Chapter I. Setting the Israeli Scene Introduction Historical Legacies: Roots of Gender Relations and Ethnic Tension The Functioning of the Formal Political System Women in political parties Women's political parties Women and voting Women in Knesset, committees, ministries Knesset's bureaucratic responses to women Women politicians Legal Arena Military Participation Contemporary Feminist Movement Living in a State of Siege: The Role of Women in the Peace Movement The Emergence of Women's Nongovernmental Organizations Resources and Funding Chapter II. Minding the Political Gap: The need for and development of a concept of political capital Introduction Philosophy and the Public Sphere: Enter Feminist Politics Women and politics: Toward feminist critical theory Women, citizenship and political participation Building Civil Society: Utilizing Social and Political Capital Examining civil society NGOs as learning sites Conceptualizing a New Term: 'Political Capital' Social capital is too diffuse A first consideration of 'political capital' The influence of Bourdieu's cultural capital The influence of Putnam's social capital Trust, norms and networks The influence of political culture Political education Education and democracy Informal education: liberation pedagogy and rights based education Nonformal education: Consciousness-raising Definition of Political capital Political capital in democracy Chapter III. Revealing political capital: Methods of discovery Nature of Study Qualitative research Feminist research Research Methods Research setting Israel Women's Network Bat Shalom Haifa Women's Coalition Research sample Sample size Sample: Socio-demographic description Gaining access to research sites Research Instruments Interviews Interview process Particpant observation Document review Research questions Hypothesis Data Analysis Limitations of Study Transportation Language Religion Time Chapte r IV. NGOs of their own: Women claim public space for political influence Introduction Why are NGOs needed: what gap do they address for women and how do they do that? NGOs create new discourse NGOs help women connect skills with action Women benefit more from women's NGOs than mixed-gender NGOs NGOs politicize traditional voluntary associations There is political power in the group NGOs can create a false illusion of change The formal political sphere is a male sphere The military encourages male political careers NGOs provide increased opportunities for women's political participation Summary The Influence of NGOs on the formal political system NGOs participate in legislation, lobbying and commities Members of Knesset rely on women's NGOs Most women in NGOs would consider running or ha


In this study, it was emphasized on the place and importance of dreams that have a strong erudition on government tradition of Turkish Society and how affected person's life by dreams in Turkish culturel life. The research was started by emphasizing the importance of dreams in pre- Islamic Turkish government tradition. It was mentioned to perception of dreams in Ottoman government tradition with foundation of various Turkish governments or thing that existed centre point of dreams. By mentioning the effects of dreams on person's life, it was handled the interpretations on dreams by the person who had a dream depending his political position.


For 17 cultivars of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) different vernalisation and photoperiod responses were detected. The effect of photoperiod sensitivity was not significantly changed by vernalisation; different vernalisation responses were probably due to the presence of multiple alleles at Vrn loci. The delay in heading depended on the vernalisation deficit exponentially: y = parameter (1) + [y0 – parameter (1)] × EXP [parameter (2) × (x – x0)]. The dependence was shown to be general and significant for the given model in all the studied cultivars. Individual regressions characterised responses of cultivars to a deficit of vernalisation treatment. Cluster analysis according to the characterisation obtained (full vernalisation requirement, minimum vernalisation requirement, insufficient vernalisation and parameters of the dependence) showed the relationships between cultivars and enabled their grouping by similar profiles of vernalisation, and, possibly, of photoperiod response. In individual cultivars, an attempt was made to use the model to predict performance for some agronomic traits.


The RNA exosome is a conserved multiprotein complex that achieves a large number of processive and degradative functions in eukaryotic cells. Recently, mutations have been mapped to the gene encoding one of the subunits of the exosome, EXOSC3 (yeast Rrp40p), which results in pontocerebellar hypoplasia with motor neuron degeneration in human patients. However, the molecular impact of these mutations in the pathology of these diseases is not well understood. To investigate the molecular consequences of mutations in EXOSC3 that lead to neurological diseases, we analyzed the effect of three of the mutations that affect conserved residues of EXOSC3/Rrp40p (G31A, G191C, and W238R; G8A, G148C, and W195R, respectively, in human and yeast) in S. cerevisiae We show that the severity of the phenotypes of these mutations in yeast correlate with that of the disease in human patients, with the W195R mutant showing the strongest growth and RNA processing phenotypes. Furthermore, we show that these mutations affect more severely pre-ribosomal RNA processing functions of the exosome rather than other nuclear processing or surveillance functions. These results suggest that delayed or defective pre-rRNA processing might be the primary defect responsible for the pathologies detected in patients with mutations affecting EXOSC3 function in residues conserved throughout eukaryotes.


The causes of long-term failure under practical conditions of use or storage of different types of fixed resistors commonly used in electronic equipment have been investigated. Some reported life tests have proceeded without interruption for almost four years. Carbon-composition (grade 2) resistors under load fail by slow thermal degradation of the resistive material. Drift of value may also occur if unloaded resistors of this type are stored in a damp atmosphere. Vitreous-enamelled wire-wound resistors made with fine wire may fail during tropical exposure both unloaded and especially when lightly loaded with direct current. This is owing to electro-chemical corrosion taking place at faults in the vitreous coating. High-stability cracked-carbon (grade 1) resistors may fail rapidly under light d.c. load by electro-chemical action if moisture condensation occurs and the protective paint or varnish coating is inadequate. Tests for long-term resistor stability are critically discussed.


Objectives : This study was performed to examine the effectiveness of auricular acupuncture to adult men on smoking cessation. Methods : 47 smoking people was divided two groups : experimental group(treated with auricular acupuncture therapy, n=22) and control group(not treated with auricular acupuncture therapy, n=25). We used Lung point, Shenmen point and Endocrine point twice a week for 4 weeks to experimental group. We assessed the changes in amount of daily smoking, desire of smoking, taste of smoking and nicotine dependence as well as subjective symptoms were studied. Results : The experimental group showed significant decrease in amount of daily smoking, desire of smoking, taste of smoking and nicotine dependence. Subjective symptoms also showed improvement comparing to control group. Conclusions : Acupuncturing lung, shenmen, and endocrine point showed effectiveness on decreasing smoking rates and subjective symptoms. Therefore the auricular acupuncture therapy is expected to helpful to smoking cessation and improve the health of smokers.


Minimum patch size criteria for habitat protection reflect the conservation principle that a single large (SL) patch of habitat has higher biodiversity than several small (SS) patches of the same total area (SL > SS). Nonetheless, this principle is often incorrect, and biodiversity conservation requires placing more emphasis on protection of large numbers of small patches (SS > SL). We used a global database reporting the abundances of species across hundreds of patches to assess the SL > SS principle in systems where small patches are much smaller than the typical minimum patch size criteria applied for biodiversity conservation (i.e., ∼85% of patches <100 ha). The 76 metacommunities we examined included 4401 species in 1190 patches. From each metacommunity, we resampled species–area accumulation curves to evaluate how biodiversity responded to habitat existing as a few large patches or as many small patches. Counter to the SL > SS principle and consistent with previous syntheses, species richness accumulated more rapidly when adding several small patches (45.2% SS > SL vs. 19.9% SL > SS) to reach the same cumulative area, even for the very small patches in our data set. Responses of taxa to habitat fragmentation differed, which suggests that when a given total area of habitat is to be protected, overall biodiversity conservation will be most effective if that habitat is composed of as many small patches as possible, plus a few large ones. Because minimum patch size criteria often require larger patches than the small patches we examined, our results suggest that such criteria hinder efforts to protect biodiversity.


This section explains how to render a light field for a novel view position using a parametrization with a focal plane. The method is explained on a rather high level in [1]. These notes are meant to provide a practical guide on how to perform the required calculations and in particular how to find a homographic transformation between the virtual and array cameras. The scenario and selected symbols are illustrated in Figure 1. We want to render our light field "as seen" by camera K. We have N images captured by N cameras in the array (only 4 shown in the figure), all of which have their apertures on the camera array plane C. We further assume that our array cameras are pin-hole cameras to simplify the explanation. The novel view is rendered assuming focal plane F . The focal plane has a similar function as the focus distance in a regular camera: objects on the focal plane will be rendered sharp, while objects that and in front or behind that plane will appear blurry (in practice they will appear ghosted because of the limited number of cameras). The focal plane F does not need to be parallel to the camera plane; it can be titled, unlike in a traditional camera with a regular lens. Because we have a limited number of cameras, we need to use reconstruction functions A0, ..., A1 (only two shown) for each camera. The functions shown contain the weights in the range 0-1 that are used to interpolate between two neighboring views. To intuitively understand how light field rendering is performed, imagine the following hypothetical scenario. Each camera in the array captures the


1. The influences of asphyxia, temperature, and restraint on diving bradycardia in amphibia have been considered.

2. In restrained diving frogs two forms of bradycardia were distinguised on the bases of rate of attainment, control, and degree of hear-rate reduction. A rapidly attained immersion bradycardia could be eliminated by atropine or bilateral vagotomy and was thus similar to that of other vertebrates. A slowly attained asphyxiant bradycardia, independent of vagal influences, also occured but was less pronounced.

3. Electrical stimulation experiments were conducted in September to determine the influence of temperature on vagale inhibition of the heart. With decreasing temperature partial block of vagal inhibition occurred at about 11° C., and complete block occured at 7-8°C.; on rewarming, partial block returned around 11-12°C., and complete vagal inhibition of the heart was re-established at about 14° C.

4. Though both forms of bradycardia may occur in any one dive, the form predominating was dependent on temerature and season. A Seasonal variability regarding the temerature at which vagal inhibition of the heart can occur has been suggested.

