Abstract Motivation As previously described, amplicon analysis of the bacterial 16S gene has several limitations owing to fundamental characteristics of both the 16S gene and technological restrictions. Previously, RibDif was introduced to help quantify these limitations by detailed analysis of a given genera and the 16S gene profile of its members, notably multiplicity and divergence of 16S alleles within genomes as well as shared alleles between species. Apart from using amplicon analysis for only the 16S gene, amplicons derived from genus-specific genes or even functional genes are increasingly being utilized. Moreover, long-read technologies are progressively being used to sequence longer amplicons, and since these inherently contain more information, they may likely alleviate the issues proposed in RibDif. Results Taking these phenomena into account, we here propose RibDif2. RibDif2 retains the 16S-optimized functionality of the original RibDif but can now run any set of primers on any part of the genome in any set of organisms, be it prokaryote, eukaryote, or archaea. We demonstrate this new functionality by showing full species resolution of Pseudoalteromonas using complete rRNA-operon amplicons, as well as selection of optimally discriminatory primers for Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas. Moreover, we show a potential bias toward terrestrial bacteria relative to marine ones for primers amplifying biosynthetic gene clusters and lastly suggest optimal primers to differentiate the members of the insect genus Drosophila. We believe that RibDif2 will facilitate the work of all scientists using amplicon sequencing, especially in the era of long-read sequencing. Availability and implementation Ribdif2 is freely available at https://github.com/Rob-murphys/ribdif.


This report presents relevant statistics that highlight the economic activity of the U.S. seed industry. The focus of this report is on the four main U.S. crops: corn, soybean, wheat, and cotton. The report contains three sections. The first is related to the U.S. seed market's size based on seed sales and expenditures. The second section examines industry investment in research and development (R&D) activity in terms of both budget and human resources. The final section illustrates the impact of the seed industry in terms of intellectual property development, improved productivity, and other benefits. This report focuses on using publicly available data to examine these three areas. In addition, the report presents the results of a survey conducted among American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) members that helped fill some gaps in publicly available information. The report ends with identification of deficiencies in the industry data that could be improved with more study and/or reporting from the industry.


I WOULD like to draw attention to a letter posted on the BVA Community recently, regarding the proposed sale of the BVA's Mansfield Street headquarters. The authors of the letter assert that 'Mansfield Street is BVA's single most valuable asset'; however, I would contend that the BVA's single most valuable asset is, in fact, …


A rigid fiber-optic imaging element with high fidelity, high resolution, and high contrast is applied in low-level-light night vision and particle detection devices. Any optical fiber in elements is an image transmission unit. However, the independence and integrity of image transmission are disturbed constantly, resulting in blemishes. This paper studies the formation mechanism of the blemishes of rigid fiber-optic imaging elements. The existence of defects with different sizes in or among the optical fibers, and fiber deformation decreasing light transmission ability are simulated theoretically. Then experiments are carried out to verify the simulation results. It is theoretically concluded that a blemish forms when the equivalent sphere radius (RES) of a stone defect is greater than 1.2 µm in a normal fiber, and 1.1 µm in a taper fiber. The RES of a bubble defect is greater than 1.3 µm in the fiber, which can form blemishes. Excessive deformation of fibers behaving as a clad layer with thickness less than 0.3 µm also results in the formation of blemishes. When fiber deformation and the existence of stone are considered, blemishes can occur as long as the size of the stone defect among the fibers is greater than 0.823 µm. The results provide data support and theoretical guidance in solving blemishes and other fixed pattern noises, and significantly improve the engineering and application level of fiber-optic imaging elements.


This book collects together significant research on the involvement of parents and carers in their children's education. The findings stress the importance of dialogue and action between teachers and parents so parents can actively share in the decisions about their children's educational experience. The contributors explore the challenges this presents for both the teachers and the parents.
Participatory democracy at grass roots level is hugely complex, especially in diverse society. This book seeks to develop the empirical and theoretical understanding of parent-school relationships and participatory democracy. Studies of aspects of this problematic dynamic provide approaches for constructive policy and practice. New research into home-school relations, for example, will support teachers in developing their strategies for securing parent participation. Key factors that affect parents' participation are identified, such as the experiences of mothers, and issues relating to social class and race, and these inform what the parents' role in school should be. What is feasible, what is appropriate and what is desirable? Parent Participation offers some answers.
The book is for teachers, policy makers, school governors, and for local authority advisers, councillors and practitioners. It is also important reading for students of teaching, child development, social policy, sociology, and gender studies.


Surgery of craniofacial injuries is one of dynamically developing sections of neurosurgery. Definition of the timing of facial bone fracture treatment has been shifted towards earlier interventions in the world medicine in the past two decades. The analysis of patients treated for craniofacial injuries in the period of 2007-2010 has been made. Surgical treatment of the fractures of the upper and middle facial zone bones has led to deterioration of the brain injury process in no patients. Good esthetic and functional results have been achieved postoperatively in all the patients. Reconstructive surgical interventions for the fractures of the upper and middle facial zones can be performed as early as it is possible.


Context: Managing keloids remains a challenge in clinical practice. Many therapeutic options are available, but none is universally accepted or without recurrence. Therefore, an effort is required to choose the treatment with maximal outcomes. Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of combining fractional carbon dioxide (FCO2) laser and intralesional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for the treatment of keloids. Materials and Methods: In this prospective open-label study, 24 patients received FCO2 laser treatment, started at baseline, for a total of six sittings. The patients also received 1 mL/cm2/keloid of 5-FU (50 mg/mL) intralesionally, following irradiation, at identical time points. The primary outcome evaluated was the clinical response concerning height, pliability, vascularity, and pigmentation, using the Vancouver Score Scale (VSS). Adverse reactions and recurrences were recorded as secondary outcomes. Results: A significant reduction was observed in the VSS in terms of pliability and height after three treatment sessions. The mean VSS reduction was 65%, from 8.45 ± SD 0.93 at baseline to 3 ± SD 1.8 one month after the last treatment (P < 0.05). Most patients (79.1%; n = 19) showed a satisfactory response to treatment, with 57.8% (n = 11) achieving an excellent result. Adverse reactions included post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation in four patients and ulceration in two. Recurrences were reported in 21% of the patients who responded well. Conclusions: Combination therapy with FCO2 laser and intralesional 5-FU showed a promising effect in the treatment of resistant keloids, with an acceptable safety profile and low recurrence rate.


Welcome to this second issue of Transnational Education Review (TER) in 2023. In this editorial, we also would like to reflect on an emerging phenomenon: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on higher education. We would like to invite colleagues to submit their research, commentaries, debates and viewpoints in coming issues to share views and shape the agenda regarding AI and the future of learning and teaching in higher education. In this second issue of Transnational Education Review (TER) in 2023, we have a set of interesting articles from around the world. In the opening article, Görsev Sönmez and Serkan Gürkan examine the perceptions of pre-service teachers regarding the refugee students in the education faculty of a private university in Istanbul, Turkey. Second paper by Emel Kiliç explores the socio-cultural integration of Turkish-speaking migrants in Belgium. As Emel explains migration can be a challenging but rewarding experience, in Belgium, integration courses are available to provide essential support for migrants so that they adapt to their new environment. In Betül Dilara Şeker and Ibrahim Sirkeci's insightful article, they argue that language proficiency was the most critical variable in education and adaptation to the host culture, and their findings indicate the importance of schools in the acculturation and adaptation of the Syrian refugee students. We hope you will find these contributions useful. Finally, once again, we extend an open invitation to all researchers, practitioners and scholars to join us in this debate with their research, views, comments and reviews.


