The less than 2-micron fraction of deltaic sediments of the central North Slope, Arctic Alaska, were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. In almost all samples illite is the predominant clay mineral; smectite, chlorite, and kaolinite are present in minor amounts. In the Colville Delta, there is a notable increase in the illite/smectite ratio and a decrease in the smectite/kaolinite ratio from the fluvial channels to the saline fluviomarine and marine regions adjacent to the estuarine mouth. These changes in clay mineral assemblages presumably are due to reconstitution End_Page 796------------------------------ in the saline environment, through K+ adsorption and/or cation exchange, of either degraded illites or mixed-layered illite-smectite derived from nonsaline fluvial channels. This conclusion is supported by results of laboratory studies conducted on fresh and brackish water clays with seawater. The observed environmental variations in clay mineral assemblages may have important implications on paleogeographic interpretations. There are two clay-mineral zones in the shallow-marine facies of the deltaic complex. Clays west of Oliktok Point have markedly lower illite/smectite and illite/kaolinite ratios than clays east of the Point. These lateral variations probably are related to differences in clay-mineral sources rather than depositional environments. End_of_Article - Last_Page 797------------


EXPLORING THE HISTORY OF GOLF COURSE DESIGN Keith Cutten University of Guelph, 2016 Advisor: Prof. Robert Brown Golf's future is in question. Fewer people are participating, environmental restrictions are altering construction and maintenance practices, and improved equipment technologies have necessitated longer golf holes increasing management and playing costs. There is a lack of research examining the influence that golf course architecture has had on the evolution, and current state, of the game of golf. This study explored connections between the evolution of golf architecture and external influences such as technology, media, social trends, the economy and allied professional fields. A decadeby-decade breakdown revealed 10 eras and 8 schools of design. This process led to the recognition of two high points in the evolution of golf course architecture, one pre-WWII and one on-going since 1995. Questionnaires were sent to 35 leading designers, from which aggregate findings were compared to writings of 35 pre-WWII designers. Themes were distilled which suggested a correlation between both high points of design practice.


Large quantities of agricultural wastes such as palm ash and rice husk are found throughout Malaysia, have a possibility to be used as a usefully renewable source for production of energy and silica (SiO2). Extensive researches have been carried out to extract silica from agricultural wastes such as rice husk, due to silica as a useful raw material for industrial application. In the previous studies, the strong acid leaching treatment was carried out to remove metallic impurities and organics contained in rice husk. Since leaching treatment is a proper route to extract the silica, sulphuric acid (H2SO4), hydrochloric acid (HCl) and nitric acid (HNO3) solutions are currently used in leaching treatment to prepare silica materials [. A strong acid leaching treatment, however, is significantly hazardous to the environment and people. In this study, the weaker acid, citric acid solutions were used to replace strong acid in leaching processes. Preliminary results showed that silica can be extracted from palm ash using citric acid leaching treatment under the optimum extracting conditions with 70°C of solution temperature, 60 minutes of reaction time and concentration of citric acid of more than 2%. The purity of silica extracted is more than 90%.


Experiments were conducted for standardization of in vitro culture technique ofstevia rebaudiana, an important non-caloric sweetening herb to explore its potential for micro-propagation and callus culture. Nodal segments of the selected herb as explants were cultured for micro-propagation on MS medium containing 0.1 mg/l N6-benzyl amino purine for shoot initiation. Maximum plantlets (83.2 ± 0.445033) were found in MS medium treated with 3.5 mg/l N6-benzyl amino purine at multiplication stage. Young leaves were placed on MS medium containing 2 mg/l 2-4- Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid +1 mg/1 Kinetin was given best result of callusing. Higher regeneration of plantlets (3.8 plantlets/calli) was obtained by placing callus on MS medium with 5 mg/l BA + 1 mg/l NA. Highest rooting average (11.1 ± 0.264052) was recorded on 1/2MS medium with 100 mg/l activated charcoal. The rooted plantlets were hardened in 1:1:1 ratio of sand: soil: vermicompost and successfully established in soil.

 Key words: Stevia rebaudiana, in vitro propagation, regeneration of callus, non-caloric sweetener, medicinal plant, N6-benzyl amino purine, 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid.


The relationship between student performance in preclinical technique laboratory courses and in clinic is not straightforward. While American dental education in the preclinical courses is effective in teaching mastery of fundamentals to most students and identifying those who should not proceed to patient care, the prediction from technique laboratory performance of who will do well in clinic is weak. Factors accounting for this poor correlation include differences in the mix of skills required in the two contexts, failure to teach for transfer of skills to new settings, and laboratory education practices that create clinically dysfunctional habits. As a means of understanding the transfer issue, a distinction is made among task as given by the instructor, task as interpreted by the student, and task as negotiated in the interpersonal context of dental education.


The purpose of this study is to examine the differences between initial public offering (IPO) pricing in the real estate sector and to provide insight into how real estate investment trust (REIT) and real estate operating company (REOC) IPOs perform in a comparative framework.,The sample consists of 107 European REIT and REOC IPOs from nine European countries over the period 2000-2015. The initial returns are examined by creating subsamples based on the two business forms, countries and specific timeframes (before, during and after the global financial crisis). A multiple regression analysis is applied to identify the ex-ante uncertainty factors, IPO and firm characteristics, which may impact on the different underpricing levels of REITs and REOCs.,European property companies are on average significantly underpriced by 4.63 per cent. The results also reveal that REITs provide a significantly lower underpricing of 2.02 per cent than REOCs, with a positive initial return of 5.69 per cent. The causal treatment effect of the legal form of the company and the underpricing is confirmed by propensity score matching. Among the most influential factors for a lower REIT underpricing, besides the REIT-status itself, are the volatility, offer size and market phase of the IPO. During the global financial crisis (GFC) (2008-2010), underpricing exceeds the initial return for the total sample by approximately 70 per cent.,This is the first study investigating differences in the underpricing level of REITs and REOCs in a European setting, including the GFC as an extraordinary market phase. The authors provide evidence that REIT IPOs compared to REOC IPOs "leave less money on the table".


The issue of long term preservation of digital data has, in recent years, become a critical issue with many diverse groups and organisations recognising the need to preserve digital documents before they fall victim to digital obsolescence. However, there is a distinct lack of discussion regarding the needs of future end users of such preserved documents. This is surprising, given that it is the end user who ultimately determines what information should be archived and in what way. Furthermore, it is essential that a preserved document retains its authenticity and usability through time and is easily interpreted by future end users. To this extent, we present in this paper details of our case study: an emulation framework to preserve 2D and 3D anthropometric data. We describe the testing of this emulation environment, by anthropometric experts, against the original environment and compare the two based on a given set of usability and authenticity criteria.


The radiation characteristics of a planar CO2 laser excited by a diffusion-cooled rf discharge at a frequency of 40 MHz are studied. A single-mode cw lasing power of ≈50 W is achieved with an efficiency of ≈10% for a nearly diffraction-limited radiation divergence of 4—7 mrad. The spatial structure, output power, stability and laser radiation quality are studied as functions of longitudinal and angular alignments of the resonator mirror for two types of hybrid unstable-waveguide resonators of the laser. It is shown that for the resonator corresponding to the negative branch of the stability diagram, a misalignment of 0.02 rad of the mirrors leads to a 50% decrease in the output laser power, while its value for the positive branch resonator is about 100 times smaller. It is found that for the resonator corresponding to the negative branch, the sensitivity to the violation of confocal arrangement of the mirrors upon an increase in the resonator length is an order of magnitude higher. The dependence of the density of input rf power on the working gas pressure is studied experimentally in the interval 50—110 Torr. Power density values of 1—4 W cm-2 are obtained for normal discharge current density. These values are important for optimisation and scaling of the lasing characteristics of high-power planar CO2 lasers.


The human normal intestinal flora prevents the colonization of exogenous bacteria, maintaining a constant microecology: this property is called "colonization resistance". In leukemia patients antibiotics used for prevention and/or therapy of infectious episodes can alter the intestinal microecology, so that the gut can represent the trigger zone for generalized septicemia. Moreover cytotoxic drugs used in these patients can favour intestinal disturbances. In our study we evaluated the in vitro activity of three commonly used antineoplastic drugs (Daunorubicin, Cytosine arabinoside, Methotrexate) against aerobic and anaerobic intestinal bacteria and Clostridium difficile that is the aetiological agent of pseudomembranous colitis. Daunorubicin proved to be the most active inhibiting, in concentration ranging from 16 to 128 micrograms/ml, 50% of Bacteroides strains and 90% of Clostridium difficile and Enterococci strains tested. Methotrexate showed activity only against some Bacteroides strains, while Cytosine arabinoside had no activity at all. We conclude that in these patients the use of these drugs may represent another factor of risk altering the intestinal flora and so lowering the colonization resistance.


ABSTRACT Because of the recent success of monoclonal antibody checkpoint inhibitors, and the disappointing results of most therapeutic cancer vaccine trials, it has been questioned whether there is any potential role for such products going forward. In my opinion the answer is "yes" based on the following: [1] there is a persistent unmet clinical need because the majority of patients do not benefit from anti-checkpoint therapy, [2] there is evidence that not all patients make immune responses to their tumors, [3] there is evidence that immune responses to autologous tumor antigens can be induced by patient-specific vaccines, [4] there is clinical evidence from the pre-checkpoint era that suggests survival can be positively impacted by such patient-specific vaccines, and [5] the 2 available therapeutic vaccines that have received regulatory approval are quite limited in terms of their therapeutic benefit.


