The research problem was represented by the lack of interest in the organizational performance of the supervisors of the activity. Adultery in the education directorates, as it represents the final result and the outcome achieved by the school sports people, which like to be on a high degree of efficiency, effectiveness and creativity.  The case and the research community is referring to the technical supervisors in the school sport divisions throughout Iraq intentionally Kurdistan Region. The two researchers have built the organizational performance scale in a way that matches the specificity of the research problem and its sample.  Statistical results (spss) The results of the organizational creativity axis appeared in the first order in the axes of the organizational performance scale, Walid Al-Ghayia Medical, and after him the natural competence in a way that shows the importance of the organizational performance of the miniature in general and the school sport in particular


We systematically reviewed the available literature and meta-analyzed the data which was specialized in Down syndrome (DS) diagnosis with proteomic techniques. Pubmed, EBSCOhost and ScienceDirect searches for relevant articles published from inception until July 2010 were obtained and ten articles were selected. Many candidate biomarkers were found, which could be used to identify Down syndrome. There were 14 markers noted more than two times and 29 best biomarkers were recommended by the authors particularly for clinical application. Application of proteomics contributed to the finding of novel biomarker for prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, providing opportunities for the development of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.

 Key words: Down syndrome, proteomic, aneuploidy, prenatal diagnosis, meta-analysis


Surface treatment for sink rolls is an important issue due to the hostile environment in the zinc pot. Thermal sprayed WC-Co coating is one of the solutions to prolong the life of the rolls and to improve the quality of the galvanized steel sheets. In this study, a high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spray gun was used to prepare nano-structured and conventional WC-Co coatings. After immersion in the zinc pot for six weeks, some coatings were seriously damaged. Cross-sectional microstructure and elemental analysis were performed to determine the corrosion morphology and mechanism. The results showed the nanostructured coating is less corrosion resistant than the conventional one in molten zinc. The molten zinc intrudes through cracks to attack the substrate which causes major destruction of the coating.


A novel type of low-profile broadband and dual-frequency monopole antennas is developed for wireless applications. The broadband monopole consists of an S-strip and a folded T-strip which are separately printed on the two sides of a thin planar substrate. No via process is involved in the fabrication. The two-strip planar monopole can achieve a bandwidth (VSWR<2) of ~35% with a height of 0.056lambda0. The dual-frequency operation of the broadband monopole antenna is realized by adding a short T-strip to the S-strip and a couple of inverted-L strips to the folded T-strip. The dual-frequency monopole can accomplish a bandwidth of ~40% at a lower-frequency band and ~10% at a higher-frequency with a total height of 0.08lambda0


In West African countries, agricultural production per capita has decreased over the past half century. With continued population growth and the diminishing availability of marginal arable land, pressure on land is rapidly increasing and there is now a common view that crop yield must be increased in this region, especially as there is a wide gap between actual and potential yields. Although there are several factors which may explain this yield gap, the fact that agricultural production takes place in resource-constrained farm households exposed to risk is widely recognized as being important. Indeed, risk discourages the adoption of high-risk, high-return agricultural technologies, which in turn impedes the improvement of yields. In order to assess how climatic risk constrains intensification strategy in West Africa, we built and calibrated a bioeconomic farm simulation model predicting the choice to intensify crops or livestock as depending on the availability of key policies in the economic environment of farms, for typical cases in the groundnut basin of Senegal. These cases include two regions contrasted in terms of rainfall (Sine and Saloum) and in each region two typical farms, representing poor and less poor farmers. The model features uncertainty in weather (hence yields) and crop prices, farmer's risk aversion, nine cropping systems representing millet, maize and groundnut with various intensification levels, and the main interactions between crop and livestock: draught animal power, the feeding of animals with suitable crop products (groundnut haulms, cereal straw) and the production of farm manure. Farmers are constraint by land, labour, cash and credit availability. 180 households were surveyed to build the socio-demographic and economic dataset used by the model, and agronomic data were collected from 206 fields. These key policies analysed are (i) weather index insurances against drought impact on crop yields, either subsidised or not, (ii) subsidies to short term credit for purchasing farm inputs, (iii) subsidies to fertilizer, and (iv) direct payments to farmers. In our simulations, under the current climate and prices of agricultural products and inputs, all these policies appear favourable to the increase of farmers' expected utility for typical farms representing the vast majority of farms in the groundnut basin. Apart for insurance, all of them appear also favourable to intensification of coupled crop and livestock activities for those typical farms. Insurance appears favourable to this intensification strategy only for farms located in the northern part of the region studied, where climatic risk is higher. Among the scenario tested, for most typical farms, combining unsubsidized insurance with subsidized credit appeared as the best use of a given amount of public funds in support of crop intensification: subsidized credit allows the farmers to buy costly inputs while insurance reduces the risk that a drought prevents them from reimbursing the credit. Direct payments also rank high in this respect, because they efficiently mitigate the cash constraint. The amount of subsidies required to obtain a given increase of the value of farm production varies across farm types and subzones in the region, but is relatively reasonable. These results suggest that crop intensification is currently relatively close to becoming a relevant option for farmers and that public policies may favour it by improving the economic environment of farms. (Texte integral)


With rapid development of green building in China, the government and construction firms are increasingly focusing on construction waste recycling which is a branch of green building. However, with simple disposal methods, low efficiency and serious environmental pollutions, China lags behind with other developed countries in the technology of construction waste recycling, which urgently needs improvement. This paper will take Chongqing as an example, which is one of the five centre cities in China, to illustrate the present situation and the existed problems in this field in China and then puts forward some corresponding countermeasures from the aspects of technology, management and policy, aiming at enhancing the level of construction waste treatment in China. (Key word) Construction Waste; Countermeasures; Chongqing


Leaf phenology dictates the time available for carbon assimilation, transpiration and nutrient uptake in plants. Understanding the environmental cues that control phenology is therefore vital for predicting climate-related changes to plant and ecosystem function. In contrast to temperate systems, and to a lesser degree, tropical forest systems, the cues initiating leaf drop in tropical savannas are poorly studied. We investigated the cues for leaf fall in a tropical monodominant arid savanna species, Colophospermum mopane, using an irrigation experiment. We tracked soil moisture, solar radiation, air temperature, leaf water status, leaf health and leaf carbon balance through the dry season in both irrigated and control plants. Water was the primary cue driving leaf loss of C. mopane rather than temperature or light. Trees watered throughout the dry season retained their canopies. These leaves remained functional and continued photosynthesis throughout the dry season. Leaf carbon acquisition rates did not decline with leaf age but were affected by soil moisture availability and temperature. Leaf loss did not occur when leaf carbon gain was zero, or when a particular leaf carbon threshold was reached. Colophospermum mopane is facultatively deciduous as water availability determines leaf drop in this widespread arid savanna species. Obligate deciduosity is not the only successful strategy in climates with a long dry season.


The objective of this study is to describe the incidence of transient hypertension and to evaluate if transient hypertension is associated with increased maternal or fetal morbidity as compared to other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and normotensive controls. Data were collected from all deliveries at the University of Mississippi Medical Center from July 1, 1996 through January 1, 1997. Patients were grouped according to ACOG criteria for pregnancy induced hypertension. Specific maternal and fetal morbidities were compared among the groups and controls. There were 1489 deliveries during the study period. Nearly 30% of patients met the criteria for transient hypertension. There were no significant differences between patients with transient hypertension and controls in regard to maternal and fetal outcomes. Transient hypertension occurs more often than expected, however, it appears to be of limited clinical significance.


Inhalation exposure models are becoming the preferred method for the comparative study of respiratory infectious diseases due to their resemblance to the natural route of infection. To enable precise delivery of pathogen to the lower respiratory tract in a manner that imposes minimal biosafety risk, nose-only exposure systems have been developed. Early inhalation exposure technology for infectious disease research grew out of technology used in asthma research where predominantly the Collison nebulizer is used to generate an aerosol by beating a liquid sample against glass. Although infectious aerosol droplets of 1–5 μm in size can be generated, the Collison often causes loss of viability. In this work, we evaluate a gentler method for aerosolization of living cells and describe the use of the Sparging Liquid Aerosol Generator (SLAG) in a rat pneumonic plague model. The SLAG creates aerosols by continuous dripping of liquid sample on a porous metal disc. We show the generation of 0.5–1 μm Yersinia pestis aerosol particles using the SLAG with spray factors typically ranging from 10−7 to 10−8 with no detectable loss of bacterial viability. Delivery of these infectious particles via nose-only exposure led to the rapid development of lethal pneumonic plague. Further, we evaluated the effect of restraint-stress imposed by the nose-only exposure chamber on early inflammatory responses and bacterial deposition. Elevated serum corticosterone which peaked at 2 h post-procedure indicated the animals experienced stress as a result of restraint in the nose-only chamber. However, we observed no correlation between elevated corticosterone and the amount of bacterial deposition or inflammation in the lungs. Together these data demonstrate the utility of the SLAG and the nose-only chamber for aerosol challenge of rodents by Y. pestis.


AIM
To prospectively evaluate the usefulness of a pattern-based classification of contrast-enhanced sonographic findings for differential diagnosis of hepatic tumors.

METHODS
We evaluated the enhancement pattern of the contrast-enhanced sonography images in 586 patients with 586 hepatic lesions, consisting of 383 hepatocellular carcinomas, 89 metastases, and 114 hemangiomas. After injecting a galactose-palmitic acid contrast agent, lesions were scanned by contrast-enhanced harmonic gray-scale sonography in three phases: arterial, portal, and late. The enhancement patterns of the initial 303 lesions were classified retrospectively, and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify enhancement patterns that allowed differentiation between hepatic tumors. We then used the pattern-based classification of enhancement we had retrospectively devised to prospectively diagnose 283 liver tumors.

