The efficient conversion of spin to charge transport and vice versa is of major relevance for the detection and generation of spin currents in spin‐based electronics. Interfaces of heterostructures are known to have a marked impact on this process. Here, terahertz (THz) emission spectroscopy is used to study ultrafast spin‐to‐charge‐current conversion (S2C) in about 50 prototypical F|N bilayers consisting of a ferromagnetic layer F (e.g., Ni81Fe19, Co, or Fe) and a nonmagnetic layer N with strong (Pt) or weak (Cu and Al) spin‐orbit coupling. Varying the structure of the F/N interface leads to a drastic change in the amplitude and even inversion of the polarity of the THz charge current. Remarkably, when N is a material with small spin Hall angle, a dominant interface contribution to the ultrafast charge current is found. Its magnitude amounts to as much as about 20% of that found in the F|Pt reference sample. Symmetry arguments and first‐principles calculations strongly suggest that the interfacial S2C arises from skew scattering of spin‐polarized electrons at interface imperfections. The results highlight the potential of skew scattering for interfacial S2C and propose a promising route to enhanced S2C by tailored interfaces at all frequencies from DC to terahertz.


Cucumber is the edible fruit of the cucumber plant, Cucumis Sativus. Cucumber is used for skin treatment and natural beautification. It is called a cool fruit which effect is believed to bring relief to the eyes in summer. Thirty six guinea pigs between ages 17-20weeks and weight 0.4-0.7kg had their cornea induced with acid burn wound using 0.1M of hydrochloric acid. The animals were then divided intof our groups of 9 animals. The groups were CB group treated with cucumber bark extract only, CP group treated with cucumber pulp extract only, CB+CP group treated with cucumber bark and pulp extract and the control group that received no treatment. Stock extracts were used in the three groups; no dilution of any kind was employed. The regimen used was 2 drops of their drug, 3 times daily till healing occured The acid wounds were stained with flourescein and the size measured with PD rule before commencement of the treatment on the first day of the experiment and daily till the wound healed. At the endof the study, the CB+CPgrouphad the shortest healingperiod (17days withhealing rate of 0.92mm ), followed by CB group (19days with healing rate of 0.90mm ), the CPgroup (26 days with healing rate of 0.80mm ) and lastly the control group (30days with healing rate of 0.70mm ). Statistical analysis using students to T-test (two-tailed) showed that the rates of healing between the treated groups and the control groupwerestatisticallysignificant (P>0.05).Cucumber extract when pharmacologically refined could be incorporated in first aid treatment of corneal acidburn.


Background Carcinoma vulva is a rare disease accounting for 1.3% of all gynaecological malignancies. The present study is a 10-year retrospective review of our experience of the surgical options, morbidity, failure pattern, and survival for invasive carcinoma vulva. Materials and Methods Retrospective analysis of case records of 39 patients who underwent surgery for invasive vulval cancer between 2004 and 2013 in the Department of Surgical Oncology at the Government Royapettah Hospital, Chennai. Results The median age was 55 years. Radical vulvectomy was the preferred surgery. 31 patients underwent lymphadenectomy. Seroma formation and groin skin necrosis were the most common postoperative complications. With a median follow-up of 32 months, 8 patients (20.5%) developed recurrence (systemic = 1, regional = 4, and local = 3). The estimated 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 65.4% and the overall survival (OS) was 85.1%. On univariate analysis, stage and lymph node involvement significantly affected OS. Nodal involvement with extracapsular spread (ECS) significantly affected both DFS and OS. Conclusion The treatment of carcinoma vulva should be individualized with multidisciplinary cooperation. The paucity of data, especially from India, necessitates the need for more studies, preferably multicentric, keeping in mind the low prevalence.


Microfluidic systems have become competitive tools in the invitro modelling of diseases and promising alternatives to animal studies. They allow obtaining more invivo like conditions for cellular assays. Research in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis could benefit from this novel methodological approach to understand the pathophysiology of the disease & develop efficient therapies. The use of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) for alveolar reepithelisation is a promising approach. In this study, we show a new microfluidic system to analyse the effects of HGF on injured alveolar epithelial cells. Microfluidic systems in polydimethylsiloxane were fabricated by soft lithography. The alveolar A549 epithelial cells (10,000 cells) were seeded and studied in these microfluidic systems with media perfusion (1μl/30min). Injury tests were made on the cells by the perfusion with media containing H2O2 or bleomycin. The degree of injury was then assessed by a metabolic and an apoptotic assays. Wound assays were also performed with a central laminar flow of trypsin. Monitoring of wound closure with HGF vs control media was assessed. The alveolar A549 epithelial cells grew and proliferated in the microfluidic system. In the wound closure assay, the degree of wound closure after 5 hours was (53.3±1.3%) with HGF compared to (9.8±2.4%) without HGF (P <0.001). We present a novel microfluidic model that allows culture, injury and wounding of A549 epithelial cells and represents the first step towards the development of an invitro reconstitution of the alveolar-capillary interface. We were also able to confirm that HGF increased alveolar epithelial repair in this system.


ObjectivesZZThe aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Korean version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (K-IRI). MethodsZZA total of 484 participants were included in this study. Internal consistency and test/retest reliability (n=35) were examined. Criterion validity of the K-IRI was assessed against Affective Dimension of the 3D-Wisdom Scale. Factor analyses were also performed using principal component analysis with varimax rotation. ResultsZZThe internal consistency of the K-IRI was 0.80, and test-retest reliability was 0.76. Criterion validity was evaluated by correlating the K-IRI with the Affective Dimension of 3D-Wisdom Scale (r=0.31). Factor analyses revealed factor structures similar to the original IRI. ConclusionZZThe K-IRI appeared to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing empathy in the Korean population. This suggests that this scale may be applicable in clinical trials, research, and clinicalpractice.


African swine fever (ASF) has been considered as one of the most important and devastating swine diseases with high mortality rates. Since effective vaccines and treatment are not available, mass euthanasia of infected and exposed pigs has been known to be the best measure to control ASF. Although composting has been proved to be a safe method for the rapid disposal of animal carcasses during outbreaks, there is no information about the effect of composting on the viability of ASF virus in swine carcasses. This study investigates the survival of the ASF virus in swine carcasses during composting. The findings suggested that the DNA of the ASF virus was detected in all samples tested. On the contrary, infectious ASF virus particles were rapidly destroyed at day 3. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive weakness and eventual death, usually within 3-5 years. An ALS diagnosis is associated with substantial emotional distress for both the affected person and their family care-partners which impairs the ability to engage in important conversations about long term care planning, negatively impacts ALS symptoms for the patient, and quality of life for both patient and care-partner. Here we 1) discuss published works identified by the authors about psychosocial interventions for the ALS population, 2) identify a lack of early, dyadic interventions to support psychosocial needs of people with ALS and care-partners; 3) describe the Neurodegenerative Diseases (NDD) framework for early dyadic intervention development and 4) propose an adaptation of an evidence-based early dyadic psychosocial intervention, Recovering Together, for the unique needs of people with ALS and their care-partners (Resilient Together-ALS; RT-ALS) using the NDD framework. Future work will use stakeholder feedback to optimize the intervention for subsequent efficacy testing.


The second half of August 1998 was dominated by two events. From 14 to 28 August, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) intervened in Hong Kong equity markets to prevent a speculative double play against their currency board. On 17 August, Russia announced its default on sovereign bonds. This paper demonstrates that the HKMA interventions had a substantial impact on the outcomes for US Treasury markets during this period using a careful analysis of high-frequency bond market data. On this evidence the shocks emanating from Hong Kong provided liquidity to the US Treasury market when it was most needed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


New section 163(j) strictly limits business interest expense (BIE) deductions to large (and possibly not-so-large) taxpayers. Generally, BIEs may only be deducted to the extent that they do not exceed 30 percent of adjusted taxable income plus business interest income. Section 163(j)(4) requires partnerships to calculate this limitation at the partnership level. In this report, I focus on how section 163(j) applies to partnerships. Given my focus, I leave to others a more comprehensive review of section 163(j) as a totality, as well as the coverage of S corporations. I will tend to give fairly short shrift to the portions of the statute and proposed regulations (REG-106089-18) that do not primarily apply to partnerships. For the most part, I assume the reader is well-versed in subchapter K. I begin by laying out some background to the enactment of section 163(j) and its application to partnerships.


and safety, and continuous quality improvement. This review and other recent cross-program or meta-analytic efforts to identify core components of quality afterschool programs (Durlak & Weissberg, 2007; Metz, Goldsmith, & Arbreton, 2008) provide a valuable opportunity for afterschool providers to reflect on their practices. In addition to correlational assessments of program attributes and outcomes, however, the field also needs data about how specific interventions have improved quality in afterschool programs (Granger, Durlak, Yohalem, & Reisner, 2007; Pittman, Smith, & Finn, 2008). This paper describes one approach to such quality improvement efforts: the Quality Improvement System (QIS) implemented by Prime Time Palm Beach County (Prime Time) in Palm Beach County, Florida. Prime Time's QIS is recognized as one promising systemic efby Diana Sinisterra and Stephen Baker Highlights of Effective Intervention Strategies in a Quality Improvement System a system that works


We have studied simultaneous photoionization and excitation of Ar in the range of incident photon energies between 36.00 and 36.36 eV, where the resonant production of doubly excited neutral Ar states imbedded in the ionization continuum is dominant. By measuring the relative Stokes parameters of the fluorescence from residual Ar+* (3p4 [3P] 4p) ions (2P1/2, 465.8 nm transition; 2P3/2, 476.5 nm; 2D3/2, 472.7 nm; 2D5/2, 488.0 nm; 4P5/2, 480.6 nm; 4D5/2, 514.5 nm) we demonstrate a technique for determining individual partial-wave cross sections in photoionizing collisions. This procedure is shown to be important in sorting out competing dynamical ionization mechanisms, particularly with regard to resonant production of intermediate doubly excited autoionizing states. Comparison with theoretical photoionization cross sections demonstrates that spin–orbit coupling between different states of Ar II needs to be accounted for in the calculations.