From the past decade, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have attracted considerable attention as tools for the selective delivery of anti-neoplastic drugs to cancer tissues. Compared to other nanoparticles, EVs display interesting unique features including immune compatibility, low toxicity and the ability to encapsulate a large variety of small- and macro-molecules. However, in virtually all studies, investigations on EVs have been focused on fully transformed cancers: the possibility to apply EV technology also to early-stage tumors has never been explored. Methods: Herein, we studied the ability of cancer-derived EVs to recognize and deliver their cargo also to incipient cancers. To this purpose, EV biodistribution was studied in MMTV-NeuT genetically modified mice during early mammary transformation, in fully developed breast tumors and in the normal gland of wild type syngeneic mice. EVs were loaded with indocyanine green (ICG), a near-infrared (NIR) dye together with oncolytic viruses and i.v. injected in mice. The nanoparticle biodistribution was assayed by in vivo and ex vivo optical imaging (detecting the ICG) and semiquantitative real-time PCR (measuring the adenoviral genome) in different tissues. Results: Our results demonstrate the ability of cancer-derived EVs to recognize early-stage neoplastic tissues opening the possibility to selectively deliver theranostics also for tumor prevention. Conclusions: Taken together our study demonstrates the ability of EVs to recognize and deliver diagnostic and therapeutic agents not only to fully transformed tissues but also to early stage tumors. These findings pave the way for the synthesis of "universal" EVs-based formulation for targeted cancer therapy.


Introduction: Participation in a Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program (PRP) has been demonstrated to improve dyspnea, functional capacity and quality of life in patients with chronic respiratory disease. However compliance with PRP has been low.

Objective: To identify variables associated with compliance in an outpatient PRP at a Hospital in Argentina and also to evaluate the impact of the rehabilitation on program compliant patients. Method: A retrospective analysis was performed on 388 patients who were assessed for admission to PRP. The first stage of the program, which we have called "skills acquisition" consisted of both supervised physical training and educational lectures, twice weekly for 16 weeks. Patients were reassessed after this stage. In the present study PRP compliance refers to patient completion of the total sessions and reassessment.

Results: 26.29% of the 388 patients complied with PRP. Multiple logistic regression analysis (Forward Stepwise; p<0.10 to be eligible for entry into the model) was conducted to identify factors associated with "program compliance". The final model was as follows: having health insurance coverage (OR=3.99; CI90%=2.24-7.12), commute time less than 60minutes (OR=2.07; CI90%=1.37-3.11) and availability of funds (OR=2.11; CI90%=1.03-4.31). All patients that performed the six minute walking test and Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire demonstrated significant improvement at the reassessment.

Conclusion: The results warn about low compliance and their relationship with the socioeconomic variables.


This article synthesizes the current debate on the need to address the issue of competition on global markets. It shows that negative externalities arise because at the same time that markets become more internationalised market governance remains in the scope of national competition authorities having limited territorial jurisdictions. Firms are thus in a position to engage, with impunity, in transnational anticompetitive practices that contradict the trade liberalization efforts of governments. This leads to allocative inefficiencies on world markets. Recent evidence suggests that transnational anticompetitive practices are more prevalent than was previously thought and that the magnitude of the costs that this entails, particularly for developing countries, is quite significant. Various types of remedies are conceivable. However, their adoption is unlikely or undesirable because most of these remedies either are incomplete or require national governments to relinquish their national sovereignty in this area. The EU is proposing the adoption of a competition agreement within the WTO. This proposal is compared to alternative solutions.


Objective: To determine the pattern and magnitude of eye diseases among the primary and secondary schools' learners in Kafue District in Zambia.Method: A cross-sectional survey of all 73 primary and secondary schools in Kafue.Results: A total of 18,713 enrolled in the study. The prevalence of eye diseases was 20.9% accounting for 17.0% allergic conjunctivitis followed by refractive error 3.3%, and least was retinal disorder at 0.01%. Urban dwellers were affected more than their rural counterparts.Conclusion: The survey found a high prevalence of eye diseases among the learners in Kafue District with allergic conjunctivitis being the most prevalent cause followed by significant refractive errors.


Experimental methods of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) are applied for two-dimensional mapping of subcutaneous human blood vessels. Structural images of in vivo human finger and human palm macro vessels (0.2-1.0 mm) before and after optical clearing using the modified low power rapid scanning optical delay line are presented. Images are scanned with 12 µm minimum spatial resolution. The described modifications enable to apply low power (0.4-0.5 mW), low noise broadband near infrared light source and to obtain structural images with detection of not only reflected but also multiply scattered coherence-gated photons. The achieved transcutaneous probing depth is about 1.6-1.8 mm.


This paper concerns a linear mixed-effects repeated measures model in the analysis of a large data set with over 17,000 observations in a longitudinal study of pure-tone hearing perception in the elderly. The repeated measurements are described by fixed and random components in the model. The fixed effects include the age at entry, time of follow-up, a quadratic component in natural logarithm of frequency, a component to allow for participants with hearing impairments, as well as interaction terms between age and frequency and between impairment and frequency. The random factors include a term for subject, a time component and a frequency component. The analysis shows that hearing impaired individuals have similar patterns of hearing loss over time but, on average, have higher hearing thresholds than normal individuals. Estimation of the random effects in the model by restricted maximum likelihood (REML) using the Newton-Raphson method made possible the analysis of this large data set with speed and efficiency.


Understanding the structure and structural changes of bone, a highly heterogeneous material with a complex hierarchical architecture, continues to be a significant challenge even for high-resolution solid-state NMR spectroscopy. While it is known that dehydration affects mechanical properties of bone by decreasing its strength and toughness, the underlying structural mechanism at the atomic level is unknown. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy, controlled dehydration, and H/D exchange were used for the first time to reveal the structural changes of an intact piece of bovine cortical bone. (1)H spectra were used to monitor the dehydration of the bone inside the rotor, and high-resolution (13)C chemical shift spectra obtained under magic-angle spinning were used evaluate the dehydration-induced conformational changes in the bone. The experiments revealed the slow denaturation of collagen due to dehydration while the trans-Xaa-Pro conformation in collagen remained unchanged. Our results suggest that glycosaminoglycans in the collagen fiber and mineral interface may chelate with a Ca(2+) ion present on the surface of the mineral through sulfate or carboxylate groups. These results provide insights into the role of water molecules in the bone structure and shed light on the relationship between the structure and mechanics of bone.


Perinatal depression (PND) affects about one in every seven women who give birth in Australia each year (healthdirect, 2017) and suicide is considered to be the leading cause of maternal death in the perinatal period (Ellwood, 2016). Although a number of risk factors have been identified, the cause of PND is still not clearly understood (BetterHealth, 2017). Understandings of perinatal depression are predominantly shaped by a biomedical model, and the insider knowledge of women is given little if any space. Amanda was keen to engage with women to seek some answers to PND. The following questions helped to shape this exploration: What do women consider to be the issues and problems that make up PND? What have they learnt in relation to what reduces its influence and presence in their lives? What becomes possible for women when they recognise their knowledge as legitimate knowledge?


The current era is in need for more and more sustainable energy solutions. Phase Change Materials (PCM's) are
a solution for a more sustainable build environment because they can help to reduce the energy use of
buildings during heating and cooling of the indoor air. This paper presents the results of recent experiments
that have been executed with test boxes. In addition a System Dynamics model has been developed to find out
how PCM's can be used efficiently without testing in reality.

The first experiment, in which PCM's were applied in a concrete floor, shows a reduction of peak temperatures
with 4˚C ± 0.7˚C on maximum temperatures and over 1.5 ˚C ± 0.7˚C on minimum temperatures during warm
periods. The model confirmed these findings, although the predicted reductions were slightly. During the
second experiment more PCM's were applied by mounting them into the walls using gypsum plasterboard to
increase the latent heat capacity. Remarkably, both the experimental set-up as the model showed that the
increase of PCM´s (of almost 98%) causes hardly any difference compared to the first situation. Adapting the
exterior in a way to absorb more solar energy, increases the average indoor temperature but decreases the
reduction of peak temperatures. Again the model confirmed these findings of the experiment. These results
show that the effect of PCM's varies on different climatological contexts and with different construction
components physics. This means no straight forward advice on the use of PCM's for a building design can be
given. The solution for this problem is provided by the model, showing that the effects of PCM's can be
modelled in order to use PCM's in an effective way in different climatological contexts and with different
characteristics of construction components. The research shows that a simple model is already capable of
predicting PCM performance in test boxes with reasonable accuracy. Therefore it can be used as a template for
designing improved tools to come to an effective use of PCM's in buildings.


