AbstractBodies are prestressed with the intention to enhance the load-carrying capacity of the body. The primary objective of this study is to understand the effect of prestressing the constituents in composite bodies on the overall mechanical performance of the composites. This paper considers composites having linearized viscoelastic constituents that can exhibit fluidlike and solidlike behavior. It also examines the effect of stress relaxation in a component of the prestressed composite on the overall load-carrying capacity of the composite. The properties of the composite, whether a brittle inclusion embedded in ductile matrix or a ductile inclusion in brittle matrix, are greatly influenced by the ratio of the induced prestress with respect to the external load and thereby influence the load-carrying capacity of the composite.


A simple analytic solution for Tonks-Dattner resonances in a cylindrical plasma with a parabolic density profile is derived using the approximation of pure electrostatic radial waves. For other density distributions the resonances are calculated using numerical integration of a second order differential equation. Results are compared with the scalar pressure theory derived by Parker et al. (1964), and with Dattner's (1963) experimental results. Excellent agreement is obtained over the full range of conditions used in these publications.


A highly efficient methodology for transformation of carbonyl compounds to their corresponding tosylhydrazones under microwave irradiation in presence of BF 3 .OEt 2 catalyst has been developed and described here. The methodology is highly prospective for tosylhydrazone synthesis especially of diaryl ketones, as already existing procedures are found to be less effective for the same. Seventeen carbonyl compounds have been studied and found to deliver their corresponding products in excellent yield (92-98%). The products crystallize out from the reaction mixture during cooling at room temperature which excludes further purification processes. Single crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) analysis of two of the synthesized tosylhydrazones have been carried out and reported here.


The research aimed to determine the appropriate harvest age of Salak Gading fruit to get the best quality and the longest storage period as well as to find out the effect of wax coating to ward the storage period and the quality of Salak Gading fruit at room temperature. The fruit was obtained from salak plantation at Turi Yogyakarta area. The research was divided into two stages. The first stage was the determination of ripe physiology in which the fruit was harvested at 6, 7 and 8 months after pollination. Afterwards the physical and chemical natures of the fruit were observed. The second one was wax coating in which the coated Salak Gading fruit was harvested at 7 and 8 days after pollination. The wax concentration used was 10% then the observation on physical and chemical nature were undergone once in three days. The determination of the storage period was accomplished when Salak Gading fruit has reached the level of decaying by 25% during the storage period. The results indicated that the best quality was at the period of 7 months. The wax coating influencing the quality of Salak Gading fruit also could keep loss down resulted from bacteria and inhibited the reduction of sugar and tannin inside the fruit. The determination of the harvest age of Salak Gading fruit and the wax coating could reform the quality of Salak Gading fruit.


Explicit expressions for quantum fluctuations of energy in subsystems of a hot relativistic gas of spin-1/2 particles are derived. The results depend on the form of the energy-momentum tensor used in the calculations, which is a feature described as pseudo-gauge dependence. However, for sufficiently large subsystems the results obtained in different pseudo-gauges converge and agree with the canonical-ensemble formula known from statistical physics. As different forms of the energymomentum tensor of a gas are a priori equivalent, our finding suggests that the concept of quantum fluctuations of energy in very small thermodynamic systems is pseudo-gauge dependent. On the practical side, the results of our calculations determine a scale of coarse graining for which the choice of the pseudo-gauge becomes irrelevant.


The scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave by an infinite elliptic dielectric cylinder is examined using two alternative methods. In the first the electromagnetic field is expressed in terms of elliptical-cylindrical wave functions while in the second, a shape perturbation method is applied by expressing the field in terms of circular-cylindrical wave functions only and the equation of the elliptical boundary in polar coordinates. Analytical expressions are obtained for the scattered electromagnetic field and the various scattering cross-sections, when the solution is specialized to small values of the eccentricity h = c/2a (h ¿ 1), with c the interfocal distance of the elliptic cylinder and 2a the length of its major axis. In this case the scattered field and the scattering cross-sections expressions have the form of S(h) = S(0)[1+g(2)h2 + g(4)h4 + O(h6)], where the expansion coefficients g(2) and g(4) are given by exact, closed form expressions. Both polarizations are considered for normal incidence. Numerical results are given for various values of the parameters.


An investigation of the infra-red absorption spectra of five amino compounds (glycine, diketopiperazine, tetramethyl-diketopiperazine, glycylglycine and urea) has been made in the region 2-8-3-6μ. The substances were used in the form of thin crystalline layers deposited on quartz windows. The spectra are discussed with regard to the molecular structure of the compounds under consideration. The number and position of the N—H frequencies in glycine and glycyl-glycine are in agreement with the assumption that these two molecules are in the zwitterion form in the crystal. The close similarity between the spectra of diketopiperazine and tetramethyldiketopiperazine on the one hand, and the amino acids and urea on the other, proves that no lactam-lactim interchange occurs in diketopiperazine and its derivative. Both compounds are shown to possess a centre of symmetry. It follows from the experimental evidence that in all the substances investigated resonance between the C—N and 0 = 0 bonds takes place.


Creative thinking is one of the hallmarks of human-level competence. Although it is still a poorly understood subject speculative ideas about brain processes involved in creative thinking may be implemented in computational models. A review of different approaches to creativity, insight and intuition is presented. Two factors are essential for creativity: imagination and selection or filtering. Imagination should be constrained by experience, while filtering in the case of creative use of words may be based on semantic and phonological associations. Analysis of brain processes involved in invention of new words leads to practical algorithms that create many interesting and novel names associated with a set of keywords.


Popliteal venous aneurysms are rarely reported but represent a known source for pulmonary emboli. Early diagnosis with prompt excision of the aneurysm and venous reconstruction eliminate the embolic source and prevent long-term sequelae of venous stasis. The authors present the case of a twelve-year-old girl with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome who presented with a massive pulmonary embolus. Magnetic resonance angiography defined a saccular aneurysm of the popliteal vein, which was confirmed by contrast venography. The patient underwent resection of the venous aneurysm and lateral venorrhaphy. This is the twenty-sixth report in the English-language literature of pulmonary embolism originating from a popliteal venous aneurysm, and the youngest patient to date.


This paper summarizes the ergonomic risk assessment of hotel chef. The cooking operations were observed in order to determine sources of ergonomic stress and make recommendations to reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in Korean, Japanese, and western style cooking. We used interviews, document analysis, video analysis, and risk assessment to identify and quantify ergonomic risk factors. The results indicate that the cooking operations have some ergonomic problems. These findings identified in this study can be used to reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in food service areas.


This paper reports 10 year follow up data on four patients who underwent mechanical dilatation of multiple bronchial stenoses (sarcoidosis two cases, berylliosis one case, idiopathic stenoses one case). Two patients enjoyed symptomatic and physiological improvement during the nine years before they presented with a recurrence of stenosis. The other two had recurrences sooner, and improved only slightly after they had started prednisolone treatment.


The area where the Seljuk State was most influential and had a say in education had been the Nizamiye madrasas. Nizamülmülk's contributions in the establishment and operation of Nizamiye madrasas were quite large. The first of the Nizamiye madrasas was built in Nişabur, but the Nizamiye Madrasa in Baghdad became one of the more well-known and prominent madrasas. In this madrasa, which has the qualification of a university, positive Sciences as well as religious sciences were taught and very valuable scientific people gave lessons. Nizamiye madrasas served as a school in the future according to its age and important names were brought up in these schools. The students who studied in Nizamiye madrasas were provided shelter, food and drink facilities and served as a foundation. With all these features, Nizamiye madrasas in the Seljuk State influenced the states established after it and became influential in the education system. The concept of the madrasa in the Ottoman Empire was created and developed by being influenced by the Nizamiye madrasas.


This paper reviews critically some recent work on the systematics of subterranean Crustacea, in particular Jakobi's work on the Parastenocarididae (Copepoda), Serban's work on the Bathynellidae (Bathynellacea, Syncarida) and Schminke's revision of the Parabathynellidae (Bathynellacea. Syncarida). It is pointed out that three different approaches have been adopted in each of the three cases and advantages and shortcomings of each of them are analysed. Finally descriptions are given of two new genera of Parabathynellidae. Afrobathynella gen. n. and Nunubathynella gen. n., from a locality near Port Elisabeth (South Africa).


A method for rapid quantitative imaging of dopant distribution using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is described. The method is based on SIMS imaging of the cross-section of a reference sample with a known concentration profile. It is demonstrated for the case of boron quantification in silicon in a SIMS imaging mode. A nonlinear relationship between the secondary ion intensity and the concentration is observed. A detection limit of 3 (±2) × 1017 at./cm^3 (~6 ppm) is determined with 39 nm pixel-size for the used experimental conditions. As an application example, a boron concentration profile in a passivating contact deposited on a textured Si surface is analyzed.


The stability of tryptophan in aqueous solutions of HCl, H2SO4, or CH3SO3H under aerobic conditions was examined, and a specific effect of HCl was found. A kinetic study of the HCl-induced decomposition, tests for the free chlorine formation on heating the HCl used for the above run, etc. suggested that free chlorine produced by the air oxidation of HCl may hace participated in the decomposition of tryptophan. Thin-layer and ion-exchange chromatography of the decomposition products of tryptophan revealed that oxindolylalanine and dioxindolylalanine were formed by the reaction. These two compounds were also formed by treating tryptophan with ClO- or N-chlorosuccinimide in a solution of HCl. These results support the above possibility.


Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a primary and emergency complication of peptic ulcer. Injection of Histoacryl (N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate) is an effective endoscopic hemostasis procedure to treat peptic ulcer bleeding. However, Histoacryl injection is not a widely used method because of its various and sometimes severe complications. Therefore, the use of Histocaryl should be considered as a second line treatment modality to achieve therapeutic endoscopic hemostasis when the conventional treatment modalities fail or the patient has a high risk of needing operative therapy. Three patients, who had gastric ulcer bleeding from an exposed blood vessel, were each treated by an injection of Histoacryl diluted with Lipiodol at a dilution ratio of 1:1. All 3 procedures were successfully accomplished without any complications.


The objective of this prospective survey series was to evaluate knowledge and concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic among individuals with one or more chronic conditions, including cardiometabolic, autoimmune, respiratory and cancer diagnoses. Two surveys were distributed consisting of up to 55 items (March; n=1069) and up to 71 items (April, n=1126), with 24 items repeated from the first survey. Questions focused on healthcare access, barriers and concerns related to the COVID-19 virus. Descriptive analysis evaluated central tendencies, spread, and frequencies of the demographic data, disease states, and survey results within and between the two survey timepoints. Results from 416 individuals (38.9%) on survey 1 and 425 (37.7%) on survey 2 were analyzed. Participants were predominantly female (85%) and white (67%) with 7% residing in rural areas and 69% employed. Respondents reported an average of 2 chronic conditions and 62% would be classified as "at risk" for COVID -19 complications by the CDC. Only 20% reported a conversation about COVID-19 with a healthcare provider, 9% reported anxiety, 35% indicated loneliness. Level of concern about COVID-19 contracting the disease, cost of treatment/complications, medical access, and process of being treated was associated with increased anxiety (p<0.001) and wearing a facemask (p=0.01). Analysis suggests that analyzing concern and its association with health behaviors and anxiety should be a priority for innovative solutions. Insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting individuals with chronic conditions are imperative to inform tailored interventions to support individuals at higher risk of serious complications and death.


Evidence is provided for homologies between specific parts of the tailfan neuromusculatures in two sand crabs, Emerita analoga (family Hippidae) and Blepharipoda occidentals (family Albuneidae). The gross anatomy of the tailfan, particularly of the telson, is very different in the two species, the biggest difference being the absence in Blepharipoda of a power-stroke muscle which in Emerita constitutes 50% by wet weight of the telson musculature. Homologies between motoneurones innervating telson muscles in the two crabs are established based on comparisons of their positions and central morphology. The derivation of the sand crab telson muscles and their innervation from neuromusculature in an ancestral macruran is proposed.


Thermomechanical modeling for interconnects and electronic packages is a difficult challenge, especially for material interfaces and films under 1 ¿m dimension. Understanding and prediction of their mechanical failure require the simulation of material behavior in the presence of multiple length scales. However, the classical continuum theory is not capable of predicting failure without a posterior analysis with an external crack growth criteria and treats the interfaces having zero thickness. A new nonlocal continuum theory referred to as peridynamic theory offers the ability to predict failure at these length scales. This study presents a new response function as part of the peridynamic theory to include thermal loading. After validating this response function by comparing against the displacement predictions in benchmark problems against those of finite element method, the peridynamic theory is used to predict damage initiation and propagation in regions having dissimilar materials due to thermomechanical loading.


Titanium dioxide inorganic core and polymer shell composite poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butylacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) [P(MMA-co-BA)-MAA] particles were prepared by emulsion copolymerization. Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to measure the content of MAA composite particles. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) characterized the composite particle size and size distribution. The field emission SEM (FE-SEM) results of the composite particles showed regular spherical shape and no bare TiO2 was detected on the whole surface of the samples. The composite particles were produced, showing good spectral reflectance compared with bare TiO2. TGA results indicated the encapsulation efficiency and estimated density of composite particles. Encapsulation efficiency was up to 78.9% and the density ranged from 1.76 to 1.94 g/cm3. Estimated density of the composite particles is suitable to 1.73 g/cm3, due to density matching with suspending media. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 2970–2975, 2004


A case report of a patient with neuroleptic malignant syndrome is described. Of note is the fact that both central and peripheral manifestations of the syndrome responded to diphenhydramine and suportive therapy alone. A brief review of therapy is also discussed.


Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common hospital-acquired pathogen, causing urinary tract infections, nosocomial pneumoniae, and intra-abdominal infections. K.pneumoniae is also a potential community acquired pathogen. The aims of this study are to determine epidemiology of ESBL-producing K.pneumoniae and Koxytoca in Iran during different seasons, to determine the prevalence of blaTEM, SHV and CTX-M responsible for ESBL production among ESBL-producing K.pneumoniae and Koxytoca in the different wards and hospitals in Iraa Klebsiella spp producing ESBLs were identified by phenotypic and genotyping methods. The findings in this study revealed that 36.5%, 51.7% and 45.6% of K.pneumoniae were producing ESBLs in Ham, Milad and Emam Reza hospitals, respectively. The results revealed blaSHV was responsible for ESBLs production. The analysis showed significant difference of ESBLs production by K.pneumoniae in winter (53%) in comparison to the other seasons P≤ 0.01. The results also showed a significant difference in blaSHV that was the dominant gene responsible for ESBL production P≤ 0.049 but no significant difference was observed between blaTEM and blaSHV. The results showed that the highest ESBL production was found in Koxytoca isolated from patients in Emam Reza Hospital and the lowest frequency of ESBL production was found among Koxytoca in Ham hospital. BlaSHV was found as dominant gene responsible for ESBLs production by K.pneumoniae and Koxytoca, followed by blaCTX-M.


Introduction: During antenatal surveillance, amniotic fluid assessment is a crucial barometer to know foetal status. Around 3-8% pregnant women suffered with oligohydramnios. Objective of present study was to find assosciated comorbidities and perinatal outcome in oligohydramnios. Aims: 1) To study foetal outcome at birth in oligohydramnios in form of a) foetal distress, b) growth retardation, c) NICU admission. 2) To study APGAR score of newborn babies of oligohydramnios. 3) To study the incidence of congenital malformation in relation to oligohydramnios. 4) To study early neonatal morbidity and mortality. Material and Methods: This prospective were carried out in Dhiraj Hospital,Vadodara from 1 jan 2018-1 jan 2019. 100 patients were selected randomly after satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria: 1) Antenatal patients in their 3 trimester 2) Singleton pregnancy 3) Amniotic fluid index less than 5cm. Exclusion Criteria: Multiple gestation, Patient having major medical illness, Patient not taking medicines which cause reduction in amniotic volume like NSAID'S, ACE inhibitors. Result and Analysis: 58% participants were belonged to 20-25yrs age group and 52% participants were primigravida. Mean age was 23.66yrs. 23% were affected with oligohydramnios in gestational age more than 41wks. There is less chances of oligohydramnios in pregnancy gestational age less than 32wks or pregnancy near term. 66% participants were suffered with moderate AFI(3.1-5.0). In 33% participants, there were no associated comorbidities and 27% had PIH. 58% Participants were delivered vaginally and 42% were by caesarean section in which 38% were operated for foetal distress. 31% were admitted in NICU in which 6 babies were died. 3 were still birth and 4 were IUD. Conclusion: Oligohydramnios is frequent occurrence problem in obstetrics and needs intensive surveillance in antenatal and intranatal and postnatal period. Due to high morbidity and mortality, the rate of LSCS increases. However, vaginal delivery has same outcome, but its need strict vigilance during labour.


In this article, we propose an efficient correlated Bayesian inference (CBI) method to estimate the system-level failure rates for large-scale circuit systems over multiple process corners. The key idea is to encode the correlations of circuit performances among the different corners into the prior distributions of several carefully defined failure events. The hyper-parameters of these distributions can be learned from a few simulation samples via Bayesian inference and, next, the system-level failure rates over different corners can be simultaneously estimated by taking into account these prior distributions. An iteratively constrained inference method is further developed to guarantee the numerical stability of the proposed method and legalize all estimated failure rates. The numerical experiments demonstrate that compared to the state-of-the-art algorithm, the proposed method can achieve around $10\times $ runtime reduction without surrendering any accuracy.


We report a case of cardiac myxoma causing cerebral metastasis after cardiac tumor resection. A 68-year-old man with a cerebral infarction was admitted to our hospital. A cardioembolic source was suspected and echocardiography was performed. In that examination, a cardiac tumor was found in the left atrium. Tumor resection was performed urgently and his postoperative course was uneventful. After the operation he had no new episodes of cerebral deficit. However 6 months after the operation, he complained of headaches. The brain computed tomography (CT) showed there were multiple high-density areas. One of the tumors was resected and the tumor was diagnosed pathologically as metastasis of cardiac myxoma. Brain metastases were treated with 40.8 Gy whole-brain radiation therapy. As the result the tumors were effectively treated and reduced.


This article aims to clarify Catholics' survival tactics in discourses by analysing legal proceedings against them in the city of Utrecht from 1630 until 1659. This period saw a tendency towards Reformed confessionalisation, as is apparent from the rise in the number of such trials. However, despite the advent of anti-Catholic legislation under increasing pressure from the Reformed Church, Reformed confessionalisation was not completed, as the Catholic presence in the public sphere of Utrecht was never extinguished. Backed by their civic status, and with the aid of defenders in (supra-confessional) socio-judicial networks, accused Catholics developed a variety of discourses during legal proceedings. Obedient conformity to the existing norm of the public/private distinction was just one of the various discursive tactics for survival employed by Catholics in Utrecht. Despite the crucial discontinuity caused by the Protestant Reformation and the Dutch Revolt, Catholics continued to be actors in the constant and communal process of delimitation of the 'public'. Members of the Catholic social elite in particular could actively create space for survival by discursively mobilising alternative interpretations of the 'public' and 'conscience' that retained medieval legacies, without conceptualising 'privacy' in the modern sense.