5. A. pronounced diving bradycardia, either slowly or rapidly attained, probably does not occur in unrestrained frogs under normal environmental conditions.


The question of whether or not HLA is important in transplantation can now be answered with a definite yes. The nationwide six-antigen-matching program, in which over 100 US transplantation centers have participated, has shown that a high (88% to 90%) 1-year graft survival rate can be achieved when kidneys are shipped to well-matched recipients. Long-term outcome (measured as half-life) is also markedly improved, from an average of 7 years for cadaveric donor transplants to as much as 19 years in the six-antigen-matched recipients. One of the major factors influencing long-term survival is histocompatibility matching, as shown by the survival differences among HLA-identical siblings (25-year half-life), one-haplotype-mismatched parental donors (12-year half-life), and two-haplotype-mismatched cadaveric donors (7-year half-life). For the past 25 years of kidney transplant experience, cadaveric donor half-life has remained stable at 7 years, despite many improvements in immunosuppression protocols. Histocompatibility matching unquestionably offers the best approach to prevention of chronic rejection.


PURPOSE
Persistent androgen signaling is implicated in castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) progression. This study aimed to evaluate androgen signaling in bone marrow-infiltrating cancer and testosterone in blood and bone marrow and to correlate with clinical observations.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
This was an open-label, observational study of 57 patients with bone-metastatic CRPC who underwent transiliac bone marrow biopsy between October 2007 and March 2010. Patients received oral abiraterone acetate (1 g) once daily and prednisone (5 mg) twice daily. Androgen receptor (AR) and CYP17 expression were assessed by immunohistochemistry, testosterone concentration by mass spectrometry, AR copy number by polymerase chain reaction, and TMPRSS2-ERG status by fluorescent in situ hybridization in available tissues.

RESULTS
Median overall survival was 555 days (95% CI, 440 to 965+ days). Maximal prostate-specific antigen decline ≥ 50% occurred in 28 (50%) of 56 patients. Homogeneous, intense nuclear expression of AR, combined with ≥ 10% CYP17 tumor expression, was correlated with longer time to treatment discontinuation (> 4 months) in 25 patients with tumor-infiltrated bone marrow samples. Pretreatment CYP17 tumor expression ≥ 10% was correlated with increased bone marrow aspirate testosterone. Blood and bone marrow aspirate testosterone concentrations declined to less than picograms-per-milliliter levels and remained suppressed at progression.

CONCLUSION
The observed pretreatment androgen-signaling signature is consistent with persistent androgen signaling in CRPC bone metastases. This is the first evidence that abiraterone acetate achieves sustained suppression of testosterone in both blood and bone marrow aspirate to less than picograms-per-milliliter levels. Potential admixture of blood with bone marrow aspirate limits our ability to determine the origin of measured testosterone.


The electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra of aqueous d-glucose and d-galactose were modeled using a theoretical–computational approach combining molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and perturbed matrix method (PMM) calculations, hereafter termed MD-PMM. The experimental spectra were reproduced with a satisfactory accuracy, confirming the good performances of MD-PMM in modeling different spectral features in complex atomic–molecular systems, as already reported in previous studies. The underlying strategy of the method was to perform a preliminary long timescale MD simulation of the chromophore followed by the extraction of the relevant conformations through essential dynamics analysis. On this (limited) number of relevant conformations, the ECD spectrum was calculated via the PMM approach. This study showed that MD-PMM was able to reproduce the essential features of the ECD spectrum (i.e., the position, the intensity, and the shape of the bands) of d-glucose and d-galactose while avoiding the rather computationally expensive aspects, which were demonstrated to be important for the final outcome, such as (i) the use of a large number of chromophore conformations; (ii) the inclusion of quantum vibronic coupling; and (iii) the inclusion of explicit solvent molecules interacting with the chromophore atoms within the chromophore itself (e.g., via hydrogen bonds).


: The COVID-19 pandemic placed intense pressure on individual hospitals and hospital systems. While no hospital could have predicted the exact needs required to respond to the crisis, there may be certain organizational characteristics or hospital system types that were better prepared to respond effectively. In this article, we propose a conceptual model for effectiveness of health system organizational response to COVID-19, using the theoretical foundation of organizational slack which is defined as the "excess" accumulated resources that do not contribute to that organization's immediate production function. We first define and describe the contributors of organizational slack, such as accumulated social capital or financial health. We then describe the benefits of organizational slack such as the ability to be more innovative or having more operational flexibility. Next, we discuss the application of organizational slack during the pandemic to adapt operations, redeploy staff and/or supplies and to manage any technological pivots (e.g., the rapid escalation of telehealth). Finally, we address the ways that hospital system structures may moderate the relationship between the benefits and applications of organizational slack. The COVID-19 pandemic placed unique pressures on hospitals as the crisis was sustained and will most likely transform future operations and care delivery. Through the lens of organizational slack, we can better understand the optimal ways to respond to future crises.


The present CAID systems insufficiently support designers with effective and intuitive tools for shape modelling. Designers' efficiency significantly decreases when shape alterations are performed. The research described in this thesis deals with the development of a methodology to support more effectively and efficiently the industrial designers during their digital shape editing processes. A series of modelling experiments have been conducted to analyse differences between the expert and the non-expert users, their preferences in terms of entity usage, drawbacks in workflows, and to investigate opportunities for the improvement of the design process. A shape context concept has been proposed based on which shape editing tools incorporating only the desired collection of shape variation procedures, parameters and constraints are provided to the user. By cancelling the unnecessary degrees-of-freedom, users can play with their shapes within specific shape domains until the shape satisfying the design requirements is reached. Based on the shape context description and the results from the modelling experiments, two contextual shape editing tools were developed and implemented into a commercial shape modelling system. Through slide-bar controlled morphing-like editing, users transform a source shape into a target shape. Usability testing was carried out to investigate both users' efficiency and acceptance of the shape context concept. A shape context methodology was then proposed so that user-defined parameters can also be supported. Visual perception theory and the results from the modelling experiments were considered. The 3D objects are considered decomposed into meaningful components and so the topological constraints are readily available. The component to be deformed is abstracted by a skeletal representation and a set of contours. Two existing shape composition rules were studied for the definition of revolution-like and sweep-like target surfaces. The user-defined parameter is represented by a profile curve that corresponds to either the path or the profile of the target surface. The skeletal representation remains unchanged during the shape editing preserving proper correspondence between the source and the target surfaces. The results presented in this thesis demonstrate that the digital design process improves if contextual shape editing tools are provided to designers. The process becomes more efficient and effective when tools based on user-defined parameters and the objects' structures are applied. In addition, the designer's creativity is stimulated by the increased range of shapes generated and visualised through the continuous transformation of the source shape into the target shape.


We solve the problem of robust stabilization with respect to rightcoprime factor perturbations for irrational discrete-time transfer functions. The key condition is that the associated dynamical system and its dual should satisfy a nite-cost condition so that two optimal cost operators exist. We obtain explicit state space formulas for a robustly stabilizing controller in terms of these optimal cost operators and the generating operators of the realization. Along the way we also obtain state space formulas for Bezout factors.


The use of dietary supplements for the prevention and management of diseases associated with excess of lipids is spreading in Western countries. Supplements containing red yeast rice (RYR) and extracts from Berberis species, characterized, respectively, by the active compounds monacolin K (MK) and berberine (BBR), are sold in pharmacies as over the counter medicines (OTC) and in regular markets without the need of medical prescription and medical surveillance. However, MK is chemically identical to lovastatin, a drug commonly used to treat hypercholesterolemia, and is characterized by the same mechanism of action, pharmacokinetic profile and toxicity. On the other hand, although BBR-containing supplements are considered to be well-tolerated and safe, they frequently show poor standardization of active ingredients, and this could lead to lack of effects. In this work, with the aim to give an overview on the potency of RYR- and BBR-containing supplements available on the Italian market, we analyzed a pool of supplements bought from both local pharmacies and markets. Results confirm the data already published by other authors, showing scarce standardization of bioactives and discrepancy between the doses of bioactives reported by the manufacturers and the amounts resulting from analysis of the same products. Overall, our data represent a further proof that a strict legislation regulating the production and marketing of dietary supplements and a close monitoring of these products by food and drug regulatory organs is mandatory.


The processes that govern the formation, existence and consumption of ions in gases have been studied both experimentally and theoretically. The aim of the work is targeted at increasing the understanding of these phenomena in the working gases inside an engine. Both the cause and the application of ionized gases inside the cylinder of a spark ignited (SI) engine has been studied.

The spark discharge process that eventually leads to a favorable combustion has been studied in order to determine the total amount of energy that enters the gas. A simplified theoretical model has been developed that includes the most dominant effects. The model includes molecular and atomic processes such as ionization, dissociation and thermal heating together with diffusion of cold gas molecules into the hot spark kernel. The energy input is then calculated from the electrical properties of the ignition system and the gas conditions between the electrodes. Electrode effects have not been included since the energy released close to the electrodes to a major extent is lost. In order to gain even more knowledge about the dynamic spark behavior, a hydrodynamic model for the description of the generated flow patterns emanating from a fast spark discharge was used. In addition, a detailed model for the generation of initial breakdown conditions was also used. The experimental techniques that have been used to support the model have been various, e.g. electrical power measurements, calorimetric measurements and interferometric measurements.