This article proposes an efficient numerical method for solving nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) based on sparse Gaussian processes (SGPs). Gaussian processes (GPs) have been extensively studied for solving PDEs by formulating the problem of finding a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) to approximate a PDE solution. The approximated solution lies in the span of base functions generated by evaluating derivatives of different orders of kernels at sample points. However, the RKHS specified by GPs can result in an expensive computational burden due to the cubic computation order of the matrix inverse. Therefore, we conjecture that a solution exists on a ``condensed"subspace that can achieve similar approximation performance, and we propose a SGP-based method to reformulate the optimization problem in the ``condensed"subspace. This significantly reduces the computation burden while retaining desirable accuracy. The paper rigorously formulates this problem and provides error analysis and numerical experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method. The numerical experiments show that the SGP method uses fewer than half the uniform samples as inducing points and achieves comparable accuracy to the GP method using the same number of uniform samples, resulting in a significant reduction in computational cost. Our contributions include formulating the nonlinear PDE problem as an optimization problem on a ``condensed"subspace of RKHS using SGP, as well as providing an existence proof and rigorous error analysis. Furthermore, our method can be viewed as an extension of the GP method to account for general positive semi-definite kernels.


Proteins and the complexes they form with their ligands are the players of cellular action. Their function is directly linked with their structure making the structural analysis of protein-ligand complexes essential. Classical techniques of structural biology include X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and recently distinguished cryo-electron microscopy. However, protein-ligand complexes are often dynamic and heterogeneous and consequently challenging for these techniques. Alternative approaches are therefore needed and gained importance during the last decades. One alternative is native mass spectrometry, which is the analysis of intact protein complexes in the gas phase. To achieve this, sample preparation and instrument conditions have to be optimised. Native mass spectrometry then reveals stoichiometry, protein interactions and topology of protein assemblies. Advanced techniques such as ion mobility and high-resolution mass spectrometry further add to the range of applications and deliver information on shape and microheterogeneity of the complexes. In this tutorial, we explain the basics of native mass spectrometry including sample requirements, instrument modifications and interpretation of native mass spectra. We further discuss the developments of native mass spectrometry and provide example spectra and applications.


The online teaching is proposed as a platform to continue learning sessions during outbreaks. It is
essential to introduce online teaching activity model that strengthen student metacognitive regulation skills in
order to maintain active learning and to ensure students mastery of the mathematics concepts at the optimum
level. This concept paper exposes the development and impact of a metacognitive regulation learning strategy
model in the process of creating an online teaching activity. This discussion interacts with both the needs and
elements of the online learning concept. The implications provide guidance and suggestions for developing
effective mathematics teaching and learning sessions through online platforms, especially for those in need of a
social distancing crisis.


Painful tonic spasms of muscles in the extremities of middle aged and elderly patients who may show little evidence of serious structural changes of the peripheral blood vessels frequently cause the practicing physician considerable concern. These muscular contractions usually occur while the patient is at rest and are frequently referred to as "night cramps." On the basis of reports of Wolf and Kennedy 1 regarding the effect of quinine hydrochloride on skeletal muscles in myotonia congenita and in myotonia atrophica, one of us (H. K. M.) administered quinine sulfate to a woman whose suffering from these "night cramps" in both lower extremities was of such intensity that she was afraid to go to bed. The rapid cessation of symptoms prompted a study in a group of patients both with and without evidence of organic changes in the peripheral arteries. Since March 1939 clinical studies have been conducted in the Vascular


The correct orientation of seismic sensors is critical for studies such as full moment tensor inversion, receiver function analysis, and shear-wave splitting. Therefore, the orientation of horizontal components needs to be checked and verified systematically. This study relies on two different waveform-based approaches, to assess the sensor orientations of the broadband network of the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI). The network is an important backbone for seismological research in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and provides a comprehensive seismic data set for the North Anatolian fault. In recent years, this region became a worldwide field laboratory for continental transform faults. A systematic survey of the sensor orientations of the entire network, as presented here, facilitates related seismic studies. We apply two independent orientation tests, based on the polarization of P waves and Rayleigh waves to 123 broadband seismic stations, covering a period of 15 yr (2004–2018). For 114 stations, we obtain stable results with both methods. Approximately, 80% of the results agree with each other within 10°. Both methods indicate that about 40% of the stations are misoriented by more than 10°. Among these, 20 stations are misoriented by more than 20°. We observe temporal changes of sensor orientation that coincide with maintenance work or instrument replacement. We provide time-dependent sensor misorientation correction values for the KOERI network in the supplemental material.


Apoptosis is a crucial mechanism for the proper regulation of homeostasis. BCL-2 family proteins are key molecules which control cellular survival and apoptosis. MCL-1 (myeloid cell leukemia-1) is a pro-survival member of BCL-2 family that promotes the survival of cells, and is highly expressed in diverse cancers including ovarian cancer, leukemia, and cervical cancer. Previously we identified IEX-1 (immediate early response gene X-1) as a binding partner of MCL-1. In the present study, we demonstrated that overexpression of IEX-1 induced apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells. Moreover, IEX-1 significantly attenuated the pro-survival function of MCL-1 in these cells. Also, IEX-1-induced cell death activity was able to be modulated by changes in the expression level of MCL-1. Thus, these results suggest that both IEX-1 and MCL-1 modulate each other's function controlling cellular survival and death and the inhibitory activity of IEX-1 toward MCL-1 may be applied for the development of chemotherapeutics.


As more and more data are expressed and stored in XML format, the study on XML keyword retrieval becomes the focus of IR (information retrieval) and Database. This paper gives and proves some properties of SLCA (smallest lowest common ancestor), which is the key concept of XML keyword retrieval. It also introduces a new XML keyword retrieval algorithm, Nearest Pair, on the basis of the properties above. This algorithm uses the iterative bi-search technology to look for nearest pairs, which can decrease the assistant computation by one order of magnitude. The experimental results show that Nearest Pair outperforms the existing mainstream algorithms in


Cause of congestion is the number of vehicles passing on limited roads. There are various kinds of negative impacts of congestion, including the loss of time, energy, health, economy, and so on. Free traffic jams such as trains are a solution to traffic congestion, especially in the Greater Jakarta area. The party building the railroad infrastructure is not only done by the government, but can also be done by the private sector. The government has established regulations that help ease the burden on contractors, namely regulations on the provision of Value Added Tax (VAT)-Not-Collected for the import of railroad infrastructure. But in practice the regulation is not easy to implement, because it is complicated and seems to deviate from the initial spirit. This study uses a qualitative method with indepth interviews with relevant informants. The results of the research show that the policy on providing VAT-Not-Collected Facilities in the import of railway infrastructure not in accordance with certainty and simplicity concept. Because of the difficulty in submitting VAT-Free Certificate, the contractor must bear VAT, without any special treatment. This will increase the contractor's basic costs and also add taxation costs for the contractor and the government.


