Xylitol was produced by Candida guilliermondii from charcoal-treated and untreated rice straw hemicellulosic hydrolysate with or without nutrients (ammonium sulphate, calcium chloride, rice bran extract). Both, xylitol yield and volumetric productivity decreased significantly when the nutrients were added to treated and untreated hydrolysates. In the treated hydrolysate, the efficiency of xylose conversion to xylitol was 79% when the nutrients were omitted. The results demonstrated that rice straw hemicellulosic hydrolysate treated with activated charcoal was a cheap source of xylose and other nutrients for xylitol production by C. guilliermondii. The non-necessity of adding nutrients to the hydrolysate media would be very advantageous since the process becomes less costly.


In a geriatric hospital in Milan, with over 1000 beds and 750 healthcare workers (with different skills and training), by means of an accident register, during 1997 an 11% incidence of acute low back pain was recorded, with a mean of 19 days absence from work. For this reason, special attention was given to the assessment of manual patient handling risk and to the consequent effects on the lumbar spine using, for the purpose, the method proposed by the EPM Research Unit. Of the 10 wards analysed none showed a negligible exposure index (MAPO Index < 1.5), only one was in the medium exposure class (MAPO Index = 3.05) and the other 9 wards had high exposure (MAPO Index 5.63-24). A group of 59 men (mean age 35.6 years and mean job seniority 9 years) and 179 women (mean age 36.7 years and mean job seniority 10 years) were examined. The most significant result of the physical examination was the high prevalence of subjects who reported at least one episode of acute low back pain in the previous 12 months (16). This was double the prevalence for the country as a whole (8.3%) and 7 times greater compared to the group not exposed to manual load handling risk (2.3%). The prevalence of degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine in the group under study (4.2%) was also analysed, and is of particular interest if associated with the difficulties in completing the diagnostic process. Lastly, 6.3% of the subjects examined were judged unfit (temporarily of permanently) for work involving manual handling of patients.


The coexistence of various protocols for current network equipment leads to extremely complex network systems, which not only limit the development of network technologies, but also cannot meet the growing demands for cloud computing, big data, and service visualization applications, just to name a few. As a new network architecture, parallel networks are expected to revolutionize this situation and meet the evolving demands for network services. The main idea of a parallel network is to leverage upon software-defined networking to construct artificial networks, and then effectively optimize the network system operations via the interactions between actual and artificial networks. The foundation of the parallel network is the theory of ACP, composed of artificial societies, computational experiments, and parallel execution. By the computational experiments and analysis of the artificial network, a control strategy based on network traffic flow can be continuously updated and tracked on a real-time basis; meanwhile, the collected operating status of the actual network can also be used to optimize the model of the artificial network. These strategies can be applied to all types of network equipment to control network operations at various levels; thus, it is possible to allocate the network resources more effectively, improve the management and utilization of resources, and then provide new network solutions to effectively address the constantly evolving network demands for network performance, scalability, and security.


It is clear that service-oriented architecture (SOA) is having a substantial impact on the way software systems are developed. According to a 2007 Gartner Group report, 50% of new mission-critical operational applications and business processes were designed in 2007 around SOA, and that number will be more than 80% by 2010. This means that as service-oriented systems are deployed and legacy systems are migrated to this environment, a main concern is now their maintenance and evolution. This paper provides an overview of SOA concepts, best practices for implementation of service-oriented systems, the implications that SOA environments have on software maintenance and evolution activities, and finally some research challenges for the software maintenance and evolution research community.


We determined the role of anxiety level on radial artery spasm during transradial coronary angiography. Eighty-one patients who had an indication for coronary angiography were enrolled. Radial artery vasospasm was determined by addressing 5 signs: persistent forearm pain, pain response to catheter manipulation, pain response to sheath withdrawal, difficult catheter manipulation after being "trapped" by the radial artery, and considerable resistance on withdrawal of sheath. Radial spasm defined as at least 2 of the 5 signs. The Hamilton Anxiety scale questionnaire was used to determine the level of anxiety. Vasospasm was observed in 19.1% of the patients. Anxiety score was significantly higher in women (11.1 ± 7.2 vs 17.6 ± 7.3; P < .001). Vasospasm was significantly correlated with female sex (P < .001, r = .43) and anxiety score (P = .007, r = .29). Female sex was associated with higher anxiety scores (P < .001, r = .43). In conclusion, higher anxiety scores and female sex are important risk factors for radial artery vasospasm.


The radical growth of the internet is a factor affecting different sectors of the business environment, including changes in the marketing sector. The importance of social media communications in the marketing environment cannot go unnoticed. An important element of social media communication greatly influencing marketing is electronic word of mouth (eWOM) - involving consumer to consumer communication about products and brands- which influences consumer purchase decisions. Nevertheless, research on the importance of eWOM in the marketing of oil and gas is limited. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of social media in business to business (B2B) marketing through an investigation of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in the oil and gas sector in Qatar. Possible solutions to the negative effects of eWOM will also be determined.
Keywords: social media, eWOM, oil and gas, B2B


Published software quality models either provide abstract quality attributes or concrete quality assessments. There are no models that seamlessly integrate both aspects. In the project Quamoco, we built a comprehensive approach with the aim to close this gap. For this, we developed in several iterations a meta quality model specifying general concepts, a quality base model covering the most important quality factors and a quality assessment approach. The meta model introduces the new concept of a product factor, which bridges the gap between concrete measurements and abstract quality aspects. Product factors have measures and instruments to operationalise quality by measurements from manual inspection and tool analysis. The base model uses the ISO 25010 quality attributes, which we refine by 200 factors and 600 measures for Java and C# systems. We found in several empirical validations that the assessment results fit to the expectations of experts for the corresponding systems. The empirical analyses also showed that several of the correlations are statistically significant and that the maintainability part of the base model has the highest correlation, which fits to the fact that this part is the most comprehensive. Although we still see room for extending and improving the base model, it shows a high correspondence with expert opinions and hence is able to form the basis for repeatable and understandable quality assessments in practice.


This is the note for my talk in Graduate Student Seminar NEU. W. Massey defined Massey product as a higher order cohomology operation, which is a generalization of cup product. A first application of Massey product is in Knot theory showing that Borromean rings are linked with zero linking numbers. As another application, people can use Massey product describe the differentials in spectral sequences. There are many other important applications, such as obstruction to the formality of a space, which may be omitted in this talk. 1. Massey Products 1.1. Cup Products review. Given a topological space X and a commutative ring R, we can define the cohomology groups H∗(X;R). There is also a product structure on H∗(X;R), called cup product ∪ : H(X;R) ∧H(X;R)→ H(X;R). Example 1.1. Let T = S1 × S1 be the torus. Then H0(T ;R) = R, H1(T ;R) = R2 generated by {a, b}, H2(T ;R) = R generated by {γ}. Then, we have a ∪ b = γ = −b ∪ a and the other cup products are zeros. In fact, the cohomology ring H∗(T ;R) of torus T is the exterior algebra ∧ R[a, b]. In general, H ∗(Tn;R) = ∧ R[a1, · · · , an]. Cup product is not easy to compute. However, many methods can be used to compute cup product, definition combined simplicial homology, method in Hatcher's book, intersection method combined Poincare duality, product formula, even (Leray-Serre) spectral sequence etc.. Remark 1.2. Cup products are great because rings have more properties, and cup products can be used to distinguish between spaces that might have the same cohomology groups. In above example, the torus T = S1 × S1 can be distinguished from the the wedge sum of two circles and one spheres S1 ∨ S1 ∨ S2, even though they have the same homology groups, since all cup products in S1 ∨ S1 ∨ S2 are zeros. 1.2. Triple Massey Products. If x ∈ Ci(X;R), the symbol x will denote (−1)1+ix. We first define the Massey triple product. Let x1, x2 and x3 be cocycle of degrees r1, r2 and r3 with cohomology classes [x1] ∪ [x2] = 0 and [x2] ∪ [x3] = 0 . Thus, there are cochains x12 of degree r1 + r2 − 1 and x23 of degree r2 + r3 − 1 such that dx12 = x̄1 ∪ x2 and dx23 = x̄2 ∪ x3. Define the cochain ω of degree (r1 + r2 + r3 − 1) by ω = x12 ∪ x3 + x1 ∪ x23, Date: Oct. 4, 2012. 1


The study examined the factors influencing cattle price among the cattle market participants in Adamawa State, Nigeria using a multistage sampling procedure. To achieve this objective, structured questionnaire were used to collect data from 400 respondents. The data were analyzed using Price Formation Strategy Index (PFSI). The result showed that health conditions of the animal were the prominent price-factor considered by the marketers with PFSI 1404. This was followed by body weight, mode of payment, sex of the animal while colour of the animal was the least factor with PFSI of 1035. Recommendations were made such as provision of adequate veterinary service by the Government so that to improve cattle marketing activities and hence, facilitate economic growth in the area and provision of standard cattle market, will help in reducing the issue of haggling and facilitate cattle marketing system in the area.


The Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged as one of the most important global public health concerns and has raised serious objections towards the preparedness level and quality of response of health authorities to an infectious disease outbreak. Acknowledging these estimates and the fact that the disease has been spreading rapidly in different nations, it becomes an utmost priority to improve the quarantine practices prescribed under the International Health Regulations. It is ideal to implement such measures at the start of the outbreak, as it has a proven advantage of the introduction of the disease in the nation. The decision to implement quarantine should be taken after establishing suitable facilities with required provisions, presence of standard infection prevention & control measures, and presence of basic requirements to monitor health of quarantined individuals. In conclusion, in the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, quarantine is an important intervention to delay the introduction of the infection in a nation and needs to be properly implemented to harvest better benefits and effective containment of the infection.