Abstract:This article explores the relationship between salience, stereotypes, and cooccurring language variables in the social perception of language. Following previous work, we argue that sociolinguistic perception is dependent upon the ability of listeners to map the linguistic cues contained in a speech signal to stereotypes. However, we contend that the understanding of which language features contribute to those stereotypes, and how they do so in the specific context of talk, has been limited because of the tendency to focus on preselected variables and to control for the context in which they occur. We advance an account of the role of stereotypes in the social perception of language by using a new tool for capturing, visualizing, and querying listeners' real-time reactions to voice samples. Our survey instrument collects reactions to two topically distinct guises from the same speaker (taken from the Scilly Voices corpus), both of which contained a similar number of regionally distinctive accent features. As our survey instrument includes a review function enabling listeners to provide information on why certain features were notable to them, we are able to interrogate listeners' ability to respond to unspecified linguistic features. Ultimately, this enables us to build a more nuanced account of the interaction between a range of linguistic features and their relationship to message content, and allows us to demonstrate that both do evaluative and perceptual work.Our findings have important implications for those interested in understanding the situated meaning of linguistic features and, in particular, how researchers might continue to develop exemplar models of the ways in which social information is indexed to linguistic features. We argue that no experiment can be context-free and, as a result, researchers must consider ways of modeling the effects of co-present variants on a given exemplar, not just the social indices of specific exemplars themselves.*


Abstract. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free map of the world which can be edited by global volunteers. Existing studies have showed that completeness of OSM road data in some developing countries (e.g. China) is much lower, resulting in concern in utilizing the data in various applications. But very few have focused on investigating what types of road are still poorly mapped. This study aims not only to investigate the completeness of OSM road datasets in China but also to investigate what types of road (called omission roads) have not been mapped, which is achieved by referring to both Street Map and Street View. Sixteen prefecture-level divisions in the urban areas of Hubei (China) were used as study areas. Results showed that: (1) the completeness for most prefecture-level divisions was at a low-to-medium level; most roads (in the Street Map), however, with traffic conditions had already been mapped well. (2) Most of the omission OSM roads were either private roads, or public roads not having yet been named and with only one single lane, indicating their minor importance in the urban road network. We argue that although the OSM road datasets in China are incomplete, they may still be used for several applications such as traffic flow analysis, road map representation, and backbone structure detection.


The present article analyzes the relationship between phenomenology and theology, starting from some examples of the phenomenology of prayer. First, the article presents the phenomenology of prayer in the writings of phenomenologists such as Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Yves Lacoste, Christina Gschwandtner and Natalie Depraz, indicating that the type of phenomenology and its relationship with theology influence the way in which they approach the theme of prayer. Second, the paper proposes a systematization of prayer, starting from the personal pronouns uttered when praying: I, you (thou) and he. "I" sees oneself as being called by God to a transfiguration which is impossible through one's own powers and visible in the experience of the plenitude and joy of prayer; "You" provides the predicative dimension of the discourse and reveals communion either with God or, in the case of liturgy, with others; "He", used less frequently in prayer, can constitute a source for a later theoretical discourse, being recognized as a "mysterious presence". Following these analyses, the article concludes that there are two major relationships between phenomenology and theology: that of partial overlap, called theo-phenomenology, and that of rigorous delimitation. Regardless of the preferred model, the use of phenomenology for theology proves to be fruitful.


In this paper, we generate all nonisomorphic tournaments of order at most nine, all nonisomorphic almost regular tournaments of order 10 and all nonisomorphic regular tournaments of order 11. For each of these tournaments~ we have given its scorelist, connectivity, diameter, the minimal number of feedbacks, automorphisms and spectra.Moreover, we have verified the well-known Kelly's Conjecture for n = 2k + 1≤11. And we also determine the n-universal tournaments for n≤θ. However ,several related results are given and some related open problems are raised.


Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications over cellular networks pose significant challenges as a result of the large number of devices, small data transmissions, and vast applications range. Current solutions based on general packet radio service (GPRS) access proved to be inadequate for supporting the M2M ecosystem. Therefore, advanced cellular network releases, such as long-term evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), should efficiently cater to M2M communications. However, the increase in signaling overhead and diverse quality-of-service (QoS) requirements calls for the development of novel flexible scheduling algorithms. In this article, we present the challenges in facilitating M2M scheduling over existing and future cellular infrastructures, review the related proposals, provide some initial solutions, and identify new perspectives, which pave the way for efficient and smooth migration to M2M-enabled broadband cellular systems.


Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of topical application of honey on induced cutaneous leishmaniasis ulcer in 25 hamsters (Mesocircetus auratus) compared with control group of another 25 hamsters treated by pentostam injection. Methods: A group of 50 adult male and female hamsters, were inoculated with 1×10 5 cells/mL of Leishmania major. Culture medium was examined microscopically for promastigotes. Samples of 0.1 ml positive culture were inoculated to the hamster –tail base intradermally. The animasl were checked for lesion. Which were taken impression smear.. Smears were fixed and stained with Giemsa's. Honey was applied topically to infected lesions of one group of hamsters. The control group were injected with 0.1 mL pentostam intramuscular every other day. Lesions were measured daily by millimeter paper. Results: After two weeks all the inoculated hamsters developed different types of lesions. The 25 group of hamsters treated with honey responded to treatment after one week. The control group treated with pentostam injection showed low response to treatment, it took prolonged time to heal up to 12-16 weeks. Conclusion: Topical dressing of cutaneous leishmaniasis ulcers with honey is very effective and helps in the treatment in a short time as compared with pentostam injection.


Peri-implantitis remains one of the main complications following implant placement. This condition leads to bone loss, impaired function, and if left untreated subsequent implant failure may result. Microcosm biofilms contaminating the implant surface are considered the main aetiological factor. Different anti-infective adjunctive treatments to non-surgical and surgical interventions as well as implant surface decontaminating techniques have been proposed for the therapy of peri-implantitis. However, no single decontamination intervention has been found to be superior. Notably, due to the infective nature of peri-implantitis, it becomes plausible to focus mainly on the elimination of targeted microbial pathogens and bacterial remnants. Current treatment modalities are limited by our ability to resolve unique peri-implant microbial niches in states of health and disease and to determine early disease progression induced by microbial shifts. Therefore, it is essential to explore the microbial ecology behind peri-implantitis and to develop novel implant surface decontamination methods, which will lead to resolution of this infective disease. This was the focus of the present thesis. Firstly, a systematic review on implant outcomes in treated periodontitis patients was presented. Herein, it is confirmed that the history of periodontitis, its type and severity play a detrimental role on the development of peri-implantitis. Secondly, an in vitro model of peri-implant microenvironments in an artificial mouth system was developed. This was done in the quest for understanding multispecies bacterial populations interactions, shifts and structure within peri-implant biofilms, as well as the impact of their niche. Then, previously disinfected titanium (Ti) discs substrata were analysed and a number of decontamination treatment protocols were tested in vitro and in vivo by the study of microbial remnants, biocompatibility dynamics, histomorphometrical analyses and surface chemistry. Finally, inspired by the bacterial diversity and abundances across the peri-implant microbial ecology in states of health and disease shown in the in vitro model, the subgingival microbiomes in patients with history of treated aggressive periodontitis were examined.


Abstract Objective: In this study, we have evaluated the chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects of Ferula assa-foetida hydroalcoholic extract in 1, 2-dimethyl hydrazine (DMH) induced colon carcinogenesis. Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups: a negative control group without DMH; control group with injected DMH (20 mg/Kg b.w) and four groups receiving DMH +F. assa- foetida extract (6.25 and 12.5 mg/Kg b.w) as chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic groups. The effects of the extracts were assessed by estimating the hepatic oxidative stress/antioxidant parameters such as malondialdehyde, glutathione and ferric reducing ability of plasma (MDA, GSH, FRAP) and the detoxification enzymes; glutathione S-transferase and Cytochrome P450 (GST and CYP450). Moreover, the colonic β-catenin protein was examined in colon tissues followed by the histopathological analysis. Results: The results showed that the F. assa-foetida extracts markedly reversed the increased levels of CYP450, FRAP and β-catenin and also modulated the reduction of GST (activities and protein) and GSH levels. Histological observations of liver tissue correlated with the above biochemical findings indicating the decrease in the aberrant crypt foci (ACF) formations in the extract treated groups. Conclusion: The achieved results suggested the beneficial effect of the extracts on DMH metabolic processes in the colon indicating its chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects on colon carcinogenesis induced by DMH.


Camera calibration is to estimate the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of a camera. Most of object-based calibration methods used 3D or 2D pattern. A novel and more flexible 1D object-based calibration was introduced only a couple of years ago, but merely for estimation of intrinsic parameters. The estimation of extrinsic papers is essential when multiple cameras are involved for simultaneously taking images from different view angles and when the knowledge of relative locations between the cameras is required. Though it is relatively simple using 2D or 3D calibration pattern, the estimation of extrinsic parameters is not obvious using 1D pattern. In this paper, we will perform a 1D camera calibration involving both intrinsic and extrinsic parameters.


Background: Nutrition affects health even in the womb. Early diet impacts metabolism and body composition. Feeding habits—the cornerstone of nutrition—are influenced by personal and familial behaviors, maternal education, social status, and culture. Breast milk, formula, and supplements nourish babies and toddlers. Aim: The goal of this study is to showed health consequences nutrition childhood early infancy. Methods: By comparing itself to the standards set by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) 2020, this study was able to show that it met all of the requirements. So, the experts were able to make sure that the study was as up-to-date as it was possible to be. For this search approach, publications that came out between 2013 and 2023 were taken into account. Several different online reference sources, like Pubmed and SagePub, were used to do this. It was decided not to take into account review pieces, works that had already been published, or works that were only half done. Result: In the PubMed database, the results of our search brought up 48 articles, whereas the results of our search on SagePub brought up 22 articles. The results of the search conducted for the last year of 2013 yielded a total 18 articles for PubMed and 7 articles for SagePub. In the end, we compiled a total of 12 papers, 8 of which came from PubMed and 4  of which came from SagePub. We included six research that met the criteria. Conclusion: Length affects LAS, MUAC and WLZ body composition relationships differently. Study consist showed WLZ is a good tissue mass marker regardless of length. The MUAC combines tissue mass and length to measure inadequate growth.