BACKGROUND
Patient-centred care (PCC) has been associated with improved patient satisfaction outcomes in a variety of clinical settings. There is a paucity of research addressing the concept of PCC in an occupational medicine context.

AIMS
To assess patient perception and compare physician and patient perceptions of patient centredness of the care at a specialty occupational medicine clinic.

METHODS
An observational study design using the Patient Perception of Patient Centeredness Questionnaire (PPPC) at an ambulatory tertiary care occupational health clinic. Results were analysed using a standardized coding system. Summary scores were compared to results reported in a primary care setting. Patient and physician scores were compared to detect physician-patient differences in perceived patient centredness of care.

RESULTS
Of 47 eligible patients 37 consented to participate and seven were excluded due to incomplete data. Summary scores of patient perceptions of patient centredness were similar but somewhat better than scores reported in a primary care setting. Perceived patient centredness of care was high and there was minimal discordance between patient and physician scores.

CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that PCC can be measured in an occupational health setting. In an ambulatory tertiary care occupational health clinic there was a high degree of patient centredness of care which may be explained by a variety of factors. Future research should consider whether similar findings exist in other occupational medicine practice settings.


Abstract We investigate a type of a Sudoku variant called Sudo-Kurve, which allows bent rows and columns, and develop a new, yet equivalent, variant we call a Sudo-Cube. We examine the total number of distinct solution grids for this type with or without symmetry. We study other mathematical aspects of this puzzle along with the minimum number of clues needed and the number of ways to place individual symbols.


WebGIS currently has a wide range of application requirements and can generate greater economic value. Therefore, there are many units that need to build their own WebGIS system. At present, the way to build a system is usually to purchase professional software and hire professionals to complete the development. Such a construction method requires a high cost, and many of the WebGIS system applications are the same or similar, and repeated construction is also a waste of resources. In order to solve this problem, a WebGIS system based on edge computing is proposed. Comprehensive use of SAAS mode and edge computing methods to solve the needs of users can customize the system. And the system load is reasonably distributed between the server and the browser, which improves the performance of the system. In addition, the system uses edge computing to share map tiles among WebGIS users, reducing the pressure on the server and increasing the speed of use of the WebGIS system. Therefore, the WebGIS system based on edge computing can not only be personalized and customized, but also has good usability and can deal with a large number of visits. After experimental verification, in the case of more than 5 concurrent user requests per second, the system response speed increased by more than 38.6%.


PURPOSE
To describe a case of choroidal metastasis of choriocarcinoma, which presented as a rapidly progressive hemorrhagic retinal detachment with concurrent optic nerve involvement suggestive of inflammation or metastasis.

METHOD
This is a case report of a 43-year-old patient with a known history of choriocarcinoma metastases to both lungs who presented with 1 week of right eye pain and decreased vision. Dilated fundus examination was significant for a large, bullous, hemorrhagic retinal detachment, with the appearance of an underlying choroidal mass in the superonasal retina. Magnetic resonance imaging result was significant for a 1.6 × 1.3-cm heterogeneous mass in the right globe, suggestive of metastasis, and inflammatory changes in the sclera, optic nerve, and optic nerve sheath. Additionally, hemorrhagic metastases were found in the right occipital and left frontal lobes.

RESULTS
To our knowledge, this is the first case of metastatic choriocarcinoma to the choroid with concurrent optic nerve involvement.

CONCLUSION
Choroidal metastases may be diagnosed in the setting of more widespread central nervous system involvement and should be investigated accordingly.


The main objectives of flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) are to increase the transmission capacity of lines and to control the power flow over designated transmission system. FACTS can perform all objectives of reactive power control and voltage control within the transmission and distribution networks and at load terminals. Several schemes of flexible AC transmission systems FACTS are either in use today. One of the most important FACTS devices is the Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC), which is used to investigate its effect on load flow and loss reduction in power system. The UPFC is a combination of a static shunt synchronous series compensator (STATCOM) and a static synchronous series compensator (SSSC), which are coupled via a common DC link. The UPFC is a device, which can control simultaneously all the three parameters of line power flow which are line impedance, voltage and phase angle. The UPFC improves terminal voltage regulation, series capacitor compensation and transmission angle regulation. The main objectives of this work are to develop a new basic control scheme and comprehensive analysis for a unified power flow controller (UPFC) also to develop MATLAB program which simulate the UPFC and its action on the power system. This developed technique showed to be very effective and it will enable engineers to study and investigate how the UPFC can affect the transmission system using the series voltage and shunt current injection. It was possible to demonstrate that the UPFC can improve the system characteristics and gives the best transient and dynamic stability. It can highly improves the power factor. Many cases are investigated and studied such as application of the UPFC to control voltage and power flow. The cases are tested for the same simulated power system but with different load types and different system voltages. In all cases, the performance of the system was analyzed, tested and studied to indicate voltages, currents and power performance and showed to be satisfactory.


Previous claims suggested that pure active ingredients from botanicals were less effective in pest management than their fermented crude-extracts. The objective of this study was to compare the toxicity of pure (98%) cucurbitacin A and B on nematode bioactivities with those of their fermented crude-extracts, the Nemarioc-AL and Nemafric-BL phytonematicides, respectively. Purified active ingredients were each diluted to 0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2.00, 2.25 and 2.50 μg ml‒1 and their fermented crude-extracts to 0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0%, 3.5%, 4.0%, 4.5% and 5.0% phytonematicide. The exposure time for second-stage juveniles (J2) hatch, motility and viability of the J2 to each concentration was 24, 48 and 72 h. The overall sensitivities (Σk) of J2 hatch to Nemarioc-AL, cucurbitacin A, Nemafric-BL and cucurbitacin B were 1, 30, 5 and 2 units, respectively, for motility 7, 12, 2 and 12 units, respectively, and for viability 2, 4, 1 and 4 units, respectively. Generally, nematodes displayed high sensitivities to cucurbitacin-containing phytonematicides than to their respective purified active ingredients (cucurbitacins). In conclusion, the cucurbitacin-containing phytonematicides were more effective in nematode suppression than their purified active ingredients.