Heavy metals evoke multiple direct and indirect effects on plant growth and affect many physiological functions. Negative impacts include inhibition of seed germination, reduction in plant growth and yield and metabolic disturbances evaluated in terms of altered biochemicals . In vitro and pot culture studies revealed that there is a significant uptake of Chromium by natural growth conditions. There was also a strong negative correlation between the concentration of Cr(VI) and the biomass production in A. hypogea . The control plant grows tall than any other Chromium treated plant. The paper wig method (Whattman filter paper number 3) was found to be effective in screening the Cr(VI) absorption. Interestingly, Chromium in mild concentrations is promoting the cellular elongation resulting in the longest root of seedlings reared in the 1mM hexavalent Chromium. Chromium when supplemented with the selected bioinoculants to the experimental formulations showed promising results in the plant growth and development than the control seedlings. Both pot cultured plants and in vitro raised plants were found to contain 375.80 ppm (per 5g) and 47.06 ppm (per 5g) of Chromium respectively in the Atomic Absortion Spectrometric quantifications. Further experiments are underway to study the biological effects and accumulation of absorbed Cr(VI) in this economically important legume.


Protein solvation dynamics has been investigated using atom-dependent Langevin friction coefficients derived directly from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. To determine the effect of solvation on the atomic friction coefficients, solution and vacuum MD simulations were performed for lysozyme and staphylococcal nuclease and analyzed by Langevin mode analysis. The coefficients thus derived are roughly correlated with the atomic solvent-accessible surface area (ASA), as expected from the fact that friction occurs as the result of collisions with solvent molecules. However, a considerable number of atoms with higher friction coefficients are found inside the core region. Hence, the influence of solvent friction propagates into the protein core. The internal coefficients have large contributions from the low-frequency modes, yielding a simple picture of the surface-to-core long-range damping via solvation governed by collective low-frequency modes. To make use of these findings in implicit-solvent modeling, we compare the all-atom friction results with those obtained using Langevin dynamics (LD) with two empirical representations: the constant-friction and the ASA-dependent (Pastor-Karplus) friction models. The constant-friction model overestimates the core and underestimates the surface damping whereas the ASA-dependent friction model, which damps protein atoms only on the solvent-accessible surface, reproduces well the friction coefficients for both the surface and core regions observed in the explicit-solvent MD simulations. Therefore, in LD simulation, the solvent friction coefficients should be imposed only on the protein surface.


Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) contribute to the rapid evolution of bacterial pathogens via horizontal gene transfer of virulence determinants. ICEs have common mechanisms for transmission, yet the cues triggering this process under natural environmental or physiological conditions are largely unknown. In this study, mobilization of the putative ICE horizontally acquired island 2 (HAI2), present in the chromosome of the phytopathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum SCRI1043, was examined during infection of the host plant potato. Under these conditions, mobilization of HAI2 increased markedly compared with in vitro cultures. In planta-induced mobilization of HAI2 was regulated by quorum sensing and involved the putative ICE-encoded relaxase ECA0613. Disruption of ECA0613 also reduced transcription of genes involved in production of coronafacic acid (Cfa), the major virulence factor harboured on HAI2, whereas their expression was unaffected in the quorum-sensing (expI) mutant. Thus, suppression of cfa gene expression was not regulated by the mobilization of the ICE per se, but was due directly to inactivation of the relaxase. The identification of genetic factors associated solely with in planta mobilization of an ICE demonstrates that this process is highly adapted to the natural environment of the bacterial host and can influence the expression of virulence determinants.


An early Paleozoic ophiolitic melange has recently been documented in the west Gangma Co area, north-central Tibetan Plateau. It is composed of serpentinite, isotropic and cumulate gabbros, basalt, and plagiogranite. Whole-rock geochemical data suggest that these rocks were formed in an oceanic-ridge setting, and the depletion in Nb and Ti indicates their suprasubduction zone nature. Furthermore, whole-rock e Nd ( t ) (+3.5 to +10.6) and zircon e Hf ( t ) values (+11.4 to +14.5) suggest that these rocks were derived from a long-term depleted mantle source. These geochemical features, combined with the rock types and their field relationships, suggest the rocks represent an ophiolite suite. Zircon U-Pb dating of isotropic gabbros and plagiogranites yielded weighted mean ages ranging from 437 to 501 Ma, which makes the west Gangma Co ophiolitic melange the oldest Paleo-Tethys ophiolitic melange in the Tibetan Plateau. The main Paleo–Tethys Ocean basin probably opened in the Middle Cambrian; it continued to grow throughout the Paleozoic and closed in the later Triassic. The Paleo–Tethys Ocean was formed by the breakup of the northern margin of Gondwana, with southward subduction of the proto-Tethys oceanic lithosphere along the northern margin of the supercontinent.


Receptor-mediated removal of lipoproteins by the liver is predominantly mediated by apolipoproteinE (apoE). Recent data show that a novel dual domain peptide (hE-18A) containing the 10-residue receptor-binding domain of human apoE, and a model class A amphipathic helix (18A), can associate with low density and very low density lipoproteins (LDL and VLDL) and enhance their uptake and degradation by HepG2 cells in vitro, and further, causes a dramatic reduction in plasma cholesterol levels in apoE-null mice. The in vivo cholesterol lowering effect, however, is short-lived because of rapid clearance of the peptide from the circulation. These results indicate that a therapeutic benefit may be achieved by sustained-delivery of this novel peptide as an alternate form of treatment for hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia. In this report we describe the encapsulation of this peptide in a multivesicular liposome (MVL) depot-delivery system (DepoFoam). An in vitro plasma release assay showed sustained release of the peptide from the DepoFoam particles and its subsequent association with LDL and VLDL. Furthermore, a single subcutaneous dose of the DepohE-18A formulation in apoE-null mice, yielded a mean, cumulative 18% decrease in serum cholesterol levels after 6 days, and the cholesterol levels remained low at 8 days. Whereas, an equivalent dose of free peptide showed maximal cholesterol decrease by 4 h, followed by a rapid decline in efficacy by 24-48 h. Fractionation of the different lipoprotein fractions from serum showed that the majority of the serum cholesterol decrease was associated with the VLDL fraction, followed by LDL. These results indicate that the apoE peptidomimetic encapsulated in DepoFoam has potential as an alternative therapeutic treatment of hyperlipidemia.


The resilience concept has provided a new insight and approach to the conventional perspective of agricultural management by emphasizing the need to maintain a diversity of future options while increasing production efficiency to adapt to inevitable and often unpredictable changes. The concept has developed into various academic disciplines and covers a wide range of development sectors, yet ways to define and operationalize resilience as a practical and measurable concept are still being developed. This study combined a subjective resilience measurement based on the 5-point Likert scale of farmers' perception on the capacities of their agricultural systems to cope with and recover from salinity damage, and to change to other systems in the case of increased salinity intrusion with a qualitative resilience assessment. We conducted case study research in villages located along salinity transects in the Mekong delta and at different distances to sea dykes in the Red River delta in Vietnam. Empirical data consisted of interviews with local authorities, 11 focus group discussions, 118 semi-structured and 226 structured interviews and 3 role-playing games with farmers carried out between September 2015 and May 2016. Results from the subjective resilience measurement at the household level show that there is no significant difference of resilience between farming systems (p-value<0.05, Kruskal-Wallis test). None of the agricultural systems has a higher score than others of all resilience capacities, implying that an increase in one resilience capacity by switching systems would be achieved at the expense of other resilience components. Adjustment of resilience capacities e.g. through policies and interventions to sustain agricultural production or facilitate transformation to alternative systems when necessary is a critical task in agricultural management and will be discussed.


It has been shown in chronic experiments on rats that two periods of EEG and behavioral alterations may be distinguished during korazol kindling. The bursts of slow waves and spike-wave activity appear on the EEG during the first period as response to subthreshold doses of korazol, which is accompanied behaviorally by standing and myoclonuses. The second period is characterized by the appearance of high-frequency polymorphous generalized seizure discharges on the EEG accompanied by clonicotonic seizures. Interictal and ictal epileptic discharges appear primarily in the hippocamp and then in other brain structures during the development of korazol kindling. The conclusion is made that the hippocamp plays the role of a pathological determinant structure in the development of chronic brain epileptization during korazol kindling.


There have been conflicting reports concerning the reactions which follow the injection of serum into subjects who have previously received prophylactic or therapeutic doses of the same agent. Hooker and others 1 expressed the belief that the small amount of horse serum contained in diphtheria toxin-antitoxin was enough to sensitize some subjects to that antigen. Although others 2 have not denied this possibility, they have expressed the opinion that such small amounts of horse serum as are contained in toxin-antitoxin mixtures are of no practical importance in inducing sensitization. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain by cutaneous and ophthalmic tests (1) whether persons previously given toxin-antitoxin or serum had become sensitized to horse serum, (2) whether more positive reactions to tests for sensitivity to horse serum are obtained from persons previously given serum than from those not so treated and (3) whether there is any relation between the


The androgen receptor (AR) plays a key regulatory role in hormone-naive, as well as in advanced, therapy-resistant prostate cancer. Therefore, the development of novel treatment strategies using new means for targeting AR function in prostate tumors aims at providing better options for control of progression and progressive disease. This review summarizes recent attempts in this field with a critical view on their clinical usefulness. In addition to classic endocrine therapy by surgical and/or chemical castration, there are concepts to inhibit the AR directly through anti-androgens, selective AR modulators, naturally occurring AR inhibitors, neutralizing antibodies and dominant-negative peptides. A unique possibility to prevent AR expression at the transcriptional level represents the use of antisense technology. The advantage of this method is that AR expression, and thus any aberrant route of its activation is prevented. Furthermore, there are several approaches by which AR signaling is inactivated indirectly. Degradation of heat-shock proteins, which direct appropriate AR protein folding, or modulation of various growth factor signaling cascades, which are thought to contribute to AR activation in the androgen-deprived patient, have been investigated.


