I argue that, in the currently gender-unjust societies a basic income would not advance feminist goals. To assess the impact of a social policy on gender justice I propose the following criterion: a society is gender-just when the costs of engaging in a lifestyle characterized by gender-symmetry (in both the domestic and public spheres) are, for both men and women, smaller or equal to the costs of engaging in a gender-asymmetrical lifestyle. For a significant number of women, a basic income would increase the costs of leading gender-symmetrical lifestyles because it would make it easier for both women and men to pursue gender-unjust preferences. I argue that preference satisfaction is distinct from justice. I conclude by showing why a basic income would lead to further privatisation of caregiving, and I outline the negative effects this would have on women.


Objective: This study was carried out between June-December 2008 to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in Pirlak sheep in the Şuhut district of Afyonkarahisar. Methods: Blood samples technically collected from 123 sheep older than one year old and 63 sheep younger than one year old were tested for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using the Sabin- Feldman dye test. Results: Out of the 186 sera examined, 184 (98.92%) were seropositive at different dilutions (84 samples at 1/16, 79 at 1/64 and 21 at 1/256). The seroprevalence was 99.19% for sheep above 1 year old and 98.41% for sheep under 1 year old. Conclusion: We believe that this study carried out on Pirlak sheep would be useful for other studies on the effect of parasitism on the economy. (Turkiye Parazitol Derg 2011; 35: 137-9)


Epidemiological studies of Peyronie's disease (PD) reported the prevalence of this condition as much higher than once thought, highlighting the potential physical and psychosocial impact of the disease on society. For this reason, knowledge of the epidemiology of PD is important for allocating and managing health care resources and assessing intervention strategies. The true prevalence of PD is unknown; it is estimated as between 3.7% and 7.1%, but the actual prevalence of this disease may be higher because of patients' reluctance to report this embarrassing condition to their physicians for cultural and psychological reasons. Several risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and smoking, have been suggested. The estimated prevalence of PD at younger ages is around 8% and shows a more acute onset and a lower incidence of associated erectile dysfunction. This chapter reviews the contemporary state of knowledge of the epidemiology of PD.


Parameters and/or processes responsible for the stability of catalyst supports and ceramic membranes are discussed. Two major parameters/processes were identified which are responsible for the stability of sol-gel derived nanostructured oxides at elevated temperatures. They are metastable-to-stable phase transformation and structure and packing of primary particles within the aggregate. Based on these observations, strategies to develop thermostable nanostructured oxides for high-temperature membrane and catalyst applications are discussed by taking titania and titania-alumina nanocomposites as examples.


Effects of zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDWL) fluctuations on dual-pump fiber-optic parametric amplifiers are investigated analytically and numerically. It is found that the signal gain varies considerably from fiber to fiber even though each fiber may have the same ZDWL on average. Moreover, the gain spectrum becomes highly nonuniform for a given fiber because of such dispersion fluctuations. Numerical simulations show that this problem can be solved to a large extent by reducing wavelength separation between the two pumps, but only at the expense of a reduced amplifier bandwidth.


Different formulae of oil adjuvant vaccine were prepared from killed local isolated Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis field isolate and their potency was evaluated in Guinea-pigs and sheep. The cellular and humeral immune response of vaccinated sheep and Guinea pigs were evaluated. The results showed that bacterin and PLD toxoid adjuvanted Montanide oil 206 Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the most suitable vaccine. BCG could be helpful when used before vaccination of sheep with 50 g PLD toxoid and 20 mg formalized bacterin adjuvanted Montanide oil to improve the levels of immune response of sheep. The results of postmortem examination of vaccinated and challenged Guinea pigs showed that the mean number of abscesses in skeletal muscles, lymph nodes and internal organs varied to lesser extent between groups vaccinated and control group. All sheep were slaughtered after 150 days and the post mortem examination showed that the different vaccinated sheep groups revealed protection percentages against experimental infection of 71.2-78% while the infection in non-vaccinated sheep was 91%. This results indicated that the prepared vaccine formulae are safe and potent to protect sheep.


ABSTRACT Sexual and gender minorities often experience discrimination or stigmatization during health encounters. When patients feel stigmatized, they are more likely to delay seeking help and it affects patient cooperation and compliance, thus undermining therapeutic efficacy itself. We examined knowledge and attitude toward LGBT+ people among Hungarian (n = 743) and foreign (n = 130) medical students of the four Hungarian medical universities and 188 students from other faculties. Homonegativity and inadequate knowledge about sexual minority individuals are correlated with male gender, conservative political views, religiosity, religious behavior, and the absence of LGBT+ acquaintance. Medical students show more negative attitudes than students from other disciplines, although foreign medical students were more accepting than Hungarian program students. Further investigation of sexual minority-related content of the Hungarian medical education and revising the written and hidden curriculum would be desired, as well as collecting data from postgraduate students, physicians, and wide range of university faculties.


An experiment to investigate the effect that different drying methods would have on
the quality and quantity of oil from water melon (Citrilus lanatus) seeds was
conducted. The water melon seeds were removed from the pod and washed. The
sample was weighed and divided into two equal parts; one part was subjected to sun
drying while the other part was subjected to oven drying (at a temperature of 30oC).
Drying by sun as expected was gradual as compared to the oven drying method which
was faster and more rapid. The dried seeds (sun-dried or oven-dried) were de-husked,
dry-milled into fine crumbs using hand milling machine. The powdered product from
the mill was then subjected to oil extraction using hexane as solvent.
Results show that there was no significant difference in the quantity of oil obtained
from either of the samples. The sun-dried sample yielded 56% of oil/100g of seeds,
compared to the oven-dried samples which yielded 57% of oil/100g of seeds.
However, it was observed that Free Fatty Acid (FFA) and Acid values were higher in
oven-dried sample relative to the sun-dried sample; whereas other chemical properties
were not affected. Free Fatty Acid value for the oven-dried sample was 6.4% and
2.4% for the sun-dried sample. This is an important variable in considering the quality
of oil because the lower the FFA, the better the quality of the oil.
Analysis also revealed that the properties of oil extracted from both samples fall
within that of non-drying oil. Crude protein in the seed was 26 % which compared
favourably with high protein seeds and nuts like cowpea (22.7%) soybeans (35%).
This implies that the oil samples are edible to humans. The high protein content of
the seed coupled with a fairly high concentration distribution of the Amino acids
makes the seed suitable for fortification of foods while the oils can serve as a good
supplement in animal feed formulation. Oil from the sun-dried sample will however
be preferable because of its low acid value though the extracted oil from the two
samples still needs to be refined. Meanwhile, the oil samples may not be used as
alkyl resin for manufacturing of paints or bar soap due to their low saponification
values. Large quantity of potassium hydroxide will certainly be required to prepare
soap from these oils. Keywords : Sun-dried, Oven-dried, Watermelon, Seeds AJFAND Vol. 8 (4) 2008: pp. 493-501


Intelligent, context sensitive content assist (also known as code completion) plays an important role in the effectiveness of model editors. This is not only true for textual language notations, but also for graphical notations that often contain a significant amount of textual elements. This paper present techniques to describe content assists for meta-model based textual model editors. We show that these techniques help to automate the development of editors with content assist, a process that requires extensive manual work otherwise.


Herp was originally identified as an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress protein in vascular endothelial cells. ER stress is induced in atherosclerotic lesions, but it is not known whether Herp plays any role in the development of atherosclerosis. To address this question, we generated Herp- and apolipoprotein E (apoE)-deficient mice (Herp−/−; apoE−/− mice) by crossbreeding Herp−/− mice and apoE−/− mice. Herp was expressed in the endothelial cells and medial smooth muscle cells of the aorta, as well as in a subset of macrophages in the atherosclerotic lesions in apoE−/− mice, while there was no expression of Herp in the Herp−/−; apoE−/− mice. The doubly deficient mice developed significantly fewer atherosclerotic lesions than the apoE−/− mice at 36 and 72 weeks of age, whereas the plasma levels of cholesterol and triglycerides were not significantly different between the strains. The plasma levels of non-esterified fatty acids were significantly lower in the Herp−/−; apoE−/− mice when they were eight and 16 weeks old. The gene expression levels of ER stress response proteins (GRP78 and CHOP) and inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and MCP-1) in the aorta were significantly lower in Herp−/−; apoE−/− mice than in apoE−/− mice, suggesting that Herp mediated ER stress-induced inflammation. In fact, peritoneal macrophages isolated from Herp-deficient mice and RAW264.7 macrophages in which Herp was eliminated with a siRNA expressed lower levels of mRNA for inflammatory cytokines when they were treated with tunicamycin. Herp deficiency affected the major mediators of the unfolded protein response, including IRE1 and PERK, but not ATF6. These findings suggest that a deficiency of Herp suppressed the development of atherosclerosis by attenuating the ER stress-induced inflammatory reactions.


By using a general circulation model, behaviors of the eastward propagating diurnal tide with zonal wavenumber 3 (DE3) and their relation with the convective activity in the tropical troposphere are examined. The amplitude of the DE3 is significant in the equatorial mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Day‐to‐day variations of the DE3 amplitude are evident in the MLT region, and are closely related with temporal variations of the rainfall rate in the tropics. Estimates of the EP flux divergence due to the DE3 indicate that this convective modulated DE3 activity induces day‐to‐day variations of the wave‐induced driving of the zonal mean zonal wind in the MLT region. Our results show that temporal variations of the zonal mean zonal wind in the equatorial MLT region are influenced by the moist convective activity in the tropics.


