Purpose To evaluate the biomechanics of a novel fusion strategy (hybrid internal fixation+horizontal cage position) in minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF). Methods MIS-TLIF finite element models for three fusion strategies were created based on computed tomography images, namely, Model-A, hybrid internal fixation (ipsilateral pedicle screw and contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation)+horizontal cage position; Model-B, bilateral pedicle screw (BPS) fixation+horizontal cage position; and Model-C, BPS fixation+oblique 45° cage position. A preload of 500 N and a moment of 10 Nm were applied to the models to simulate lumbar motion, and the models' range of motion (ROM), peak stress of the internal fixation system, and cage were assessed. Results The ROM for Models A, B, and C were not different (P > 0.05) but were significantly lower than the ROM of Model-INT (P < 0.0001). Although there were subtle differences in the ROM ratio for Models A, B, and C, the trend was similar. The peak stress of the internal fixation system was significantly higher in Model-A than that of Models B and C, but only the difference between Models A and B was significant (P < 0.05). The peak stress of the cage in Model-A was significantly lower than that of Models B and C (P < 0.01). Conclusion Hybrid internal fixation with horizontal single cage implantation can provide the same biomechanical stability as traditional fixation while reducing peak stress on the cage and vertebral endplate.


Stephen Smith – along with Desmond Laurence, Andrew Herxheimer, Colin Dollery and Paul Turner – was one of the pioneers of British clinical pharmacology. Like them, he trained as a physician; but he decided to pursue an academic career in pharmacology with an emphasis that was largely about the clinical aspects of the discipline.

His medical training was at Oxford and St Thomas's Hospital. After the traditional pre- and post- registration house officer posts, he was called up for his national service in the army. He had intended to become an anaesthetist, and his army experience was designed to give him a solid grounding in the specialty.

During his time in the army May and Baker introduced a new, allegedly shorter acting, anaesthetic (buthalitone). Smith undertook a study comparing the duration of effect of buthalitone, with that of thiopentone, and found they were virtually the same [1]. He had become fascinated by the possibilities that pharmacology offered.

He might still have become an anaesthetist had he not displayed uncharacteristic belligerence during the anatomy viva voce part of the (then) FFA examination. When asked, for the third time, whether a particular bone was membranous or cartilaginous he replied: "I don't know. I don't care. And I don't see what possible importance it could be to an anesthetist". And he walked out.

Smith spent the next 36 years of his life in the pharmacology department of St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School successively as lecturer, senior lecturer, reader and finally professor of clinical pharmacology. When St. Thomas's and Guys merged, he became the chairman of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology of the United Medical and Dental Schools. On his retirement, in 1993, he became Senior Research Fellow in Neuro-Ophthalmology at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases where he continued to carry out research, and see patients, until a few weeks before his death.

Although eclectic in his interests, Smith made three massive contributions to clinical pharmacology. He was one of the very earliest pharmacogeneticists; he was a founder of the sub-discipline of ocular pharmacology; and he was a wonderfully memorable – and effective – teacher.

Smith was fascinated by interindividual differences in the response to drug therapy. In the late 1960s a few studies had examined the extent to which genetic factors might explain differences in the rates of drug metabolism. Smith, however, was more interested in the heritability of pharmacodynamic differences. With the late Ake Bertler, he undertook twin studies, using volunteers from the Swedish twin registry, to examine the contribution of genetic factors to the effects of intravenous hyoscine N-butylbromide (on heart rate) and of topical phenylephrine (on pupillary size).

He and Bertler [2] showed that monovular, but not binovular, twins showed significant concordance in responses to both drugs. They also demonstrated, however, that the responses were dependent on the concordance of peripheral sympathetic and parasympathetic tone within each twin. They did not fall into the trap of suggesting that there was some genetic trait, at the receptor level, that mediated these differences in response. Rather, they attributed them to genetically determined influences on the resting tone of the autonomic nervous system.

Around this time, Smith also investigated the heritability of taste thresholds [3]. During the late 1960s there had been emerging evidence [4] that associations might exist between the sensitivities of receptors in taste buds and those which determined responses in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Indeed, the hope had been expressed that the measurement of taste sensitivity might have value in predicting the intensity of systemic drug response. The notion of "personalised medicine" was alive 35 years ago!

Smith's work on taste thresholds [3] showed that, at least to quinine, twin and parent-offspring showed very marked heritability (0.85 and 0.55 respectively). Yet, good scientist that he was, he went to great pains to describe the limitations of these studies. How, for example, might shared environmental factors contribute to the apparent similarities between twins and parent-offspring relationships? He discussed whether this might be as a result of parental resemblance during development; or the result of imitative behaviour through dietary control.

Smith's second great achievement was in ocular pharmacology. At around the same time as he was studying the pharmacogenetics of mydriatic agents he began to become intrigued by ocular pharmacology in general. His first, and very important, contribution was to compare the effectiveness of mydriatics for routine fundal inspection. He demonstrated, beyond doubt, that the short acting tropicamide was much more comfortable and practical for this purpose than others in common use at that time (e.g. cyclopentolate, homatropine, eucatropine) [5,6]. Patients the world over have benefited from these findings. The combination of tropicamide and phenylephrine is still the routine regime for mydriasis in many ophthalmology clinics [7].

Most of Smith's subsequent research was concerned with ocular pharmacology and physiology in health and disease. He explored the effects of a variety of drugs, and diseases, on intraocular pressure and pulsatile ocular blood flow. He studied, in depth, pupillary abnormalities in diseases such as Horner's, Holmes-Adie's syndromes and systemic autonomic neuropathies such as that associated with diabetes mellitus. And he undertook a careful investigation into the after effects of eximer laser photorefractive keratectomy.

The final stage in Smith's career at Queen's Square extended his clinical practice and research into the diagnosis of autonomic failure either confined to the eye or as part of more a widespread neuropathy. An important technique he employed was that of dynamic pupillometry in which abnormalities in the rate of change in pupil size, in response to light stimuli or drugs, can be used to reveal the pathology of the autonomic innervation.

Smith was also a gifted and popular teacher. One of us (MDR) should know because he taught me pharmacology as an undergraduate. When I had become a lecturer in medicine (and Smith was, by that stage, a senior lecturer in clinical pharmacology) we both became concerned about the limited teaching of therapeutics to undergraduate medical students. We decided to offer therapeutics ward rounds to final year students. In those heady days, where notions of curricula were almost non-existent, we just announced that – from a particular afternoon – we would be conducting teaching rounds in the subject.

The sessions involved my presenting, in outline, three patients. I would explain the rationale for the treatments that were being given. Smith would then harangue me – and the students – about the reasons, the evidence, and what problems that might be expected. The students enjoyed, and seemed to learn, from our very public encounters. About 10 appeared for the first ward round but – within a month – over 50 wanted to come. But it was Smith's teaching skills that persuaded such large numbers of devotees to come along and not mine. I was his foil. I did not let him criticize, unreasonably, the treatments my patients were receiving. But, when he had a good point (as he often did) I would demur. And, of course, the students loved it!

On one of the last occasions that we met he described to me – in exquisite detail – how to prepare opium in a form that was suitable for smoking in a pipe. It was something he had learned – and enjoyed – during the two years he spent in Burma. I tried to explain that this was information overload for the chairman of the Home Office's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. He said it was part of my education!


: This study aimed to show the effects of electronic tax system on the performance of Rwanda revenue authority .Not only that it added value to the extensive literature, but it also contributed more in terms and to examine the tax collection performance by Rwanda Revenue Authority, to examine the efficiency of electronic tax collection system used by Rwanda Revenue Authority, to determine the level of tax compliance by Rwanda Revenue Authority. Research design is descriptive and comparative, a sample of 71 Respondents were drawn from the target population of 250 employees by using Slovan formula, the researcher used SPSS for analysing and questionnaire for data collection and the 4 point scale answers were assigned a number beginning 1–4, where 1 indicated, strongly agree (SA), 2. Agree (A), 3.Disagree (D), 4. Strongly disagree (SD). Encoded data was checked to ensure there will no encoding errors-missing data and outliers. From the findings it revealed that tax collection performance whereby in fiscal year of 2014/2015 was performance at 97.85%, in 2015/2016 tax collection performance stood at 103.95% in 2016/2017 tax collection performance stood at 100.53% and in 2017/2018 tax collection performance stood at102.81%, due to the enforcement that have been done and unplanned tax revenues, tax collection performance boosted after 2014/2015. it revealed that 80.3% of respondents said that electronic tax collection system is efficiency at great extent and 19.7% of respondents said that electronic tax collection system is efficiency at moderate extent.It revealed that 69% of respondents said that tax compliance is at great extent and 31% of respondents said that tax compliance is efficiency at moderate extent. The variation of Spearman Coefficient correlation is between -1 and 1. Spearman Coefficient correlation has significance when it is equal or greater than 0.05. According to the research, the correlation of 0.882 (i.e. 0.882%) is located in the interval [0.75 - 1.00] categorized as positive and very high correlation. This leads to accept that there is a relationship between Electronic tax collection system and tax performance.