A number of initiatives to add mobility to the Internet and packet data services to third generation cellular systems are being considered by emerging mobile service providers as possible candidate solutions for the delivery of IP data to mobile users. Both of these two candidates have a number of shortcomings, however. Mobile IP represents a simple and scalable global mobility solution but is not appropriate in support of fast and seamless handoff control. In contrast, third generation cellular systems offer smooth mobility support but are built on complex networking infrastructure that lacks the flexibility offered by IP-based solutions. In this paper we present an overview of cellular IP which represents a 'third way' combining the strengths of bath approaches without inheriting their weaknesses. Cellular IP combines the capability of cellular networks to provide smooth fast handoff and efficient location management of active and idle mobile users with the inherent flexibility, robustness and scalability found in IP networks.


Edge walkers are thought to be people who walk between worlds, building bridges between different worldviews. Applying this concept to ethics review, when one is both a researcher and committee member, edge work provides a window for sight and a bridge for crossing between the review committee and the academy, students and supervisors, as well as researchers and research participants. In this article I draw on examples from teaching, research and chairing an ethics committee to highlight some of the ways that I have personally had the opportunity to use my edge walking skills. I use examples to also show how the discipline I belong to Development Studies is in many ways an edge walking discipline. By demystifying various processes and engaging in knowledge exchange, stronger relationships between academics and ethics review are being built. This idea of ethics as means and end is being reinforced.


Alloantigen-sensitized spleen cells suppressed MLC (mixed lymphocyte culture) reaction. In this paper the effect of levamisole (LMS) on MLC suppressor cells is reported. Spleen cells of C57BL mice were used as the responder for MLC, and spleen cells of BALB/c mice as the stimulator for MLC. Suppressor cells were prepared as follows: C57BL mice were injected with 2×10(7) BALB/c spleen cells into the hind foot pads. Four days later suppressor cell suspensions were obtained from the spleens. LMS-treated suppressor cells were prepared as follows: LMS was injected to C57BL mice once a day for 4 days after the foot pad injection of BALB/c spleen cells. After that, LMS-treated suppressor cells were obtained from the spleens. The dose of LMS was 1.25 mg/kg once a time. The stimulation index (SI) of one way MLC of C57BL mice to mitomycin C-treated BALB/c mice was 9.58, and mitomycin C-treated suppressor cells markedly suppressed the mitogenic response of C57BL responding cells to BALB/c stimulating cells, reducing the response by 88.9% . However, LMS-treated suppressor cells which were treated with mitomycin C markedly reduced this suppressive effect when these cells were added into MLC (responder: C57BL, stimulator: BALB/c) instead of suppressor cells. In contrast, when LMS was prior injected to C57BL mice, or before and after the foot pad injection of BALB/c spleen cells as other methods of LMS medication, LMS-treated spleen cells had no effect on MLC suppressor function. It seemed that LMS affected on MLC suppressor function only when it was given to mice with excessive suppressor cells.


The ability of bacteria to adapt to external osmotic changes is fundamental for their survival. Halotolerant microorganisms, such as Tistlia consotensis, have to cope with continuous fluctuations in the salinity of their natural environments which require effective adaptation strategies against salt stress. Changes of extracellular protein profiles from Tistlia consotensis in conditions of low and high salinities were monitored by proteogenomics using a bacterial draft genome. At low salinity, we detected greater amounts of the HpnM protein which is involved in the biosynthesis of hopanoids. This may represent a novel, and previously unreported, strategy by halotolerant microorganisms to prevent the entry of water into the cell under conditions of low salinity. At high salinity, proteins associated with osmosensing, exclusion of Na+ and transport of compatible solutes, such as glycine betaine or proline are abundant. We also found that, probably in response to the high salt concentration, T. consotensis activated the synthesis of flagella and triggered a chemotactic response neither of which were observed at the salt concentration which is optimal for growth. Our study demonstrates that the exoproteome is an appropriate indicator of adaptive response of T. consotensis to changes in salinity because it allowed the identification of key proteins within its osmoadaptive mechanism that had not previously been detected in its cell proteome.


Summary The current essay can be framed into a researching socio-juridical line about Sport Discipline, which is being done in the department of Physical and Sport Education in Granada's University. The aim of study is not the violence generated by means of sport –exogenous- but violence within the game field –endogenous-. Two parts have been clearly focused: the first, analysing and systematising juridical texts; and a second one about sociological research through a sample of 120 athletes. KEY WORDS: sport violence, sport discipline, attitudes.


The inter-organelle interactions, including the cytomembrane, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrion, lysosome, dictyosome, and nucleus, play the important roles in maintaining the normal function and homeostasis of cells. Organelle dysfunction can lead to a range of diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and cancer), and provide a new perspective for drug discovery. With the development of imaging techniques and functional fluorescent probes, a variety of algorithms and strategies have been developed for the ever-improving estimation of subcellular structures, organelle interaction, and organelle-related drug discovery with accounting for the dynamic structures of organelles, such as the nanoscopy technology and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Accordingly, this work summarizes a series of state-of-the-art examples of the recent progress in this rapidly changing field and uncovering the drug screening based on the structures and interactions of organelles. Finally, we propose the future outlook for exciting applications of organelle-related drug discovery, with the cooperation of nanoscopy and MD simulations.


Translating injury prevention research into practice has been challenging, which may be due to a poor understanding of the contextual factors influencing the occurrence of injury. Coaches are key figure in sporting environments and hold pivotal roles in preventing injury. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of field hockey coaches to injury and injury prevention. Thirteen field hockey coaches from the amateur Irish Hockey League were interviewed. Reflexive thematic analysis led to three general dimensions comprised five higher-order themes, categorised from 16 lower-order themes. Coaches had positive beliefs regarding the benefits of injury prevention over injury management. However, they lacked the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully implement injury prevention strategies with players. Coaches recognised the importance of empowering players to self-manage training loads to promote injury prevention but acknowledged the need to protect younger players from increased loads. Many barriers to injury prevention were not controllable by coaches including fixture congestion and poor structuring of the sport's domestic calendar. While coaches can play a key role in the implementation of injury prevention strategies, there is also a requirement to examine how system level barriers to injury prevention can be reduced.


Due to the increased demand for clean energy in recent years, there is a need for the scientific community to develop technology to harvest thermal energy which is ubiquitous but mostly wasted in our environment. However, there is still no efficient approach to harvest thermal energy to date. In this study, the theory of thermomagnetic energy harvesting is reviewed and unique applications of multiferroics (ferromagnetic plus ferroelectric) are introduced. Based on an efficiency analysis using experimentally measured magneto-thermal properties of 3d transitional and 4f rare earth ferromagnetic elements, the idea of using single domain ferromagnetic elements to obtain higher thermomagnetic conversion efficiencies is proposed. In order to fabricate a ferromagnetic single domain, the magnetic anisotropy of gadolinium (Gd) and nickel (Ni) is engineered at the nanoscale. Both thin films and nanostructures are fabricated and characterized with a focus on the change of magnetic anisotropy governed by shape, crystal structure, and strain. The fabrication processes include sputtering, e-beam lithography (writing and evaporation), and focused ion beam milling. Characterization techniques involving atomic/magnetic force microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry, superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction will also be discussed. Experimental results show that the magnetic domain structure of nanostructured Ni can be stably controlled with geometric constraints or by strain induced via electric field. The magnetic properties of nanostructured Gd, on the other hand, is sensitive to crystal structure. These results provide critical information toward the use of ferromagnetic nanostructures in thermomagnetic energy harvesting and multiferroic applications.


Introduction The architecture and cellular structure of the retinal vessels of the human eye have been described previously. 1-5 In the present investigations flat preparations of the eyes of human fetuses and prematurely born infants were made. Development of the retinal vessels in the human fetus eye have been reported by Mann 6 and Michaelson. 1 Both state that the central retinal artery is recognizable at the 4th month. At this stage a small bulbous swelling appears on the trunk of the hyaloid artery where it passes through the disk. This enlarges and forms small buds which are the beginning of the main branches of the central retinal artery. Other arterial twigs arise from these and ramify in the center of the disk. By the 4th month they have vascularized a small area of the nerve fiber layer around the disk. Then they spread peripherally and at the same time


AIM
To evaluate the diagnostic value of Virtual Touch Quantification (VTQ®) for characterizing benign vs. malignant focal liver lesions (FLLs).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
From January 2015 to January 2016 all consecutive FLLs visualized during a conventional abdominal ultrasound (US), underwent VTQ® evaluation, taking five measurements of both the lesion and the surrounding parenchyma.

RESULTS
We studied 119 FLLs, consisting of 52 hemangiomas (HEs), 39 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), and 28 liver metastases (METs). HEs showed a significantly lower shear wave velocity (SWV) values compared to malignant FLLs (HEs SWV median value 1.34 m/sec, IQR 0.9; malignant lesions SWV median value 2.69 m/sec, IQR 1.6; p<0.001). Moreover, a nodule-to-parenchyma SWV ratio showed a significant difference in HEs and METs (p<0.001) but not in HCCs (p=0.03). SWV values were able to correctly differentiate malignant lesions with c-statistics of 0.82 (95 % CI 0.74- 0.90) and sensitivity of 74.6%/specificity of 80.7% at a cut-off of 2 m/sec.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that VTQ® is able to distinguish HEs from malignant lesions (HCCs and METs) at a SWV cut-off of 2 m/sec.