Boron diffused rear surfaces are used in place of an Al/Si alloy to form a back surface field (BSF) for single sided buried contact (SSBC) cells. This was done as part of an investigation to determine the effect that heavy boron diffusions have on lifetime and saturation current. The findings are that a heavy boron diffusion over a large area can increase efficiency, since the bulk lifetime is retained and low saturation current is observed. SSBC solar cells were made that had open circuit voltages of 650 mV, 645 mV, and 640 mV on 3 and 10 /spl Omega/ cm p-type, and 100 /spl Omega/ cm (rear junction) n-type, respectively, using a heavily boron diffused region.


Colonic lipomas are common in the general population, but are only rarely symptomatic. 1 Pain and chronic blood loss are the most common symptoms, although other difficulties are encountered as well. 2 The lesions have a typical but nondiagnostic roentgenographic appearance; their endoscopic diagnosis and even removal have been reported. Removal of these benign lesions is generally recommended to exclude a diagnosis of carcinoma, with only minor emphasis on prevention of direct complications of the lipoma itself. Our experience with a recent case suggests that a more aggressive approach be made to prevent complications of lipoma rather than to rule out coexistent disease. Report of a Case. —A 69-year-old man was admitted because of rectal bleeding. Five days prior to admission, he noted the onset of increased frequency of stools, followed by frank rectal bleeding. This progressed until the patient was passing cups full of blood and had orthostatic hypotension


A new conception of computer functioning is proposed, which suggests that a computer is a reactor in which a unique enzymic reaction at a single operation mode occurs. The analogy between informatics and enzymology is considered. In the context of the parallelism proposed, the work of the brain is analogous to the work of a global computer network. Not the brain as a network of neuron processors but a network of computers as the brain!


Moneylending is a real humanitarian problem in Asian countries, including in Southeast Asia. This study examines moneylending activities in this region, where poor people become a target. An emergency need forces them to seek out a moneylender. This paper argues that nanofinance may address the microfinance gap to counter the moneylender. Despite the existence of nanofinance, it has not obtained as much attention as microfinance. However, nanofinance activities have run in some Asian countries to help the poor. By interviewing some informants in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and then reviewing the empirical study and context in Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei, this paper intends to: (1) Describe the practice of moneylending in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei; (2) Describe the nanofinance practice in Indonesia and Thailand; (3) Promote qarḍal-ḥasan as the philanthropy contract of (Islamic) nanofinance.


CONTEXT
Hyperandrogenemia (HA) is a consistent reproductive phenotype in women with PCOS and their relatives. Increased testosterone levels are present in premenarchal daughters of affected women (PCOS-d). Obese girls (OB-g) without a family history of PCOS also have peripubertal HA. The sources and significance of HA in these groups remains unknown.

OBJECTIVE
11-oxygenated 19-carbon (C19) steroids are adrenally derived androgens that are elevated in hyperandrogenic disorders, including PCOS. We performed this study to test the hypothesis that peripheral serum 11-oxygenated steroids would differ in PCOS-d compared to OB-g suggesting distinct etiologies of HA in affected girls.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
We compared peripheral serum 11-oxygenated steroid levels in 21 PCOS-d, 29 OB-g and 17 lean control girls (LC) of comparable age at an academic medical center.

RESULTS
BMI differed by design (P<0.001). 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione, 11-ketoandrostenedione, and 11β-hydroxytestosterone levels did not differ between the groups. Compared with LC, PCOS-d and OB-g had similar elevations in 11-ketotestosterone (11KT) (ANOVA P=0.03; PCOS-d v LC, P=0.04; OB-g v LC, P=0.05; PCOS-d v OB-g, P=0.97). In multivariate regression, 11KT levels were associated with DHEAS (P=0.008), but not with BMI z score, breast Tanner stage, testosterone, anti-Müllerian hormone or sex hormone binding globulin levels.

CONCLUSIONS
Circulating 11KT levels were similarly elevated in peripubertal PCOS-d and OB-g suggesting an adrenal component of HA in both groups. 11-oxygenated 19-carbon steroid profiles did not identify subtypes of HA girls.


The spider family Filistatidae is represented in Argentina by at least twelve species. The synanthropic and apparently introduced Kukulcania hibernalis (Hentz) is the only representative of the Filistatinae. The remaining species all belong to Prithinae. Two new prithine genera are described: Lihuelistata is erected for Filistata metamerica Mello-Leitao, and Misionella is erected for Filistata mendensis Mello-Leitao. Pikelinia Mello-Leitao is represented by P. tambilloi (Mello-Leitao), P. patagonica (Mello-Leitao), newly transferred from Malalistata, and seven new species: P. colloncura, P. mahuell, P. roigi, P. kolla, P. ticucho, P. toba and P. puna. The genus Malalistata Mello-Leitao is newly synonymized with Pikelinia. Filistata fasciata Banks, is transferred to Pikelinia. A cladistic analysis of filistatid genera is made, based on a data matrix of 13 terminals scored for 29 characters. Pikelinia, Lihuelistata and Misionella form a monophyletic group united by the partial fusion of cymbium and tegulum and the incrassate male palpal tibia. The resulting cladogram conflicts with a previous hypothesis of relationships only on the placement of Filistatinella. The morphology of posterior respiratory system of filistatids is examined, and its connections with abdominal muscles elucidated. On that base, it is demonstrated that the remnants of posterior respiratory system of prithines are homologous of entapophyses (muscular apodemes) instead of book-lungs.


COVID-19 vaccines are currently in development or being rolled out as a public health response to manage the pandemic. While vaccines selected for mass public immunization programs would have demonstrated safety and efficacy in Phase 3 trials, vaccine safety monitoring including reporting of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) and investigation of reported cases are still required for safety surveillance. Monitoring of AEFI post COVID-19 vaccination is quite relevant to clinicians.


This paper presents a triangulation-based hierarchical image matching method for wide-baseline images. The method includes the following three steps: (a) image orientation by incorporating the SIFT algorithm with the RANSAC approach, (b) feature matching based on the self-adaptive triangle constraint, which includes point-to-point matching and subsequent point-to-area matching, and (c) triangulation constrained dense matching based on the previous matched results. Two new constraints, the triangulation-based disparity constraint and triangulation-based gradient orientation constraint, are developed to alleviate the matching ambiguity for wide-baseline images. A triangulation based affine-adaptive cross-correlation is developed to help find correct matches even in the image regions with large perspective distortions. Experiments using Mars ground wide-baseline images and terrestrial wide-baseline images revealed that the proposed method is capable of generating reliable and dense matching results for terrain mapping and surface reconstruction from the wide-baseline images.


The following problem is considered: given a joint distribution P<inf>XY</inf> and an event E, bound P<inf>XY</inf> (E) in terms of P<inf>X</inf>P<inf>Y</inf> (E) (where P<inf>X</inf>P<inf>Y</inf> is the product of the marginals of P<inf>XY</inf>) and a measure of dependence of X and Y. Such bounds have direct applications in the analysis of the generalization error of learning algorithms, where E represents a large error event and the measure of dependence controls the degree of overfitting. Herein, bounds are demonstrated using several information-theoretic metrics, in particular: mutual information, lautum information, maximal leakage, and J<inf>∞</inf>. The mutual information bound can outperform comparable bounds in the literature by an arbitrarily large factor.


Soybean (Glycine max [L.] cv Bragg) was grown at 330 or 660 microliters CO(2) per liter in outdoor, controlled-environment chambers. When the plants were 50 days old, drought stress was imposed by gradually reducing irrigation each evening so that plants wilted earlier each succeeding day. On the ninth day, as the pots ran out of water CO(2) exchange rate (CER) decreased rapidly to near zero for the remainder of the day. Both CO(2)-enrichment and drought stress reduced the total (HCO(3) (-)/Mg(2+)-activated) extractable ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPCase) activity, as expressed on a chlorophyll basis. In addition, drought stress when canopy CER values and leaf water potentials were lowest, reduced the initial (nonactivated) RuBPCase activity by 50% compared to the corresponding unstressed treatments. This suggests that moderate to severe drought stress reduces the in vivo activation state of RuBPCase, as well as lowers the total activity. It is hypothesized that stromal acidification under drought stress causes the lowered initial RuBPCase activities. The K(m)(CO(2)) values of activated RuBPCase from stressed and unstressed plants were similar; 15.0 and 12.6 micromolar, respectively. RuBP levels were 10 to 30% lower in drought stressed as compared to unstressed treatments. However, RuBP levels increased from near zero at night to around 150 to 200 nanomoles per milligram chlorophyll during the day, even as water potentials and canopy CERs decreased. This suggests that the rapid decline in canopy CER cannot be attributed to drought stress induced limitations in the RuBP regeneration capability. Thus, in soybean leaves, a nonstomatal limitation of leaf photosynthesis under drought stress conditions appears due, in part, to a reduction of the in vivo activity of RuBPCase. Because initial RuBPCase activities were not reduced as much as canopy CER values, this enzymic effect does not explain entirely the response of soybean photosynthesis to drought stress.