The spark, that has been intensively studied, inflames a small region of gas in the vicinity of the electrode gap. This flame kernel will then develop into a propagating flame. While growing, the high gas temperature close to the spark gap reflects the progress of the combustion process. This fact has been used for engine diagnostics by measuring the current flowing through the spark plug gap. The phenomenon has been described in a model for flame ionization in order to deduce the cylinder pressure and the air/fuel ratio in vicinity of spark plug. There are mainly three contributing parameters, which are required for a correct description of the current namely; the ion/electron concentrations, the electric field distribution in space and the drift velocity of the electrons. It has been shown that the current is carried by the electrons to a higher extent than the ions although the electrons are easily attached to electronegative species, such as oxygen (O) and the hydroxyl radical (OH). A detailed chemical kinetic code has been used in order to calculate the concentrations of the most significant species in both the reaction zone and the postflame region. In addition to the theoretical work a large amount of experimental data has been collected for the purpose of model validation and obtaining a deeper understanding. Statistical treatment of the experimental data has also been performed. By this method the influence from some additional parameters such as the amount of EGR and variable fuels have been investigated.


Liquid crystals can crystallize even above the usual 'melting' temperature if they are placed in a narrow space between two surfaces.


Applications for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or "drones," are increasing rapidly. In order to provide safe and reliable links to integrate UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS), control and nonpayload communication (CNPC) system requirements are being specified. A comprehensive knowledge of the air-to-ground (AG) channels in the bands of interest (C-band and L-band) plays an essential role. The NASA Glenn Research Center has sponsored an AG channel measurement campaign for most of the typical ground site (GS) local environments, including over water [8], hilly/mountainous [9], suburban, and near-urban. As a continuation of our prior study, this paper addresses the suburban and near-urban scenarios. Our developed AG channel models include path loss, small-scale fading Ricean K factors, spatial and interfrequency correlations for multiple aircraft antennas, root-mean-square (RMS) delay spread, and wideband tapped delay line (TDL) models. The path loss is described by either log-distance or two-ray models, with small corrections for flight direction. The K factors were 12 (14) dB in L-band and 27.4 (28.5) dB in C-band in near-urban (suburban) environments. The interband signals were uncorrelated, but the intra-band signals were highly correlated, with the median correlation coefficient greater than 0.85. The C-band RMS delay spread was on average 10 to 60 ns, with maximum of approximately 4 μs. The TDL models are composed of the line-of-sight (LOS) component, a ground reflection, and up to seven intermittent multipath components (MPCs). Relative power, phase, occurrence probability, duration, and excess delays for these intermittent MPCs are quantified. An algorithm to simulate the AG channel impulse response (CIR) via the TDL models is provided.


Contents: Tennyson and the poetics of transcendence: an introduction "I would be dying evermore": divining desire in Tennysona (TM)s early poems Seeking truth in knowledge: quest and counter-quest in The Princess "The wish too strong for words to name": In Memoriam and the poetry of desire "The holy power of love": Maud and transcendence Empty labor: the success of failure in Idylls of the King Epilogue Bibliography Index.


Impression cytology technique was used to study the cytological changes of in 30 patients with various diseases (Xerophthalmia, Steven-Johnson's syndrome, trachoma, alkali burns, kerato conjunctivitis sicca) resulting in dry eye syndrome. The main features of impression cytology were squamous metaplasia of epithelial cells and altered goblet cell density. The comparison between conjunctival biopsy findings and impression cytology confirm that impression cytology provides the same information as that of biopsy. Hence, the authors advocate that this non-invasive simple technique can replace conjunctival biopsy in confirmation of diagnosis in dry eye syndrome.


While the atmospheric greenhouse effect always results in a warming at the surface, outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) to space always represents a cooling. During events of heat and moisture advection into the Arctic, increases in tropospheric temperature and moisture impact clouds, in turn impacting longwave (LW) radiation. State‐of‐the‐art satellite measurements and atmospheric reanalysis consistently reveal an enhancement of summer Arctic monthly OLR cooling ranging 1.5–4 W m−2 during months with anomalously high thermodynamic advection. This cooling anomaly is found to be of the same magnitude or slightly larger than associated downwelling LW surface warming anomalies. We identify a relationship between large‐scale circulation variability and changing cloud properties permitting LW radiation at both the surface and top of the atmosphere to respond to variability in atmospheric thermodynamics. Driven by anomalous advection of warm air, the corresponding enhanced OLR cooling signal on monthly time scales represents an important buffer to regional Arctic warming.


In five generations of the French M-E kindred, 11 members are now known to be or have been affected by a form of spongiform encephalopathy previously recorded as Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease. Mean age at onset was 28 years (range 21-34 years). In six instances, these patients were hospitalized in psychiatric institutions with various diagnoses, the most frequent being mania or mania-like symptoms. Dementia occurred progressively after a lengthy course. Histological studies showed atrophy of the cerebellar molecular layer, which contained kuru and multicentric plaques labelled with anti-prion protein antibodies. Spongiosis was not prominent and remained largely limited to the periphery of plaques; it was more marked in the thalamus, where plaques were scarce. A 192 base pair (bp) insert (eight extra repeats of 24 bp) in the octapeptide coding region of the prion protein gene (PRNP) within a codon-129 methionine allele was found in four symptomatic subjects. Early age at onset, the prominence of psychiatric symptoms and the long course of the disease are noticeable clinical features in this family with an inherited prion disease due to a new insertional mutation in PRNP.


Successful segregation of chromosomes during mitosis requires that each sister chromatid is captured by microtubules emanating from opposite spindle poles. A multiprotein complex called the kinetochore provides an attachment site on chromosomes for microtubules. We have found that the prolylhydroxylase PHD2 is a critical regulator of the assembly of the kinetochore. PHD2 hydroxylates the kinetochore component CENP-N on P311 and is essential for CENP-N localization to kinetochores. Either depletion of PHD2, or expression of a hydroxylation-deficient mutant, results in loss of the histone H3 variant CENP-A from centromeres. Loss of CENP-N from chromatin bound protein complexes is not due to decreased protein stability but is a consequence of lowered affinity of CENP-N for binding CENP-L. Loss of hydroxylation also results in increased targeting of CENP-L to chromatin. Hydroxylation by PHD2 thus plays an important role in controlling the stoichiometry of mitotic kinetochore components.


Background
An improvement in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of chronic kidney disease patients has been an underestimated clinical outcome. Although this may be considered as an unexpected disease course, it may provide some insights into possible mechanisms underlying disease remission and/or regression. Therefore, our aim was to identify urinary peptide biomarkers associated with an improvement in estimated GFR (eGFR) over time and to improve patient stratification.

Methods
Capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry (CE-MS) was employed to evaluate the urine peptidome of patients with different types of renal diseases. In total, 376 patients with a slope/year between -1.5% and +1.5% were designated as non-progressors or stable, while 177 patients with a > 5% slope/year were designated as patients with an improved eGFR for state-of-art biomarker discovery and validation.

Results
We detected 384 significant peptide fragments by comparing the CE-MS data of the stable patients and those with improved renal function in our development cohort. Of these 384, a set of 141 peptides with available amino acid sequence information were used to generate a support vector machine-based classification panel. The biomarker panel was applied to our validation cohort, achieving a moderate area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.85 (81% sensitivity and 81% specificity). The majority of the peptides (78%) from the diagnostic panel arose from different types of collagen.

Conclusions
We have developed a panel of urinary peptide markers able to discriminate those patients predisposed to improve their kidney function over time and possibly be treated with more specific or less aggressive therapy.


PURPOSE
Transurethral ultrasound therapy is an investigational treatment modality which could potentially be used for the localized treatment of prostate cancer. One of the limiting factors of this therapy is prostatic calcifications. These attenuate and reflect ultrasound and thus reduce the efficacy of the heating. The aim of this study is to investigate how prostatic calcifications affect therapeutic efficacy, and to identify the best sonication strategy when calcifications are present.

METHODS
Realistic computational models were used on clinical patient data in order to simulate different therapeutic situations with naturally occurring calcifications as well as artificial calcifications of different sizes (1-10 mm) and distances (5-15 mm). Furthermore, different sonication strategies were tested in order to deliver therapy to the untreated tissue regions behind the calcifications.

RESULTS
The presence of calcifications in front of the ultrasound field was found to increase the peak pressure by 100% on average while the maximum temperature only rose by 9% during a 20-s sonication. Losses in ultrasound energy were due to the relatively large acoustic impedance mismatch between the prostate tissue and the calcifications (1.63 vs 3.20 MRayl) and high attenuation coefficient (0.78 vs 2.64 dB/MHz1.1 /cm), which together left untreated tissue regions behind the calcifications. In addition, elevated temperatures were seen in the region between the transducer and the calcifications. Lower sonication frequencies (1-4 MHz) were not able to penetrate through the calcifications effectively, but longer sonication durations (20-60 s) with selective transducer elements were effective in treating the tissue regions behind the calcifications.

CONCLUSIONS
Prostatic calcifications limit the reach of therapeutic ultrasound treatment due to reflections and attenuation. The tissue regions behind the calcifications can possibly be treated using longer sonication durations combined with proper transducer element selection. However, caution should be taken with calcifications located close to sensitive organs such as the urethra, bladder neck, or rectal wall.