Purpose Although current research has investigated how open research data (ORD) are published, researchers' behaviour of ORD sharing on academic social networks (ASNs) remains insufficiently explored. The purpose of this study is to investigate the connections between ORDs publication and social activity to uncover data literacy gaps.Design/methodology/approach This work investigates whether the ORDs publication leads to social activity around the ORDs and their linked published articles to uncover data literacy needs. The social activity was characterised as reads and citations, over the basis of a non-invasive approach supporting this preliminary study. The eventual associations between the social activity and the researchers' profile (scientific domain, gender, region, professional position, reputation) and the quality of the ORD published were investigated to complete this picture. A random sample of ORD items extracted from ResearchGate (752 ORDs) was analysed using quantitative techniques, including descriptive statistics, logistic regression and K-means cluster analysis.Findings The results highlight three main phenomena: (1) Globally, there is still an underdeveloped social activity around self-archived ORDs in ResearchGate, in terms of reads and citations, regardless of the published ORDs quality; (2) disentangling the moderating effects over social activity around ORD spots traditional dynamics within the "innovative" practice of engaging with data practices; (3) a somewhat similar situation of ResearchGate as ASN to other data platforms and repositories, in terms of social activity around ORD, was detected.Research limitations/implications Although the data were collected within a narrow period, the random data collection ensures a representative picture of researchers' practices.Practical implications As per the implications, the study sheds light on data literacy requirements to promote social activity around ORD in the context of open science as a desirable frontier of practice.Originality/value Researchers data literacy across digital systems is still little understood. Although there are many policies and technological infrastructure providing support, the researchers do not make an in-depth use of them.Peer reviewThe peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2021-0255.


In recent years, a spectacular increase has taken place in the demand for techniques to improve the appearance of the skin, both for cosmetic and reparative purposes. The techniques used may have complications that interfere with the healing process, and therefore may affect the results from an aesthetic standpoint. The most significant complication is herpes simplex infection. Furthermore, accurate, early diagnosis of herpes infection makes greater individual and community control possible, thanks to the current availability of effective antiviral agents. The scientific literature relating to herpes simplex prophylaxis was reviewed, and this information was pooled with the knowledge and experience of a multidisciplinary group of experts. After all of this data was analyzed, the consensus was reached that all patients should be treated with specific oral medications for herpes simplex as a preventive measure.


Literary, aesthetic, and theoretical negotiations of repetition tend to focus on the category of repetition as a feature of spoken or written discourse, or visual or audible patterning, instantiated so as to produce a specific effect, such as of monotony or interruption. This effect is based upon a normative assumption that discourse will be structured according to a decorous balance between same and difference; when this decorum is not observed, a marked effect is realized. However, is repetition merely an aesthetic category deployed for local or ephemeral emotional or sematic emphasis? Given that exact repetition is perforce an impossibility, since no two moments are ever the same, nor is one moment the same as itself, what are the implications of this tension between an effect of sameness and an awareness of its impossibility? Are these implications ontological or metaphysical in character?


Pupils in Slovenia get to know human evolution for the first time in biology classes in the 9th grade of primary school. Those who continue their education at secondary vocational or professional schools will probably never deal with it again. In the past, a lot of research has been carried out on the subject of a human evolution, which has identified the good knowledge of pupils, but with typical problems. In contrast, the attitude towards biology is less researched. Most of the research has involved fields of biology and not biology in general and has come to conclusion that our pupils have a positive attitude towards biology. The aim of this master's thesis was to find out what is the knowledge of secondary school pupils in the Ljubljana region, what their attitude to biology is and how these two components are connected to each other. Our aim was to test how the knowledge and attitude of pupils is changing according to gender, school and grade. We included 350 pupils in our research. Most of them were from grammar schools and a smaller share was from secondary vocational/professional schools. We used an anonymous knowledge test and a questionnaire. Data analysis has shown that pupils do not have sufficient knowledge about human evolution. Grammar school pupils possessed better knowledge compared to pupils from secondary vocational/professional school. Boys showed better knowledge compared to girls. There are no fundamental differences between pupils of different grades. In attitude towards biology, secondary school pupils have an average opinion. There are no fundamental differences knowledge about human evolution between students of different schools. However, there are differences in attitude towards biology between genders and students of different grades. The second-grade pupils have the most positive attitude, followed by the pupils of the first and then the third grade. Girls agreed with a half of the claims of the questionnaire and boys with another half. The research showed a positive correlation between the attitude towards biology, internal motivation and the assessment of self-efficacy on the one hand and the knowledge about human evolution on the other hand. On the basis of these findings, we prepared the preparation for the lesson about human evolution.


Efficient global optimization is a popular algorithm for the optimization of expensive multimodal black-box functions. One important reason for its popularity is its theoretical foundation of global convergence. However, as the budgets in expensive optimization are very small, the asymptotic properties only play a minor role and the algorithm sometimes comes off badly in experimental comparisons. Many alternative variants have therefore been proposed over the years. In this work, we show experimentally that the algorithm instead has its strength in a setting where multiple optima are to be identified.


Subthreshold circuits are extensively used to reduce power consumption. However, increased susceptibility to radiation particles strikes can significantly impact the reliability of such systems. In this brief, we analyze different FinFET static-random-access-memory (SRAM) cells for single-event-upset immunity and compare their performance when operated with superthreshold and subthreshold supply voltage. Based on these observations, we propose several guidelines for radiation hardening of subthreshold FinFET SRAM designs. These guidelines suggest that the traditional radiation-hardening approaches need to be revisited for subthreshold designs.


The successful achievement of the welfare of a nation can be measured by the extent to which a country can solve a variety of problems that are being faced. One of the problems faced by almost all regions in Indonesia is the high unemployment rate. Employment is an important factor in supporting economic development undertaken by developing countries in order to create equitable economic development. The purpose of this study is to analyze the development of investment and employment in Pelalawan of years 2003-2012 and to analize influence of investment on employment in Pelalawan years 2003-2012. This study uses secondary data in the form of time series with the observation period 2003-2012. Data obtained from Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) and Badan Penanaman dan Investasi Riau Province's. Data analysis using regression analysis to determine the effect of investment on employment in Pelalawan. Data processing using SPPS program 17.00. The results showed that the investment is not influence significantly on employment in Pelalawan. Keywords: Investment, Man Power


The survival, clinical and echocardiographic variables and the predictors of cardiovascular death were determined for a group of 168 patients (mean age 63 ± 13 years; 65 females; mean left ventricular ejection fraction 32 ± 10%) with restrictive filling of the left ventricle and depressed systolic function after a mean follow-up period of 2.7 ± 1 years. Shorter deceleration time (DT) of the mitral inflow was the only variable significantly different between survivors and nonsurvivors (p < 0.05) and the only predictor of death found by multivariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio 2.2, 95% confidence interval 1.7–3.6). In this patient population, a DT of the early wave of the mitral inflow <140 ms identified the patients with the highest risk of cardiac death. DT is a practical echocardiographic parameter for risk stratification of patients with significant left ventricular systolic dysfunction and restrictive filling of the left ventricle.


Abstract #1154 Background Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) given to women with early breast cancer may adversely affect bone metabolism. We studied the effect of exemestane (E) on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover and compared it to the effect of tamoxifen (T) treatment in a group of women participating in the Dutch and Belgian Tamoxifen Exemestane Adjuvant Multicentre (TEAM) trial. In this trial, postmenopausal women with hormone sensitive early breast cancer (n=3168) were randomised between 5 years E or 2½-3 years T followed by 2½-2 years of E.
 Methods In this subprotocol, 87 women were followed for two years. Patients with bone diseases were excluded. Total hip and lumbar spine BMD were assessed at baseline and after 1 and 2 years. The bone resorption marker cross-linked telopeptide of type-I collagen (CTX) and the bone formation marker N-terminal propeptide of type I collagen (PINP) were measured in fasting serum at baseline and after 3, 6, 12 and 24 months.
 Results At baseline, there was no difference in total hip (E: 0.85g/cm 2 , T: 0.80g/cm 2 ; p=0.642) and lumbar spine BMD (E: 0.99g/cm 2 , T: 1.02g/cm 2 ; p=0.545) between both groups. After 2 years, there were no significant changes in total hip BMD (E: 0.02 g/cm 2 95%CI -0.05;0.08, p=0.849; T: 0.03 g/cm 2 , 95%CI -0.02;0.09, p=0.466) and in spine BMD (E: -0.02 g/cm 2 95%CI -0.11;0.06, p=0.834; T: 0.02 g/cm 2 95%CI -0.05;0.10, p=0.747). At baseline, there was no difference in serum CTX (E: 0.34ng/mL, T: 0.29ng/mL; p=0.271) and P1NP (E: 57ng/L, T:58ng/L, p=0.973) between both groups. After 2 years of treatment, serum CTX increased, although not significantly in the E group (20%, 95%CI -6%;54%, p=0.223) while it decreased significantly in the T group (-40%, 95%CI -23%;-53%, p Conclusion Although there was a trend for an increase in bone resorption with E treatment, this was not significant and was not associated with a decrease in BMD. The magnitude of the reported negative effect of aromatase inhibitors on bone metabolism in studies using T as comparator treatment may be overestimated by the effect of T on bone turnover. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 1154.


Dental radiographs have been widely used by dentists in finding periodontal lesions or monitoring the progress of the periodontal defect treatment that is either impossible or difficult for human naked eyes. In this paper we propose a fully automatic gums lesion detection method for periapical dental X-ray images. The method includes two stages: (i) teeth- parts removing and (ii) lesion-region localization and severance labeling. In stage (i), morphological operations and histogram equalizations are first applied to enlarge the contrast between teeth and gums parts, then thresholding is used to separate the two types of regions. In stage (ii), gums-parts are first segmented into regions of normal, possible lesion or lesion, and serious lesion using a level set method with three coupled level set functions, and then the possible lesion or lesion region are further segmented into lesion and possible lesion regions using the same level set method. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method can detect and label all lesion regions in six periapical dental X-ray images which conform very well to human visual perception, and is robust to illumination variation to ± 30 intensity levels, as well.