Extracting
buildings from remote sensing data is an essential task in many applications.
Currently, automatic building extraction from complex scenes is still
challenging. This is due to the presence of dense vegetation in a site,
variability in building sizes, materials and structures of building roof. For
decades, researchers have continued to work on building extraction using two
different kinds of data, i.e photogrammetric images and Light Detection And
Ranging (LiDAR) data. The existing work has generally ignored the analysis of
building material properties and has limited their study to the extraction of
only those buildings with non-transparent roof. Thus existing methods are not
effective in extracting buildings with a transparent roof. With their
predefined size parameter settings, these methods might also fail in extracting
small buildings. Furthermore, they overlook the importance of a local feature
analysis in refining the building boundaries and eliminating the vegetation
from complex scenes. For extracting the building details, i.e. the fine
structures of roof planes, very limited attention has been paid to
fusing/integrating the extracted features from the photogrammetric images and
the LiDAR data. The novel methods we have proposed in this thesis aim to
address these limitations.
   First, we have proposed a gradient-based building area
extraction method which analyses the building properties, i.e. orientations and
materials of buildings, from the photogrammetric images and the LiDAR data.
This enables the proposed method to effectively extract buildings with a transparent
roof. The proposed method also does not depend on the shape or size parameters
as well; thereby it is more effective in extracting buildings of a larger size
range. Next, we have proposed a building refinement process that utilises the
local building feature analyses. It avoids many empirically set parameters such
as height and shape thresholds. This enables the proposed refinement process to
eliminate vegetation more effectively and to extract building portions
   at a lower height. Finally, we take advantage of the gradient
concept in our proposed gradient-based building extraction method to extract
the boundaries of building planes which are refined by using a new plane
boundary regularisation process based on integration of the features from both input
data. As a result, better refined structures (i.e. a smooth boundary) of
building roof planes are extracted. In addition, the proposed method can also
extract small roof planes as size or shape thresholds are not used.
   The performance of the proposed method is qualitatively and
quantitatively evaluated on two different benchmark data sets. Our experimental
results have shown that our proposed methods are effective in addressing the
limitations described above and have outperformed existing state-of-the-art
baseline methods.


Background Patients with axSpA have an increased risk of low bone mass. AS patients have a high prevalence of osteoporosis, which is observed in both early and advanced cases. A recent study showed that nr-axSpA patients show significantly greater bone loss than patients with mechanical back pain. Objectives To determine the association between inflammatory and structural lesions on sacroiliac joint (SIJ) MRI and BMD and to identify risk factors for low BMD in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Methods Seventy-six patients who fulfilled the ASAS axSpA criteria were enrolled. All underwent SIJ MRI and BMD measurement at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip. Inflammatory and structural lesions on SIJ MRI were scored. Laboratory tests and assessment of radiographic and disease activity were performed at the time of MRI. The association between SIJ MRI findings and BMD was evaluated. Results Among the 76 patients, 14 (18%) had low BMD. Patients with low BMD showed significantly higher bone marrow edema (BME) and deep BME scores on MRI than those with normal BMD (p<0.047 and 0.007, respectively). Inflammatory lesions on SIJ MRI correlated with BMD at the femoral neck and total hip. Multivariate analysis identified the presence of deep BME on SIJ MRI, increased CRP, and sacroiliitis on X-ray as risk factors for low BMD (OR: 5.6, 14.6, and 2.5, respectively). Conclusions The presence of deep BME on SIJ MRI, increased CRP levels, and severity of sacroiliitis on X-ray were independent risk factors for low BMD. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Latino women in the United States are disproportionately at risk for unintended pregnancy, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We conducted nine focus groups with health care practitioners who provide reproductive health care to Latinos in rural areas of the Northwest. From the practitioner perspective, we explored barriers and facilitators to the acquisition and use of contraceptives and to the prevention of HIV/STIs among rural Latinos. Suggestions for improving reproductive health care included Spanish-language resources/materials and convenient contraceptive methods. Findings provide context to the complex issues related to unintended pregnancy and disease prevention among Latinos residing in rural communities.


Background:In high-income countries, viral load is routinely measured to detect failure of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and guide switching to second-line ART. Viral load monitoring is not generally available in resource-limited settings. We examined switching from nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based first-line regimens to protease inhibitor-based regimens in Africa, South America and Asia. Design and methods:Multicohort study of 17 ART programmes. All sites monitored CD4 cell count and had access to second-line ART and 10 sites monitored viral load. We compared times to switching, CD4 cell counts at switching and obtained adjusted hazard ratios for switching (aHRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from random-effects Weibull models. Results:A total of 20 113 patients, including 6369 (31.7%) patients from 10 programmes with access to viral load monitoring, were analysed; 576 patients (2.9%) switched. Low CD4 cell counts at ART initiation were associated with switching in all programmes. Median time to switching was 16.3 months [interquartile range (IQR) 10.1–26.6] in programmes with viral load monitoring and 21.8 months (IQR 14.0–21.8) in programmes without viral load monitoring (P < 0.001). Median CD4 cell counts at switching were 161 cells/μl (IQR 77–265) in programmes with viral load monitoring and 102 cells/μl (44–181) in programmes without viral load monitoring (P < 0.001). Switching was more common in programmes with viral load monitoring during months 7–18 after starting ART (aHR 1.38; 95% CI 0.97–1.98), similar during months 19–30 (aHR 0.97; 95% CI 0.58–1.60) and less common during months 31–42 (aHR 0.29; 95% CI 0.11–0.79). Conclusion:In resource-limited settings, switching to second-line regimens tends to occur earlier and at higher CD4 cell counts in ART programmes with viral load monitoring compared with programmes without viral load monitoring.


Mitochondrial transcription factor A (Tfam) is essential for the initiation of transcription and the replication of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The 5P-upstream region of the rat Tfam gene was isolated from rat genomic DNA by extending the 5P sequence of newly identified Tfam cDNA using PCR-based Genome Walker. The identified rat Tfam gene showed little sequence homology with the upstream region of human Tfam. No typical TATA or potential nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1) binding site was found, whereas three potential binding sites for Sp1 and one for NRF-2 were present in the proximal upstream region. Transfection of the Tfam 5P-upstream region ligated to luciferase into rat skeletal muscle L6 cells demonstrated that the promoter activity was 10 times higher than that of control vectors. Despite the absence of the NRF-1 consensus binding sequence, co-transfection of human NRF-1 expression vector increased the Tfam promoter activity 2-fold. The gel mobility shift assays for NRF-1 demonstrated that NRF-1 could bind to the proximal region of the promoter between 3112 and +49. The addition of 50 mM glucose for 24 h increased Tfam promoter activity by up to 2-fold, but 100 WM H2O2 for 24 h repressed the activity to 40% of the control. From these results, the sequence presented here is that of authentic rat Tfam promoter and it is hoped that it will prove useful in studies of mtDNA transcription and replication. fl 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.


In many countries the demand for health care services is of increasing importance. Especially in the industrialized world with a changing demographic structure social insurances and politics face real challenges. Reliable predictors of those demand functions will therefore become invaluable tools. This article proposes a prediction method for the distribution of the number of visits to the medical doctor for a determined population, given a sample that is not necessarily taken from that population. It uses the estimated conditional sample distribution, and it can be applied for forecast scenarios. The methods are illustrated along data from Sidney. The introduced methodology can be applied as well to any other prediction problem of discrete distributions in real, future or any fictitious population. It is therefore also an excellent tool for future predictions, scenarios and policy evaluation.


Salvage logging, the removal for profit of standing trees that have been damaged by extensive wildfires, has been quite controversial and subject to lawsuits that can delay the logging past the time in which the lumber is still useful. It has not been clear, however, whether the public that has been most affected by wildfires—those that live near burned areas—support or oppose postfire logging. In this research we use focus groups and stakeholder interviews in urban interface communities that have experienced significant wildfires to examine in some detail the perspectives these members of the public have regarding salvage logging. Public support for salvage logging in communities that have recently experienced wildfires was much stronger than hypothesized at the beginning of this study from our review of the number of unsuccessful salvage logging proposals or even popular press reports. Key reasons for supporting salvage logging were that letting useful timber rot was wasteful, that it improves the postfire aesthetics and safety of the forest, and that it can provide some income for local postfire restoration activities. Caveats include assuring that any environmental impacts, such as new roads, are mitigated postlogging, and assuring that appropriate snags are left to provide wildlife habitat.


A spectrally efficient frequency division multiplexing (SEFDM) modulation has been proposed to improve system spectral efficiency, particularly for bandwidth-limited visible-light communication (VLC) systems. It employs non-orthogonal subcarriers to achieve bandwidth savings at the expense of serious intercarrier interference (ICI); thus, complicated detectors are required at the receiver to extract signals from the ICI. In this paper, we carry out an analysis of SEFDM modulation and establish a quasi-multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) model for SEFDM-based systems. Based on this quasi-MIMO system model, for the first time, we propose to use an MMSE-sorted QR decomposition (MMSE-SQRD)-algorithm-based MIMO decoder to efficiently eliminate the ICI in a high-speed SEFDM-based wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) VLC system. Using the MMSE-SQRD decoder, the WDM VLC system at an aggregate data rate of 2.4 Gb/s is experimentally demonstrated over a 2-m indoor free-space transmission, and up to 20% of bandwidth savings is achieved compared with that of the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). The results clearly validate the effectiveness of the proposed MMSE-SQRD detector for SEFDM-based spectrum-compressed VLC system.


By engaging with Giorgio Agamben's article on the Italian government's measures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we argue that COVID-19 points to the limits of the classical biopolitical and thanatopolitical logics of analysis and therefore requires a new conceptual framework. The outbreak of COVID-19 is an example of zoonotic globalisation in which the human species as a biological and geological actor is merely one among many other species that influence biological and geological processes on Earth, thus challenging humanist conceptualisations of politics. Here, the human role in politics is decentralised by thinking the virus as one of the actors that exert influence on how the political sphere is governed. We argue that the virus is the epitome of the ungovernable – an entity or broadly a historical challenge that cannot be subjected to existing mode(s) of governing – due to its interstitial and borderline character, resting between the ontological roots of the dominant modes of governing bios (life) and geos (nonlife), and challenging them by merely existing. We draw upon the works of Ghassan Hage, Nils Bubandt, Elizabeth Povinelli, and Donna Haraway to interrogate the limits of biopolitics and diagnose theoretical conundrums stemming from the division of nature vs. culture and life vs. nonlife entrenched in the existing social-political paradigms. Rather than providing finite answers about the role of the virus as a non-human actor in the political sphere, we raise questions as to how and why it should matter.