RESULTS
Seven enhancement patterns were found to be significant predictors of different hepatic tumors. The presence of homogeneous or heterogeneous enhancement both in the arterial and portal phase was the typical enhancement pattern for hepatocellular carcinoma, while the presence of peritumoral vessels in the arterial phase and ring enhancement or a perfusion defect in the portal phase was the typical enhancement pattern for metastases, and the presence of peripheral nodular enhancement both in the arterial and portal phase was the typical enhancement pattern for hemangioma. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of prospective diagnosis based on the combinations of enhancement patterns, respectively, were 93.2%, 96.2%, and 94.0% for hepatocellular carcinoma, 87.9%, 99.6%, and 98.2% for metastasis, and 95.6%, 94.1%, and 94.3% for hemangioma.

CONCLUSION
The pattern-based classification of the contrast-enhanced sonographic findings is useful for differentiating among hepatic tumors.


Purslane is a vegetarian source of n-3 PUFA (α-linolenic acid). The objective of the present work was to explore purslane as n-3 source to mitigate hyperlipidemia in rat model. Group of rats (n=48) were fed on high cholesterol diet to induce hyperlipidemia. Group 1,2,3,4 and 5 (n=6/group) were fed on aqueous extract of purslane (AEP) and lovastanin diet while group 6 and 7 were treated as hyperlipidemic and normal control. The results revealed a significant (p<0.05) reduction in serum TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C, TAG, increase in serum HDL-C level observed in AEP fed rats as compared to cholesterol induced hyperlipidemic control group. Groups treated with AEP and lovastatin also demonstrated considerable decrease in LDL-C: HDL-C ratios, levels of SGOT, SGPT, ALP activities and body weight in comparison to control group. Therefore, administration of AEP concluded that 150 mg/kg body weight AEP is a potent cardio-protective agent having preventive and curative effect against hyperlipidemia.


This paper reconsiders the task of MRDbased word sense disambiguation, in extending the basic Lesk algorithm to investigate the impact on WSD performance of different tokenisation schemes, scoring mechanisms, methods of gloss extension and filtering methods. In experimentation over the Lexeed Sensebank and the Japanese Senseval2 dictionary task, we demonstrate that character bigrams with sense-sensitive gloss extension over hyponyms and hypernyms enhances WSD performance.


MUC1, an O-glycoprotein membrane-bound mucin, is overexpressed in clear-cell carcinomas (cRCC) with correlation to two prognostic factors, tumor-node metastasis stage and nuclear Furhman grade. Previously (Aubert et al, Cancer Res 2009), we have shown that MUC1 was significantly overexpressed in metastatic cRCC vs non-metastatic cRCC and MUC1 is a target gene of HIF-1 transcription factor which is a part of the hypoxia pathway, the main renal carcinogenetic pathway. To better understand the roles of MUC1 in cRCC, we used two renal cell lines expressing MUC1 (Caki-2) or not (ACHN cells). Caki-2 cells were stably transfected with shRNA targeting MUC1 and ACHN cells with an expressing vector containing MUC1 cDNA. Flow cytometry assay and confocal microscopy showed a homogenous membrane expression of MUC1 but also in the nucleus. In vitro studies underlined MUC1 role in the invasion, migration and anchorage-independent growth. In contrast, MUC1 had no role in proliferation and clonogenicity. Cellular agreggation test showed that MUC1 expression is associated with a decrease of cell-cell interactions. Phospho-JNK and phospho-p38 levels were higher in MUC1 expressing cells. Transcriptomic analysis results performed on 44K Agilent Microarrays suggest that MUC1 is a candidate in chemoresistance. Subcutaneous xenograft will be also performed. Our results show that MUC1 plays a role in biological properties of renal cancer cells suggesting the important function for this mucin in tumor progression and confirms its potential as a therapeutic target in this type of cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2737. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2737


Abstract: From crisis management to the overall planning, China's response to the unrest in the Middle East has achieved great success. Today China must understand the influence of the unrest in the Middle East by taking the overall international and domestic situations into consideration, namely, understanding its influence as ''tests in the external environment'' and the changes it causes to the international setting of China; China must review its experiences of coping with the unrest in the Middle East and correct any flaws in its present policies; China must work out scientific, mid- and long-term strategies for the Middle East and corresponding measures. In particular, she should better its understanding of the strategic position of the Middle East and enhance her participation in the Middle Eastern affairs while adhering to its traditional diplomatic principles.


Abstract A growing number of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers (CNT/F) exposure and epidemiologic studies have utilized 25- and 37-mm open-faced cassettes (OFCs) to assess the inhalable aerosol fraction. It has been previously established that the 37-mm OFC undersamples particles >20 µm in diameter, but the size-selective characteristics of the 25-mm OFC have not yet been fully evaluated. This article describes an experimental study conducted to determine if the 25- and 37-mm OFCs performed with relative equivalence to a reference inhalable aerosol sampler when challenged with CNT/F particles. Side-by-side paired samples were collected within a small Venturi chamber using a 25-mm styrene OFC, 37-mm styrene OFC, 25-mm aluminum OFC, and button inhalable aerosol sampler. Three types of CNT/F materials and an Arizona road dust were used as challenge aerosols for the various sampler configurations. Repeated experiments were conducted for each sampler configuration and material. The OFC samplers operated at flow rates of 2 and 5 L/min. Results showed that the 25-mm OFC performed comparably to the button sampler when challenged with CNT/F aerosols, which was demonstrated in five of the six experimental scenarios with an average error of 21%. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the sampling efficiency of the 25- and 37-mm OFCs adequately followed the ISO/ACGIH/CEN inhalable sampling convention when challenged with CNT/F aerosols. Past exposure and epidemiologic studies that used these OFC samplers can directly compare their results to studies that have used other validated inhalable aerosol samplers.


Grid technologies allow for distributed computing and collaboration. Scientists and others utilizing grid collaboration tools often need to share resources using applications besides seeing and hearing each other with audio and video. The ability to share applications in real time is crucial for distant learning and remote collaboration. Web browser sharing is particularly important to long distance biomedical education and research, since a range of biomedical information resources are accessible via the web, including databases of gene sequences, protein structures, biomedical literature, drug and clinical trials. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has focused on increasing the interactivity and functionality of the shared web browser on Access Grid. Satisfactory synchronization performance was observed as well as the return of retrieval to all participating browsers when NLM's online databases were searched. NLM plans to apply those methods to other shared applications for highly interactive long distance training and research collaboration.


The H2020 European research project GHOST – Safe-Guarding Home IoT Environments with Personalised Realtime Risk Control – aims to deploy a highly effective security framework for IoT smart home residents through a novel reference architecture for user-centric cyber security in smart homes providing an unobtrusive and user-comprehensible solution. The aforementioned security framework leads to a transparent cyber security environment by increasing the effectiveness of the existing cyber security services and enhancing system's self-defence through disruptive software-enabled network security solutions. In this paper GHOST security framework for IoT-based smart homes is presented. It is aiming to address the security challenges posed by several types of attacks, such as network, device and software. The effective design of the overall multi-layered architecture is analysed, with particular emphasis given to the integration aspects through dynamic and re-configurable solutions and the features provided by each one of the architectural layers. Additionally, real-life trials and the associated use cases are described showcasing the competences and potential of the proposed framework.


— Iris segmentation is foremost part of iris recognition system. There are four steps in iris recognition: segmentation, normalization, encoding and matching. Here, iris segmentation has been implemented using Hough Transform and Integro-Differential Operator techniques. The performance of iris recognition system depends on segmentation and normalization technique. Iris recognition systems capture an image from individual eye. Then the image captured is segmented and normalized for encoding process. The matching technique, Hamming Distance, is used to match the iris codes of iris in the database weather it is same with the newly enrolled for verification stage. These processes produce values of average circle pupil, average circle iris, error rate and edge points. The values provide acceptable measures of accuracy False Accept Rate (FAR) or False Reject Rate (FRR). Hough Transform algorithm, provide better performance, at the expense of higher computational complexity. It is used to evolve a contour that can fit to a non-circular iris boundary. However, edge information is required to control the evolution and stopping the contour. The performance of Hough Transform for CASIA database was 80.88% due to the lack of edge information. The GAR value using Hough Transform is 98.9% genuine while 98.6% through Integro-Differential Operator.


Large-amplitude internal solitary waves in a stratification comprising a thick, lower, homogeneous layer separated from a thin, upper, homogeneous layer by a broad gradient region are studied using simultaneous measurements of the density and velocity fields. Density field measurements are achieved through synthetic schlieren, operating in an absolute mode to allow efficient and accurate measurements of density in systems with strong curvatures and large perturbations to the density field. The images used for these density measurements are interleaved with images used for particle image velocimetry by phase locking two video cameras (one configured for the density measurements and the other for the velocity measurements) with a computer-driven LCD monitor, allowing the background texture required for synthetic schlieren to be turned off for the particle image velocimetry measurements on the mid-plane of the experimental tank. The simultaneous measurements of both density and velocity fields not only allow greater insight into the internal wave dynamics, but also allow the velocity measurements to be corrected for the normal errors associated with the refractive index variations. As an illustration of the power of this technique, we determine for the first time in an internal solitary wave the spatial structure of the local gradient Richardson number, finding regions where this falls below the limit for linear stability.


