in non‐model species. As a consequence, more stringent selection of loci is possible, thereby further enhancing multiplex quality and efficiency. However, current practices are lagging behind. By surveying recently published population genetic studies relying on simple sequence repeats, we show that more than half of the studies lack appropriate quality controls and do not make use of multiplex PCR. To make the most of the latest technical developments, we outline the need for a well‐established strategy including standardized high‐throughput bench protocols and specific bioinformatic tools, from primer design to allele calling.