ABSTRACT:| This article assesses how an interrogation of William Carlos Williams's use of the female body as an imagistic image can reframe discussions of the role of the woman in his aesthetics. Through an analysis of four moments during a medical encounter with a female patient in his oeuvre—"Comedy Entombed: 1930," "The Girl with a Pimply Face," the "take off your clothes" moment in Paterson Book Three, and the character of Marie Curie in Book Four—it argues that the abstracted "Woman" muse of Williams's work should be read together with the women who appear in mundane, vulnerable, and compromising positions in his fiction and poetry. It draws from disability theory, feminist body theory, and theories of object orientation in order to interrogate the "thingness" of the female body in Williams's medical narratives. It argues that Williams makes clear that the women he observes in their homes and in his exam rooms are a part of his search for the "new order," embodiments of the American ideal that are at the heart of his understanding of medicine, sex, and modernity. It argues that his focus on the female body becomes the point at which Williams asserts his place in modernism and in medicine—his vision of modernist aesthetics, medical authority, narrative authority, and sexual desire—on the backs of the women he treated.


The organic piezoelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has attracted extensive research because of its excellent flexibility and mechanical energy-harvesting properties. Here, the electrospinning technique was taken to fabricate synthesized fiber membranes of a PVDF/cellulose acetate (CA) composite. The obtained PVDF/CA electrospun fiber membranes (EFMs) were employed to prepare a flexible nanogenerator. XRD and FTIR spectroscopy revealed the enhancement of piezoelectric behavior due to an increase in β-phase in PVDF/CA EFMs compared with cast films. The PVDF/CA fibers (mass ratio of PVDF to CA = 9:1) showed an output voltage of 7.5 V and a short-circuit current of 2.1 μA under mechanical stress of 2 N and frequency of 1 Hz, which were 2.5 and two times greater than those of the pure PVDF fibers, respectively. By charging a 4.7 µF capacitor for 15 min with the voltage generated by the PVDF/CA EFMs, nine LED lamps could be lit. The work provides an effective approach to enhancing the piezoelectric effects of PVDF for low-power electronic loading of macromolecule polymers.


Idiopathic Pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an incurable chronic disease characterized by progressive loss of lung function. IPF is thought to occur due to repetitive micro injuries in the distal lung and/or genetic predisposition leading to aberrant tissue repair. Increased ECM deposition by myofibroblasts results in tissue stiffening and thickening of alveolar walls, causing progressive decline of pulmonary function and ultimately, fatal respiratory failure. Due to the inherent complexity of the human disease, advanced in vitro human models including physiological mechanical cues appear as a promising tool to investigate IPF and potential therapeutic interventions. We aimed to develop an advanced in vitro alveolar model mimicking some features of IPF. Primary alveolar epithelial cells and lung fibroblasts were co-cultured on the AlveoliX lung-chip-device and exposed to Transforming Growth Factor β (TGF-β), a central mediator of fibrogenesis. The effects on barrier disruption and gene expression of profibrotic markers were investigated. According to our results, fibroblasts supported alveolar barrier formation as detected by a faster development of barrier function and higher integrity. On the other hand, stimulation with TGF-s for 48h led to a decrease in barrier integrity over time, together with an increased expression of pro-fibrotic markers such as Col1a and Vimentin at the epithelial and fibroblast side. No significant effects on cytotoxicity or metabolic activity between treated and untreated wells were observed after 48h stimulation. In conclusion, our human in vitro model recapitulates some relevant features of IPF, hence, it may be a valuable tool for investigating new biomarkers and for efficacy studies of new antifibrotic drugs.


Objective: To assess the contribution of Doppler in foetal monitoring and decision-making during delivery in case of in-utero vascular growth retardation.
Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study from January 2015 to December 2017 in the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department of the Yopougon University Hospital (Abidjan, Ivory Coast). It included 130 patients who gave birth in a setting of pre-eclampsia with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) from 28 weeks of amenorrhoea.
Results: The average age of patients was 31years. Nulliparous (33% of our patients) and pauciparous (41% of our patients) women were the group most affected. The mean gestational age at the first Doppler examination was 32 weeks of amenorrhoea. Doppler abnormalities were 65% in uterine Doppler and 90% in umbilical Doppler. The meancerebrovascular ratio was reversed in 90% of the cases. Perinatal mortality was 22.3% (n = 29) with 21 foetal death in utero and 8 neonatal deaths. The time interval between absent end-diastolic or reverse flow velocity and in-utero foetal death was 3.8 days.
Conclusion: Foetal and umbilical Doppler ultrasound greatly modified the management of intrauterine growth retardation related to hypertension.


The photosynthetic performance of two species of Meristotheca (Solieriaceae, Rhodophyta), M. coacta and M. papulosa, was investigated under a variety of temperature and light conditions to derive basic information regarding their physiology. A pulse amplitude modulated-chlorophyll fluorometer (Imaging-PAM) was used to generate rapid light curves (RLCs) to provide the relative electron transport rates (rETR) over 21 levels of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), ranging from 0 to 1,078μmol photons m -2 s -1 at 14 temperatures (i.e., from 8 to 34℃). The initial slope (α), photoinhibition (β) and coefficient (γ) was calculated by fitting the RLCs to a nonlinear model of the form rETR =γ(1-exp(-α·PAR/γ)) (exp(-β· PAR/γ)) using a two-level hierarchical Bayesian model. Both species required temperatures ranging from 18 to 28℃ to maintain optimal photosyn- thetic activity, as revealed by the estimated model parameters. The optimal PAR (PARopt) increased with increasing temperature. Meristotheca coacta and M. papulosa can be considered well-adapted to the current natural light and temperature conditions of southern Kyushu, Japan. Finding in this study should be useful to the design and manage mariculture programs to conserve the natural resources.


We study the mid- to far-IR properties of a 24 μm-selected flux-limited sample (S_(24)> 5 mJy) of 154 intermediate redshift (⟨ z ⟩ ~ 0.15), infrared luminous galaxies, drawn from the 5 Milli-Jansky Unbiased Spitzer Extragalactic Survey. By combining existing mid-IR spectroscopy and new Herschel SPIRE submm photometry from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey, we derived robust total infrared luminosity (L_(IR)) and dust mass (M_(dust)) estimates and infered the relative contribution of the AGN to the infrared energy budget of the sources. We found that the total (8−1000 μm) infrared emission of galaxies with weak 6.2 μm PAH emission (EW_(6.2) ≤ 0.2 μm) is dominated by AGN activity, while for galaxies with EW_(6.2)> 0.2 μm more than 50% of the L_(IR) arises from star formation. We also found that for galaxies detected in the 250–500 μm Herschel bands an AGN has a statistically insignificant effect on the temperature of the cold dust and the far-IR colours of the host galaxy, which are primarily shaped by star formation activity. For star-forming galaxies we reveal an anti-correlation between the L_(IR)-to-rest-frame 8 μm luminosity ratio, IR8 ≡ L_(IR)/L_8  and the strength of PAH features. We found that this anti-correlation is primarily driven by variations in the PAHs emission, and not by variations in the 5−15 μm mid-IR continuum emission. Using the [Ne iii]/[Ne ii] line ratio as a tracer of the hardness of the radiation field, we confirm that galaxies with harder radiation fields tend to exhibit weaker PAH features, and found that they have higher IR8 values and higher dust-mass-weighted luminosities (L_(IR)/M_(dust)), the latter being a proxy for the dust temperature (T_d). We argue that these trends originate either from variations in the environment of the star-forming regions or are caused by variations in the age of the starburst. Finally, we provide scaling relations that will allow estimating L_(IR), based on single-band observations with the mid-infrared instrument, on board the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope.


There has been significant growth in non-invasive screening techniques for evaluating abnormal tissue. Vibroacoustography (VA), an imaging modality based on ultrasound-stimulated acoustic emission and non-linear scattering characteristics of the target, has previously been used to generate relative real-time, pathology-specific image contrast between abnormal tissue and normal surrounding tissue; however, an in-depth tissue assessment has yet to be completed. VA utilizes two non-destructive low MHz ultrasound tones to produce an acoustic beat frequency in the low kHz range. The acoustic radiation force perturbs the target as a function of its mechanical and acoustic properties and the emissive acoustic waves are detected by a nearby hydrophone to form an image based on the viscoelastic characteristics of the target. We have previously reported that our VA imaging system can distinguish suspect tissue from normal tissue in tissue-mimicking phantoms (TMPs) and ex vivo models with high image contrast; however, the goal of this work is to assess the measurement performance and resolution capabilities of this system in pre-clinical models, specifically TMPs in tissue assessment. Lateral and axial resolution, as well as material characterization, studies were performed on isotropic two-layered and multiple-layered TMP targets. The resolution studies resulted in ∼1 mm lateral and ∼12 mm axial, which were confirmed and validated for a confocal transducer geometry. The system showed sufficient measurement performance to detect regions with elastic moduli difference of at least 10 kPa and lateral width of at least 4 mm. This result, coupled with high imaging contrast, supports the utilization of VA for potential applications in in vivo medical imaging and tissue assessment for intraoperative applications.There has been significant growth in non-invasive screening techniques for evaluating abnormal tissue. Vibroacoustography (VA), an imaging modality based on ultrasound-stimulated acoustic emission and non-linear scattering characteristics of the target, has previously been used to generate relative real-time, pathology-specific image contrast between abnormal tissue and normal surrounding tissue; however, an in-depth tissue assessment has yet to be completed. VA utilizes two non-destructive low MHz ultrasound tones to produce an acoustic beat frequency in the low kHz range. The acoustic radiation force perturbs the target as a function of its mechanical and acoustic properties and the emissive acoustic waves are detected by a nearby hydrophone to form an image based on the viscoelastic characteristics of the target. We have previously reported that our VA imaging system can distinguish suspect tissue from n...