A novel prototype QoS control scheme AFRS for wireless video surveillance system is proposed. AFRS means adaptive frame rate scheme which is terminal-centric and will dynamically adjust the frame rate according to the real time wireless network bandwidth. Experiments show when the network bandwidth changes, AFRS can efficiently decline the network flow, decrease the probability of packet loss rate and assure the quality of video. The scheme has been applied into reality and worked well.


diagnosis and treatment of small-bowel disease. In July 2009, a 19-year-old womanwith Peutz–Jeghers syndromewas sent to our hospital for screening and treatment. The patient had undergone segmental resection of the distal jejunum, 4 years previously, for acute intestinal obstruction due to large Peutz–Jeghers polyps. After informed consent had been obtained, we chose antegrade spiral enteroscopy for small-bowel investigation. The procedure was performed under monitored anesthesia. A standard Fujinon EN-450P5 enteroscope with an Endo-Ease Discovery SB overtubewas used. The insertion depth of the enteroscope was about 220 cm beyond the ligament of Treitz. The duration of the procedurewas 44min. During the investigation, a normal Rouxen-Y anastomotic stoma was found at about 200 cm beyond the ligament of Treitz (●" Fig. 1), and eight IIa-type hyperplastic polyps of size 3–8mmwere found nearby. Argon plasma coagulation (APC) was used for treatment of these polyps. The procedure of investigation and treatment was successful, and no bleeding occurred. However, the patient experienced severe abdominal pain after 2 h. The abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan showed pneumoperitoneum. During emergent surgery, a perforation of 15mmwas seen at the anastomotic stoma, and intraperitoneal adhesion was severe. The patient was clinically stable after repair of the perforation, and was discharged 5 days later. Diagnostic double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) has an overall complication rate of 1.7% (perforation 0.3%, pancreatitis 0.3%, bleeding 0.8%). Therapeutic DBE has a relatively high complication rate of 4.3% (APC perforation 1.2%, dilation perforation 2.9%) [1]. In patients with small-bowel anastomoses, perforations occur easily during diagnostic DBE procedures [2]. The rate of perforation after spiral enteroscopy is reported to be 0.34% [3]. Spiral enteroscopy has been successfully performed in patients with surgically altered anatomies [4], with no reports of perforation until now. In this case, perforation was found to have occurred because of prior surgery not therapeutic procedures. Avoiding excessive tension may help to limit complications including perforation.


BACKGROUND
Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) inhibitor antidepressants raise levels of multiple monoamines, whereas the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) only raise extracellular serotonin. Despite this advantage of MAO-A inhibitors, there is much less frequent development of MAO inhibitors compared with SSRIs. We sought to measure brain MAO-A occupancy after 6 weeks of treatment in depressed patients with a clinically effective dose of a selective MAO-A inhibitor and measure MAO-A occupancy after repeated administration of St. John's wort, an herb purported to have MAO-A inhibitor properties.

METHODS
Participants underwent 2 [(11)C]-harmine positron emission tomography scans. Healthy controls completed a test-retest condition, and depressed patients were scanned before and after repeated administration of moclobemide or St. John's wort for 6 weeks at the assigned dose. We measured MAO-A VT, an index of MAO-A density, in the prefrontal, anterior cingulate and anterior temporal cortices, putamen, thalamus, midbrain and hippocampus.

RESULTS
We included 23 participants (10 controls and 13 patients with major depressive disorder [MDD]) in our study. Monoamine oxidase A VT decreased significantly throughout all regions after moclobemide treatment in patients with MDD compared with controls (repeated-measures analysis of variance, F1,15 = 71.08-130.06, p < 0.001 for all regions, mean occupancy 74% [standard deviation 6%]). Treatment with St. John's wort did not significantly alter MAO-A VT.

LIMITATIONS
The occupancy estimates are limited by the sample size of each treatment group; hence, our estimate for the overall moclobemide occupancy of 74% has a 95% confidence interval of 70%-78%, and we can estimate with 95% certainty that the occupancy of St. John's wort is less than 5%.

CONCLUSION
For new MAO-A inhibitors, about 74% occupancy at steady-state dosing is desirable. Consistent with this, St. John's wort should not be classified as an MAO-A inhibitor. The magnitude of MAO-A blockade during moclobemide treatment exceeds the elevation of MAO-A binding during illness by at least 30%, suggesting that the treatment effect should exceed the disease effect when designing selective antidepressants for this target.


GEMINI (Generic Environment for Multilingual Interactive Natural Interfaces) is an EC funded research project, which has two main objectives: First, the development of a flexible platform able to produce user-friendly interactive multilingual and multi-modal dialogue interfaces to databases with a minimum of human effort, and, second, the demonstration of the platform's efficiency through the development of two different applications based on this platform: EG-Banking, a voice-portal for highquality interactions for bank customers, and CitizenCare, an e-government platform framework for citizen-to-administration interaction which are available for spoken and web-based user interaction.


In present-day Scandinavia a coinage was initiated about AD 995, which imitated contemporary Anglo-Saxon coins. For more than thirty years the English and Scandinavian coinages were closely connect ...


Environmental degradation and natural disasters caused by human activity today continue to increase. The main reason is the low environmental awareness. This indicates the failure of environmental education in schools. Rising levels of public education are not able to raise environmental awareness. The main cause is the integration of environmental educational material on the subject matter that is not supported by the media and appropriate learning resources that failed to establish the competence of graduates. UNIMED have vision and strategic plan for the development of science education. Therefore, the development model of environmental education is very relevant with the vision and the strategic plan. UNIMED received a grant of 60 hectares of mangrove areas in the Percut Sei Tuan District, Deli Serdang Regency to be managed and developed its preservation. The mangrove area is very suitable as media and learning resources of environmental education. However, there is no utilization of mangrove ecosystem models such as the media and learning resources for environmental education in schools. The research objective was to develop a model of mangrove ecosystem utilization as media and learning resources of environmental education. The research method is qualitative descriptive involving school partners in improving the learning model. Design of learning model is to integrate the three subjects of senior high school, ie. Geography, Biology, and Economics. They were packaged in the form of themes that are relevant to the preservation of the mangrove ecosystem. The effectiveness of the model is determined from the model's ability to fulfill basic competence achievement subjects on the curriculum 2013 of Senior High School. The research stages include focus group discussion for analysis of curriculum, syllabus, preparation of integration model, and development of learning tools. The results showed that the mangrove ecosystem can be used as media and learning resources for environmental education at the Senior High School. The model is very relevant to integrate the three subjects of Geography, Biology, and Economics. Based on the curriculum 2013 analysis of senior high school, the basic competencies of relevant subjects can be integrated on Grade 10 for Biology subjects and Grade 11 for Geography and Economics Subjects. The results also showed that the model is very efficient to apply. It can meet the achievements of some basic competence in some subjects so it is easier for teachers to mobilize students to the field and minimize costs. Keywords—Mangrove Ecosystems, media and learning resources, environmental education


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for an enlightened management and governance praxis against a backdrop of cognitive and motivational biases promoting a reflected international capital budgeting decision process. Furthermore, societally relevant questions are raised whether these biases might have an effect on various stakeholders in public–private partnerships. Recurring failures of international business investments motivate reflective, cognitive and socio-constructivist perspectives on the international capital budgeting process.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on an interdisciplinary literature review and substantiated by empirical studies, the cognitive biases and flaws of the international capital budgeting process are discussed making use of a five-stage process scheme. The article applies the interpretative paradigm and regards the international capital budgeting process stages as a socio-political process of reality construction and critically assesses the motives of its actors. Consequently, the authors develop and discuss three principle-based behavioural rationalisation factors.