For square contingency tables with ordered categories, the present paper gives several theorems that the symmetry model holds if and only if the generalized linear diagonals-parameter symmetry model for cell probabilities and for cumulative probabilities and the mean nonequality model of row and column variables hold. It also shows the orthogonality of statistic for testing goodness-of-fit of the symmetry model. An example is given.


An efficient asymmetric allylation reaction of allylboronates with seven-membered cyclic imines, dibenzo[b,f][1,4]oxazepines, is described. The reaction, which is catalyzed by a Bi(OAc)3/CPA system, gives a range of chiral nitrogen-containing heterocycle structures in high yields and with good enantioselectivities. The conversion of these products to nitrogen-containing heterocycles is also demonstrated.


Catechin in green tea might be able to reduce inflammatory mediators; therefore, in this study, we aimed to indicate green tea effects on inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α), C‐reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6). The advanced search methods of electronic databases were used to find randomized clinical trials that assessed green tea effect on inflammatory mediators among adult population. Google Scholar, PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and ISI Web of Science were searched until January 2019. Delphi checklist was used for assessing the quality of included articles. Mean changes in serum inflammatory biomarkers were calculated by subtracting endpoint values from the baseline in each study arm. Then the effect size for each selected study was estimated as the difference between mean changes in the intervention and control groups. We included 16 articles in our meta‐analysis and 17 articles in systematic review. Our results indicated that green tea could not significantly decrease serum CRP levels and significantly increased IL‐6 and significantly decreased TNF‐α levels. In conclusion, green tea might not be able to change inflammatory mediators especially in diseases with low inflammation, but scientists who want to assess green tea effect on inflammatory mediators should perform their study on patients with high inflammation. Studies exclusive on male or female and considering nutrients intake as a confounding factor are a necessity.


Patients with alcohol-related liver failure are highly probably complicated by alcohol dependence according to the definition in WHO-ICD. Not a few such patients are introduced to liver transplant program when they are decompensated and face the need for liver replacement. Transplant team should evaluate them thoroughly also from the viewpoint of dependence medicine and multidisciplinary approach including psychiatrist is indispensable for the decision of psychosocial indication. Liver transplant therapy should never become an ultimate enabling. Four patients with alcoholic cirrhosis recently received deceased-donor liver transplantation in our program. We reviewed our role and involvement in the process from the recipient transplant coordinator's point of view.


The design, development and implementation stages of integrated computer projects require close collaboration between users and developers, but this is particularly difficult where there are multiple specialties, organisations and system suppliers. Users become alienated if they are not consulted, but consultation is meaningless if they cannot understand the specifications showing exactly what is proposed. We need stringent specifications that users and developers can review and check before most of the work is done. Avoidable errors lead to delays and cost over-runs. The number of errors is a function of the likelihood of misunderstanding any part of the specification, the number of individuals involved and the number of choices or options. One way to reduce these problems is to provide a conceptual design specification, comprising detailed Unified Modelling Language (UML) class and activity diagrams, data definitions and terminology, in addition to conventional technology-specific specifications. A conceptual design specification needs to be straightforward to understand and use, transparent and unambiguous. People find structured diagrams, such as maps, charts and blueprints, easier to use than reports or tables. Other desirable properties include being technology-independent, comprehensive, stringent, coherent, consistent, composed from reusable elements and computer-readable (XML). When users and developers share the same agreed conceptual design specification, this can be one of the master documents of a formal contract between the stakeholders. No extra meaning should be added during the later stages of the project life cycle.


An accurate control-oriented electrothermal model is of great importance for onboard temperature monitoring and efficient performance management of lithium (Li)-ion batteries in automobile applications. This article presents a control-oriented electrothermal model for pouch-type electric vehicle batteries. This model uses the Chebyshev–Galerkin (CG) approximation method and captures the heat generation of positive and negative tabs, the heat flow between the tabs and the body, and the uneven heat generation inside the battery. This model consists of two lumped-mass submodels for positive and negative tabs and a 2-D CG submodel for the main battery body. The heat generation in the 2-D CG model is strongly dependent on the electrical parameters that are conversely functions of battery temperature. The lumped-mass models are decoupled from the 2-D CG model and parameterized separately by the particle swarm optimization algorithm and validated against the temperature measurements (covering three test scenarios) of a 20-Ah pouch-type Li-ion iron phosphate battery. The results demonstrate that the coupled model accurately predicts the temperatures of the tabs and the temperature distribution inside the battery. Besides, the computational complexity of the coupled model is also evaluated, and the result shows that the model has great potential for real-time temperature monitoring and efficient thermal management.


China does not have a national standard method for stationary source PM10 and PM2.5 sampling. Current commercial PM10/PM2.5 samplers have some limitations when used in China. In this study, we developed a two stage virtual impactor for sampling PM10/PM2.5 from stationary source. Its performance was evaluated using laboratory generated aerosol. Its collection efficiency curve satisfies the requirement of ISO 7708:1995 for PM10/PM2.5 samplers. The diameter of this cylindrical virtual impactor is 74 mm, smaller than the diameter of the sampling port in most stationary sources in China. Both filter papers and filter thimbles can be used with this impactor which makes it suitable for both low and high dust concentration sampling. The ratio of the minor flowrate to the total flowrate influences the cutoff size (D50) of the virtual impactor. Reducing this ratio will lead to an increase in D50. The distance from the bottom of the accelerating nozzle to the top of the collecting nozzle should be greater than 1.5-2.0 times the diameter of the accelerating nozzle.


Abstract:This article examines the work of British poet Tom Pickard, taking the publication of his collected poems as an occasion to renew an appreciation of the voice as an analytic category for the study of twentieth-century and contemporary British poetry. Focusing on a range of Pickard's work, especially Ballad of Jamie Allan, the article suggests that rather than view the recent history of British poetry in terms of a modernist/antimodernist dichotomy, with poets assigned to either side of that divide, scholars might productively attend to how voice, as an analytic category and a textual effect, illuminates poetic histories that transgress the bounds of received aesthetic-political narratives.


Patients with a history of an anaphylactoid reaction to radiographic contrast media are at increased risk for a subsequent reaction, but reactions cannot be predicted. Because contrast studies are often essential for optimal management, it may be necessary to take the risk of reexposing the patient to the contrast media. Prednisone-diphenhydramine pretreatment significantly decreases the likelihood of another reaction. Treatment of an anaphylactoid reaction requires knowledge of basic and advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation.


Globalization is here to stay. Companies source, manufacture, and sell across borders. There are several destinations available for undertaking these activities offering varying degrees of incentives and at each destination the company incurs a different delivery cost. Multinational companies need to make more realistic decisions about where to make, source, locate, move, and store products to minimize the total cost of delivery keeping in mind the incentives offered by the governments and the logistics costs at and from the location. Current literature on supply chain optimization does not emphasize on tax. To attract foreign investment, many developing economies have included tax-holidays in their export-import (EXIM) policy for companies operating in free trade zones (FTZs). In this paper, we propose a tax integrated mixed integer model, for optimally deciding the foreign direct investment (FDI)-outsourcing (the choice of establishing captive production centers versus complete outsourcing) alternatives at the various stages of a global supply chain. For a general acyclic supply chain, this decision problem is NP-hard and obtaining analytical results on optimal FDI-outsourcing strategy may be difficult. We linearize the tax integrated model by introducing exactly one hub at each stage. In this case, termed hub-based sourcing-single hub case, we prove that the greedy strategy is an optimal FDI-outsourcing strategy. However, by associating multiple hubs at each stage the decision problem remains NP-hard. Finally, we empirically analyze the tax integrated model (for the general case) on a use-case scenario in which some locations in the choice have free trade zones offering tax incentives.


Vacuum freeze-dried blood is a good material for vascular grafts. However, studies on this technology are few, particularly on physical performance change of freeze-dried blood vessel at different pre-freezing rate. In our study, pig aortas were non-invasively scanned by micro-CT in each stage of freeze-drying at different pre-freezing rates, then comparing the porosity ratio and grey level under different conditions with each other to analysis the influence of different methods on the aorta. The mechanical properties of rehydrated pig aorta and fresh one were compared by texture profile analyzer to investigate the influence of different pre-freezing rates on mechanical properties in pig aorta. Our results showed that the proper pre-freezing rate for freeze-drying were 1 C/min. The changing rates of porosity rate and the average gray scale value were 16.6% and 3.64% respectively after freeze-dried. The puncture tolerance (PT) and circumferential tensile stress were increased about 20% and 30% respectively, and the axial tensile stress (ATS) were decreased about 20% in rehydrated aorta compared with fresh aorta. We otherwise conclude that under optimized process conditions, freeze-dried aorta with proper porosity rate and mechanical properties approximate fresh aorta could be preparation.


This paper introduces a hybrid, two-stage approach to semantic image segmentation. In the first stage a probabilistic model generates a set of diverse plausible segmentations. In the second stage, a discriminatively trained re-ranking model selects the best segmentation from this set. The re-ranking stage can use much more complex features than what could be tractably used in the probabilistic model, allowing a better exploration of the solution space than possible by simply producing the most probable solution from the probabilistic model. While our proposed approach already achieves state-of-the-art results (48%) on the challenging VOC 2012 dataset, our machine and human analyses suggest that even larger gains are possible with such an approach.