Abstract The effects of Perilla frutescens leaf extract (PLE) on the quality of surimi fish balls were investigated in the present study. Firstly, the extract was prepared by solvent extraction using 95% ethanol. Then, the phenolics in the extract were analyzed by instrumental analysis. The total phenolic content in the PLE was found to be 14.51 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry weight (DW). The amount of caffeic acid, ferulic acid, rosmarinic acid, quercetin, and apigenin, determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), was 4.80, 5.10, 2.95, 6.46, and 3.93 mg/g DW, respectively. Furthermore, the PLE was found to show high free radical scavenging activity toward DPPH and ABTS radicals with IC50 values of 12.15 and 7.26 μg/ml, respectively. When PLE was fortified into surimi fish balls at 0.03% and stored at 4°C, it was found to slow down lipid and protein oxidation during storage of surimi fish balls as evidenced by the significant reduction in TBARS values and protein carbonyl contents (p < 0.05). PLE (0.03%) also decreased the formation of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB‐N) and inhibited the growth of E. coli compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, the overall acceptability of PLE‐added (0.03%) samples was higher than control samples during the storage process (p < 0.05) by sensory analysis. Overall, PLE have the potential to be used as a natural food additive to improve the shelf life and sensorial qualities of surimi fish ball.


Abstract: The breeding system of Laguncularia racemosa is variable among populations; some populations are androdioecious while other populations lack male plants. To determine whether androdioecy is widespread in L. racemosa, 65 populations were surveyed in Florida and the Bahamas. Fruits are water-dispersed, so the observed distribution of breeding systems was compared to local and regional water currents in order to determine whether dispersal could be important to the maintenance of male plants in androdioecious populations. Twenty-two of the 36 populations surveyed in Florida were androdioecious, with male frequencies that ranged from 1–68%. On the Florida east coast, all populations north of latitude 26°30′ N lacked males while all populations south of this latitude were androdioecious, which suggests that northern populations may lack males due to dispersal limitation. The pattern of distribution on the Florida west coast suggests that males may be maintained in some populations via dispersal. Nine islands in north-central Bahamas were surveyed, and androdioecious populations were found only on San Salvador Island, where male frequencies ranged from 5–28%. Dispersal, fragmentation, and selection hypotheses are suggested to explain the observed pattern of distribution; these hypotheses will be tested in future studies.


Purpose: The ubiquitously expressed transmembrane glycoprotein CD47 delivers an anti-phagocytic (do not eat) signal by binding signal-regulatory protein α (SIRPα) on macrophages. CD47 is overexpressed in cancer cells and its expression is associated with poor clinical outcomes. TTI-621 (SIRPαFc) is a fully human recombinant fusion protein that blocks the CD47–SIRPα axis by binding to human CD47 and enhancing phagocytosis of malignant cells. Blockade of this inhibitory axis using TTI-621 has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy to promote tumor cell eradication. Experimental Design: The ability of TTI-621 to promote macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of human tumor cells was assessed using both confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. In vivo antitumor efficacy was evaluated in xenograft and syngeneic models and the role of the Fc region in antitumor activity was evaluated using SIRPαFc constructs with different Fc tails. Results: TTI-621 enhanced macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of both hematologic and solid tumor cells, while sparing normal cells. In vivo, TTI-621 effectively controlled the growth of aggressive AML and B lymphoma xenografts and was efficacious in a syngeneic B lymphoma model. The IgG1 Fc tail of TTI-621 plays a critical role in its antitumor activity, presumably by engaging activating Fcγ receptors on macrophages. Finally, TTI-621 exhibits minimal binding to human erythrocytes, thereby differentiating it from CD47 blocking antibodies. Conclusions: These data indicate that TTI-621 is active across a broad range of human tumors. These results further establish CD47 as a critical regulator of innate immune surveillance and form the basis for clinical development of TTI-621 in multiple oncology indications. Clin Cancer Res; 23(4); 1068–79. ©2016 AACR.


This study is an assessment of African social structures through the
lens of structuralist ideology by examining the opposing binaries of
gender conflict which are eyjdcnt in the literature of colonised societies
because the intersection of gender and power structm·e in societies is
· often reflected in fictional literature of the region. The mythic
establishment of patriarchal systems dominated the writings that
predated the evolution of feminism and portrayed female subjugation
as the status quo; a position wruch in retrospect reveals the rift
underlying the conb:oversy of gender relations in contemporary African
societies; especially in trado-western marriage systems. This article
draws attention to the iilltializmg symbols of dominance which are
celebrated during marriage c~remonics and how these act as
endorsement for the gender subjugation of the woman wjthin the
marriage itself. The tripartite semiotic system of the sign; the index;
and the symbol of Peircian philosophy are employed for the purpose of
analysis in this regard. The work focuses on the importance of gestural
signifiers of inequality and reveals the potential danger of female
attrition that lies in downplaying the unspoken and intrinsic power
which subjugation practices in marriage ceremonies symbolize. The
choice of the play is informed by the playwright's unique fusion of
satiric irony and gestural d)rnmnics to portray gender stratification The work should bridge the gap in the
dearth of literature that aims to
deconstruct gender characterization m
African dramaturgy.


Subwavelength periodic nanostructures on metal, dielectric or metal-dielectric-metal coating were fabricated by femtosecond laser. Circular apertures with diameter of ~0.6μm and a lattice period of 1.0 and 2.0 um were fabricated by single laser pulse irradiation. Surface geometries of nanostructure unit on the three kinds of coatings were compared using the scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. Moreover, the nanostructure units fabricated by front-side ablation technique and back-side ablation technique were compared. The minimum diameter of the circular aperture fabricated both by front-side ablation technique and back-side ablation technique could reach approximate 300 nm. By studying mechanisms of femtosecond laser interaction with metal films and dielectric films, it's found that metal layers dominate femtosecond laser interaction with metal-dielectric-metal sandwich type coatings. It's also found that the edges of apertures fabricated by back-side ablation technique in metal coatings and metal-dielectric-metal coatings are more regular and round than those fabricated by front-side ablation technique. Femtosecond laser fabrication therefore provides possibilities for maskless and speedy fabrication of fishnet structures which exhibit negative refractive index at optical frequencies.


The stem of Akebia quinata Decasisne (Lardizabalaceae) has been used to treat urinary tract inflammatory disease. It has been reported that saponins in medicinal plants may act as bioactive components after biodegradation to sapogenins in the gastrointestinal tract. To find the active components, we obtained the methanol (MeOH) extract from A. quinata stems and fractionated this extract into CHCl(3), butanol (BuOH), and H(2)O fractions. A saponin-containing BuOH fraction was refluxed in an acidic solution to yield the hydrolyzed fraction. Silica gel column chromatography separated kalopanaxsaponin A (1) from the BuOH fraction, and oleanolic acid (2) and hederagenin (3) were obtained from the hydrolyzed fraction. The antinociceptive effect was tested by hot plate-writhing and tail-flicks methods using mice, and the anti-inflammatory effect was assayed using carrageenan-induced rat edema against the following samples: the MeOH extract of A. quinata stems, its fractions, the isolated saponin, kalopanaxsaponin A, and the sapogenins hederagenin and oleanolic acid. The MeOH extract exhibited antinociceptive/anti-inflammatory effects by oral administration of 100 and 250 mg/kg doses, indicating that the MeOH extract has an antinociceptive/anti-inflammatory activity. The BuOH fraction (crude saponin) also significantly exhibited those bioactivities. Treatments with 10 and 30 mg/kg perorally of these two sapogenins produced significant antinociceptive/ anti-inflammatory effects in the rat, suggesting that the sapogenins may act as resultant active compounds. Compounds 2 and 3 inhibited dye leakage into the peritoneal cavity induced by acetic acid, and the latter was more active than the former. The anti-inflammtory effects were further supported by the reduction of carrageenan-induced lipid peroxidation and hydroxy radical content in serum. These results suggest that the antinociceptive/anti-inflammatory properties of the stem of A. quinata can be attributed to the sapogenins oleanolic acid and hederagenin.


INTRODUCTION    Restoring sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF)/atrial flutter (AF) requires adequate oral anticoagulation (OAC) prior to direct current cardioversion (DCC). Some patients eligible for DCC are not properly anticoagulated. OBJECTIVES    Assessment of risk factors for thrombus and spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) in the left atrium (LA) as well as the safety profile of DCC under transesophageal echocardiography control (TEE) in patients with inadequate anticoagulation. PATIENTS AND METHODS    From the cohort of 316 patients admitted for DCC, 139 (age 63.4 ± 11.5 years) had inadequate anticoagulation. 91 patients were admitted urgently for acute coronary syndrome, heart failure (HF), or poor tolerance of arrhythmia. The average CHA2DS2-VASc score was 3.0 ± 1.7.  RESULTS    TEE demonstrated LAA thrombus in 16 patients (11.5%), and LA SEC in 63 patients (45.3%). In univariate analysis, LAA thrombus was more common after myocardial infarction (OR 3.92, 95% CI 1.34-11.48, P=0.009), while LA SEC in patients with HF (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.1-4.53, P=0.02) and left ventricular ejection fraction <40% (OR 3.65, 95% CI 1.66-8.06, P=0.001). In the multivariate model, the most powerful SEC predicting factor was LA size>45mm (OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.3-7.29). DCC was performed in 105 patients. No complications of TEE or DCC were observed. CONCLUSIONS    AF/AFL inadequately treated with OAC predispose to thrombus formation and SEC in the LA. Once thrombus is excluded, DCC is a safe procedure. There were no predictors of LAA thrombus and, thus, TEE before DCC should be performed in all patients with AF/AFL in accordance with the guidelines.


