Introduction: Many molecular methods of identification of mycobacteria are now available. With many molecular consumables now being available at low prices, routine identification in clinical laboratories is now possible, even in low/ middle income settings that have basic molecular facilities. This study was conducted to optimize a low cost PCR-RFLP based identification that can be used in such a laboratory. Methodology: DNA was extracted from mycobacterial cultures using five methods. Three were heat extraction and two were kit extraction methods. Yield and purity of extracted DNA was evaluated and PCR-RFLP was done on extracts to ensure that the DNA could be used for molecular assays. The method giving the highest yield at low cost was selected and DNA was extracted from 105 mycobacterial cultures from patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. hsp65 PCR and restriction digestion with BstEII and HaeIII enzymes was done to identify mycobacteria, differentiate MTB complex from NTM and identify NTM species. gyrB PCR and restriction digestion with RsaI was done to identify MTB complex species. hsp65 partial sequencing was done to confirm NTM species. Costs for molecular identification were calculated based on consumable cost. Results: Heat extraction in water (80 0C for 1 hour) provided a mean DNA yield of 30.07ng/μland mean A260/280 ratio of 1.45. Heat extraction methods gave significantly higher DNA yield compared to the kit extraction methods (ANOVA, p<0.05). hsp65 PCR-RFLP identified 102 isolates as MTB complex and 3 isolates as NTM. gyrB PCR-RFLP confirmed the 102 isolates as MTBC and showed that all isolates belonged to the MTB/ M africanum/ M canettii group. Hsp65 partial sequencing identified the NTM as 2 isolates of M avium and 1 isolate that could not be identified. An algorithm for PCR-RFLP based identification was developed that allows identification of mycobacterial isolates at low cost (approximately USD 6.00 per sample). The NTM rate in this study population was 2.6%. Conclusions: Using heat extraction in water, PCR-RFLP based identification of clinical mycobacterial isolates can be established at low cost in a laboratory that has basic molecular facilities. SAARC J TUBER LUNG DIS HIV/AIDS, 2016; XIII(1), page: 23-31


. This paper mainly studies Chinese outbound tourists' preferences in three potential factors (sunch as quarters, source area and travel modes). The data source is provided by a data company, which includes the passenger flow information for the thole China and the Yangtze River Delta region of China in the four quarters of 2017. The purpose of this paper is to show small travel agencies that they can improve their personalized travel products with simple data processing. The SPSS software is a simple operation software. Therefore, this paper apply SPSS software to first determine the correlation between variables by correlation analysis, and then use factor analysis to find the correlation between the original variables.


This article interrogates over 30 years of transport and economics research into the relationships between transport investments and desirable economic development results. It finds the evidence in favour of this virtuous relationship at best weak and in most respects non-existent. Investing in new highways, airports and other large transport infrastructure projects does not appear to generate the anticipated economic development benefits. There is, however, compelling evidence that de-coupling policies to improve competitiveness and quality of life through reducing the demand for transport, emissions and oil dependence does encourage gains in economic performance.


Hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Fish intake is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, whereas supplementation with n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) has little effect on the cholesterol concentration. We therefore investigated if cetoleic acid (CA), a long-chain monounsaturated fatty acid (LC-MUFA) found especially in pelagic fish species, could lower the circulating total cholesterol (TC) concentration in rodents. A systematic literature search was performed using the databases PubMed, Web of Science and Embase, structured around the population (rodents), intervention (CA-rich fish oils or concentrates), comparator (diets not containing CA) and the primary outcome (circulating TC). Articles were assessed for risk of bias using the SYRCLE's tool. A meta-analysis was conducted in Review Manager v. 5.4.1 (the Cochrane Collaboration) to determine the effectiveness of consuming diets containing CA-rich fish oils or concentrates on the circulating TC concentration. Twelve articles were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, with data from 288 rodents. Consumption of CA-rich fish oils and concentrates resulted in a significantly lower circulating TC concentration relative to comparator groups (mean difference -0.65 mmol/l, 95% confidence interval -0.93, -0.37, P < 0.00001), with high statistical heterogeneity (I2 = 87%). The risk of bias is unclear since few of the entries in the SYRCLE's tool were addressed. To conclude, intake of CA-rich fish oils and concentrates prevents high cholesterol concentration in rodents, and should be further investigated as functional dietary ingredients or supplements to reduce the risk for developing cardiovascular disease in humans.


We studied the nematic liquid crystal (NLC) aligning capabilities and electro-optic (EO) performance of fringe-field switching (FFS)-LCD using the Ultraviolet (UV) alignment method on a a-C:H thin film was deposited by an rf magnetron sputtering technique at room temperature. A good LC alignment by UV exposure on the a-C:H thin film was achieved. The LC pretilt angle on the a-C:H thin film is higher that on Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) thin film. It is considered that generation of pretilt angle increases due to increasing UV exposure generated the destruction of oriented rings of atoms related to LC alignment on inorganic thin films containing many C─H bonding. The Electro-optical (EO) characteristics of the UV aligned FFS-LCD with obliquely UV exposure on the a-C:H thin film are almost the same as that of the rubbing aligned FFS-LCD on the PI surface. It is considered that strong UV energy gives rise to enough LC aligning capability on the a-C:H thin film.


In redox reactions assembly a mixed-valence metal-organic nanocapsule. C -alkylpyrogallol[4]arenes (PgCs) have been studied for their ability to form metal-organic nanocapsules (MONCs) through coordination to appropriate metal ions. Here we present the synthesis and characterization of an Mn II /Mn III -seamed MONC in addition to its electrochemical and magnetic behavior. This MONC assembles from 24 manganese ions and 6 PgCs, while an additional metal ion is located on the capsule interior, anchored through the introduction of bridging nitrite ions. The latter originate from an in situ redox reaction that occurs during the self-assembly process, thus representing a new route to otherwise unobtainable nanocapsules.


A new technique for the analytical determination of output resistance and current ratio or DC matching errors in MOS current mirrors is presented, emphasising, in comparison four types of frequently used circuit: the simple current mirror, the Wilson current mirror, the improved Wilson current mirror and the cascode current mirror. Formulas that precisely describe the performance parameters are derived. The minimum output voltage is also discussed. A review of other types of current mirror configurations is included.


All the four halogen derivatives of tris(4-halophenyl)benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamides were shown to form triple helical columns via N-H...O hydrogen bonds. These columns have shown the tendency to assemble into porous materials in case of iodo, bromo and chloro derivatives via halogenhalogen interactions.


The intervention of the Social Work in the Mental Health field has singular characteristics. These relate to the social current scenes in which arises the need to recover the notion of historical social process to understand and to explain with major depth the complexity of the context. These matters express from the subjective suffering up to the Sanitary and Social Policies. The recovery of the notion of biopolitic and a social reading of the corporal thing, the narratives of the pain and the mental health, realize of the possibilities and scopes of the intervention in the social thing inside this field. The current demands towards the sector, understood like Problematic Social Complex, show another paths into both for the conceptualization of situations as for the intervention on they. At the same time, the actions inside the field of the health interlace in direct or indirect form with a series of new logics inside the social policies that link themselves with the notion of social inclusion. Also the most recent changes mark a new configuration of neighborhood and community, now understood from the notion of territory. The intervention from the Social Work from this perspective implies a new and necessary place for the word.


Some years ago a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists started a small collection of antique obstetric forceps and other early obstetric instruments. Before he died he set up the collection, beautifully labelled, in two showcases and it was exhibited in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The College Council one day decided that the space was needed for other purposes and a porter was told to put the instruments into cardboard boxes. He disarticulated the forceps, muddled them up, and separated them completely from their labels. The lay-secretary of the College, horrified by what had happened, telephoned me to come urgently and repair the damage. It was worse than trying to do a jigsaw puzzle without any picture to go by. After several hours I had managed to reassemble only one pair of forceps; but did not know which label should be attached. I did not even know for certain to which century the forceps belonged. So a curator from the instrument department of the Science Museum came, and after some days she and a colleague had put together several but not all the pieces of the puzzle. The lesson is that it is very difficult to assemble and authenticate even a small collection of these instruments.

Bryan Hibbard has done much more, and on a grander scale. In 1960 or thereabouts, he retrieved from storage a collection of obstetric instruments from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the University of Liverpool, where he worked for some time. He then did the same at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, completing the task not quite finished by the curators from the Science Museum; and he was soon able to add greatly to it by acquiring from the College a collection which had resided in a Manchester Cellar. He later obtained a collection from University College London, similarly neglected.

Bryan Hibbard's book The Obstetrician's Armamentarium1 is not the first authoritative catalogue of obstetric instruments. There are two older ones. The second and more important is by an Indian obstetrician, Sir Kedarnath Das, first published in 1929. A facsimile edition of this illustrated catalogue was produced in 1993 under the supervision of Professor Hibbard, who made no alterations or additions to the text. An earlier one in 1887 was by A Meadows, who catalogued the collection of obstetric instruments then in the Royal College of Surgeons of England. This collection, was largely destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. Meadows' catalogue fortunately still existed, though it was not illustrated.