A simple algorithm for testing the 2-summability of Boolean functions is presented in this note. The concept of asummobility has been extended and the idea of "mutual 2-asummability" has been introduced. The authors show how mutual 2-asummobility can be utilized for the testing of isobaricity of threshold functions containing no more than seven variables.


Rhubarb is commonly used as a cathartic in Asian countries. However, researchers have devotedextensive concerns to the quality control and safety of rhubarb and traditional Chinese preparations composed of rhubarb due to the instable purgative effect and potential nephrotoxicity of anthraquinones. In this study, we aimed to prepare rhubarb total free anthraquinones (RTFA) oral colon-specific drug delivery granules (RTFA-OCDD-GN) to delivery anthraquinones to colon to produce purgative effect. RTFAOCDD-GN were prepared using chitosan and Eudragit S100 through a double-layer coating process and the formulation was optimized. Continuous release studies were performed in a simulated gastric fluid (pH 1.2), followed by a small-intestinal fluid (pH 6.8) and a colonic fluid (pH 7.4, containing rat cecal contents). The purgative effect test was performed in rats. The dissolution profile of RTFA-OCDD-GN showed that the accumulative dissolution rate of RTFA was about 83.0% in the simulated colonic fluid containing rat cecal contents and only about 9.0% in the simulated gastrointestinal fluids. And the RTFAOCDD-GN could produce the comparative purgative activity as rhubarb, suggesting it could deliver the free AQs to the colon. The RTFA-OCDD-GN was a useful media to enhance the purgative activity of free anthraquinones after administered orally.


Stacks DTU Orbit (16/12/2018)  Electroplating of Protective Coatings on Interconnects Used for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stacks Solid oxide fuel Cell (SOFC) technology can with a high efficiency produce environmentally clean electricity by converting the chemical energy in a fuel to electrical energy. SOFC systems have a high operation temperature, approx. 600-850 °C. Advantages compared to other types of fuel cells, are they can utilize a wide range of fuels, e.g. hydrogen, natural gas and methanol, do not contain noble metals and have a high efficiency. A major obstacle to the commercialization of SOFC technology is the high degradation rates and costs of the systems. A significant source of degradation is high temperature corrosion of the so called interconnects, which consists of high chromium ferritic steel. In an SOFC stack, interconnects connects the individual fuel cells electrically and mechanically. An interconnect is exposed to a dual atmosphere, with air on the side facing the SOFC cathode and fuel on the side facing its anode. Two high temperature corrosion issues, which both affect the air side of the interconnect, are especially significant, both of: Formation of thick oxide scales on its surface and evaporation of chromium species from the oxide. The oxide scales increases the electrical resistance and the gaseous chromium species can poison the cathode. Interconnect coatings are a potential solution to reduce the high temperature corrosion issues. An effective coating must consist of a material with the right properties but equally important is the process used for its deposition. It must enable coatings to be deposited with good adhesion, low porosity, uniform thickness, good coverage and importantly at a low cost. The focus in this project was on electroplated coatings for metallic interconnects. The aim was to reduce the oxidation rate the interconnect when exposed in a cathode side (air) environment. New coatings were developed and their performance and corrosion behaviour was investigated. Processes were developed for electroplating of coatings consisting of cobalt, the alloys cobalt/tungsten (Co/W) and cobalt/molybdenum (Co/Mo) as well as the composites cobalt/cerium oxide (Co/CeO2) and cobalt/lanthanum strontium manganite (Co/LSM). The purpose of the CeO2 and LSM particles was to reduce the oxidation rate of the steel substrates, using the so called reactive element effect. In addition, the purpose of the LSM particles was to improve the electrical conductivity of the coating, compared to a coating only of cobalt. The purpose of the cobalt was to act as a dense diffusion barrier for chromium in order to prevent chromium evaporation. The coatings were deposited on the steels Crofer 22 APU and Crofer 22 H. The coatings were tested in a simulated cathode environment (air at 800, 820 or 850 °C). Coatings consisting only of cobalt were also tested in an SOFC stack which was successfully operated time for 3000 h. The coating only consisting of cobalt oxidized to a Co3-x(Mn,Fe,Cr)xO4 spinel after air exposure in the simulated cathode environment. The iron and manganese concentration of the coatings increased as a function of exposure time due to diffusion from the steel. A layer of Cr2O3 formed underneath the oxidized coating. The oxide layers on the composite coated samples were also dual layered, consisting of an outer layer of a cobalt rich oxide and an inner layer of Cr2O3. The particles were distributed in the outer cobalt rich oxide layer. The alloy coatings did not reduce the oxidation rates of the steels exposed in a simulated cathode environment. The Co/Mo coating was detrimental for the oxidation properties as it resulted in formation of a thick iron oxide scale on the steel. The Co/W coating provided very similar performance to a coating consisting only of cobalt, thus the more complex Co/W alloy electroplating process could not be justified. The oxide layers on the cathode side of a cobalt coated interconnect exposed in an actual SOFC stack had in most regions a similar composition to that observed in the simulated environment. However, severe corrosion with extensive formation of iron oxides was present in regions where the stack temperature was highest. Extensive diffusion of nickel from the Ni/YSZ anode into the steel was observed. Chromium nitrides had also formed in the interconnect. The area specific resistance (ASR) of a Ni/YSZ anode in contact and a preoxidized sample of Crofer 22 APU was measured in a simulated anode atmosphere. The ASR was very low (0.2 mΩcm2). It exhibited a temperature dependence typical for a metal. The microstructure of the Crofer 22 APU in the region affected by nickel diffusion was characterized with electron backscatter diffraction and other electron microscopy techniques. The ASR of a Ni/YSZ anode with a CeO2 nickel diffusion barrier layer in contact with Crofer 22 APU was also measured and it was two orders of magnitude higher than without a CeO2 barrier layer. Nickel diffusion from the Ni/YSZ anode into the interconnect results in an austenitized diffusion zone at the operating temperature that partially or completely transforms to ferrite during cooling. Other coatings are necessary on the interconnect at the anode side if the microstructure and composition of the interconnect should be maintained. The necessity of such coatings depends on the magnitude of the issue caused by nickel diffusion, which currently is not quantified. The most promising coating types were after a literature review as well as exposure tests shown to be composite coatings, consisting of cobalt and a reactive element oxide. The Co/LSM and Co/CeO2 composite coatings reduced the oxidation rates of Crofer 22 APU and Crofer 22 H greatly, compared to coatings consisting only of cobalt by exposure in air between 800-850 °C. In addition, the Co/LSM coated sample had a very low ASR of approx. 3 mΩcm2 after 550 h exposure in air at 800 °C. The composite coatings may reduce both the contact resistance and oxidation rate of an interconnects. The coatings can be economically deposited on substrates with a geometry relevant for SOFC interconnects. Hence, are the developed coatings suitable on cathode side of the interconnect and could potentially reduce the degradation rate of an SOFC system and extend its lifetime.


Local governance based on institutions for collective action can help overcome social dilemmas in natural and agricultural resource management. A common path towards local governance is decentralisation, and within this context, a transfer of property rights from central government to local resource users. Yet, despite the successes of many decentralisation policies, the phenomenon of elite capture remains a risk. Our paper investigates elite capture in Albania's Lake Ohrid fishing region. We aim to contribute to the state of knowledge by identifying determinants for elite capture. Our empirical case shows how 'blueprint' approaches, top-down implementation, and weak institutions led to further empowerment of privileged locals, who realise personal gains at the expense of distributional inequity within the community. Specifically original insights are derived from our analysis of implications from the post-socialist context, which we show to facilitate capture due to a common susceptibility for destructive leadership and lacking confidence in collective action.


Abstract The Northern Adriatic Sea is characterized by the full range of features associated with sensitive marine ecosystems. In the Gulf of Trieste, mortalities due to anoxia have been reported in 1974, 1983 and 1988. The anoxic event in September 1983 led to mass mortality in a highly developed and wide-ranging community in the Gulf. This destroyed over 50% of the epifaunal biomass in only two days, and over 90% within four days. The increased frequency, severity, and range of recent oxygen deficiencies suggest that, in addition to meteorological and hydrographic factors, anthropogenic influences are a contributing or enhancing factor in the onset of anoxic conditions and associated mass mortalities. These anthropogenic influences may be subsumed under the heading eutrophication. If eutrophication only slightly increases the rate of oxygen decrease below the thermocline, it may advance the point at which critical oxygen levels are attained by several days. Since only a few days of anoxic conditions are required to destroy this benthic community (with an equally short time required for reoxygenation) the degree of eutrophication may determine whether an ecological catastrophe occurs or not. The recolonization process between 1984 and 1987 has been slow: the total biomass and the relative contribution of the designating species have remained distinctly below previously recorded values. Additional anthropogenic influences (intensive dredging) may further impede recolonization. A further, small-scale mortality was registered in 1988.


Nowadays, control systems for stepper motors are well defined by using microcontrollers. The stepper motors are very good in positioning tasks and measurement tasks. Now there are some FPGA based developments for stepper motor controlling systems because of the complexity of the controlling system. But the new FPGA systems don't use the whole functionality and benefits of the FPGAs like the parallelism of computing tasks or the right structured Hardware-, Software-Co-Design. In this paper we want to show, that there are many possibilities to use the FPGA benefits for the development of stepper motor control systems and we show also an outlook to new developments and systems. Like an adaptive control system, which controls the parameters of the stepper motor and inspects them for aging.