Background: Spontaneous ileal perforation is a common surgical emergency in developing countries due to high incidence of tuberculosis in these countries. Patients diagnosed to have intestinal perforation are universally treated surgically. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome and complication of two procedures usually performed for intestinal perforation i.e., primary repair and ileostomy. Methods: The study is based on interventional quasi-experimental design with non-probability purposive sampling and was conducted for 6 months between April and October 2010 at a teaching hospital. Sixty patients with intestinal tubercular perforation participated in this study and were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of 30 patients who underwent primary repair and group B consisted of 30 patients who underwent ileostomy. Using Chi-square test, two groups were compared with respect to four outcome variables including duration of hospital stay, complications (peritonitis, wound infection, fever, and obstruction fistula formation) during hospital stay, and complications observed in second week and fourth week follow-ups. Results: The mean age of presentation was 39.13 ± 18.917 years (range 13 - 75). Sixty percent of patients were male and 40% were female. Size of perforation dictated operative decision; in group A, 100% of patients had a perforation less than 1 cm and in group B, 100% of patients had a perforation greater than 1 cm (P ≤ 0.05). In both groups, 73.4% of patients had an admission of less than 7 days and 26.6% of patients stayed beyond this period (P ≥ 0.05). The complication rate in group A during admission was 40%, compared to 30% in group B (P ≥ 0.05). In the second postoperative week, complication rate was 16.6% in group A and 6.6% in group B (P ≥ 0.05). Similarly in the fourth postoperative week, the complication rate was 13.4% in group A and 6.6% in group B (P ≥ 0.05). Conclusion: End ileostomy had fewer complications compared to primary closure in management of tubercular small bowel perforation. The choice of surgery was dependent on intra-operative judgement following assessment of the size of perforation and surrounding intra-abdominal contamination. Primary repair may still be a feasible option for perforations less than 1 cm without gross contamination given similar outcomes. J Curr Surg. 2017;7(1-2):11-14 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jcs322w


Australia has a long and sometimes turbulent relationship with the migrant Other. This paper examines a component of this relationship via the window of contemporary multicultural policy. The paper begins with an analysis of the political and social conditions that enabled a national and bipartisan policy of multiculturalism to emerge as formalised federal policy during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The paper re-problematises the influences that helped shape Australia's articulation of race and ethnicity and argues that multiculturalism, within a post-September 11 environment, can no longer be framed solely within its traditional framework of social justice. The paper positions education for sustainable development (ESD) as an emerging discursive field that provides educators with an alternative road map for critiquing Australia's fluid relationship with the migrant Other. By linking the tenets of multiculturalism with ESD, this paper suggests pre-service teacher educators are presented with a productive, and at the same time politically palatable, means for regaining pedagogical traction for a semi-dormant agenda of social inclusion.


Objectives We aimed to evaluate the awareness, treatment, and control rate of hypertension from ShenZhen communities, by comprehensive intervention and medication treatment. Methods Comprehensive intervention was applied to 1252 cases randomly selected from 5 communities in ShenZhen since June, 2008. Comprehensive intervention included offering health brochure, lecture on hypertension, health education in groups, family members involved as monitors, personalised health education, behaviour and lifestyle intervention, and medication treatment. Awareness rate, treatment rate, control rate, smoking rate, regular alcohol consumption rate, excessive salt intake rate, and regular exercise rate were recorded before intervention and 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months later, respectively. Results After 2-year intervention, awareness rate rose from 39.93% to 96.96% (Χ2=942.7, p < 0.001), medication rate rose from 32.27% to 86.18% (Χ2=753.5, p < 0.001), control rate rose from 22.12% to 46.25% (Χ2=161.9, p < 0.001), while smoking rates, regular alcohol consumption rate, excessive salt intake rate, and regular exercise rate had no significant changes before and after intervention(p > 0.05). Conclusions Comprehensive intervention on behaviour and lifestyle of patients with hypertension and their family members may improve the awareness, treatment and control rates of hypertension. Comprehensive intervention may be the best and most economic way to control hypertension.


This paper provides a distinctive analysis of the value of international intermediation alliances for co-production, based on the way they operate in practice. While much attention is paid to ideal or normative models of co-production, there is less understanding of the complexities that pervade co-production practices in specific contexts or how this shapes outcomes. Despite longstanding critiques and reflection, international partnerships can reinforce unequal power dynamics embedded in already unequal global research and knowledge production circuits. However, such partnerships, despite their structural problems, can also give rise to more informal relations wherein the long-term value of international co-production inheres. We call for a re-examination of these complex sets of informal relations, beyond the structures of partnerships, that enable co-production across local and global divides. Drawing on comparative international evidence, we propose a framework for understanding and action based on the concepts of alliances, allyship and activism. These three characteristics of international co-production partnerships can constitute socio-material infrastructures that help maintain relationships of solidarity and care over time beyond the remit of individual projects. While this is relevant in any co-production context it becomes particularly important in international research projects so that they do not paradoxically reproduce colonising structures of knowledge production in the search for more just cities.


Milk produced at organic farms was studied to determine the β-carotene content and if an extended grazing period and organic fodder had any influence on the concentration of this antioxidant. Milk samples from 31 organic farms collected during April, June, August, November (1999) and February (2000) were analysed for the content of β-carotene by HPLC after lipid extraction and fat saponification. The β-carotene content had the lowest values in April, which is the last month of the indoor period. Higher amounts were found in June, November and February, but not as expected in August. The reduced content of β-carotene in milk from August may be explained by the high temperatures and low rainfalls registered during the summer 1999 resulting in impaired pastures. The mean concentration of β-carotene was 7.6 mg g-1 fat in June and 3.8 mg g-1 fat in April. These are similar to values reported by others and any significant difference to conventional produced milk could not be found. Since off-flavour remarks is an increasing problem with organic milk, the correlation between β-carotene content and the incidences of oxidative off-flavour reported was also studied. Despite the highest values of β-carotene in the summer, most incidences of oxidative off-flavour were reported in this period. However, all those cases were of the mild type. On the other hand, the oxidative offflavour found in the milk during March and April, coincided with low β-carotene content and was all of the severe type.


Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) research is substantially drawing attention because of the fast improvement in their power conversion efficiency (PCE), cheapness, possibility to tune the bandgap, low recombination rate, high open circuit voltage, excellent ambipolar charge carrier transport and strong and broad optical absorption. In this research, Zinc oxide as electron transport material (ETM) and copper iodide as hole transport material (HTM) have been optimized using SCAPS-1D simulation software. The thickness, bandgap, of ZnO (ETM) and CuI (HTM) was investigated. Results shows that the thickness and bandgap were found to strongly influence the PCE of perovskite solar cell. ZnO/CuI   was found to be a better replacement to TiO2/Cu2O for stability and low degradation rate. It was observed that the maximum efficiency is 22.04%, Voc of 0.84V, JSC of 32.83mA/cm2 and FF of 79.79% was obtained when the thickness of ETM and HTM layer of (CH3NH3PbI3) PSCs which was found to be optimum at 0.2μm for the final optimization.


Do investors process accounting information more efficiently when they pay more attention to it? Because accounting information is highly technical, attention alone may not guarantee timely and correct investor reactions. Investors who lack access to proprietary sources of information potentially most benefit from the accounting information in publicly available financial reports, but they are also least likely to have sufficient resources to analyze it, even when they seek it out. I explore this idea using the theory of Hirshleifer et al. (2011), which contends that investor reactions to accounting information depend on the costs required to process it. I propose that such costs depend on the type of investor and the type of accounting information. Based on this theory and proposition, I predict that individual investors bear marginal information processing costs that are significantly lower for earnings than for its components, leading them to fixate on the former and ignore the latter. To test my predictions, I create a novel firm-specific measure of individual investor attention to accounting information. This measure is positively associated with responses to earnings news, which is not the case for existing measures of general attention to the firm. Using archival analysis techniques, I confirm that when individual investor attention to accounting information is high, the post-earnings announcement drift and the underreaction to earnings are weaker. Simultaneously, however, the overreaction to accruals is stronger, which indicates that the investors fixate on the summary earnings number without analyzing its components. As predicted, the last result is unique to the active attention of individual investors and does not hold for sophisticated investors or for passive attention driven by the media. Collectively, my findings suggest that individual investors' limitations in processing technical aspects of accounting information are not offset by paying attention.


In the western Sirt Basin, sedimentation during the Late Paleocene was characterized broadly by shallow-marine carbonates, local build-ups and deeper-water shales and marls on the Dahra Platform and in the Dor al Abid/Zallah Troughs. Seven lithofacies and eleven associated microfacies have been recognised within the Selandian/Thanetian carbonate succession in the study area, and these range from mud-supported carbonates to grain-dominated facies. The Dahra Formation on the Dahra Platform was deposited on a homoclinal carbonate ramp with inner, mid and probably outer ramp facies, each with distinctive sub-facies and microfacies. The similarity of facies and associated microfacies throughout the Dahra Formation suggest deposition under similar conditions throughout the east and west Dahra Fields on the Dahra Platform, and these persisted during deposition of the Zelten and Harash Formations. The Mabruk Member, which consists mainly of shallow-water carbonates bounded above and below by deeper-marine shale and marl, accumulated in lagoonal and reefal environments, probably in a rimmed-shelf setting. Different types of diagenetic alteration occurred at various stages in the Paleocene sediment's history including dissolution, cementation and compaction. Primary and secondary types of porosity were developed within the studied rocks, particularly in the Dahra Formation, where the depositional facies, diagenesis and the pattern of carbonate cycles played an important role in porosity creation and preservation.
The Selandian/Thanetian succession is dominated by a regressive trend, especially on the Dahra Platform, which resulted in the development of shallowing-up cycles. Numerous key surfaces have been documented with characteristic funnel-shaped and bell-shaped log patterns, based on which a number of depositional sequences have been recognized. These sequences comprise both transgressive systems tract and highstand systems tract and are commonly defined by transgressive surfaces, particularly on the Dahra Platform. The possible lack of reef-building organisms along with tectonic subsidence and/or significant sea-level rise resulted in the development of a drowning unconformity on the top of the Mabruk Member.
The thickness of the entire Paleocene succession is generally thicker in the trough areas and thinner over the platform. The latter is dominated by uniform and monotonous strata with a significant thickness of shallow-marine carbonates, suggesting relative stability in tectonics, sea-level and climate. The high temperature recorded from the aqueous inclusions in the Thanetian section is possibly due to the passage of hydrothermal fluids from deeper parts of the area; the high thermal conductivity of carbonates, along with the Mid-Late Tertiary uplift and erosion may also have been involved. The overall similarity of the Paleocene palaeotopography suggests that differential subsidence and sea-level fluctuation were the dominant process that controlled the spatial and temporal variation of the Paleocene facies.