Animals harbor diverse communities of microbes within their gastrointestinal tracts. Phylogenetic relationship, diet, gut morphology, host physiology, and ecology all influence microbiome composition within and between animal clades. Emerging evidence points to host genetics as also playing a role in determining gut microbial composition within species. Here, we discuss recent advances in the study of microbiome heritability across a variety of animal species. Candidate gene and discovery-based studies in humans, mice, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, cattle, swine, poultry, and baboons reveal trends in the types of microbes that are heritable and the host genes and pathways involved in shaping the microbiome. Heritable gut microbes within a host species tend to be phylogenetically restricted. Host genetic variation in immune- and growth-related genes drives the abundances of these heritable bacteria within the gut. With only a small slice of the metazoan branch of the tree of life explored to date, this is an area rife with opportunities to shed light into the mechanisms governing host-microbe relationships.


Over the last few years, the phenomenon of adversarial examples --- maliciously constructed inputs that fool trained machine learning models --- has captured the attention of the research community, especially when the adversary is restricted to small modifications of a correctly handled input. Less surprisingly, image classifiers also lack human-level performance on randomly corrupted images, such as images with additive Gaussian noise. In this paper we provide both empirical and theoretical evidence that these are two manifestations of the same underlying phenomenon, establishing close connections between the adversarial robustness and corruption robustness research programs. This suggests that improving adversarial robustness should go hand in hand with improving performance in the presence of more general and realistic image corruptions. Based on our results we recommend that future adversarial defenses consider evaluating the robustness of their methods to distributional shift with benchmarks such as Imagenet-C.


Author(s): Knyshov, Alexander | Advisor(s): Weirauch, Christiane | Abstract: Dipsocoromorpha, or the minute litter bugs, are a poorly studied and minuscule group of true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) with uncertain phylogenetic position, often bizarre morphology, and substantial undescribed biodiversity. A combination of taxonomic revisions, comparative morphological studies, and phylogenetic analyses based on both morphological and molecular data is employed to advance our knowledge of the group. The first chapter taxonomically revises the New World genus Chinannus and describes 26 new species. The second chapter develops and tests a cost-efficient DNA sequencing method for archival specimens. The third chapter uses and refines this method to conduct a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of a very diverse group of dipsocoromorphans, the Corixidea genus group. The fourth chapter taxonomically revises the genus Voragocoris that belongs to the Corixidea genus group, building on the phylogeny inferred in chapter three, and describing seven new species. The fifth chapter conducts a comparative study of abdominal morphology in Dipsocoromorpha, and both standardizes the terminology and proposes primary homology hypotheses, that could be used for a phylogenetic reconstruction. The sixth, and last, chapter presents a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Dipsocoromorpha based on both morphological and molecular data.


SUMMARY The generative mechanism(s) of aggregation and predisposition to Ascaris lumbricoides and A. suum infections in their host population are currently unknown and difficult to elucidate in humans and pigs for ethical/logistical reasons. A recently developed, optimized murine model based on 2 inbred strains, putatively susceptible (C57BL/6j) and resistant (CBA/Ca) to infection, was exploited to elucidate further the basis of the contrasting parasite burdens, most evident at the pulmonary stage. We explored the kinetics of early infection, focusing on the composite lobes of the liver and lung, over the first 8 days in an effort to achieve a more detailed understanding of the larval dispersal over time and the point at which worm burdens diverge. Larval recoveries showed a heterogenous distribution among the lobes of the lungs, being higher in the right lung of both strains, and in the susceptible strain larvae accumulating preferentially in 2 (caudal and middle) of the 4 lobes. Total larval burdens in these 2 lobes were largely responsible for the higher worm burdens in the susceptible strain. While total lung larval recoveries significantly differed between mouse strains, a difference in liver larval burdens was not observed. However, an earlier intense inflammatory response coupled with more rapid tissue repair in the hepatic lobes was observed in CBA/Ca mice, in contrast to C57BL/6j mice, and it is possible that these processes are responsible for restricting onward pulmonary larval migration in the resistant genotype.


This study sought to ascertain the presence of meaningful subtypes of alcohol and other drug involvement among homeless persons. Subtypes were derived using factor analysis to determine dimensions underlying alcohol involvement and cluster analysis to create unique subtypes. The types with the highest level of alcohol or drug use had the longest period of continuous homelessness and were less likely to have exited from homelessness when reinterviewed 6 months later. The dimensions represent a more sophisticated framework for describing alcohol and drug involvement among homeless persons and may be useful for practitioners in conducting assessments, designing programs, and planning interventions.


It has been decided that the sphere of usefulness of this Journal will be greatly enlarged if the price be reduced. In future, therefore, the price will be ONE SHILLING per copy. Unless, however, the circulation increases in proportion, it will be impossible to maintain this Journal, at all events in its present form. All those interested in this subject are therefore earnestly requested to do all they can to increase the circulation of the Journal, and to send their subscription (four shillings) to the publishers, instead of relying on seeing the publication in a public library or other institution. Those who have already sent subscriptions for the year will be entitled to two more numbers of the Journal.


Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, industries are heavily reliant on online meeting platforms. The pandemic has forced most MNCs to rely on online platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams to hold daily business meetings and even conferences and other corporate events. Schools and other educational institutions have also been forced to conduct classes and all other events through these platforms. This increased unavoidable dependence on online platforms has resulted in an exponential increase in advertising fraud. Advertising fraud is the application of any method or technology that hampers the proper delivery of advertisements to the proper audience or the proper place, or forcefully inserts advertisements at undesirable times or locations. This could take multiple forms and has become far more widespread with increased use of online platforms. Some common methods used for digital fraud can be the pay-per-click (PPC) model, domain spoofing or in the form of bots, but the main objective is to gain financial advantages from advertising transactions. The primary objective of this study is to identify and understand the factors lying behind the presence of fraudulent activities on any online medium and to analyse the probability of downloading an application after coming across the online advertisement, and watching it. The study also aims to highlight how marketing agencies tend to float fraud advertisement just to gain more revenue from their end.


Gravel barriers represent physiographic, hydrographic, sedimentary, and ecological boundaries between inshore and open marine offshore environments, where they provide numerous important functions. The morphosedimentary features of gravel barriers (e.g., steep, energy reflective form) have led to their characterization as effective coastal defense features during extreme hydrodynamic conditions. Consequently, gravel barriers have often been intensively managed to enhance coastal defense functions. The Blakeney Point Barrier System (BPBS), U.K., is one such example, which offers the opportunity to investigate the impact of alternative management regimes under extreme hydrodynamic conditions. The BPBS was actively re-profiled along its eastern section from the 1950s to the winter of 2005, whilst undergoing no active intervention along its western section. Combining an analysis of remotely sensed elevation datasets with numerical storm surge modeling, this paper finds that interventionist management introduces systemic differences in barrier morphological characteristics. Overly steepened barrier sections experience greater wave run-up extents during storm surge conditions, leading to more extreme morphological changes and landward barrier retreat. Furthermore, while high, steep barriers can be highly effective at preventing landward flooding, in cases where overwashing does occur, the resultant landward overtopping volume is typically higher than would be the case for a relatively lower crested barrier with a lower angled seaward slope. There is a growing preference within coastal risk management for less interventionist management regimes, incorporating natural processes. However, restoring natural processes does not immediately or inevitably result in a reduction in coastal risk. This paper contributes practical insights regarding the time taken for a previously managed barrier to relax to a more natural state, intermediary morphological states, and associated landward water flows during extreme events, all of which should be considered if gravel barriers are to be usefully integrated into broader risk management strategies.


Atomic models of myosin subfragment-1 (S1) and the actin filament are docked together using resonance energy-transfer data from both pre- and postpowerstroke conditions. The quality of the resulting best fits discriminated between neck-region orientations of the S1 for a given set of experimental conditions. For measurements of the postpowerstroke states in the presence of ADP, resonance energy-transfer data alone are sufficient to dock the atomic models and provide evidence that S1 exists with at least two neck-region orientations under these conditions. To dock the prepowerstroke state, resonance energy-transfer data were used in combination with previous chemical cross-linking data to determine that a neck-region orientation similar to that of a proposed prepowerstroke state best fit the data. The resulting models determined independently from electron microscopy compare favorably with micrographs from the recent literature. The docking models by resonance energy transfer suggest that the larger movements in the light-chain binding domain are accompanied by twisting and rotating movements of the catalytic domain, causing a tilt of approximately 30 degrees during the weak-to-strong transition. This transition provides the displacement necessary to support motility and force generation.


Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS) has received considerable interest due to its spectacular success in the difficult problem of computer Go and also proved beneficial in a range of other domains. A major issue that has received little attention in the MCTS literature is the fact that, in most games, different actions can lead to the same state, that may lead to a high degree of redundancy in tree representation and unnecessary additional computational cost. We extend MCTS to single rooted directed acyclic graph (SR-DAG), and consider the Best Arm Identification (BAI) and the Best Leaf Identification (BLI) problem of an expanding SR-DAG of arbitrary depth. We propose algorithms that are (epsilon, delta)-correct in the fixed confidence setting, and prove an asymptotic upper bounds of sample complexity for our BAI algorithm. As a major application for our BLI algorithm, a novel approach for Feature Selection is proposed by representing the feature set space as a SR-DAG and repeatedly evaluating feature subsets until a candidate for the best leaf is returned, a proof of concept is shown on benchmark data sets.