Location-aware wireless sensor networks will enable a new class of applications, and accurate range estimation is critical for this task. Low-cost location determination capability is studied almost entirely using radio frequency received signal strength (RSS) measurements, resulting in poor accuracy. More accurate systems use wide bandwidths and/or complex time-synchronized infrastructure. Low-cost, accurate ranging has proven difficult because small timing errors result in large range errors. This paper addresses estimation of the distance between wireless nodes using a two-way ranging technique that approaches the Cramér-Rao Bound on ranging accuracy in white noise and achieves 1-3 m accuracy in real-world ranging and localization experiments. This work provides an alternative to inaccurate RSS and complex, wide-bandwidth methods. Measured results using a prototype wireless system confirm performance in the real world.


Agricultural retailers face serious challenge of losing consumers due to channel integration, it has become essential to provide an expected consistent and seamless omni-channel shopping experience in an omni-channel environment. Although previous literature has begun to focus on the consumer perspective of the omni-channel experience, little attention has been paid to the process of change from a single retail environment to omni-channel. By combining the research frameworks of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and the value-based adoption model (VAM), this study aims to identify the drivers of omni-channel consumer purchase intention in agriculture products retail. This article conducts a questionnaire survey on 620 samples in China. The results show that single-channel shopping cost, reference groups, positive online reviews, and single-channel perceived risk have a significant positive impact on the omni-channel purchase intention of agricultural products, and perceived value plays a mediating role. Moreover, contextual factors partially have a negative moderating effect. When consumers purchase agricultural products, the more suitable the online shopping environment is, the weaker the influence of single-channel shopping costs, reference groups and positive online reviews on consumers' omni-channel purchase intention. These findings build on the existing literature on the omni-channel retail consumer experience and provide insights for fresh produce retailers to implement and evaluate an omni-channel integration strategy for agriculture products. The findings may shed lights on how to promote the healthy development of the omni-channel sales model of agricultural products.


In 2009, the paradoxes of the Turkish political scene regarding the Kurdish issue were highlighted, namely pressure from Kemalist military and contradictions within the AKP which can renounce neither its Turk nor Kurd electorate. The government's "opening up" is continuing, but is unlikely to be conclusive in terms of legislative advances. The resolution of the Kurdish issue is halted by the regime's internal uncertainties, and is henceforth dependent on the evolution of neighboring countries Iraq, Iran, and Syria.


Objective: To evaluate Kisspeptin-10 (Kiss-10) in patients with small renal tumours (SRTs) and controls. Material and Methods: Kiss-10 was measured in preoperative plasma samples in a cohort of 143 patients with unilateral renal tumours smaller than or equal to 4 cm and 40 age-matched controls by a competitive ELISA test kit. The cohort of patients included 56 patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), 43 with papillary RCC (pRCC), 12 with chromophobe RCC (chRCC) and 32 with oncocytomas. Results: Kiss-10 was detected in all patients and controls. SRT patients revealed significantly higher Kiss-10 levels than controls (mean value 10.04 vs. 6.37 pmol/l, p < 0.001). In SRT patients, Kiss-10 was detected at significantly different concentrations between the subgroups (p = 0.021). The highest concentration was observed in those with oncocytomas (11.50 pmol/) followed by chRCC, pRCC and ccRCC patients (9.89, 10.01 and 9.25 pmol/l, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.82 for the comparison of all tumours vs. controls (p < 0.001) and an AUC of 0.671 for all malignant tumours vs. oncoytomas (p = 0.003). Conclusion: This study shows that Kiss-10 levels are significantly altered by malignancy and tumour subtypes even in patients with SRTs. Kiss-10 therefore deserves further attention as a plasmatic biomarker for renal tumours.


A cloth that adapts to the heat Textiles trap infrared radiation, which helps keep us warm in cold weather. Of course, in hot weather, this is less desirable. Zhang et al. constructed an infrared-adaptive textile composed of polymer fibers coated with carbon nanotubes. The yarn itself expanded and collapsed based on heat and humidity, which changed the spacing of the fibers. Wider fiber spacing allowed the textile to breathe but also altered the infrared emissivity of the textile. This allowed for better heat exchange under hot and wet conditions. The self-adjusting emissivity of the textile could help toward wearable thermal-management attire. Science, this issue p. 619 A textile composed of carbon nanotube–coated bimorph fibers adapts to the environment and promotes passive cooling. The human body absorbs and loses heat largely through infrared radiation centering around a wavelength of 10 micrometers. However, neither our skin nor the textiles that make up clothing are capable of dynamically controlling this optical channel for thermal management. By coating triacetate-cellulose bimorph fibers with a thin layer of carbon nanotubes, we effectively modulated the infrared radiation by more than 35% as the relative humidity of the underlying skin changed. Both experiments and modeling suggest that this dynamic infrared gating effect mainly arises from distance-dependent electromagnetic coupling between neighboring coated fibers in the textile yarns. This effect opens a pathway for developing wearable localized thermal management systems that are autonomous and self-powered, as well as expanding our ability to adapt to demanding environments.


The development of digital cartography techniques has found widespread diffusion within the National Fire Brigade Corps. Digital mapping is now an instrument of major importance in the management of large emergencies in multi-agency civil protection contexts. In recent disasters that have hit the national territory, the use of cartographic techniques has allowed support for rescue management both in the delicate planning phase and in the post-emergency phase. The field experience has a key role in geomatics also in the development of resilience, a determining factor for the fire brigade teams in the stressful operating environments in which they usually operate. Resilience is an important factor in carrying out the stressful job of firefighters. The article illustrates the experience of the VVF Command of Frosinone in the development of a cartographic platform, called GIS_FR, which contains numerous information of interest for the institutional role played by firefighters in the province of competence.


In the contemporary era man has become much focused on implication of technology in every sector associated with human development. Knowledge being indispensable center of attention attracts the interest of the researchers to deal with its management from generation to dissemination and ultimately to proper use especially in the field of Science and Technology. A Knowledge Management System (KMS) being an amalgamation of content, experience, and process management; take care of management of knowledge as well as enabling its free flow amongst the employees working in an organization for a common goal. Therefore, the paper is an effort to discuss the concept of Knowledge Management along with a detailed theoretical framework for developing a KM System for any knowledge dealing enterprise. The study can be much helpful which acts as a torch bearer concept for all those organizations especially research institutes that are planning for implementation of such Systems hence lessen their efforts and time.


The global tribal population of approximately 300 million people is composed of about 5,000 distinct tribal cultures worldwide, living in every climate from the Arctic Circle to the tropical rain forests. The highest tribal population of Kerala, an Indian state, is found in Wayanad district. Wayanad is situated in an elevated mountainous plateau on the crust of Western Ghats at a height between 700 and 2100 meters above sea level. Wayanad has a long history of agriculture. Two tribes, who are among the inhabitants of this region from early times, and associated with earliest cultivation of rice in valley wetlands and rainfed millets in uplands, largely by shifting cultivation, are the Kurichian and the Kuruman (Prasanth, 2016). The agro ecological conditions of the area, vastly different from the plains and virtual isolation of the area from the plains due to lack of proper communication and other factors restraining early migration from the plains, the agrobiodiversity conserved and used by the native tribes eventually evolved many landraces of rice and other crops unique to the region (Das and Das, 2014). Later huge migration from plains and domination of these migrants in influencing the cropping pattern in the upland led to the total decline of millets and rise of plantation crops. An employment culture entirely based on the existing forest ecosystem limits the scope for International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 10 Number 02 (2021) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com

https://www.ijcmas.com/10-2-2021/V. V. Mano Sandesh, et al.pdf


This paper examines newly emerging patterns of agricultural extension in the context of wider liberalization of agricultural input supply, marketing and credit provision in Benin. It assesses whether the promises of privatisation were met in the case of the Sasakawa Global 2000 project. Thus, it assesses the extent to which service delivery became demand-orientated, flexible and effective in linking of new technology with complementary institutional designs. In order to gain insight in the dynamics through which such outcomes may be realized, the study zooms in on the process through which the project evolved. It is demonstrated that the PSG 2000 Bénin project did not contribute much to realizing the promises and expectations of privatized service delivery. An important conclusion is that whether services become 'demand-oriented' or not does not primarily depend on the formal funding and delivery arrangement, but rather on the quality of the process in which demand and supply are articulated and matched. This contradicts with the policy assumptions underlying privatization programmes.