The highest impact of Covid-19 crisis on banks is related to their loan portfolios where many borrowers are facing sharp collapse in their income, and difficulty in repaying their obligations. Regulatory and supervisory authorities have issued statements or guidelines to banks on how to deal with the impact of the outbreak, including relation to easing loan terms and conditions for impacted borrowers. This paper aims to provide some policy views on the appropriate response to Covid-19. Supervisors and regulators should play an integral part contributing to public policy responses to the pandemic. Consistent with their mandate of ensuring safety and soundness, supervisors' action requires a balancing act where banks are encouraged to restructure loans and use the flexibility embedded in the prudential framework by financing viable firms. This paper presents the state of arts and some considerations about the future banks' conditions facing NPLs increase and their earnings reduction.


Nonlinear electron acoustic solitary waves (EASWs) are addressed in a plasma consisting of a cold electron fluid, q-nonextensive hot electron velocity distribution and stationary ions. Soliton structures, the amplitude and nature of which depend sensitively on the q-nonextensive parameter, can exist. It is shown that the presence of hot nonextensive electrons may modify the domain of their allowable Mach numbers where electron acoustic solitons may exist. Our investigation is of wide relevance to astronomers and space scientists working on interstellar space plasmas.


Recently, many researchers have been focusing on the definition of neural networks for graphs. The basic component for many of these approaches remains the graph convolution idea proposed almost a decade ago. In this paper, we extend this basic component, following an intuition derived from the well-known convolutional filters over multi-dimensional tensors. In particular, we derive a simple, efficient and effective way to introduce a hyper-parameter on graph convolutions that influences the filter size, i.e., its receptive field over the considered graph. We show with experimental results on real-world graph datasets that the proposed graph convolutional filter improves the predictive performance of Deep Graph Convolutional Networks.


Epidural administration of 2 mg of morphine to 16 patients who were undergoing induced abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy abolished labor pains in 10 of them within 10 to 20 minutes after treatment was begun. The pain did not recur until the abortion process started, sometimes hours later. In one patient, the relief of pain was achieved with an additional top up dose of 1 mg 15 minutes later. In the other five patients in whom the morphine had no appreciable effect, the addition of 4 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine hydrochloride, also injected epidurally, successfuly abolished pain. Because of the beneficial and prolonged action of morphine, as well as the lack of side effects, continuous epidural analgesia with low doses of it--supplemented, if necessary, with small quantities of bupivacaine--is effective for treatment of labor pains in induced abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy. The involvement of the anesthetist from the very beginning of the induction procedure is highly recommended.


Obtaining the d‐excess parameter from oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope composition of meteoric waters has the potential power to reconstruct changes in atmospheric water pools (e,g. sources, origins and overall balance) and the climatic conditions that prevail during surface evaporation. Recently, plant and ecosystem scientists turned their attention using d‐excess information to inform questions at these scales. Here, we use the d‐excess parameter to evaluate the influence of forest canopies on atmospheric humidity within a mixed evergreen forest in coastal California. We found that during the day, when transpiration was at a maximum, the d‐excess of atmospheric water vapour exceeded model predictions for the background atmosphere into which the ecosystem evapotranspiration mixes. At night when transpiration was minor, the d‐excess of atmospheric water vapour was on average less than model predictions for an ocean derived water vapour source. The observed diurnal fluctuations around the d‐excess of the modelled background water vapour provided a strong evidence that during the day as the land surface warms and the boundary layer grows plants alter the isotope composition of atmospheric humidity via non‐steady state isotope effects. In contrast, at night equilibrium isotope effects dominate as the atmosphere stabilizes. These day and nighttime fluctuations around the d‐excess of ocean derived water vapour highlight the importance of plant transpiration for the isotope hydrology of near surface humidity and subsequently for the isotope composition of condensate like dew, an important water input to this ecosystem. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Pierre Viret (1511–1571), one of the leaders of the Calvinist Reformation, claims that the natural theology of his Instruction Chrestienne (1564) dedicated to the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier, is a spiritual medicine. This paper shows that such spiritual medicine amounts to a specific expression of Calvinist pastoralism. Viret's natural theology uses natural-historical data as moral examples, thus transforming them into the material fit for his pastoral cure. This cure consists in exhorting his audience to bear the trials of divine Providence by meditating on their own sinful state: such medicine asserts the limits of human reason.


Abstract Background The fracture risks of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) vs. warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) remain controversial. Methods PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Clinical Trials.gov databases for RCTs, and cohort studies were systematically searched from inception to 10 June 2021. Results Twelve-two studies met the inclusion criteria and 477,821 patients were included. Warfarin increased the risk of fracture in AF patients compared with NOACs in overall any fracture (RR = 0.79; 95% CI = 0.70–10.88; p = 0.00), osteoporotic fracture (RR = 0.746; 95% CI = 0.630–0.883; p = 0.001). No significant difference was observed in the hip or pelvic fracture, vertebral fracture, extremity fracture, wrist fracture, femoral neck fracture, and ankle fracture. In subgroup analyses based on several aspects, NOACs were associated with a significant reduction in any fracture (standard dosage NOACs, cohort studies, elderly patients, rivaroxaban in RCTs, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban in cohort studies), in the hip/pelvic fracture (follow-up time ≤1 year, cohort studies), and osteoporotic fracture (cohort studies). Conclusion NOACs were associated with a significantly lower risk of any fracture and osteoporotic fracture compared to warfarin. This benefit was also observed in specific NOACs types of dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban. However, whether NOACs had a less fracture risk than warfarin on the other risk of fractures was still uncertain.


Therapeutic drug monitoring of captopril, which is a commonly used antihypertensive agents in clinical practice, is necessary. However, matrix effect induced pretreatment is the bottleneck for determination. Metal-mediated molecularly imprinted polymers, an essential branch of molecularly imprinted polymers with better specificity and selectivity, have been used to separate/enrich analytes from complex matrices. In this work, Cu2+ was introduced to dynamically establish the binding sites of metal-mediated molecularly imprinted polymer towards captopril. All evidence demonstrated that the metal-mediated molecularly imprinted polymer based on Cu2+ coordination obtained a higher adsorption capacity (81.23 mg/g), faster adsorption rate (adsorption equilibrium within 50 min), and better selectivity (with the unrecognized analogue). Subsequently, the Cu2+ -mediated molecularly imprinted polymer was used as dispersive molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction to successfully establish an analytical platform for the determination of trace captopril in rat plasma. The enrichment factor was up to 20, the detection limit was as low as 0.16 μg/mL, and the average recovery was in the range of 87.51-98.28% with the relative standard deviation less than 3.29%. This study provides a promising reference for the preparation of selective adsorbents to improve pretreatment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The uterus is obviously critical in implantation, development of the fetus and parturition. Endometrial cancer derived from endometrial epithelium is one of the common malignancies in the female reproductive tract. In order to clarify the local mechanisms of reproductive physiology and establish a non-systemic therapeutic strategy for reproductive failure as well as for endometrial cancer, we applied haemagglutinating virus of Japan envelope (HVJ-E) vector to in-vivo gene transfer into the uterine cavity of IVCS mice. Injection of HVJ-E vector into mouse uterine cavity on day 1.5 post coitum (p.c.) introduced a reporter gene approximately 120-fold more efficiently than introduction using the cationic liposome method. The expression of the introduced gene continued for at least 3 days. The plasmid vector was localized in the endometrial epithelium, whereas oligo deoxynucleotides were distributed throughout the epithelium, stromal cells and myometrium. HVJ-E vector did not affect the pregnancy rate, course of pregnancy, litter size, fetal growth in utero or parturition, and did not transfect the exogenous gene to the fetus. These results indicate that gene transfer into the uterus using HVJ-E vector is highly efficient and safe during pregnancy, and results in a well controlled distribution of the exogenous DNA. We believe that this procedure should be widely applicable for investigations of reproductive physiology as well as for methods of local gene therapy in the uterus.


Purpose To investigate the autofluorescence lifetimes as well as spectral characteristics of soft drusen and retinal hyperpigmentation in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods Forty-three eyes with nonexudative AMD were included in this study. Fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy (FLIO), which detects autofluorescence decay over time in the short (SSC) and long (LSC) wavelength channel, was performed. The mean autofluorescence lifetime (τm) and the spectral ratio (sr) of autofluorescence emission in the SSC and LSC were recorded and analyzed. In total, 2760 soft drusen and 265 hyperpigmented areas were identified from color fundus photographs and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images and superimposed onto their respective AF images. τm and sr of these lesions were compared with fundus areas without drusen. For clearly hyperfluorescent drusen, the local differences compared to fundus areas without drusen were determined for lifetimes and sr. Results Hyperpigmentation showed significantly longer τm (SSC: 341 ± 81 vs. 289 ± 70 ps, P < 0.001; LSC: 406 ± 42 vs. 343 ± 42 ps, P < 0.001) and higher sr (0.621 ± 0.077 vs. 0.539 ± 0.083, P < 0.001) compared to fundus areas without hyperpigmentation or drusen. No significant difference in τm was found between soft drusen and fundus areas without drusen. However, the sr was significantly higher in soft drusen (0.555 ± 0.077 vs. 0.539 ± 0.081, P < 0.0005). Hyperfluorescent drusen showed longer τm than surrounding fundus areas without drusen (SSC: 18 ± 42 ps, P = 0.074; LSC: 16 ± 29 ps, P = 0.020). Conclusions FLIO can quantitatively characterize the autofluorescence of the fundus, drusen, and hyperpigmentation in AMD. Translational Relevance The experimental FLIO technique was applied in a clinical investigation. As FLIO yields information on molecular changes in AMD, it might support future diagnostics.