For precision grinding, especially the aspheric grinding, the vibrations of wheel and workpiece have great impact on workpiece accuracy and roughness with special waviness. This paper firstly studies the relationship between grinding parameters and surface quality. Then according to the two kinds of aspheric machining mode: grinding with equal step feeding and grinding with equal angle feeding, the corresponding surface equations and vibration equations after grinding are given in this paper. Moreover, the specific analysis of aspheric surface model and surface waviness are also discussed for parameters optimization. The grinding experiments are done to support the theoretical research. The comparison between theoretical waviness analysis and experimental results shows good matching.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the ATB 32 C (API system) automatic medium for identifying yeasts in clinical samples. A total of 101 yeasts strains were studied, representing 8 genera and 18 different species, identified by conventional means. All 32 microdomes of the track, including dehydrated substrates, were inoculated in a semi-solid media (C medium). After their incubation at 30 degrees C for 48 hours, the reading device ATB 1520 and the computer of ATB system the reading and automatic interpretation of the results. Using the ATB method, 85 strains were identified (84%) at species level, 9 at genus level and a non-conclusive or unacceptable profile was recorded in 7 strains. From all clinically important yeasts species, a total of 96% were identified by ATB method according to conventional methods. From all non clinically relevant species, ATB 32 C identified correctly 23 strains (78%). ATB 32 C method is a good alternative approach to conventional techniques for identifying yeasts in clinical samples.


Collision between two identical counterflowing gravity currents was studied in the laboratory with the goal of understanding the fundamental turbulent mixing physics of flow collisions in nature, for example katabatic flows and thunderstorm outflows. The ensuing turbulent mixing is a subgrid process in mesoscale forecasting models, and needs to be parameterized using eddy diffusivity. Laboratory gravity currents were generated by simultaneously removing two identical locks, located at both ends of a long rectangular tank, which separated dense and lighter water columns with free surfaces of the same depth $H$ . The frontal velocity $u_{f}$ and the velocity and density fields of the gravity currents were monitored using time-resolved particle image velocimetry and planar laser-induced fluorescence imaging. Ensemble averaging of identical experimental realizations was used to compute turbulence statistics, after removing inherent jitter via phase alignment of successive data realizations by iteratively maximizing the cross-correlation of each realization with the ensemble average. Four stages of flow evolution were identified: initial (independent) propagation of gravity currents, their approach while influencing one another, collision and resulting updraughts, and postcollision slumping of collided fluid. The collision stage, in turn, involved three phases, and produced the strongest turbulent mixing as quantified by the rate of change of density. Phase I spanned $-0.2\leqslant tu_{f}/H<0.5$ , where collision produced a rising density front (interface) with strong shear and intense turbulent kinetic energy production ( $t$ is a suitably defined time coordinate such that gravity currents make the initial contact at $tu_{f}/H=-0.2$ ). In Phase II ( $0.5\leqslant tu_{f}/H<1.2$ ), the interface was flat and calm with negligible vertical velocity. Phase III ( $1.2\leqslant tu_{f}/H<2.8$ ) was characterized by slumping which led to hydraulic bores propagating away from the collision area. The measurements included root mean square turbulent velocities and their decay rates, interfacial velocity, rate of change of fluid-parcel density, and eddy diffusivity. These measures depended on the Reynolds number $Re$ , but appeared to achieve Reynolds number similarity for $Re>3000$ . The eddy diffusivity $K_{T}$ , space–time averaged over the spatial extent ( $H\times H$ ) and the lifetime ( $t\approx 3H/u_{f}$ ) of collision, was $K_{T}/u_{f}H=0.0036$ for $Re>3000$ , with the area $A$ of active mixing being $A/H^{2}=0.037$ .


A simple design for stimuli-responsive micellar disassembly has been demonstrated on the basis of a surfactant molecule wherein the hydrophilic head group is connected to the hydrophobic tail through a redox-sensitive disulfide linker. The disassembly kinetics is tuned by mixing the stimuli-responsive surfactant with a suitable nonresponsive co-surfactant in various ratios, which helps in gaining control over the release rate of encapsulated dye molecules from such mixed micelles.


Abstract The objective of this study is to report the first occurrences of three species from the genus Lysmata Risso, 1816 in an area of the Queimada Grande Island (QGI), a conservation unit on the southern coast of Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The specimens were sampled manually in August 2018 from a small rocky formation from the QGI region. The species Lysmata bahia Rhyne and Lin, 2006, Lysmata uncicornis Holthuis and Maruin, 1952, and Lysmata vittata (Stimpson, 1860) are reported, of which the last two are not native to the Western Atlantic waters. The present study reports L. uncicornis for the first time on the coast of Sao Paulo State. The records informed herein not only provide more information about biodiversity, but can also help in the development of management plans and conservation.


We introduce KPI-EDGAR, a novel dataset for Joint Named Entity Recognition and Relation Extraction building on financial reports uploaded to the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system, where the main objective is to extract Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from financial documents and link them to their numerical values and other attributes. We further provide four accompanying baselines for benchmarking potential future research. Additionally, we propose a new way of measuring the success of said extraction process by incorporating a word-level weighting scheme into the conventional F1 score to better model the inherently fuzzy borders of the entity pairs of a relation in this domain.


This study aimed to improve special education and inclusion courses given to pre-service teachers in a primary mathematics education program at a university in Turkey. The aim was to enhance their knowledge and skills and present solutions to problems occurring in courses given during the term and changes in the sense of efficacy of preservice teachers. For this purpose, the research used qualitative and quantitative data collection methods based on the action research method. Shorter course duration and intense content were among the most important problems faced by the instructor. The course curriculum was adapted in line with the needs of primary school mathematics teachers. It was aimed to increase the effectiveness of teaching by providing a variety of materials. Pre-service teachers had the opportunity to gain experience working with special needs students by teaching them origami shapes in the special education and inclusion course. The data obtained from the scales at the end of the process revealed that teachers' sense of efficacy showed improvement regarding inclusion. Pre-service teachers were pleased to have such a course and offered suggestions to the course instructor. Based on the findings, the elements for improving this education are discussed, and suggestions are presented.


The Ford Geraldine Unit (FGU), in Reeves and Culberson Counties, West Texas, produces from the Ramsey Sandstone in the upper Bell Canyon Formation. After primary depletion, a major portion of the reservoir was waterflooded in stages from 1969 to 1980 and is currently under a maturing CO 2 flood that was started in 1981. However, because of high initial water saturation of 47.7% and some aquifer encroachment, the structurally low areas in the northeastern part of the reservoir were producing at very high water cut when the primary recovery approached its economic limit in 1968. As a result, this area responded very poorly to waterflood and no significant production has since been realized from this part of the unit. An estimated 10.1 MMSTB of the 12.9 MMSTB original oil in place (OOIP) remains in the reservoir in this area. This paper presents results of a study in which advanced geologic, geophysical, and engineering reservoir characterization techniques have been applied to this part of the reservoir as a demonstration area for enhanced recovery. A conditionally simulated stochastic-permeability-distribution model has also been developed. Compositional simulations were performed for CO 2 flood using stochastic and layered permeability distributions and conservative estimates of fluid saturations. Results indicate that a minimum of 10% of remaining oil in place (ROIP) can be recovered at breakthrough. Despite very high postwaterflood water saturations, the producing water cut gradually declines because of increase in hydrocarbon mobility as the injected CO 2 dissolves in the oil. An important observation is that compositional simulations indicate significant incremental recovery after breakthrough. At the permissible gas-oil ratio (GOR) of 30 MSCF/STB, recovery of over 30% of ROIP is achievable from the demonstration area.


Objectives: To evaluate vibrotactile sense in an older group of people with normal glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes relative to other sensory tests. Methods: Vibration perception thresholds on the sole of the foot (Multifrequency vibrametry and Biothesiometer) were compared to the results from evaluation of touch (monofilament), electrophysiology (sural nerve) and thermal sensation (Thermotest®). Results: Vibration perception and temperature thresholds, as well as sural nerve function, differed between normal glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes. Measuring vibration perception thresholds at lower frequencies with multifrequency vibrametry versus biothesiometer provided correlations similar to sural nerve amplitude. Temperature thresholds correlated with vibration perception thresholds and sural nerve function. Monofilaments revealed pathology in only a few participants with type 2 diabetes. Conclusions: In an older group of people, vibration perception thresholds show a correlation similar to sural nerve amplitude on tactile and non-tactile surfaces. Measuring a vibration perception threshold on a tactile surface in type 2 diabetes provides no clear advantage over measuring it on the medial malleolus. In older type 2 diabetes subjects, both large and small diameter nerve fibers are affected.


Purpose Meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate whether zero-profile anchored spacer (Zero-P) could reduce complication rates, while maintaining similar clinical outcomes compared to plate-cage construct (PCC) in the treatment of cervical spondylosis. Methods All prospective and retrospective comparative studies published up to May 2015 that compared the clinical outcomes of Zero-P versus PCC in the treatment of cervical spondylosis were acquired by a comprehensive search in PubMed and EMBASE. Exclusion criteria were non-English studies, noncomparative studies, hybrid surgeries, revision surgeries, and surgeries with less than a 12-month follow-up period. The main end points including Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) and Neck Disability Index (NDI) scores, cervical lordosis, fusion rate, subsidence, and dysphagia were analyzed. All studies were analyzed with the RevMan 5.2.0 software. Publication biases of main results were examined using Stata 12.0. Results A total of 12 studies were included in the meta-analysis. No statistical difference was observed with regard to preoperative or postoperative JOA and NDI scores, cervical lordosis, and fusion rate. The Zero-P group had a higher subsidence rate than the PCC group (P<0.05, risk difference =0.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.00–0.26). However, the Zero-P group had a significantly lower postoperative dysphagia rate than the PCC group within the first 2 weeks (P<0.05, odds ratio [OR] =0.64, 95% CI 0.45–0.91), at the 6th month [P<0.05, OR =0.20, 95% CI 0.04–0.90], and at the final follow-up time [P<0.05, OR =0.13, 95% CI 0.04–0.45]. Conclusion Our meta-analysis suggested that surgical treatments of single or multiple levels of cervical spondylosis using Zero-P and PCC were similar in terms of JOA score, NDI score, cervical lordosis, and fusion rate. Although the Zero-P group had a higher subsidence rate than the PCC group, Zero-P had a lower postoperative dysphagia rate and might have a lower adjacent-level ossification rate.