The clinical condition to be considered here was frequently cited briefly in descriptions of cases by ancient Greek physicians. Hippocrates, the great master physician of the fourth century B. C., made many references to this condition. Aretaeus, a distinguished contemporary of Galen, living in the second and third centuries A. D., Galen, Paulus of Aegina, Wells (1809) and Gregory (1822) also have referred to this condition. However, in 1836 and 1837 many articles began to appear in medical literature the subject of which was a brawny infection of the cellular tissues of the neck. Various names were given to the disease, such as "cynanche cellularis maligna" and "morbus strangulatorius." The leader of the group of physicians reporting on this and the author of the first article was Wilhelm Friedrich Von Ludwig, of Stuttgart, personal physician to the King of Wurttemberg. His description of the disease in 1836 as a "gangrenous


Energy flexibility from residential buildings is foreseen as a solution to facilitate the integration of variable energy sources in the grid. In fact, the energy use in residential buildings is still high despite the different building regulations and some of their usages can be shifted in time. Among these usages, space heating showed an interesting potential for flexibility, especially in France, where 45% of the heating systems is electrical. The objective of this study is to evaluate the flexibility potential in typical French houses, looking at both the energy shifted and thermal comfort. Large differences are highlighted, mainly due to the thermal properties of the envelope and the type of emitter. The temperature drops are quick in poorly insulated building. Underfloor heating systems show a good flexibility potential due to the inertia of this type of emitter. Finally, quantitative data, such as the mean power decrease and power profiles, is provided to help the integration of flexible buildings in future energy grids.


Objective: To study the effects of 1.8 mT sinusoidal electromagnetic fields of different frequencies on bone mineral density (BMD) and biomechanical properties in young rats. Methods: A total of 32 female SD rats (6-week-old) were randomly divided into 4 groups (8 in each):control group, 10 Hz group, 25 Hz group and 40 Hz group. The experimental groups were given 1.8 mT sinusoidal electromagnetic field intervention 90 min per day. The whole body BMD of rats was detected with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry after 4 and 8 weeks of intervention. After 8 weeks of intervention, all rats were sacrificed, and the BMD of femur and lumbar vertebra, the length and diameter of femur, the width between medial and lateral malleolus were measured. Electronic universal material testing machine was used to obtain biomechanical properties of femur and lumbar vertebra, and micro CT scan was performed to observe micro structures of tibial cancellous bone. Results: Compared with the control group, rats in 10 Hz and 40 Hz groups had higher whole body BMD, BMD of femur, maximum load and yield strength of femur, as well as maximum load and elastic modulus of lumbar vertebra (all P<0.05). But no significant differences in the length and diameter of femur, and the width between medial and lateral malleolus were observed between control group and experimental groups (all P>0.05). Micro CT scan showed that the trabecular number and separation degree, bone volume percentage were significantly increased in 10 Hz and 40 Hz groups (all P<0.01). Rats in 25 Hz group also had higher BMD and better in biomechanical properties than control group, but the differences were not statistically significant (all P>0.05). Conclusion: 10 and 40 Hz of 1.8 mT sinusoidal electromagnetic field can significantly improve the bone density, microstructure and biomechanical properties in young rats.


The purpose of the current study was to investigate the suitability of an isobaric laparoscopic procedure, using a single port, for obtaining serial kidney and liver biopsy samples from standing steers. The samples were used in support of a pharmacokinetic tissue-fluid correlation study. Laparoscopic access was performed 3 times in each of 8 healthy Holstein steers, alternating from the right side to the left side and then to the right side again. The surgery was performed in standing stocks after the animals were given 3 doses of sulfadimethoxine sulfate intravenously and fasted for at least 18 h. Sedation and analgesia were achieved with acepromazine and xylazine. Lidocaine 2% was injected at the center of the paralumbar fossa (left or right), and an incision was made for introduction of a trocar-cannula assembly. Room air was allowed to enter the abdomen through the cannula at the time of insertion. Once the peritoneal cavity was reached, an operating endoscope was inserted. No pressurized insufflation was performed. A biopsy forceps was introduced into the operating channel of the endoscope to obtain a 100-mg kidney or liver sample. No complications were encountered. The 24 laparoscopic procedures provided 24 kidney and 16 liver samples. The results suggest that the isobaric (gasless) single-port laparoscopic technique is feasible for kidney and liver biopsy on standing steers. The procedure can be performed in a reliable and efficient manner in the sedated standing bovine.


Summary Marjolin's ulcer is defined as a tumor which is arising from a chronic wound, scar or chronic inflammation. It is a rare chronic cutaneous ulcer which is often malignancy. The majority of malignancy in Marjolin's ucers are squamous cell carcinomas. Rarely described malignancies in Marjolin's ulcers are basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, adenocarcinoma, liposarcoma, fibrosarcoma and osteogenic sarcoma. The author of this article present a case of a 70-year-old Caucasian man who was admitted to the hospital because of Marjolin's ulcer. The author performed a literature review on Marjolin's ulcer diagnosis and treatment.


Supercritical branching processes in constant environment conditioned on eventual extinction are known to be subcritical branching processes. The case of random environment is more subtle. A supercritical branching diffusion in random environment (BDRE) conditioned on eventual extinction of the population is not a branching diffusion in a homogeneous environment. However the law of the population size of a supercritical BDRE (averaged over the environment) conditioned on eventual extinction is equal to the law of the population size of a subcritical BDRE (averaged over the environment). As a consequence, supercritical BDREs have a phase transition which is similar to a well-known phase transition of subcritical branching processes in random environment.


Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) is a well-known methodology in the development of social surveys. In this work, CAPI is used to guide the flow of a questionnaire aiming for the acquisition of data and information fundamental to optimise a photovoltaic (PV) design. The questionnaire is implemented in an app, developed in the frame of the PV SPREAD project, which is aimed to support the supplier/designer of PV plants during all the stages of its development. To demonstrate how different choices of a client, specified during the interview with the designer, will have distinct economic results, two configurations are presented. In the first, the system is_allowed to determine and use the optimum inclination angle of the modules, while in the second a low angle is selected by the client, to comply with aesthetic restrictions. The first configuration improves naturally the internal rate of return of the investment, as this is the optimising cost function, but the system allows comparing both ones. The CAPI methodology and its use in the context of PV design show to be a relevant tool to support designers and to provide more informed investments to clients.


Background and importance The introduction of 93% oxygen (±3%) in the EU Pharmacopoeia has allowed its therapeutic use. Production costs are related to electricity and maintenance. Each oxygen cubic meter (m3) produced consumes 0.75 kWh, approximately €0.21/m3, while gaseous oxygen in cylinders for system backup costs about €0.50/m3. The production plant works at low pressures (8 vs 200 bar) and is compact. Aim and objectives The objective was to estimate 93% oxygen consumption in 2018 in a hospital equipped with this system to compare the cost versus the purchase 99% oxygen. Material and methods Data were acquired from the plant located in a small hospital (33 places): percentage purity, energy consumption, possible interruption of operation and quantity produced. Data were subsequently processed by Microsoft Excel software. Results In 2018, 12 095 m3 of 93% oxygen were produced for an electricity charge of €2539.95. During the year before the installation (2014), 18 000 m3 of oxygen 93% were consumed for a cost of around €55 000. The cost reduction was over 50%. Oxygen content always remained within the range (average 94.88%, maximum 95.89%, minimum 93.22%). The randomised controlled trial (RCT) that took place in the first year of use to demonstrate the overlapping efficacy of the two alternatives gave the following results: 93% oxygen group: 95% l/min flow, 91% sat O2, in range, 92% EGA T1 in range; Oxygen group 99%: 97% l/min flow, 90% sat O2, in range, 93% EGA T1 in range. Conclusion and relevance This analysis highlights the goodness of the investment and the reliability of the system. The annual consumption of oxygen was reduced due to less waste compared with the use of 99% oxygen cylinders. Significant savings have been made for the hospital, maintaining the quality, safety and efficacy of the drug, as demonstrated by the RCT performed. References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.


Conformal radiotherapy is a relatively new high-precision treatment planning and delivery technique that requires much quality assurance, mostly during its implementation. Our study involved the eight centers participating in the French phase II dose escalation study with conformal radiotherapy for the cancer of the prostate. The dose escalation protocol consisted of five dose levels (66, 70, 74, 78, and 80 Gy ICRU prescription dose). The quality assurance topics examined are the following: (1) the target volume and organs at risk delineation uncertainty; (2) the planning target volume definition by means of 3D expansions; (3) the verification of the delivered dose under reference conditions and the dosimetric data used for treatment planning; (4) the development and comparison of different calculation methods for normal tissue complication probability; (5) a treatment planning and dose calculation intersite comparison; (6) a comparison and evaluation of the treatment planning data (volumes, doses, and dose–volume histograms) for the patient treatments included in the clinical study; and (7) the verification of the dose delivered to the prostate, determined by measurement of the entrance and exit doses and reconstruction of the dose in the prostate. The major intersite uncertainty of our study concerned the target volume delineation (σ>10% of the mean volume). The uncertainty due to the treatment planning and dose calculation procedure has been kept to significantly lower levels, owing to the use of a common treatment planning protocol describing the treatment modalities and the dose criteria for treatment plan evaluation.