Introduction I do not want to be a victim, and all steps should be taken to guard against my victimization. If I am a victim, I want all available help, and expect government, industry, and community to come to my aid. I do not want to be revictimized by governments, companies, courts, or the medical and legal professions. THE EXPRESSION OF THESE DEMANDS FROM THE PERMANENT PEOPLES' TRIBUNAL ON Industrial and Environmental Hazards and Human Rights in Bhopal (PPT, 1992: 13) reflects the urgent need to address environmental victimization, not only in the form of obvious disasters as at Bhopal, but also the "creeping disasters" such as traffic pollution. Law is one form of response, but, as is lucidly argued by Peter Yeager in The Limits of Law (1991), even in state-of-the-art countries such as the U.S., statutes alone can never fully address the problems posed by environmental crime. The difficulties experienced in implementing statutory compensation in Bhopal provide a poor-nation perspective (BGIA, 1992). There is an obvious need for social justice approaches to parallel formal legal processes. The Limits of "Environmental Justice" The "environmental justice movement" has provided the most prominent alternative in recent years, at least in the U.S. (see Bryant, 1995; Hofrichter, 1993; Capek, 1993). Yet, although generating valuable insights and an effective basis for informed environmental activism, its broader application is limited, principally for three reasons. First, "environmental justice" relies greatly on subjective (often self-) definitions of victimization. This may work well in relation to activism, but ultimately the development of justice perspectives, legal or social, requires objective benchmarks. Without objective definitions, how do we apply victim conceptualizations when (i) victims will not self-define? What of the "manic denial" of the Mormons in Nevada, who accept the health problems resulting from nuclear testing as a necessary sacrifice for the good of the state (Gallagher, 1993:217), or the Indian who attributes lead poisoning to karma, not to the illegal smelter next door? How do we accord victim status when (ii) victims cannot self-define, for example, with the unborn child or when the outcome is severe intellectual disability from radiation or lead pollution (Williams, 1996a)? How do we formally identify victims when (iii) national or community leaders will not acknowledge the victimization of those they govern? In the case of cross-border acid rain and Chernobyl, European governments did not argue for redress because they did not want to encourage precedents that might later be applied in reverse. What of the individuals among the Mescalero Apaches in New Mexico who will eventually suffer health problems because their leaders encourage the importation of hazardous toxic waste to reap the short-term cash rewards? Second, "environmental justice" bases its key arguments on (i) assumptions about power relationships and (ii) group identities, which (iii) reflect the gender, class, and ethnic structures of U.S. society. (i) The assumption of the powerless as victim and the powerful as victimizer can lead to a stereotyped view that omits the victimization of those with power and wealth. If wealth and perpetrating environmental crime always go hand-in-hand, how do we conceptualize the Czech industries that polluted rivers then flowing through wealthy Germany, or the threat posed to Norway from Russia's decaying nuclear weapon facilities, or people in Hong Kong and Taiwan who suffer the pollution from mainland China? (ii) When group identity is the prerequisite of analysis, this can omit the victimization of those scattered within populations who may be vulnerable because, for example, of their clinical status. The link between background radiation from nuclear testing and babies born with Down's Syndrome (Bound et al. …


Abstract Purpose: We present a new approach for urine drainage in pediatric patients following laparoscopic pyeloplasty, the trans-uretero-cystic external urethral stent (TEUS). Methods: We retrospectively identified 85 children who underwent laparoscopic pyeloplasty from July 2015 to June 2017. The included children were assigned to group A (double-J stent) or group B (TEUS). In group A, the double-J stent was removed by a cystoscopy under anesthesia after 1 month, while in group B, the external stent was removed after 5 to 7 days. We examined the durations of operation, hospital stay and the frequency of stent-related complications including urinary leakage, stent dislocation, stent occlusion, and urinary tract infection. Results: The operation time was significantly longer for patients in group B than for those in group A. No significant difference was observed between the groups regarding stent-related complications. In group A, 4 patients need auxiliary stent re-insertion for the management of complications, 2 developed urinary tract infection, and 2 had stent occlusion. In group B, none needed auxiliary stent re-insertion for complications and avoided re-operation. Conclusions: In children, the outcome of external stent implantation was similar to that using double-J stent, and the use of the former approach may be beneficial for younger children.


Technology is oftenly used in numerous areas, also including the field of education. Especially the tablet computers (TPC) play an important role in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the educational studies. In order for the emergence of the aforementioned effect and the effective use of the TPCs by the students, it is necessary for the students to accept the tablet computers by having a positive behaviour towards them, feeling that they are easy to use and also useful for the learning activities, while also having intentions of using them in the learning activities. In this study, the secondary education students' acceptance of the TPCs was analyzed by selecting the technology acceptance model as the baseline and developing the Tablet Computer Acceptance Scale. A valid and reliable scale that measured the secondary education students' acceptance of the TPC emerged as a result of the study.


During the 1960s, the growing dissent within the medical profession heightened the ideological differences among physicians. This paper focuses on the ideological differences among three groups within medicine: traditionalists, liberals, and radicals. A content analysis of selected medical editorials and articles during 1972 was used to identify differences in ideological content for the following areas: professional unity; authority; self-regulations; selfeducation; the role of health professionals; manpower; medical education; research; health care; financing health care; and governmental relations.


World Health Organization (WHO) in 2002 declared that the coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the world. There are 16.7 million people died from cardiovascular disease or equal 30% of total deaths in the world. Results of a survey conducted by the Indonesia Ministry of Health stated that prevalence of CHD in Indonesia is increasing from year to year. In fact, since 2000s can be ascertained the tendency of the cause of death in Indonesia shifted from infectious diseases to cardiovascular diseases, including CHD and degenerative diseases. Avocado (Persea americana mill) contains ingredients such as monosaturated fatty acid (MUFA), pantotenat acid, selenium, amino acids, beta siterol, niacin, vitamin C and fiber that actively decrease risk of CHD. Many studies using experimental animals, in which fat-induced rats, were given avocado juice shown to lower total serum cholesterol levels significantly. The main mechanism of the avocado is by reducing levels of low density lipoproteins (LDL), triglycerides, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), and increasing high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration in blood. [J Agromed Unila 2014; 1(1):55-60] Keywords : avocado, cholesterol, coronary heart disease


A duct with a varying cross‐section and/or acoustic impedance of its internal surface is represented by a series of small duct sections. Each section has parallel walls and a locally reacting internal surface with constant impedance. The effect of the transition between two ducts of a different cross‐section is studied. The ducts are considered bidimensional and the characteristic equation is solved numerically, in this way a set of orthogonal modes are obtained with which the sound field can be synthesized. The amplitudes corresponding to each mode can be obtained from the boundary conditions for pressure and velocity between duct sections. Considering a number N of modes, a system of linear equations with 2N unknowns is obtained (corresponding to the modal amplitudes of the incident and reflected waves). The acoustic behavior of duct transitions is analyzed considering the three fundamental types of impedance (mass character, stiffness character, and damping). (To be presented in Spanish.)


Studying the relative weighting of different cues for the interpretation of a linguistic phenomenon is a core element in psycholinguistic research. This research needs to strike a balance between two things: generalisability to diverse lexical settings, which requires a high number of different lexicalisations and the investigation of a large number of different cues, which requires a high number of different test conditions. Optimizing both is impossible with classical psycholinguistic designs as this would leave the participants with too many experimental trials. Previously we showed that Active Learning (AL) systems allow to test numerous conditions (eight) and items (32) within the same experiment. As stimulus selection was informed by the system's learning mechanism, AL sped-up the labelling process. In the present study, we extend the use case to an experiment with 16 conditions, manipulated through four binary factors (the experimental setting and three prosodic cues; two levels each). Our findings show that the AL system correctly predicted the intended result pattern after twelve trials only. Hence, AL further confirmed previous findings and proved to be an efficient tool, which offers a promising solution to complex study designs in psycholinguistic research.


This article uses unique voting data on 331 federal propositions to estimate voter preferences in Swiss cantons. We document that preferences vary systematically with canton characteristics. In particular, cantons whose voters are more conservative, less in favor of redistribution and less supportive of public spending tend to have stronger direct democracy. We show that voter preferences have a stable and sizable effect on government spending even conditional on many observable canton characteristics. We then revisit the relationship between direct democracy and public spending. Once we fully control for voter preferences, the cross-sectional correlation between direct democracy and government spending declines by roughly 20 percent. The results in this article provide empirical support for models, in which both voter preferences and direct democratic institutions are important determinants of the size of government.


The presence of dipolar coupling waves within helical elements of proteins implies an effective tilt of the main axis of the helical element relative to the magnetic field. Here, we investigate the origin of dipolar waves observed in helical elements of partially folded proteins. We find that the dipolar waves result from an effective tilt of the helix relative to the alignment axis that is determined by the directionality of the unfolded chains projected from the helix caps. The amplitude and phase of the dipolar wave depend in a predictable way on helix length, providing direct insight into helix stability, nucleation, and fraying in partially folded proteins.


ABSTRACT This article examines the perspectives and feelings of children in the first two years of a music workshop developed with pupils from a state school in northern Portugal. The study followed a participatory action research design, with data including field notes, two group interviews with the children, children's artefacts, such as texts or paintings, and their musical compositions. The results detail how an informal, collaborative and creative approach to music learning seems to open the space for a 'pedagogy of interruption' (Biesta 2010), which, in turn, suggests the development of what O'Neill (2012a) terms 'transformative music engagement'. This article identifies this transformation process through the three major themes that emerge from data analysis: (a) the shifts the children report as occurring in their modes of connecting and relating with music and music education, (b) the deep engagement they began displaying towards collaborative music-making activities, and (c) their personal and social development.