Abstract Dunblane Primary School, Scotland, and Columbine High School, USA. Two headline tragedies that have led to trauma for their pupils and staff. Trauma that could be devastating because of the psychological impact and the practical requirements a crisis brings. Children's social and personal development can be negatively affected, their academic performance can suffer and schools as communities may never recover. Unfortunately, crises like these could hit any school, anywhere. So, how is your school prepared to face a major emergency? This article explains how a primary school staff worked collaboratively to develop, evaluate and improve their own emergency plan. A school which expects the unexpected and considers the practical and emotional implications of a crisis will respond more effectively and hence lessen the impact on the whole school. Planning included the formation of a crisis management team (CMT) and practical requirements such as a media statement. The evaluation of the plan took place using a simulation of a crisis over real time. The CMT had to react to the role-play using their emergency plan. It became apparent that this role-play was effective at consolidating the practical and emotional requirements of a crisis as well as a better understanding of the plan.


In a Bayesian network, we wish to evaluate the marginal probability of a query variable, which may be conditioned on the observed values of some evidence variables. Here we first present our "border algorithm," which converts a BN into a directed chain. For the polytrees, we then present in details, with some modifications and within the border algorithm framework, the "revised polytree algorithm" by Peot & Shachter (1991). Finally, we present our "parentless polytree method," which, coupled with the border algorithm, converts any Bayesian network into a polytree, rendering the complexity of our inferences independent of the size of network, and linear with the number of its evidence and query variables. All quantities in this paper have probabilistic interpretations.


The apex of the Balloon-borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer program was reached with the Antarctic flight of BESS-Polar II, during the 2007-2008 Austral Summer, that obtained 24.5 days of data on over 4.7 billion cosmic-ray events. The US-Japan BESS Collaboration uses elementary particle measurements to study the early Universe and provides fundamental data on the spectra of light cosmic-ray elements and isotopes. BESS measures the energy spectra of cosmic-ray antiprotons to investigate signatures of possible exotic sources, such as dark-matter candidates, and searches for heavier anti-nuclei that might reach Earth from antimatter domains formed during symmetry breaking processes in the early Universe. Since 1993, BESS has carried out eleven high-latitude balloon flights, two of long duration, that together have defined the study of antiprotons below about 4 GeV, provided standard references for light element and isotope spectra, and set the most sensitive limits on the existence of anti-deuterons and anti-helium, The BESS-Polar II flight took place at Solar Minimum, when the sensitivity of the low-energy antiproton measurements to a primary source is greatest. The rich BESS-Polar II dataset more than doubles the combined data from all earlier BESS flights and has 10-20 times the statistics of BESS data from the previous Solar Minimum. Here, we summarize the scientific results of BESS program, focusing on the results obtained using data from the long-duration flights of BESS-Polar I (2004) and BESS-Polar II.


The recent advent of computer time-sharing systems with teletypewriter input and output has made rapid interaction between the computer and its users practical, thereby providing a way to overcome many of the disadvantages previously encountered in attempts to automate the design of power transformers through the use of batch-processed programs (card deck input). A time-sharing program has been developed specifically to utilize the engineering judgement and experience of the designer in making certain design decisions that are not easily programable, while relieving him of the tedious and time consuming computation required for hand calculated designs. The time needed to compete the calculations for a typical transformer design has been reduced to about one hour, compared to from one to several days by hand calculations or batch-processed computer programs. The organization and capabilities of the program are described, and examples of its use are indicated.


This study was performed to establish an effective method of hot-water treatment and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) storage for disinfestating insects that disturb quarantine and the quality preservation of sweet persimmon fruits during postharvest storage and shipping. Hot-water dipping was treated at 15℃ for 10 min., 48℃ for 10 min., and 50℃ for 5 min., and hot-water brush was treated at 15℃ for 20 sec., 60℃ for 10 sec., and 60℃ for 20 sec. For a simulated shipping condition at 20℃, the fruit samples were evaluated 5 days after treatment. For MAP storage, the sample were either packaged individually or in five-fruit units and stored for 60 and 120 days. The insects were investigated immediately after storage, and fruit quality was evaluated after simulated shipping for 3 days at 20℃. No fruit disorder by hot-water was observed from the simulated shipping for 5 days at 20℃ after hot-water treatment. Higher visual fruit quality was observed from hot-water brushing in comparison to hot-water dipping. Fruit blackening occurred from untreated control and 15℃ water treatment, while it was suppressed from hot-water treatment. All (100%) mites, collembolan, and Eriococcus lagerstroemiae, which were observed in our study, were killed by hot-water dipping at 48℃ for 10 min., but many of them survived from hot-water brushing. Although a number of insects could be destroyed by MAP storage without hot-water treatment, MAP storage alone was not effective enough to completely remove the insects. In conclusion, insect disinfestation was more effectively achieved by hot-water dipping, while better fruit quality was maintained after hot-water brushing. The best treatment to control insects and at the same time suppress fruit quality deterioration was hot-water dipping at 48℃ for 10 min., which can be applied practically in the industry.


First principles calculations within the projected augmented-wave (PAW) method, using the local spin density approximation plus U (LSDA+ U) scheme, show that the tetragonal Pb2TiVO6 is a potential multiferroic material with antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin configuration. It has a magnetic moment of 1 μB in a one unit cell originating from the non-bonding orbital dxy in a majority spin channel and a band gap of 1.45 eV with proper U. The large BEC (Born effective charge) of Pb and Ti shows that the stereochemical activity of Pb and Ti may provide the possibility of switchable paths for the ferroelectricity in this hypothetical material. The insulating property and the lower resistivity in the recent prepared PbVO3 can be significantly improved by adopting the Ti.


Ebstein's anomaly, an uncommon malformation of the tricuspid valve, has an extremely variable natural history, depending on a wide spectrum of pathological features. We here described a case of a patient with Ebstein's anomaly who gave birth to 2 healthy unaffected full-term infants after two successful pregnancies; a third pregnancy miscarried at the 11th week. The anomaly was diagnosed during childhood, was not associated with other cardiac anomalies, cyanosis or preexcitation and the echocardiographic degree of severity was low (grade 1). All of these factors are considered predictors of a good survival and prognosis. During the pregnancies, no arrhythmias, cyanosis or signs of cardiac failure were observed and the patient's NYHA functional class (1) remained unchanged. Our case is the only published case of two successful term pregnancies in Ebstein's anomaly, it confirms the importance of echocardiographic evaluation and that the probability of maternal and neonatal events may be predicted from the baseline characteristics of the mother. Pregnancy is well tolerated in the absence of important maternal cardiomegaly, cyanosis and arrhythmias and in those patients with mild cardiac dysfunction as evaluated at echocardiography and a low NYHA class, but it is associated with an increased risk of abortions and prematurity.


Since the 16th National Congress of Communist Party of China is held, solving the problems in agriculture, countryside and farmers has already become the most important thing that the whole party has worked for. On the basis of analyzing the current situation of our agriculture, countryside and farmers, Article points out the key of solving all those problems depends on improving the urbanization of countryside actively, and introduces the way to accelerate urbanization process so that improves the ability of the countries continuously development.


Feeds and feed management practices are key to the development of the aquaculture sector. To achieve high levels of aquaculture production, fish farmers need nutritionally adequate and cost-effective feeds, which are coupled with good feed management practices. Access to high quality and cost-effective feeds is one of the prerequisites to successful fish farming. This paper reviews the current status of the Kenyan fish feed industry and feed management practices. The review includes constraints and opportunities in fish feeds from a farmer's perspective. The review shows that the fish feed industry has been boosted by the development of fish feed standards, which has ensured access to high-quality fish feeds by all farmers. Feed management practices considerably impact on the economic performance in fish production. Thus, adopting appropriate feed management technologies and feeding strategies is instrumental in maximizing aquaculture productivity. Some of the major challenges faced by fish farmers in the feed sector including limited access to finance, lack of appropriate technical innovations, limited knowledge in feed formulation and processing and poor feed handling and storage are discussed. These challenges pose limitation in investment opportunities for a viable and sustainable fish feed processing and manufacturing to meet the rising demand occasioned by increased demand for fish food in Kenya. There is a huge potential to develop public-private partnerships with farmer groups to improve access to training and information dissemination on feeds availability and quality. Training fish farmers on feed formulation using locally available feed ingredients provide an opportunity to reduce feed costs, increase feeding efficiency and improve profitability. This paper reviews the current status of the Kenyan fish feed industry and feed management practices including constraints and opportunities from a farmer's perspective.


We present DeepPurpose, a deep learning toolkit for simple and efficient drug repurposing. With a few lines of code, DeepPurpose generates drug candidates based on aggregating five pretrained state-of-the-art models while offering flexibility for users to train their own models with 15 drug/target encodings and $50+$ novel architectures. We demonstrated DeepPurpose using case studies, including repurposing for COVID-19 where promising candidates under trials are ranked high in our results.


Abstract The present research investigates gender gaps in the results of secondary school exit exams (Matura) in mathematics in Poland in 2015. The analysis shows that, in the basic level exam, males are highly overrepresented at the upper end of the score distribution. The same pattern did not exist in the extended-level Matura. Two explanations are offered here. The differences are driven by gender self-selection in high school programs. Students who decide on maths-related tracks have more maths lessons than other students. Secondly, a student who takes the extended Matura also has to take the basic Matura exam. As a result, the population of students taking the basic Matura is highly differentiated in terms of maths competence and motivation. Additionally, the analysis of differential item functioning (DIF) shows that only a few items were flagged as having DIF.