Nanostructured materials are gaining new impetus owing to the advancements in material fabrication techniques and their unique properties (their nanosize, high surface area-to-volume ratio, and high porosity). Such nanostructured materials mimic the subtleties of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, creating artifi cial microenvironments which resemble the native niches in the body. On the other hand, the isolation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from various tissue sources has resulted in the interest to study the multiple differentiation lineages for various therapeutic treatments. In this review, our focus is tailored towards the potential of biomimetic nanostructured materials as osteoinductive scaffolds for bone regeneration to differentiate MSCs towards osteoblastic cell types without the presence of soluble factors. In addition to mimicking the nanostructure of native bone, the supplement of collagen and hydroxyapatite which mimic the main components of the ECM also brings signifi cant advantages to these materials.


The nonlethal effects of wildlife tourism can threaten the conservation status of targeted animal populations. In turn, such resource depletion can compromise the economic viability of the industry. Therefore, wildlife tourism exploits resources that can become common pool and that should be managed accordingly. We used a simulation approach to test whether different management regimes (tax, tax and subsidy, cap, cap and trade) could provide socioecologically sustainable solutions. Such schemes are sensitive to errors in estimated management targets. We determined the sensitivity of each scenario to various realistic uncertainties in management implementation and in our knowledge of the population. Scenarios where time quotas were enforced using a tax and subsidy approach, or they were traded between operators were more likely to be sustainable. Importantly, sustainability could be achieved even when operators were assumed to make simple rational economic decisions. We suggest that a combination of the two regimes might offer a robust solution, especially on a small spatial scale and under the control of a self-organized, operator-level institution. Our simulation platform could be parameterized to mimic local conditions and provide a test bed for experimenting different governance solutions in specific case studies.


Obsession with the shadow of atomic doom too readily narcotizes us. Despair focuses on oblivion, and a whole people retreats into a conservative posture, searching for security. We are afraid. In such a fetid climate of clammy fear it is like a breath of fresh air, dry and clarifying, to read and study a wise book in defence of the liberal position. Such is Charles Frankel's "The Case for Modern Man." In a society whose weather vanes are blown by such prophets of doom as Jacques Maritain, Arnold Toynbee, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Karl Mannheim, it is a rare pleasure to see the scowling climate of opinion, the foreboding cold front of these critics of the liberal view, called in question in a brilliant and scholarly study. The managerial revolution, the increasing power of federal governments, the strife in America, Europe, Africa, and Asia beset us on all sides. Many men


The South San Joaquin Valley section begins on the west side of the San Andreas fault where the strata consist of about 4,500 feet of continental beds, from Paso Robles through Simmler, resting on a granite Basement Complex. East of the San Andreas fault, the structurally complex Temblor Range has a thick marine section from upper Miocene through the Eocene and probably part of the Upper Cretaceous, although no wells have penetrated the latter. Eastward from the Belgian anticline, the wedge of marine Pliocene thickens into the central basin. On the eastside, the Pliocene becomes entirely continental. The Miocene also thickens basinward but with the exception of the top and bottom generally maintains its marine character eastward. The Oligocene is a thin sliver which is ov rlapped westward and lost in the general eastward sand and continental facies. Greatest penetration of the upper Eocene has been at Belgian anticline. On the eastside, the upper Eocene rests unconformably on the Jurassic Basement Complex; and along the east border, it becomes thin and continental and inseparable from the lower Miocene, Walker. End_Page 217------------------------------ The Central San Joaquin Valley section has been tied with the Salinas Valley section for reference and general comparison; although the stratigraphy across the structurally complex San Andreas fault and Diablo Range area is fragmentary. Here the Basement Complex is the Jurassic Franciscan series. East of Curry Mountain, the basal Pliocene unconformity overlaps the Miocene, Eocene and the top of the Upper Cretaceous. This marine series thickens basinward and changes to a continental series. Along this line of section, all the marine formations of the westside change to a continental facies on the eastside. The upper Miocene has maximum thickness of 2,100 feet and consists of marine shales and sands on the westside and central area. The middle and most of the lower Miocene, however, are dominantly continental in character. The lowermost Miocene or Zemorrian stage is represented by a thin marine wedge in the Guijarral Hills area. Along the central San Joaquin Valley section, in addition to the upper Eocene, the middle and lower Eocene, Paleocene, and Upper Cretaceous are present. End_of_Article - Last_Page 218------------


Commencing in the 1950s, when librarianship in Turkey began to be treated as a profession, cooperation was discussed on a variety of planes without ever seeming to materialize. Then, with the establishment of ANKOS in the early years of the 21st Century, an important step was taken that served as an example of working together. Collaboration between libraries not only improved the quality of their services but also achieved significant savings in terms of manpower and finances. Through this article describing his contributions to the founding and development of ANKOS, we pay our respects once again to our dear colleague Hilmi Celik, who has been lost to us at an age when he still had much to offer to the profession.


Purpose of the Study: The present study aimed to compare the voice quality after each type of cordectomy with that after radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for early glottic carcinoma. Procedures: The GRBAS perceptive scale [consisting of 5 domains: grade (G), roughness (R), breathiness (B), asthenia (A), and strain (S)], aerodynamic tests and acoustic analyses, and the Voice Handicap Index questionnaire were evaluated for 58 laser cordectomy cases and 40 RT or CRT cases. Multiple comparison tests were conducted between each type of cordectomy and RT or CRT. Results: No statistical difference was found between type I/II cordectomy and RT for T1 glottic carcinoma (T1RT), whereas T1RT showed a significantly better outcome than type III cordectomy (G score: p = 0.016, maximum phonation time: p < 0.01, mean flow rate: p < 0.01). Type IV cordectomy was equivalent to RT or CRT for T2 glottic carcinoma (T2RT/CRT), while types V and VI showed a worse voice quality than T2RT/CRT (G score: p = 0.038 to type VI, B score: p = 0.025 to type V and p = 0.032 to type VI, A score: p = 0.017 to type VI). Conclusions: Voice quality after laser cordectomy differs according to the type of cordectomy. Surgeons should inform patients about the expected voice quality after each treatment modality.


In this paper, a novel mathematical framework is introduced for modeling and analyzing the cyber-physical security of time-critical UAV applications. A general UAV security network interdiction game is formulated to model interactions between a UAV operator and an interdictor, each of which can be benign or malicious. In this game, the interdictor chooses the optimal location(s) from which to target the drone system by interdicting the potential paths of the UAVs. Meanwhile, the UAV operator responds by finding an optimal path selection policy that enables its UAVs to evade attacks and minimize their mission completion time. New notions from cumulative prospect theory (PT) are incorporated into the game to capture the operator's and the interdictor's subjective valuations of mission completion times and perceptions of the risk levels facing the UAVs. The equilibrium of the game, with and without PT, is then analytically characterized and studied, while providing detailed derivations of mission completion times (and their expected values), PT valuations of both players (along with proofs of their convergence), and equilibrium points under different studied security regimes. Novel algorithms are then proposed to reach the game's equilibria under both PT and classical game theory. Simulation results show the properties of the equilibrium for both the rational and PT cases, highlighting the effects of bounded rationality on the interdictor's and the operator's strategies as well as mission completion times, and the way it can be exploited by a fully rational opponent.


Successful innovation is crucial for firm survival in high-technology service industries. This article reports on an empirical study, exploring internal innovation success factors—success factors associated with the innovating firm's competencies—by taking a decision-making perspective. The likelihood of innovation success is associated with the systematic reduction of decision-making uncertainty, as a result of organizational information gathering, diffusion, and processing activities. Effects of interfirm differences are investigated in the new service development phase of the innovation process. Cross-sectional data were collected about 251 innovation projects from companies in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Innovation success is found to be related positively and directly to how well informed and knowledgeable decision-makers are. Furthermore, the study provides evidence that a market orientation contributes as an internal success factor: An organizational climate favorable to information sharing powerfully mediates the positive effects of intelligence gathering with respect to customers and technology. The effects of competitor orientation carry a negative sign, and managerial seniority appears not to play a major role in this turbulent business. Managerial and research implications are provided.


One of the directions of application of the perforated metal material is their use as cutting elements in the production of processing tools. In this case it is necessary to carry out hardening of cutting surfaces to increase their hardness. One of the methods of hardening metals could be laser treatment. Therefore, the present work is a study of the effect of Nd:YAG laser radiation on the microstructure and hardness of fragments formed from steel perforated tape. Different laser scan speeds (doses) were used in the experiments. The results have shown that the increase the microhardness of 30-40% after the laser treatment of steel perforated tape in the surface layer in a depth range up to 1 μm take place. The studies of microstructure of fragments formed from steel perforated tape have shown the reduction of the structure size and the presence of a thin oxide compounds, which is consistent with the results on nanoindentation. Hardening of the metal by laser radiation is carried out without surface melting which eliminates the change of macroroughness and the need for subsequent machining process.


Background and Objective: Nano-sized particles at scale of 1 to 100 nm, called nanoparticles. In addition, the composition and structure of materials is also one of the factors influencing the material properties. With the advent of nanotechnology and due to increasing antimicrobial properties of nanoscale silver it can also be used in the fight against various human pathogens. This study was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles synthesized by green method against the standard strains Escherichia coli k12 and Escherichia coli 25922. Methods: In this descriptive study, silver nanoparticles were synthesized using Prosopis farcta seed exudates and analyzed by UV visible spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles was evaluated using broth macro-dilution method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of silver nanoparticles was determined on the standard strains of Escherichia coli k12 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. Results: Transmission electron microscopy showed nanoparticles with diameters in the range between 5-35 nm with a maximum frequency range in 20-25 nm. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of bacteria, of E. coli k12 and E. coli 25922 respectively, were 1.56 and 0.39 μg/ml (ppm) and minimum bactericidal concentrations of 3.12 and 0.78 μg/ml wiring (ppm). Conclusion: Biological synthesis using P. farcta seed is a inexpensive, method and require no energy. Due to the strong antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles, can be a suitable alternative for disinfectants, disinfection and control of pathogens.