The ribosomal protein SA (RPSA), also known as 37-kDa laminin receptor precursor/67-kDa laminin receptor (LRP/LR), has been identified as a multifunctional protein, playing an important role in multiple pathologies like cancer and prion diseases. Since RPSA is involved in the binding and internalization of the prion protein, mutations in the ovine RPSA gene, influencing the RPSA-PrPC/PrPSc binding, can potentially play a part in the resistance to prion diseases. Our goal was to further characterize the complex RPSA gene family and to detect structural mutations which can play a role in this disease. In a prior study, 11 ovine pseudogenes were detected experimentally. As the whole genome shotgun ovine genome became accessible, an in silico genome-wide screening was performed and 37 new pseudogenes (36 processed and one semi-processed pseudogene) were detected, bringing the total to 48 ovine RPSA pseudogenes. Additionally, the complete bovine genome was screened in silico and 56 pseudogenes were identified. Once these sequences were known, it was possible to analyze the presence of mutations in the coding sequence and exon-flanking regions of the ovine functional full-length RPSA gene without the interference of pseudogenic sequences. Nineteen mutations were found: one in the 5' UTR, a silent one in the coding region, and seventeen in the exon-flanking regions, including an interesting mutation in the SNORA62 gene, localized in intron 4 of RPSA, leading to potential ribosomal defects. Structural mutations of the RPSA gene can be ruled out to play a role in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies but regulatory mutations still can have an effect on these diseases.


Patterns of breeding frequency of White-headed Pterodroma lessoni, Great-winged Pterodroma macroptera, White-chinned Procellaria aequinoctialis and Grey Petrels Proceharia cinerea have been studied at Kerguelen and Crozet Islands. The White-headed Petrel (summer breeder) followed an essentially biennial cycle with only 13% of successful individuals breeding again the next year. On the other hand, the Great-winged Petrel (winter breeder) was mainly an annual breeder with 78% of successful birds breeding again the next year. Both White-chinned (summer breeder) and Grey Petrels (winter breeder) showed a higher breeding frequency than Pterodroma species, with 91% and 93%, respectively, of successful birds returning to breed the following season. These contrasting patterns may be related to the timing of energetic constraints encountered during the interbreeding period, principally the moult and the restoration of breeding condition. It is suggested that these post-breeding constraints are more marked in winter and in oceanic waters, leading to breeding frequencies being lower than in summer and in neritic waters. The intermediate patterns of breeding frequency found in the Great-winged Petrel (mainly annual) and the White-headed Petrel (mainly biennial) show that among Procellariiformes there is a continuum between annual and strictly biennial species.


Introduction. The article is devoted to the problem of studying the psychological characteristics of patients with stuttering. A theoretical review of classical and modern approaches to the study of the personality of stammerers and their social and communication skills is presented. The results of an experimental study determining the relationship between social and communicative abilities and indicators of personal and reactive anxiety of stuttering patients are presented. The significance of the results obtained for building and implementing the work of an interdisciplinary team of specialists is determined.Materials and Methods. The following methods were used when writing the article: theoretical analysis of domestic and foreign literature sources; generalization and systematization of the results of studying the personal sphere of stuttering patients; experimental methods for studying the socio-communicative and psychological characteristics of patients with stuttering; methods of statistical processing of experimental data.Results. A variety of approaches to the study of personal characteristics of persons with stuttering is considered. In the course of studying the literature sources, the relationship between the state of the emotional and personal sphere and the communicative and speech capabilities of patients with stuttering was revealed, which was later confirmed when analyzing the results of the empirical part of the study. Data analysis showed that the level of social anxiety and fear of negative evaluation (the severity of social phobia) in patients with stuttering is several times higher than normal and correlates with the rigidity of fixation on a speech defect. The study revealed invariant and variable components in the structure of social and communicative maladaptation of patients with stuttering. Among the invariant components, we attributed the presence of high social anxiety (social distress, avoidance, and fear of negative evaluation) in combination with a maladaptive system of social attitudes characteristic of most stutterers. Variable components include individual characteristics of situational anxiety and socio-psychological characteristics of difficult communication, which are personalized.Discussion and Conclusions. The conducted study allowed to conclude that the difficulties and peculiarities of socio-communicative functioning of patients with stuttering need to determine the design of hierarchically structured pedagogical model of speech therapy effects that take into account the fixed and variable components in the structure of socio-communicative maladjustment and differentiate rehabilitative effect in the context of algorithmizing and personalized approach to speech therapy.


BACKGROUND
Anxiety disorders are an important not only medical, but also social problem, affecting approx. 300 million people worldwide in 2019. Medications used in the treatment of anxiety are associated with many adverse reactions, which explains the increased use of herbal products as anxiolytics.

METHODS
An anxiolytic activity of Satureja montana, rosmarinic acid and carvacrol after 14-day long administration on an animal model of acute stress was studied. For measurement of anxiolytic effect elevated plus maze, social interaction and Vogel tests were provided as well as examination of locomotor activity.

RESULTS
The dry extract of Satureja montana at both tested doses significantly increased locomotor activity as well as the time spent in the social recognition, compared to the control groups. The extract reduced the time in the closed arms and the proportion of entries into open arms to total entries and increased the time in the open arms of elevated plus maze compared to the positive control group. Likewise, rosmarinic acid and carvacrol increased significantly the time spent with a new congener in the social interaction test. Both compounds reduced the ratio of entries into open arms to total entries similarly to the dry extract of Satureja montana. Only rosmarinic acid increased the time in the open arms and reduced the time in the closed arms.

CONCLUSIONS
Satureja montana at both experimental doses exerted a significant anxiolytic activity in almost all the tests employed for evaluating anxious behavior. Carvacrol and rosmarinic acid showed a moderate anxiolytic effect.


We have reconsidered V3Ga compound wire for future fusion reactor application. 14 MeV fast neutrons will be formed during the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction, consequently future fusion reactors will be constructed using low activation materials wherever possible. V3Ga compound has a short radioactive decay time and it will be one of the candidate superconductors with both low activation and high field properties so called ldquolow activation superconducting materialsrdquo. The present critical current density, J c, is insufficient for large fusion magnet. We investigated a new PIT process, using high Ga content compound, in order to improve superconducting properties. The upper critical field, H c2, of the samples using high Ga content Cu-Ga compounds, was increased with increasing Ga content, and measured 22.5 T when was used 50 at%Ga compound powder. Moreover, the effect of Mg addition into the powder filament was also investigated. The small amount of Mg addition within 1 at%, was improved H c2 to about 23.0 T. The Ga content dependence and the Mg addition effect on the superconducting properties in the new PIT process are reported in this paper.


ABSTRACT The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) mathematics achievement and the two school achievement measures of grades and national test results in Sweden. A further aim was to examine the association of TIMSS mathematics achievement with different subgroups of students. The results show that there is a strong positive relationship between TIMSS mathematics achievement and national tests and obtained grades from both grade 6 and grade 9. Students from more educated homes performed better overall on TIMSS than those from less-educated homes, and the relationships between TIMSS and the school achievement measures were stronger for students from more educated home backgrounds. The school context and the students' background had an impact on the students' TIMSS result. The results have implications for how one should view the results from TIMSS as a measure of student mathematics achievement and thus how TIMSS results can be used in a national context.


We identified and classified 48 medicinal plants used by the Pataxo Indians in south Bahia, Brazil. The location is an ecologically threatened area designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The aim of this paper is to document phytotherapeutic practices in the indigenous community of Mata Medonha. We conducted interviews with the 25 families present at the area. Of the 48 medicinal species identified, only 14 (29%) had been examined for mechanism of action or isolation of biochemical compounds, according to bibliographic research. The plants were deposited at the Alexandre Leal Costa Herbarium of the Federal University of Bahia. We gathered information about the preparation and uses of the plants. The species are used for a variety of maladies, including flu, congestion, bronchitis and headaches, pain, snake bites, and some were only used for women's disorders. The Pataxo ethnopharmacological knowledge is under pressure from the economic outmigration of the community and threats to the biodiversity from logging, mining, and tourism. The plants studied here include important drug candidates. Additional research on the molecular aspects of the species cited should be performed.


Many protein–protein and peptide–protein interactions (PPIs) play key roles in the regulation of biological functions, and therefore, the modulation of PPIs has become an attractive target of new drug development. Although a number of PPIs have already been identified, over 100 000 unknown PPIs are predicted to exist. To uncover such unknown PPIs, it is important to devise a conceptually distinct method from that of currently available methods. Herein, an mRNA display by using a total RNA library derived from various human tissues, which serves as a unique method to physically isolate peptide epitopes that potentially bind to a target protein of interest, is reported. In this study, selection was performed against Kelch‐like ECH‐associated protein (Keap1) as a model target protein, leading to a peptide epitope originating from astrotactin‐1 (ASTN1). It turned out that this ASTN1 peptide was able to interact with Keap1 more strongly than that with a known peptide derived from Nrf2; a well‐known, naturally occurring Keap1 binder. This case study demonstrates the applicability of peptidomic mRNA display for the rapid exploration of consensus binding peptide motifs and the potential for the discovery of unknown PPIs with other proteins of interest.