ZMYND11 is the critical gene in chromosome 10p15.3 microdeletion syndrome, a syndromic cause of intellectual disability. The phenotype of ZMYND11 variants has recently been extended to autism and seizures. We expand on the epilepsy phenotype of 20 individuals with pathogenic variants in ZMYND11. We obtained clinical descriptions of 16 new and nine published individuals, plus detailed case history of two children. New individuals were identified through GeneMatcher, ClinVar and the European Network for Therapies in Rare Epilepsy (NETRE). Genetic evaluation was performed using gene panels or exome sequencing; variants were classified using American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) criteria. Individuals with ZMYND11 associated epilepsy fell into three groups: (i) atypical benign partial epilepsy or idiopathic focal epilepsy (n = 8); (ii) generalised epilepsies/infantile epileptic encephalopathy (n = 4); (iii) unclassified (n = 8). Seizure prognosis ranged from spontaneous remission to drug resistant. Neurodevelopmental deficits were invariable. Dysmorphic features were variable. Variants were distributed across the gene and mostly de novo with no precise genotype–phenotype correlation. ZMYND11 is one of a small group of chromatin reader genes associated in the pathogenesis of epilepsy, and specifically ABPE. More detailed epilepsy descriptions of larger cohorts and functional studies might reveal genotype–phenotype correlation. The epileptogenic mechanism may be linked to interaction with histone H3.3.


Recombinant BM 06.022 (M(r) 39,589) is a domain-deletion mutant of the human tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) structured by the kringle 2 and protease modules. Unfolding under various conditions was investigated via 1H-NMR spectroscopy by monitoring the well-resolved high-field methyl resonances at approximately -0.97 ppm (kringle 2) and approximately -0.29 and -0.54 ppm (protease). Reversible acid/base unfolding is manifest under low pH (< 4.8) conditions. It is observed that, relative to the protease, the kringle exhibits higher overall stability at low pH. At pH 4.6, BM 06.022 undergoes two distinct thermal melting transitions, at approximately 334 and approximately 352 K, assigned to an irreversible denaturation of the protease and a reversible unfolding of the kringle 2, respectively. Under the same conditions, the protease reacted with the active site inhibitor 1,5 dansyl-L-glutamylglycyl-L-arginine chloromethyl ketone (EGRck) exhibits a higher (approximately 10 K) thermal stability than the inhibitor-free protease. Upon acidification, the EGRck-modified protease unfolds irreversibly around pH 3.4. As exemplified by BM 06.022, a single-chain protein, as defined by continuity of the polypeptide backbone, can exhibit simultaneous folding reversibility and irreversibility for autonomous segments of the sequence. Conversion of the isolated (single-chain) protease or intact BM 06.022 to their catalytically active two-chain forms via plasminolytic cleavage of the Arg275-Ile276 peptide bond leaves the kringle 2 spectrum unaffected while perturbing the resolved high-field methyl resonances stemming from the protease. The latter also shift when the protease is reacted with EGRck, indicating that these signals are sensitive to events at the binding pocket.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Forward osmosis (FO) has been extensively investigated and demonstrated its advantages in a range of FO applications over the past decade. However, challenges still remain in terms of the lack of both efficient FO membranes and appropriate draw solutes for practical FO applications. To promote the advancement of FO technology, considerable efforts have been made in exploring novel FO membranes and draw solutes in recent years. This paper will provide a short review on the progress of both FO membranes and draw solutes. First of all, a brief overview on FO principle is given. Then the progress in FO technology related to FO membrane and draw solute is presented with specific examples. Finally, challenges and future directions of FO technology in exploring efficient FO membranes and promising draw solutes are also highlighted. This article may provide new insights into the future development of FO technology and promote practical FO applications.


It is important for policymakers to understand which financial policies are effective in increasing climate risk disclosure in corporate reporting. We use machine learning to automatically identify disclosures of five different types of climate-related risks. For this purpose, we have created a dataset of over 120 manually-annotated annual reports by European firms. Applying our approach to reporting of 337 firms over the last 20 years, we find that risk disclosure is increasing. Disclosure of transition risks grows more dynamically than physical risks, and there are marked differences across industries. Country-specific dynamics indicate that regulatory environments potentially have an important role to play for increasing disclosure.


Low temperature organic Rankine cycles offer a promising technology for the generation of power from low temperature heat sources. Small-scale systems (∼10kW) are of significant interest, however there is a current lack of commercially viable expanders. For a potential expander to be economically viable for small-scale applications it is reasonable to assume that the same expander must have the ability to be implemented within a number of different ORC applications. It is therefore important to design and optimise the cycle considering the component performance, most notably the expander, both at different thermodynamic conditions, and using alternative organic fluids. This paper demonstrates a novel modelling methodology that combines a previously generated turbine performance map with cycle analysis to establish at what heat source conditions optimal system performance can be achieved using an existing turbine design. The results obtained show that the same turbine can be effectively utilised within a number of different ORC applications by changing the working fluid. By selecting suitable working fluids, this turbine can be used to convert pressurised hot water at temperatures between 360K and 400K, and mass flow rates between 0.45kg/s and 2.7kg/s, into useful power with outputs between 1.5kW and 27kW. This is a significant result since it allows the same turbine to be implemented into a variety of applications, improving the economy of scale. This work has also confirmed the suitability of the candidate turbine for a range of low temperature ORC applications.


Little is known about the underlying neurobiology of rhythm and beat perception, despite its universal cultural importance. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study rhythm perception in musicians and nonmusicians. Three conditions varied in the degree to which external reinforcement versus internal generation of the beat was required. The "volume" condition strongly externally marked the beat with volume changes, the "duration" condition marked the beat with weaker accents arising from duration changes, and the "unaccented" condition required the beat to be entirely internally generated. In all conditions, beat rhythms compared with nonbeat control rhythms revealed putamen activity. The presence of a beat was also associated with greater connectivity between the putamen and the supplementary motor area (SMA), the premotor cortex (PMC), and auditory cortex. In contrast, the type of accent within the beat conditions modulated the coupling between premotor and auditory cortex, with greater modulation for musicians than nonmusicians. Importantly, the response of the putamen to beat conditions was not attributable to differences in temporal complexity between the three rhythm conditions. We propose that a cortico-subcortical network including the putamen, SMA, and PMC is engaged for the analysis of temporal sequences and prediction or generation of putative beats, especially under conditions that may require internal generation of the beat. The importance of this system for auditory–motor interaction and development of precisely timed movement is suggested here by its facilitation in musicians.


May 9 through 13, 1968 was the beginning of a time of upheaval and social spectacle that pitted students and workers against an unsympathetic government in a series of spirited protests that would fundamentally change France. This catalogue showcases photographs of the famous events by French photographer Serge Hambourg. Hambourg captured the various moods and moments of the protests, including powerful portraits of student leaders Jacques Sauvageot, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, and Alain Geismar, writer Louis Aragon, and filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. An essay by political scientist M. Anne Sa'adah describes the intense frustration on the part of students, which escalated quickly into demonstrations and clashes between police and protestors. The inept reaction of the government in turn led to workers' strikes, and the general upheaval precipitated the dissolution of the French National Assembly and new general elections. Paired with a critical essay by art historian Thomas Crow that delves into the contemporary relevant arts scene of the time, this marriage of never-before-exhibited photographs and penetrating interpretation gives us a more tangible sense of the climate of dissent, of what it might have been like building barricades or defending the status quo in the capital of France in 1968. These photographs of Paris will raise numerous questions. To those who study or lived through these events, they are a source of information and a spark to memory, what Serge Hambourg has described as a "slice of life" during a fascinating time. Hambourg captures the force of this cultural moment, and his photographs in turn become part of its memory, joining with written accounts by witnesses, political analyses, social commentary, filmed footage, films, posters, performance, art, novels, and other photographs in a patchwork of social science and artistic representation.


Dogs with Heidenhain pouches were given histamine at a constant rate for 6 hours or longer. Output of HCl from the pouch was measured every half hour, and each secretory response was divided into control and test phases, according to the procedure of the continuous histamine test. However, no inhibitory factor was introduced. In 32 experiments the rate of HCl output reached a stable level during the control phase, but many responses failed to show stability throughout the test phase. Frequently, there was a pronounced drop in rate of HCl output below the pre-established control level. With the continuous histamine test, it is sometimes assumed that any appreciable drop in rate of HCl output during the test phase is attributable to the factor being tested and that it represents inhibition of the histamine-induced response. The results of the present study illustrate that this premise may be invalid under certain conditions. If control studies are not performed with the continuous histamine test, spontaneous drops in rate of HCl output are apt to be misinterpreted as evidence of inhibition. Note: (With the Technical Assistance of S. Mehta) Submitted on September 8, 1958


This study aimed to investigate the impact of each factor on the weight loss of postharvest broccoli and treatment efficacy, and also attempted to fix the optimal condition for vacuum cooling treatment on postharvest broccoli by response surface methodology combined with tabu search techniques. Fresh broccoli samples were harvested from a Chinese farm and the green heads of selected samples were cut into smaller ones with approximately 3~4 cmdiameter, and sequentially equilibrated to room temperature. Pressure (200-600 Pa), broccoli weight (200-500 g), water volume (2-6 %, v v -1 ) and time (20-40 min) were used as factors and weight loss, final temperature and cost as responses. A tabu search algorithm was developed to find the optimum condition for processing broccoli and its initial condition were from response surface methodology. Results demonstrates a good adjust of tabu search algorithm in simulation of the broccoli freezing process. From tabu list the best condition were found as follows: the broccoli weight between 273.5 and 278.0 g with a water volume of 3.0%, processed for 40.0 min and at 200 Pa, where the weight loss was 0.34 ± 0.01%, of end temperature was 2.0 ± 0.0°C and profit percent was 99.66 ± 0.01%.