Objective – The presence of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been able to be livelihoods sources and absorb more labor, even though it has a relative smaller contribution of additional value compared to the Large-scale Enterprises. The number of economic actors of SMEs spread across area from urban to rural. However, SMEs have faced several serious problems. These problems are caused by the unique characteristics of SMEs itself. First, lack of managerial skills due to limited human resources and lack of monitoring which it is rarely conducted by the manager or the owner. Second, lack of information and technology to carry out operations. Both problems have great impacts in lack of internal controls. Third, SMEs also face problems in developing business scale, limited access to capital to the banks and financial institutions due to the lack of transparency. Therefore, this research aimed to detect to what extent of the problems arising in the application and assessment of internal controls performed by SMEs. Method – The research employs descriptive qualitative research method through direct observation, interview and business documentation owned by the company. Research materials are 29 SMEs consisting of 19 trading SMEs and 10 service SMEs. All SMEs are located in Malang city. Detection of application and assessment of internal controls in this study is based on the COSO framework and the Islamic perspective. Result – Internal control activities indicators apply the five principles of COSO framework which focused on three layers. First layer is self-assessment control area. Second layer is environment control area and the third layer is independent control area. While the Islamic perspective is focused on the internal control of business activities based on the Qur'an and Hadith. The results derive from application and assessment based on COSO framework and Islamic perspectives are complementary in improving the practice of internal control. Conclusion – Internal control problems detected in this study are generally caused by lack of managerial skills due to limited human resources, and lack of monitoring which it rarely done by manager or the owner, lack of technology and information to carry out  the operations and moreover the accounting information system has not been well established. The results are expected to assist management in designing and implementing effective internal control system and provide assurance of easy access to capital. Keywords : Internal Control Problems, COSO framework, Islamic Perspective, SMEs


Using a "mass incarceration" framework and county-level national data, this paper examines the relationship between incarceration, ex-offender reentry locations, and HIV rates in counties with different racial compositions. A series of "race-of-county" stratified regression models estimate HIV prevalence rates with incarceration and ex-offender reentry locations when taking into consideration residential segregation (that is, Black isolation and White isolation), region, high school graduation rates, sex ratios, unemployment rates, median income, healthcare professional shortages, percentage of residents without insurance, population density, and income inequality. As predicted, HIV rates are higher in counties with high incarceration rates or with ex-offender reentry facilities. A race-of-county stratified analysis, however, reveals nuanced patterns: In White counties and the highest-percentage Black counties, HIV rates increase as incarceration rates increase. In integrated counties, they do not. In the highest-percentage Black counties, the presence of reentry locations is associated with higher rates of HIV, but this is not true in White and integrated counties. In integrated counties, higher levels of Black isolation are associated with high HIV rates. In counties of all racial compositions, higher levels of White isolation are associated with lower rates of HIV. Implications of these results are discussed.

 Key words: HIV, mass incarceration, residential segregation, racial disparities in HIV.


The photocatalytic activity of Mn doped TiO2 for the ozonation of tetradifon pesticide in aqueous solution was studied. Various loadings of catalysts Mn/TiO2 (1%, 2.5% and 5%) was prepared and characterized by standard analytical techniques. Photocatalyzed ozonation with 2.5% Mn/TiO2 yielded 100% degradation and mineralization of tetradifon in 2.0 h under basic pH conditions. The extent of degradation of tetradifon pesticide and its mineralization were confirmed by GC-MS. For 10 mg/L of tetradifon, 0.1 g L of catalyst was found to be the optimum for effective mineralisation. The reused experiment confirmed that Mn/TiO2 kept a good photocatalytic activity and stability, and it was a promising heterogeneous catalyst. The catalyst is fully recoverable and reusable multiple times with no loss of activity.


Background: Herpesviruses have been proposed to be involved in Alzheimer's disease development as potentially modifiable pathology triggers. Objective: To investigate associations of serum antibodies for herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) and anti-herpesvirus treatment with cognitive outcomes in relation to interactions with APOE ɛ4. Methods: The study included 849 participants in the population-based Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors study. Cognitive performance at the ages of 75 and 80 years was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), trail-making test (TMT) A and B, and 7-minute screening test (7MS). Results: Anti– HSV-1 IgG positivity was associated cross-sectionally with worse performance on the MMSE, TMT-A, TMT-B, 7MS, enhanced free recall, and verbal fluency tests (p = 0.016, p = 0.016, p < 0.001, p = 0.001, p = 0.033, and p < 0.001, respectively), but not orientation or clock drawing. Cognitive scores did not decline over time and longitudinal changes did not differ according to HSV-1 positivity. Anti– CMV IgG positivity was not associated cross-sectionally with cognition, but TMT-B scores declined more in anti– CMV IgG carriers. Anti– HSV-1 IgG interacted with APOE ɛ4 in association with worse TMT-A and better enhanced cued recall. Anti– HSV IgM interacted with APOE ɛ4 and anti-herpesvirus treatment in association with worse TMT-A and clock drawing, respectively. Conclusion: These findings indicate that HSV-1 is linked to poorer cognition in cognitively healthy elderly adults, including impairments in executive function, memory, and expressive language. Cognitive performance did not decline over time, nor was longitudinal decline associated with HSV-1.


Squamous metaplasia in the breast is rare. This case of an intracystic papilloma of the breast with prominent squamous change was found by electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry to contain evidence of squamous differentiation within myoepithelial cells. The findings suggest that squamous metaplasia of the breast may result from myoepithelial cell differentiation in a manner analogous to the development of squamous lesions in the cervix and salivary gland. The possible relationship of this finding to the development of squamous lesions of the breast is discussed.


Rivers carry organic molecules derived from terrestrial vegetation to sedimentary deposits in lakes and oceans, storing information about past climate and erosion, as well as representing a component of the carbon cycle. It is anticipated that sourcing of organic matter may not be uniform across catchments with substantial environmental variability in topography, vegetation zones, and climate. Here we analyze plant leaf wax biomarkers in transit in the Madre de Dios River (Peru), which drains a forested catchment across 4.5 km of elevation from the tropical montane forests of the Andes down into the rainforests of Amazonia. We find that the hydrogen isotopic composition of leaf wax molecules (specifically the C28 n‐alkanoic acid) carried by this tropical mountain river largely records the elevation gradient defined by the isotopic composition of precipitation, and this supports the general interpretation of these biomarkers as proxy recorders of catchment conditions. However, we also find that leaf wax isotopic composition varies with river flow regime over storm and seasonal timescales, which could in some cases be quantitatively significant relative to changes in the isotopic composition of precipitation in the past. Our results inform on the sourcing and transport of material by a major tributary of the Amazon River and contribute to the spatial interpretation of sedimentary records of past climate using the leaf wax proxy.


The performance of the isotropic spherical atom model can be significantly enhanced through combination with anisotropic three-body dispersion interactions to give the new PFD-3B density functional, which reduces the mean absolute deviation (MAD) relative to CCSD(T)/CBS benchmark energies from 0.78 to 0.19 kcal/mol for the S22 test set. Comparison with the extended S22 × 5 test set in the figure indicates that this accuracy is maintained through large variations in geometry. The performance of the PFD-3B functional over the S22 × 5 test set is superior to any of the functionals previously applied to this set. Over the S22 set of examples, the MADs from the CCSD(T)/CBS values for Re, De, and ωe, are 0.032 Å, 0.21 kcal/mol, and 6 cm-1, respectively. Over a comparable set of 26 examples containing second and third row atoms, the MADs from the CCSD(T)/CBS values for Re, De, and ωe, are 0.033 Å, 0.19 kcal/mol, and 5 cm-1, respectively. If used to optimize the geometry of the 48 examples, on average the PFD-3B functional introduces an error of only 0.042 kcal/mol in CCSD(T) single-point energies. This small error combines with the reported analytical first and second derivatives to makes the PFD-3B functional an attractive model for geometry optimization and zero-point energy calculations.


Abstract : Most older Americans now face chronic illness and disability in the final years of life. These final years can prove painful and difficult for sick and disabled elderly people, who may have difficulty finding care to meet their needs. This period is often stressful and expensive for families. As currently configured, health care and community services simply are not organized to meet the needs of the large and growing number of people facing a long period of progressive illness and disability before death. This white paper synthesizes a growing body of research on the issue of chronic illness in the last phase of life. It describes the demographic and cost components of the problem, examines gaps in the current health care system, explores some reform measures that are addressing urgent needs, and outlines a vision for adapting the health care system to confront the new reality. This work has relied heavily upon grant support from The Archstone Foundation, the Milbank Memorial Fund, and The Washington Home and Community Hospices.


SUMMARY Off-line programming of robots has a number of clear advantages over traditional 'teach1' methods which require the robot to be taken out of production. However, off-line programming techniques require extensive geometric facilities which are ideally provided by a geometric modelling system. The use of modelling covers the planning of the robot workcell, as well as the detailed planning of the robot operations. Assembly, in particular, requires detailed geometric information concerning geometric features and solid properties.


Article history: Received 10 August 2012 Received in revised form 12 October 2012 Accepted 19 October 2012 Available online 24 October 2012 Editor: L. Rolandi The pT-differential inclusive production cross section of the prompt charm-strange meson D+s in the rapidity range |y| < 0.5 was measured in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The analysis was performed on a data sample of 2.98 × 108 events collected with a minimum-bias trigger. The corresponding integrated luminosity is Lint = 4.8 nb−1. Reconstructing the decay D+s → φπ+, with φ → K−K+, and its charge conjugate, about 480 D±s mesons were counted, after selection cuts, in the transverse momentum range 2 < pT < 12 GeV/c. The results are compared with predictions from models based on perturbative QCD. The ratios of the cross sections of four D meson species (namely D0, D+, D∗+ and D+s ) were determined both as a function of pT and integrated over pT after extrapolating to full pT range, together with the strangeness suppression factor in charm fragmentation. The obtained values are found to be compatible within uncertainties with those measured by other experiments in e+e−, ep and pp interactions at various centre-of-mass energies. © 2012 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


In recent years, the power demand has been increasing steadily and the occurrence of maximum power demand has been moving from the summer season to the winter season in Korea. And since the control of electric power supply and demand is more important under those situations, a micro-grid system began to emerge as a keyword for the sTable operation of electric power system. A micro-gird power system is composed of various kinds of distributed generators(DG) such as small diesel generator, wind turbine, photo-voltaic generator and energy storage system(ESS). This paper introduces a method to determine the optimal capacities of the distributed generators which are installed in a stand-alone type of microgrid power system based on the fundamental proportion of diesel generator. At first, the fundamental proportion of diesel generator will be determined by changing from 0 to 50 percent. And then we will optimize the capacities of renewable energy resources and ESS according to load patterns. Lastly, after recalculating the capacity of ESS with consideration for SOC constraints, the optimal capacities of distributed generators will be decided.