In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, RPA12 encodes the small subunit of RNA polymerase I. Here, we demonstrate that Rpa12p interacts with the transcription factor Msn4p and prevents its binding to the promoter of AYR1 encoding Ayr1p (1‐acyldihydroxyacetone phosphate reductase), a key enzyme involved in triacylglycerol biosynthesis and mobilization of nonpolar lipids. Deletion of RPA12 leads to triacylglycerol accumulation due to the binding of Msn4p to the promoter of AYR1 and activation of its transcription. The double deletion rpa12Δ::ayr1Δ caused a reduction in triacylglycerol levels. Our findings reveal that Rpa12p functions as a negative regulator of lipid metabolism by modulating nonpolar lipid biosynthesis through its interaction with Msn4p.


Antinociceptive activity of seven pentapeptide fragments of human adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) virion proteins: Thr-Val-Pro-Pro-Arg (1), Thr-Arg-Pro-Pro-Arg (2), Thr-Gly-Pro-Pro-Thr (3), Pro-Arg-Pro-Pro-Thr (4), Phe-Val-Pro-Pro-Arg (5), Ala-Arg-Pro-Pro-Ala (6), Tyr-Gly-Pro-Pro-Lys (7)--analogs of known tuftsin inhibitor Thr-Lys-Pro-Pro-Arg, was measured by hot-plate procedure. Also two tuftsin-like fragments of epitopes of HIV-1 and HIV-2: Thr-Lys-Ala-Lys (8), Thr-Lys-Glu-Lys (9), and tuftsin analog Thr-Lys-Asp-Lys (10) were tested. In the control experiments the effects of tuftsin and pentapeptide tuftsin inhibitor were also studied. The peptides 2, 4 and 5 were found to produce very strong analgesia after the icv injection. It was observed that pretreatment with peptide 8 remarkably diminished the antinociceptive effect induced by tuftsin.


Abstract Background Patients with severe mental illness (SMI) or receiving treatment with antipsychotics (APs) have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular risk management (CVRM) increasingly depends on general practitioners (GPs) because of the shift of mental healthcare from secondary to primary care and the surge of off-label AP prescriptions. Nevertheless, the uptake of patients with SMI/APs in CVRM programmes in Dutch primary care is low. Objectives To explore which barriers and facilitators GPs foresee when including and treating patients with SMI or using APs in an existing CVRM programme. Methods In 2019, we conducted a qualitative study among 13 Dutch GPs. During individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews a computer-generated list of eligible patients who lacked annual cardiovascular risk (CVR) screening guided the interview. Data was analysed thematically. Results The main barriers identified were: (i) underestimation of patient CVR and ambivalence to apply risk-lowering strategies such as smoking cessation, (ii) disproportionate burden on GPs in deprived areas, (iii) poor information exchange between GPs and psychiatrists, and (iv) scepticism about patient compliance, especially those with more complex conditions. The main facilitators included: (i) support of GPs through a computer-generated list of eligible patients and (ii) involvement of family or carers. Conclusion This study displays a range of barriers and facilitators anticipated by GPs. These indicate the preconditions required to remove barriers and facilitate GPs, namely adequate recommendations in practice guidelines, improved consultation opportunities with psychiatrists, practical advice to support patient adherence and incentives for practices in deprived areas.


This review paper emphasis on various sea shells ash such as cockle, clam, oyster, mollusc, periwinkle, snail, and green mussel shell ash as partial cement replacement and its objective is to create sustainable environment and reduce problems of global warming. Cement production give huge impact to environment in every stage of its production. These include air pollution in form of dust and, gases, sound and vibration during quarry crushing and milling. One of the solutions to solve this problem is by using modified cement. The modified cement is a cementitious material that meets or exceeds the Portland cement performance by combining and optimizes the recycle and wasted materials. This will indirectly reduce the use of raw materials and then, become a sustain construction materials. Therefore, the replacement of cement in concrete by various sea shell ash may create tremendous saving of energy and also leads to important environmental benefits. This study includes previous investigation done on the properties of chemical and mechanical such as specific gravity, chemical composition, compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strength of concrete produced using partial replacement of cement by seashells ash. Results show that the optimum percentage of seashells as cement replacement is between 4 – 5%.


The trophic ecology of 11 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa found in Cache Creek, Yellowstone National Park (YNP) was studied to determine if burned organic matter is an important resource and how resource utilization patterns may be altered in post-fire streams. Laboratory food quality experiments were conducted to determine the growth response of each species when grown on several resource types: burned organic matter, periphyton, unburned coarse particulate material (CPM), and unburned fine particulate material (FPM). The central hypothesis of this research was that benthic macroinvertebrates cannot use burned organic matter as a resource. A secondary hypothesis was that some benthic macroinvertebrates are facultative in trophic function, with the ability to use both allochthonous and autochthonous resources for growth. Of the 11 taxa studied, only one (Paraleptophlebia heteronea) could grow on burned organic matter as a resource, indicating that post-fire food webs probably do not exhibit major shifts in resourcp utilization to burned material. Two species were generalist detri- tivores (P. heteronea, Ameletus cooki) able to use both natural FPM and CPM resources. Two species were specialist detritivores (Oligophlebodes sigma, Ephemerella infrequens) growing only on unburned CPM resources, and two (Cinygmula mimus, Epeorus albertae) were specialist herbivores utilizing only periphyton. Five species were generalist herbivore- detritivores (Baetis bicaudatus, Drunella doddsi, D. coloradensis, D. spinifera, Zapada columbiana), exhibiting growth on both detritus and periphyton resources. Based on the experimental results, trophic generalists are common food web components in Yellowstone streams. Two of the most abundant benthic macroinvertebrates during post- fire recovery, B. bicaudatus and Z. columbiana, were trophic generalists, indicating that some generalists may be disturbance adapted. In this study, published functional feeding group classification did not indicate obligate resource utilization (growth on only one resource type) for most taxa studied. Comparison of a food web for Cache Creek based on functional feeding group classification and one based on the results of this study indicates that the inclusion of generalists in the web results in a more realistic approximation of food web relationships such as the link-species scaling law. Our results suggest that future research should include spatial and temporal aspects of resource switching and generalist resource utilization by individual lotic primary consumers.


Purpose
To this date, research on tensions has been carried out on business networks and value co-creation, with no studies exploring tensions within the marketing services context. This study aims to use the three tension categories proposed by Toth et al. (2018) and Pressey and Vanharanta (2006) to address this gap by identifying the tensions experienced in the market research agency (MRA), creative agency (CA) and client relationship, as well as the processes that increase or minimize these tensions.

Design/methodology/approach
A total of 25 in-depth interviews were carried out with MRA, CA and client employees. NVivo 12 was used to conduct a thematic analysis to identify the overarching processes that influenced tensions.

Findings
Six second-order codes were identified, designating processes that exacerbated or minimized each of the three tensions experienced. Two new processes were identified ("adopting governance processes" and "aspects of identity formation") which have not been previously reported. An empirical framework was developed pinpointing processes that influenced each tension category, also highlighting complex interdependencies between behavioral, emotional and structural tensions.

Originality/value
This study presents the perspectives of all actors within the marketing services triad providing a more nuanced understanding of tensions at the triadic level, as previous literature predominantly focused either on dyads or on networks. Furthermore, this study highlights important interdependencies between tension categories, providing novel contributions, as well as directions for future research.


Between the years 1958 and 1967, a series of 354 gouty patients was examined and investigated by one or both of the authors at one of three London hospitals: Hammersmith, Charing Cross, and West London. The information for the survey was abstracted from the case records and rscorded on a proforma which permitted 100 items of data to be assembled for each patient. These were then fed into a computer which cross-referenced each of these items with all the others, enabling the incidence of one feature in relation to any other feature to be readily assessed. The 5,000 items of information so obtained have been scrutinized and form the basis of this survey. The data confirm what is already well-established knowledge concerning gout, such as the distribution of age at onset, the incidence of individual joint involvement, the comparatively high incidence of obesity, regular intake of alcohol, hypertension, proteinuria, and renal impairment, and the preponderance of gouty patients in the higher social classes. A number of interesting and hitherto unrecorded facts came to light concerning the relationship between hypertension, renal failure, age at onset, and duration of disease.