Abstract Fish parasitological research associated with fisheries and aquaculture has expanded remarkably over the past century. The application of parasites as biological tags has been one of the fields in which fish parasitology has generated new insight into fish migration and stock assessments worldwide. It is a well-established discipline whose methodological issues are regularly reviewed and updated. Therefore, no concepts or case-studies will be repeated here; instead, we summarize some of the main recent findings and achievements of this methodology. These include the extension of its use in hosts other than bony fishes; the improvements in the selection of parasite tags; the recognition of the host traits affecting the use of parasite tags; and the increasingly recognized need for integrative, multidisciplinary studies combining parasites with classical methods and modern techniques, such as otolith microchemistry and genetics. Archaeological evidence points to the existence of parasitic problems associated with aquaculture activities more than a thousand years ago. However, the main surge of research within aquaculture parasitology occurred with the impressive development of aquaculture over the past century. Protozoan and metazoan parasites, causing disease in domesticated fish in confined environments, have attracted the interest of parasitologists and, due to their economic importance, funding was made available for basic and applied research. This has resulted in a profusion of basic knowledge about parasite biology, physiology, parasite–host interactions, life cycles and biochemistry. Due to the need for effective control methods, various solutions targeting host–parasite interactions (immune responses and host finding), genetics and pharmacological aspects have been in focus.


The ultimately pure red OLED using new electrophosphorescent compound, bis(2,3-diphenylquinoxaline)iridium(acetylace-tonate) [(QH)2 Ir(acac)] is described. Electrophosphorescence peak wavelength and bandwidth were advanced for the purest red color stimulus to 680nm with full width at half maximum of 89nm by doping (QH)2 Ir(acac) into a light emitting electron transport layer composed of 3-(4-biphenylyl)-4-phenyl-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,2,4-triazole. The most vivid red electrophosphorescence with CIE chromaticity coordinates better than x=0.70 and y=0.28, which are the closest to the ultimate limit of pure red among reported OLEDs, was attained and maintained even in luminance brighter than 600cd/m2. A very high maximum external electrophosphorescent quantum efficiency of 10.2% was also realized.


Summary

Morphology, meristics, and molecular genetics tools were used to determine the species level identification of the most commonly landed sardine species in the Philippines. Results from this study indicated that the historical and widely applied nomenclature of the Indian oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps, is incorrect and that this species is instead the Bali sardinella Sardinella lemuru. Developing an effective strategy for managing one of the Philippines most important commodity sardine species first requires accurate identification of this species. Results of this study provide needed information that is now being applied to emerging management policies.


A series of psi [CH2NH] pseudopeptide analogues of a potent somatostatin octapeptide analogue, H-D-Phe-Cys-Try-D-Trp-Lys-Val-Cys-Thr-NH2, were synthesized by using a newly developed solid-phase method for direct introduction of the CH2NH peptide bond isostere. Analogues were obtained in normal yields via a combination of sodium cyanoborohydride mediated reductive alkylation of resin-bound peptide amine with a tert-butoxycarbonyl amino acid aldehyde for introduction of a CH2NH bond and normal solid-phase peptide chemistry. A racemization test on a model pseudodipeptide indicated that no more than 6% racemization took place during the aldehyde preparation and alkylation steps. Analogues were examined for their ability to inhibit growth hormone release in vivo in sodium pentobarbital anesthetized rats and in vitro from cultured rat anterior pituitary cells. Analogues modified at the amide carbonyl of Cys2 and Lys5 showed the highest in vivo activity (20 and 8 times more potent than SRIF, respectively) and in vitro activity (0.17 and 0.67 times as active as SRIF). This compared to in vivo and in vitro potencies of 8000% and 100%, respectively, for the parent analogue. Modification of the other cyclic ring amide carbonyls of Tyr3, D-Trp4, and Val6 or the N- or C-terminal amide carbonyl of D-Phe1 or Cys7 gave analogues with considerably lower in vitro or in vivo potencies. The results appear to offer support for a proposed type II beta-turn solution conformation centered on the D-Trp-Lys portion of SRIF octapeptide analogues, resulting in possible hydrogen-bonding interactions between Tyr3 and Val6 and D-Phe1 and Thr8 residues in the parent peptide. These would then be disrupted by methylene replacement of the carbonyl groups with concomitant loss of biological activity as was observed.


This paper deals with an extension of integral transform, involving Bessel functions as kernel. The inversion formula is established and some properties are given. The transform can be used to solve certain class of mixed boundary value problems. We consider the motion of an incompressible viscous fluid in an infinite right circular cylinder rotating about its axis as an application of this generalized finite Hankel transform.


Private investors should be encouraged to support initiatives other than hospitals. Primary care in inner cities should be strengthened and reorganised. The potential of the ambulance service needs to be harnessed.


DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia represent a significant advance in diagnostic reliability and relevance to course and treatment outcome. However, the underlying, predominantly biomedical model, if exclusively applied, encourages the making of more malignant diagnoses and in particular the over-diagnosing of schizophrenia. This occurs by virtue of an associated declining interest in the content and context of symptoms, a disavowal of "psychology" and a failure of empathy. A psychodynamic viewpoint can help to redress the diagnostic imbalance that the use of the biomedical model can engender.


Our aim was to assess the linkage to care (LTC) and treatment for people newly diagnosed with HIV in Israel during 2011–2015. The Ministry of Health estimated the annual prevalence of undiagnosed HIV; new diagnoses were identified by the Central Virology Laboratory. Only adult Israeli citizens were included. LTC at HIV centers within 90 days of diagnosis was assessed. Demographic and clinical data were collected from patient files. A total of 1538 individuals were diagnosed in 2011–2015. A moderate improvement over time was observed in the calculated proportions of undiagnosed individuals (23.1–17.3%) but no change occurred in LTC rates (82.6–81%). The proportion of diagnosed patients initiating treatment within six months increased from 54.7% in 2011 to 89.7% in 2015, with a parallel increase in the viral suppression rate from 30.5% in 2011 to 59.9% in 2015. Of 1159 patients with detailed records, 79.4% were men, median age 36 years (16–92), median CD4 cell count 342 cells/µl. Younger age, intravenous drug use, and imprisonment were independent risk factors for loss to follow-up. HIV is diagnosed late in Israel and LTC rates remain stagnated; higher awareness is still needed. Once in care, however, treatment and outcomes were in line with international standards.


Objective The placement of epicardial pacing wires before weaning from bypass during port-access heart surgery can be difficult or impossible. Sometimes, it is necessary to pacing the patient to wean from bypass, and it is problematic to exchange the Edwards pulmonary vent (EndoVent) for a pace catheter under the drapes. Our objective was to devise an effective means of pacing the patient using the pulmonary vent catheter. Methods All patients having aortic valve minimally invasive port-access surgery have a pacing wire deployed through the Edwards EndoVent catheter. We did a retrospective chart analysis of these cases. Results After reviewing the anesthesia records, we determined that we were able to reliably convert the pulmonary vent catheter, which is beneficial for the surgery, into a pacing catheter before weaning from bypass 100% of the time. The mean pacing threshold current was 1.60 mA with the wire in the right ventricular apex. Conclusions We found that in all 25 patients we were able to rapidly convert the vent catheter into a reliable pacing catheter without any complications.


A 10-year-old male with interstitial deletion of chromosome 1[46,XY,del(1)(q25q32.1)] is reported. Clinical features of the patient included dwarfism, severe mental retardation, microcephaly, flat nasal bridge, low-set ears, short neck, brachydactyly, clinodactyly of the 5th fingers and bilateral cryptorchidism. Comparison of phenotypic characteristics of the present case with those of six cases previously described with similar deletions of chromosome 1 permits the delineation of an identifiable syndrome.


BACKGROUND
Wounds in horses often exhibit sustained inflammation and inefficient vascularization, leading to excessive fibrosis and clinical complications such as "proud flesh". Orf virus-derived proteins, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-E and interleukin (ovIL)-10, enhance angiogenesis and control inflammation and fibrosis in skin wounds of laboratory animals.

HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES
The study aimed to determine if equine dermal cells respond to VEGF-E and ovIL-10. Equine dermal cells are expected to express VEGF and IL-10 receptors, so viral protein treatment is likely to alter cellular gene expression and behaviour in a manner conducive to healing.

ANIMALS
Skin samples were harvested from the lateral thoracic wall of two healthy thoroughbred horses.

METHODS
Equine dermal cells were isolated using a skin explant method and their phenotype assessed by immunofluorescence. Cells were treated with recombinant proteins, with or without inflammatory stimuli. Gene expression was examined using standard and quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Cell behaviour was evaluated in a scratch assay.

RESULTS
Cultured cells were half vimentin(+ve) fibroblasts and half alpha smooth muscle actin(+ve) and vimentin(+ve) myofibroblasts. VEGF-E increased basal expression of IL-10 mRNA, whereas VEGF-A and collagenase-1 mRNA expression was increased by ovIL-10. In cells exposed to inflammatory stimulus, both treatments dampened tumour necrosis factor mRNA expression, and ovIL-10 exacerbated expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein. Neither viral protein influenced cell migration greatly.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
This study shows that VEGF-E and ovIL-10 are active on equine dermal cells and exert anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects that may enhance skin wound healing in horses.