A yurveda is the traditional system of medicine widely practiced in India and was popular before the advent of modern medicine. Modern medical science considered that microbes are believed to be primary causative agents of various diseases. Medicinal plants have been an important source of drug for treatment of diseases. The species of Morinda tomentosa was collected from Akola district of Vidarbha region. Plant extract like leaves and fruit extract was studied for its antimicrobial activity against human pathogens. In present investigation six clinical isolates bacteria were studied for their susceptibility to leaf and fruit extract. Among six pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and K. pnemoniae were highly sensitive to M. tomentosa leaf and fruit extract.


In resistive ribbon thermal transfer printing, a printhead consisting of an array of electrodes passes current into a thin ribbon to generate heat for transferring ink to paper. The ribbon is made of a polymeric material containing carbon black so as to be conducting, and has aluminum deposited on one side of the ribbon for a base contact. In this paper, the electrical conduction processes within the ribbon are discussed. Current-voltage measurements have been made with electrodes of various types in order to separate effects due to contact resistance, aluminum/resistive ribbon interfacial resistance, and bulk conduction in the resistive ribbon. Measurements have been made over a range of frequency and temperature to determine the basic conduction mechanisms. A model of conduction is presented that is in qualitative agreement with the data.


Graphene has been regarded as a good candidate to
make a breakthrough in various applications including electronics,
sensors and spintronics due to its exceptional physical properties.
To realize those practical applications, a high quality homogeneous
wafer-scale graphene is required. Among various synthesis methods,
chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has been a focus of attention as
the most promising and cost-efficient deposition techniques, with
advantages of its excellent repeatability and controllability, to
produce large area graphene crystals on transition metal catalyst
substrates. In particular, Cu with low carbon solid solubility is
suitable to obtain uniform single layer deposition of graphene over
large areas. Here, we report reliable method to grow high-quality
continuous graphene film by CVD. Their surface properties and
electrical transport characteristics are explored by several
characterization techniques. In CVD process, furthermore, a
subsequent transfer process to a substrate of interest is required
for a wide variety of applications, especially in electronics and
photonics, because the metal substrates necessary to catalyze the
CVD graphene growth cannot be used. It is important not only to
improve quality of as-grown graphene by optimizing growth system
but also to develop transfer methods to prevent degradation in
quality while transferring as-grown graphene to target substrates.
In the case of wet transfer, surface tension of the liquid such as
an etching agent or water contributes to make inevitable ripples,
wrinkles and cracks. In this regard, we demonstrate new transfer
methods by selecting a new polymeric support materials in order to
reduce the number of winkles, defects and residues.


Background and Objectives Anesthetic techniques that reduce the time required for postoperative care can significantly reduce the cost of procedures. This study was designed to discover whether the use of subarachnoid sufentanil for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) would enable patients to be discharged more rapidly following surgery as compared with subarachnoid lidocaine, while providing equivalent efficacy. Methods Thirty-nine patients undergoing 40 ESWLs were randomized to receive either 12.5 μg of sufentanil or 75 mg of lidocaine by the subarachnoid route. The need for additional analgesia, incidence of adverse effects, and time to discharge were recorded and compared. Results Patients receiving sufentanil were discharged 52 minutes sooner than patients receiving lidocaine (166 ± 77 vs 218 ± 46 minutes, respectively, P < .05). Analyzed separately, women receiving sufentanil were discharged earlier than those receiving lidocaine (120 ± 55 vs 208 ± 42 minutes, P < .01). There was no significant difference in discharge times between men in each group. Patients in the sufentanil group had more pruritus and less change in blood pressure than patients in the lidocaine group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of other adverse effects or in the use of additional analgesia or sedation. Conclusions Subarachnoid sufentanil provides acceptable analgesia for ESWL and offers the advantages of more rapid discharge for female patients and better hemodynamic stability as compared with lidocaine spinal anesthesia.


Experimental results from the CDF and D0 Collaborations at the Tevatron and the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations at the LHC on the processes related to probing top quark couplings are presented. Evidence of both $t\bar{t}Z$ and $t\bar{t}W$ processes is reported. All measurements are in agreement with the SM expectations.


Background. Introduction of nucleic acid testing (NAT) has helped in decreasing window period donations, resulting in increased safety of blood supplies. NAT combines the advantages of direct and highly sequence-specific detection of viral genomes. We analysed the performance of newer Procleix Ultrio Elite (PUE) and Procleix Ultrio assay (PUA) for the screening of the viral markers in our donor population. Material and Methods. 10,015 donor samples were screened by routine immunoassays and both versions of NAT. NAT yields detected were subjected to viral load estimation and to other serological markers. Results. A total of 21 NAT yields were detected; three were positive by both NAT systems, whereas 18 samples were reactive by PUE only. NAT yields include 18 HBV and 3 HCV yields, of which 17 HBV yields were occult infections and 1 was window period (WP) infection. All 3 HCV yields were WP infections. No HIV-1/HIV-2 yield was found. Conclusion. Efficient target capture chemistry in the new TMA assay version significantly improved sensitivity. NAT is superior to serological immunoassays for screening of the viral markers; and the efficient target capture system in the newer TMA assay, namely, the PUE system, has significantly improved sensitivity over the earlier versions.


LiInSe2 is one of the few (in the meanwhile 6) non-oxide nonlinear crystals whose band-gap (2.86 eV) and transparency enabled in the past nanosecond optical parametric oscillation in the mid-IR without two-photon absorption for a pump wavelength of 1064 nm. However, the first such demonstration was limited to the 3.34-3.82 μm spectral range with a maximum idler energy of 92 μJ at 3.457 μm for a repetition rate of 10 Hz. Now we achieved broadly tunable operation, from 4.65 to 7.5 μm, with a single crystal, reaching maximum idler pulse energy of 282 μJ at 6.514 μm, at a repetition rate of 100 Hz (~28 mW of average power).


A short presentation of the basic findings of an explorative research, in which the possibility of encouraging the development of critical thinking with the NTC learning system was explored, i.e. only the results of its influence on the development of one aspect - divergent productionare presented. This paper is a modest addition to the research of an important question - the psychology of thinking in the teaching process, while the findings indicate the didactic reach of the NTC system. The research was conducted on a purposive sample (N= 23). The theoretical basis is Osborn's system of creative development, which is founded on the following psychological mechanisms: research and test other possibilities of applying the idea; adapt, modify, increase, decrease, condense, substitute, change the element order, reorder everything, combine two or more ideas (Kvascev, 1981), and Torance's (Torancce, according to Kvascev, R, op.cit.)system of creative development which is theoretically based on: revealing the multiple meanings of the given facts and increase of the given information value; developing the strategies of creative learning through discovery; developing the motivational components of creativity; the synthesis of empirical research and theoretical generalization; the associative basis for discovery; finding the new on the basis of incomplete facts and insufficiently structured material; the individualization of creative learning according to the cognitive development of the examinee (Kvascev, op.cit). Research method is experiment with one group, while the initial and final questioning was conducted with divergent production tasks (Stojakovic, 2009). The basic findings refer to the following: the statistical relevancy of the development after the application of the NTC system which indicates the relevant positive influence of the NTC learning system on the development of thinking. This therefore confirms the starting belief - assumption about the possibility of transfer, in other words the possibility that tasks saturated with creative thinking, creative imagination, inventiveness and divergent production used in the NTC learning system influence the release from conformist thinking and give more successful effects in divergent production. The didactic implications of this refer to: the effects of the NTC program, the participants in this explorative research confirm the practical aspect of theoretical ideas which reached us as a consequence of the cognitive revolution and creativity research (Ozborn, Torans, Kvascev...).These ideas were expressed practically in the content of programs, with which we can successfully develop the influence of early presentation on the development of divergent thinking, universal material representations...


Acetazolamide could theoretically impair oxygen delivery to cerebral tissue by inhibiting local acidification of capillary blood. There is considerable evidence, however, that acetazolamide improves cerebral oxygen tension. This experiment was designed to demonstrate increased deep cerebral oxygen tension after acetazolamide. Three groups of dogs were anesthetized with pentobarbital and ventilated with a respirator. A Teflon-coated stainless steel catheter was placed through a craniotomy into the parietal lobe and advanced into the corona radiata to monitor cerebral pO2 and pCO2 with a mass spectrometer. Group one dogs were normoxic and eucapneic. Group two dogs were hypoxemic, and Group three dogs were hypocapneic. After control cerebral and arterial gas tensions had been recorded, acetazolamide (30 mg kg-1) was injected intravenously. Cerebral gas tensions were monitored continuously and arterial gases were analyzed at 30, 60, 90 and 120 min. Cerebral oxygen tension was not decreased by acetazolamide in any of the dogs. Cerebral carbon dioxide tension was increased by acetazolamide in all dogs. We conclude that acetazolamide does not deplete cerebral oxygen tension even in the face of hypoxemia or acute hypocapnea.


11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11betaHSD1) is an enzyme that converts cortisone to the active glucocorticoid, cortisol. Cortisol-cortisone interconversion plays a key role in the regulation of glucose metabolism, since mice deficient in 11betaHSD1 are resistant to diet-induced hyperglycemia. Peroxisome proliferator activator receptors (PPAR) are key regulators of glucose and lipid homeostasis. We observed a striking downregulation of murine hepatic 11betaHSD1 expression and activity after chronic treatment of wild-type mice with PPARalpha agonists, while 11betaHSD1 in the livers of PPARalpha knockout mice, or in mice treated for only 7 h with PPARalpha agonists, was unaltered. Our results are the first to show PPARalpha agonists can affect glucocorticoid metabolism in the liver by altering 11betaHSD1 expression after chronic treatment. Regulation of active glucocorticoid levels in the liver by PPARalpha agonists may in turn affect glucose metabolism, consistent with reports of their antidiabetic effects.