Recent advancements in voice conversion (VC) and speech synthesis research make speech-based biometric systems highly prone to spoofing attacks. This can provoke an increase in false acceptance rate in such systems and requires countermeasure to mitigate such spoofing attacks. In this paper, we first study the characteristics of synthetic speech vis-à-vis natural speech and then propose a set of novel short-term spectral features that can efficiently capture the discriminative information between them. The proposed features are computed using inverted frequency warping scale and overlapped block transformation of filter bank log energies. Our study presents a detailed analysis of antispoofing performance with respect to the variations in the warping scale for inverted frequency and block size for the block transform. For performance analysis, Gaussian mixture model (GMM) based synthetic speech detector is used as a classifier on a stand-alone basis and also, integrated with automatic speaker verification (ASV) systems. For ASV systems, standard mel-frequency cepstral coefficients are used as feature while GMM with universal background model and i-vector are used as classifiers. The experiments are conducted on ten different kinds of synthetic data from ASVspoof 2015 corpus. The results show that the countermeasures based on the proposed features outperform other spectral features for both known and unknown attacks. An average equal error rate (EER) of 0.00% has been achieved for nine attacks that use VC or SS speech and the best performance of 7.12% EER is arrived at the remaining natural speech concatenation-based spoofing attack.


For an electromagnetic beam described by Gaussian statistics the normalized intensity fluctuations are known to depend on the beam's degree of polarization. With general non-paraxial random electromagnetic waves, such as optical near fields, a complete characterization of the polarization state requires a 3 x 3 coherence matrix and a three-dimensional degree of polarization. We demonstrate that, under the assumption of Gaussian statistics, the normalized intensity fluctuations in the three-dimensional case are expressible in terms of the three-dimensional degree of polarization. Since such a general description can be employed even for beams with only a transverse electric field, several important physical results follow from comparison of the three-dimensional and usual two-dimensional formulations. The results are expected to be particularly important in intensity interferometry.


"Work is not a right; it is a privilege", said Wong Hoi Kit, commenting on the labour policy implemented by the Singapore Prison Service. "We have a captive labour market; the prisoners are eager to work, as it gives them a chance to interact with others, while it helps the time go by." The motto of the Singapore Prison Service was "Security – Humanity – Rehabilitation", and considerable energy was focused on rehabilitating inmates by teaching them skills, through on‐the‐job training, during their prison terms. To this end, inmates were put to work, and that which they produced was sold for profit. Mr Wong – who had his MBA from Queen's University, Canada – was chief executive officer of Singapore's Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE); in this capacity, he was seeking to identify commercially‐viable food industry opportunities, which would meet the objectives and constraints of the prison environment. These could include primary production, manufacturing, packaging and catering.


Objective: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are characterized by structural remodelling resulting in the gradual weakening and expansion of the aortic wall. Wall stress may furnish a usable indicator to prevent the failure. In order to evaluate this risk, static pressure aging on the cap was used to perform FEA, simulating an aneurysm varying its dimensions from 10 mm to 50 mm. Analyses were carried out by imposing different thickness of the cap, and obtaining correspondent equivalent Von Mises stresses. Understanding how these stresses are distributed and what factors influence stress distributions is critical in evaluating the potential for rupture.
Methods: A representative FE model was created in order to simulate the historical evolution of the AAA. CFD analyses were performed to obtain data of the static pressure aging on the model. Patient informed consent and IRB approval were obtained. A linear law was speculated to understand thickness thinning in function of aneurysm's growth. The obtained pressure maps were used as input to perform elastic linear analyses on the five different FE wrappings.
Results: If the bloody pressure is increased, that increases also wall shear stress, and an adaptive increase in arterial luminal size is observed. Results have evidenced peaks of stress varying from 0,004 MPa, for a diameter of 10 mm, to 0,45 MPa, for a diameter of 50 mm. Top and bottom zones of aneurysm result more solicited than the middle ones, as it can be deducted by obtained strain values, ranging from 5,84e-7, for a diameter of 10 mm, to 3,14e-4, for a diameter of 50 mm. In order to evaluate the mechanical behaviour of the cap, related to its thickness at 50 mm of diameter, different FEA were conducted varying thickness, uniformly, from 1 to 0.4 mm. As it is possible to notice, stress increases exponentially while thickness decreases.
Conclusions: Results indicate an equivalent Von Mises stress of about 0,45 MPa, close the to failure value, for a critical dimension of 50 mm. This means that failure conditions can depend at least, by two variables: thickness and pressure.


Diffusing alpha-emitters radiation therapy (DaRT) is a revolutionary brachytherapy technique used to treat solid tumours. Implant seeds are coated with 224Ra which, along its shortlived daughter atoms, emits alpha particles of high linear energy transfer (LET) and of high relative biological efficiency (RBE), creating a tumour-killing dose distribution a few mm wide. Those alpha particles are of energy between 5.67 and 8.78 MeV. DaRT is under investigation in clinical trials, but there currently is no obvious solution for dosimetry aimed at quality assurance of treatment. This study introduces alpha-RAD, a dosimeter based on a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) sensor technology. Alpha-RAD was characterized with 241Am, which emits alpha particles of energy 5.49 MeV. The results showed that alpha-RAD had good linearity with dose, with the signal increasing linearly in the range from 0 to 6.84 Gy. Also, an external bias in the range between 15 and 60 V, applied on the gate of alpha-RAD during irradiation, would optimize sensitivity to alpha particles of energies typical of DaRT. Alpha-RAD, owing to its compactness, can fit into a brachytherapy needle, to be placed next to 224Ra seed implants in the tumour, for real-time in vivo dosimetry.


AbstractThe quality of compaction significantly influences the performance of asphalt mixtures. Insufficient compaction often leads to excessive premature permanent deformation, excessive aging, and/or moisture damage. The research reported in this paper was aimed at developing a prediction model for laboratory compaction of asphalt mixtures. The model was developed based on extensive laboratory measurements and it includes parameters that describe aggregate shape characteristics, aggregate gradation, and binder content. The results show that the asphalt mixture type, aggregate properties, and binder content have a significant effect on the slope and intercept values of the laboratory compaction curves. Two models that describe both the slope and intercept of the laboratory compaction curves of asphalt mixtures are presented. These models provide valuable inputs that can be used to quantify the compaction effort needed to compact asphalt mixtures in the laboratory and correlate this effort to field compac...


We have studied the effect of an anisotropic polymer network on the coupling of molecular tilt to applied electric field in the chiral S{A} phase. The polymer network is formed from a photoreactive achiral monomer in a thin planar S{C}{*} cell. Experimental data, obtained from electro-optical measurements near to the S{A}-S{c}{*} transition temperature, T{c} , of the induced molecular tilt, switching time, as well as induced polarization as a function of temperature and electric field strength are presented. The results clearly show that, close to T{c} , the electroclinic effect is largely controlled by the polymer network. The experimental results are discussed in the framework of a simple phenomenological model, extended from the Landau model, which includes the bulk free energy arising from the anisotropic interaction between the polymer network and the liquid crystal director, and the elastic free energy resulting from the anchoring (supposed rigid) of the liquid crystal molecules at the polymer boundaries.


This article discusses why many research projects that have been presented in abstract form are never published as full articles, and lists 10 reasons why manuscripts are not accepted for publication in Respiratory Care. Some of these reasons are easily avoidable or readily overcome. Included in this category is submission of manuscripts that do not correspond to the kinds of articles the Journal publishes, either in subject matter or in format. Poor writing impedes peer review and is unlikely to prejudice editors in an author's favor, although it is seldom the primary reason for rejection. Common deficiencies in the methods, results, and discussion sections prevent initial acceptance for publication but are at least potentially amenable to correction. More serious are fundamental defects in study design, which although correctable at the inception of a project, often doom the paper once the study has been completed. Two problems that are especially unfortunate for authors and potential readers alike are failing to revise and resubmit a manuscript after initial peer review and never preparing a full manuscript in the first place, after presentation of the work in abstract form. This special issue of Respiratory Care and other cited publications offer practical resources for authors to use in overcoming each of these problems.


This experimental work regards the studies of the high frequency combustion instabilities inside the DVRC (Discretely Variable Resonance Combustor), a liquid rocket engine, developed by the Purdue University at M. J. Zucrow Laboratories, on behalf of Nasa Marshall Space Flight Center. The research revealed that, given these specific flow conditions, combustion instability occurs inside the system during hot fire tests. The most important experimental result of the study showed the oxidizer manifold acting as a damper of the pressure oscillations coming from the combustion chamber and how this can represent an advantage in terms of reduced mechanical loads at the interface with the rest of the feed system. The LEE code based on the linearized Euler equations detected both the combustion instability inside the DVRC and confirmed the positive role of the oxidizer manifold. The best agreement with the experimental results has been observed considering heat addition at the plane of propellants injection into the combustion chamber, showing it is reasonable to assume combustion occurs mainly in proximity of that plane, as the previous works about CVRC and CFD results had already shown.