Hibbard's new book is fully illustrated. Some of the illustrations are the original inventors' together with their instructions on how to use the instruments. Others are photographs taken by Hibbard with the help of his wife, occasionally of a model rigged up to show the forceps in action. But the book is much more than a catalogue of instruments, because it details the history of obstetrics through the centuries. The inventors come from many countries and go back a long way. They are in many cases the important founders of our present subject. A key figure is William Smellie (1697-1763). In Smellie's day, obstructed labour was often completed by performing an internal version through the vagina, to turn the head in to the upper part of the uterus and bring the breech down. The baby was then extracted by pulling on a leg or by using breech hooks. This method caused great infant mortality, so in 1737 Smellie tried a pair of French forceps (Dusee's), that had been recommended to him by a Scottish obstetrician, Alexander Butter. Smellie not only designed several better forceps which enabled him to avoid the internal version; he also wrote textbooks and produced a very important atlas, which contains among other things illustrations and descriptions of how to apply forceps and deliver the baby (Figure 1). Like his contemporary William Hunter, he was a Scot who migrated to London. But while Hunter was a very dapper well-dressed man who attended the aristocracy, Smellie was down to earth and attended the poor. In this book, we find details of Smellie's methods of teaching and how he himself had learnt from the great obstetricians of Paris.

Figure 1

Smellie's straight forceps. Changeable leather thronging covered the blades, lubricated with lard

The illustrations, taken from Smellie's atlas and supplemented by Hibbard's photographs, include Smellie's wooden forceps, now in the museum at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Andre Levret in Paris (1703-1780) was Smellie's contemporary. He became the French Royal accoucheur; but he also found time to design several types of forceps and other instruments, some of a destructive nature, such as the tire tete which was used to extract the baby's head after decapitation when the child had died.

Hibbard's arrangement of the chapters overcomes some of the difficulties of putting such diverse material in order, because he first describes chronological developments and then geographical variations. A whole chapter is given to the development of forceps in America. We learn about Deacon Samuel Fuller, a serge-maker by trade who became the first medical practitioner in America. He travelled to the new continent in the Mayflower, arriving in 1620 with his third wife, who was a midwife. Her name was Bridget Lee Fuller and she probably delivered three babies during their journey. The training of man-midwives was started in Philadelphia by William Shippen Jr, who was a pupil of Smellie and Hunter. He later worked in New York. Hibbard discovered this by going back to primary sources. Misuse of a pair of forceps led to one of the earliest malpractice legal suits to be brought in America.

Unfortunately not all babies could be delivered alive, particularly before the popularity of today's caesarean section. So there were instruments to destroy and then to extract dead babies. These instruments are accorded separate descriptions. Comminutors and communitor-extractors have their chapter. A communitor is a crushing instrument. This chapter, like all the others, is profusely illustrated. Other chapters describe axis-traction forceps, which are often still used today. There are also illustrations of fillets, levers and other extractors (Figure 2) which did not have to destroy the baby to effect delivery. An important chapter is that on symphysiotomy and pubiotomy. It is relevant still today because, by division of the symphysis pubis, the diameters of the pelvis can be greatly increased. This procedure was used before caesarean section became popular in the western world. Today a caesarean section may be very difficult to organize in resource-poor countries.

Figure 2

Delore's cord and pulling tractor. A dynamometer is interposed in the pulling system

The Obstetrician's Armamentarium is a special work. To read and review it has been a great joy.


A program of physical activity for people over 60 yr of age was developed to determine whether exercising at lower intensities (LI) is a significant conditioning stimulus. In addition, differences in aerobic capacities (VO2max) elicited by training at LI, as opposed to training at higher intensities (HI), were evaluated. Thirty-two volunteers over 60 yr of age (mean = 67.8 yr) participated in a 9-wk exercise program. After initial testing of VO2max on a cycle ergometer, subjects were assigned randomly to the HI, LI, or control group. Endurance training of the two exercise groups on cycle ergometers was maintained at 30-45% (N = 14) or 60-75% (N = 14) of the range (HRR) between the subject's resting and maximum heart rate for 25 min during each exercise session. These training intensities represented 57 and 70% of the VO2max of the LI and HI groups, respectively. Participants averaged three exercise sessions per week. Non-exercising volunteers served as control subjects. A one-way ANOVA with repeated measures was utilized for comparisons of retest, groups, and interaction. As a result of the exercise program, significant changes (P less than 0.005) in absolute (VO2max, 1 X min-1) and relative (VO2max, ml X min-1 X kg-1) aerobic capacities were realized within each training group while initial and post-training VO2max were not significantly different between the two groups. Similar changes were documented by a reduction in heart rate at submaximal exercise intensities and during recovery. It was concluded that exercising at LI (30-45% HRR) is an adequate training stimulus in older individuals and produces changes in VO2max that are comparable to those elicited by HI (60-75% HRR) training.


Extract: Specific antibody production by spleen cells of male and female mice during a noninvasive enteric infection with Escherichia coli and after parenteral injection of heat-killed E. coli was studied by use of the Jerne-Nordin agar plaque technique. Following experimental enteric colonization with E. coli 0127 significantly greater proportions of spleen cells produced specific anti-0 antibody in immature weanling female mice than in their male littermates. Anti-E, coli 0127 plaque-forming cells were also found in significantly greater numbers in the spleens of immature females than in males following intraperitoneal injection of small numbers of heat-killed E. coli. Although many spleens from male mice produced no cell plaques after a small dose of antigen, responses by the sexes were comparable after injection of large numbers of heat-killed bacteria.Production of plaques by spleen cells from female animals after injection of small amounts of antigen increased significantly with age, but the responses observed in adult male mice were only slightly and insignificantly greater than those of male weanlings. Studies of the sizes of plaques produced by spleen cells of male and female animals showed no statistical differences. Young ovariectomized females responded in the same way as their sham-operated male littermates to small amounts of E. coli antigen. Administration of small doses of estrogen increased plaque formation by spleen cells of weanling males.It appears that an effect of female sex hormones is production of greater numbers of antibody-producing cells; yet in the final phase of antibody production, individual cells from each sex produce on the average the same amounts of antibody.Speculation: The better ability of the immature female to respond immunologically to a small amount of E. coli 0 antigen may be a significant factor in her superior resistance to invasive disease with E. coli. Differences in the immune response of the two sexes appear to occur in the proliferative phase of antibody-producing process or steps leading up to this phase, but not in the final phases of antibody production by the cell. By mechanisms not yet defined, estrogen appears to enhance the proliferation of immunocompetent cells, and secretion of estrogen by the female may explain her superior immunologic responsiveness.


In this article, author Anna Travagliati explores her creative collaborations with artist Serena Della Bona and translator and editor Bristin Scalzo Jones, in the form of summaries of two projects: Presagi | Omens: A Collection of Illustrated Poetry in Italian and in English (2021), whose English translation was carried out by Jones, and their latest project, the picture book La Cavaliera e la Notturna | The Knightess and the Nocturne, an original story which reinterprets the familiar fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. A large part of the article consists of interviews conducted by the author with Serena Della Bona and Bristin Scalzo Jones, who detail their respective backgrounds, interests, professional practices and their views on collaboration and on creating picture books for a young adult and adult readership. These interviews centre feminist collaboration in both content and form, in so far as they allow this article to push back against masculine individualistic conceptions of authorship by providing a polyphony of female voices, spoken in their own words. The article is accompanied by two appendices which provide examples from both Omens and The Knightess and the Nocturne.


Background: iatrogenic cervical esophageal transection after thyroidectomy is an extremely rare condition that requires prompt diagnosis and surgical intervention.Case presentation: we reported a rare case of iatrogenic cervical esophageal transection following thyroidectomy for thyroid carcinoma in a 54-year-old woman. Primary repair was not achievable because of loss of a long segment of the cervical esophagus. A modified diversion was performed by inserting a T-tube into the remnant esophagus, followed by gastrostomy and jejunostomy. The next day, mediastinal abscess was detected on chest computed tomography; therefore, thoracoscopic mediastinotomy was performed, with placement of two drains. After 6 months, thoracoscopic esophagectomy, alimentary reconstruction with gastric pull-up, and cervical esophagogastrostomy anastomosis were performed. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 18, without complications.Conclusions: iatrogenic cervical esophageal transection following thyroidectomy is a rare but fatal complication. It can be successfully managed with a series of treatments, including modified diversion procedure, prompt drainage of mediastinitis, alimentary reconstruction with gastric pull-up, and cervical esophagogastrostomy anastomosis.


ABSTRACT In this paper, we theorize on local school governance through a multi-method case study of a large-sized Swedish municipality by drawing on neo-institutional theory. In light of a changing governing landscape in Sweden in terms of a 're-centralization', new conditions between the state, the local education authorities (LEA) and the schools have emerged. The aim of this study is to examine what policy actions the LEA employ for governing the school and in what ways that principals respond and handle these policy actions. The results point to the fact that the LEA uses a bench-marking strategy through its quality assurance system and intervene if results are poor. Principals seek support from the LEA, but are anxious that their autonomy will be diminished and therefore function as 'gate-. The system for quality assurance is appreciated by principals, but standards aimed at framing discursive communication on quality are criticized. Principals turn to managers below the superintendent, which creates a tension between managers. The study shows that different levels and actors must be taken into account in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the multi-layered field of local policy enactment.


This study was carried out to augment the colonization of marine benthic communities on artificial reef structure. Increasing marine pollution along with various natural hazards cause severe damages to marine algae and associated fauna. In recent years, artificial reefs have been deployed in coastal regions of several parts of the world in order to increase the marine productivity. They are mainly built with concrete materials, however their leachates have considerable impacts on algae. Therefore to increase the algal colonization five chemoattractants such as ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, ammonium nitrate, sodium phosphate and ferrous lactate were screened against spores of a fouling alga, Ulva pertusa. FeSO4 / ZnO (8:2) and ferrous lactate coatings showed the highest spore attachment with 52 +/- 5.2 cm2 and 79.5 +/- 10.2 cm2 spores respectively (p<0.01). Furthermore using these chemoattractants, coating formulations were made and their performances were investigated at East coast (Ayajin harbor) and South coast (Meejo harbor) of Korea. A maximum fouling coverage (with green algae 25%, red algae 11.3% and brown algae 63.7%) was estimated from ferrous lactate coatings (p<0.01). Different composition of coating formulations and their chemoattractive properties were evaluated.