Findings

International capital budgeting is not a process of rational choice but of social construction of reality. Reflective prudence, critical communication and independence are three rationalisation factors which could, if applied along the five stages of the international capital budgeting process, systematically lead to de-biasing and thus enhance the performative praxis of international investment decisions.

Research limitations/implications

The international capital budgeting process deals with the construction of future scenarios under uncertainty and assessment of potential success and failure of future projects. The defined (or any other) rationalisation factors are subject to cultural biases and can naturally not guarantee successful investment projects. Although the success of the application of various de-biasing tactics was empirically confirmed, the aggregated rationalisation factors of the paper have not been tested.

Practical implications

The paper is aimed at enhancing the reflective understanding and the performative praxis of the international capital budgeting process. The practical recommendations aggregated in the rationalisation factors are explicitly elaborated for international business practitioners.

Social implications

Societally relevant questions are raised whether systematic biases have an effect on various stakeholders in international public–private partnerships. Especially in large investment projects, where capturing private value might be boosted by actively exploiting biases of the public decision makers, active stakeholder engagement could enhance the social and ecological value of investments.

Originality/value

The article provides a rare interdisciplinary literature review on cognitive biases in the international capital budgeting process. It critically reflects the social construction of it various stages and its social repercussions and develops practical rationalisation factors for an enhancement of the international capital budgeting process as a performative praxis.


Abstract—Among patients with acute stroke, high blood pressure (BP) and higher levels of circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) at the entry are often associated with poor outcome, although the reason is unclear. If the link between BP and stroke outcome is indeed mediated by inflammatory response, one would expect to see positive associations between BP and CRP. In a prospective observational stroke data bank involving 535 first-ever ischemic stroke patients, we studied the association between BP and baseline concentrations of CRP within 24 hours after stroke onset. The association between BP components and the odds of having an elevated CRP level (≥1.5 mg/dL) was assessed by logistic regression analysis. An increase in systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), or pulse pressure (PP) was significantly associated with an increase in the odds of having an elevated CRP level, independent of other associated study factors. For each 10 mm Hg increase in SBP, DBP, MAP, or PP, the odds of having a high CRP level increased by 72% (P <0.0001), 10% (P <0.0001), 21% (P <0.0001), and 10% (P <0.0001), respectively. When the same model was rerun, adjusting for all considered BP components, only SBP significantly increased the odds of an elevated CRP level by 77% (P <0.0001). Increased SBP was significantly associated with elevated levels of circulating CRP in ischemic stroke patients. These findings support a possible role of acute hypertension after stroke as an inflammatory stimulus contributing to ischemic brain inflammation.


We report the synthesis of macrocyclic DTPA conjugates of 1,1'-bis(amino)ferrocenes (1a-b) and their Gd-complexes [Gd(L)(H(2)O)] (2a-b, L = 1a-b) for use as new MRI blood-pool contrast agents. High R(1) relaxivity in HSA as well as high thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities is observed for 2a.


The work of J. Budziszewski highlights an important dimension of natural law ethical and political theory, i.e., the interplay between particular customs and universal moral norms. This discussion investigates that relationship through a reading of G. K. Chesterton's The Napoleon of Notting Hill—a novel that presents a nuanced picture of the vitality and danger of robust patriotism. Chesterton directs our attention to the necessity of real local attachments if we are ultimately to conform to the universal justice of the natural law.


Cultural studies constitutes one of the most multi-perspectival research fields. Amidst a polyvocal theoretical landscape that spans different disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, literary studies, film studies, media studies, ethnography, philosophy, marketing, to name a few, and different perspectives within each discipline, semiotics is of foundational value. In an attempt to effectively address the sheer polyvocity and conceptual richness of the semiotic discipline, a wide roster of perspectives is evoked against the background of a diverse set of cultural phenomena. This roster includes and is informed by structuralist semiotics, post-structuralist semiotics, semiotically informed psychoanalysis, cultural semiotics, film semiotics, sociosemiotics, eclectically refined frameworks that have been offered by prominent semioticians, such as Umberto Eco, but also, to a lesser extent, by music semiotics and by more niche, but certainly promising perspectives, such as postmodern semiotics, ethnosemiotics, phenomenological semiotics and rhetorical semiotics. The recruitment of semiotic frameworks and concepts is enacted against the background of advances in cultural studies (thus reinstating the dialogue with a discipline that took form by drawing on semiotics in the first place) and the various research streams that have become consolidated within the wider cultural studies territory, such as memory studies, celebrity studies, death studies, cultural geography, visual studies, to name a few. At the same time, the offered readings engage dialogically with culturally informed research in the marketing discipline or what has become entrenched in the academic vernacular under the umbrella of CCT (Consumer Culture Theory).


We consider the Gaussian interference channel with an intermediate relay as a main building block for cooperative interference networks. On the achievability side, we consider compress-and-forward based strategies. Specifically, a generalized compress-and-forward strategy, where the destinations jointly decode the compression indices and the source messages, is shown to improve upon the compress-and-forward strategy which sequentially decodes the compression indices and source messages, and the recently proposed generalized hash-and-forward strategy. We also construct a nested lattice code based compute-and-forward relaying scheme, which outperforms other relaying schemes when the direct link is weak. In this case, it is shown that, with a relay, the interference link can be useful for decoding the source messages. Noting the need for upperbounding the capacity for this channel, we propose a new technique with which the sum rate can be bounded. In particular, the sum capacity is upperbounded by considering the channel when the relay node has abundant power and is named potent for that reason. For the Gaussian interference relay channel with potent relay, we study the strong and the weak interference regimes and establish the sum capacity, which, in turn, serve as upperbounds for the sum capacity of the GIFRC with finite relay power. Numerical results demonstrate that upperbounds are tighter than the cut-set bound, and coincide with known achievable sum rates for many scenarios of interest. Additionally, the degrees of freedom of the GIFRC are shown to be 2 when the relay has large power, achievable using compress-and-forward.


Background & Aims: It is well established that prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV) triggers diaphragm atrophy and that uregulation of the proteasome and autophagy pathways has been implicated in this process. MicroRNAs (miR) are short non-coding RNAs that regulate mRNA and protein expressions of specific genes. In this study, we aimed at evaluating the expression of microRNAs that regulate the expression of autophagy-related genes and ubiquitin E3 ligases (Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1). Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were divided into two groups. The control group was spontaneously breathing while the second group was submitted to 24h of CMV. The diaphragm and gastrocnemius muscles were excised and frozen. The expression of miRs that regulate LC3B (miR-204), p62 (miR-20a, miR-17, miR-20a, miR93, miR-106b), BECLIN1 (miR-376b, miR-30a), ATG5 (miR-30a), BNIP3 (miR-210, miR-145) and Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 (miR-23a) was quantified using qPCR. Results: Prolonged CMV induced significant fiber atrophy in the DIA and significantly induced autophagy and upregulation of Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 mRNAs in the diaphragm. Prolonged CMV downregulated miR-30a, mir-145, miR-23a and mir-204 in the diaphragm. No significant alterations in the expression of remaining autophagy-related miRNAs. No significant alterations in the expression of these microRNAs were observed in the gastrocnemius. Conclusions: We conclude that prolonged MV induces significant atrophy as a result of an increase in autophagy and proteasome activities and that prolonged MV is associated with significant downregulation of specific miRNAs that negatively regulate the expression of autophagy-related genes and muscle-specific E3 ligases.