Document grouping is a necessity among a large number of articles published on internet. Several attempts have been done to improve this grouping process, while majority of the efforts are based on word appearance. In order to improve its quality, the grouping of documents need to be based on topic similarity between documents, instead of the frequency of word appearance. The topic similarity could be known from its latency, since the similarity of the word interpretation are often used in the same context. In the unsupervised learning process, SOM is often used, in which this approach simplifies the mapping of multi-dimension data. This research result shows that implementation of the latent structure decreases characteristic dimension by 32% of the word appearance, hence makes this approach more time efficient than others. The latent structure, however, when implemented on SOM Algorithm, is capable to obtain good quality result compared to word appearance frequency approach. It is then proven by 5% precision improvement, recall improvement of 3%, and another 4% from F-measure. While the achievement is not quite significant, the quality improvement is able to put the dominance of grouping process, compared to the original classification defined by the content provider.


Background Trauma is a leading cause of hospital admissions in Sri Lanka and of which, a major component are fractures sustained due to falls. However, only limited information is available on this important public health problem. Aim To describe the demography and characteristics of fractures sustained following falls, in Sri Lanka. Methods A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on patients who sustained fractures following falls. The sample included all patients who attended the Orthopaedic post-surgical clinics of a tertiary care hospital, during 1 month in 2011. Data was collected using a structured, pre-tested, interviewer administered questionnaire, and analysed using SPSS 17.0 statistical software. Results In this study sample (n=266), 49.6% were of 20 to 65 years of age and 14.6% were over 65 years. The rest (35.8%) were children and adolescents. The sample had 54.5% males. Of the patients below 40 years, 69.7% were males, while 62.9% were females in the group above 40 years. Single fractures were sustained by 70.3% and the rest had multiple fractures. Upper limb fractures were sustained by 54.4%, while 39% sustained lower limb fractures. Among children and adolescents, 83.2% had upper limb fractures, while in adults and elderly, 51.5% had lower limb fractures. Significance Younger males and older females are at a higher risk of sustaining fractures following falls. Single fractures were more common than multiple fractures. Lower limbs were more affected in adults while children and adolescents had more upper limb fractures.


— This article aims to analyze the translation procedures adopted in translating photography terms from English into Indonesian. The data were taken from the book entitled Understanding Photography (Peterson, 2010) and its Indonesian version Pintar Eksposur (Andwiani, 2013). The data in this qualitative research were collected using note-taking technique. The analyzed data were presented informally and formally. The theory used to analyze the problems and what procedures were applied in translating photography terms from English into Indonesians and why those procedures were applied were the theory and procedures proposed by Newmark (1988) who presented eighteen translation procedures. There were five translation procedures applied in translating the photography terms including the literal, transference, naturalization, functional equivalent, and couplet procedures.


The composition, the outcomes of treatment and a follow-up were analyzed in 4 954 first detected adult patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and the baseline negative results of a sputum test for acid-resistant mycobacteria, with the involvement of not more than a lobe. The basic course of therapy yielded clinical and X-ray effects in 83.6% of cases. In the late period of a follow-up, the rate of clinical cure was 93.4%; that of death from tuberculosis, formation of chronic incurable forms of the process, and recurrent tuberculosis was 1.4, 0.9, and 0.9%, respectively. Treatment interruption, multidrug resistance, social disadaption of patients, and severe comorbidity were responsible for the poor outcomes of timely detected tuberculosis.


We have transiently expressed the rat Kv2.1 K+ channel polypeptide (pKv2.1) at high levels by transfection of mammalian COS-1 cells. Kv2.1-transfected cells express a molecular mass of 108 kDa pKv2.1, larger than the size of the core polypeptide (95 kDa) predicted from the deduced primary sequence and of pKv2.1 synthesized in cell free or Xenopus oocyte translation systems. The increased size of pKv2.1 in COS-1 cells is due to a posttranslational modification that occurs early (t1/2 = 5 min) in the biosynthetic transport through the endomembrane system, presumably while the protein resides in the endoplasmic reticulum. The increased size is entirely due to phosphorylation, based on in vivo 32P-labeling and sensitivity to alkaline phosphatase digestion. Immunofluorescent localization of pKv2.1 shows intense surface labeling; no intracellular pools of retained protein are apparent. Immunogold electron microscopy confirms that the expressed polypeptide is found on the cell surface in small clusters or patches of 10-15 gold particles. Cells expressing pKv2.1 exhibit large, voltage-dependent outward currents. The pharmacological properties of the expressed Kv2.1 currents are virtually indistinguishable from those described previously in Xenopus oocytes microinjected with Kv2.1 cRNA, but differences in voltage-dependent properties were observed. High level of expression of functional pKv2.1 in these cells points to the utility of this system for the rapid biochemical, cell biological and electrophysiological analysis of altered forms of pKv2.1, and other members of the K+ channel gene family.


This article provides scholars of nonreligion and secularism with an introduction to some of the major opportunities and challenges associated with the growing application of computational methods to the phenomena they study. It also illustrates these opportunities and challenges by describing several overlapping research projects and some of the models of (non)religion they have produced. Finally, the article addresses some of the significant philosophical issues surrounding the use of computer modeling and simulation, focusing on the ethical and epistemological concerns that these tools often raise. I invite scholars of nonreligion to consider adding these techniques to their methodological toolkits, and to join in on the fascinating and important conversations about simulating secularities that these models engender.


While vehicle license plate recognition (VLPR) is usually done with a sliding window approach, it can have limited performance on datasets with characters that are of variable width. This can be solved by hand-crafting algorithms to prescale the characters. While this approach can work fairly well, the recognizer is only aware of the pixels within each detector window, and fails to account for other contextual information that might be present in other parts of the image. A sliding window approach also requires training data in the form of presegmented characters, which can be more difficult to obtain. In this paper, we propose a unified ConvNet-RNN model to recognize real-world captured license plate photographs. By using a Convolutional Neural Network (ConvNet) to perform feature extraction and using a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) for sequencing, we address the problem of sliding window approaches being unable to access the context of the entire image by feeding the entire image as input to the ConvNet. This has the added benefit of being able to perform end-to-end training of the entire model on labelled, full license plate images. Experimental results comparing the ConvNet-RNN architecture to a sliding window-based approach shows that the ConvNet-RNN architecture performs significantly better.


Abstract: Transplantable hematopoietic cells with multilineage reconstituting ability can be quantitated in suspensions of human or murine cells using similar assay procedures. The incorporation into these assays of stringently defined functional endpoints ensures a high degree of specificity for the cells detected. Application of these assays to stem cell‐containing suspensions after they have been stimulated for several days with defined cytokines in vitro, or by a mixture of defined and/or undefined factors in vivo, has shown that net amplifications in these populations can be obtained under both circumstances. Such studies have allowed cytokine conditions that support stem cell self‐renewal divisions to be identified and have also provided evidence that stem cell regeneration can be manipulated both in vitro and in vivo by altering the molecular milieu of the responding cells. These observations pave the way to future delineation of mechanisms that control the normal behavior, pathology and future clinical exploitation of hematopoietic stem cell populations.


A new method is presented for recovering the abundances of Damped Ly α systems (DLAs) taking into account the effects of dust depletion. For the first time, possible variations of the chemical composition of the dust are taken into account in estimating the depletions. No prior assumptions on the extinction properties of the dust are required. The method requires a set of abundances measured in the gas and a set of parameters describing the chemical properties of the dust. A large subset of these parameters is determined from interstellar observations; the others are free parameters for which an educated guess can be made. The method is able to recover the abundances of the SMC starting from SMC interstellar measurements apparently discrepant from the stellar ones. Application of the method to 22 DLAs with available [Fe/H] and [Si/Fe] measurements gives the following results: (1) the mean metallicity of the corrected data is < [Fe/H] >≃ −1.0 dex, about 0.5 dex higher than that of the original data; (2) the slope of the [Fe/H] versus redshift relation is steeper for the corrected data (m ≃ −0.3 dex) than for the original ones (m ≃ −0.2 dex); (3) the corrected [Si/Fe] ratios are less enhanced, on average, than those found in Galactic stars of similar, low metallicity; (4) a decrease of the [Si/Fe] versus [Fe/H] ratios, expected by "time delay" models of chemical evolution, is found for the corrected data; (5) the [Si/Fe] ratios tend to increase with redshift once corrected; (6) consistency between [Si/Fe] and [S/Zn] measurements, two independent estimators of the α/Fe ratio, is found only for the corrected abundances.


The etiology of diffuse peritonitis in children differs from that usually seen later in life. The source of infection is frequently extra-abdominal; the attending sepsis so often dominates the clinical picture that the peritonitis may be temporarily overlooked. Metastatic peritonitis due to hemolytic streptococci is more common than is usually acknowledged. The individual physician does not often recognize the pathologic process early because of his limited experience with this entity. While this discussion is concerned primarily with streptococcic peritonitis in children, the forms which occur in adults are included to complete the study. The diagnosis of the acute forms of peritonitis is difficult in childhood and more particularly in infancy. The reason lies in an inability to obtain an accurate subjective history, the difficulty in making a reliable physical examination and the frequency with which irregular complaints referable to the abdomen accompany infections of the upper respiratory tract, gastro-intestinal upsets


Objective The National Lung Screening Trial demonstrated the benefits of lung cancer screening, but the potential high incidence of unnecessary invasive testing for ultimately benign radiologic findings causes concern. We aimed to review current biopsy patterns and outcomes in our community-based program, and retrospectively apply malignancy prediction models in a lung cancer screening population, to identify the potential impact these calculators could have on biopsy decisions. Methods Retrospective review of lung cancer-screening program participants from 2013 to 2016. Demographic, biopsy, and outcome data were collected. Malignancy risk calculators were retrospectively applied and results compared in patients with positive imaging findings. Results From 520 individuals enrolled in the screening program, pulmonary nodule(s) ≥6 mm were identified in 166, with biopsy in 30. Malignancy risk probabilities were significantly higher (Brock p < 0.00001; Mayo p < 0.00001) in those undergoing diagnostic sampling than those not undergoing sampling. However, there was no difference in the Brock (p = 0.912) or Mayo (p = 0.435) calculators when discriminating a final diagnosis of cancer from not cancer in those undergoing sampling. Conclusions In our screening program, 5.7% of individuals undergo invasive testing, comparable with the National Lung Screening Trial (6.1%). Both Brock and Mayo calculators perform well in indicating who may be at risk of malignancy, based on clinical and radiologic factors. However, in our invasive testing group, the Brock and Mayo calculators and Lung Cancer Screening Program clinical assessment all lacked clarity in distinguishing individuals who have a cancer from those with a benign abnormality.