Poly(hexyl-substituted lactides) (PHLA) as new hydrophobic polyesters with controlled molecular weights and narrow distributions were synthesized by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) using tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate (Sn(Oct)(2)) and benzyl alcohol as catalyst and initiator. Glass transition temperatures (T(g)) and zero shear viscosities (eta(0)) at 25 degrees C could be modulated from T(g)= -42 degrees C to -10 degrees C and 40 to 4850 Pa s, respectively, by varying the polymer molecular weight and the number of hexyl groups along the polymer chain. Degradation studies were performed in terms of both mass and molecular weight loss in the course of time. The degradation mechanism is shown to be of the "bulk erosion" type, and comparable to standard poly(D,L-lactide) (PLA). Despite the increased steric hindrance in the poly(monohexyl-substituted lactide) (PmHLA) due to the hexyl side groups, its degradation rate at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C was found to be slightly higher than observed for the analogue standard PLA. This could be attributed to the flexible rubbery state of the hexyl-substituted polymer (T(g) approximately -15 degrees C) at the physiological temperature, which is favoring the degradation in comparison to the rigid and glassy standard PLA (T(g) approximately 40 degrees C). In contrast, degradation studies performed at 60 degrees C, where both polymers are above their glass transition temperature, confirmed that the degradation rate is lower for the sterically more hindered PmHLA. The degradation products were analyzed by ESI-MS. Hydrolysis lead first to the corresponding oligo-ester fragments and finally to the nontoxic 2-hydroxyoctanoic acid and lactic acid. Tetracycline was tested as a model drug for release studies. This drug was found to be released faster and in higher amounts in its active form from the PHLA matrix than from standard PLA. The results presented in this work demonstrate the potential of these hydrophobic polylactide-based semisolid materials as an alternative to conventional PLA/PLGA for injectable drug delivery systems.


Atrial myxomas are the most common primary cardiac tumors and may manifest with neurological symptoms in ∼ 30% of cases. Cerebral ischemia, aneurysmal formation, and extravascular metastases are mechanisms that lead to these neurological manifestations. Perilesional changes on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may help in the diagnosis of myxomatous aneurysms, which are usually located in the distal middle cerebral artery (MCA) and in the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) circulation territories. Careful resection of the cardiac lesion is essential for preventing embolism. However, treatment of myxomatous aneurysms is controversial due to the limited understanding of the natural history of this condition. Treatment may include clinical observation in asymptomatic patients, surgical resection, endovascular approaches, adjuvant chemotherapy, and low-dose radiation therapy. We present one case of a female patient with myxomatous aneurysm secondary to an atrial myxoma who presented with neurological symptoms and another case of a female patient who developed neurological symptoms after initial surgical treatment of the primary lesion. Lesion growth rate, topography, morphology, and the patient's clinical condition must be considered when choosing a therapeutical method. Further clinical studies are needed to achieve a better understanding and treatment of this disease.


The present invention increases the utilization efficiency of the EL materials, and also, the uniformity or throughput of forming an EL layer film to provide a deposition apparatus and a deposition method excellent in the film forming apparatus. The present invention is, with respect to the large area substrate, to provide a method for efficiently depositing an EL material in a. In addition, the present invention provides a system capable of avoiding inclusion of impurities into the EL material. Deposition apparatus of the invention is characterized in that the substrate and the evaporation source to relatively moved. That is, the present invention in the deposition, the substrate with respect to, or the evaporation source to the one installing the deposited material is enclosed vessel evaporation source holder, move to a specific pitch relative to the substrate characterized in that the jump to a specific pitch. In addition, the present invention is then filled with a deposited material purified in a container, and carrying, by installing a vapor deposition apparatus is a direct film-forming device to the container, it characterized in that a vapor deposition. A light emitting device, a deposition device, EL layer, the evaporation source holder, the vessel, electronic devices


A typical predictive approach in data mining that produces If-Then knowledge for decision making is rule-based classification. Rule-based classification includes a large number of algorithms that fall under the categories of covering, greedy, rule induction, and associative classification. These approaches have shown promising results due to the simplicity of the models generated and the user's ability to understand, and maintain them. Phishing is one of the emergent online threats in web security domains that necessitates anti-phishing models with rules so users can easily differentiate among website types. This paper critically analyses recent research studies on the use of predictive models with rules for phishing detection, and evaluates the applicability of these approaches on phishing. To accomplish our task, we experimentally evaluate four different rule-based classifiers that belong to greedy, associative classification and rule induction approaches on real phishing datasets and with respect to different evaluation measures. Moreover, we assess the classifiers derived and contrast them with known classic classification algorithms including Bayes Net and Simple Logistics. The aim of the comparison is to determine the pros and cons of predictive models with rules and reveal their actual performance when it comes to detecting phishing activities. The results clearly showed that eDRI, a recently greedy algorithm, not only generates useful models but these are also highly competitive with respect to predictive accuracy as well as runtime when they are employed as anti-phishing tools.


The portable active interrogation assay system for light water reactor fuel assemblies is described. Methods for its calibration and use are given and results of several tests are presented that indicate the results to be expected from the instrument.


Prognostic and predictive markers utilized in invasive breast carcinoma are limited and include ER, PR, Ki67, and ERBB2 (HER2). In the case of HER2, over-expression or amplification serves as eligibility for anti-HER2 based therapy, including trastuzumab (Herceptin®, Genentech). While clinical trials have shown trastuzumab improves overall survival and time to progression, an individual's response to anti-HER2 based therapy is highly variable. This suggests that, in a "uniform" HER2 positive population, additional markers could help in predicting patient outcome to therapy. Here we utilized a recently validated high-specificity HER4 antibody (E200) and generated a standard clinical HER4 scoring algorithm (HER4 H-Score) utilizing two breast carcinoma cohorts: 1) patients receiving neoadjuvant trastuzumab (n=47) and 2) patients receiving trastuzumab for metastatic disease (n=33). Our HER4 H-Score showed significant correlation with high sensitivity RT-qPCR performed on matched patients (p=<0.0001). In addition, patients with HER2/HER4 co-over-expression status showed a significant delay in development of metastasis after neo-adjuvant trastuzumab therapy (p= 0.04) and showed a significant improvement in progression free survival after adjuvant trastuzumab therapy (p=0.03). These findings suggest HER4 IHC, used in conjunction with a standard HER2 testing algorithm, could aid in predicting clinical outcome and help identify patients likely to show improved response to trastuzumab therapy.


SUMMARY Turkish (Origanum onites L.) and Greek oregano (Origanum vulgare L., ssp. hirtum (Link.) Ietswaart) species were investigated to determine herbage colour, essential oil content and composition changes due to sage leafhopper (Eupteryx melissae) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) infestation. Sage leafhopper population on both Turkish and Greek oregano did not significantly vary. The sage leafhopper damage was more severe in the lower part of the canopy than the middle and upper parts. Extensive sage leafhopper feeding dramatically reduced essential oil contents, resulting in 28.8 and 34.8% reductions for Greek and Turkish oregano, respectively. Carvacrol, the major essential oil component of both oregano species, did not remarkably vary between leafhopper infested and non-infested plants. With respect to herbage colour, the brightness, redness and yellowness values were significantly different between infested and non-infested plants. Sage leafhopper damage increased brightness and yellowness but decreased greenness of the oregano herbage. To avoid the feeding damage, it is essential to detect the sage leafhopper problem as early as possible and certain control practices are necessary when the infestation is high.


Background: Availability of adequate number of optimal cold chain equipment is indispensable for expanded programs on immunization. Lack of this equipment can hinder a country's progress towards its immunization coverage and equity goals. In this study, we evaluated the availability and status of vaccine cold chain equipment in Cameroon so as to facilitate planning for repairs, maintenance, replacement and expansion of cold chain infrastructure.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Cameroon, a country that has witnessed a sizable decline in its immunization coverage in recent years. Pre-tested and validated questionnaires were used to collect data from districts and health facilities. Completed questionnaires were double entered into Census and Survey Processing System and analyzed using SPSS, version 22.

Results: Overall, 4,568 sites were surveyed, including 189 health districts and 4,379 health facilities. Of the 189 surveyed districts, 75% were equipped with WHO-prequalified vaccine refrigerators, 7% were unequipped with any refrigerator, while 3% were equipped with broken refrigerators. In addition, 12% were equipped with absorption (PIS) refrigerators and the remaining 3% with domestic refrigerators. Of the 4,379 surveyed facilities, 38% were unequipped with any refrigerator and 14% were equipped with broken refrigerators. Only 2% of facilities were equipped with WHO-prequalified refrigerators. The remaining facilities met their cold chain needs with absorption (28%) and domestic (18%) refrigerators. With regards to storage capacity gaps, 45% of health districts had capacity gaps in 2017, a percentage that is projected to reach 75% by 2021. Unlike districts, almost all facilities had cold chain capacity gaps in 2017 and this percentage is expected to reach 99% by 2021 if no intervention is implemented.

 Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the cold chain system in Cameroon, particularly at facility level is severely compromised. This challenge highlights the need for urgent interventions to restore adequate and functional cold chain capacity at these levels as this will be necessary to boast immunization coverage and equity.


We study the relationship between lead times and the bullwhip effect produced by the order-upto policy. The usual conclusion in the literature is that longer lead-time increase the bullwhip effect, we show that this is not always the case. Indeed, it seems to be rather rare. We achieve this by first showing that a positive demand impulse response leads to a bullwhip effect that is always increasing in the lead time when the order-up-to policy is used to make supply chain inventory replenishment decisions. By using the zeros and poles of the z-transform of the demand process, we reveal when this demand impulse is positive. To make concrete our approach in a nontrivial example we study the ARMA(2,2) demand process. Copyright c © 2019 IFAC.


The solvent kinetic isotope effects (SKIE) on the yeast alpha-glucosidase-catalyzed hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl and methyl-d-glucopyranoside were measured at 25 degrees C. With p-nitrophenyl-D-glucopyranoside (pNPG), the dependence of k(cat)/K(m) on pH (pD) revealed an unusually large (for glycohydrolases) solvent isotope effect on the pL-independent second-order rate constant, (DOD)(k(cat)/K(m)), of 1.9 (+/-0.3). The two pK(a)s characterizing the pH profile were increased in D(2)O. The shift in pK(a2) of 0.6 units is typical of acids of comparable acidity (pK(a)=6.5), but the increase in pK(a1) (=5.7) of 0.1 unit in going from H(2)O to D(2)O is unusually small. The initial velocities show substrate inhibition (K(is)/K(m) approximately 200) with a small solvent isotope effect on the inhibition constant [(DOD)K(is)=1.1 (+/-0.2)]. The solvent equilibrium isotope effects on the K(is) for the competitive inhibitors D-glucose and alpha-methyl D-glucoside are somewhat higher [(DOD)K(i)=1.5 (+/-0.1)]. Methyl glucoside is much less reactive than pNPG, with k(cat) 230 times lower and k(cat)/K(m) 5 x 10(4) times lower. The solvent isotope effect on k(cat) for this substrate [=1.11 (+/-0. 02)] is lower than that for pNPG [=1.67 (+/-0.07)], consistent with more extensive proton transfer in the transition state for the deglucosylation step than for the glucosylation step.