The genetic diversity of crop varieties should be assessed using modern molecular markers. One of the most promising and simple methods of plant genetic analysis is intermicrosatellite labeling (ISSR). The purpose of this research is to study the polymorphism of varieties of fiber flax and linseed flax included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation, as well as local forms of fiber flax using ISSR markers. The objects for the research were 83 samples from the collection of the Federal Research Center for Bast Fiber Crops, among them 24 varieties of linseed flax, 56 varieties of fiber flax of domestic and foreign breeding, and three local forms from the Central Non-Black Earth Region. Genetic analysis was carried out by PCR method using a set of 25 ISSR primers. Detection of amplification products was carried out using electrophoresis in 1.5% agarose gel. Based on intraspecific selection of flax varieties to oilseed and fiber forms, a cluster analysis was performed according to the results of ISSR labeling independently in each of two groups that allowed to increase the reliability of conclusions on the existing dependences. Dendrograms of the genetic similarity of the studied samples of linseed flax and fiber flax were studied independently from each other. As a result of the analysis, linseed flax varieties were divided into five clusters, which made it possible to establish dependencies related to their origin (originator of the variety) and oil content in the seed. The dendrogram which included varieties of fiber flax and its local forms, revealed twelve subclusters forming three uneven groups. Almost every group had its own characteristic feature, not related to the geography of origin. The grouping of varieties occurred mainly on the basis of their various characteristics in terms of flax fiber content, ripening time and resistance to environmental stress factors. The results of the research show the applicability of using the ISSR-markers as a valid and accessible method for developing the elements of marker-associative breeding of bast fiber crops.


Payment for ecosystem services (PES) is a market-based approach to environmental management that compensates land stewards for ecosystem conservation and restoration. Because low- income households and communities control much of the ecologically sensitive land in developing countries, they potentially stand to gain from PES, as environmentally responsible stewardship is assigned a value by various actors in society. To date, however, instances of PES benefiting the poor have been limited mainly to specific localities, small-scale projects, and a handful of broader government programs. We analyze the size, characteristics, and trends of PES to evaluate its future potential to benefit low-income land stewards in developing countries. We estimate that by the year 2030, markets for biodiversity conservation could benefit 10-15 million low-income households in developing countries, carbon markets could benefit 25-50 million, markets for watershed protection could benefit 80-100 million, and markets for landscape beauty and recreation could benefit 5-8 million. If payments and markets reach these potentials, they could provide a non-negligible contribution to poverty alleviation at the global level.


Background: Surgical care is an essential component to achieve universal health coverage. An increase in children's surgical burden is recognized worldwide, but changes in the epidemiological profile associated with global geographic heterogeneity are to be expected. The aims of this study are to analyse the prevalence and epidemiological changes of surgical activity in a tertiary center in Mexico. Methods: Ambispective cohort study. Institutional records were reviewed searching for children's surgeries in the period comprising 2001-2017. The variables analyzed were age, sex, number of surgeries per subject, and mortality rate; regarding the interventions, kind of inward stay, kind of surgery (ICD 9 CM), ward or department responsible, and perioperative mortality rate (POMR). Results: Of the 104,578 institutional admissions, 37% were surgical procedures of preschool-aged children (30.2%), and infants (27.3%). These tended to decrease, while for adolescents to increase. A total of 84,859 surgeries were performed (1.36 per operating room/day), averaging 4.992 per year, with a marginal tendency to increase. 65.8% of procedures required hospitalization. The systems more frequently intervened were: musculoskeletal system (20.1%, tending to increase), digestive system (19.5%), and cardiovascular system (11.3%). The overall mortality rate of surgical admissions was 5.5%, with POMR of 1.54%. Conclusion: The institutional epidemiological profile has changed, and relevant trends were identified. We corroborated the presence of global geographic heterogeneity with analogous hospitals


An objective in battery development for higher storage energy density is the design of compounds that can accommodate maximum changes in ion concentration over useful electrochemical windows. Not surprisingly, many storage compounds undergo phase transitions in situ, including production of metastable phases. Unique to this environment is the frequent application of electrical over- and underpotentials, which are the electrical analogs to undercooling and superheating. Surprisingly, overpotential effects on phase stability and transformation mechanisms have not been studied in detail. Here we use synchrotron X-ray diffraction performed in situ during potentiostatic and galvanostatic cycling, combined with phase-field modeling, to reveal a remarkable dependence of phase transition pathway on overpotential in the model olivine Li{sub 1-x}FePO{sub 4}. For a sample of particle size {approx}113 nm, at both low (e.g., 75 mV) overpotentials a crystal-to-crystal olivine transformation dominates, whereas at intermediate overpotentials a crystalline-to-amorphous phase transition is preferred. As particle sizes decrease to the nanoscale, amorphization is further emphasized. Implications for battery use and design are considered.


The behavior of belt tension in OHC drive timing belt system was investigated analytically and experimentally for (1)fixed and (2)automatic tensioner. From the numerical results it was found that the automatic tensioner makes the belt tension larger than those of the fixed tensioner. When the initial belt tension decreased due to the belt elongation. the belt tension of the fixed tensioner could decrease to near zero while the belt tension for the automatic tensioner maintained above zero by the tensioner spring. The mean value and the difference between the maximum and the minimum belt tension for the automatic tensioner increased compared with those of the fIXed tensioner. Also, the numerical results for a hydraulic tensioner showed that the hydraulic tensioner has the good parts of both tensioners ; i.e., the smaller amplitude in belt tension and the higher mean tension. Experimental results for the automatic and fixed tensioner of the OHC timing belt system were in agreement with the theoretical results.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of brand trust and religiosity on the decision to choose mudharabah deposit products in Islamic Commercial Banks. Population and sample are 100 respondents selected by accidental sampling in order to obtain research data through filling out a questionnaire. The results showed that partially or simultaneously the two independent variables consisting of brand trust and religiosity have a positive and significant effect on the decision to choose mudharabah deposit products in Islamic Commercial Banks.


Nanoliquid impingement heat transfer with a phase change material (PCM) installed radial system is considered. The study is performed by using the finite element method for various values of Reynolds numbers (100 ≤ Re ≤ 300), height of PCM (0.25H ≤ hpcm ≤ 0.75H), and plate spacing (0.15H ≤ hs ≤ 0.40H). Different configurations using water, nanoliquid, and nanoliquid + PCM are compared in terms of heat transfer improvement. Thermal performance is improved by using PCM, while best performance is achieved with nanoliquid and PCM-installed configuration. At Re = 100 and Re = 300, heat transfer improvements of 26% and 25.5% are achieved with the nanoliquid + PCM system as compared to water without PCM. The height of the PCM layer also influences the heat transfer dynamic behavior, while there is 12.6% variation in the spatial average heat transfer of the target surface with the lowest and highest PCM heights while discharging time increases by about 76.5%. As the spacing between the plates decreases, average heat transfer rises and there is 38% variation.