Abstract Parametric probability distributions can be fit to a dataset by equating sample L moments to those Of the fitted distribution. This study examines the mean and mean squared departures of sample L moments of monthly precipitation data from large sample values as sample size increases. Mean departures decrease as the sample size increases with values near zero generally occurring with about 30 to 40 or more observations for the central tendency measure, about 40 to 50 or more for the dispersion measure, and about 60 or 70 for the skewness and kurtosis measures. It was also found that the root-mean-square departures appear to decrease linearly with the square root of the sample size. The results are intended to provide guidance for determining sample sizes when applying at-site L moments to monthly precipitation data.


In socially monogamous species pair partners often form and maintain long-term pair-bonds. Relationships between pair partners are dynamic and driven by both cooperation and conflicts between the sexes. Successful reproduction depends on behavioural coordination and cooperation, which includes continuing mutual responsiveness between the pair partners, as well as conflicts, for example, over parental investment. Gonadal hormones, such as testosterone, centrally regulate reproduction and are potentially involved in the formation and maintenance of pair-bonds. In greylag geese (Anser anser), a positive within-pair testosterone co-variation (TC) among pair partners has been observed at the seasonal level. Goose pairs with a higher TC have a higher reproductive output and long-term success than pairs with lower TC, but it is still not clear whether TC is cause or consequence. In this article, I (i) summarize the evidence for hormonal partner compatibility in geese, (ii) ask whether TC is restricted to monogamous and biparental systems and (iii) synthesize open questions or new aspects of information we may draw by studying hormonal partner compatibility. From longitudinal studies in geese, we know that TC decreases with pair-bond duration. This indicates some form of 'attritional effect' over the years rather than an improved breeding performance with increasing familiarity between the partners (the 'mate familiarity hypothesis'). Under certain circumstances, for example, during ageing, selection may not act in the same direction for males and females. Partner preference increased female androgen levels during laying and social instability may impinge on the pair's TC. Data from other species show that TC is not restricted to monogamous species, but presumably the link between TC and reproductive output may be primarily relevant in species with biparental care. This article surveys the major unanswered questions relating to hormonal partner compatibility and previews potential future work for addressing those open issues.


We experimentally investigated the use of a bulk-structured bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) topological insulator (TI) as a saturable absorption material for passive Q-switching of a fiber laser at ∼1.56  μm. Unlike previous TI-based Q-switched laser implementations that employed high-quality nanostructured TI saturable absorbers, we chose to use a bulk-structured Bi2Te3 TI film because it is easy to fabricate. Our saturable absorber was constructed by depositing a bulk-structured, ∼13  μm thick Bi2Te3 TI film, which was prepared by using a mechanical exfoliation method, on the flat side of a side-polished fiber. The modulation depth of the evanescent field interaction-based saturable absorber was measured to be ∼10.8% at ∼1.56  μm. Passively Q-switched pulses were readily obtained by incorporating the saturable absorber into an all fiberized erbium fiber-based ring cavity. The minimum temporal width was measured to be ∼2.81  μs at a repetition rate of ∼42.8  kHz. Through an output performance comparison between our Q-switched laser and recently demonstrated Q-switched fiber lasers incorporating nanostructured TI-based saturable absorbers, the pros and cons of our bulk-structured Bi2Te3 TI-based saturable absorbers were analyzed.


The subject of this thesis is interaction in the service encounter. The aim is to describe and explain the service encounter interaction with a special focus on the social and organisational context. The contextual focus is related to two overriding questions: What significance does the human interaction have for the service encounter? What significance does the organisational context have for the service encounter?The result show that even though the communication consists of four discerned phases – salutation, the subject of the call, concluding the subject, and rounding off the call, each phase also displays contradictions. Consequently, there are both relational and instrumental utterances, as well as symmetrical and asymmetrical aspects of the conversations.These contradictory results of the relational-instrumental and symmetrical-asymmetrical features are explained when interaction is viewed in terms of three different sets of logic – the commercial, the bureaucratic, and the social. Every logic is constituted by a number of characteristics, each contributing to the shape of the interaction and to the relationship between the customer and the employee.Analytically speaking, the three forms of logic can be described in terms of their respective field of action and rationality, that is, what the actors talk about and what the purpose of the talk is. It is shown that the actors must prioritise between economic, administrative and personal areas within a limited time of action. It is also clear that the disparate rationalities, that is, economic, executive and recognition, all exercise influence over the service encounter, which means that acts aiming at a specific goal are restricted by the objectives of the other logics. Therefore there is a certain self-regulating function in the antagonism between the logics. The positions of the employee in relation to the customer, the organisation and the so-called collective customer mean that there are demands made from three qualitatively different directions. There is, in other words, a three-bosses dilemma for employees. The different positions of the employee also entail three different asymmetrical relationships in which either the customer or the employee has the advantage. This position constructs the hierarchy of dominance between employee and customer.To conclude, the interaction constitutes a complex relationship between the characteristics of the logics and when these combine the interaction of the service encounter is shaped. The fact that the service encounter involves human interaction means that there is a counter balance against the organisational ascendancy.


We have determined the high-pressure crystal-structure of sulfuric acid, including the positions of the hydrogen atoms, using a combination of single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques and ab initio density functional calculations. Just above the onset of crystallization, at 0.7 GPa, we find that a previously unobserved monoclinic structure, with P21/c symmetry, is formed which is characterised by SO2(OH)2 tetrahedra interconnected by hydrogen bonds. In contrast to the low-temperature C2/c phase, the tetrahedra in the high-pressure crystal structure are no longer arranged in R44(16) hydrogen-bonded layers but, instead, they form chains where the hydrogen bonding adopts a R33(12) arrangement. A series of ab initio calculations indicates that this rearrangement of the molecules results in a relatively
small reduction in the enthalpy (13.603 kJ mol−1) for the P21/c structure at 0.7 GPa.


Objective:To study early diagnosis and rational surgical treatment of gastric stump cancer.Methods:The clinical data of 56 cases admitted during the past 16 years were retrospectively analyzed.Results:The onset time was 10 years or more for gastric stump cancer after gastrectomy.The incidence of gastric stump cancer in the patients underwent billroth Ⅱ operation was obviously higher than that in those underwent bilroth Ⅰ operation( P 0.005).Gastroscopy and biopsy were the major methods for early diagnosis.Radical operation was the first choice for gastric stump cancer.Conclusion:Regular gastroscopy and tissue bisopy are useful in detecting gastric stump cancer in patients with gastroduodenal diseases after removal benign.Radical operation can improve the survival time and quality of patients with gastric stump cancer.


The Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania and Kenya are an ecoregion of great ecological and socio-economic importance. The global significance of this ecoregion is manifested through its role as a carbon sink and as a habitat for a number of endemic and endangered flora and fauna. Despite their importance, the Eastern Arc Mountains are facing significant threats, with an estimated 70% of original forest cover already lost to deforestation and degradation. This briefing explores the threats, policy responses and governance challenges of the Eastern Arc Mountains with a particular focus on Tanzania, where the greater part of this ecoregion is situated.


In Ulcerative Colitis (UC), vedolizumab demonstrated increased efficacy over adalimumab in the VARSITY study. However, the real-world effectiveness of vedolizumab against adalimumab, infliximab and in UC and Crohn's disease (CD) is not well-known. Drug persistence measures the duration of time from initiation to discontinuation of a therapy, is a surrogate marker that combines therapeutic efficacy, safety, and tolerability. This meta-analysis compared drug persistence of vedolizumab versus anti TNF alpha inhibitors (TNFi) adalimumab and infliximab in UC and CD.

 Systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted with observational studies identified in electronic database – EMBASE and PubMed search from inception of 2017 to July 2022 and abstracts screened from recent gastroenterology conference – Digestive disease week 2022 San Diego. 6 observational studies evaluating persistence of vedolizumab versus TNFi (infliximab and adalimumab) among participants aged >18 years with diagnosis of IBD met inclusion criteria and were included.

 Overall, 1 year persistence of vedolizumab is 71.2% in UC and 76% in CD, significantly higher than infliximab (56.4% in UC, 53.7% in CD) and adalimumab (53.7% in UC, 55.6% in CD). (Table 1) Head-to-head comparison shows RR of 1.15 (95% CI of 1.12 – 1.19), favouring vedolizumab.
 2-years persistence was pooled from 4 studies. Vedolizumab had a 2-years persistence of 66% in UC and 61% in CD, which also shows superiority to both infliximab (49.7% for UC, 59.1% for CD) and adalimumab (31.4% for UC and 56% for CD). (Table 2) Meta-analysis with head-to-head comparison continue to show a statistically significant difference in 2 years persistence of vedolizumab versus TNFi (RR of 1.12, 95% CI 1.01 – 1.25).
 For UC patients, vedolizumab shows superiority over both adalimumab and infliximab with a RR of 1.41 (95% CI 1.14 – 1.74) and 1.15 (95% CI 1.06 – 1.25) respectively and RR of 1.23 (CI 1.14 – 1.33) when adalimumab and infliximab combined.
 For CD, vedolizumab has a slightly higher 1-year persistence over TNFi combined (RR 1.10 95% CI 1.02 – 1.19) but fails to show any statistically significant difference from adalimumab (RR 1.07 95% CI 0.86 – 1.32) and infliximab (RR 0.55 95% CI 0.07 – 4.35) individually.
 Vedolizumab has a higher 1-year persistence in bio-naïve subgroup (RR 1.14 95% CI 1.07 – 1.22) but fails to show statistically significant advantage in bio-experienced group (RR 1.04 95% CI 0.80 – 1.35) when compare with TNFi.