Objectives Uncertainty about the benefit of (high-intensity) statins for women remains due to under-representation of women in primary prevention trials and scarcity of sex-stratified data. This study evaluates the sex-specific relation between statin treatment and survival and the additional benefit of high-intensity statins. Methods Electronic health record data from 47 801 patients (17 008 statin users and 30 793 non-users) without prior cardiovascular disease were extracted from thirteen Dutch outpatient cardiology clinics. Patients prescribed statins at baseline were propensity-score matched to those eligible for statin therapy (low-density lipoprotein >2.5 mmol/L) without a statin prescription. Statins were divided into low-intensity and high-intensity according to Dutch guidelines. Mortality data were obtained via linkage to the national mortality registry. Cox regression was used to evaluate the relationship between statin prescription and intensity and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Results Propensity score matching created a cohort of 8631 statin users and 8631 non-users. 35% of women and 28% of men received a low-intensity statin. The beneficial effect of statins on both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality was stronger in women (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.74 and HR 0.55, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.71, respectively) than in men (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.95 and HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.08, respectively). High-intensity statins conferred modest protection against all-cause mortality (HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.00) and cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.98) in both sexes. Conclusions The protective effect of primary prevention statins was stronger in women than men for both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. High-intensity statins conferred a modest additional benefit in both sexes. Statins seem to be effective regardless of treatment intensity, especially in women.


Major issues impacting the successful use of lentiviral vectors for preclinical studies in animals include low titers and the lack of standardized methods for titration. Other problems that impact the use of such vectors are poor purity and difficulties related to their large-scale production. We have implemented a number of improvements allowing more efficient lentivirus vector manufacturing. One improvement is related to the efficiency of production of second- and third-generation lentiviral vectors by transient transfection and the effects of culture additives during virus production. Another improvement concerns the relationships between p24 concentrations, transduction units, integration units, and virus RNA particle titers. A third improvement is related to contaminating host cell proteins. We used ultracentrifugation techniques involving density gradients made with iodixanol to aid in understanding the levels of virus proteins and host cell proteins in lentivirus vector preparations. Finally, we developed a scaleable protocol that can result in both viral concentration with little volume limitation and improved purification from serum proteins and cellular contaminants. We have used Mustang Q anion exchange cartridges (PALL) to concentrate and purify lentiviral vectors from crude cell culture supernatants. Mustang Q chromatography units are capable of replacing large chromatography columns due to the rate of mass transfer to the functional quarternary (Q) ammonium group. Thus, virus binding is not limited by slow diffusion into and out of the column pores because the flow is directly through convective pores. Consequently, the flow rate of Mustang Q chromatography units is very high.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) was recently recognized as a probable etiologic factor for porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT). A review of the literature revealed 40 cases of PCT associated with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In most of these cases, hepatitis C status was unknown. We describe two patients with PCT who were coinfected with HIV and HCV and discuss the interaction of these two viruses. A diagnosis of PCT, especially in a young patient, should prompt investigation for underlying HIV and HCV infection. Porphyrin studies should be performed in any patient with HIV and photosensitivity. Clinicians should be aware of the infectious risk associated with the vesicles and erosions in these patients.


Abstract The nineteenth century represents a formative period for the development of historical consciousness in Britain, with texts and, increasingly, images shaping perceptions of the past. This article examines how Stuart history was interpreted and experienced, through a series of historical genre paintings of King Charles I and his family. It explores how Anthony van Dyck's depiction of politicized domesticity in royal portraiture was revised and reworked in these later images. Reimagining Stuart family life, they extended processes of remembering, enlisting audiences in an active, participatory engagement with the past. Probing temporal, visual, and verbal alignments and connections, the article contributes further dimensions to the understanding of historical representation. It argues that these paintings stirred the viewer's intellectual, emotional, and associative responses to encourage a sense of proximity. Establishing an episodic narrative, they initiated processes of recollection and recognition, they reflected sympathetic historiographies, and they encouraged a shared community with their pictorial protagonists. By so doing, nineteenth-century artists diminished historical distance and fashioned a familiarized past.


Canine femoral condylar cartilage from stifle joints subjected to surgical division of the anterior cruciate ligament showed conspicuous, widespread alterations in chondrocyte morphology and matrix organisation when compared by transmission electron microscopy with cartilage from sham-operated and non-operated joints. Chondrocyte changes were of a kind associated with increased synthesis of matrix components; zone I cells lost their flattened shape and became rounded, cells in zones I and II developed an extensive endoplasmic reticulum, occurred in pairs more often than usual and were situated in enlarged electron-lucent lacunae. Associated with altered chondrocyte function and increased hydration, the matrix became increasingly disorganised; collagen fibrils were widely separated, disorientated and of small diameter. It is postulated that the disorder is primarily one of inappropriate cell function.


High resolution PR rainfall data, which is collected by the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM), is used to study the spatial distribution and seasonal variability of the rainfall in SCSA. Annual mean field shows that the rainfall distribution is highly non-uniform. In general, rainfall in southern SCSA is higher than that in northern SCSA and rainfall in eastern SCSA is higher than that in western SCSA. Restricted by the land topographies, heavy rainfall mainly occurs at the sidehill of more than 500 m. On the side facing the air current with full water vapor, the rainfall is much higher than the other side. PR's monthly mean rainfall fields show that the rainfall in SCSA has significant seasonal variability, and the monsoons push the heavy rainfall belt northward in summer and southward in winter. Compared with that of CPC Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP), PR rainfall has similar scale and spatial features. However, PR rainfall fields imply more mesoscale information, and reveal more details of the effect of the mountains. Compared with the observed rainfall at the observation stations, time series of PR's monthly mean rainfall are well consistent with the gauges measurement. As a result, the PR measurement can be widely used to study the regional rainfall.


We have studied S4-proline mutants of the rat brain sodium channel II. In mutant A224P one proline was added on the S4 segment of repeat I, and in mutant P1313V a proline was removed from the segment S4 of the repeat II. In both mutants, the activation curve was shifted to more positive potentials, without changing the steepness of the voltage dependence. The time course of inactivation, consisting of two exponential components, was similar in the wild type and in mutant A224P. Differently, the decay of the current in mutant P1313V had only one component, with a time constant similar to that of the fast component of wild type channels. This change in kinetics was accompanied in mutant P1313V by a change in the voltage dependence of the apparent steady-state inactivation. We conclude that the addition or deletion of prolines in segment S4 does not affect significantly the activation of sodium channels, but alters their mode of inactivation.


Purpose: To determine whether 24% sucrose solution given orally before insertion of a peripheral intravenous (PIV) catheter decreases neonatal pain. Background: Prior studies of pain caused by heel and arterial needlesticks found oral administration of 24% sucrose to significantly blunt pain during these painful procedures. No studies have evaluated this treatment with needlestick pain associated with PIV catheter insertion. Methods: Oral 24% sucrose or placebo solution was administered 2 minutes prior to PIV catheter insertion. Outcome measures were obtained prior to, during, and for 5 minutes after PIV catheter insertion. Investigators and caregivers were blinded to group assignment. Data were analyzed with longitudinal analysis of repeated measures, with P < .05 for significance. Results: A total of 40 neonates (24% sucrose: N = 20; placebo: N = 20) were studied. Pain scores significantly increased from 3.2 ± 1.6 to a maximum of 7.6 ± 3.8 at the time of catheter insertion, returning to baseline levels 8 minutes after PIV catheter insertion (P < .001). No significant differences were found in pain, heart rate, or noninvasive oxygen saturation (SpO2) between the sucrose and placebo groups (P > 0.05). Implications for Practice: Results from this study did not find that 24% sucrose administered prior to PIV catheter insertion altered the infant's pain response. Implications for Research: Since this is the first study to evaluate the pain-blunting effects of 24% sucrose administration before PIV catheter insertion, replication of this study is needed before widespread application of findings.


It was a tragic irony of fate that Ronald Holroyd should have died on 29 September 1973, just on the eve of the energy crisis which suddenly and dramatically focused the attention of the Western World on the urgency of finding an alternative fuel to Middle East oil, which had almost overnight become scarce and expensive. For the outstanding work of Holroyd s career, before and during the last war, was in attempting to provide a liquid fuel based on coal, and, apart from a wartime success when availability was the paramount consideration, these attempts failed largely because Middle East oil was plentiful and cheap. Ronald Holroyd was born at Horbury, near Wakefield, on 26 April 1904, the son of Sykes and Florence Holroyd. His father started work as a boy of eleven at the firm of Sykes Bros, sporting goods' manufacturers at Horbury, and attended evening classes at Wakefield where he proved to be a first class student and was subsequently invited to teach in the evenings. This work increased and as a result he was invited to join the full time staff of the Miming and Technical School at Barnsley, where he taught mathematics, mechanics and technical drawing. He had a quick and lively mind which remained with him until he died, a few years ago, at the age of 92, still absorbed in mathematics. Florence Holroyd, his wife, was a teacher and there is no doubt that Ronald Holroyd owed a great deal to their deep interest in educational matters, and to their encouragement in his formative years.


The radiation dose to a series of patients referred for chest radiography has been monitored using thermoluminescent dosimetry. The postero-anterior projection was employed throughout the study. Measurements were made in two rooms of the same general hospital. Each room was equipped with automatic exposure control of the air ionisation chamber type. The effect of this equipment on patient exposure was investigated and compared with manual exposure control. In all cases the tube potential (kVp) was selected by the radiographer but tube current (mA) was determined by the generator. Anterior and posterior radiation doses were measured using sachets of lithium fluoride. For each group of patients the anterior exit dose, and therefore all of the radiation dose, was lower when automatic control was used. The standard deviation on the anterior patient dose was lower under automatic control, which resulted in fewer films needing to be repeated due to incorrect film density. Film densities were also investigated using a densitometer, to provide a further comparison between the two types of exposure control.