ABSTRACT The aim of the current study was to review the available data regarding eosinophil density in healthy tissue specimen originating from lower gastrointestinal segments to support suggested diagnostic cutoffs widely used in clinical practice. A systematic search was performed in 3 different databases. Calculations were made with Comprehensive MetaAnalysis software using random-effects model. Cell number measurements were pooled using the random-effects model and displayed on forest plots. Summary point estimations, 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and 95% prediction intervals (PIs) were calculated. The cumulative mean cell numbers were 8.26 (95% CI 4.71-11.80) with PI of 0-25.32 for the duodenum, 11.52 (95% CI 7.21-15.83) with PI 0-60.64 for the terminal ileum, and 11.10/ high-power field (HPF) (95% CI 9.11–13.09) with PI of 0.96 to 21.23 in the large intestine and the rectum (HPF area = 0.2 mm2). Previous studies included control patients with irritable bowel syndrome and functional gastrointestinal disorders. As mucosal eosinophils have a role in their pathomechanism, those patients should have been excluded. A critical point of interpreting reported data is that HPF is relative to the technical parameters of the microscopes; therefore, it is important to report findings in cell/mm2. The present meta-analysis does not support the higher (>20) or lower (<10) cutoff values for healthy tissue eosinophil number. In contrast to the esophagus, there is no normal cutoff eosinophil density in the small intestine and the colon. A prospective, multicenter study to establish normal mucosal eosinophil density is clearly needed.


Purpose. This pilot study examined nutrition-related attitudes that may affect food choices at fast-food restaurants, including consumer attitudes toward nutrition labeling of fast foods and elimination of value size pricing. Methods. A convenience sample of 79 fast-food restaurant patrons aged 16 and above (78.5% white, 55% female, mean age 41.2 [17.1]) selected meals from fast-food restaurant menus that varied as to whether nutrition information was provided and value pricing included and completed a survey and interview on nutrition-related attitudes. Results. Only 57.9% of participants rated nutrition as important when buying fast food. Almost two thirds (62%) supported a law requiring nutrition labeling on restaurant menus. One third (34%) supported a law requiring restaurants to offer lower prices on smaller instead of bigger-sized portions. Conclusion. This convenience sample of fast-food patrons supported nutrition labels on menus. More research is needed with larger samples on whether point-of-purchase nutrition labeling at fast-food restaurants raises perceived importance of nutrition when eating out.


Background Some clinical and basic research studies have indicated that exposure to metformin might have protective effects against ovarian cancer. However, results from epidemiologic studies have been inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of metformin use on the risk of ovarian cancer occurrence and mortality. Methods Multiple databases were searched to identify studies on the association between use of metformin and risk of ovarian cancer or prognosis, up to August 2018. Relevant information for analysis was extracted. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled risk estimate. Results Thirteen articles were included, of which six articles focused on ovarian cancer incidence and the others focused on prognosis. The pooled OR for ovarian cancer occurrence and mortality comparing metformin use with non-use or use of other hypoglycemic drugs was 0.76 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.93, p = 0.008) and 0.55 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.84, p = 0.006), respectively. Moderate to substantial heterogeneity was observed across included studies. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that use of metformin was significantly associated with a lower incidence and a better prognosis of ovarian cancer in patients with diabetes. Well-designed interventional studies are warranted to confirm our findings.


Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and psychosocial outcomes of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)–based group resilience training program for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Research Method/Design: The study used a pre–post group intervention design with 3-month follow-up. The intervention consisted of 8 group sessions of 2.5 hours each with 7 weekly sessions plus a booster Session 5 weeks later. Thirty-seven PwMS completed questionnaires. Primary psychosocial outcomes were resilience, quality of life (QoL), and distress. Secondary outcomes were the ACT processes: mindfulness, defusion, values and acceptance. Results: Significant improvements were observed for resilience (p = .005; Hedge's g = .47), physical health QoL (p < .001; g = −.76), mental health QoL (p = .006; g = −.46), depression (p = .009; g = .38), stress (p = .025; g = .33), and 3 ACT processes: defusion (p = .013; g = −.54), values (p = .010; g = −.38), and acceptance (p = .006; g = −.39). Values and defusion emerged as mediators of physical health QoL and stress (90% CI), respectively. Program feasibility was supported by positive participant feedback; high rates of recruitment, attendance, retention, and homework engagement; and good intervention fidelity. Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary support for the utility and feasibility of a community organization delivered ACT-based group resilience training program for improving resilience, QoL, depression, stress, and protective factors (defusion, values, acceptance) in PwMS.


The denaturing aspect of current activity-based protein profiling strategies limits the classes of chemical probes to those which irreversibly and covalently modify their targeting enzymes. Herein, we present a complimentary, affinity-based labeling approach to profile enzymes which do not possess covalently bound substrate intermediates. Using a variety of enzymes belonging to the class of metalloproteases, the feasibility of the approach was successfully demonstrated in several proof-of-concept experiments. The design template of affinity-based probes targeting metalloproteases consists of a peptidyl hydroxamate zinc-binding group (ZBG), a fluorescent reporter tag, and a photolabile diazirine group. Photolysis of the photolabile unit in the probe effectively generates a covalent, irreversible linkage between the probe and the target enzyme, rendering the enzyme distinguishable from unlabeled proteins upon separation on a SDS-PAGE gel. A variety of labeling studies were carried out to confirm that the affinity-based approach selectively labeled metalloproteases in the presence of a large excess of other proteins and that the success of the labeling reaction depends intimately upon the catalytic activity of the enzyme. Addition of competitive inhibitors proportionally diminished the extent of enzyme labeling, making the approach useful for potential in situ screening of metalloprotease inhibitors. Using different probes with varying P(1) amino acids, we were able to generate unique "fingerprint" profiles of enzymes which may be used to determine their substrate specificities. Finally, by testing against a panel of yeast metalloproteases, we demonstrated that the affinity-based approach may be used for the large-scale profiling of metalloproteases in future proteomic experiments.


Neonatal airway abnormalities are commonly encountered by the neonatologist, general pediatrician, maternal fetal medicine specialist, and otolaryngologist. This review article discusses common and rare anomalies that may be encountered, along with discussion of embryology, workup, and treatment. This article aims to provide a broad overview of neonatal airway anomalies to arm those caring for these children with a broad differential diagnosis and basic knowledge of how to manage basic and complex presentations.


This report presents site-dependent design response spectra which account for the effects of the soils and earthquakes that occur in Washington State. A base spectrum and soil amplification spectra are developed that are correlated with a mapped severity coefficient. The base spectrum is selected with consideration given to the special characteristics of the subduction zone earthquakes likely to occur in this area. The computer program SHAKE is used to develop the soil amplification spectra. Soil profiles from 123 boring logs from actual bridge sites in Washington are used in this research. The results are intended to replace corresponding sections of the currently used AASHTO guidelines.


Reductive catalytic splitting to sugar alcohols is a promising technology to valorize (hemi)cellulosic feedstock. This contribution focuses on the conversion of arabinoxylan (AX), a common hemicellulose polymer, to pentitols like xylitol and arabitol in the presence of ruthenium-loaded H-USY zeolites. Both acid and metal sites on the catalyst play a crucial role in the bifunctional catalytic mechanism. Overall, the reaction mechanism involves hydrolysis of AX into shorter (less reactive) xylan oligomer intermediates (XOs), which are in turn hydrolysed into sugar monomers. The first step occurs fast in hot liquid water, but the second step which is rate limiting, requires acid catalysis. Literature has reported successful XO hydrolysis with soluble acids. However, USY zeolites, being non-corrosive instead of the former, are able to hydrolyse XOs more efficiently, likely due to their strong mesopore adsorption capacity. Once formed, the monomeric sugars should be hydrogenated on the metal sites as fast as possible, as otherwise undesired competitive acid catalysed side-reactions will occur. While another catalyst like Ru on carbon can also be used in the one-pot approach close proximity of the two sites, e.g. in the pores of the USY zeolite, is beneficial for the pentitol selectivity, as long as they are well harmonised. After searching for the ideal dual site balance, exceptionally high pentitol yields up to 90 mol% were achieved after only 5 h of reaction. Comparison with earlier reported cellulose reactions shows a narrowing of the ideal acid-to-metal range, besides a shift to lower ratios. Initial regeneration studies show a stable Ru/USY catalytic system able to perform multiple reaction runs with retention of activity and selectivity.


The purpose of this text is to show, in general terms, the main aspects of Hume's critic of those philosophers that he called by the epithet of "modern epicureans". Hobbes, and his supposed followers, according to Hume's point of view, made the mistake of choosing self love as the source and principle of all our actions and judgments. After that, we intend to outline the central role of the concept of sympathy in this critic and in the constitution of Hume's moral theory.


1. Hemicholinium‐3 (HC‐3) has at least two presynaptic effects at cholinergic synapses between motor acon collaterals and spinal Renshaw cells, neither of which influenced non‐cholinergic excitatory synapses on dorsal horn interneurones. 2. One, which occurred independently of repetitive activity of the synapses and which resulted in increased latency of synaptic excitation, presumably involved changes in the properties of presynaptic fibres and terminals which influenced transmitter release. 3. The other, which depended on continuous repetitive synaptic activity, was consistent with depletion by HC‐3 of presynaptic stores of acetylcholine (ACh).