It is necessary to pay increased attention to the managing of emotions, to motivation and empathy, which requires most of all an individual approach to pupils in the process of teaching. This scientific study focuses on motivating and demotivating reactions of teachers and their impact on positive and negative emotional experiences of pupils during lessons. Our goal was to find out, if there are differences between emotional experiences of pupils taught by teachers, whose motivating had a positive character, and pupils of those teachers, whose motivating had a negative character. We have executed a quantitative research supplemented by a qualitative analysis. The research sample consisted of students of higher secondary education and their teachers from secondary vocational schools in the Trenčín district. Ten teachers and 375 students had been included in the research. We have identified the differences with the help of a method of microteaching analysis with the use of analytical scheme AS9 (author is Miron Zelina) and a modified version of the Questionnaire of Emotional Experience. The questionnaire contains entries focusing on positive and negative experiences. In both variables we have observed a statistically significant difference with students taught by Teacher 10, whose motivating had a negative character.


It has previously been shown that the excess of events reported by the CoGeNT collaboration could be generated by elastically scattering dark matter particles with a mass of approximately 5–15 GeV. This mass range is very similar to that required to generate the annual modulation observed by DAMA/LIBRA and the gamma rays from the region surrounding the Galactic Center identified within the data of the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope. To confidently conclude that CoGeNT's excess is the result of dark matter, however, further data will likely be needed. In this paper, we make projections for the first full year of CoGeNT data, and for its planned upgrade. Not only will this body of data more accurately constrain the spectrum of nuclear recoil events, and corresponding dark matter parameter space, but will also make it possible to identify seasonal variations in the rate. In particular, if the CoGeNT excess is the product of dark matter, then one year of CoGeNT data will likely reveal an annual modulation with a significance of 2-3σ. The planned CoGeNT upgrade will not only detect such an annual modulation with high significance, but will be capable of measuring the energy spectrum of the modulation amplitude. These measurements will be essential to irrefutably confirming a dark matter origin of these events.


The "Space Seeds for Asian Future (SSAF)" program is one of the activities of the "Kibo-ABC" initiative under the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF). The program intends to promote understanding, and to give regional space agencies experience in the utilization of the Japanese Experiment Module, "Kibo", of the International Space Station (ISS). It also aims to provide young people in the Asia-Pacific region with opportunities to learn about leading edge sciences through their participations in experiments under peculiar space conditions, including microgravity. Students from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the SSAF2010-2011 program. As part of this program seeds from each of these nations were flown to the ISS and kept in the Kibo Module. These seeds were then returned to Earth where they were germinated and compared to control seed not flown in space. This experiment involved researchers, students and the general public. In the SSAF2013 program, there are plans to cultivate seeds indigenous to Asia in the Kibo/ISS facilities. The plan is to send Azuki bean (Vigna angularis) to Kibo, and observe the growth of their seedlings under dark conditions. Members of the Kibo-ABC initiative are collaborating in the preparation of the seed germination testing procedures, following which many people, including children, students and researchers, are expected to participate in the program.


This article discusses the interaction between the development of the doctrine on human rights, in general, and on the right to food, in particular. In 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which listed the rights that were considered to be human rights. Access to food is an element of the right to an adequate standard of living. The Council of Europe established the European Convention on Human Rights (1950) and the European Social Charter (1961). Neither of these documents mentions a right to food. In 1966, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights were concluded. The latter recognises the right to adequate food as an element of the right to an adequate standard of living. The right to adequate food was the subject of endeavours at the UN level to push development of doctrine so that economic, social and cultural rights empower people just as much as civil and political rights. The Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Asbjorn Eide, coined a new paradigm, which distinguishes different human rights obligations for states.


Background Pathogenesis of portal hypertension is multifactorial and includes pathologic intrahepatic angiogenesis, whereby TIPS insertion is an effective therapy of portal hypertension associated complications. While angiogenin is a potent contributor to angiogenesis in general, little is known about its impact on TIPS function over time. Methods In a total of 118 samples from 47 patients, angiogenin concentrations were measured in portal and inferior caval vein plasma at TIPS insertion (each blood compartment n = 23) or angiographic intervention after TIPS (each blood compartment n = 36) and its relationship with patient outcome was investigated. Results Angiogenin levels in the inferior caval vein were significantly higher compared to the portal vein (P = 0.048). Ten to 14 days after TIPS, inferior caval vein angiogenin level correlated inversely with the portal systemic pressure gradient (P<0.001), measured invasively during control angiography. Moreover, patients with TIPS revision during this angiography, showed significantly lower angiogenin level in the inferior caval vein compared to patients without TIPS dysfunction (P = 0.01). Conclusion In cirrhosis patients with complications of severe portal hypertension, circulating levels of angiogenin are derived from the injured liver. Moreover, angiogenin levels in the inferior caval vein after TIPS may predict TIPS dysfunction.


Leon Blum, Albert Camus, and Raymond Aron might seem an unlikely combination. Blum was a fin-de-siecle aesthete who became the spiritual and political leader of the French non-Communist Left in the first half of this century. Camus, best known to millions of readers worldwide for his novels "The Stranger" and "The Plague," was a wartime Resistance figure who played a prominent part in post-1945 intellectual life in France before dying tragically young in a car crash in 1960. Aron, a contemporary of Jean-Paul Sartre in the brilliant intellectual generation of interwar France, was a political theorist, journalist, and critic of Communism who made a major contribution to the recent revival of liberal thought in contemporary France. In "The Burden of Responsibility," Tony Judt offers a distinctive and original reinterpretation of the writings and public role of these three men, arguing that they have much in common. Despite the great differences in their backgrounds, their interests, and their views, all three were men of integrity who took seriously their responsibility as public intellectuals.


In this paper, we estimate a dynamic panel data model to determine the effect of various institutional factors on the performance of a sample of Colombian companies during the period 2002-2007. Our results indicate that the analyzed companies are affected by these factors. Institutions associated with property rights and contract compliance have significant effects on the growth of the firms. On the other hand, financial development does not have a significant effect.


Abstract– The utilization of lakes, and inlet and outlet streams by juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) and Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus (L.), were investigated in 16 watercourses northern Norway, all known to inhabit salmon stocks. In lakes, fish were caught by small mesh size gill nets, while in rivers fish were caught electrofishing. In the shallow littoral (0-3 m depth) there were juvenile salmon in 15 of 19 investigated lakes, juvenile trout in 17 and juvenile charr in seven. Trout dominated significantly in numbers in the shallow littoral of seven lakes, while salmon and charr dominated in three lakes each. When trout and salmon were frequent in the shallow littoral, charr was usually not present in this habitat, but were found in the profundal zone in most of the lakes. Atlantic salmon parr utilized both shallow and deep lakes, and used both stones and macrophytic vegetation as shelter. The utilization of lakes by salmon parr seemed to be closely related to utilization of small inlet streams for spawning. In most inlet and outlet streams salmon dominated over trout in numbers, while charr were absent. This is the first documentation of lake-use by naturally occurring salmon parr in Scandinavia.


Compact macromolecular dendrons have previously been shown to induce the formation of discontinuous inverse micellar assemblies with Fd3 m symmetry in monoolein/water systems. Here, we demonstrate that a large PAMAM dendron (G5: fifth generation) induces the formation of a very unusual mesophase with P4332 symmetry. This mesophase had previously been observed in monoolein/water systems only on addition of cytochrome c. The P4332 mesophase can be considered an intermediate phase between the bicontinuous Ia3 d and discontinuous micellar mesophases. We present a detailed investigation of the phase behavior of monoolein/water as a function of G5 concentration and temperature. Addition of 1% G5 in 85/15 monoolein/water system induces a transition from the Lα to Ia3 d phase. Further increase in G5 concentration to above 2% induces the formation of the P4332 phase. In contrast to this, incorporation of lower generation PAMAM dendrons (G2-G4) in monoolein/water yields a qualitatively different phase diagram with the formation of the reverse micellar Fd3 m phase. PAMAM dendrons of all generations, G2-G5, bear terminal amine groups that interact with the monoolein headgroup. The compact molecular architecture of the dendrons and these attractive interactions induce bending of the monoolein bilayer structure. For smaller dendrons, G2-G4, this results in the formation of the Fd3 m phase. However, the large size of the G5 dendron precludes this and a rare intermediate phase between the Ia3 d and discontinuous micellar phase, and the P4332 mesophase forms instead.


Abstract : Two problems the Aeronautical Systems Center's Acquisition Cost Division (ASC/FMC) is encountering with its Life Cycle Cost/Lean Process Initiative (LCC/LPI) efforts are (Marshall and Seibel. 2000): (1) a high proportion of inexperienced to experienced cost analysts which makes access to valuable expertise limited, and (2) knowledge loss due to turnover of experienced cost analysts. To address these problems, this thesis presents a four-step tailored methodology to identity tasks or processes important to the functioning of an organization, capture knowledge from experts pertaining to those tasks (generate content), convert that knowledge into a flowchart (organize content), and have experts critique the end product to ensure accuracy and usefulness (develop content). The methodology capitalizes on proven knowledge elicitation techniques for the generation of knowledge and a commercial-off-the-shelf software program, Microsoft(Copyright) Excel, for the organization and representation of knowledge in the form of a flowchart. The methodology is demonstrated on the process of crosschecking cost estimates and resulted in the creation of a procedural guide. This guide contains a flowchart representing the experts' approach to crossehecks, and hyperlinks to detailed knowledge regarding each step that can he used to assist cost analysts when performing crosschecks,


Abstract Purpose: The review aims to discuss the prominence of dietary and metabolic regulators in maintaining hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function, long-term self-renewal, and differentiation. Results: Most adult stem cells are preserved in a quiescent, nonmotile state in vivo which acts as a "protective state" for stem cells to reduce endogenous stress provoked by DNA replication and cellular respiration as well as exogenous environmental stress. The dynamic balance between quiescence, self-renewal and differentiation is critical for supporting a functional blood system throughout life of an organism. Stress-conditions, for example ionizing radiation exposure can trigger the blood forming HSCs to proliferate and migrate through extramedullary tissues to expand the number of HSCs and increase hematopoiesis. In addition, a wealth of investigation validated that deregulation of this balance plays a critical pathogenic role in various different hematopoietic diseases including the leukemia development. Conclusion: The review summarizes the current knowledge on how alterations in dietary and metabolic factors could alter the risk of leukemia development following ionizing radiation exposure by inhibiting or even reversing the leukemic progression. Understanding the influence of diet, metabolism, and epigenetics on radiation-induced leukemogenesis may lead to the development of practical interventions to reduce the risk in exposed populations.