Summary To study the interaction between hemodynamics and morphology in abnormal development of the heart, it is essential to have an animal model with specific and reproducible cardiac malformations. A standardized method was developed for inducing such an anomaly in the chick embryo. For this purpose, all-trans retinoic acid, dissolved in 2% dimethylsulphoxide, was applied on the vitelline membrane of the embryo in concentrations of 1.0 μgm and 0.3 μgm. A total of 207 embryos, staged according to Hamburger and Hamilton, were treated at stages 10 (33 hours of incubation) and 15 (50–55 hours of incubation). Three control groups consisted of embryos solely treated with dimethylsulphoxide, sham operated chicks, and untreated embryos, respectively. The embryos were sacrificed on the 9th, 10th and 11th days of incubation and hearts were examined by microdissection. Additional histologic studies were undertaken in 110 cases. Embryos treated with retinoic acid at both stages of development showed a high percentage of lesions falling within the general spectrum of double outlet right ventricle. The abnormality varied from merely a rightward shift of the aorta to cases with an additional subaortic ventricular septal defect, which, in combination with the rightward positioned aorta, was classified as a double outlet right ventricle. Histologic examination showed the presence of muscular tissue between the leaflets of the aortic and mitral valves. No other types of cardiac malformations were seen. Our results, with respect to timing, resemble data from studies made of hearts after surgical ablation of neural crest at comparable stages. Both method and timing of treatment with retinoic acid are important factors for the induction of specific and reproducible cardiac anomalies. This chick model allows for further detailed study of development of double outlet right ventricle, as well as the assessment of early detectable hemodynamic changes.


Research on the intersection of migration and ageing is becoming increasingly relevant as older populations grow in developing countries. Understanding the challenges faced by older people, who are often left behind due to their vulnerable position, is essential for policy-making. This research examines the geographical variation in the impact of international migration on the living alone status of older people in Mexico, particularly those most at risk. The following municipal-level information was obtained from the 2020 Census: international migration, living alone, receipt of remittances, and disability. Using geographically weighted regressions, we found geographical variations in the association between international migration and living alone or being more vulnerable. Controlling for socio-demographic factors, in the southern states international migration is associated with a reduction in the proportion of adults living alone and greater vulnerability due to disability or lack of support from other households. This relationship holds for both men and women. However, in some border regions the proportion of older adults living alone and experiencing greater vulnerability increases with increasing migration, especially for women.


Academic publishing is one of the most unequal areas of the circulation of ideas. Recent studies have analyzed the dominance of ISI-style standards and its consequences for scientific production in the periphery. This article delves into the Latin American publishing circuit and its performance in the midst of four different types of circuits in the world academic system: (a) mainstream 'international' publishing circuits, sustained by major private enterprises and publishing houses (Thomson Reuters, Elsevier, Google); (b) transnational networks and repositories built as open access (DOAJ, Dial-net, INASP) to create an alternative to previous (c) regional Southern circuits (LATINDEX, SCIELO, CLACSO, REDALYC, AJOL); and (d) national circuits based on local publications. Given that these four circuits all come into play in national scientific fields, this article addresses the case of Argentina in order to prove that these circuits are segmented, partly due to the hierarchies of the World Scientific System and partly to structural constraints and the local history of professionalization. Focusing on tenure evaluations for research positions at Argentina's National Scientific Research Council (CONICET), the article examines the results of a survey among coordinators of the council's evaluation committees in order to analyze the relationship between international publishing and tenure. By exploring the evaluative culture at CONICET, common trends are highlighted along with alternative forms of regional academic prestige.


PurposeThe question of what level of public debt can increase inequality has become crucial in Africa. In this study, the authors examine the effect of public debt on inequality in Africa and estimate the debt-inequality threshold. The authors then examine the moderating role of tax burdens and corruption in the relationship between public debt and inequality.Design/methodology/approachUsing data from the period 2005 to 2019 in 38 African countries, the generalized method of moment and the dynamic panel threshold regression techniques were employed to achieve the purpose of the study.FindingsThe results reveal that a 1% increase in public debt leads to a rise in inequality by about 0.17%. However, the effects doubles when the public debt ratio hits 57.47%. Tax burden worses the effect of public debt by about 2.9 percentage points, while control of corruption reduces debt effect on inequality by 61 percentage points.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to data availability, the study period was restricted to 2005 to 2019. Moreover, the study could not consider the disagreggation of inequality into different income groups due to pausty of data. While this could narrow the scope of the study, the results provide an important insight for policy makers.Originality/valueThis contributes to the scant literature on the effect of public debt on income inequality in African countries. This study is a novelty because its provides the level of public debt which worsens inequality in Africa, as well as the moderating effects of tax burden and corruption control.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2022-0581


A well-known problem in computing some matrix functions iteratively is the lack of a clear, commonly accepted residual notion. An important matrix function for which this is the case is the matrix exponential. Suppose the matrix exponential of a given matrix times a given vector has to be computed. We develop the approach of Druskin, Greenbaum, and Knizhnerman [SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 19 (1998), pp. 38–54] and interpret the sought-after vector as the value of a vector function satisfying the linear system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) whose coefficients form the given matrix. The residual is then defined with respect to the initial value problem for this ODE system. The residual introduced in this way can be seen as a backward error. We show how the residual can be computed efficiently within several iterative methods for the matrix exponential. This resolves the question of reliable stopping criteria for these methods. Further, we show that the residual concept can be used to construct new residual-based iterative methods. In particular, a variant of the Richardson method for the new residual appears to provide an efficient way to restart Krylov subspace methods for evaluating the matrix exponential.


To the Editor: We read with interest the recent article by Walczak et al. on the outcome after diagnosis of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) (1). We are prompted to share our own observations on the subject because of the remarkably similar results that we obtained from a recently completed study with an almost identical study design. We employed a 15-item questionnaire during a follow-up telephone interview of 34 patients who had been personally evaluated by one of us (V.R.) during a 9-year period. PNES were diagnosed using standard clinical and EEG criteria (confirmed by clinical documentation of a typical event during video-EEG recording in 28 patients, ambulatory cassette EEG in 2, and routine EEG in 4). Nine patients were diagnosed as having both epileptic seizures and PNES, and the remaining 25 had only PNES. There were 25 women and 9 men with a mean age of 36.3 years (range 17-58). Following the diagnosis of PNES, all patients and their significant relatives or caregivers were informed of the diagnosis in a direct and supportive manner by one of us (V.R.). The nonepileptic nature of the spells and their psychological origins were clarified. The technique of this therapeutic session, which usually lasted fot 1 h, has been described (2) and is very similar to the one outlined by Walczak et al. in the present study. Following this "debriefing session" the patients were then referred back to their primary-care physicians with recommendations for further psychological counseling. During our follow-up study (mean 4.7 years after diagnosis, range 1-9 years), the initial telephone contact was made by one of us (L.G.) to obtain permission and ensure the patient's willingness to participate in the study. This was followed by a detailed telephone interview by the senior author. Thirteen patients (38%) could not be contacted and were lost to follow-up. The response to the telephone inquiry was positive in 19, initial hostility in 1 , and outright refusal to participate in 1. In 17 patients (81%) habitual PNES had ceased or substantially decreased after diagnosis, and 15 patients were no longer taking antiepileptic medications. Three patients reported no change in the frequency of their spells, and the patient who refused to participate in the study had recently been hospitalized for pseudoseizure status epilepticus. Thirteen patients had had brief psychological or psychiatric treatment for emotional problems, but not for PNES. Nineteen patients reported being in good general health. None developed any major medical symptoms after the diagnosis of PNES. Six patients had been hospitalized, 3 for pre-existing medical conditions, 2 for depression, and 1 for pseudoseizure status. In contrast to the dramatic reduction of PNES in the majority of our patients, the changes in their living conditions and employment status were less impressive. Employment status changed for the better in only 5 (24%), and living arrangements changed in only 8 cases. We agree completely with the conclusions of Walczak and his colleagues. As we had concluded in an earlier paper (2 ) , PNES is a treatable condition and in most cases pseudoseizures resolve after the establishment of correct diagnosis and clarification of the issues to the patient and family, even without formal psychotherapy. Psychosocial and employment status, however, does not improve without specific intervention focusing on skills training, cognitive therapy, and vocational rehabilitation.


ABSTRACT Objectives: The mechanisms of obesity-associated thyroid dysfunction in children are incompletely deciphered. We aimed to evaluate whether visceral adipose tissue (VAT), insulin resistance (IR), inflammation, oxidative stress (OS) are involved in thyroid morpho-functional changes in pubertal obese children. Methods: We recruited 43 obese pubertal children without history of thyroid pathology. Metabolic and thyroid parameters (visceral fat thickness [VFT], waist/hip ratio [WHR], waist/height ratio [WHtR], insulin, glucose, liver parameters, thyroid stimulation hormone [TSH], free thyroxine [FT4], free triiodothyronine [FT3], thyroid and abdominal ultrasonography) were evaluated. Serum monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were quantified as markers of inflammation and OS. Results: VFT correlated positively both with WHR (p= 0.034) and the presence of thyroid nodules (p= 0.036). WHR associated with TSH (p= 0.005), FT3/FT4 (p= 0.033) and was independently associated with FT3/FT4 increase (p< 0.001). HOMA-IR increased with visceral obesity (waist circumference, p= 0.001; WHR, p= 0.018; WHtR: p< 0.001), hepatic impairment (alanine aminotransferase, p= 0.019) and hepatic steatosis (HS; p= 0.013) and correlated positively with FT3/FT4 (p= 0.036). TSH was significantly higher in subjects with HS versus those without HS (p= 0.007) and logistic regression analysis identified TSH as a risk factor for HS (p= 0.014). MDA correlated positively with MCP-1 (p= 0.021). Conclusion: VAT and IR may be responsible for changes in thyroid parameters associated with obesity: elevated TSH, FT3/FT4 levels and increased prevalence of thyroid nodules. WHR was predictive of increased FT3/FT4. In obese children, there is an interdependent relationship between HS and thyroid function.