ABSTRACT Static models of tensegrity structures are reduced to linear algebra problems, after first characterizing the problem in a vector space where direction cosines are not needed. That is, we describe the components of all member vectors as opposed to the usual practice of characterizing the statics problem in terms of the magnitude of tension vectors. While our approach enlarges (by a factor of 3) the vector space required to describe the problem, the computational space is not increased. The advantage of enlarging the vector space makes the mathematical structure of the problem amenable to linear algebra treatment. Using the linear algebraic techniques, many variables are eliminated from the final existence equations. This paper characterizes the existence conditions for all class 1 tensegrity equilibria.


Recent study of libraries and book collections from late antiquity has shown that literary works were read, studied, annotated, corrected, and copied for two or more centuries before being retired or discarded. Given that there is no evidence that early Christian scribal practices differed from pagan practices, we may rightly ask whether early Christian writings, such as the autographs and first copies of the books that eventually would be recognized as canonical Scripture, also remained in use for 100 years or more. The evidence suggests that this was in fact the case. This sort of longevity could mean that at the time our extant Greek NT papyri were written in the late second and early to mid-third centuries, some of the autographs and first copies were still in circulation and in a position to influence the form of the Greek text.


This article investigates the underlying causes for the persistency of the India–Pakistan conflict and, on this basis, the chances and obstacles of the bilateral composite dialogue initiated in 2004. In particular, it wants to provide a theoretically grounded account of the factors that facilitated and constrained the bilateral composite dialogue process. Drawing on the regional security complex theory, this article examines the rivalry between the two South Asian nuclear powers on four levels of analysis: the domestic, the regional, the interregional and the global level. The analysis shows that there have been some substantial changes on all four levels in the recent decade or so and that these changes have provided more beneficial conditions for a peace process. These changes include, inter alia, India's new regional policy, the consequences of the 9/11 terrorist attacks for the region and India's growing power capacities. However, major obstacles to the India–Pakistan dialogue and a permanent conflict resolution continue to persist: the dominant role of the military in Pakistan, conflicting national identities and the still partially contested nature of statehood in India and Pakistan, which is in the case of Pakistan linked to the growing power of Islamic fundamentalists.


Rice is a staple food for more than three billion people and accounts for up to 11% of the global methane (CH4) emissions from anthropogenic sources. With increasing populations, particularly in less developed countries where rice is a major cereal crop, production continues to increase to meet demand. Implementing site-specific mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from rice is important to minimise climate change. Measuring greenhouse gases is costly and time-consuming; therefore, many farmers, supply chains, and scientists rely on greenhouse gas accounting tools or internationally acceptable methodologies (e.g., Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) to estimate emissions and explore mitigation options. In this paper, existing empirical models that are widely used have been evaluated against measured CH4 emission data. CH4 emission data and management information were collected from 70 peer-reviewed scientific papers. Model input variables such as soil organic carbon (SOC), pH, water management during crop season and pre-season, and organic amendment application were collected and used for estimation of CH4 emission. The performance of the models was evaluated by comparing the predicted emission values against measured emissions with the result showing that the models capture the impact of different management on emissions, but either under- or overestimate the emission value, and therefore are unable to capture the magnitude of emissions. Estimated emission values are much lower than observed for most of the rice-producing countries, with R correlation coefficient values varying from −0.49 to 0.87 across the models. In conclusion, current models are adequate for predicting emission trends and the directional effects of management, but are not adequate for estimating the magnitude of emissions. The existing models do not consider key site-specific variables such as soil texture, planting method, cultivar type, or growing season, which all influence emissions, and thus, the models lack sensitivity to key site variables to reliably predict emissions.


Ricin is a heterodimeric protein toxin in which a catalytic polypeptide (the A-chain or RTA) is linked by a disulfide bond to a cell-binding polypeptide (the B-chain or RTB). During cell entry, ricin undergoes retrograde vesicular transport to reach the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen, from where RTA translocates into the cytosol, probably by masquerading as a substrate for the ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) pathway. In partitioning studies in Triton X-114 solution, RTA is predominantly found in the detergent phase, whereas ricin holotoxin, native RTB, and several single-chain ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are in the aqueous phase. Fluorescence spectroscopy and far-UV circular dichroism (CD) demonstrated significant structural changes in RTA as a result of its interaction with liposomes containing negatively charged phospholipid (POPG). These lipid-induced structural changes markedly increased the trypsin sensitivity of RTA and, on the basis of the protein fluorescence determinations, abolished its ability to bind to adenine, the product resulting from RTA-catalyzed depurination of 28S ribosomal RNA. RTA also released trapped calcein from POPG vesicles, indicating that it destabilized the lipid bilayer. We speculate that membrane-induced partial unfolding of RTA during cell entry may facilitate its recognition as an ERAD substrate.


The Concept of Face has been described and analyzed by observers of Chinese culture since the 19th century, but none of the definitions of face published thus far have been based on data derived from informant interviews aimed specifically at isolating key semantic features. Through such interviews the Cantonese word mihn ("face" in both the physical and the figurative sense) is shown to include two important semantic elements: sentiment or, more specifically, vulnerability to embarrassment and shame, and influence gained through network building. Of these, the latter has not been emphasized in previous discussions of the face concept. [face, networks, shame, Hong Kong]


Given a periodic reference signal or disturbance, repetitive control is a special control scheme to reduce a tracking error effectively by the periodic signal generator in the repetitive controller. In general, a repetitive controller is added on the existing feedback control system to improve the tracking performance. However, because the information used in the design of the feedback controller is not taken into account, the design problem of the repetitive controller is totally another problem irrespective of that of the feedback controller. In this paper, we present a more general method to design an add-on type repetitive controller using the information on the performance of the existing feedback control system. We first show that a robust stability condition of repetitive control systems is obtained using the well-known robust performance condition of general feedback control systems. It is also shown that we can obtain a steady-state tracking error described in a simple form without time-delay element if the robust stability condition is satisfied for the repetitive control system. From the obtained results, several design criterions for repetitive controller are provided. Through the simulation study, the feasibility of the proposed method is verified.


Pneumocystis carinii is a human respiratory pathogen which causes fatal pneumonia in patients under immunosuppressed or immune deficient conditions. Recent work have documented the usefulness of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in the detection of P. carinii from clinical samples. Therefore, we described our experience in using PCR method in the detection of P. carinii from respiratory samples. In our study, bronchial washing or BALF were good for diagnosis of P. carinii pneumonia (PCP) by PCR. However, PCR method in the detection of P. carinii from swab or sputum was too sensitive because small numbers of P. carinii organisms might be insignificant in causing the disease. It might reveal colonization or asymptomatic carrier state in the upper respiratory tract. Therefore, our result suggested that colonization or asymptomatic carrier state in the upper respiratory tract could eventually evolve into PCP. This would also facilitate basic progress in the pathology or epidemiology of P. carinii infection. In addition, an usefulness of prophylactic therapy for PCP was documented by PCR.


The general practitioner as well as the rhinologist can find use for a good intranasal splint to hold cotton or gauze in contact with the septum. The cotton can be dusted with a powder, moistened with a liquid, or impregnated with a salve, and accurately held in contact with the membranes. It is useful in the treatment of fractures of the nose, epistaxis, ulcerations, etc. To the operating rhinologist, a strong and adjustable splint is indispensable. The splint here illustrated fills all of these needs. It is readily adjustable to any degree of pressure. It is made in two parts, making it very easy of introduction. When properly placed, it allows free breathing through the nostrils. 30 North Michigan Avenue.


In the present study steam application was investigated with regard to microbicidal and parasiticidal effects. The cleaning apparatus used (Uninova Company) works at a boiler pressure of about 5 bar and consequently with a temperature up to 155 degrees C inside the boiler. Whereas the ambient atmosphere working temperature of steam is slightly below 100 degrees C. The tests are based on the DVG guidelines for testing chemical disinfectants (2). Different steaming times and distances were used in germ carrier tests with three different germ carriers (tile, wood, carpet) and three different test germs (Staphyloccocus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans) in order to determine the optimum conditions for biocidal effects of steam-application. These optimum conditions were additionally tested with two test viruses (ECBO- and Reo-virus) and a parasitological resting form (ascarid worm eggs). Swirling of germs caused by steam turbulence was minimized by covering the steam outlet nozzle with cloth. The experiments showed logarithmical reduction factors of at least 5.0 in the germ count at steaming times of 5 seconds and a steaming distance of 2.5 cm for all three test germs on all three germ carriers (mean of 10 repeated tests). The virological tests showed good disinfection results after a steaming time of only 2 seconds using aseptic gauze as germ carrier and also after 5 seconds using wood as a carrier. Finally in testing vitality of undeveloped Ascarid worm eggs only 2 seconds of steam treatment proved to be sufficient for a 100 percent destruction. According to the present results steam treatment is most likely to become a valuable, ecologically compatible method in controlling hygienic problems, with a potential of partly replacing chemical disinfectants. In particular we see applications in keeping pets and companion animals, provided the above mentioned rules are followed (steaming distance 2.5 cm; steaming time 5 seconds; cloth). In farm animal stables steam disinfection seems harder to achieve because of large, rough surfaces and economical reasons as e.g. expenditure of time and energy.