Background: To improve student performance, teachers need to evaluate the developmental level of the child and to deliver feedback statements that correspond with the student's ability to process the information delivered. Therefore, feedback aligned with the developmental level of the child (aligned developmental feedback – ADF) is sometimes considered to be the most appropriate type of feedback for improving student learning. It is assumed that the provision of ADF is beneficial in bringing about improvement in the learning of motor skills and subsequently in performance. However, the extent of the influence of ADF on motor performance remains unclear. Purpose: This study examined the influence of ADF on students' performance of the overhand throw for force in a naturalistic physical education setting. Participants: Ninety-seven third-grade students (39 girls, 58 boys) with a mean age of 105.4 months (SD = 4.76) participated in this study. All participants were selected from four intact classrooms in a mid-sized Midwestern (US) elementary school. Two of the four intact classes were randomly assigned to an ADF group (the experimental condition; N = 48, 21 girls, 27 boys), and the other two intact classes were assigned to a general feedback (GF) group (the control condition; N = 49, 18 girls, 31 boys). Research design and phases of the study: An experimental non-equivalent group design composed of pre-, post-, and retention phases assessed the influence of ADF on throwing performance. The study used a three-phase approach: Phase 1 involved the implementation of the control GF condition with the participants: a seven-day throwing unit using general feedback. After Phase 1 was concluded, the first part of the experimental condition was initiated (Phase 2): to train the physical education teacher (male, with seven years of teaching experience, who had no prior knowledge of developmental throwing sequences) to deliver the experimental condition (i.e. the ADF condition). Phase 2 concluded when the teacher was considered trained in the ADF condition. The final phase of the study (Phase 3) was the actual experimental condition, consisting of a seven-day ADF instructional throwing unit. Data analysis: A chi-square analysis was used to examine the influence of ADF on the distribution of body component scores between the ADF and GF groups from the pre- to post- to retention phases as the body component data is ordinal in nature. An ANOVA with repeated measures on the highest ball velocity score was used to assess the influence of ADF on ball velocity scores. Findings: An ANOVA revealed that the ADF group had faster ball velocity than the GF group from pre- to post-intervention. Chi-square analyses revealed that the ADF group improved from pretest to posttest in the humerus and forearm components. The effects found at the end of the intervention program were maintained throughout the retention phase. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate the value of ADF in the learning process, and show how such feedback can enhance students' performance.


Nonlinear effects for small-amplitude fast magnetosonic (FMS) waves having a close angular distribution, which are excited in magnetized plasma with beta =4 pi nT/B2<<1 and omega < omega B=eB/Mc, k lambda D<<1 where lambda D2 is the dispersive length, and which propagate near the cone of theta =k, B=arctan(M/m)12/, are studied. It is shown that, in this case, the evolution of three-dimensional FMS waves is described by the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP) equation generalized by introducing a next-order dispersion correction which plays a major role. For an FMS wave beam propagating in plasma the problems of stability and evolution including initial subfocusing, nonlinear 'saturation' and defocusing stages are investigated in detail. It is shown that, unlike the usual KP equation model, self-focusing is not observed even if the dispersion for small k is positive; nonlinear stationary propagation, as a result of nonlinear stabilization of the FMS waves beam, may be observed.


As wireless has disrupted communications, wireless will also disrupt the delivery of energy. Future wireless networks will be equipped with (radiative) wireless power transfer (WPT) capability and exploit radio waves to carry both energy and information through unified wireless information and power transfer (WIPT). Such networks will make the best use of the RF spectrum and radiation, as well as the network infrastructure for the dual purpose of communicating and energizing. Consequently, those networks will enable trillions of future low-power devices to sense, compute, connect, and energize anywhere, anytime, and on the move. In this article, we review the foundations of such a future system. We first give an overview of the fundamental theoretical building blocks of WPT and WIPT. Then, we discuss some state-of-the-art experimental setups and prototypes of both WPT and WIPT, and contrast theoretical and experimental results. We draw special attention to how the integration of RF, signal, and system designs in WPT and WIPT leads to new theoretical and experimental design challenges for both microwave and communication engineers and highlight some promising solutions. Topics and experimental testbeds discussed include closed-loop WPT and WIPT architectures with beamforming, waveform, channel acquisition, and single-antenna/multiantenna energy harvester, centralized and distributed WPT, reconfigurable metasurfaces and intelligent surfaces for WPT, transmitter and receiver architecture for WIPT, modulation, and rate–energy tradeoff. Moreover, we highlight important theoretical and experimental research directions to be addressed for WPT and WIPT to become a foundational technology of future wireless networks.


The prevalence of deaths from lung cancer, other cancer, and all other causes was studied in workers and former workers at two factories (A and B) in the United Kingdom at which chloromethyl methyl ether has been manufactured, at one since about 1948 and at the other since 1956. At factory A in South Wales 571 men were traced and at factory B in the north east of England 1196. A statistically significant excess of observed deaths from lung cancer but not other cancer compared with the number expected was found in factory A when the death rates for the population of Glamorgan were applied. The deaths from lung cancer at factory A were related to risk in terms of total exposure time, and average exposure rate and dosage. The degree of exposure was more important than the duration of exposure. There has so far been no demonstrable excess of deaths from lung cancer in employees working at factory A since the process was changed in 1972. In factory B the risk was low over the whole period, and there was no excess of lung or other cancers compared with the rates for the Tyneside conurbation. Despite improvements in the process in both factories continued surveillance of the workers is needed for some years yet.


BACKGROUND
The upper limit of cerebrovascular pressure autoregulation (ULA) is inadequately characterized.

OBJECTIVE
To delineate the ULA in an infant swine model.

METHODS
Neonatal piglets with sham surgery (n = 9), interventricular fluid infusion (INF) (n = 10), controlled cortical impact (CCI) (n = 10), or CCI + INF (n = 11) had intracranial pressure monitoring and bilateral cortical laser-Doppler flowmetry recordings during arterial hypertension to lethality using an aortic balloon catheter. An increase of red cell flux as a function of cerebral perfusion pressure was determined by piecewise linear regression, and static rates of autoregulation were determined above and below this inflection. The ULA was rendered as the first instance of an upward deflection of Doppler flux causing a static rate of autoregulation decrease greater than 0.5.

RESULTS
ULA was identified in 55% of piglets after sham surgery, 70% after INF, 70% after CCI, and 91% after CCI with INF (P = .36). When identified, the median (interquartile range) ULA was as follows: sham group, 102 mm Hg (97-109 mm Hg); INF group, 75 mm Hg (52-84 mm Hg); CCI group, 81 mm Hg (69-101 mm Hg); and CCI + INF group, 61 mm Hg (52-57 mm Hg) (P = .01). In post hoc analysis, both groups with interventricular INF had significantly lower ULA than that observed in the sham group.

CONCLUSION
Neonatal piglets without intracranial pathology tolerated acute hypertension with minimal perturbation of cerebral blood flow. Piglets with acutely increased intracranial pressure with or without trauma demonstrated loss of autoregulation when subjected to arterial hypertension.


OBJECTIVE
Stage theories of health behavior are popular and of high practical relevance. Tests of the validity of these theories provide limited evidence because of validity and reliability problems. This study provides a bottom-up approach to identify behavioral stages from examining differences in underlying mindsets. We examine the concurrent validity of a latent-class-based approach and a commonly used stage-algorithm based on self-reports about intentions and behavior in order to identify possible strengths and shortcomings of previously used approaches.

METHODS
Social-cognitive variables and individuals' stages were assessed in a sample of 2,219 internet users. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify distinct groups with similar patterns of social-cognitive predictors. Convergent validity of the LCA solution and stage algorithms was tested by examining adjusted standardized residuals.

RESULTS
The LCA identified four distinct profiles-not intending to change, intending to change (no action), intending to change with action, and maintaining. Convergent validity with a stage algorithm was low, in particular in the nonintending and maintaining stages.

CONCLUSION
Stages as assigned by the stage-algorithm did not correspond well with the extracted mindsets: This indicates that commonly used stage-algorithms might not be effective in assigning individuals to stages that represent mindsets, undermining the possibility for stage-matched interventions.


In this article, we examine how the social disturbance precipitated by 'fake news' can be viewed as a kind of infrastructural uncanny. We suggest that the threat of problematic and viral junk news can raise existential questions about the routine circulation, engagement and monetisation of content through the Web and social media. Prompted by the unsettling effects associated with the 'fake news' scandal, we propose methodological tactics for exploring (1) the link economy and the ranking of content, (2) the like economy and the metrification of engagement and (3) the tracker economy and the commodification of attention. Rather than focusing on the misleading content of junk news, such tactics surface the infrastructural conditions of their circulation, enabling public interventions and experiments to interrogate, challenge and change their role in reconfiguring relations between different aspects of social, cultural, economic and political life.


The (1)H NMR Fast Field Cycling relaxometry was applied to study the molecular dynamics of the human protein HC (alpha (1)-microglobulin), its hydration and aggregation in solution state. The (1)H NMRD data have revealed the complex nature of the water/protein HC system resulting from the co-existence of monomer and dimer forms of the protein in solution as well as the presence of oligosaccharides linked to the polypeptide chain. A comparison of the average correlation time values obtained from the model-free fits with the values predicted on the basis of hydrodynamic tau (r) theory, suggests that the dynamics in solution state is governed mainly by the dimer form of the protein HC (the dominant contribution to the water proton-spin lattice relaxation comes from exchanging protons from the surface of the dimer). The existence of small number of oligomeric forms of the protein HC in solutions is postulated because of the two-step shape of water proton spin-lattice relaxation rate dispersion profiles.


The molecular connectivity valence delta-values have been defined in terms of the count of nonhydrogen valence electrons on a valence-state atom as screened from the nucleus by the core electrons. The core is defined as the nonvalence electrons minus 1. This general definition expresses the valence delta-values for second and third quantum level atoms and halogens. Valence delta-values have been derived for higher oxidation states of sulfur and phosphorus. The internal consistency of these delta-values is tested by their ability to closely correlate molar refraction values with 1 chi v. It is found that a second variable, the count of the number of alpha hydrogen atoms, greatly increases the quality of the correlation. Some biological SAR applications reveal the general utility of these findings.


We analyzed the influence of temperature on the main characteristics of a passive spin-torque microwave detector (STMD): volt-watt sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio, and minimum detectable microwave power. We reveal that these parameters do not always improve with the decrease of temperature. The developed formalism can be used for the optimization of the practical parameters of a STMD in a wide range of temperatures.