Star-shaped polymers with arms of block and gradient copolymers of 2-ethyl- and 2-isopropyl-2-oxazolines grafted to the upper rim of calix[8]arene were synthesized by the "grafting from" method. The ratio of 2-ethyl- and 2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline units was 1:1. Molar masses and hydrodynamic characteristics were measured using molecular hydrodynamics and optics methods in 2-nitropropane. The arms of the synthesized stars were short and the star-shaped macromolecules were characterized by compact dimensions and heightened intramolecular density. The influence of the arm structure on the conformation of star molecules was not observed. At low temperatures, the aqueous solutions of the studied stars were not molecular dispersed but individual molecules prevailed. One phase transition was detected for all solutions. The phase separation temperatures decreased with a growth of the content of more hydrophobic 2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline units. It was shown that the way of arms grafting to the calix[8]arene core affects the behavior of aqueous solutions of star-shaped poly-2-alkyl-2-oxazoline copolymers. In the case of upper rim functionalization, the shape of calix[8]arene resembles a plate. Accordingly, the core is less shielded from the solvent and the phase separation temperatures are lower than those for star-shaped poly-2-alkyl-2-oxazolines with lower rim functionalization of the calix[8]arene.


Experiments were conducted on 43 reinforced concrete beams of rectangular and T sections to investigate the behaviour and shear strength. Some of the beams are of constant depth, others have a linearly varying depths along the shear span. The cracking load in shear was calculated using the maximum tensile strength criteria. The contribution of concrete in shear was performed by two different methods, the equilibrium of vertical forces and the equilibrium of moments. Correlation of the experimental results with the angle of haunch inclination was made. A formula was proposed for the design of reinforced concrete haunched beams in shear. The formula was also verified on the test results of ten T-beams.


A 27 year old man with a history of achalasia presented for an elective laparoscopic pylorotomy under general anesthesia. He was well with no significant comorbidities nor risk factors for hyperuricemia. The patient underwent routine preoperative screening and preparation. He was intubated and a urinary catheter was inserted prior to the start of surgery. A total intravenous anesthesia technique with neuromuscular blockade was used. Propofol and remifentanil were infused to maintain anesthesia. After completion of the surgical procedure, anesthesia was stopped with cessation of the respective infusions and reversal of neuromuscular blockade. It was then observed that there was cloudy urine in the urinary bag. A sample of the urine was sent for further analysis and uric acid crystals were visualized under microscopy, causing the urine to take on a cloudy white appearance. The patient continued to be monitored in the post-operative care unit where the urine returned to being clear after an hour. The patient was followed up to the point of discharge. He was able to micturate normally and produced clear urine. Subsequent postoperative urinalysis did not show the presence of uric acid crystals.


OBJECTIVE: To review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of Gaucher's disease, focusing on the role of enzyme replacement therapy. DATA SOURCES: a MEDLINE search (from 1984 to July 1995) of English-language literature pertaining to the treatment of Gaucher's disease was performed. Additional references were obtained by reviewing the references of pertinent articles identified through the search. Tertiary sources were also used. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: Articles with information on enzyme treatment were selected for review. Articles containing other interesting aspects of the disease or its treatment were also included. DATA SYNTHESIS: Gaucher's disease is the most common lipid storage disorder known and results from a genetic deficiency of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (glucosylceramidase). Enzyme deficiency results in accumulation of glucocerebroside within the reticuloendothelial system. If may present with hepatosplenomegaly, bone marrow suppression, and bone lesions. The most common of the three subtypes, type 1, is non-neuronopathic. In the rare neuronopathic subtypes, type 2 or 3, there may also be nerve cell destruction within the central nervous system with acute brainstem dysfunction or progressive neurologic deterioration, respectively. In 1991, enzyme treatment became available with the marketing of alglucerase, a placentally derived modified form of glucocerebrosidase. In 1994, a recombinant DNA modified form of glucocerebrosidase, known as imiglucerase, was developed to replace alglucerase. Most published data on enzyme therapy are with alglucerase in patients with type 1 disease. A dosage regimen of 60 units/kg every 2 weeks for moderately to severely ill patients has been effective in reducing hepatosplenomegaly, improving anemia and thrombocytopenia, as well as improving weight gain and growth in children and increasing vigor and self-esteem in adults. Bone involvement is often slow to respond to therapy although pain is frequently improved. Controversy exists as to whether lower dosage regimens are as effective. The role of enzyme therapy in the rarer neuronopathic subtypes remains to be determined, but initial reports have been disappointing. CONCLUSIONS: Enzyme replacement therapy is available for the treatment of type 1 Gaucher's disease, resulting in clinical improvement with enhanced quality of life within the first year of treatment, although improvement in bone disease can take longer. Doses of 60 units/kg every 2 weeks are of clinical benefit to patients with moderate to severe disease. A number of lower dosage regimens have been evaluated in small groups of patients, with satisfactory clinical responses occurring in some of these patients.


An understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of insect abundance and plant damage across altitudinal gradients and the mechanisms driving them is limited. Importantly, little is known in this area in relation to specific Mediterranean climate ecosystems. Insect abundance and plant damage in these environments may be closely related to air temperature, since it contributes to insect performance, length of growing season and tree growth, which is hypothesised to be negatively related to host plant defences against herbivory. In this study, we examined general insect abundance (across all taxa) and associated leaf damage, plant growth and leaf defences in the tree Nothofagus macrocarpa along an altitudinal gradient in the Mediterranean climate zone of Chile. Sampling was conducted in spring and summer at 'El Roble' mountain at three elevations (masl): low (1100–1200), medium (1600–1700) and high (2000–2100). Foliar insect abundance in both seasons was twofold higher at high vs. low altitude, and in summer leaf area damage increased with altitude. Twig growth was highest at high altitude, whereas leaf total polyphenols in both seasons were also relatively high at this altitude. Results indicate that in this climate, higher overall insect abundance and damage in a plant species can be found at higher altitudes and that air temperature does not limit insect presence. Moreover, total leaf polyphenols were not negatively related to this pattern or to plant growth. Among the possible explanations, we suggest that climate change is creating unfavourable conditions for insects at lower altitudes, resulting in an altitudinal shift.


In summary, planning a case management system involves moving through sequenced stages; namely, (1) a developmental stage; (2) a phase-in stage; and (3) an operational stage. During the developmental stage, before processes have been formalized, attention is given to the political realities, the formation of a representative planning group, formulating goals and objectives, obtaining administrative support, information gathering, assessment of needs, resource procurement, program structure and design, selection of a case management model, participatory decision making, determining organizational fit, and beginning networking. During the phase-in or early implementation state, the formal stage of system introduction, attention is given to the establishment of interorganizational relationships, contracting for services, job descriptions, work assignments, training, problem solving, and conflict resolution. During the operational or full implementation stage, a period when the system should become more stabilized, attention needs to be given to managing movement of the client through the system, the flow of information, program updating, quality assurance, recordkeeping, resource management, evaluating, and system refurbishing. In practice, these stages will interact and overlap. Closure, if the system is to remain viable and open to change, should never occur.


The paper presents an energy approach based on controllability and observability gramians for the optimal selection of controllers/sensors in large-scale power systems. This approach consists in solving a stochastic optimization problem based on scenarios reflecting various operational situations (load changes, line tripping ...). This approach may be regarded as part of a structural optimization procedure aiming at defining some new control systems in the context of security improvements of large-scale power systems. Applications to both "two-area system" and "118 bus system" give very promising results.


Many inhabitants of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) hold the belief that their society is not only more egalitarian today than that of their forefathers', but also more egalitarian than that in Pakistan. According to them, Pakistani society continues to be highly hierarchical with stark class and caste-like boundaries, while in AJK these boundaries have become weaker and merely symbolic since the 1970s due to changes in four interconnected factors; namely, migration patterns, land ownership, access to education, and democratic politics. This created an unprecedented level of social mobility among and within biradaris, the caste-like kinship corporate entities that are the crucial social boundary in this region. Yet, the main factor dictating membership in the biradari – endogamy – did not change, and access to power and resources is still determined mostly through biradari-ism. In this paper, I examine how notions of hierarchy and social stratification evolved over time and what contributed to this evolution. I argue and conclude that AJK society is still hierarchical but it has gained an element of fluidity.


We present a surface corrosion method to shift the photocurrent onset potential cathodically for water oxidation on a Ti4+ doped Fe2O3 by about 100 mV. After the surface treatment, the doped hematite photoanodes showed a similar photocurrent onset potential to the lowest values obtained by loading with electrocatalysts or depositing functional over-layers. Moreover, the cathodic shift of the onset potential was preserved well even after a long operating time. The results indicated the effectiveness of this simple surface treatment. In order to make clear the reason for the onset potential shift, the doped hematite samples before and after surface corrosion were investigated by SEM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Mott–Schottky and so on. Based on the experimental evidence, we proposed a new mechanism for the onset potential shift. The cathodic shift of the onset potential was due to decreasing the back reaction, but not accelerating water oxidation kinetics, passivating surface states or ions adsorption as reported in the previous studies. This strategy of suppressing the back reaction can offer a reference to reduce the overpotential for other photoelectrodes.


Vehicle to everything (V2X) has been deemed a promising technology due to its potential to achieve traffic safety and efficiency. This paper considers a V2X downlink system with a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) system where the base station not only conveys data and energy to two types of wireless vehicular receivers, such as one hybrid power-splitting vehicular receiver, and multiple energy vehicular receivers, but also prevents information from being intercepted by the potential eavesdroppers (idle energy vehicular receivers). Both the base station and the energy vehicular receivers are equipped with multiple antennas, whereas the information vehicular receiver is equipped with a single antenna. In particular, the imperfect channel state information (CSI) and the practical nonlinear energy harvesting (EH) model are taken into account. The non-convex optimization problem is formulated to maximize the minimum harvested energy power among the energy vehicular receivers satisfying the lowest harvested energy power threshold at the information vehicular receiver and secure vehicular communication requirements. In light of the intractability of the optimization problem, the semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique and variable substitutions are applied, and the optimal solution is proven to be tight. A number of results demonstrate that the proposed robust secure beamforming scheme has better performance than other schemes.