 Vedolizumab achieved a higher overall 1- and 2-years persistence compared to adalimumab and infliximab in both CD and UC but mainly in bio-naïve subjects. The benefit of vedolizumab over TNFi was more evident in UC than CD.


The number of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in correctional facilities around the country has been increasing. Considering the potential health impact of MRSA, it is important that correctional facilities have prevention and control protocols in place. The study results summarize the prevention and control preparedness activities of county jails in the Greater Dayton area of Ohio. Protocols and control measures were in place for environmental control (95.4%), MRSA screening (88.4%), standard precautions (84.3%), treatment (83.6%), personal hygiene (80.6%), and education (80.4%). Statistical analysis found no significant difference between rural and urban county jails in their handling of MRSA issues. The findings suggest significant compliance with MRSA prevention and control protocols among county jails in the Greater Dayton area.


This study examines the effects of various types of consumers' innovativeness on the consumer shopping styles. The results highlight that social, hedonic and cognitive innovativeness have an impact on consumer shopping styles, but functional innovativeness doesn't influence consumer shopping styles. The study is based on sample of university students from Rawalpindi and Islamabad and its outcomes pave grounds for marketers to develop a better understanding for marketing new products and services. New product and services can be designed to magnetize innovative consumers. Integrated marketing communications should be planned according to the shopping styles of innovative consumers. Youngsters being a sizeable market segment in Pakistan, therefore, this study will guide the marketers to understand this segment better. This study discovers the association between different kinds of innovative consumer and consumer shopping styles.


Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can be transferred through the placenta and breast milk to the developing human offspring, carrying immediate and delayed health risks. We sought to evaluate potential levels of exposure to POPs during critical windows of development: pregnancy and lactation. Two cross-sectional studies were carried out in villages of the states of Sonora and Sinaloa in Mexico, where high levels of POPs have been detected through environmental and human monitoring. POPs were measured in the serum of 60 fertile-aged women in the first study. Breast milk POPs concentrations were measured in a pooled sample of 50 women in the second study. This may be the first study in Mexico to report breast milk dioxins' and furans' concentrations. The most commonly detected POPs in serum were: pentachloroanisole (71 %), PCB 205 (43 %), tetrachlorobenzenes (17-33 %), p,p'DDE (21 %), and toxic lindane by-products α-HCH or β-HCH (15 %). Congeners of furans and dioxins with the highest concentrations in milk were 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF (3.42 pg/g) and OCDD (33.0 pg/g), respectively. The ∑ PCDD/Fs found in this study was lower than in other studies. Both serum and milk samples of fertile-aged women suggest that p,p'DDE and PCB 180 are prevalent local POPs, among others, that may reach developing embryos and infants via the placenta and lactation. These results can serve as a starting point to determine potential levels of exposure to POPs in the most vulnerable stages of life and to evaluate concentration trends in the process of eliminating these compounds.


A time domain formulation for the multichannel feedforward control problem is used to derive an optimally condition for the least squares controller. It is also used to motivate an instantaneous steepest descent algorithm for the adaptation of the controller, which is known as the filtered error LMS algorithm. The convergence rate of this algorithm is limited by the correlation properties of each reference signal, their cross-correlation properties and the dynamics and coupling within the plant response. An expression is then derived for the transfer function of the optimum least squares controller. This suggests a new architecture for the adaptive controller whose convergence rate is not limited by the factors mentioned above. A set of white and uncorrelated reference signals are generated to drive a modified matrix of control filters, whose outputs are multiplied by the inverse of the minimum phase part of the plant response matrix before being fed to the physical plant. The error signals from the plant are then used to update this controller after being fed through the time-reverse transpose of the all-pass part of the plant matrix. The relationship is also discussed between this architecture and that using a singular value decomposition of the plant response, which is used to control tonal disturbances.


Abstract Failure analysis of laminated composite plates for different mechanical, thermo mechanical and hygro-thermo mechanical loads for different ply thicknesses, stacking sequences, fiber orientation angles and composite material systems is presented in the paper. A comparative study of different failure theories is also presented in the paper. The effect of fiber orientation angles on the first ply failure load is also studied. A hybrid composite laminate is developed based on the first ply failure load which minimizes weight and cost. The last ply failure load based on fully discounted method is calculated for different stacking sequences. An optimum composite material system and laminate layup is studied for a targeted strength ratio which minimizes weight.


EPSHOM acquired two NR52 GPS receivers in March 1988. These receivers, marketed by SERCEL, have been specially designed lor geodesy and determination of the trajectory of moving points. The GPS Mission programme, also distributed by SERCEL, makes it possible to process data recorded by these receivers for geodetic purposes. Prior to their operational deployment by SHOM's hydro-oceanographic teams, this equipment and the programme were evaluated by EPSHOM. It became evident that the existing geodetic network was not sufficiently accurate to constitute a valid reference. It was, therefore, the repeatability criteria which was chosen to evaluate the accuracy of the measurements obtained by the GPS system. The results vary between 1 and 4 ppm for baselines from 0 to 130 km in length.


The conversion of CO2 to CH3OH over binary mixed metal oxides of NiO–Fe2O3 is investigated in the study. A series of catalysts, i.e., NiO, Fe2O3, 5% NiO–Fe2O3 (5NF), 10% NiO–Fe2O3 (10NF), and 15% NiO–Fe2O3 (15NF), was tested for CO2 conversion and CH3OH selectivity performance. The results show that binary mixed metal oxides are more active in comparison to pure metal oxides. Moreover, increasing NiO mixing leads to the agglomeration of NiO particles. At 200 °C, around 1.5%, 2%, and 3.2% CO2 conversion is achieved for 5NF, 10NF, and 15NF, respectively. Interestingly, when cold plasma was ignited at 200 °C, around 5.4%, 6.2%, and 10.2% CO2 conversion was achieved for the 5NF, 10NF, and 15NF catalysts, respectively. 15NF exhibited the highest CO2 conversion, but produced only CH4. Plasma coupling with the catalyst led to an increase in the CH3OH yield, and around an 5.8-fold enhancement was achieved with 10NF at 200 °C compared to thermal catalysis. We showed that the combination of plasma and thermal heating brings about significant changes to the catalyst morphology, which significantly improved the catalytic activity. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization revealed that plasma treatment leads to the formation of a mixture of spinel compounds (NiO–Fe2O3, NiFe2O4, and Fe3O4).


This paper presents a systematic mapping study on the model-driven engineering of safety and security concerns in systems. Integrated modeling and development of both safety and security concerns is an emerging field of research. Our mapping study provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art in this field. Through a rigorous and systematic process, this study carefully selected 95 publications out of 17,927 relevant papers published between 1992 and 2018. This paper then proposes and answers several relevant research questions about frequently used methods, development stages where these concerns are typically investigated in, or application domains. Additionally, we identify the community's preference for publication venues and trends.


Abstract:This article traces the figure of polvo (dust) across the writing career of Puerto Rican and New York writer Manuel Ramos Otero. Polvo heralds the macabre sensuality of his early short stories, long before his diagnosis with HIV, and persists and morphs through his later essays and poetry up until his eventual death in 1990 from AIDS complications. Writing defiantly as a queer, a feminist, a Puerto Rican, and a sidoso, he produced work that invites death and desire to commingle through a figuration of dust, as a scattered substance that covers skin, coats translation, and dirties conventional genres. Polvo illuminates the dimensions and risks of relation as a particulate matter that exposes our porosity—clinging and hovering in the space between bodies, between the past and the future, between life and death. As the dust settles in the wake of Hurricane María, so too can polvo be read as prescient for how coloniality lingers as enduring conditions of debility and precarity. Ramos Otero's affinity for finitude, figured through polvo, counterintuitively conjures a relational desire that privileges the porous, the marginal, and the always precarious possibility of survival. Polvo moves across the different genres and phases of Ramos Otero's work as a matter that refuses to disentangle the material realities of queerness and coloniality.