The nuSTORM facility will provide $\nu_e$ ($\bar{\nu}_e$) and $\nu_\mu$ ($\bar{\nu}_\mu$) beams from the decay of low energy muons confined within a storage ring. The instrumentation of the ring, combined with the excellent knowledge of muon decay, will make it possible to determine the neutrino flux at the \%-level or better. The neutrino and anti-neutrino event rates are such that the nuSTORM facility, serving a suite of near detectors, will allow measurements of the $\nu_eA$ ($\bar{\nu}_eA$) and $\nu_\mu A$ ($\bar{\nu}_\mu A$) cross sections to be made with the precision required to enhance the sensitivity of the next generation of long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiments thereby enhancing their discovery potential. By delivering precise cross section measurements with a pure weak probe nuSTORM has the potential to make measurements important to understanding the physics of nuclei. The precise knowledge of the initial neutrino flux also makes it possible to deliver uniquely sensitive light sterile-neutrino searches. The concept for the nuSTORM facility will be presented together with an evaluation of its performance. The status of the planned consideration of nuSTORM at CERN in the context of the Physics Beyond Colliders Study Group will be summarised.


Extra-peritoneal leiomyoma is a rare condition with the recognised etiologic factor being direct seeding of the site by a prior uterine surgery with a right metabolic environment. We report a rare case of abdominal wall leiomyoma developing in a fertile woman with no known predisposing factor and highlight the common approach to establish the diagnosis so as to deliver appropriate treatment to the patient.


This chapter begins with a description of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and examples of reported prevalence of FASD in the international context. It then draws on international and Australian studies to describe the burden of FASD, including studies relevant to the Aboriginal population. The section on the Australian context provides a description of some of the action that has been taken in Australia to address FASD. The section on the Life Cycle model includes stories of Aboriginal people, from a major city and rural and remote communities in northern and southeast Queensland, on their experiences and perceptions of alcohol. These stories, collected by Hayes in 1997 and 1998, led to the development of the Life Cycle model. This model can be adopted to address the complexities of FASD in the Aboriginal population. The final section describes initiatives driven by local Aboriginal communities, and accepted as best practice, for addressing FASD in their communities. The chapter concludes with questions for reflective practice and FASD.


Coronary angioplasty is increasingly used as an attempt to revascularize patients with severe coronary artery disease. To determine the efficacy of such treatment, a new fixed wire angioplasty catheter was evaluated by a multicenter group in a non-randomized fashion in 50 patients, average 58 +/- 11 years (+/- 1 SD), 58% men. Forty-four percent had a prior revascularization procedure (28% angioplasty, 16% coronary bypass surgery), 38% had a prior Q-wave myocardial infarction, 43% had grade 4 angina, and 60% multiple vessel disease. Angioplasty was attempted in 63 lesions which were located in a mid to distal location in 69%, with a proximal tortuosity score of 1.8 (2 = 45-60 degrees entrance angle), and lesion angulation of 1.4 (1 = 45 degrees lesion bend). In 88%, the device was the primary catheter used and in 6%, it was chosen when another system failed. The balloon was able to successfully cross 94% of all lesions attempted. Six lesions were crossed and dilated but significant residual stenoses remained. There were no significant device malfunctions, or angiographic or clinical complications. This feasibility evaluation of this new fixed wire system yielded excellent angiographic results. Although not a comparative study, this analysis suggests that this new generation of angioplasty catheter may improve the safety and efficacy of complex coronary angioplasty.


The possibility of using linkage disequilibrium mapping in natural plant populations was assessed. In studying linkage disequilibrium among 137 mapped AFLP markers in four populations of sea beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima (L.) Arcang.) it was shown that tightly linked loci could be detected by screening for associations. It was hypothesized that the short distances spanned by linkage disequilibrium enable markers that are very tightly linked to a target gene to be identified. The hypothesis was tested by whole-genome screening of AFLP markers for association with the gene for the annual growth habit, the B gene, in a sample of 106 sea beets. Despite the dominant nature of AFLP, two markers showing significant linkage disequilibrium with the B gene were detected. The results indicate the potential use of linkage disequilibrium for gene mapping in natural plant populations.


A major problem facing the food industry is accumulation, handling and disposal of waste from the processing of raw materials. Therefore, valorisation of such waste by achievement of functional ingredients, leading to increasing of nutritional quality and antioxidant potential of foods is of real interest. Among waste and by-products from the processing industry of vegetables and fruits with valorisation potential are tomato waste, dark colour grape seed and skin (red, purple, and black). In this paper are presented results of the performed research for achievement of some functional ingredients (flours) from tomato waste and winemaking by-products (grape pomace and grape seed). Tomato waste and winemaking by-products were subjected to convective drying process at temperature of 50°C, in order to protect bioactive compounds (vitamins, phenolic compounds etc.), to a moisture which allows their milling and conversion into flours and, at the same time, their stability in terms of quality. The achieved functional ingredients were evaluated from sensory, physic-chemical and microbiological point of view. Flour obtained from tomato waste is characterized by content in carotenoids (lycopene – 225.92 mg/kg; ß-carotene 16.22 mg/kg), protein (17.62%), minerals, total fibre (59.47%), total polyphenol (18.76 mg GAE/g). Flours achieved from winemaking by-products are characterized by content of protein (10.53-14.63%), minerals, total fibre (58.06-66.06%) and total polyphenol (200.15322.75 mg GAE/g). Antioxidant capacity of flour achieved from tomato waste was 1.62 mg Trolox Equivalents/g, and of flour achieved from winemaking by-products varied in the range (40.75–51.25 mg Trolox Equivalents/g). Microbiological analysis showed that flours obtained from tomato waste and winemaking by-products (grape pomace and grape seed) are under the provisions of the legislation in force.


The spot to play in the game against athlete mistakes asked to explore the athletes in the race through the ways and means to complete their usual training a small mistake difficult action to achieve better race results. Establish Aerobics partial least squares regression modeling to improve forecasts on of aerobics athleteÂÂ's intention and behavior. Studies have shown that exercise program, self-efficacy, to support the operation mechanism between intention and behavior, aerobics athleteÂÂ's movement behavior intervention by increasing self-efficacy and support of motor behavior.


This paper presents a novel single-stage VGA architecture that employs two Gm cells, a voltage-controlled current attenuator, resistors and capacitors. The gain can be changed in three large steps by using digital controls, and continuously within these steps. The VGA bandwidth and output-related IP3 and 1dBCP are independent of the gain setting; the bandwidth can be programmed through a digitally-controlled capacitor array placed at its output. The proposed architecture was employed to realize the VGA for a WLAN/WiMAX/LTE radio receiver. Die area and power consumption were reduced by implementing the two Gm cells with one instantiation of a high-linearity Gm-core and scaled outputs; also, the current attenuator was implemented with a simple differential current steering circuit; finally, the load resistors were also used to sense the output common-mode level. The VGA was fabricated in 0.15 um standard CMOS process. Measurement results show the gain varying between -5 dB to 30 dB and the max bandwidth surpasses 60 MHz; 11.14 nV/√{Hz} input referred noise; O1dBCP of 8.6 dBm while taking 4.2 mA from a 1.8 V supply; it settles within 20 ns after a min-max step-change of the gain; it occupies 0.05 mm2.


The critical states occurring during pregnancy, labor, and early puerperium were analyzed. Seventy puerperas treated at intensive care units (ICU) were examined. The patients were divided into 5 groups: 1) those with preeclampsia (n = 15); 2) eclampsia (n = 22); 3) massive blood loss (n = 17); 4) pyoseptic complications (n = 10); 5) acute respiratory failure (n = 6). The APACHE II scale severity was 22 +/- 5.3 scores. The mean age of puerperas is 29.2 +/- 7.2 years. Total mortality was 14.3%. Parametric and non-parametric statistic methods were used to analyze the reasons for referral of the patients to ICU, their age composition, the association of an outcome to the time of their referral to ICU, the duration of stay there and at hospital, mortality, the time of controlled ventilation, the incidence of multiorgan failure. The common reasons for referral of the puerperas from maternity homes to ICU were eclampsia, preeclampsia, and massive blood loss. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (52.9%), encephalopathy (44.3%), coma (47.1%), and intestinal insufficiency (38.6%) were predominant in the pattern of multiorgan failure in intensive care obstetric patients. When emergencies occurred in puerperas, earlier referral from maternal homes to ICU caused a reduction in mortality from 33.% at referral on day 3 after their occurrence to 23.5% at referral on day 2, and to 11.5 at referral on day 1.


General formulae for generic hierarchical fuzzy systems (HFS) are derived using a recursive approach and various special cases are catered for. A discrete time dynamic hierarchical fuzzy controller (HFC) is analysed and a design method for the HFC is presented. Further a sufficient condition for the stability of the combined global HFS and HFC are presented and some examples are presented to illustrate the stability theorem.


Hypertension is the main risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality. Some studies have reported that food typical of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and extra virgin olive oil, have a favorable effect on the risk of hypertension, whereas food not typical of this dietary pattern such as red meat, processed meat, and poultry has an unfavorable effect. In this review, we have summarized observational and intervention studies, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews that have evaluated the effects of the MedDiet as a pattern towards blood pressure (BP). However, the number of such studies is small. In general terms, the MedDiet has a favorable effect in reducing BP in hypertensive or healthy people but we do not have enough data to declare how strong this effect is. Many more studies are required to fully understand the BP changes induced by the MedDiet.