The definition of soil buffering to technogenic acidification and its contributing components and methods of measurement are discussed. The experimentally measured soil buffer-capacity intensities in some regions of Russia and neighboring republics are (cmol/kg per pH unit) : 2-3-4 in humus horizons, 6-8-10 in low-humus horizons and forest litter, 14-15 in peats, less than 1 in eluvial horizons, 1-2-3 in Bt horizons. A small-scale map of soil buffering for technogenic acidification has been compiled for European Russia.


Complete genomic sequences of a non-redundant set of 70 recombinants between three serotypes of attenuated Sabin polioviruses as well as location (based on partial sequencing) of crossover sites of 28 additional recombinants were determined and compared with the previously published data. It is demonstrated that the genomes of Sabin viruses contain distinct strain-specific segments that are eliminated by recombination. The presumed low fitness of these segments could be linked to mutations acquired upon derivation of the vaccine strains and/or may have been present in wild-type parents of Sabin viruses. These "weak" segments contribute to the propensity of these viruses to recombine with each other and with other enteroviruses as well as determine the choice of crossover sites. The knowledge of location of such segments opens additional possibilities for the design of more genetically stable and/or more attenuated variants, i.e., candidates for new oral polio vaccines. The results also suggest that the genome of wild polioviruses, and, by generalization, of other RNA viruses, may harbor hidden low-fitness segments that can be readily eliminated only by recombination.


OBJECTIVE
The association between adult-attained height and risk of colorectal cancer remains elusive among the Japanese population. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies in Japan.

METHODS
We systematically searched the MEDLINE (PubMed) and Ichushi databases and complemented it with manual search to identify eligible studies. We extracted relative risks or odds ratios from the selected studies and conducted meta-analysis to estimate the summary relative risk with 95% confidence interval. We made the final judgment based on a consensus of the research group members considering both epidemiological evidence and biological plausibility.

RESULTS
This systematic review identified four cohort and one case-control studies among the Japanese. The meta-analysis of these five studies showed the summary relative risk of 1.21 (95% confidence interval: 1.07-1.35) of overall colorectal cancer for the highest vs. lowest categories of height. In the analysis by the cancer subsite, the association was significant for colon cancer with a summary relative risk of 1.26 (95% confidence interval: 1.10-1.45) but not for rectal cancer 1.05 (95% confidence interval: 0.71-1.54). In the analysis by sex, tall stature was associated with a significantly increased risk of overall colorectal cancer in both sexes; the summary relative risk was 1.21 (95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.41) in men and 1.20 (95% confidence interval: 1.00-1.44) in women, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The evidence to support that adult-attained height is associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer (colon cancer) among the Japanese population is 'probable'.


In fresh swamp areas of South Sumatra, papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) could cause severe damage to young papaya trees and decreased the fruit quality. The objective of this research was to bioassay test of the bioinsecticide Beauveria bassiana againts nymphs of P. marginatus. B. bassiana was conducted on rice medium. The bioinsecticide was formulated using dried compost, compost gram,  paddy ash,  paddy bran, woody powder, paddy bran mixed with woody powder,  compost enriched with  Trichoderma virens . Controls used were sterile water (control 1) and isolate of B. bassiana (control 2). Results showed that conidial viability of B. bassiana on control 2 was the highest (46.33%). The viability of control 2 was not significantly different from the formulations with carrier of the paddy bran, the paddy bran mixed with woody powder, and the compost enriched with T. virens . The highest nymph mortality (82.86%) was found on formulation of  compost enriched with T. virens and was significantly different from other treatments. The lowest  visibly (73.48%) occured on formulation of paddy ash, and was significantly different from other treatments. Mortality on control 1 on average was 29.52%, whereas control 2 averaged of 75.71%. The shortest median lethal time (LT50) (3.55 days) was found on formulation of compost enriched with T.  virens but the longest one (3.73 days) occured on the formulation of paddy ash. Overall, the most effective bioinsecticide was the formulation of compost enriched with T. virens . Key words: bioinsecticide, Beauveria bassiana , Paracoccus marginatus


We have measured the 75As signals arising from the interface region of single-crystal semi-insulating GaAs that has been coated and passivated with an aluminum oxide film deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with optically pumped NMR (OPNMR). Using wavelength-selective optical pumping, the laser restricts the volume from which OPNMR signals are collected. Here, OPNMR signals were obtained from the interface region and distinguished from signals arising from the bulk. The interface region is highlighted by interactions that disrupt the cubic symmetry of the GaAs lattice, resulting in quadrupolar satellites for nuclear [Formula: see text] isotopes, whereas NMR of the "bulk" lattice is nominally unsplit. Quadrupolar splitting at the interface arises from strain based on lattice mismatch between the GaAs and ALD-deposited aluminum oxide due to their different coefficients of thermal expansion. Such spectroscopic evidence of strain can be useful for measuring lattice distortions at heterojunction boundaries and interfaces.


Abstract Objectives Choline, an essential nutrient, and its metabolite betaine have been evidenced to exert beneficial effects on maternal lipid/glucose metabolism and fetal development via animal studies. However, whether choline and betaine intakes are associated with risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) among pregnant women remains unknown. This study aims to investigate associations between dietary choline and betaine intakes during pregnancy and incident GDM among Chinese women. Methods This case-control study enrolled 168 hospital-based GDM pregnant women and 375 healthy controls during 24–28 gestational weeks when they underwent 75-g oral glucose tolerance test in Shanghai, China. GDM was diagnosed if one or more of the following glucose levels were met: ≥5.1 nmol/L at 0 h, ≥10.0 nmol/L at 1 h, or ≥ 8.5 nmol/L at 2 h. Choline and betaine intakes during pregnancy were assessed by a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire via face-to-face interviews. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between intake of total choline or betaine and GDM risk. Results Compared with the healthy pregnant women, those who developed GDM tended to be older, have relatively higher pre-pregnancy BMI, more parities, higher triglycerides, and lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Generally, there was no significant association between intake of choline or betaine and risk of GDM [OR 0.77, 95% CI (0.41, 1.43) for choline; OR 0.80, 95% CI (0.42–1.52) for betaine] after adjustment for various covariates. However, there was a significant interaction between betaine intake and parity on incident GDM (P = 0.01). Among those with no parity history, the women in the highest quartile of betaine intake had significantly lower incident GDM than those in the lowest quartile [OR 0.25, 95% CI (0.06–0.81)] after adjusting for various covariates. This inverse association was not modified by serum folate status. Conclusions Choline intake during pregnancy was not associated with risk of GDM among these Chinese women. However, there was an inverse correlation between betaine intake and incident GDM among those Chinese women with no parity history. Funding Sources This study was supported by Texas State University startup funds granted to Dr. Jie Zhu.


abstract:The Gejiu region in southeast Yunnan Province was an important metal and ore production area in China as early as the Han Dynasty (202 b.c.–a.d. 220). Past archaeological investigations in this region discovered an ancient smelting site. Large numbers of smelting-related relics including lead discs, copper ingots, and smelting wastes were also excavated from the Heimajing cemetery site nearby. These discoveries suggest that the burial occupants were probably involved in ancient mining, metal smelting, and the metal production industry. An archaeometallurgical analysis of smelting-related relics was conducted. The results demonstrated that lead, copper, and different copper-base alloys were produced in the region. The chemical compositional analysis and lead isotope studies of the samples collected from the Heimajing cemetery site suggest that there was probably a production and supply system and a demand for copper-base products in the Dian Kingdom (now central Yunnan) and Jiaozhi Commandery (now northern Vietnam) through cross-regional resource allocation. The Gejiu region therefore might have had a complete industry chain on the southwest frontier of the Han Empire.


Th2-biasing CD1d ligands are attractive potential candidates for adjuvants and therapeutic drugs. However, the number of potent ligands is limited, and their biasing mechanism remain unclear. Herein, a series of novel Th2-biasing CD1d glycolipid ligands, based on modification of their lipid part, have been identified. These have shown high binding affinities and efficient Th2 cytokine production. Importantly, the truncated acyl chain containing variants still retain their binding affinities and agonistic activities, which can be associated with an "anchoring effect," that is, formation of a buried hydrogen bond between a polar group on the acyl chain and the CD1d lipid-binding pocket. The analysis indicated that the appearance rates of ligand-CD1d complexes on the cell surface were involved in Th2-biasing responses. The designed ligands, having the anchor in the shorter lipid part, are one of the most potent Th2-biasing ligands among the known ligands.


Chirped radio-frequency (RF) pulse generation based on optical spectral shaping and nonlinear wavelength-to-time mapping in a nonlinearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (NLCFBG) is investigated. In the proposed approach, the spectrum of a femtosecond pulse generated by a mode-locked fiber laser is shaped by an optical filter that has a sinusoidal frequency response. The spectrum-shaped optical pulse is sent to the NLCFBG, to implement nonlinear wavelength-to-time mapping. A chirped electrical pulse with the central frequency and chirp rate determined respectively by the first- and second-order dispersions of the NLCFBG is then obtained at the output of a high-speed photodetector. An approximate model that describes the chirped RF pulse generation is derived, which is verified by numerical simulations. Chirped pulse generation with a pulse compression ratio as high as 450 is demonstrated. The key device in the chirped RF pulse generation system is the NLCFBG, which is investigated in detail with an emphasis on the influence of its group delay ripples on the performance of the pulse generation system. Techniques to design and fabricate the NLCFBG are also discussed. The proposed approach provides a potential solution for the generation of chirped RF pulse with a high central frequency and large chirp rate for applications in pulse compression radar systems.