This article aims at the analysis of the organizational culture at enterprises located in two towns with distinct quantitative traits, Rio Paranaiba and Araxa. While the surveyed enterprises in Rio Paranaiba are mostly micro and small enterprises (86%), in Araxa there are mostly medium and large companies (53%). The overall objective is to verify if there are significant differences in organizational culture among these enterprises and if they can be explained by the organization size. The research was quantitative and instruments for data collection were a questionnaire and a scale for measuring organizational culture containing four dimensions: Hierarchical Distance Index (IDH), Individualism Index (INDI), Masculinity Index (MASC) and the Uncertainty Control Index (CINC). Tabulation and analysis of data were performed using the PASW Statistics 18, doing descriptive and inferential statistical procedures. Using a Reduction Factor (-21) the achieved indexes were classified into 5 intensity categories (from "very low" to "very high"). The Student t test for two means was performed, revealing significant differences in Hierarchical Distance and Individualism between Araxa and Rio Paranaiba enterprises (p <0.05).


In this paper, several experiments are performed according to deep neural network (DNN) based features for the performance comparison of speaker verification (SV) systems. To this end, input features for a DNN, such as mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC), linear-frequency cepstral coefficient (LFCC), and perceptual linear prediction (PLP), are first compared in a view of the SV performance. After that, the effect of a DNN training method and a structure of hidden layers of DNNs on the SV performance is investigated depending on the type of features. The performance of an SV system is then evaluated on the basis of I-vector or probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) scoring method. It is shown from SV experiments that a tandem feature of DNN bottleneck feature and MFCC feature gives the best performance when DNNs are configured using a rectangular type of hidden layers and trained with a supervised training method.


Aim Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire 2007 (DCDQ'07) is an international survey tool based on parents' estimation of their child's motor coordination skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of a Swedish version of DCDQ'07 by finding out how the classification of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) via DCDQ'07 is consistent with the classification of DCD via the motor impairment test, Movement ABC. Method In the context of a larger study, a Swedish translated version of the parent survey DCDQ'07 were sent to 4000 randomly selected families with children aged 8 10 years in Stockholm County. The classifications "DCD" or "NOT DCD" with cut-off values of 56 (9 years) and 57 (10 years) were applied. Forty families were selected from 410 registered responses. Parents and children were invited to the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences for additional motor skills tests. Thirty-four children (8.5 ± 0.6 years) completed the quantitative part of the Movement ABC chosen as the standard criteria for motor performance with the 15th percentile as a criterion for DCD. Data processing was performed in IBM SPSS Statistics 19. Receiver Operator Characteristic curve (ROC) was used to determine positive criterion for DCDQ'07. The correlation analysis Spearman's Rho was used. Level of significance was set at p <0.05. Results At the cut-off values of <56 (9 years) and <57 (10 years) the DCDQ'07 reached a sensitivity of 80 %, a specificity of 67 % and positive predicted value (ppv) of 50 %. The accepted consensus with Kappa was just below 0.4. Significant correlations were found between the Movement ABC and the total score of DCDQ'07 (r = 0,61) and between the three subcomponents in DCDQ'07 and the sub-tasks of the Movement ABC, except one task. Conclusion The Swedish version of DCDQ'07 exhibits an acceptable validity and is a useful screening instrument to identify children with suspected DCD. The test meets the requirement (80 %) to identify children with motor problems (sensitivity) and satisfy nearly requirement (70 %) for specificity, which is the ability to correctly identify children without motor problems. Cut-off values between 48 and 57 are recommended, depending which groups should be investigated. Lower values are recommended for clinical groups and higher for population-based studies.


Abstract. Water resources assessment is crucial for human well-being and ecosystem's health. Assessments by considering both the blue and green water are of great significance as the green water plays a critical but often ignored role in the terrestrial ecosystem, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Many approaches have been developed for green and blue water valuation, while few of them considers the interrelationship between them. This study proposed a new framework for green and blue water assessment by considering the interactions between them in an arid endorheic river basin where hydrological cycling is dramatically altered by human activities. Results show that even though the green water is the dominant water resources, the blue water is also critical. Most of the blue water are transformed to green water through physically and human induced processes to meet the water demand of ecosystems. Time and spatial variability of water supply and consumption forms totally different blue and green water regimes in different ecosystems. We also found that human use an increasing share of water with the decrease of the water availability. The massive water use by human reduces the water use for natural ecosystems. This indicates that natural ecosystems will take a higher risk of freshwater use when the water use competition increases. This study provides crucial information to better understand the interactions between green and blue water by assessing water resources in an explicit way. It also provides crucial implications for water management aiming to make the balance between humankind and nature.


This paper is a "call to arms" for the community to take up Van Bush's original challenge of effecting a transformation of scholarly communications and record keeping. It argues for the necessity of an interactive scholarly communication research agenda by briefly reviewing the rapid development of alternative authoring and publishing models. Seven dimensions of interactive communication that delineate a design space for the area are described. Previous work and existing new media are used to initially populate the design space and show opportunities for new research directions. VKB spaces, Synchrony PADLs, and Walden's paths are used as foils for describing new media for interactive scholarly communication. This leads to a brief discussion of uncovered areas in the design space and open research questions. A community developed framework for future interactive scholarly communications would be a major contribution and is put forth as the overall goal.


In teaching a course on death in modern theater to fifteen undergraduates, I had to engage with a real-life death "drama" (the death of a peer of my students) that impinged onmy class, presenting me with an uncomfortable pedagogical conundrum. I had to re-think myobjectives as an instructor and my conception of the classroom as a safe space. In this article, I rehearse this complicated and potentially fractious class scenario and scrutinize my approach to it. I investigate the potential merits of thinking, feeling, and working through crisis in a classroom situation, thereby fashioning a type of pedagogical "third space" in which ideational and circumstantial crossover is allowed. Some of the issues that arise are the ways in which we can situate pedagogy in praxis with "real life" and what challenges are provided?


The purpose of the present work is to study the convergence of H1-Galerkin mixed finite element method for the linear parabolic partial differential equations. The emphasis is on the theoretical aspects of such methods. An attempt has been made in this thesis to study the error analysis for the semidiscrete and fully discrete schemes with lesser regularity assumptions on the initial data. More precisely, for homogeneous parabolic problem an energy technique is used to obtain error estimates of order O(h2t−1/2) with positive time in the L2-norm for both the solution and the flux when the given initial data is in H2(Ω)∩H1 0 (Ω). Further, a parabolic duality argument is used to obtain optimal order error estimates of order O(h2t−1) for both the solution and its flux when the given initial function is only in H1 0 (Ω). Analogous results are shown to hold for two dimensional parabolic problems. Since the smoothing property of the exact solution plays a significant role in the study of error analysis in the semidiscrete case we, therefore, first investigate the smoothing property of the exact solution of this problem using energy arguments. Based on backward Euler method, a fully discrete scheme is analyzed for one-dimensional homogeneous parabolic problems and almost optimal order error bounds are established. Optimal order error estimate is the best that one can get between the exact solution and its numerical approximation when measured globally on the computational domain. But, there are places (points or lines) in the computational domain where the approximate solution is more closer to the exact solution than what is predicted by the global error estimates. It would be advantageous to make use of those points or lines in the modelling process. Therefore, we study superconvergence phenomenon for the semidiscrete H1-Galerkin mixed finite element method for parabolic problems. A new approximate solution for the flux with superconvergence of order O(hk+3) is realized via a postprocessing technique, where k ≥ 1 is the order of the approximating polynomials employed in the Raviart-Thomas element. A priori error estimates can give asymptotic rates of convergence as the mesh parameter goes to zero, but often can not provide much practical information about the actual errors encountered on a given mesh. The question of quantifying the error brings attention to a posteriori estimates. A posteriori error estimators are computable quantities which bound the errors or approximate the errors by computed numerical solution and input data of the problem. Further, to guarantee a good convergence behavior of the discrete solution, one needs to apply a refinement algorithm based on a posteriori error estimates. Therefore, we study a posteriori error analysis for the semidiscrete and fully discrete H1-Galerkin mixed finite element method for parabolic problems. The estimators are derived based on a residual approach.


In order to outmaneuver increasing competition, organizations must plan their strategies for managing the future. Yet, planning is not solely adequate. It is important to ensure the sustainability of feasible plans which are supported by performance evaluations, and to focus on strategies that which pay attention to demands and expectations of stakeholders. The most prominent features of the real-life problems are multiple criteria, complexity and uncertainty. Benefiting from expert and stakeholder views help to reach optimal solutions of those problems. Taking advantage of artificial intelligence techniques would also contribute to the achievement of optimal results. Strategy Focused Model (SFM) aims to provide the most optimal possible solutions to real-life problems that require multi-criteria decision making. In SFM, the views of stakeholders and strategists are input into the decision making process. The main criteria of a problem establish the mainframe of the model, and these criteria are utilized in SWOT analysis. Hence, SWOT analysis is developed to Sectional SWOT analysis (SSWOT) and become more effective in determining strategies. SFM suggests the use of SSWOT analysis. The model requires to determine the weights of criteria and sub-criteria as well as the weights of stakeholders' and strategists' views. Thereafter, those weights enter into the decision making process. Although there are various methods to calculate those weights, Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is the one used in this study. For Turkish branded automobile production, SFM is applied and results are obtained and discussed.


This Article will start with a brief overview of the Lambert case. It will then discuss the differing views on how to interpret this relatively short case. Next, it will review the cases citing to Lambert that illustrate the narrow approach that courts have taken when applying this case. Finally, it will offer some thoughts on how Lambert could have played a role in preventing some of the excesses of mass incarceration, but failed.