We study D-branes in the Lorentzian signature 2D black hole in string theory. We use the technique of gauged WZW models to construct the associated boundary conformal field theories. The main focus of this work is to discuss the (semi-classical) world-volume geometries of the D-branes. We discuss comparison of our work with results in related gauged WZW models.


Hypotheses concerning clergymen's enjoyment of their pastoral contacts with older parishioners are examined using data from a national probability sample of 654 American Baptist parish ministers. The hypotheses test the ideas that ministers do not enjoy pastoral contacts with the elderly and that these contacts reflect the clergymen's ageist preferences and concern with instrumental over expressive values. The findings suggest that: (1) the majority of the clergy studied do not seem to have an aversion to ministering to older people; while not among the most enjoyable of their activities "ministering to the aged" clearly is not among the least enjoyable either; (2) there is some support for the view that clergy respond to the elderly in an ageist manner; comparing activities involving different age groups, the clergy prefer the young and adults to the aged; (3) those clergy who share with the elderly an interest in expressive activities are more likely to enjoy ministering to the aged.


Background Comorbidities are frequent in Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and can have an impact on morbidity and mortality. Objectives We aimed to investigate the frequency of different comorbidities in PsA, how comorbidities have an impact on PsA features and which factors were associated with the occurrence of comorbidities in a large number of patients, using PsART (Psoriatic Arthritis Registry of Turkey)registry. Methods PsART is a national, web-based registry where consecutive patients with PsA are recruited and demographic, clinical and therapeutic information are collected as well as comorbidities. The following comorbidities are questioned: Hypertension (HT), hyperlipidemia, depression, diabetes mellitus (DM), hyperuricemia, coronary arterial disease, liver disease, cerebrovascular accident, cancer, and depression. BMI more than 30 is recorded as obesity. Patients with or without comorbidities were compared for their demographic features and outcome tools. Results One thousand and sixty-nine patients whom comorbidity data were available were analyzed. Within these 693 (64.8%) were women. Mean (SD) age was 46.9 (12.8), with a median (range) PsA duration 45 (0–545) months. The number of patients with 1, 2 and 3 comorbidities were 642 (60.1%), 345 (32.3%), and was 191 (17.9%), respectively. Frequency of comorbidities was obesity in 327 (30.6%), HT in 256 (23.9%), hyperlipidemia in 199 (18.6%), depression in 188 (17.6%), DM in 161 (15.1%), hyperuricemia in 74 (6.9%), coronary artery disease in 39 (3.6%), liver disease 38 (3.6%), cerebrovascular event in 19 (1.8%), and cancer history 16 (1.5%). Patients with at least one comorbidity were older (51.1 (11.8) vs 40.9 (11.7), p<0.001) and had a higher disease activity (according to tender joint count (3.9 (5.2) vs 2.9 (4.2), p=0.001), pain (4.6 (2.6) vs 4.0 (2.6), p=0.006), patient global assessment (4.5 (2.4) vs 4.0 (2.5), p=0.014), fatigue (4.9 (2.5) vs 4.0 (2.6), p<0.001)). Education was found to contribute on comorbidities as patients with at least one comorbidity had less education in terms of school years (7.6 (4.4) vs 9.7 (4.4) years, p<0.001). This was also found separately for some of the comorbidities: Patients with DM (mean (SD) years of education 6.7 (4.2) vs 8.8 (4.5), p<0.001), HT (6.7 (4.3) vs 8.9 (4.5), p<0.001), cerebrovascular event (5.5 (2.9) vs 8.4 (4.5), p=0.012) and depression (7.5 (4.1) vs 8.6 (4.6), p=0.004) had less education compared to patients who don't have those comorbidities. Conclusions Our registry supported that comorbidities are frequent in PsA increasing the complexity of the disease and have an impact on the disease severity. Patients with comorbidities are less educated showing that education and awareness are important to improve patient outcomes in PsA in long term. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The spatial scale of submesoscales is an important parameter for studies of submesoscale dynamics and multiscale interactions. The horizontal spatial scales of baroclinic, geostrophic-branch mixed layer instabilities (MLI) are investigated globally (without the equatorial or Arctic oceans) based on observations and simulations in the surface and bottom mixed layers away from significant topography. Three high-vertical-resolution boundary layer schemes driven with profiles from a MITgcm global submesoscale-permitting model improve robustness. The fastest-growing MLI wavelength decreases toward the poles. The zonal median surface MLI wavelength is 51–2.9 km when estimated from the observations and from 32, 25, and 27 km to 2.5, 1.2, and 1.1 km under the K-profile parameterization (KPP), Mellor–Yamada (MY), and κ–ε schemes, respectively. The surface MLI wavelength has a strong seasonality with a median value 1.6 times smaller in summer (10 km) than winter (16 km) globally from the observations. The median bottom MLI wavelengths estimated from simulations are 2.1, 1.4, and 0.41 km globally under the KPP, MY, and κ–ε schemes, respectively, with little seasonality. The estimated required ocean model grid spacings to resolve wintertime surface mixed layer eddies are 1.9 km (50% of regions resolved) and 0.92 km (90%) globally. To resolve summertime eddies or MLI seasonality requires grids finer than 1.3 km (50%) and 0.55 km (90%). To resolve bottom mixed layer eddies, grids finer than 257, 178, and 51 m (50%) and 107, 87, and 17 m (90%) are estimated under the KPP, MY, and κ–ε schemes.


Abstract : Resin modified pavement (RMP) is a composite pavement surfacing that uses a unique combination of asphalt concrete (AC) and portland cement concrete (PCC) materials in the same layer. The RMP material is generally described as an open-graded asphalt concrete mixture containing 25- to 35-percent voids which are filled with a resin modified portland cement grout. The RMP layer is typically 50 mm (2 in.) thick and has a surface appearance similar to a rough-textured PCC. This report includes discussions of the description, applications, benefits, limitations, costs, and recommended uses for RMP. A fact sheet and guide specification are included in the appendices of this report.