The sanitary conditions in densely populated settlements such as in Yogyakarta are quite heterogeneous, in terms of both quality and quantity. The parameters in the healthy home assessment include components of the house, sanitation and behaviour. The economic valuation method is one of the ways used to provide a quantitative value of the goods and services produced by natural resources and the environment. The purpose of the study is to determine the valuation of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) value. CVM method is one of direct economy assessment methods through Willingness to Pay (WTP) question. This study aims to determine the economic conditions in the settlements in the city of Yogyakarta. This type of research is an observational retrospective design. Samples were 597 families living in the city of Yogyakarta taken by using multi-stage random sampling. Economic valuation data covered income, willingness and ability to pay taps, waste management and effluent treatment from households, were obtained using a questionnaire. The results of this study on the economic valuation of votes obtained WTP of taps water (PDAM) was in the range of 2,500 – 4,000 IDR / 10m3 / month with ATP for 7,585 IDR / 10m3 / month, WTP for garbage levy  was in the range of 2,000 - 4,000 IDR/ month with ATP for 13,594 IDR / month, while WTP for wastewater management was in the range of 3,000 IDR/ month with ATP 2,870 IDR/ month. A total of 48.41% survey respondents have an income of less than 1,500,000 IDR per month so that the economic condition of Yogyakarta is in a low category.


The microstructure of microemulsions and related systems diluted in surfactant is determined in a first approximation via the characteristics of the surfactant monolayer: the bending elastic modulus, K, the saddle splay modulus, and the spontaneous curvature . The methods which were developed to measure these quantities in Winsor equilibrium (microemulsions or related systems in equilibrium with an excess of oil or brine) are discussed. Results concerning various surfactants are given and compared with the results obtained for similar systems with other techniques. It is also shown how these results explain the observed phase structures.


In this paper we investigate an incorporation of mask modelling into an HMM-based ASR system. The mask model is estimated for each HMM state and mixture by using a separate Viterbi-style training procedure and it expresses which regions of the spectrum are expected to be uncorrupted by noise for the HMM state. Experimental evaluation is performed on noisy speech data from the Aurora 2 database. Significant performance improvements are achieved when the mask modelling is incorporated within the standard model and two models that had already compensated for the effect of the noise.


The paper presents a report on 3-years measurements of particle number flux measurements in the city of Berlin from April 2017 to March 2020. It is a long term monitoring campaign focused on fluxes of ultrafine particles and accumulation mode particles (10 nm > Dp < 200 nm). The paper presents average diurnal, seasonal and annual fluxes in order to find a correlation with diurnal concentration peaks, seasonal emission sources and the relationship between FTNC (total number particle flux) and FUFP (ultrafine particle number flux) with land use in the flux footprint. The paper is very well structured, clear and detailed. The methodology is appropriate and supported by a wide bibliography. The authors show that the urban domain investigated is a net source of particles (e.g. particles emissions prevail over particles deposition, especially with reference to ultrafine particles) and the presented results are aligned with other urban case studies. Particles fluxes are investigated considering meteorological parameters of the specific monitoring period (like precipitation, wind speed, wind direction, temperature), the diurnal atmospheric stability classes but even the land use of the territorial domain and hourly traffic intensity data supplied by two different traffic counting stations located near the monitoring site. The authors stress the strong relationship between particles fluxes and the traffic intensity of specific roads in Berlin and exclude a significant contribution of green areas and/or built areas nearby. I would suggest, as future development of the research, to add a multistage cascade impactor to be used as gravimetric analyser in order to get a size-resolved chemical speciation of particles for a source apportionment study. In my opinion the paper only needs minor revisions before publication, clarifying some assumptions and to better support the conclusions of the work.


A female's reproductive output (size and number of offspring) may say little about her reproductive success; the 'quality' of her progeny and the time that they are produced may be more important in this respect. We marked and released 1224 hatchling water pythons (Liasis fuscus) from 116 clutches of laboratory–incubated eggs, in a study site in tropical Australia. Clutches varied widely in the number of eggs, mean offspring sizes, the proportion of eggs that hatched, and recapture rates of offspring. Clutch size was not significantly correlated with the number of recaptured hatchlings in either year, nor was mean offspring size related to recapture probability. Instead, offspring recapture rates varied as a function of the time of hatching. Recapture rates were higher for hatchlings released in a year with high prey availability than in a year with few prey. In addition, recapture rates were higher for earlier–hatching clutches in the year with few prey. The other significant effect on recapture rates involved offspring viability: some clutches had a much higher proportion of surviving offspring than did others, and recapture rates were higher from clutches with higher hatching success (i.e. proportion of eggs hatching). Hence, the usual measures of reproductive output (clutch size and offspring size) offer only a poor index of a female's reproductive success in this system.


This paper proposed the design of wide-area robust damping (WARD) controller for multiple Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices to enhance the stability of power system with considering time delay of wide-area signals. Firstly, as power systems interconnect more and more to exchange large amounts, wide-area measurement system (WAMS) is widely applied to monitor and control the interconnected power systems, which can enable the use of measured signals from remote locations for centralized control purpose. In this trend, the impact of time delays introduced by remote signal transmission and processing in WAMS has not been ignored. So this paper describes the wide-area multiple FACTS robust damping controller design problem of power system as time-delay feedback control problem. Then based on the time-delay power system model, wide-area multiple FACTS robust damping controller is design free-weighting matrices method and pole placement method in the linear matrix inequality (LMI). Finally, the case study on 2 areas 4 machines system will show the robustness and effectiveness of this proposed controller.


The proliferation of regional and international human rights adjudicatory bodies increases the likelihood of conflicting interpretations of fundamental rights and freedoms, which may trigger judicial fragmentation. International Human Rights Law (IHRL) certainly offers a fertile ground for fragmentation to arise for the high sensitivity of the issues related to many human rights and the determinant role of social, cultural, religious and historical concerns. While judicial fragmentation in International Law has been at the centre of the scholarly debate in the last decade, the same phenomenon within IHRL has been less explored.
The present thesis aims at providing a better understanding of the current phenomena of fragmentation and convergence in IHRL and identifying their triggering factors. In particular, it aims at answering two key research questions. First, is judicial fragmentation actually affecting IHRL or does convergence prevail? And, second, what are the factors that can be identified as contributing to this situation?
Looking at the case-law of the three main regional human rights systems (African, European and Inter-American) and the UN Human Rights Committee, this thesis assesses the extent of judicial fragmentation in IHRL, concluding that the phenomenon is limited and the worries about it mostly exaggerated. Moreover, adopting a wide range of methodological approaches, this thesis identifies and explores several factors that can explain this substantial convergence and the few cases of fragmentation. On the one hand, elements strictly related to the adjudication, such as the understanding and application of the principles of necessity and proportionality, the adoption of subsidiarity and deference doctrines or the resort to judicial dialogue confirm their relevance in shaping the case-law and avoiding or triggering fragmentation. On the other hand, other factors such as the composition of the bodies and the personal profile of who decide the case, the role of registries and secretariats as well as NGOs also proved to have an influence on the judicial behaviour of these human rights bodies, ultimately affecting convergence and fragmentation.


The molecular processes that drive gene transcription are inherently noisy. This noise often manifests in the form of transcriptional bursts, producing fluctuations in gene activity over time. During cell fate specification, this noise is often buffered to ensure reproducible developmental outcomes. However, sometimes noise is utilized as a "bet-hedging" mechanism to diversify functional roles across a population of cells. Studies of bacteria, yeast, and cultured cells have provided insights into the nature and roles of noise in transcription, yet we are only beginning to understand the mechanisms by which noise influences the development of multicellular organisms. Here we discuss the sources of transcriptional noise and the mechanisms that either buffer noise to drive reproducible fate choices or amplify noise to randomly specify fates.


Aiming at kinematic accuracy and its' error sources of a free floating space robot, a mathematical kinematic error model based on the concept of virtual manipulator and screw theory is proposed in this paper for a free-floating space robot. Based on screw theory, structural parameters in the form of motion screw and their error expressions derived from various error sources are deduced. The effect of mass error, CM (Center of Mass) error and structural parameter error on the kinematic accuracy of the free-floating space manipulator is analyzed. A simulation is demonstrated for verifying the correctness of the kinematic error model and the effect of various error sources on the free-floating space robot. The error model and the result deriving from analyzing are vital for studying the kinematic accuracy of the space manipulator when it is under a free-floating mode, and for controlling and assigning various errors when a space robot is developed.


The aims of the present study were to assess the relationship pattern between bilateral masseter muscle electromyographic (MEMG) activity recordings and vertical jaw separation (VJS). Asymptomatic subjects (n = 15) were compared with age and gender-matched patients (n = 18) with temporomandibular pain and dysfunction (TMPD); before and after undergoing interocclusal appliance (IOA) therapy for 4 months. In asymptomatic subjects a bilateral minimum MEMG activity was found in a 'resting zone' at approximately a quarter of maximum mandibular opening (mean, 15.4 mm of VJS; range, 5.5-22.5 mm including overbite). No overall relationship between MEMG and VJS was shown for patients with TMPD. After successful IOA therapy, the majority of TMPD patients (14 of 18) showed normalization of the relationship between MEMG and VJS, but electromyographic assessment was not found to be of value as a single objective assessment parameter in evaluating the resolution of TMPD or the effectiveness of IOA therapy.