A survey of 308 computer users and 153-control group working in commercial computer centers "business centers" within Ilorin metropolis of Kwara-State was done. The aim was to determine the effect of computer visual display terminals (computer monitors) on the eye. The main ocular effect found in computer users was Asthenopia. Prevalence of Asthenopia as the only symptom among the study group ranges between 13.9% and 46.3% while in the control group it was between 3.3% and 16.3%. 63.0% of the study group and 18.7% of the control group had significant Asthenopia with P = 0.05. Eye examination including lens, funduscopy, tonometry and refractive statuses were essentially comparable in the two groups examined. There was no demonstrable organic eye lesion attributable to computer visual display terminal. The Tropical Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 12(1) 2005: 15-18


Studies have shown that children vary in the trajectories of their language development after cochlear implant (CI) activation. The aim of the present study is to assess the preverbal and lexical development of a group of 20 Italian-speaking children observed longitudinally before CI activation and at three, 6 and 12 months after CI surgery (mean age at the first session: 17.5 months; SD: 8.3; and range: 10–35). The group of children with CIs (G-CI) was compared with two groups of normally-hearing (NH) children, one age-matched (G-NHA; mean age at the first session: 17.4 months; SD: 8.0; and range: 10–34) and one language-matched (G-NHL; n = 20; mean age at the first session: 11.2 months; SD: 0.4; and range: 11–12). The spontaneous interactions between children and their mothers during free-play were transcribed. Preverbal babbling production and first words were considered for each child. Data analysis showed significant differences in babbling and word production between groups, with a lower production of words in children with CIs compared to the G-NHA group and a higher production of babbling compared to the G-NHL children. Word production 1 year after activation was significantly lower for the children with CIs than for language-matched children only when maternal education was controlled for. Furthermore, latent class growth analysis showed that children with CIs belonged mainly to classes that exhibited a low level of initial production but also progressive increases over time. Babbling production had a statistically significant effect on lexical growth but not on class membership, and only for groups showing slower and constant increases. Results highlight the importance of preverbal vocal patterns for later lexical development and may support families and speech therapists in the early identification of risk and protective factors for language delay in children with CIs.


Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder characterized by non‐caseating granulomas and the accumulation of CD4+ T cells in involved tissues such as the lung. To evaluate the diversity of the CD4+ T‐cell repertoire in this disorder, a detailed clonal analysis was performed in five individuals with active sarcoidosis who demonstrated preferential accumulation of T cells expressing the T‐cell receptor variable gene family Vβ8 in either the lung or blood. In three individuals, analysis of unselected samples of nucleotide sequences derived from Vβ8+ lung T cells demonstrated degrees of clonality ranging from 11% to 46%, indicating the expansion of limited numbers of Vβ8+ T‐cell clones in the lung. Analysis of the corresponding deduced amino acid sequences demonstrated common VDJ junctional amino acid residues in the dominant Vβ8+ T‐cell clones derived from two oligoclonal Vβ8+ lung T‐cell populations, consistent with an antigen‐specific T‐cell response. In contrast, analysis of Vβ8+ CD4+ T cells from the blood of an individual with a marked bias for peripheral blood Vβ8+ T cells demonstrated no evidence of oligoclonality, suggesting that the stimulus for circulating biased Vβ‐specific T cells in sarcoidosis may derive from a different, perhaps superantigenic, origin. Clinical improvement in the disease either in response to treatment with corticosteroids or as a result of spontaneous resolution was associated with a decrease in the proportion of Vβ8‐specific T cells in the biased lung and/or blood T‐cell compartments. Together, these observations are consistent with a role for this T‐cell subset in the clinical manifestations of active granulomatous disease.


For combating not only general deviations in total power, but localized flux (power) perturbations as well, separate control systems are designed for separate cores of the coupled-core reactor. In this paper conditions are obtained for global asymptotic stability of a coupled core reactor including its control system. The results obtained here for stability are in the form of the weaker Popov condition, which allows the determination of stability geometrically in the frequency domain. An example of a coupled core reactor with typical parameters is given to illustrate the ease involved in the determination of stability.


A submerged biological fixed-film reactor packed with plastic corrugated plates was employed to treat a wastewater of 100-400 mg NH4+-N/l and 80-130 mg COD/l. Nitrification and COD removal occurred in the reactor simultaneously. The kinetics of ammonium inhibition was studied, and used to control the bioreactor with the optimum condition. This operation strategy of kinetic control was able to reduce the duration of the acclimation of nitrifying bacteria in the reactor, and to enhance the removal of ammonium up to 95-98 %. The flow mode of indirect aeration in the reactor was able to maintain the suspended solid in the effluent below 4 mg/l without biofilm sloughing-off throughout the 300 operation days. In addition, the kinetic control and indirect aeration strategy of operation were able to obtain stable and low concentrations of COD, ammonium and nitrite in the effluent, and a high biomass of 14 g VSS/l in the reactor, when the influent loading of ammonium was up to 0.74 kg NH4+-N/m3-day associated with the medium surface loading of 10.4 g NH4+-N/m2-day.


Severe surgical infection is one of the most obvious clinical settings of DIC. Although many initiating triggers have been discussed, the most potent might be a bacterial endotoxin which activates Hageman factor or some components of serum complement. We examined a disorder of blood coagulation system in severe surgical infection in terms of the results of limulus test for detection of circulating endotoxin. In 59 of such patients, 10 cases (32.3%) of DIC diagnosed by MINNA 's criteria were recognized in 31 limulus positive cases, whereas only 4 cases (14.3%) in 28 limulus negative groups. Each clinical course, prognosis, or the relationship with MOF were also discussed in detail. It was emphasized that the first requirement for diagnosis of DIC should be awareness of its possibility and careful observation of platelet counts. The immediate needs for treatment of DIC are (1) a cure of underlying infection by surgical drainage and chemotherapy, and (2) inhibition of intravascular coagulation by use of heparin and/or FOY etc. Our experiments performed by a continuous drop infusion of both 0.2 mg/kg 055; B5 E. Coli endotoxin and several doses of FOY for 4 hours into rabbits showed that the most potent inhibitory effect of FOY on platelet and WBC was observed in 0.1 mg/kg/min.


Summary

Beta diversity is the compositional heterogeneity of biotic assemblages among sites, and biotic homogenization is the decrease in beta diversity, facilitated by an increase in similarity of biotic communities over time. Environmental harshness decreases the importance of stochastic processes in structuring assemblages, resulting in a homogenization of the biota.
We investigated if increasing nutrient enrichment, land-use pressure, and within-lake habitat alteration would decrease the beta diversity of macroinvertebrates in 46 lakes across Europe. Beta diversity was calculated using global multivariate dispersion. We utilized a structural equation modelling approach to account for hierarchical interdependence between potential impacts, that is the direct effects and correlations among the different impacts.
We found clear indications that European macroinvertebrate communities are being homogenized by ongoing lake shore development. Increasing land-use pressure in the form of residential and commercial development had a direct negative effect on beta diversity (standardized coefficient = −0·40), as did roadways, albeit indirectly through an increase in engineering structures (standardized coefficient = −0·31). Increasing within-lake silt levels also homogenized macroinvertebrate communities (standardized coefficient = −0·18), independent of near shore land use. Our results indicate the negative effect of both the near shore land-use pressure and the within-lake habitat alteration on macroinvertebrate beta diversity, with significant interactions between these pressures.
Habitat protection should take a more holistic approach to assessing lake development pressure, over a range of scales, as a solely site specific approach is not always biologically meaningful. Thus, future management plans should carefully control and mitigate ongoing development pressure if lake ecosystem health and resilience is to be maintained.
Synthesis and applications. This study is the first of its kind to demonstrate European-wide homogenization of littoral macroinvertebrate lake communities with increasing habitat alteration and land-use pressure. Significant interactions occur between different habitat scales, with no one scale entirely accounting for the homogenization effect. To avoid further biotic homogenization, development pressure must be carefully managed at multiple scales, and where possible, minimized. This presents a challenge, as globally there is an increasing expansion of the human population and a consequent increase in anthropogenic pressure across all habitats.


Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has found as a climacteric pandemic that spreads from human-to-human through contiguity. It is not possible to control the virus properly because its vaccine has not been discovered yet. As of now, various contact tracing approaches are being taken to contain the spread of the virus by breaking its transmission chain. Recently, few technologies are being exploited for contact tracing such as geological location, Bluetooth and google maps. Governments of some countries have already launched contact tracing applications to identify the close contact people of COVID-19 positive patients.However, these methods may not be effective without a huge amount of testing facility since the tracing action starts when a COVID-19 testing result is found positive. In this paper, we have proposed a novel AI-powered data management framework for smart city named IoT-to-Edge-to-Fog-to-cloudlet-to-Cloud (IEF2C) data management framework which will be exploited to identify the COVID-19 suspected patients in smart cities and also be used to inform the surrounding people about the suspected patient. The proposed framework is isolated into five layers which have different tasks such as data collection, processing, authentication and storage. The framework will bring all the citizens under a common platform as well as will ensure the user and device mobility. It will mitigate the information gap by helping concerned authorities and users to take proper steps in such a pandemic era.


A study was made to determine whether high dose-rate afterloaded Co60 (Cathetron) can be safely used in preoperative radiotherapy for patients with St. I-II cervical or endometrial cancer without an increase in surgical difficulties or postsurgical morbidity when compared with conventional radium therapy. Seventy-five patients with cervical cancer St. Ia-IIb were operated on radically two to three weeks after preoperative intracavitary radiotherapy of which 31 had been treated with the Cathetron and 44 with radium. Furthermore, 144 patients with endometrial cancer St. I-II were also operated on, of which 49 had received Cathetron and 95 radium treatment. No statistical differences were found between the two treatment groups in the duration of the operations, blood loss, or the frequency of early or late postoperative complications.