The availability of ambulatory ECG monitoring allows identification of transient myocardial ischaemia, the clinical relevance of which is currently being investigated. Ninety-four consecutive patients with ischaemic heart disease and a positive exercise test (greater than or equal to 1 mm ST-segment depression) were studied to evaluate the prevalence of transient myocardial ischaemia (either painless or painful) during 24-h dynamic electrocardiogram (ECG) and the clinical, angiographic and ergometric variables predicting its appearance. Two-hundred-and-eighty-one episodes of transient electocardiographic myocardial ischaemia were recorded in 69 patients (73.4% of all patients). Transient myocardial ischaemia was more frequent, although not significantly so, in patients with diabetes, with previous myocardial infarction, or with multivessel disease. When tested by multivariate analysis, neither the clinical variables nor the severity of coronary artery disease allowed prediction of the occurrence of transient myocardial ischaemia during dynamic ECG. The duration of exercise testing up to the ischaemic threshold (ST-segment depression = 1 mm) and the peak heart rate during exercise were more accurate predictors of transient myocardial ischaemia (P = 0.019 and 0.012 respectively). Patients with transient myocardial ischaemia had a lower ischaemic threshold (355 +/- 175 vs 498 +/- 150 s, mean +/- SD, P = 0.001) despite a lower peak heart rate (129 +/- 18 vs 137 +/- 12 beats min-1, P = 0.047) than patients without transient myocardial ischaemia. In conclusion, exercise testing may help select patients for examination by dynamic ECG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The author summarizes the evolution and operation of TQM (total-quality management) at ASD (Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright-patterson AFB) and discusses the lessons being learned. The discussion includes a short history of how ASD became involved in TQM, a description of the structure, an outline of the duties of the Assistant to the Commander for Total Quality Management, whose job is to facilitate the adoption of TQM, an overview of the Steering Committee that guides the effort, and a summary of progress to date. It is concluded that the experiences of the two pioneer efforts, the Propulsion and Training Systems System Program offices, and the initial reaction of the second wave of organizations are positive. Despite some difficulties, progress is being made and it appears that TQM will work in a government bureaucracy.<<ETX>>


Objective To investigate whether COVID-19 infection was associated with increased risk for incident respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections and associated diseases among young children that might have contributed to the 2022 surge of severe paediatric RSV cases in the USA. Design This is a retrospective population-based cohort study. Five outcomes were examined, including overall RSV infection, positive lab test-confirmed RSV infection, clinically diagnosed RSV diseases, RSV-associated bronchiolitis and unspecified bronchiolitis. Risk ratio (RR) and 95% CI of the outcomes that occurred during the 2022 and 2021 RSV seasons were calculated by comparing propensity-score matched cohorts. Setting Nationwide multicentre database of electronic health records (EHRs) of 61.4 million patients in the USA including 1.7 million children 0–5 years of age, which was accessed through TriNetX Analytics that provides web-based and secure access to patient EHR data from hospitals, primary care and specialty treatment providers. Participants The study population consisted of 228 940 children of 0–5 years with no prior RSV infection who had medical encounters in October 2022. Findings were replicated in a separate study population of 370 919 children of 0–5 years with no prior RSV infection who had medical encounters in July 2021–August 2021 during a non-overlapping time period. Results For the 2022 study population (average age 2.4 years, 46.8% girls, 61% white, 16% black), the risk for incident RSV infection during October 2022–December 2022 was 6.40% for children with prior COVID-19 infection, higher than 4.30% for the matched children without COVID-19 (RR 1.40, 95% CI 1.27 to 1.55); and among children aged 0–1 year, the overall risk was 7.90% for those with prior COVID-19 infection, higher than 5.64% for matched children without (RR 1.40, 95% CI 1.21 to 1.62). For the 2021 study population (average age 2.2 years, 46% girls, 57% white, 20% black), the risk for incident RSV infection during July 2021–December 2021 was 4.85% for children with prior COVID-19 infection, higher than 3.68% for the matched children without COVID-19 (RR 1.32, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.56); and 7.30% for children aged 0–1 year with prior COVID-19 infection, higher than 4.98% for matched children without (RR 1.47, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.82). Conclusion COVID-19 was associated with a significantly increased risk for RSV infections among children aged 0–5 years in 2022. Similar findings were replicated for a study population of children aged 0–5 years in 2021. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 contributed to the 2022 surge of RSV cases in young children through the large buildup of COVID-19-infected children and the potential long-term adverse effects of COVID-19 on the immune and respiratory system.


The current research of configurable product design mainly focuses on how to convert a predefined set of components into a valid set of product structures. With the scale and complexity of configurable products increasing, the interdependencies between customer demands and product structures grow up as well. The result is that existing product structures fails to satisfy the individual customer requirements and hence product variants are needed. This paper is aimed to build a bridge between customer demands and product structures in order to make demand-driven fast response design feasible. First of all, multi-hierarchical models of configurable product design are established with customer demand model, technical requirement model and product structure model. Then, the transition of multi-hierarchical models among customer demand model, technical requirement model and product structure model is solved with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and the algorithm of multi-level matching. Finally, optimal structure according to the customer demands is obtained with the calculation of Euclidean distance and similarity of some cases. In practice, the configuration design of a clamping unit of injection molding machine successfully performs an optimal search strategy for the product variants with reasonable satisfaction to individual customer demands. The proposed method can automatically generate a configuration design with better alternatives for each product structures, and shorten the time of finding the configuration of a product.


AIM
To reveal calcium metabolism disorders that frequently occur after thyroid surgery.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study included 202 patients who underwent thyroid surgery for different diseases and had normal calcium level in peripheral blood at baseline.

RESULTS
Based on laboratory data postoperative hypocalcemia was diagnosed in 57 (28.8%) patients. It was not always accompanied by clinical symptoms. Clinical picture depended on degree of hypocalcemia. Symptoms was diagnosed more frequently if calcium concentration was less than 2.1 mmol/l. Clinical manifestations were absent in 64.9% of cases on background of hypocalcemia. Incidence of hypocalcemia was higher after thyroidectomy compared to organ-preserving surgery. Symptoms of hypocalcemia occurred after thyroidectomy only. Casual parathyroidectomy does not always cause hypocalcemia. Only in 14% of patients with hypocalcemia excised parathyroid was identified in specimen. At the same time 7.6% of patients with postoperative normocalcaemia also had excised parathyroids in specimens. Symptoms of hypocalcemia does not always occur at 1 day after surgery. They can appear later, for example at 5 days postoperatively and depend on severity of hypocalcemia. Thyroidectomy has high risk of postoperative hypocalcemia with clinical symptoms (19.6%) that is transient in 15.5% of cases and permanent in 4.1% of patients.


Objective: Spinal tuberculosis (ST) refers to tuberculosis resulted from infections of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in the spinal cord. Hesperidin methyl chalcone (HMC) is a flavonoid derivative from citrus fruits with anti-inflammatory properties. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of HMC in treating ST in New Zealand white rabbit model. Design and Setting: Rabbits were infected in the sixth lumbar vertebral bodies with or without Mtb strain H37Rv followed by treatments with HMC. Outcome Measures: 10 weeks post treatments, the adjacent vertebral tissues were examined by hematoxylin–eosin staining. The expression levels of transcription factor κB (NF-κB) p65 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2) in lymphocytes were determined using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The serum levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-10 as well as interferon (IFN)-γ were also assessed using ELISA. Western blot was used to determine the effects of HMC on the phosphorylation of IKKα/β, p65, and IκBα in the signal transduction of NF-κB pathways. Results: HMC significantly attenuated the granulation in adjacent vertebral bone tissues. The expression of p65, IL-4, IL-10, and MCP-1 was reduced. The NF-κB pathway was suppressed, in which the phosphorylation of IκBα, IKKα/β, and p65 was inhibited whereas the relative level of IκBα was increased. Conclusion: HMC could serve as a therapeutic option to effectively inhibit granulomas formation through downregulation of MCP-1, IL-4, IL-10, and NF-κB in the treatment of ST.


In this study, we used four amorphous poly-alpha-olefin (APAO) grades to improve the toughness of drawn polypropylene (PP) tapes. The samples containing different amounts of APAOs were drawn in a heat chamber of a tensile testing machine. The APAOs reduced the work of drawing and increased the melting enthalpy of the drawn specimens, as they facilitated the movement of the PP molecules. The APAO with the highest molecular weight and with a low level of crystallinity increased both the tensile strength and the strain-at-break of the specimens, so we also produced drawn tapes from that PP/APAO blend on a continuous-operation stretching line. The continuously drawn tapes also showed improved toughness.


Standard alpha-subunit dissociated from glycoprotein hormones differs from individual (free) alpha-subunit found in sera or in cell culture media; secreted free alpha-subunit is larger, more acidic and lacks the ability of recombining in vitro with standard hCG-beta. It is unclear whether the large free alpha-subunit is only a secretory product or whether it is also present in tissue. Herein were studied the molecular size, the isoelectric pH, and the recombining activity of free alpha-subunit obtained from pituitary and placenta extracts. Sephadex exclusion chromatography showed the presence of both a large and a small form, and a changing large/small free alpha-subunit ratio in the various extracts. Most of the large form obtained from placenta extracts electrofocused into two peaks of pI 4.8 and 5.1. The large form showed no recombining activity with standard hCG-beta while the small free alpha-subunit recombined as well as did standard hCG-alpha. The observation of three common characteristics (a larger size, a pI 4.8, and a lack of recombining activity) suggests a similarity between the large secreted form and a fraction of the free alpha-subunit in tissue.