Nutritional genomics has tremendous potential to change the future of dietary guidelines and personal recommendations. Nutrigenetics will provide the basis for personalized dietary recommendations based on the individual's genetic make up. This approach has been used for decades for certain monogenic diseases; however, the challenge is to implement a similar concept for common multifactorial disorders and to develop tools to detect genetic predisposition and to prevent common disorders decades before their manifestation. The preliminary results involving gene-diet interactions for cardiovascular diseases and cancer are promising, but mostly inconclusive. Success in this area will require the integration of different disciplines and investigators working on large population studies designed to adequately investigate gene-environment interactions. Despite the current difficulties, preliminary evidence strongly suggests that the concept should work and that we will be able to harness the information contained in our genomes to achieve successful aging using behavioral changes; nutrition will be the cornerstone of this endeavor.


There are two sorts of singular terms for which we have difficulty applying Donnellan's referential/attributive distinction: complex definite descriptions, and proper names. With respect to the uses of such terms in certain contexts we seem to have conflicting intuitions as to whether they should be classified as referential or attributive. The problem concerning how to apply Donnellan's distinction to the uses of certain complex definite descriptions has never been debated in the literature. On the other hand there have been attempts to extend Donnellan's distinction to the uses of proper names, the most popular one being due to Kripke. However the argument Kripke gives to this end in his 'Speaker's Reference and Semantic Reference' seems to be inconsistent with the position he takes in Naming and Necessity. I suggest that the reason we seem to have conflicting intuitions with respect to the uses of such terms, is because there is not one but two separate distinctions inherent in Donnellan's examples; a pragmatic distinction based on the speaker's intentions in using a term (captured by Kripke), and an epistemic one based on the notion of having an object in mind. In the light of this, I argue that the issue of whether there are attributive uses of proper names, in the latter sense, relates to the epistemic problem of whether a speaker can have de re attitudes toward an object that he does not have in mind. On this epistemic issue Kripke and Donnellan are on opposite sides as revealed by their debate over the issue of whether there are contingent a priori propositions.


Color-guided depth super-resolution (DSR) is an encouraging paradigm that enhances a low-resolution (LR) depth map guided by an extra high-resolution (HR) RGB image from the same scene. Existing methods usually use interpolation to upscale the depth maps before feeding them into the network and transfer the high-frequency information extracted from HR RGB images to guide the reconstruction of depth maps. However, the extracted high-frequency information usually contains textures that are not present in depth maps in the existence of the cross-modality gap, and the noises would be fur- ther aggravated by interpolation due to the resolution gap between the RGB and depth images. To tackle these challenges, we propose a novel Symmetric Uncertainty-aware Feature Transmission (SUFT) for color-guided DSR. (1) For the resolution gap, SUFT builds an iterative up-and-down sampling pipeline, which makes depth features and RGB features spatially consistent while suppressing noise amplification and blurring by replacing common interpolated pre-upsampling. (2) For the cross-modality gap, we propose a novel Symmetric Uncertainty scheme to remove parts of RGB information harmful to the recovery of HR depth maps. Extensive experiments on benchmark datasets and challenging real-world settings suggest that our method achieves superior performance compared to state-of-the-art methods. Our code and models are available at https://github.com/ShiWuxuan/SUFT.


Under the condition that the base of a robot manipulator has motion disturbance, the control of the end-effector target is difficult. In this paper, we show a method for robot control under base motion disturbance and load change with Passivity-Based Adaptive Control and to compensate viscous and coulomb friction. We insert target in Cartesian space and calculate the inverse kinematics. Then the trajectory planning is generated and sent to the controller for compensation. The method of compensation is computed by geometry of the robot and its base. The simulation result shows that the robot can be controlled to target very well under base motion disturbance and load change.


In 1981 as we were completing the implementation of the DIRECT database machine [DEWI79, BORA82], attention turned to evaluating its performance. At that time no standard database benchmark existed. There were only a few application-specific benchmarks. While application-specific benchmarks measure which database system is best for a particular application, it was very difficult to understand them. We were interested in a benchmark to measure DIRECT's speedup characteristics. Thus, we set out to develop a benchmark that could be used to evaluate DIRECT both relative to itself and relative to the "university" version of Ingres.


The authors describe a new method for the reconstruction of the split earlobe in which the earring hole is retained in its original position using double skin flaps to strengthen the repair.


The idea of there being an inherent responsibility on the part of an organisation towards its stakeholders is hardly a novel concept, although there is both agreement and disagreement on what precisely is involved. Agreement takes the form of there being little dispute that some stakeholders are able to wield more power than others; disagreement pervades the debate regarding the precise formulation of the underlying model of responsibility extant, such that a 'contingency' approach would suggest every organisation faces a unique set of stakeholder demands. In all of this it is obviously apparent that one issue has hardly been touched upon at all. This concerns the place of the natural environment[i] in stakeholder analysis i.e. is it a valid corporate stakeholder or not? Freeman's (1984, p. 25) oft-quoted stakeholder definition ("any group or individual who can affect or are affected by the achievement of a corporation's performance") suggests stakeholders have to be human – either as individuals or collectivities. But some authors, particularly Starik (1995) and Carroll (1993) have persuasively argued that the natural environment should be considered a stakeholder in its own right. This would appear to go against the basic tenet of utilitarianism (as espoused by such as Bentham and J S Mill) of "the greatest good for the greatest number," long accepted as a driving force of corporate ambition; and the philosophy/ethics of such as Kant, who viewed human duty (and organisations are, after all, merely collectivities of individuals) being exclusively towards other members of its own species. Both approaches probably explain why the natural environment has consistently been abused by business since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, although to the undoubted financial benefit of some stakeholders, principally owners, employees and suppliers. But even those stakeholder theorists that give credence to the natural environment as a stakeholder have nevertheless still failed to address the obvious point that flora and fauna, the biosphere, mountain ranges and the oceans cannot themselves give expression to the matters of concern about corporate activity that would most distress those elements could they but articulate such concern. So the question then becomes: "Who is best able to speak for the environment?" Are Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other environmental pressure groups best qualified – or do they merely think they are? Who has granted them the mandate they have so obviously assumed? And is there a better way? Thus the paper's objective is to develop proposals for the explicit incorporation of the natural environment into organisations' stakeholder management processes such as to then allow interactions with it as a recognised stakeholder then to be negotiated. This, it is considered, represents 'stakeholder engagement' carried to its logical conclusion.


In the general case of multilevel Toeplitz matrices, we recently proved that any multilevel circulant preconditioner is not superlinear (a cluster it may provide cannot be proper). The proof was based on the concept of quasi-equimodular matrices, although this concept does not apply, for example, to the sine-transform matrices. In this paper, with a new concept of partially equimodular matrices, we cover all trigonometric matrix algebras widely used in the literature. We propose a technique for proving the non-superlinearity of certain frequently used preconditioners for some representative sample multilevel matrices. At the same time, we show that these preconditioners are, in a certain sense, the best among the sublinear preconditioners (with only a general cluster) for multilevel Toeplitz matrices.


The debut of the new millennium is marked by the increased economic and social imbalances. An important task of economic science is to identify the causes and factors that contributed to the radical transformation of the unfolding conditions of economic activity. The existence of different perspectives to approach the new realities may offer greater opportunities for decrypting the conditions that generated so far unknown developments, as well as for shaping solutions to promote new paths of progress and civilization. The defining process with profound implications on the economy and society is represented by the globalization. From this perspective, we have analysed the new dimensions of capital accumulation and economic growth in the context of deregulation and liberalization of the international capital movements. In this context, we have noticed the increasing influence of the financial markets on the economy, the tendency to remove the finances from the real economy requirements, the growing role of external financing using more volatile capital goods, increased competition regarding the access to financing, the significant increase of power of the international capital markets whose characteristic is represented by the increased instability, the implications of the investors' obsession with an excessive profitability of their own funds and the expansion of using sophisticated financial products. Realities of today's financial markets, which are the subject of numerous studies and analyses, have contributed to the association of the arguments that are contesting the thesis on the virtues of self-regulation markets and promoting a new paradigm, within which finances should subordinate the requirements of a balanced and sustained economic growth.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Although cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a Class I Guideline recommendation, and has been shown to be a cost-effective intervention after a cardiac event, it has been reimbursed at levels insufficient to cover hospital operating costs. In January 2011, Medicare increased payment for CR in hospital outpatient settings by ≈180%. We evaluated the association between this payment increase and participation in CR of eligible Medicare beneficiaries to better understand the relationship between reimbursement policy and CR utilization. Methods: From a 5% Medicare claims sample, we identified patients with acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention, or cardiac valve surgery between January 1, 2009 and September 30, 2012, alive 30 days after their event, with continuous enrollment in Medicare fee-for-service, Part A/B for 4 months. Trends and changes in CR participation were estimated using an interrupted time series approach with a hierarchical logistic model, hospital random intercepts, adjusted for patient, hospital, market, and seasonality factors. Estimates were expressed using average marginal effects on a percent scale. Results: Among 76 695 eligible patients, average annual CR participation was 19.5% overall. In the period before payment increase, adjusted annual participation grew by 1.1 percentage points (95% CI, 0.48–2.4). No immediate change occurred in CR participation when the new payment was implemented. In the period after payment increase, on average, 20% of patients participated in CR annually. The annual growth rate in CR participation slowed in the post-period by 1.3 percentage points (95% CI, −2.4 to −0.12) compared with the prior period. Results were somewhat sensitive to time window variations. Conclusions: The 2011 increase in Medicare reimbursement for CR was not associated with an increase in participation. Future studies should evaluate whether payment did not reach a threshold to incentivize hospitals or if hospitals were not sensitive to reimbursement changes.