By means of a SQUID magnetometer the authors have investigated the change of magnetic moment Delta M caused by RF pumping at NMR frequency in the easy-plane antiferromagnet MnCO3. It is shown that Delta M arises mainly from a non-thermal packet of nuclear k=0 magnons. A characteristic time T3 describing the relaxation of these magnons into the whole nuclear dispersion branch was evaluated from the experimental data. The authors found that T3 is much smaller than the spin-lattice relaxation time T1, which means that the strongly excited nuclear system can be described by a separate spin temperature Tn. A relaxation mechanism for T3 is discussed which could explain the observed field and temperature dependences of Delta M.


We find that island shapes and aggregation in diindenoperylene deposited on Au(100), Au(110), and Au(111) single crystals are steered by the anisotropy due to the lattice geometry of the substrate. This phenomenon may be exploited as a tool for molecular patterning of surfaces.


Incorrect patellar resection during total knee arthroplasty can lead to anterior knee pain, patellar maltracking, patellofemoral impingement, patellar fracture, component loosening and reduced range of motion. A computer-assisted surgery (CAS) system was developed to improve the accuracy of the patellar cut. Twelve cadaveric knee specimens (6 pairs) were surgically prepared and the patella resected by two senior orthopaedic residents using either a conventional sawguide technique (right knee) or a computer-assisted sawguide technique (left knee). Multiple cuts and measurements were permitted for the conventional technique, to reflect the clinical situation, whereas only a single cut was permitted for the CAS technique. Prior training had been provided on artificial bones for both techniques. Custom marker arrays were mounted on the sawguide and patella. The user positioned the sawguide based on a real-time display that compared the current sawguide plane to the ideal resection. The resulting mediolateral and superoinferior resection angles and central thickness were measured from CT scans of the specimens, relative to the anterior surface of the patella. Both techniques resulted in symmetric cuts (<7°). Repeatability in the mediolateral direction was better for the CAS technique than for the conventional technique (p < 0.01). This study demonstrated that computer-assisted patellar resection is a feasible approach that can produce results equal to or better than those obtained with conventional techniques, even when the experimental conditions favor the conventional technique. Improvements in the CAS hardware could further improve the accuracy and usability of the system, resulting in reductions in postoperative complications. Patellar CAS could also serve as a valuable tool for feedback and training.


Hypertension is a pathological condition in which the blood pressure is higher than under normal physiological conditions, i.e., 140/90 mmHg or higher. Blood pressure is measured as the force exerted by the blood pumped by the heart against the walls of arteries (aorta) and distributed throughout the body. Use of complementary and alternative medicine as a cure for hypertension is a common phenomenon because of the high risk of cardiovascular complications and kidney diseases caused by conventional Western medicine. It is reported that high blood pressure causes ~49% of myocardial infarction and 62% of strokes. Effective treatment of hypertension is restricted by adverse effects and cost of the medication. Moxibustion is the application of heat by burning a small bundle of tightly bound moxa, to targeted acupoint, and sometimes it is used along with acupuncture. Encouraging results have been reported on randomized trials indicating the efficacy of moxibustion. But more controlled clinical trials are required to further establish the potential efficacy of moxibustion approach in hypertension.


ABSTRACT Aim A prospective design was used to investigate the relationship of current psychiatric symptoms of incarcerated people with serious mental illness (SMI) and aggressive behavior on a penitentiary ward for crisis intervention. Methods One hundred sixty detainees with SMI, detained in a high-security penitentiary psychiatric facility, were screened every 2 weeks with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Extended (BPRS-E) by trained clinicians, to ensure that the data on psychiatric symptoms were up-to-date. Aggressive behavior was registered with the Staff Observation Aggression Scale–Revised. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the relationships between factor scores of the BPRS-E and aggressive behavior. Results Significant relationships between the BPRS-E factor hostility, antisocial traits, and aggressive incidents were found, but not between the positive symptoms or manic factor scores and aggressive incidents. Discussion Symptoms of SMI measured with the BPRS-E did not help to explain the occurrence of aggressive behavior. This is not in line with what is commonly found. The implication is that it can be expected that this population will display aggressive behavior but that symptoms do not help in predicting when this will occur. In addition, hostility and antisocial traits were related to aggressive behavior. For this specific population, an interactional approach might be more effective in the management of aggression than treatment of symptoms of SMI.


This paper examines the legal aspects of parenthood and how it is, or could be, determined in Nigeria given the wide popularity and uptake of assisted reproductive technology (ART). It aims to establish whether the existing national laws can sufficiently protect the interests of the child who is born and of the consumers, with an emphasis on the determination of the status of the parents. It also identifies problems and proposes solutions with regard to the specific issue of establishing legal parenthood following the use of ART, either with or without state regulation. The paper concludes by recommending specific ART legislation that could help solve the problems, and advises Nigerian law-makers to pay attention to statutes from other jurisdictions as a guide.


Electrospinning is a widely used technique to produce continuous polymeric fibers ranging from 2 nm to several micrometers. This technique is not only employed in research laboratories, but it is also increasingly being applied in different industrial fields in the last few decades as a highly versatile and cost-effective technology. Compared to conventional techniques for fiber fabrication, electrospinning can fabricate fibers in a more desirable size (e.g., nanoscale). Nanofibers are generated by the application of a strong electric field on polymer solution. Over the years, more than 200 polymers have been electrospun for various applications. In this review, our aim was to present an overview of the electrospinning technique and its potential applications. We covered the basic principles of the electrospinning technique and parameters which significantly affect the fiber morphology. The most recent work on electrospinning nanofibers for blending polymers, filtration, energy, sensing and biomedical applications was also presented in this review.


This study aims to develop a universal model of e-learning management by hinging upon a range of relevant learning management systems. The ongoing advances in information technology have penetrated through the fabrics of social and business processes. Undoubtedly, this framework has influenced the education industry by modifying approaches and forms of teaching. This study uses two research approaches to achieve qualitative results; acmeological and competency-based. The acmeological and competency-based research approach methods were relied upon in choosing to (1) analyze the design and application-related features of foreign and Russian LMS platforms; (2) develop tools for the e-learning system development; and (3) assess the extent to which e-learning tools meet the preferences of high-potential users of X, Y and Z generations. The relevance of the study lies in the provision of an underlying model of e-learning management. The fundamental modernization within the framework of this research study display a universal concept which can be applied to study the modern methods and approaches to institutional teaching and learning and corporate trainings as determined by the necessity of efficiency of personnel involvement in professional activities. When implementing an e-learning solution, it is necessary to monitor the hardware performance, to keep the hosting servers in function, and to improve the system's functionality for user convenience. In addition, state educational organizations including schools, colleges and universities, especially in less developed countries with medium and low incomes, prefer traditional teaching methods and move towards an innovative classroom at a slow pace. Practitioners may use this study to further assess and evaluate the learning patterns of learners, especially the younger generation. Researchers may explore and develop new strategies to employ blended e-learning management systems and platforms and thereby comprehend the future of learning. The research findings may be regarded as a step forward in creating convenient and flexible e-learning platforms suitable for the needs of students, diverse institutions, and businesses. Researchers and practitioners should explore advantages and disadvantages of learning management systems as well as their capabilities to supplement traditional and corporate learning by offering a whole spectrum of programs, curricula and instructions.


SUMMARY Congenital cytomegalovirus infection is considered the main cause of infantile non-genetic neurosensory hearing loss. Although this correlation was described more than 50 years ago, the natural history of internal ear involvement has not yet been fully defined. Hearing loss is the most frequent sequela and is seen in a variable percentage up to 30%; the hearing threshold is characterised by fluctuations or progressive deterioration. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hearing loss in cases of congenital CMV infection from Modena county, starting from the database of the microbiology and virology reference laboratory. All children undergoing urine testing for suspected CMV infection or viral DNA testing on Guthrie Card in the period between January 2004 and December 2014 were enrolled in the study. Family paediatricians were contacted and asked about clinical information on the possible presence at birth or subsequent occurrence of hearing loss, excluding cases where this was not possible. The results showed an annual prevalence of congenital cytomegalovirus infection among suspected cases that was stable over time despite the progressive increase in subjects tested. The prevalence of hearing loss was in line with the literature, whereas in long-term follow-up cases of moderate, medium-to-severe hearing loss with late onset were not detected. The introduction of newborn hearing screening in the county has allowed early diagnosis of hearing loss at birth as non-TEOAE-born births underwent a urine virus test. Moreover, despite all the limitations of the study, we can conclude that European epidemiological studies are needed to better define the relationship between congenital CMV infection and internal ear disease as the impact of environmental and genetic factors is still not entirely clarified.


MODELING AND VALIDATION OF TENSION-ELEMENT BASED MECHANISMS FOR GOLF BALL-CLUB IMPACT Aaron Robison Department of Mechanical Engineering Master of Science Previous work has systematically and numerically demonstrated feasibility and performance benefits of the tension-element concept in golf club heads; however, higher fidelity models needed to be created and validated for this concept. There is a need for more accurate models for this concept to further investigate its performance benefits. Performance is measured in terms of impact efficiency of the ball and head and is referred to as coefficient of restitution (COR). COR is affected by the dynamic effective face stiffness and mass properties of the club. This thesis creates and validates high-fidelity, non-linear, dynamic finite element models for the tension-element golf club concept. These models predicted COR with less than one percent error when compared to dynamic experimentation results.


The processing of a set of foreshortening roentgenograms by optico-holographic methods has been effected, its purpose being to obtain a three-dimensional image in a broad range of viewing angles. At the same time, the cross-sections of an object were synthetized by using an optical variant ofthe method providing for the synthesis of projecting functions and optical filtration of the synthetized image. The resolution power of the methods described is assessed.