Abstract General anesthetics, ganglionic blocking agents, anticonvulsants, and antioxidants have been shown to afford protection from seizures caused by exposure to hyperbaric oxygen. In the present study cats were exposed to 5 ATA oxygen in pairs in a hyperbaric chamber until both the control and pretreated cat convulsed or for a maximum 120 min exposure. Small amounts of four common antiepileptic agents and propylene glycol in amounts far less than previously reported (0.1 to 0.2 ml/kg) were initially tested for potential anticonvulsant activity. Two agents, clonazepam and propylene glycol, offered significant protection in delaying the onset of seizures whereas carbamazepine, valproic acid, and trimethadione appeared to hasten the onset of seizure activity. The time to seizures was increased nearly five times by clonazepam and over three times by very small amounts of propylene glycol.


The airborne transmission of the COVID-19 virus has been suggested as a major mode of transmission in recent studies. In this context, we studied the spatial transmission of COVID-19 vectors in an indoor setting representative of a typical office room. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed to study the airborne dispersion of particles ejected due to different respiratory mechanisms, i.e., coughing, sneezing, normal talking, and loud talking. Number concentration profiles at a distance of 2 m in front of the emitter at the ventilation rates of 4, 6, and 8 air changes per hour (ACH) were estimated for different combinations of inlet–outlet positions and emitter–receptor configurations. Apart from respiratory events, viz., coughing and sneezing characterized by higher velocity and concentration of ejected particles, normal as well as loud talking was seen to be carrying particles to the receptor for some airflow patterns in the room. This study indicates that the ″rule of thumb based safe distance approach″ cannot be a general mitigation strategy for infection control. Under some scenarios, events with a lower release rate of droplets such as talking (i.e., asymptomatic transmission) can lead to a high concentration of particles persisting for long times. For better removal, the study suggests ″air curtains″ as an appropriate approach, simultaneously highlighting the pitfalls in the ″higher ventilation rate for better removal″ strategy. The inferences for talking-induced particle transmissions are crucial considering that large populations of COVID-19-infected persons are projected to be asymptomatic transmitters.


Compared with other sports, cheerleading carries a relatively low risk of injury, but the injuries that do occur tend to be relatively severe in terms of time lost. The most common injury site is the ankle, with head and neck injuries less common but more severe. Two case reports illustrate overuse and acute injuries typical of the sport. Cheerleading injuries have been attributed to lack of experience, inadequate conditioning, insufficient supervision, difficult stunts, and inappropriate surfaces and equipment. Prevention recommendations are included.


To determine the feasibility of demonstrating mitral regurgitation by injection of contrast media into the left ventricle, percutaneous and subxiphoid left ventricular punctures were carried out in dogs and subsequently in human beings. Contrast media were injected and roentgenographic studies made. The correlation between the roentgenographic and subsequent anatomic findings at operation or autopsy is emphasized. The method appears to be relatively safe if proper safeguards are observed. The results indicate that the method is of value in determining the competence of the mitral valve and relative degree of insufficiency.


Among the potential applications of coordination polymers, electrical conductivity ranks high in technological interest. We report the synthesis, crystal structure and spectroscopic analysis of an AgI-thiosaccharinate one-dimensional coordination polymer {systematic name: catena-poly[[[aquatetrakis(μ3-1,1-dioxo-1,2-benzisothiazole-3-thiolato-κ3N:S3:S3)tetrasilver(I)]-μ2-4,4'-(propane-1,3-diyl)dipyridine-κ2N:N'] dimethyl sulfoxide hemisolvate]}, {[Ag4(C7H4NO2S2)4(C13H14N2)(H2O)]·0.5C2H6OS}n, with the 4,4'-(propane-1,3-diyl)dipyridine ligand acting as a spacer. A relevant feature of the structure is the presence of an unusually short Ag...Ag distance of 2.8306 (9) Å, well within the range of argentophilic interactions, confirmed experimentally as such by a Raman study on the low-frequency spectrum, and corroborated theoretically by an Atoms in Molecules (AIM) analysis of the calculated electron density. Electrical conductivity measurements show that this complex can act as a semiconductor with moderate conductivity.


Anti‐counterfeiting techniques have become a global topic since they is correlated to the information and data safety, in which multimodal luminescence is one of the most desirable candidates for practical applications. However, it is a long‐standing challenge to actualize robust multimodal luminescence with high thermal stability and humid resistance. Conventionally, the multimodal luminescence is usually achieved by the combination of upconversion and downshifting luminescence, which only responds to the electromagnetic waves in a limited range. Herein, the Yb3+/Er3+/Bi3+ co‐doped Cs2Ag0.6Na0.4InCl6 perovskite material is reported as an efficient multimodal luminescence material. Beyond the excitation of ultraviolet light and near‐infrared laser (980 nm), this work extends multimodal luminescence to the excitation of X‐ray. Besides the flexible excitation sources, this material also shows the exceptional luminescence performance, in which the X‐ray detection limit reaches the level of nGy s−1, indicating a great potential for further application as a colorless pigment in the anti‐counterfeiting field. More importantly, the obtained double perovskite features high stability against both humidity and temperature up to 400 °C. This integrated multifunctional luminescent material provides a new directional solution for the development of multifunctional optical materials and devices.


Voice over IP (VoIP) and wireless networks are technologies that are receiving an increasing interest by both, the research community and the final users. For instance, the effect of layer two handoffs, delay constraints, channels with constant bit error rates, packet size, UDP traffic, TCP traffic, overheads from different layers, etc., have been exhaustively evaluated for VoIP over wireless networks. Surprisingly, the effect of the physical layer has been barely addressed in the related literature. This paper evaluates, via computer simulation, the effect of fading channels on VoIP traffic for IEEE 802.11 systems and its influence on the Quality of user Experience (QoE). We use the Nakagami-m propagation model in order to represent different physical radio propagation environments. A complete study about the effect of fading over system capacity, coverage range, and QoE is provided. To this end, we simulate several scenarios, with different codecs, different packetization time intervals, and different bandwidths. From the results achieved, we observe that fading channels have i) a severe impact on the network capacity, represented by a reduction in the maximum number of valid VoIP supported calls, ii) a reduction of the network coverage accepting VoIP calls, and iii) a degradation of the QoE evidenced by a reduction of the assessed Mean Opinion Score.


Pilgrimages to Muktinath, Pasupatinath, Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar in the Tibetan and Nepalese Himalayas form part of a broader South Asian pilgrimage tradtition. Pilgrimages are usually analyzed as culturally heterogenous and conested events. Through the application of cognitive anthropological analyses it is, however, possible to identify regularities and common processes in pilgrimages. This study focuses upon fundamental regularities in pilgrimages, in the form of ritual interaction with culturally postulated divine actors. The first chapter presents the inquiry and includes an overview of earlier research carried out on pilgrimage. An overviews of earlier theories of pilgrimage is presented. The chapter is concluded with a section in which methodological and ethnographic reflections are made upon the conditions of carrying out fieldwork among pilgrims. Chapter two presents the theoretical background. Cognitive and epidemiological theories are suggested for cultural analysis of the pilgrimages. Pilgrimage is here assumed to be a religious activity that has particular regularities. Cultural selection in religion is discussed and theoretical concepts are introduced. It is assumed that counterintuition is significant in religion and that it explains the selection of ideas about supernatural actors. Cognitive ritual models such as frequency theory and form theory are considered appropriate for the analysis of various aspects of pilgrimages. Chapter three presents the ethnographic context of the pilgrimage cultures at Muktinath, Pasupatinath, Mt. Kailash and Manasarovar in the Tibetan and Nepalese Himalayas. Chapter four discusses the ways in which pilgrims categorize pilgrimages. Variations in the folk terminology of the "Tirtha Jatra" are analyzed. The cartographic knowledge of the pilgrims is also discussed and it is proposed that cosmological maps are irrelevant for making one's way to a pilgrimage site. Chapter five explores the pilgrims' explicit motives in terms of soteriology, everyday goals and health needs. These motives are analyzed in relation to ideas of karma and coincidence. Pilgrims' understandings of vows and divine favour are discussed. Chapter six examines pilgrims' conceptions of supernatural actors. Pilgrims describe here which characteristics a divine actor possesses and how these may influence the life of the pilgrim. Analysis is performed in relation to pilgrims' understandings of freedom and supernatural omnipotence. The recurrent cultural theme of pilgrims' divine dreams is also discussed. The seventh chapter explores the importance of the hardship and risk associated with the pilgrimage. The notion of "dukha" and ascetic ideals are investigated and ideas concerning sacrifice are analyzed as exegetic rationalizations of the experiences that are gained through participating in a pilgrimage. Chapter eight discusses the idea of sacrifice as it appears in relation to notions of good and bad death during a pilgrimage. Notions of good death have broad curency, although religiously motivated suicide is considered a cardinal sin. Pilgrims' views of ritual suicide carried out during pilgrimage contradict theological ideologies that render suicide acceptable in the vicinity of pilgrimage sites. This section alayzes ideas of good death on the basis of the fact that the pilgrimage goal constitutes a context of cognitive validation. Chapter nine looks at the way in which substances are moved to and from pilgrimage sites in the form os sins, blessings and gifts. Notions of substances and gifts are analyzed as understandings based upon anthropomorphic agency. The flow of substances during pilgrimage is explained through reference to psychological essentialism and contamination (magic). Chaper ten summarizes the dissertation. It is proposed that when pilgrimages are viewed in cross-cultural perspective, they constitute a relatively coherent category. It is suggested that pilgrimages presuppose ritual interaction with culturally postulated supernatural actors. This feature calls into question the validity of prevalent models, which see pilgrimages as political constructions or psychosocial vitalization. It is also argued here that pilgrimages are peculiar in that they are structured according to ritual intuitions regarding supernatural immediacy. Ideas of supernatural immediacy offer a context of validation for pilgrimages. Understandings of supernatural immediacy are established through belief in miracles and belief in the dissemination of blessings from the pilgrimage site.