This article aims to provide an overview of ethical marketing management for banking products and financial services in accordance with the principles and values of Islam. This paper is divided to several parts, first: to explain what is meant by marketing, scope and importance of marketing in business. The second part: marketing management discusses how ethics in Islam, the third part explains what is the difference between Islamic and conventional view on marketing. Last discussion is about how the ethics and values of Islam applied in marketing management for banking products and services. There are several things to be noted in the discussion of this article, the application of ethical practices in banking companies will always benefit the company both medium and long term. It also can increase the motivation of the crew, to protect the principle of freedom of trade and increase competitive advantages. Overall management strategy that has been created based on ethics will be a success, according to the plan, if the parties have consistently execute marketing strategies implemented, and conduct a review of the marketing strategies that have been implemented if it does not succeed in business.


Although expressed in several haematological lineages and involved in multiple different signalling pathways, Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) plays an indispensible role in B cells in signalling from the B cell receptor (BCR) for antigen. Many B cell malignancies remain dependent on constitutive BCR signalling, making BTK a functional therapeutic target. Several BTK inhibitors (BTKi) with different kinomes and modes of action are being assessed clinically. This review documents the efficacy and toxicity of BTKi in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Clinically, the furthest in development is ibrutinib (trade name, Imbruvica), an irreversible BTKi, which has shown spectacular preliminary efficacy, with rapid reductions in lymph nodes accompanied by peripheral blood lymphocytosis. The lymphocytosis resolves slowly and most patients do not enter a complete remission. Nevertheless, it is possible to maintain many CLL patients, even those with adverse cytogenetic features, on drug for many months with minimal toxicities, thus potentially transforming the therapeutic paradigms for CLL. The efficacy, lack of toxicity and oral administration of BTKi will ensure their adoption in a wide range of B cell malignancies. An outstanding challenge is to incorporate BTKi with other precision medicines in a mechanism‐based manner in order to dispense with conventional chemotherapy.


Measurements of far-infrared intensities in the Bok globule B335, made with higher spatial and spectral resolution than two earlier studies, are described. The NASA 3-m Infrared Telescope Facility was used in February 1981 and the Kuiper Airborne Observatory 0.9-m telescope was used in October 1981 and August 1982 for the observations. The far-infrared source in B335 was revealed to be more compact than previously assumed, ruling out the interstellar radiation field as the dominant heat source. The new far-infrared size, luminosity, and temperature derived suggest that these may be the first observations of low-mass star formation embedded deeply within a Bok globule. The far-infrared source does not have a near-infrared or radio continuum counterpart. High angular resolution at submillimeter wavelengths will be critical in further studies of low-mass star formation.


UNLABELLED
Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome(EDS) is at high risk of death by arterial rupture.

CASE REPORT
A 13-year-old boy with vascular EDS and aortic dissection was admitted in pediatric emergency care unit. The children died after surgery by massive hemorrhage and prosthetic rupture.

DISCUSSION
The precocity of this vascular accident EDS is uncommon. It occurred despite clinical and echocardiographic follow-up. The death of the children confirmed the difficulties in surgery of vascular manifestation, even if appropriate and rapid management was already done.

CONCLUSION
Patients with vascular EDS must be identified because of its lethal complications. Friability of the vessels makes surgical treatment difficult. A trial using beta blockers therapy is ongoing.


The link between attitudes and behavior shows that driving behavior can be predicted by personal characteristics and individual attitudes in previous research. This study aimed to predict the level of compliance with speed limits for individual drivers by using attitudes data including speed limit credibility perception and risk perception on 8 rural single carriageway layouts. This study investigated how the road layout and roadside environment affect speed limit credibility perception and risk perception and investigate which machine learning algorithm can be used to predict driving behavior based on experimental evidence. This study carried out in a wellcontrolled experimental design by using a questionnaire and a driving simulator. The simulated road environment only considered rural single carriageway which has higher risk factors than other road types. The results show that a boosted decision tree algorithm can establish a driving behavior model based on drivers' credibility perception and risk perception. This result can be used to predict driving behavior in advance for in-vehicle warning system design.


Profenofos (EC50) is a persistent and toxic organophosphorus insecticide. Animals get exposed to profenofos via food and water. The present study was designed to explore the genotoxic effect of profenofos in the marine fish. The ubiquitously occurring marine fish, Therapon jarbua, was exposed to profenofos and its effect on DNA was measured using comet (single-cell gel electrophoresis) assay. DNA damage were scored using mean percentage of tail length and compared with the comet classes' viz., 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. In the first three doses, the (21.5, 43.0 and 86.0 µg L−1) comets were observed, of which the mean tail length differed significantly (p < 0.01) from those of unexposed, but not from each other. The mean tail length values were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in gill than in matured erythrocytes. The result indicates that DNA strand breaks in T. jarbua were due to the genotoxic potential of profenofos. From the study, we suggest that T. jarbua may be used as an indicator organism to assess the genotoxic risks of profenofos contamination in marine environments using Comet assay as an identification tool. We infer that organophosphorus insecticides may be dangerous to the marine lives.


As early as 1964, the Philippines have had national speed limits compliant with internationally accepted best practice and World Health Organization recommendations. However, in a self-assessment reported to the WHO, the national government rated its speed enforcement a mere 5 out of 10. ImagineLaw, a local civil society organization, conducted an institutional and legal assessment of local speed limit setting and enforcement through a policy gap analysis of national and local laws. The findings reveal that the failure of cities, municipalities, and other local government units (LGUs) to set and enforce safer speeds was the biggest factor in low speed enforcement in the country. The study shows that LGUs are more aware of the actual road conditions and use, and are thus in the best position to set and enforce speed limits. LGUs are also more invested in speed management, as local officials have personal connections with the people who are affected by speed-related crashes. However, the study reveals that the lack of clear legal guidelines on road classification prevent LGUs from effectively setting and enforcing speed limits. To address these gaps, ImagineLaw advocated for the issuance of a joint memorandum circular by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to provide clear guidelines on road classification and speed limit setting by LGUs. Under the joint memorandum circular, LGUs are enjoined to adopt the comprehensive template speed limit ordinance developed by the DOTr, DPWH, and DILG with the assistance of ImagineLaw. At present, ImagineLaw is working with pilot LGUs in enacting comprehensive speed limit ordinances or road safety codes that include key provisions on speed management.


A study was undertaken in four Tanzanian universities to investigate the status and practice of information literacy (IL) so as to determine the best ways of introducing or improving IL programmes. This article reports on the findings related to challenges and opportunities that could influence the effective implementation and introduction of IL programmes in Tanzanian universities. Data for the study was collected using a questionnaire-based survey administered to teaching staff, librarians and undergraduate students. Semi-structured interviews collected data from Deputy Vice Chancellors (DVCs) for academic affairs, Faculty Deans, Library Directors and a Library Head. The findings of the study showed that IL was new in the university curricula although some IL rubrics were being practised. Lack of adequate resources, lack of an IL policy, lack of proactive solutions among librarians coupled with the need for adequate library staffing and training, and collaboration between librarians and teaching staff in IL activities were all identified as challenges facing IL effectiveness. Also identified were potential opportunities such as the support by the majority of university stakeholders to mainstream IL and make it a compulsory course. These opportunities would allow the introduction of effective and sustainable IL programmes. The article concludes that librarians should seize the opportunities that are available to spearhead IL while at the same time making sure they tackle the identified challenges.


Matrix-producing carcinoma of the breast is very rare with few cases reported in the literature. This entity is characterized by the association of malignant epithelial elements and a mesenchymal component. Therapeutic strategy is not well established and prognostic factors need further research. We report here a case of matrix-producing carcinoma in a 46-years-old woman who presented with a large lump in her left breast. A core biopsy concluded to an invasive carcinoma but neoadjuvant chemotherapy was not helpful. Diagnosis of matrix-producing carcinoma was done on the lumpectomy specimen after excision of the fast-growing mass. Immunophenotypic profile was very suggestive showing tumoral cells positivity for cytokeratins, epithelial membran antigen and S-100 protein. One year later, the patient developed lung metastases.


We examined the direct effects of IL-7 on osteoclastogenesis in murine bone marrow cultures, using cells from wild-type and IL-7- and IL-7 receptor (IL-7R)-deficient mice. IL-7 inhibited osteoclast-like cells (OCL) formation in macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand (RANKL)-stimulated (both at 30 ng/ml) murine bone marrow cultures. Significant inhibitory effects were seen at 1 ng/ml (57%) and 10 ng/ml (86%). IL-7 also inhibited (P < 0.05) OCL formation in bone marrow cultures that were stimulated with vitamin D(3) (10(-8) M, 60%), bovine PTH (bPTH) (100 ng/ml, 54%), or RANKL alone (30 ng/ml, 50%). IL-7 (10 ng/ml) increased expression of the B lymphocyte marker B220 from 40-86% of total nonadherent cells in cultures treated with M-CSF and RANKL. Bone marrow cells from IL-7-deficient [IL-7 knockout (KO)] mice showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase(+) OCL numbers in cultures that were stimulated with vitamin D(3) (136 +/- 13.3%), bPTH (196 +/- 18.8%), or M-CSF and RANKL (160 +/- 7.2%). In contrast, in vitro osteoclast formation in bone marrow from IL-7R-deficient (IL-7R KO) mice showed a significant decrease in tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase(+) OCL numbers in cultures that were stimulated with vitamin D(3), PTH, RANKL, or M-CSF and RANKL. These results demonstrate that there are differences in the mechanisms regulating OCL formation between IL-7 KO and IL-7R KO cells. It seems that IL-7 is a direct inhibitor of OCL formation in vitro, based on results of adding IL-7 to wild-type cultures and the responses of IL-7 KO cells. It is unknown why IL-7R KO cells behave differently from IL-7 KO cells in vitro. However, it is possible that additional cytokines interact with IL-7R and that loss of these signals contributes to the responses of IL-7R KO cells. Alternatively, IL-7 may interact with multiple receptors.