In this paper, we propose a fast restoration mechanism for virtual path-based ATM networks. Given an ATM network topology, the capacity of each physical link, and the primary virtual path (VP) layout at system initialization, the proposed mechanism pre-assigns to each primary VP one backup VP such that (P1) the failure of a single node/link does not lead to the failure of both the primary and backup VPs, (P2) the alternate backup VP is routed on a path with the shortest hop count among all possible paths with sufficient bandwidth between the two VP terminators, and (P3) the maximum link load is minimized. During system operation, if a physical node/link fails, the proposed mechanism restores the VPs that traverse the failed node/link simply by redirecting cells on the failed VPs to their corresponding backup VPs. Moreover, the proposed mechanism also locates (i) new VPs for injured backup VPs that traverse the failed node/link, and (ii) second-generation backup VPs for newly-activated backup VPs that replace their corresponding failed primary VPs, both in a decentralized manner. We elaborate on all the component algorithms, and discuss how to configure the functionalities as software daemons that reside at each network node. The proposed mechanism is shown via event-driven simulation to be practically feasible in fast restoring failed VPs in a cost effective manner.


Human colon tumor cell lines that were adapted to grow in chemically defined medium were tested for their growth sensitivity to exogenous transferrin, insulin, and epidermal growth factor (EGF). Less differentiated cell lines, C and HCT116, were able to grow in the presence of a single peptide supplement, to respond synergistically to transferrin and insulin in combination, and to be insensitive to supplementation with exogenous EGF. The more differentiated cell lines, CBS and GEO, were found to respond to exogenous EGF in a concentration-dependent manner, to require at least two peptide factor supplements to support growth, and to respond synergistically when EGF was added to chemically defined medium that already contained transferrin and insulin. To investigate whether changes in the number or the affinity-classes of the EGF-receptor might be involved in any of these growth responses, changes in EGF-receptor number and dissociation constant were determined as a function of cell growth condition. The poorly differentiated HCT cell line HCT116 was found to undergo 28 to 64% increases in [125I]EGF-binding when its medium was supplemented with transferrin, insulin, or transferrin plus insulin. The more differentiated CBS cell line responded to all peptide supplements with decreases in [125I]EGF-binding ranging from 12 to 73%. These findings indicate that the actions of transferrin and insulin are fundamental to the growth regulatory mechanisms of these two differentiation classes of human colon tumor cell lines, but that their mechanisms are different.


In this research work, acid functionalized multiwalled walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were covalently grafted to chitosan by first reacting the oxidized carbon nanotubes with thionyl chloride to form acyl-chlorinated carbon nanotubes which are subsequently dispersed in chitosan and covalently grafted to form composite material, MWCNT–chitosan which was washed several times to remove unreacted materials. Poly (o-amino phenol) is attached with MWCNT which increases electrochemical properties of nanocomposites. This composite has been characterized by FTIR, TGA, SEM and TEM and has been shown to exhibit enhanced thermal stability. XRD spectra showed that the crystalline nature of composite was not affected much by the addition of c-MWCNTs. Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis provided an evidence for the formation of nanocomposites. The thermal stability of nanocomposites was improved by addition of c-MWCNTs as confirmed by thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA).


A growing body of evidence showed that environmental enrichment (EE) ameliorated footshock-induced fear behavior of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, no research comprehensively tested the effect of EE, cue, and the combination of EE and cue in footshock-induced fear behavior of PTSD symptoms. The present study addressed this issue and examined whether the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC, including the cingulate cortex 1 (Cg1), prelimbic cortex (PrL), and infralimbic cortex (IL)), the nucleus accumbens (NAc), the basolateral amygdala (BLA), and the hippocampus (e.g., CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG)) regulated the amelioration of the EE, cue, or the combination of EE and cue. The results showed that EE or cue could reduce fear behavior. The combination of EE and cue revealed a stronger decrease in fear behavior. The cue stimulus may play an occasion setting or a conditioned stimulus to modulate the reduction in fear behavior induced by footshock. Regarding the reduction of the EE in fear behavior, the Cg1 and IL of the mPFC and the NAc upregulated the c-Fos expression; however, the BLA downregulated the c-Fos expression. The mPFC (i.e., the Cg1, PrL, and IL) and the hippocampus (i.e., the CA1, CA3, and DG) downregulated the c-Fos expression in the suppression of the cue in fear behavior. The interaction of EE and cue in reduction of fear behavior occurred in the Cg1 and NAc for the c-Fos expression. The data of c-Fos mRNA were similar to the findings of the c-Fos protein expression. These findings related to the EE and cue modulations in fear behavior may develop a novel nonpharmacological treatment in PTSD.


Purpose of the Study. An inexpensive, effective regimen to prevent perinatal HIV transmission in the developing world is highly desirable. Nevirapine, a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, seems to provide such an intervention. However, drug-resistance mutations have been identified in up to 40% of women shortly after they received a single intrapartum nevirapine dose as part of a transmission-prevention strategy. This study was undertaken to reexamine the incidence of drug-resistant HIV-1 after single-dose nevirapine. Study Population. Fifty South African women infected with HIV subtype C. Methods. Sensitive, real-time polymerase chain reaction assays were sequentially performed for nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor–resistance mutation, K103N and Y181C. Results. Resistance mutations emerged in 65% of women after a single dose of nevirapine. Conclusions. Single-dose nevirapine as used in the developing world for prevention of perinatal HIV transmission results in the development of resistance mutations in a very high percentage of women who receive this intervention. Reviewer Comments. Although single-dose nevirapine has been successfully implemented as a strategy to prevent perinatal HIV transmission, it is increasingly apparent that the women who are treated with this regimen more often than not develop resistance mutations to nevirapine. The clinical implications are clear: Will nevirapine work for future perinatal interventions for individual women with drug-resistance mutations? Will women with these drug-resistance mutations fail to respond to nevirapine as part of a highly active retroviral therapy intervention when they need treatment for their own HIV disease? In the same issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Flys et al (J Infect Dis. 2005;192:24–29) demonstrated that drug-resistance variants of HIV may persist for >1 year in this situation. In addition, Lee et al (J Infect Dis. 2005;192:1260–1264) showed that women who developed drug-resistant HIV after exposure to single-dose nevirapine shed drug-resistant HIV in their breast milk. This increases the risk of transmission of resistant virus to uninfected infants. Together, these studies demonstrate that single-dose nevirapine, although an effective strategy for reducing maternal-child transmission of HIV, also predisposes treated women to the development of drug-resistant virus as well as the potential for transmitting drug-resistant virus to their infants via breastfeeding.


The article is an exposure to semiotic-symbolic peculiarities of non-verbal means which are the images of geometric shapes in school math, analytical configurations of some facts which are under study in secondary schools. The article details on their array and use in the learning process.


Objectives Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) has high socioeconomic burden but underexplored risk factors. The collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on 11 September 2001 (9/11) caused dust and smoke exposure, leading to paranasal sinus inflammation and CRS. We aim to determine which job tasks are risk factors for CRS in WTC-exposed Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) firefighters and emergency medical services (EMS) workers. Methods This cohort study included a 16-year follow-up of 11 926 WTC-exposed FDNY rescue/recovery workers with data on demographics, WTC exposure, job tasks and first post-9/11 complete blood counts. Using multivariable Cox regression, we assessed the associations of WTC exposure, work assignment (firefighter/EMS), digging and rescue tasks at the WTC site and blood eosinophil counts with subsequent CRS, adjusting for potential confounders. Results The rate of CRS was higher in firefighters than EMS (1.80/100 person-years vs 0.70/100 person-years; p<0.001). The combination of digging and rescue work was a risk factor for CRS (HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.94, p<0.001) independent of work assignment and WTC exposure. Conclusions Compared with EMS, firefighters were more likely to engage in a combination of digging and rescue work, which was a risk factor for CRS. Chronic irritant exposures associated with digging and rescue work may account for higher post-9/11 CRS rates among firefighters.


The convergence of the steady-state fluctuation theorem (SSFT) is investigated in a shear-flow experiment performed in a dusty plasma. This medium has a viscoelastic property characterized by the Maxwell relaxation time τ_{M}. Using measurements of the time series of the entropy production rate, for subsystems of various sizes, it is discovered that the SSFT convergence time decreases with the increasing system size until it eventually reaches a minimum value of τ_{M}, no matter the size of the subsystem. This result indicates that the convergence of the SSFT is limited by the energy-storage property of the viscoelastic medium.


A method for recovering shape from shading that solves directly for the surface height is presented. By using a discrete formulation of the problem, it is possible to achieve good convergence behavior by employing numerical solution techniques more powerful than gradient descent methods derived from variational calculus. Because this method solves directly for height, it avoids the problem of finding an integrable surface maximally consistent with surface orientation. Furthermore, since additional constraints are not needed to make the problem well posed, a smoothness constraint is used only to drive the system towards a good solution; the weight of the smoothness term is eventually reduced to near zero. By solving directly for height, stereo processing may be used to provide initial and boundary conditions. The shape from shading technique, as well as its relation to stereo, is demonstrated on both synthetic and real imagery.<<ETX>>


A major security and privacy threat for Mobile Software Agents are Untrustworthy Environments; which are able to spy on the agents' code and private data. By combining Multi-Party Computation with ElGamal publickey encryption system we are able to create a protocol capable of letting two agents have a private bidding within an Honest-but-Curious environment only with the help of an Oblivious Third Party. The Oblivious party is able to compare two encrypted inputs without being able to retrieve any information about the inputs.