The origin and evolution of granites remain a matter of debate and several approaches have been made to distinguish between different granite types. Overall, granite classification schemes based on element concentrations and ratios, tectonic settings or the source rocks (I-, A-, S-type) are widely used, but so far, no systematic large-scale study on Th/U ratio variations in granites based on their source or tectonic setting has been carried out, even though these elements show very similar behavior during melting and subsequent processes. We therefore present a compiled study, demonstrating an easy approach to differentiate between S-, A- and I-type granites using Th and U concentrations and ratios measured with a portable gamma ray spectrometer. Th and U concentrations from 472 measurements in S- and I-type granites from the Variscan West-Bohemian Massif, Germany, and 78 measurements from Neoproterozoic A-type Malani granites, India, are evaluated. Our compendium shows significant differences in the average Th/U ratios of A-, I- and S-type granites and thus gives information about the source rock and can be used as an easy classification scheme. Considering all data from the studied A-, I- and S-type granites, Th/U ratios increase with rising Th concentrations. A-type granites have the highest Th/U ratios and high Th concentrations, followed by I-type granites. Th/U ratios in S- to I-type granites are lower than in A-type and I-type granites, but higher than in S-type granites. The variation of Th/U ratios in all three types of granite cannot be explained by fractional crystallization of monazite, zircon and other Th and U bearing minerals alone, but are mainly due to source heterogeneities and uranium mobilization processes.


Abstract: In the West, Turkey is considered a model for a secular democracy in the Muslim world, yet the country finds itself mired in a crisis of civil rights and liberties under a third term of the pro-Islamic AKP government. Ironically, while the government maintains a discourse on political reform—including constitutional amendments—the country is bitterly divided over issues of minority and human rights, freedom of speech, and autonomy of media and academia.


CONTENTS § 1. Introduction § 2. The specification of processes through finite-dimensional distributions § 3. Characteristic functionals § 4. Transformations of stochastic processes § 5. Densities of measures in function spaces § 6. Concluding remarksReferences


The crystal structure of ~-CrP04, previously solved from high-resolution synchrotron powder X-ray data, has been refined by the Rietveld method. The peak shape variation is well fitted by a convolution of Gaussian and Lorentzian terms, which incorporate both instrumental and sample-broadening contributions. The structure has also been refined using medium-resolution neutron diffraction data, and the results of the two experiments are compared with a reported single-crystal study. The three sets of coordinates are found to be in good agreement, demonstrating the potential of structure determination and refinement using powder data.


Ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs) are electroactive material devices that bend at low applied voltage (1–4 V). Inversely, a voltage is generated when the materials are deformed, which makes them useful both as sensors and actuators. In this paper, we propose two new highly porous carbon materials as electrodes for IPMC actuators, generating a high specific area, and compare their electromechanical performance with recently reported RuO2 electrodes and conventional IPMCs. Using a direct assembly process (DAP), we synthesize ionic liquid (Emi-Tf) actuators with either carbide-derived carbon (CDC) or coconut-shell-based activated carbon-based electrodes. The carbon electrodes were applied onto ionic liquid-swollen Nafion membranes using a direct assembly process. The study demonstrates that actuators based on carbon electrodes derived from TiC have the greatest peak-to-peak strain output, reaching up to 20.4 mε (equivalent to>2%) at a 2 V actuation signal, exceeding that of the RuO2 electrodes by more than 100%. The electrodes synthesized from TiC-derived carbon also exhibit significantly higher maximum strain rate. The differences between the materials are discussed in terms of molecular interactions and mechanisms upon actuation in the different electrodes.


This study was designed to investigate the effects of methanolic extract of Polyalthiya longifolia fruits on Nnitrosodiethylamine/ Phenobarbital (DEN/PB) induced Hepatocellular damage with special reference to lipid profile and antioxidant status.Rats received with DEN/PB showed the elevated levels of total cholesterol (p<0.05), triglycerides (TG, p<0.01), free fatty acids (FFA, p<0.05), low density lipoprotein (LDL, p<0.05), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL, p<0.05) and decreased level of high density lipoprotein (HDL), urea and creatinine and glucose levels. Administration of MEPL 200,400 mg/kg.p.o to hepatocellular damage bearing rats orally for 28 days significantly altered the biochemical variations induced by DEN/PB in a dose dependent manner which indicates it's protective and lipid lowering effects during DEN/PB induced hepatocellular damage in rats. Moreover results from antioxidant studies revealed that, maximum percentage inhibition of DPPH radicals by MEPL was about 76% at 800 μg/mL whereas in the nitric oxide radical scavenging model, the maximum percentage inhibition is about 59% at 800μg/mL and in reducing power method, MEPL demonstrated dose dependent antioxidant activity comparable with Ascorbic acid. Thus, it clearly indicates that MEPL might be beneficial in attenuating the elevated biochemical parameters during DEN/PB induced hepatocellular damage and the results suggested the ability of the extract to combat oxidative stress by quenching free radicals which reveals that, the attenuation due to its antioxidant property.


The paper focuses on the challenges that the 'sharing economy' presents to the updating of the European Union's (EU) Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AVMSD), part of the broader Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy of the EU. It suggests that the convergence of media markets and the emergence of video-sharing platforms may make the existing regulative tradition obsolete. It demonstrates an emergent need for regulatory convergence – AVMSD to create equal terms for all technical forms of content distribution. It then shows how the operational logic of video-sharing platforms undermines the AVMSD logic aimed at creating demand for professionally produced European content – leading potentially to the liberalisation of the EU audiovisual services market. Lastly, it argues that the DSM strategy combined with sharing-related network effects may facilitate the evolution of the oligopolistic structure in the EU audiovisual market, potentially harmful for cultural diversity.


SUMMARY Geological and geophysical constraints to reconstruct the evolution of the Central Mediterranean subduction zone are presented. Geological observations such as upper plate stratigraphy, HP–LT metamorphic assemblages, foredeep/trench stratigraphy, arc volcanism and the back-arc extension process are used to define the infant stage of the subduction zone and its latest, back-arc phase. Based on this data set, the time dependence of the amount of subducted material in comparison with the tomographic images of the upper mantle along two cross-sections from the northern Apennines and from Calabria to the Gulf of Lyon can be derived. Further, the reconstruction is used to unravel the main evolutionary trends of the subduction process. Results of this analysis indicate that (1) subduction in the Central Mediterranean is as old as 80 Myr, (2) the slab descended slowly into the mantle during the first 20–30 Myr (subduction speeds were probably less than 1 cm year x1 ), (3) subduction accelerated afterwards, producing arc volcanism and back-arc extension and (4) the slab reached the 660 km transition zone after 60–70 Myr. This time-dependent scenario, where a slow initiation is followed by a roughly exponential increase in the subduction speed, can be modelled by equating the viscous dissipation per unit length due to the bending of oceanic lithosphere to the rate of change of potential energy by slab pull. Finally, the third stage is controlled by the interaction between the slab and the 660 km transition zone. In the southern region, this results in an important re-shaping of the slab and intermittent pulses of back-arc extension. In the northern region, the decrease in the trench retreat can be explained by the entrance of light continental material at the trench.


Wave energy is an attractive renewable energy source. The energy generated from ocean is one of the most popular sources of renewable energy to be the substitute of fossil fuels and other non- renewable energy source. Water waves can generate desire amount of power density globally, which equivalent to major segment of the world's current total energy consumption. The technology for water wave to electrical conversion requires wave energy converter (WEC), electrical generator, and signal conditioning end. This paper is focused on the selection and analysis of most suitable electrical generator which makes the overall wave energy conversion system simpler and more efficient compare to previous design. The majority of wave energy conversion systems are based on conventional rotational generators which not only require mechanical interface i.e. turbine, hydraulic pump but make complicated system, incur losses and increases maintenance.


40% of areas in Indonesia are still using rainwater as a source for irrigation. Type of wetland rainwater always depends on weather that is currently difficult to predict. In addition, the frequency of field cultivation became limited. Irrigation water can come from a dam or a spring in the mountains. Limited water source generates the need to manage water distribution in all areas of rice fields. For every 1 hectare fields, at least 0.5 litres of water per second is needed. The imbalance between the field and the available water discharge can cause conflicts in the Community farmers manage field. The purpose of this research is to assist in the Assembly Of Farmer Water users ("Perkumpulan Petani Pemakai Air" or "P3A") manage the scheduling and controlling irrigation sluice based IoT using mobile applications. The waterfall process model applied in developing mobile applications. Every feature that is created has been tested directly using Unit tests based on the application of the system used. The test is done by observing the system inputs and outputs of the system usability scale (SUS). Tests are also carried out using Post-Study with method of the SUS.


This chapter analyses some of the leading cases in which the courts addressed different aspects of the Human Rights Act 1998, and draws out the constitutional implications of the courts' initial conclusions. The discussions cover the interlinked issues of the extent to which the courts have recognised a distinction between Convention articles and Convention Rights, the approach taken to statutory interpretation mandated by s 3, and the use of Declarations of Incompatibility under s 4; the doctrine of judicial 'deference' to legislative policy decisions; the 'horizontality' of the Act and its impact on the development of the common law; and the status of proportionality as a ground of review of executive action. The chapter concludes with an assessment of whether the Act has triggered a shift in understandings on the proper scope of the doctrines of the sovereignty of Parliament and the rule of law within the modern constitutional order.


Abstract Abortion is a subject that is debated, politicized, moralized, and condemned. However, it is a fact which is at least currently sanctioned in the United States. It is also a significant event in the lives of women who must face the long-term emotional, psychological, and spiritual repercussions of what they consider a necessary decision. Many women experience the weight of this decision alone, even in the midst of financial or other kinds of physical support from family or friends, and often without the emotional support of their sexual partner. Eight women were interviewed for this look at the impact of abortion and the need for both a cultural and individual forum for healing abortion guilt and finding atonement. A case is made for the power of poetry as a succinct language of expression and the use of therapy as a relationship for discharge and supportive reflection.