Fungal endophytes are valued for biosynthesizing chemically diverse metabolic cascade with interesting biological activities. In the current investigation, two compounds were isolated from Penicillium polonicum, an endophyte of Zingiber officinale. The active moieties, glaucanic acid (1) and dihydrocompactin acid (2) were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of P. polonicum and characterized by NMR and mass spectroscopy. Further, bioactive potential of the isolated compounds was evaluated by antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity assays. Compounds 1 and 2 displayed antifungal activity against phytopathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides with more than 50% reduction in its growth. Both the compounds exhibited antioxidant activity against free radicals (DPPH and ABTS) and cytotoxicity activity against cancer cell lines respectively. The compounds, glaucanic acid and dihydrocompactin acid are being reported for the first time from an endophytic fungus. This is the first report on the biological activities of Dihydrocompactin acid produced by endophytic fungal strain.


The Institutional Repositories (IRs) based on Open Archives represent one of the main free access tools for the results of scientific research, and their diffusion is continuously growing. In the context of the "Analytic Sound Archive of Sardinia" project, that aims to create an institutional archive with a linguistically annotated electronic corpus, this work proposes a new approach for management of knowledge using the tool DSpace (an open source software package developed in 2000 in the context of a joint project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Hewlett-Packard): the purpose is to offer an original way to associate linguistic annotations (information associated to specific text portions) to the corpus by treating them as metadata, so as to insert and manage them in the archive of choice after formalizing them in XML. There is, thus, the need to have an efficient tool that could classify and store the vast amount of knowledge contained in an electronic corpus of Sardinian language, and that could, at the same time, allow a high usability in terms of ease of reference as well as ease of query and communication. Key-Words: Knowledge Management, Open Archive, Institutional Repository, Multimedia content, Metadata.


Hysteroscopic myomectomy currently represents the standard minimally invasive surgical procedure for treating submucous fibroids, with abnormal uterine bleeding and reproductive issues being the most common indications. While hysteroscopic myomectomy has been shown to be safe and effective in the control of menstrual disorders, its effects on infertility remain unclear. The review provides a comprehensive survey of all hysteroscopic techniques used to treat fibroids found completely within the uterine cavity (G0) and those with intramural development (G1 and G2). MEDLINE and EMBASE searches identified published papers from 1970. The choice of the technique mostly depends on the intramural extension of the fibroid, as well as on personal experience and available equipment. 'Resectoscopic slicing' still represents the 'gold standard' technique for treating fibroids G0, even if several other effective techniques including ablation by neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser, morcellation and office myomectomy have been proposed. On the other hand, the present review clearly indicates that there is still no single technique proven to be unequivocally superior for treating fibroids G1 and G2. Most techniques aim at the transformation of an intramural fibroid into a totally intracavitary lesion, thus avoiding a deep cut into the myometrium. At present, the 'cold loop' technique seems to represent the best option as it allows a safe and complete removal of such fibroids in just one surgical procedure, while respecting the surrounding healthy myometrium.


Current agricultural commodity programs affect the structure of U.S. agriculture in a variety of ways. An informal survey of participants in a conference concerning the structure of agriculture indicates a weak consensus among professionals that current programs increase the number of farms, result in more specialization, and encourage land ownership by operators. Analysis by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) indicates that the elimination of current farm programs would reduce net farm income dramatically, especially in the short run. The negative effects on farm income are estimated to be smaller if other countries also eliminate their agricultural subsidy programs.


A dual wavelength differential absorption method for the detection of inclusions in turbid media is proposed. The method is based on the measurement of the transmitted intensity differences of the two diode lasers tuned to selected wavelengths within a broad absorption band of an inclusion of interest. The strategy for the optimum selection of the diode laser wavelengths and initial adjustment of the detection scheme is developed. It is shown that small deviations in the wavelengths from an optimum position result in a considerably deteriorated background suppression. The method is demonstrated by the detection of two dyes in a small volume inside a phantom filled with a turbid medium with scattering and absorption coefficients similar to those of biological tissues. The type and relative concentrations of the dyes were chosen so that the optical properties at the laser wavelengths are similar to those of a mixture of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin. The proposed method is insensitive to inclusions in the test object with spectrally independent scattering and absorption but detects the changes of the dye composition of a few percent inside a small sub-volume. The technique can be useful for the detection of the physiological status and changes in biological tissues.


Abstract Interfacial tension between immiscible liquids is an important thermodynamic parameter of silicate melt unmixing and a property that determines the kinetics of phase separation. In this study, we present experimental measurements of interfacial tension between immiscible Fe-rich and silica-rich melts in the system K2O-FeO-Fe2O3-Al2O3-SiO2. We have also measured densities and surface tensions of the individual immiscible liquid phases. The measurements were carried out in air at 1500-1550 °C by the maximum detachment force method employing vertical cylinder geometry and using a gravimetric balance system. We have chosen the most oxidized and contrasting liquid compositions containing 73 and 17 wt% SiO2 and 14 and 80 wt% FeOt, respectively, that have been shown to coexist in air at and above 1465 °C. Interfacial tension between the synthetic immiscible liquids decreases with increasing temperature from 16.4 ± 3.1 mN/m at 1500 °C to 7.8 ± 1.1 mN/m at 1550 °C. Interfacial tension between natural, less compositionally contrasting ferrobasaltic and rhyolitic melts should be even lower by a factor of 2 or 3. Very low interfacial tension implies easy nucleation of immiscible liquid droplets and very slow coarsening of resulting silicate emulsions.


Optimal input design is an important step of the identification process in order to reduce the model variance. In this work a D-optimal input design method for FIR-type nonlinear systems is presented. The optimization of the determinant of the Fisher matrix is expressed as a convex optimization problem. The optimization is performed using an equivalent dispersionbased criterion. This method is easy to implement and converges monotonically to the optimal solution. Without constraints, the optimal design cannot be realized as a time sequence. By imposing that the design should lie in the subspace described by a symmetric and non-overlapping basis, a realizable design is found. A graph-based method is implemented in order to find a time sequence that realizes this optimal constrained design. These methods are illustrated on a numerical example of which the results are thoroughly discussed.


2-Hydroxy-alkylsubstituted azorenes were synthesized to examine the extraction behavior of silver(I), mercury(II), copper(II), nickel(II), cobalt(II) and iron(III) from 0.1 mol/dm3 of aqueous ammonium nitrate solution. The distribution ratio of these metals was determined as a function of pH. The order of selectivity is the following: Fe(III)>Ag(I)>Cu(II)>Ni(II)>Co(II). Mercury(II) was not extracted with the present extractants. A quantitative study on the extraction of copper(II) was carried out to elucidate the extraction stoichiometry and extraction equilibrium constant by examining the concentration effects of hydrogen ion, extractant and ammonium nitrate on the distribution ratio of copper ion. Copper(II) was found to be extracted according to the following chelating formation reaction: Cu2+ + 2HR CuR2 + 2H+; Kcu. The equilibrium constant of this reaction was evaluated as K~u=1.6X 10-8.


We propose a time slot reuse partitioning (TRSP) scheme for resource assignment in packet-switched fixed TDMA wireless networks. The TSRP scheme is based upon two key ideas. The first one is for the system to have more than one coexisting reuse pattern in the time domain. The second is to match a terminal or application to an appropriate reuse pattern, so as to guarantee the required quality of service (QoS). We define and then simulate a specific implementation of the TRSP scheme for an integrated voice and broadband data system. The results show that this scheme provides good performance for both voice and data.


The comparison of air quality between carpeted and non-carpeted rooms at the Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University among rooms carpeted over 5 years, less than 5 years and non-carpeted rooms was investigated. Air samples were collected at 3 different heights: 30, 80 and 160 centimeters above the floor. Samples were then measured for total suspended particulate ( TSP ) and particulate matter which has a diameter less than 10 µm ( PM10 ) . Equipment used in this study included the following: 1) personal air pump for collecting total suspended particulate ( TSP ) and 2) personal air pump with cyclone (cut-size unit) for collecting particulate matter which has diameter less than 10 µm ( PM10 ) . It was found that the amount of TSP and PM10 collected from rooms with carpet was less than the TSP and PM10 from non-carpeted rooms. It varies to the using time of carpet.


Background: Bulk of published data support the efficacy of dexmedetomidine for prolongation of peripheral nerve block; but most of the studies are in adults. Ample data regarding use of dexmedetomidine in setting of paediatric peripheral nerve blocks is scarce. Aim and Objective: To determine whether adding dexmedetomidine to ropivacaine in ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block prolongs postoperative analgesia in children undergoing inguinal hernia repair. Material and Methods: Sixty children of American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) grade I – II aged between 2-11 years scheduled for elective hernitomy were randomly allocated to receive an ultrasound guided ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block (IINB) with 0.2 ml/kg dose of plain ropivacaine 0.2% (group R; n = 30) or ropivacaine 0.2% with adjunct dexmedetomidine 1 μg/kg (group RD; n = 30).Time to first post-operative need for supplemental analgesia triggered by pain score ≥4 according to Children's and infants postoperative pain scale (CHIPPS scale) was the primary end point of study. Number of analgesic doses during first 24 hours; intraoperative hemodynamic changes; sedation; postoperative adverse effects were noted. Results: The mean duration of analgesia was significantly prolonged in group RD (970.23 ± 46.71minutes) as compared to group R (419.56 ± 60.6 minutes). Children in group RD had significantly lower CHIPPS score, and less number of rescue analgesic requirements during first 24 hours postoperatively. No adverse effects were recorded in any group. Conclusion: The present study concluded that combined use of ropivacaine and dexmedetomidine in IINB provided profound prolongation of post operative analgesia in children following inguinal hernia repair.