The anatomy, morphology and trichome distribution on the aerial parts of Lamium truncatum Boiss. were studied in order to understand the usefulness of these characteristics for systematic purposes. L. truncatum is a Mediterranean element which grows on shady hedge banks, glades, Quercus coccifera L. macchie and forest at an altitude of 300-1650 m in the eastern part of the Mediterranean region of Turkey, western Syria, Palaestina and Israel. Some anatomical characters such as the distances of vascular bundles between the corners in the stem, the number of palisade and spongy parenchyma layer of the leaf blade, and the petiole anatomy provide information of taxonomical significance. Three main types of trichomes (peltate, capitate glandular and nonglandular) were observed on the stem, inflorescence axis, leaf and calyx surfaces of L. truncatum. Glandular trichomes were present in abundance on the inflorescence axis, calyx, abaxial side of the leaf especially on veins, and apex of the filament, but non-glandular ones were mainly situated on the leaf and stem. Moreover, notes on morphology and nutlet features of the species are given.


In this editorial, it is strongly advocated that a change of policy is warranted in order to prevent neuroscience from becoming a waste of time and money in the 21st century. Repeating the same trick in different patient populations and perusing the scientific literature seems to currently be the backbone of medical science. However, this approach does not provide knowledge on how the brain works or how specific dysfunctions result in specific diseases. Therefore, earlier findings should, first, be combined to develop new theories on the mechanics of the mind, and, second, these new ideas should be tested in well-designed experiments.


Expressions for the growth rates of space charge waves in the presence of a negative differential resistance and of acoustic waves via the piezo-electric interaction are derived for a 2D system. Consideration of multilayer effects show how the behaviour goes over to that in the 3D situation.


This paper is intended to build a connection between dynamics and fluid mechanics. Since Lagrangian equations are very useful tools in dynamics now it is discovered that it can be also used in fluid mechanics, so connection can be built through this equation... Here, the lagrangian equation is derived from the momentum equation in fluid mechanics, and then the equation is applied to three different coordinates, Cartesian, cylindrical and spherical. Certainly the application of the equation is not limited to these three different coordinates. This is just for illustration. Many applications are expected.


The heating of the solar coronal plasma has remained one of the most important problems in solar physics. An explanation of the electron and ion heating rests on the identification of the energy source and appropriate physical mechanisms via which the energy can be channelled to the plasma particles. In this paper, we discuss two important nonlinear aspects of the electron and ion heating caused by finite amplitude obliquely propagating dispersive Alfvén (DA) waves and magnetic field-aligned circularly polarized electromagnetic ion–cyclotron Alfvén (EMICA) waves that may exist in the solar terrestrial environment. Specifically, DA waves may contribute to the solar coronal electron heating via Joule heating involving electron–wave interactions, and resonant ion EMICA wave interactions may contribute to differential ion heating in the solar corona.


The intention of the scheduling system developed at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Material Flow and Logistics is the support of a scheduler working in a job-shop. Due to the existing requirements for a job-shop scheduling system the usage of flexible knowledge representation and processing techniques is necessary. Within this system the attempt was made to combine the advantages of symbolic AI-techniques with those of neural networks.


Twenty one (21) rice hybrids of different private seed companies were evaluated along with two local check varieties IR-6 and KSK-133 for genetic variability and paddy yield in adaptability trials at seven locations; Islamabad, Lahore, Farooqabad, Arifwala, Hyderabad, Dokri and Bahawalpur which are different rice ecologies of Pakistan during 2012 and 2013. The trials were conducted in RCBD with three replications at each location. The plant to plant and row to row distance was maintained at 20cm with plot size of 10m 2 (2m*5m). Recommended cultural practices were followed and a separate set of entries was sown at CDRI, Murree, Pakistan for evaluation of insect pest and disease infestation in controlled conditions. Significant differences for paddy yield were observed among entries in pooled yield analysis. CR-326 expressed the maximum mean paddy yield (7893 kg/ha) followed by JD-001 (7832 kg/ha). This increase in yield ranged from 4.2-21.7% and 7.3-25.4% over the check varieties KSK-133 and IR-6 respectively. While lowest yield expressed by LP-19 (6292 kg/ha) which is at par with IR-6 and 3% lower yield than KSK-133. On the basis of mean paddy yield, quality parameters and response to insect pests and disease resistance, the rice hybrids CR-326, HJ-177, HJ-308, EN-HY-633, FMC-1, Dhaga-15-SH, Dhaga-11-SH, JUD-002, LP-18 and Hunza-012 performed significantly better than other hybrids in yield, bursting %age and head rice recovery %age. So these rice hybrids are recommended by Varietal Evaluation Committee (VEC), PARC Islamabad, Pakistan for commercial cultivation in Pakistan. While other rice hybrids are rejected for commercial cultivation due to poor quality and non-significant yield performance. The recommended rice hybrids play a vital role in enhancing yield production and rice export of Pakistan.


A large class of problems of sequential decision making under uncertainty, of which the underlying probability structure is a Markov process, can be modeled as stochastic dynamic programs (referred to, in general, as Markov decision problems or MDPs). However, the computational complexity of the classical MDP algorithms, such as value iteration and policy iteration, is prohibitive and can grow intractably with the size of the problem and its related data. Furthermore, these techniques require for each action the one step transition probability and reward matrices, and obtaining these is often unrealistic for large and complex systems. Recently, there has been much interest in a simulation-based stochastic approximation framework called reinforcement learning (RL), for computing near optimal policies for MDPs. RL has been successfully applied to very large problems, such as elevator scheduling, and dynamic channel allocation of cellular telephone systems. In this paper, we extend RL to a more general class of decision tasks that are referred to as semi-Markov decision problems (SMDPs). In particular, we focus on SMDPs under the average-reward criterion. We present a new model-free RL algorithm called SMART (Semi-Markov Average Reward Technique). We present a detailed study of this algorithm on a combinatorially large problem of determining the optimal preventive maintenance schedule of a production inventory system. Numerical results from both the theoretical model and the RL algorithm are presented and compared.


We report the current-induced light emission (CILE) at RT from a porous silicon (PS) Schottky device exhibiting good rectifying characteristics with the ideal factor of 14. The photoluminescence spectrum from the PS layer fabricated by laterally anodization peaks at 688 nm. The intensity of CILE increases with increasing current. It has run for more than two hours and still keeps stable. Possible mechanism of CILE is discussed.


Abstract Herbicides are the basis for conventional management of purple nutsedge, one of the world's most troublesome weeds. However, as concern rises over their environmental impact, farmers are being required to reduce herbicide usage. Herbicide efficacy is strongly affected by weed growth stage and density at application, and when herbicides are applied under optimal conditions, low rates can provide maximal control efficacy (CE). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the time window for control of purple nutsedge using a low rate of herbicide, based on an effective degree days (EDDs) model, at low (one tuber) and high (10 tubers) densities. Two experiments were performed under field conditions, in the summers of 2009 and 2010. Rate of 3.75 g a.i. ha−1 trifloxysulfuron was applied once on each of five individual application dates. The growth of both treated and untreated plots was evaluated by means of leaf cover area (LCA) and biomass, which were then used to establish the time window for control. Results showed differences in both growth parameters between low and high tuber densities. The high-density patches reached LCA and fresh biomass values of 1,367 g and 1.12 m2, respectively, compared to 604 g and 0.69 m2, respectively, in the lower density patches. The favorable control periods based on biomass and LCA for the lower density patches were set to later dates than those for the higher density patches, 626 EDD compared to 483 EDD for biomass, and 786 EDD compared to 502 EDD for LCA, respectively. Although differences between the biomass- and LCA-based favorable control periods were observed at both tuber densities, the computed linear relations between the two growth parameters enabled adjusting them and setting the appropriate control period. Nomenclature: Trifloxysulfuron; Purple nutsedge, Cyperus rotundus L.; CYPRO.


This document briefly outlines the various programs in radioactive waste management and some related fields which are currently being pursued at LASL. Some additional proposed or known potential programs are also outlined, and some of the existing capabilities and facilities of the various divisions of the LASL which could be utilized in the solution of waste management problems are also described. This summary is intended to show the objectives and scope of our current programs, to aid in the evaluation and coordination of these programs, and to help us identify areas in which we can make additional contributions.


The disposition of oxycodone (OC) and metabolites in hair remains poorly characterized. We present a case involving a pharmacist in an impaired professionals' monitoring program in whom hair testing yielded OC on two occasions. On both occasions, his hair was negative for the oxymorphone (OM) metabolite at the cutoff concentration of 100 pg/mg. He claimed that, absent the detection of metabolite, the OC necessarily represented external contamination. This prompted a review of the laboratory's OC-positive hair results for the quarter April-June 2014. Overall, 466 specimens contained OC, with a mean (median) concentration of 2,375 (1,060) pg/mg. Of these OC-positive specimens, only 47 (10%) contained detectable OM. When OC was present at or below the mean (median) concentration, only 2.2% (1.3%) of specimens were OM-positive. In the setting of OC administration, the detection of OM in hair is unlikely at a cutoff concentration of 100 pg/mg. More consistent demonstration of OC metabolite(s) in hair will require the validation of methods to detect OM at lower concentrations and/or methods to detect noroxycodone.


We report on ordering transitions of concentrated non-Brownian suspensions confined by two parallel walls under steady shear. At a volume fraction as low as ϕ=0.48, particles near the wall assemble into strings which are organized as a simple hexagonal array by hydrodynamic interactions. The suspension exhibits a complex phase behavior depending on the ratio of the channel height to the particle radius, Hy/a. In a strongly confined system Hy/a<12, the order state and rheology depend on the commensurability between particle layers and the channel height. At ϕ=0.60 , the order structure in the horizontal plane changes between hexagonal and rectangular structures depending on Hy/a. It is shown that the relative viscosity is a function of both the volume fraction and the ordered state.