Background: Degenerative and deformative changes of the hip joints rank among the most severe and most common musculoskeletal conditions affecting the elderly and reasonable number of these patients receive Total hip replacement (THR) with or without cement. The aim of this study was to assess outcomes of rehabilitation following cemented and cementless THR in patients with primary coxarthrosis, and also to compare the outcomes between the two groups to see if there will be any significant difference in the outcomes measured. Materials and Methods: Twenty (20) patients were purposively recruited to participate in this study from a population of coxarthrosis patients billed to undergo THR. The patients were divided into two groups with 10 participants each to undergo either cemented or cementless THRs. The demographic parameters of all the participants were recorded. All the participants were administered Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Harris Hip Scores (HHS), Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and Total Range of Motion (TROM) of the affected hip joints were measured before surgery and at the 7TH week after the surgery and rehabilitation and all the participants underwent similar rehabilitation post-surgery. Results: 15 Females (75%) and 5 Males (25%) participated in the study, with the cemented group having 8 Females (80%) and 2 Males (20%), while the cementless group had 7 Females (70%) and 3 Males (30%). The mean ages of the participants were 72.10 and 61.70 years for the cemented and cementless groups respectively. All baseline parameters of the participants (Age, VAS, HHS, WOMAC and TROM) were comparable between the groups (P>0.05). There were significant improvements in post rehabilitation scores for VAS and HHS when compared to pre-THR scores in both groups (P<0.05). The post rehabilitation scores for TROM were significantly higher than the pre THR scores in the cementless group (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was found between the baseline and post rehabilitation WOMAC scores of both groups (P>0.05). Lastly, the results showed that the cementless group had significantly higher value at post rehabilitation for the TROM when compared to the cemented group (P<0.05). Conclusions: It was concluded that; Rehabilitation improves the quality of life and pain in patients after Total Hip Replacement (THR) irrespective of the type of prosthesis used (cemented or cementless) and Cementless THR has showed better improvement in hip joint total range of motion after rehabilitation than the cemented THR.


Abstract Saproxylic succession in fire-killed black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.] coarse woody debris (CWD) in northern Quebec is estimated in this study using a 29-yr postfire chronosequence. Sampling was performed using both trunk-window traps and rearing from snag and log sections. A total of 37,312 arthropods (>220 taxa) were collected from both sampling methods. Two distinct colonization waves were identified. The onset of initial colonization occurs the year of the fire, whereas the second colonization phase begins only once debris falls to the ground. The initial colonization step is influenced by fire-associated species including subcortical predators, xylophages, and ascomycetes feeders. Abundance of most early colonizer species decline with time since fire with the disappearance of subcortical habitat. No noticeable species turnover occurred in snags thereafter. Lack of succession in snags is related to very low decomposition rates for postfire CWD because this substrate is unsuitable for species associated with highly decayed wood. Snag falling triggers fungal growth and concomitant saproxylic succession toward micro- and saprophagous species and increases accessibility for soil-dwelling organisms. Because the position of woody debris greatly influences overall physical properties of dead wood, the fall of burned CWD plays a major role in saproxylic community shift after fire.


Based on the effective contention access and perfect scheduling transmission, an enhanced multiple access protocol - UPMA++ protocol is proposed, which integrates the advantages of random multiple access and fixed allocation multiple access protocols. It allocates the resource dynamically according to the factual traffic requirement, thus reducing the source waste. This protocol adjusts the length of contention access period and polling period effectively to resolve the conflicts between active stations and transmission stations, which active station expects to access the channel quickly and transmission station wants to transmit packet as soon as possible. By analysis, the optimal contention access period length for the given max polling period length is found, and the performance evaluations show UPMA++ protocol has a high throughput (up to 96%), low average message delay and small average message dropping probability.


Ewing sarcomas constitute a group of small, round, blue cell tumors of the bone and soft tissue. Extraskeletal Ewing sarcoma (EES) is a rare malignant neoplasm that arises from soft tissues, and it usually affects children and young adults. EES of the thoracopulmonary region commonly presents with a palpable mass or pain. Although rarely reported, EES affecting the anterior chest wall may present as a breast mass. We report a case of EES arising from the chest wall and manifesting as a palpable breast mass in a 22-year-old woman. The large mass was initially misdiagnosed as a breast origin mass on ultrasonography, but subsequent CT and MRI showed that the mass originated from the chest wall. Radiologists should be aware of the imaging findings of EES, and they should understand that chest wall lesions may be clinically confused as breast lesions.


Sensitivity to changes in the interaural time difference (ITD) of 50 msec tones was measured in single units in the inferior colliculus of urethane-anesthetized guinea pigs. ITD functions were measured with 100 repeats and fine spacing (100 points per cycle). The just noticeable difference (jnd) for ITD was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of the spike-count distribution at each ITD. The jnd became progressively smaller as the signal frequency increased from 50 to 800 Hz but became unmeasurable above 1 kHz. The lowest jnds (30 μsec) were comparable with human jnds, indicating that there is sufficient information in the firings of individual neurons to permit discrimination without obligatory pooling. ROC analysis requires the choice of a reference ITD from which the jnd may be found by stepping the target ITD through the ITD function. For each neuron the reference was chosen to minimize the jnd. The lowest jnd was usually for ipsilateral leading references, near the minimum of the ITD function where the variance was also low, but where the slope was nearing its steepest. This was despite the peak of the ITD function occurring for contralateral leading stimuli. When the reference ITD was on midline, a jnd could be obtained by looking for firing rates either greater or smaller than the firing rate at midline. The lower jnd was usually obtained by looking for a decrease in firing rate. As duration increased, jnds either decreased or increased, depending on unit type, whereas when level increased, jnds generally increased.


There is an increasing interest in applying fractal analysis to measure the spatial complexity of remotely sensed images. This study provides an evaluation of the effectiveness of three fractal algorithms (isarithm, triangular prism, and variogram) for characterizing urban landscapes in Indianapolis, USA, based on eight satellite images taken by five sensors (Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), and IKONOS). Fractal dimensions (FDs) were computed for both individual spectral bands and classified images to understand the fractal characteristics of land-use and land-cover (LULC) patterns. Results indicated that FD values were sensitive to the computational algorithms used. It was found that the performance of different FD algorithms varied by application. The red and the near-infrared bands were the most spatially complicated bands among all spectral bands of the Landsat and ASTER images as well as the IKONOS images. The most fragmented LULC type was grassland. FD analysis of Landsat-derived LULC maps revealed that the urban landscape in Indianapolis had experienced great change between 1975 and 1991 as well as between 1991 and 2000. It is concluded that the fractals were useful in discriminating the image spatial complexity of various types and show potential in characterizing the temporal changes of urban landscape. However, fractal analysis alone may not be sufficiently effective to characterize urban landscape changes. Detailed quantitative change information is needed to assist in the interpretation of resultant FD values.


The Anthropocene problematic calls for imaginative aesthetic experiments fostering more-than-human thought and sensibilities. In this thought experiment, I draw on a sensing device in conjuring a thermal imaginary that decenters the human, espying a glimpse of a strange and uncanny world-without-us. The imaginary is a speculative performance in elemental attunement – becoming-molecular, becoming-imperceptible in the generative potentia of planetary heat – opening a pathway in rethinking bodies and worlds as emergent in, and through, forces elemental and cosmic in scope. The thermal imaginary accentuates the elemental as exorbitant, anonymous, and nonpossessable, an earthly plenum beyond any final capture, possession, mastery and control. Elemental alterity, the very strangeness of the earth, rises in the thermal imaginary as a summons, a calling from the "outside," gesturing toward an immanent ethics of radical openness working in, and through, earthly bodies always already exposed and vulnerable in the force of the elemental. We must be open to the elemental summons, expanding capacities for what a body can do, moving beyond spinning reductive and redemptive Anthropocene narratives for saving this world. There can be no new bodies and worlds to come in the absence of an elemental ethics worthy of the earth itself.


Illustrates the initial integration of CASE technology into the JTLS software lifecycle. The Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) software process maturity model is used to measure the utility of CASE integration. Current CASE integration focuses on several areas within the JTLS software process. The software development areas include some of the lower components of software production, testing and configuration management. Areas for future integration include the upper phases of software production. These areas include: requirements analysis, software design, software development scheduling and quality assurance. The main purpose of this paper is to provide simulation managers with a reference point for CASE integration into their projects.


Recently, the significance of anthracosis in the tracheobronchial tree, lung parenchyma, and even non-respiratory organs has been postulated and discussed in association with other diseases, especially tuberculosis. We reviewed the current literature by using the following key words in Medline/PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar databases: anthracosis, anthracofibrosis, anthracotic bronchitis, biomass fuels, and mixed-dust pneumoconiosis. The bibliographies of eligible papers were also reviewed for further relevant articles. A total of 37 studies were assessed. The content of these studies was then divided into specific categories. Considering the pathogenesis, along with histopathological, radiological, and bronchoscopic results regarding anthracotic lesions, we suggest these findings be defined as "ANTHRACOSIS SYNDROME". For the first time, we describe a syndrome involving black pigmentation, which was previously thought to involve only the tracheobronchial tree. Until recently, it was not considered to be a single syndrome with different sites of involvement.


Although Aphytis lingnanensis Compare is an important parasitoid of California red scale Aonidiella aurantii Maskell, several 'races' of A. lingnanensis exist which parasitize white louse scale Unaspis citri Comstock. The reproductive status of a white louse scale 'race' of A. lingnanensis that originated in Thailand was examined in relation to several populations (from Queensland, California and the Philippines) that parasitize California red scale. None of the wasps from red scale mated with individuals from white louse scale in small cages within 10 min, whereas control crosses all mated in that time. The two 'races' would therefore constitute independent reproductive entities (species) in sympatry in the field, although no consistent anatomical differences could be found between them, even with the aid of discriminant function analysis on the number of setae on the delta region of the forewing and the mesoscutum. Aphytis linguanensis from California red scale in Queensland mated readily with wasps derived from the same host species in California and the Philippines, and mating took place at random among individuals in mate choice tests. Although such results are equivocal, there are no reasons for suspecting that these different populations of A. lingnanensis from California red scale also comprise more than one species. The results obtained indicate that cross-mating tests designed to quantify reproductive isolation between sexual populations are inappropriate. They should rather be designed to establish whether individuals recognize one another as potential mates. The design of cross-mating tests should therefore consider the usual time to mating, of known conspecifics, under the experimental conditions to be used.