Background: We report public knowledge, perceptions and practices on selected infectious diseases in Tanzania using a study done in Babati district, and identify policy related messages in light of health promotion strategies instituted for communicable disease control. Methods: Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with individual household members and focus group discussions with other residents in several villages; in-depth interviews with health workers, local government leaders, and district health managers. Results: Many villagers associated malaria transmission with people's exposure to intense sunrays; TB and brucellosis with people drinking raw-milk, animal blood and meat; sharing a bed or utensils with TB/brucellosis patients; TB with smoking or inhaling cigarette smoke; leprosy with witchcraft; and lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis with people contacting dirty-water or through sexual intercourse. Occasional shortage of drugs and laboratory services, lack of reliable transport facilities, low public use of latrines, unaffordable bednet prices, and common sale of counterfeit drugs by unregulated retailers were perceived to perpetuate the existence and widespread communicable diseases. Use of traditional medicines to treat these diseases was reported to be a common practice. Conclusion: Culturally rooted knowledge and beliefs about diseases influence people's health care seeking practices and may perpetuate prevalence and transmission of diseases. There should be educational policy program considerations among the strategies aimed at effective disease control.


We have performed a quantum-mechanical study of a series of neutral polyenes, their multiply charged ions, and related ionic polymethines with a closed electron shell, using different methods/basis with/without electron correlations. The study shows that a multiple injection of charge carriers into a collective system of π-electrons causes a formation of distinctive electron levels in the energy gap along with a simultaneous regular gap shift in accordance to the number of injected carriers. Each charge generates its own solitonic electron density alternation wave on adjacent carbon atoms, as well as similar bond length and valence angle alternation waves. Established regularities in charge distribution and variations of bond lengths and valence angles may be used in the molecular design of organic semiconducting materials. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The Williston basin is a structurally simple intracratonic sedimentary basin that straddles the United States-Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains and that contains an almost continuous stratigraphic record since the Middle Cambrian. Based on the wealth of data generated by the oil industry, the regional-scale characteristics of the flow of formation waters were analyzed for the Canadian side of the basin, and integrated with previous studies performed on the American side. Several aquifers and aquifer systems identified in the basin were separated by intervening aquitards and aquicludes. The Basal, Devonian, and Mannville (Dakota) aquifers are open systems, being exposed at the land surface in both recharge and discharge areas. Recharge takes place in the west-southwest at relatively high altitude in the Bighorn and Big Snowy mountains and at the Black Hills and Central Montana uplifts, whereas discharge takes place in the east and northeast at outcrop along the Canadian Precambrian shield in Manitoba and the Dakotas. The Mississippian and Pennsylvanian aquifer systems are semi-open, cropping out only in the west-southwest where they recharge, but discharging in the northeast into adjacent aquifers through confining aquitards. The Lower Cretaceous Vikin aquifer is a partially closed system, being confined by Cretaceous aquitards except for a small recharge area exposed at the Black Hills uplift and narrow discharge area in the Dakotas. The Upper aquifer is unconfined, with groundwater flow being driven by local topography, whereas the flow in all the other aquifers is regional in nature, being driven by basin-scale topography and characterized by normal hydraulic heads. The intervening aquitards seem to be strong, allowing little cross-formational flow. On regional and geological scales, the entire system seems to be at steady-state, although locally transient flow is present in places due to water use and hydrocarbon exploitation, and to some erosional rebound in the uppermost confining shales. Fresh meteoric water is present in the western and shallower parts of the basin, and brines are found in the Paleozoic aquifers in the central and eastern parts of the basin. This shows that the basin has not been completely flushed by meteoric water. Some cross-basinal inflow from the Alberta basin is apparent along the northwestern margin of the Williston basin, particularly for the Devonian and Viking aquifers. Hydrocarbons generated in the deeper, thermally mature part of the Williston basin have generally migrated within the same units updip north and northeastward, their buoyancy-driven secondary migration being enhanced by the northeastward flow of formation waters. On the western flank of the basin, the interplay between the northeastward structural downdip direction and the n rtheastward flow of formation waters creates conditions favorable for hydrodynamic oil entrapment.


Farmers report more low back pain (LBP) than rural referents. We have previously demonstrated that the difference in reporting rate cannot be fully explained by known risk factors such as physical work exposures, psychosocial factors and lifestyle. Other etiological factors must be involved. In this cross-sectional population-based study, we investigate LBP comorbidity in terms of coexistent symptoms. A total of 1,013 male farmers, 40-60 years old, and 769 matched rural referents participated in an extensive health survey. Information on causes of primary health care and hospital admissions, symptoms, lifestyle factors, physical work exposures and psychosocial factors were gathered through standardized interviews and questionnaires. In the combined farmer-referent group, the prevalence of LBP was associated with musculoskeletal symptoms other than LBP, chest discomfort, dyspepsia, symptoms from eyes, nose and throat mucous membranes, skin problems, work-related fever attacks, and primary care appointments due to digestive disorders. The associations were independent of age, educational level, smoking habits, body mass index, physical work exposures and psychosocial factors. Presence of both respiratory and digestive disorders doubled the LBP prevalence. Significant associations between LBP and digestive and respiratory disorders were revealed, indicating that LBP and these disease entities may have etiological factors in common.


A field experiment was conducted during 2014–2015 to investigate the efficacy of herbicides [Merlin flexx (isoxaflutole), pre- and post-emergence; Equip (foramsulfuron), post-emergence; and Maister (foramsulfuron + iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium), post-emergence] in maize (cv NSC 444) crops grown in the Prishtina region of Kosovo. The field experiment was set in a randomised block design with four replications and elementary plots of 10 m2. A total of 14 weed species were documented in the maize crop in 2014, which increased to 27 in 2015, with the dominant species being Amaranthus retroflexus (87.0 plants*m-2 in 2014 versus 43.3 plants*m-2 in 2015). The most efficient herbicides in both years were pre-emergence (98.1% vs 92.5%; 2014 vs 2015) and isoxaflutole post-emergence (98.8% vs 89.9%; 2014 vs 2015). All plots treated with herbicides significantly influenced the increase of maize yield in comparison with the control plots. In conclusion, the use of isoxaflutole either pre-emergence or post-emergence is recommended in the study region for successful weed control and high maize grain yields.


Gutters Javanese village is the village where people do not get the energy supply of electricity. People in this area make microhydro power plant, manufacture of power generation because microhydro is supported in this area are river flows from the mountains. In the study microhydro voltage control device is installed on the system controller uses ATmega8535 as the primary device. Installation of the controller circuit is due at microhydro is the case over voltage. Over voltage due to rotor rotation is over, resulting in over voltage at zero load To overcome these problems then be made to serve the load when the load shifted to zero at the expense of consumers. Complement the load is controlled by a microcontroller ATmega8535. Complement the work load placed on the system to reduce the previous voltages 310 volts to 230 volts by regulating the activation of complement load Key words: microhydro, complement Load, Load consumers.


In this article the author attempts to give an idea of the today's progress in formation of agricultural cooperatives in the five countries of Central Asia. The study has shown that agriculture of the countries under consideration is dominated by small agricultural producers. However, the lack of market infrastructure does not allow them to become active players in the market. The results of the systemic analysis revealed that the development process of agricultural cooperatives is quite chaotic in nature, the level of cooperation is rather low, and the impact of agricultural cooperatives on national agribusiness is so far barely noticeable. Taking into account the feasibility and potential for the development of cooperatives in the countries of Central Asia, the author considers the main directions of encouragement of agricultural associations.


Risk analysis of water resources systems can use statistical weather generators coupled with hydrologic models to examine scenarios of extreme events caused by climate change. These require multivariate, multi-site models that mimic the spatial, temporal, and cross correlations of observed data. This study developed a statistical weather generator to facilitate bottom-up approaches to assess the impact of climate change on water resources systems for cases of limited data. While existing weather generator models have impressive features, this study suggested a simple weather generator which is straightforward to implement and can employ any distribution function for variables such as precipitation or temperature. It is based on (1) a first-order, two-state Markov chain to simulate precipitation occurrences; (2) the use of Wilks' technique to produce correlated weather variables at multiple sites with the conservation of spatial, temporal, and cross correlations; (3) the capability to vary the statistical parameters of the weather variables. The model was applied to studies of the Diyala River basin in Iraq, which is a case with limited observed records. Results show that it exhibits high values (e.g., over 0.95) for the Nash–Sutcliffe and Kling–Gupta metric tests, preserves the statistical properties of the observed variables, and conserves the spatial, temporal, and cross correlations among the weather variables in the meteorological stations.


Previous studies with timothy pollen extracts demonstrated that a low molecular weight dialyzable fraction, antigen D, possessed the allergenic determinant of the major allergen of timothy pollen (allergen B). Bio-gel P-2 gel-filtration of the dialysate fraction resulted in the isolation of a fragment, antigen D3 with a molecular weight near 1000. The relationship of antigen D3 to the antigenic and allergenic determinants of allergen B was evaluated by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) in guinea pigs sensitized with rabbit antitimothy sera and by allergen-induced histamine release from monkey lung tissue passively sensitized with the serum of timothy-sensitive patients. These studies demonstrated that 10 units of antigen D3 gave 1) a 70% inhibition of PCA reactions in guinea pigs challenged with allergen B, and 2) a 73% inhibition of allergen-induced histamine release from monkey lung tissue sensitized with timothy reagin and challenged with the crude pollen extract (WST). Although chemical characterization studies of the antigen D3 fragment are still being carried out it appears that the major components fo this fragment are 1) a flavonoid pigment - quercitin, 2) a disaccharide moiety - cellobiose, and 3) the amino acid threonine linked together in an )O-glycosidic type linkage.