Analytic expressions are derived for the escape probability of fluorescent photons from planar detectors in terms of exponential integral functions. Regional approximations for these functions are readily available and these analytic expressions therefore facilitate the computation of photon absorption efficiencies. As a further aid a table is presented which should obviate the need for calculating the escape probability for most cases of interest.


It is well-known that performance of the classical algorithms for active noise control (ANC) systems severely degrades when implemented for controlling the impulsive sources. The objective of this paper is to propose a new recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm (and its variant) for being implemented in the framework of ANC systems. The proposed RLS-based adaptive algorithm employs an objective function designed to achieve robustness against the impulse type sources. The derivation of the algorithm is quite straightforward; however, a few modifications have been incorporated to address the application at hand. In order to improve upon the numerical stability issue of RLS-based adaptation, it is suggested to employ smoothing while updating the inverse correlation matrix. Furthermore, it is proposed to introduce a step size in the update equation of the adaptive algorithm. This results in the fixed step-size modified filtered-x (MFx) robust RLS (FSS-MFxRRLS) algorithm. As expected, a fixed value step size results in a trade-off situation for convergence speed and steady-state misalignment. In order to address this issue of a trade-off situation, the idea of a convex combined step size (CCSS) is introduced into the adaptive procedure to develop the CCSS-MFxRRLS algorithm. When the ANC is started, the CCSS strategy (automatically) selects a large-valued step size to achieve a fast initial convergence. As the ANC system converges at the steady-state, the CCSS is automatically tuned to a small value which improves the steady-state performance of the proposed CCSS-MFxRRLS algorithm. Extensive simulations have been designed to mimic many scenarios for practical applications of ANC for impulsive sources. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed CCSS-MFxRRLS algorithm is very effective in many practical scenarios involving ANC of impulsive sources.


A detailed multi-messenger study of the high-energy emission from the Galactic plane is possible nowadays thanks to the observations provided by gamma and neutrino telescopes. We show the potential of this approach by using the total gamma flux from the galactic plane measured by HESS at 1 TeV and in the longitude range −75̂ < l < 60̂. We compare the HESS observational data with expectations for diffuse gamma emission, calculated by using different assumptions for the CR distribution in the Galaxy. We highlight the existence of an extended region of the galactic plane where the observed flux is substantially larger than the diffuse emission, thus calling for an additional contribution of comparable or larger intensity, possibly due to cumulative emission of resolved and unresolved gamma-ray sources. If this additional contribution is due to hadronic interactions, the considered region also produces a large neutrino flux and should be considered as a preferential target for the search of a galactic component in neutrino telescopes. We estimate the total contribution (i.e. including both diffuse and the source components) of this region to the IceCube HESE neutrino dataset as a function of the spectral index and energy cutoff of the sources, taking also into account the upper limit on galactic neutrino emission provided by Antares.


This Study intended to provide positioning strategies of brand Image for ladies` ready to wear by analysing the perceptual dimensions of working women. The subjects were devided into two groups according to the fashion involvement, and in each group, a positioning map was composed by use of multidimensional scaling. 251 subjects of this study were gathered into stratified sample groups from working women in Seoul, being subdivided according to their each occupation and age. The data were analysed by frequency, percentage, avarage, x2-test, t-test, Factor Analysis, cronbach`s a. Also, KYST, PROFIT, PREFMAP for multidimensional scaling were used. The results were as follows. 1. Two groups were identified according to degree of fashion involvement: high-involvement group, and low-involvement group. 2. From the analysis of the similarity of brand image, high involvement group percieved greater difference in brand image than low involvement group. 3. From the analysis of the evaluation of brand attributes, the evaluations in self expression, fashionability, design, sales promotion activity, sociality, quality, fit showed differences between high involvement group and low involvement group. 4. From the analysis of the preference of brand image, the distribution of preference and ideal point were different between high involvement group and low involvement group.


Longer photoperiods in the form of night break (NB) were applied in chrysanthemum to inhibit the flower bud differentiation for regulating the production and supply in the market. The present study reports the effect of three sources of light (Incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and light emitting diodes-LED) as NB treatment on ten genotypes of Korean chrysanthemum for two years i.e. 2015 and 2016. The NB treatment with LED lights resulted in increased internodal length (8.20 and 9.00 mm), partitioning coefficient (30.50 and 31.50), number of stomata per unit area (56.08 and 56.87), anthocyanins (8.99 and 9.16 mg/g) and carotenoids (28.11 and 28.39 mg/g). However, leaf thickness, petiole length, leaf area index, and leaf weight ratio were affected non-significantly. But petiole girth was recorded maximum (1.22 and 1.49 mm) under incandescent bulbs which was at par with LED and significantly higher than CFL.


Tin-containing metal halide perovskites have enormous potential as photovoltaics, both in narrow band gap mixed tin–lead materials for all-perovskite tandems and for lead-free perovskites. The introduction of Sn(II), however, has significant effects on the solution chemistry, crystallization, defect states, and other material properties in halide perovskites. In this perspective, we summarize the main hurdles for tin-containing perovskites and highlight successful attempts made by the community to overcome them. We discuss important research directions for the development of these materials and propose some approaches to achieve a unified understanding of Sn incorporation. We particularly focus on the discussion of charge carrier dynamics and nonradiative losses at the interfaces between perovskite and charge extraction layers in p-i-n cells. We hope these insights will aid the community to accelerate the development of high-performance, stable single-junction tin-containing perovskite solar cells and all-perovskite tandems.


Abstract—Vegetation affects the mean and turbulent flow structure. It may increase flood risks and sediment transport. Therefore, it is important to develop analytical approaches for the bed shear stress on vegetated bed, to predict resistance caused by vegetation. In the recent years, experimental and numerical models have both been developed to model the effects of submerged vegetation on open-channel flow. In this paper, different analytic models are compared and tested using the criteria of deviation, to explore their capacity for predicting the mean velocity and select the suitable one that will be applied in real case of rivers. The comparison between the measured data in vegetated flume and simulated mean velocities indicated, a good performance, in the case of rigid vegetation, whereas, Huthoff model shows the best agreement with a high coefficient of determination (R=80%) and the smallest error in the prediction of the average velocities.


OBJECTIVE
Hydroxylamine is an important intermediate product of anammox. This study was focused on the characteristics of hydroxylamine and nitrite conversions by anammox enrichment.

METHODS
The changes of nitrogenous substrates and related products with time were measured using batch tests with anammox enrichment as inoculum.

RESULTS
Since hydroxylamine didn't react with nitrite in uninoculated control culture, these two compounds were chemically stable. Both of them decreased with time in anammox enrichment inoculated cultures, in which ammonia as intermediate product would be produced and converted with the maximum concentration being 0.338 mg/L. The total nitrogen concentration decreased from 4.694 mmol/L to 0.812 mmol/L with conversion rate 82.7% in the end. When hydroxylamine and nitrite concentrations were about 2.5 mmol/L respectively, the maximum specific sludge conversion rates of hydroxylamine was 0.535 mmol/(gVSS.h), which was 1.81 times bigger than that of ammonia in ammonia reaction system; the maximum specific sludge rate of total nitrogen was slightly higher than that in ammonia reaction system. When hydroxylamine concentration increased to 5.0 mmol/L, the hydroxylamine and nitrite conversion rates promoted by 26.7% and 120.7% respectively; and the maximum ammonia accumulated was 1.810 mmol/L. When nitrite concentration increased to 5.0 mmol/L, the hydroxylamine and nitrite conversion rates promoted by 6.9% and 9.0% respectively; and the maximum ammonia accumulated was 0.795 mmol/L.

CONCLUSION
Anammox enrichment was capable of converting hydroxylamine and nitrite simultaneously and had the higher conversion rate of hydroxylamine than ammonia conversion rate. Hydroxylamine and nitrite conversion rates were less affected by increase in nitrite concentration, but more significantly influenced by increase in hydroxylamine. The maximum ammonia concentration accumulated would rise as the result of increasing both hydroxylamine and nitrite. The result of experiment was consistent with pathway model presented by van de Graaf AA.


Microcalorimeters are used by National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) for the realization of the radio frequency and microwaves (RF&MW) primary power standard. Since they are not available on the market, NMIs have to design their own systems. It involves the design of complex mechanical structures and of low-noise data acquisition systems. Resulting setups allow precision measurements of RF&MW power by applying difficult and time-consuming measurement techniques. Weaknesses to be addressed in order to improve the performance, whether in the mechanical structure or in the data acquisition electronics, are not easy to identify. Anyway, they can be found by analyzing the microcalorimeter measurement uncertainty. In recent years, several improvements have been made on the [Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM), Italy] coaxial microcalorimeter with the aim of making its operation more stable and to reduce the measurement uncertainty. Its weak points are here analyzed by means of a comprehensive uncertainty budget. Details are also given on how uncertainty contributions have been determined. The method here applied is general and can be conveniently used in many other fields or applications, provided that the analytical model is known. It is useful while designing an experiment and/or a posteriori to identify the parts of the apparatus and of the measurement setup that needs to be optimized.


The nature of horizons in an inflationary universe is most clearly seen through conformal diagrams, which are presented in this paper. They are used to discuss the nature of these horizons and practical causal limits imposed by physical considerations in these universes. In particular they illustrate causal limitations arising during the reheating phase at the end of inflation.