We introduce a new Galois connection for partial operations on a finite set, which induces a natural quasi-order on the collection of all partial algebras on this set. The quasi-order is compatible with the basic concepts of natural duality theory, and we use it to turn the set of all alter egos of a given finite algebra into a doubly algebraic lattice. The Galois connection provides a framework for us to develop further the theory of natural dualities for partial algebras. The development unifies several fundamental concepts from duality theory and reveals a new understanding of full dualities, particularly at the finite level.


This chapter develops a conception of necropolitics as a power/knowledge assemblage by focusing on the games of truth and regimes of knowledge produced around death in the cases of mass graves and disappearance in Turkey. In particular, I am interested in the relations drawn between death, memory, and knowledge in necropolitical spaces, in spaces where life and the living are subsumed under the active production, regulation, and optimisation of death. The chapter consists of three parts: the first part analyses the relation between necropolitics and knowledge production, in order to establish necropolitics not only as a political technology, but also an epistemic one. The second section investigates the specific techniques of knowledge deployed in necropolitics, i.e., necro-epistemic methods, which target the temporal and logical coherence of memory in necropolitical spaces. The last section focuses on the practices of epistemic resistance, which work through mobilising perplexing realities in order to instigate counter-discourses. Overall, I argue that these counter-discourses, which I call 'nightmare-knowledges,' constitute necropolitical spaces as spaces of epistemic agency.


A recently introduced automated gel electrophoresis apparatus with an intermittent scanning of the migration path, the HPGE 1000 apparatus (LabIntelligence, Belmont, CA) has a unique preparative feature: A recovery cup can be automatically positioned on the band of interest, which is then electroeluted with fluorescence monitoring of recovery. Electroelution time is extended stepwise until quantitative recovery is attained. This preparative procedure has been extended from electrophoresis in gels to that of subcellularsized particles in concentrated polymer solutions Chang et al., Electrophoresis 17, 776-780, 1996). However, that application required manual rather than computer-directed positioning of the recovery chamber over the band. The present report details a modification of instrumentation and procedure by which automated operation was restored. The modified procedure extends the benefits of automation and known quantitative recovery to isolation of particles too large to enter into gels.


Knowledge management can play a vital role in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations. The earnings from utilizing knowledge management has caused that most organizations try to execute this process. In this study, we aim to assess the ranking and weights of knowledge management enablers based on the academic members, staff and student in management schools of Qom province in Iran. The results showed that the organizational culture has the most important position while the organizational structure has the least important position in knowledge management in universities. Using a group AHP weighting method resulted in highest weight for organizational culture and lowest weight for organizational culture in developing knowledge management in educational organizations.


Two-dimensional magnetic recording (TDMR) is a new magnetic recording paradigm that aims to record one bit of information in one or a few grains, with the goal of achieving a recording density of nearly 10 Tbit/in2. In addition to the usual noise, a TDMR channel experiences the problem that some bits are never recorded because of the randomness of grain size and location. Thus, it is believed that a key component of a TDMR channel is two-dimensional (2-D) signal processing along with a strong error correction code. In this study, the TDMR channel is investigated based on a random Voronoi grain model and a signal processing architecture is proposed. Here, a 2-D linear minimum mean squared error (LMMSE) equalizer and a low-density parity-check (LDPC) code are employed and the effects of unwritten bits are modeled by a Gaussian mixture model. In numerical simulations, the proposed architecture shows the feasibility of user bit densities near 10 Tbit/in2 for media with a 20 Tgrains/in2 grain density.


This article provides an introduction to the use of the Internet as a research tool. Methods for searching the Internet for secondary sources of information are explained and representative search tools and information resources are identified. Issues related to the evaluation of information obtained from the Internet are identified. The use of the Internet as a tool for gathering primary research data (Internet-mediated research: IMR) is also discussed. Issues related to the reliability of IMR methods, the validity of IMR data, and the ethical challenges that can arise are highlighted.


Oman is a country that is mostly dry and hot, with daily maximum temperatures easily reaching 40°C or more during summer. The Oman weather therefore renders conventional open field agriculture almost impossible. The sustainable future of agriculture in Oman and other similar desert countries will therefore depend very much on the adoption of land and water saving technologies such as greenhouses and soilless culture or hydroponics. Soilless culture (Hydroponics) is the technique of growing plants without soil with their roots immersed in nutrient solution. Among factors affecting hydroponic production systems, is the nutrient solution temperature which is considered to be one of the most important determining factors of crop yield and quality. The aim of this research is therefore to investigate the economic effect of cooling nutrient solutions temperature technique on cucumber output. Four nutrient solutions temperatures are investigated and a Cost Benefit Analysis is undertaken. Results indicate that all the four cooling nutrient temperature yields positive returns (benefits) above variable and total costs for the two years of this experiment. Cooling nutrient temperature (22ºC) yields higher returns than the other treatments followed by treatment (25ºC), (28ºC) and then the CONTROL treatment. Returns for the second year are higher than the first year. Therefore treatment (22ºC) was observed to be the best overall producing the highest return above variable and total costs. It is therefore considered the best alternative for cucumber growers.


Although most patients with concussion recover within days to weeks, a small but significant minority develop persistent signs and symptoms of post-concussion syndrome (PCS). The standard treatments of PCS, rest and cognitive adaptation, have limited effectiveness. PCS patients are advised not to exercise because of the concern for symptom exacerbation. Prolonged rest, however, leads to deconditioning (especially in athletes) and may cause secondary effects including depressive symptoms. Concussion is associated with metabolic and physiological changes in the brain and in other organ systems (for example, autonomic function of the heart and altered cerebral autoregulation, sleep, and circadian rhythms). We propose that PCS results from ongoing central and systemic physiologic regulatory dysfunction after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and we further propose that this physiologic dysfunction may be reduced or alleviated by individualized controlled sub-symptom threshold aerobic exercise rehabilitation.


The combination of ionic liquid‐refrigerant based [EMIM][DMP]‐H2O as an alternative working pair for single effect vapor absorption cycles (VACs) is assessed and optimized by using energy and exergy based performances. Thermodynamics properties of binary mixture of [EMIM] [DMP]‐H2O like Dühring's (P‐T‐x1) and h‐T‐X1 plots are computed from the activity coefficient based non‐random two‐liquid model (NRTL) model. Further modeling and simulation of VACs are accomplished in open source Scilab as mathematical programing software and used to ascertain the optimal generator temperature established on energetic and exergetic COP. Optimal results include an extensive range of temperatures like Te from 2.5 to 15°C and Ta and Tc from 30 to 45°C. Simulation of the single effect VAC with SHE by using [EMIM][DMP]‐H2O mixture at Te = 10°C, Tg = 100°C, Ta = 30°C, and Tc = 40°C were evaluated and compared with the 5 working fluids. Simulation outcomes depicted greater COP of 0.82 for [EMIM][DMP]‐H2O in comparison with NH3‐H2O, EMISE‐H2O, [EMIM][BF4]‐H2O and nearly equal to LiBr‐H2O (COP = 0.83). In addition, the effect of Tg on the COP, ECOP f, and composition are compared and optimized for the evaporation temperature range from 2.5 to 15°C, Ta/Tc from 30 to 45°C and cooling water (CW) flow in series and parallel. Additionally, the optimal Tg exhibited distinction based on energy and exergy analysis. Thus, it resulted in optimized performances of [EMIM] [DMP]‐H2O that can be suitable to replace corrosive aqueous LiBr in VACs.


COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has developed into a global pandemic. COVID-19 poses a huge threat to health care, and the shortage of medical resources caused by COVID-19 brought serious secondary disasters to elderly cancer patients who are particularly dependent on medical resources. The clinical challenges of cancer management, including aging, immunosuppression, and comorbidities, make cancer patients more vulnerable to COVID-19 with different clinical manifestations, disease severity, and outcomes. The review comprehensively analyzed the characteristics of the cancer patients under the pandemic and concluded that cancer patients were more susceptible to COVID-19, and also concluded that they were more likely to develop poor outcomes and the severe form of the disease. Three basic management strategies have been proposed to protect susceptible elderly cancer patients, find reliable indicators to monitor the course of disease, and implement effective prevention measures.


The current research is done among women working in IRIB in order to study the relationship between emotional intelligence and the consumption of cultural goods. This research was by purpose practical and by approach descriptive correlational. The statistical Society of this research includes all women working in Tehran's IRIB in 1398 which came to a total of 7600 people. The sample size was 367 people according to Krejcie and Morgan. To determine the research variables the 28 emotional intelligence questionnaire of Bradbury and Graves and the 29 cultural consumption questionnaire were applied. According to experts,the validity of the questionnaires were evaluated in a desirable level and the total cronbach's alpha was 908 and the composite reliability which is an acceptable one for questionnaires was calculated.To analyse the data,the clomogrov_Smironov test and Pearson correlation coefficient was used.The findings showed that there is a meaningful relation between emotional intelligence and the consumption of written goods,audio_visual goods, sports and entertainment goods,religious goods and goods of cultural heritages among women working in IRIB.