In this paper we demonstrate that the weak temperature dependence of structure factor of supercooled liquids, a defining feature of the glass transition, is a consequence of the averaging of the scattering intensity either due to the use of an incoherent radiation source or explicit angular averaging. We show that the speckle scattering at individual wavevectors, calculated from a simulated glass former, exhibits a sufficiently large temperature dependence to represent a structural order parameter capable of distinguishing liquid from glass. We also extract from the speckle intensities a quantity proportional to the variance of the local restraint, i.e. a direct experimental measure of the amplitude of structural heterogeneity.


1Service of Pharmacy, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland; 2Center for Research and Innovation in Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 3School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; 4Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; 5Clinic of Neonatology, Department Woman Mother Child, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland; 6Service of Pharmacy, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland Background: There are variable practices in the management of the parenteral nutrition (PN) process in hospitals having a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In our hospital, PN is prepared partially on the neonatal ward by nurses but also at the central pharmacy by trained pharmacy technicians. A previous study showed a concentration non-conformity of 34% of on-ward PN preparations potentially resulting in underor overfeeding of the patients. Objective: The objectives were to perform preliminary risk analyses (PRA) in preparation for our hospital's transition to universal central pharmacy PN compounding. Methods: A working group including pharmacists, neonatologists, nurses, and pharmacy technicians performed two PRA. The risks of 9 management steps of the PN process were identified, evaluated, and quoted. A comparison of the number of risks and their criticality index (CI) was conducted. Results: A total of 36 and 39 risks were identified for PN preparation in the NICU and the pharmacy, respectively. For the NICU, ten risks (28%) had an "acceptable" CI, 15 risks (42%) were "under control" and eleven (31%) were defined as "non-acceptable". For the pharmacy, 14 risks (36%) had an "acceptable" CI, 19 risks (49%) were "under control" and six (15%) were defined as "non-acceptable". Risks directly related to the preparation process, including the steps preparation hood, PN preparation and analytical quality control, represented a cumulated CI of 145 for eleven NICU-risks vs 108 for twelve pharmacy risks (−26%). The implementation of immediate improvement measures, eg, an electronic prescription form, reduces the total CI by 5.7% and 2.2% for the NICU and the pharmacy, respectively. Conclusion: This PRA highlighted the safety differences between PN preparation in the NICU vs the pharmacy at our institution, and facilitated our moving forward with a process change that should improve the care of our neonatal patients. Nevertheless, long-term improvement measures have to be implemented to further reduce risks related to the PN management process.


The mechanism by which the immune system produces effector and memory T cells is largely unclear. To allow a large-scale assessment of the development of single naive T cells into different subsets, we have developed a technology that introduces unique genetic tags (barcodes) into naive T cells. By comparing the barcodes present in antigen-specific effector and memory T cell populations in systemic and local infection models, at different anatomical sites, and for TCR–pMHC interactions of different avidities, we demonstrate that under all conditions tested, individual naive T cells yield both effector and memory CD8+ T cell progeny. This indicates that effector and memory fate decisions are not determined by the nature of the priming antigen-presenting cell or the time of T cell priming. Instead, for both low and high avidity T cells, individual naive T cells have multiple fates and can differentiate into effector and memory T cell subsets.


This study is the investigation of the microstructure of different types of carbon fiber. They were compared with the carbonized and graphitized fibers. Results of structural researches have been presented. It was found that the damage varies from different pollution and the damage of the monofibers. The effect of the pollution of the monofiber was determined.


In this paper we consider resolution estimates for a linearized inverse conductivity problem with limited-view data. Our purpose is to precisely describe the effect of the limited-view aspect on the resolving power of the measurements in the presence of measurement noise. We first show that, in the shallow probing regime, where the inclusion is close to the boundary of the background medium, we can resolve for any signal-to-noise ratio a sufficiently shallow perimeter perturbation of a conductivity inclusion on the overlap of the source and receiver apertures. Then we provide explicit formulas for the modes that can be resolved and the resolution measure for a given signal-tonoise ratio in the deep probing regime, where the radius of the inclusion is small.


Abstract: Fish growth descriptions constitute the parameters which are influenced by internal and external condition. The external factors include water quality, feed quality and feed quantity. Feed quality including the simpicia papaya particle size which contains protease enzyme and saponin as additional ingredients for grouper feed. Currently, grouper's growth is relatively low, when in fact the protein content of its feed is high. This research aims at obtaining data on charachter particle of papaya simplicia powder and the grouper's absolute weight and grouper's protein efficiency ratio which is fed with simplicia papaya powder. The research is conducted using Completely Randomized Design with 5 treatments and 3 repetitions (A: 60 μm simplicia papaya 3.5% application, B: 100 nm simplicia papaya 3.5% application, C: 60 μm simplicia papaya 2% application, D: 100 nm simplicia papaya 2% application, and E: 0% without simplicia papaya). Simplicia papaya powder was made from dried papaya, then mashed using disc mill and filtered with sieves measuring 60 μm and 100nm and the grouper cultivation is done in a Floating Net Cage in Pangandaran Regency. The addition of papaya simplicia at A and B to the grouper's feed has some highest average daily gain by 3.70 % and 3.73 %. The characteristics of simplisia papaya powder size 60 μm and 100 nm do not have a different effect on the growth performance of grouper seeds.


Somalia is on the path to political and security stabilization after more than two decades of civil war and conflict. Opportunities to ensure a development trajectory face many challenges since the country remains a fragile state subject to multiple shocks. Widespread poverty and food insecurity is a recurring developmental issue. Displacement is a key feature of modern Somali history linked to multiple drivers, including recurrent exposure to internal conflict and environmental hazards. Somalia is urbanizing rapidly due to large-scale forced displacement and economic migration that have driven large numbers of Somalis toward the urban areas. Remittances are central to the Somali economy and provide a lifeline to some segments of the population but not the most vulnerable. The World Bank implemented the second wave of the Somali high frequency survey (SHFS) in 2017-2018. This report is based on the most recent and first extensive household survey, wave 2 of the SHFS. The report is organized into six chapters. The first chapter presents an updated profile of monetary and nonmonetary dimensions of poverty for the Somali population, including the nomadic population. The second chapter explores in more detail spatial variation, with a focus on urbanization. The third chapter examines the impact of the 2016-2017 drought on livelihoods to identify the populations at risk and the factors that protected households against its negative effects. The fourth chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the internally displaced populations to identify displacement-related needs and to inform durable solutions. As a reaction to the analysis of poverty and vulnerabilities, the fifth chapter focuses on social protection as a means of promoting equity and building resilience against the effect of shocks on livelihoods. Similarly, the sixth chapter examines remittances and their role for livelihoods and resilience.


This paper contributes a theoretical investigation of real estate supply adjustments in the commercial real estate market. Simple theoretical linkages between the goods market (the demand side) and the space market (the supply side) are developed and then used to explain the optimal supply decisions of space producers. Propositions relating to how space production decisions are made under conditions of demand certainty, demand uncertainty and free entry are derived from optimization models. Under demand certainty, the adjustment of space supply is shown to be affected by whether an exogenous shock is perceived as mild or disastrous. Under demand uncertainty, construction based on pent-up demand is shown to be suboptimal.


and services, environmental improvement, in-situ slum upgrading, and a promise of cities without slums with property rights for the slum dwellers have been tried out with mixed results. Involuntary evictions of unauthorised settlements continue to vacate the lands required for public projects or private real-estate development. However, judicial activism, civil society pressures, pressures of grassroots movements, political considerations and compulsions, a relatively progressive legal framework that accounts for human rights, and so on are reducing the incidence of evictions, and relocation with workable and acceptable site options are slowly gaining ground.


Abstract Phylogenetic relationships between and within Phacelia sections Whitlavia and Gymnobythus are inferred based on nuclear ribosomal DNA [5.8S, and flanking internal transcribed spacers (ITS) 1 and 2] and chloroplast DNA (rpl16 intron) sequences. These two sections share morphological characters and have been thought to be closely related. The purpose of this study is to test whether each of the two sections is monophyletic as well as whether they form sister clades. Our results indicate that section Gymnobythus is monophyletic, and members of section Whitlavia form two clades that correspond to subsections previously suggested by Gillett. In the ITS dataset, the two Whitlavia groups are not sister clades, but there is little support for their placement. The rpl16 and rpl16 + ITS combined datasets provide resolution and strong support for monophyly of both sections. Both datasets indicate hybridization or a recent divergence between Phacelia parryi and Phacelia minor, as well as a close alliance between Phacelia longipes and Phacelia campanularia.


Intratumoural heterogeneity strongly influences the development and progression of cancer as well as responsiveness and resistance to therapy. To improve our ability to measure and analyze such heterogeneity we have developed an open source method for fluorescence imaging of up to 60 protein antigens at subcellular resolution using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples mounted on glass slides, the most widely used specimens for the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. As described here, tissue-based cyclic immunofluorescence (t-CyCIF) creates high-dimensional imaging data through successive acquisition of four-color images and requires no specialized instruments or reagents. We apply t-CyCIF to 14 cancer and healthy tissue types and quantify the extent of cell to cell variability in signal transduction cascades, tumor antigens and stromal markers. By imaging immune cell lineage markers we enumerate classes of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and their spatial relationships to the tumor microenvironment (TME). The simplicity and adaptability of t-CyCIF makes it a powerful method for pre-clinical and clinical research and a natural complement to single-cell genomics.