A description is given of a system for debt decision support which flexibly integrates optimization and simulation modeling and heuristic reasoning for nonexpert users through an object-oriented, domain-specific knowledge base. Stable domain relationships and mathematical procedures are encapsulated in domain object classes; domain object instances are combined to form common model representations manipulated by operators specific to each model type. The approach is applicable in domains in which stable entities and interactions exist and in which model flexibility results from varying combinations of entities, conditions which are found in many financial and other business modeling situations.<<ETX>>


Cognition of user behavior can make future mobile networks more intelligent and flexible. Knowledge about users' habits can be used to personalize services and intelligently manage network resources. However, inferring this key information with a low-cost signaling implementation, and avoiding constant user interaction, is crucial for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). With this motivation, this paper investigates the detection of the real-life mobile user environment using context-aware detection via multi-task learning (MTL). We propose models that are able to automatically detect up to eight distinct real-life user environments. We also improve the detection accuracy with the assistance of the mobility state profiling task. We associate both environment and mobility tasks because they correspond to the main attributes of user behavior and, additionally, both of them are correlated. Using MTL, the task of detecting environment corresponds to simultaneously answering the questions: "how and where mobile user consumes mobile services?". We build models using real-life radio data which is already available in network. This data has been massively gathered from multiple diversified situations of mobile users. Simulation results support our claim to detect several environment classes in network infrastructure with improved UED accuracy.


We investigate a range of possible materials containing the supermolecular form of hydrogen comprising 13 hydrogen molecules arranged in an icosahedral arrangement. This supermolecule consists of freely rotating 12 hydrogen molecules in an icosahedral arrangement, enclosing another freely rotating molecule. To date, this supermolecule has only been observed in a compound with Iodane (HI). The extremely high hydrogen content suggests possible application in hydrogen storage so we examine the possibility of supermolecule formation at ambient pressures. We show that ab initio molecular dynamics calculations give a good description of the known properties of the HI(H2)13 material, and make predictions of the existence of related compounds Xe(H2)1, HBr(H2)13 and HCl(H2)13, including a symmetry-breaking phase transition at low temperature. The icosahedral (H2)13 supermolecule, remains stable in all these compounds. This suggests (H2)13 is a widespread feature in hydrogen compounds, and that appropriately-sized cavities could hold hydrogen supermolecules even at low pressure. The structure of the supermolecule network is shown to be independent of the compound at equivalent density.


Syringomas are benign lesions most commonly appearing around the eyelids and in malar areas, but they have also been described on other body sites. Depending on the site they may cause either aesthetic disturbance (e.g. face, neck, arms) or pruritus (e.g. vulva). This is the first report of argon laser treatment of syringoma in a patient with multiple vulvar syringomas in association with pruritus vulvae and carcinophobia.


The prevalence of hoarding (collection of and refusal to discard unneeded items) is higher in older adults than the general population and has been correlated with dementia. Treatments to increase cooperation with discarding hoarded items have not been systematically evaluated. This study evaluated two procedures for increasing cooperation with handing over hoarded items in an older adult with dementia. The antecedent-based intervention effectively increased cooperation.


PbS quantum dot solar cells (QDSCs) have emerged as a promising low-cost solution processable solar energy harvesting device and demonstrated good air stability and potential for large-scale commercial implementation. PbS QDSC achieved a record certified efficiency of 12% in 2018 by utilizing an n+-n-p device structure. However, the p-type layer has generally suffered from low carrier mobility due to the organic ligand 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) that is used to modify the quantum dot (QD) surface. The low carrier mobility of EDT naturally limits the device thickness as the carrier diffusion length is limited by the low mobility. Herein, we improve the properties of the p-type layer through a 2-step hybrid organic ligand treatment. By treating the p-type layer with two types of ligands, 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and EDT, the PbS QD surface was passivated by a combination of the two ligands, resulting in an overall improvement in open circuit voltage, fill factor and current density, leading to an improvement in cell efficiency from 7.0% to a champion cell efficiency of 10.4%. This achievement was a result of improved QD passivation and a reduction in interdot distance, improving charge transport through the p-type PbS quantum dot film.


We report on the synthesis and characterization of CsSnI3 perovskite semiconductor thin films deposited on inexpensive substrates such as glass and ceramics. These films contained polycrystalline domains with typical size of 300 nm. It is confirmed experimentally that CsSnI3 compound in its black phase is a direct band-gap semiconductor, consistent with the calculated band structure from the first principles. The band gap is determined to be 1.3 eV at point at room temperature. © 2010 American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3442511


Over the last decade, significant advances have been made in characterization of the coral microbiota. Shifts in its composition often correlate with the appearance of signs of diseases and/or bleaching, thus suggesting a link between microbes, coral health and stability of reef ecosystems. The understanding of interactions in coral-associated microbiota is informed by the on-going characterization of other microbiomes, which suggest that metabolic pathways and functional capabilities define the 'core' microbiota more accurately than the taxonomic diversity of its members. Consistent with this hypothesis, there does not appear to be a consensus on the specificity in the interactions of corals with microbial commensals, even though recent studies report potentially beneficial functions of the coral-associated bacteria. They cycle sulphur, fix nitrogen, produce antimicrobial compounds, inhibit cell-to-cell signalling and disrupt virulence in opportunistic pathogens. While their beneficial functions have been documented, it is not certain whether or how these microbes are selected by the hosts. Therefore, understanding the role of innate immunity, signal and nutrient exchange in the establishment of coral microbiota and in controlling its functions will probably reveal ancient, evolutionarily conserved mechanisms that dictate the outcomes of host–microbial interactions, and impact the resilience of the host.


The article considers the methods of correction of infantile colic, the causes and the mechanism of which still remain poorly understood. Various methods to relieve the symptoms of colic in infants, such as psychotherapy, physical methods of soothing, methods for dietary and pharmacological correction, are analyzed in detail, and an assessment of their effectiveness is provided on the basis of clinical trials being conducted.


The optimization layout of the acceleration sensor and application of particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to solve the fitness problems of such optimization are discussed in this paper. Based on the gearbox finite element modeling and the result of modal analysis, use the particle swarm optimization with adaptive velocity (VPSO) algorithm, and take the two kinds of fitness function as evaluation goal, has realized the optimization and positioning of gearbox sensor layout, analyzed optimization result.


OBJECTIVE
This study was performed to determine the rate of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) among cases of Behçet's disease (BD) included in a multicentre study of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (VENOST).

METHODS
VENOST was a retrospective and prospective national multicentre observational study that included 1144 patients with CVST. The patients were classified according to aetiologic factors, time of CVST symptom onset, sinus involvement, treatment approach and prognosis.

RESULTS
BD was shown to be a causative factor of CVST in 108 (9.4%) of 1144 patients. The mean age of patients in the BD group was 35.27 years and 68.5% were men, whereas in the non-BD CVST group, the mean age was 40.57 years and 28.3% were men (P < 0.001). Among the aetiologic factors for patients aged 18-36 years, BD was predominant for men, and puerperium was predominant for women. The onset of symptoms in the BD group was consistent with the subacute form. The transverse sinuses were the most common sites of thrombosis, followed by the superior sagittal sinuses. The most common symptom was headache (96.2%), followed by visual field defects (38%).

CONCLUSIONS
BD was found in 9.4% of patients in our VENOST series. Patients with BD were younger and showed a male predominance. The functional outcome of CVST in patients with BD was good; only 12% of patients presenting with cranial nerve involvement and altered consciousness at the beginning had a poor outcome (modified Rankin Score ⩾2).


Like any other organization, audit committee is a vital mechanism the government needs to use to monitor management's behavior in the sector in order to enhance a proactive oversight of financial compliance, reporting and disclosure process. The audit committee plays an oversight responsibility and assists a board to monitor responsibilities of an organization or institution hence their effectiveness is crucial in proper financial management. The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between audit committee effectiveness and financial management in government ministries in Kenya. Specific objectives of the study were to establish the effect of audit committee membership composition on financial management in government ministries in Kenya, to find out the relationship between audit committee independence and financial management in government ministries in Kenya, to determine how audit committee charter affects financial management in government ministries in Kenya, and to establish the relationship between audit committee members technical skills and financial management in government ministries in Kenya. The study utilized a descriptive research design whereby descriptive survey designs were used. The target population of the study consisted of the members of the audit committee who made a target population of 60 respondents. The sample size of 30 respondents was generated by sampling 50% of the respondents in each committee. Primary data was used in this study by use of questionnaires. Data was organized mainly by use of frequencies, descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics included mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistical techniques included correlation and regression analysis which was used to draw a causal relationship between the independent variables and financial management. The study found that audit committees with more than 3 members have been found to be more effective on ministerial financial management compared to those with fewer members. The study also established that competency determines the efficiency of the auditor in setting a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes in your ministry. The study finally established that audit committee membership composition contribute most to the financial management followed by audit committee independence. At 5% level of significance and 95% level of confidence, audit committee membership composition, audit committee independence, audit committee charter, and audit committee members' technical skills are significant in financial management. The study concluded that audit committee meetings are held at least 4 times in a year in specified intervals increasing financial performance of the various ministries. The study recommended that government ministries to adopt proper audit charter by having independent directors on the board, an independent board chair, an effective audit committee both external and internal audit mechanisms so as to independently carry audit mandate in the department.
Keywords: Audit committee independence, audit committee charter, audit committee membership composition, audit committee members technical skills, financial management, government ministries, Kenya.