OF THE THESIS Exploring the Impact of an Abusive History on the Pimping Relationship in the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Through the Lens of Attachment Theory by Saba Borjianboroujeni Master of Science in Child Development San Diego State University, 2015 The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States, and includes: pornography, physical abuse, and child trafficking. Recent studies show that pimps/traffickers control the majority of CSEC victims in the U.S., and that there are over 240,000 CSEC victims every year, some who are younger than 12 years old. Researchers have identified risk and protective factors for CSEC; however, most of the studies describe these factors without using a theoretical framework. The present study examines the nature of the pimping relationship between sex traffickers and victims through the lens of attachment theory. A sample of fifteen stakeholders (e.g., law enforcement officers, service providers, advocates) who had work experience with CSEC were interviewed through a semi-structured interview format. Participants were stakeholders including law enforcement officers, service providers, advocates, educators, and survivors who have direct experience in working with CSEC victims. The results suggest that attachment theory may be useful in describing the pimping relationship between sex traffickers and victims. The results support and expand on previous research, which reports that CSEC victims are often victims of sexual abuse and have dysfunctional homes where they did not develop a secure attachment style or healthy bonding toward their parents. Supporting attachment theory, the stakeholders describe victims who have a history of abuse and who lack positive attachment figures, and who may have insecure attachment styles that increase their risk for CSEC. Specifically, CSEC victims may have preoccupied or dismissing insecure attachment styles that can lead to low self-esteem, trust and dependency issues, and isolation, that can make them vulnerable to the entrapment strategies of traffickers. Responses from stakeholders in the present study also support the existence of trauma bonding between CSEC victims and pimps. The results have implications for supporting the creation of healthy bonding to positive attachment figures as an important goal of both prevention and intervention programs for CSEC.


The distribution of androgen receptor-like immunoreactive (AR-ir) cells in the quail brain was analyzed by immunocytochemistry with the use of the affinity-purified antibody PG-21-19A raised against a synthetic peptide representing the first 21 N-terminal amino acids of the rat and human AR. This antibody is known to bind to the receptor in the absence as well as in the presence of endogenous ligands, and it was therefore expected that a more complete and accurate characterization of AR-ir cells would be obtained in comparison with previous studies using an antibody that preferentially recognizes the occupied receptor. Selected sections were double labeled for aromatase (ARO) by a technique that uses alkaline phosphatase as the reporter enzyme and Fast blue as the chromogen. AR-ir material was detected in the nucleus of cells located in a variety of brain areas in the preoptic region and the hypothalamus including the medial preoptic (POM), the supraoptic, the paraventricular (PVN), and the ventromedial (VMN) nuclei, but also in the tuberculum olfactorium, the nucleus accumbens/ventral striatum, the nucleus taeniae, the tuberal hypothalamus, the substantia grisea centralis (GCt), and the locus ceruleus. Cells exhibiting a dense AR-ir label were also detected in the nucleus intercollicularis. Preincubation of the primary antibody with an excess of the synthetic peptide used for immunization completely eliminated this nuclear staining. A significant number of AR-ir cells in the POM, VMN, PVN, and tuberal hypothalamus also contained ARO-ir material in their cytoplasm. These data confirm and extend previous studies localizing AR in the avian brain, and raise questions about the possible regulation by androgens of the metabolizing enzyme aromatase.


The purpose of this study is to discuss the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad Saw. about iron rusting. This research method is qualitative through the takhrij and sharah hadith approaches with chemical analysis. The results and discussion of this research are about the rusting of iron and also how to remove it, one of which is by means of electroplating. In addition, several uses of iron were also found, including as an ingredient for making household utensils, jewelry or dowry, and also as a medicinal tool. This study concludes that the use of iron and its maintenance has been recommended by the Prophet Muhammad Saw. based on takhrij and syarah hadith. This research recommends developing iron through chemistry.


. The classical processes (Poisson, Bernoulli, negative binomial) are the most popular discrete counting processes; however, these rely on strict assumptions. We studied an inhomogeneous counting process (which is known as the inhomogeneous Panjer process - IPP) that not only includes the classical processes as special cases, but also allows to describe counting processes to approximate data with over-or under-dispersion. We present the most relevant properties of this process and establish the probability mass function and cumulative distribution function using intensity rates. This counting process will allow risk analysts who work modeling the counting processes where data dispersion exists in a more (cid:13)exible and efficient way.


In this essay, I present a communitarian view as to how we might best respond to disaster, and in particular, to losses suffered by the direct victims of disaster. My focus will be on financial compensation to disaster victims, which admittedly occupies only a small part of the spectrum of disaster response. Emergency "first responder" activities are matters about which I have no expertise; volunteering at my local food bank hardly qualifies me to advise FEMA or the Red Cross. The blunders for which these organizations have recently been responsible are apparent, and so are some of their causes, but the engineering of more effective responses is a matter on which I would be foolish to opine. My background in tort law, conflict resolution, and administrative law does provide a modicum of expertise on compensation systems, so it is in that area that I will offer some communitarian principles and suggest some practical considerations.


Thermal conductivities of single- and double-wall carbon nanotubes in contact with foreign atoms on their surfaces are investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Small amounts of atoms on the surfaces of single-wall nanotubes drastically reduce their thermal conductivity, while the conductivities of the inner walls of double-wall nanotubes which are only weakly coupled to the outer walls are retained even for large amounts of atoms on the surfaces. Based on the simulation results, an estimation for the conditions under which an enhancement of thermal conductivities can be expected is presented.


Proteolytically processed 310 kDa form of Plasmodium falciparum gamete surface antigen, Pfs230, is the target of malaria transmission‐blocking monoclonal antibodies. To design a recombinant malaria transmission‐blocking subunit vaccine, the amino terminus of the 310 kDa surface‐exposed form of Pfs230 was mapped to amino acids (aa) 522 and 584 using a series of peptides and recombinant proteins encoding distinct regions of Pfs230. Antiserum generated against an Escherichia coli‐produced recombinant protein, spanning the Pfs230 processing site and extending into the cysteine domains, r230/MBP.C (aa 443–1132), reduced parasite infectivity by 71.2–89.8%. To determine if the region spanning the cleavage site blocked malaria transmission when produced as a secreted protein by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, y230.CA14 (aa 467–584) was generated, purified, emulsified in adjuvant and used to vaccinate mice. In contrast to E. coli‐produced r230/MBP.C, the immune response generated against y230.CA14 was very weak. To enhance the response, y230.CA14 was mixed with tetanus toxoid, chemically crosslinked, repurifed, and its immunogenicty compared with unconjugated y230.CA14. Conjugated‐y230.CA14/TT required fewer booster injections to induce an immune response against Pfs230 and the antibodies generated reacted with the surface of intact gametes and immunoprecipitated radiolabelled Pfs230 extracted from 125I surface‐labelled gametes to a greater extent. After seven injections, all y230.CA14 vaccinated mice developed anti‐Pfs230 antibodies and the isotype profile was the same. In addition to enhancing the initial immune response generated against y230.CA14, conjugation focuses the immune response toward epitopes within the region of Pfs230 present on the surface of the gamete.


Much has been written in both the common law and the civil law about the 'sources' of rights or of obligations. Jurists have attempted to classify and organize these sources as a way of shedding analytical light on the different kinds of rights that exist in private law. Building on recent scholarship in Quebec civil law, the author argues that the idea of the source of a private right is deeply ambiguous, and that the failure to see this has bedevilled attempts to classify the sources of rights. Just as every effect has multiple causes, every right has multiple sources. The author also argues that a similar ambiguity inhabits the common law's idea of a 'cause of action'. Distinguishing between the different senses of the ideas of 'source' and 'cause of action' helps to clarify a number of debates in private law theory.


Abstract. The attitude parameter is an important state parameter for a long axisymmetric target. The plane intersection (PI) method is a commonly used method for attitude estimation. However, this method only uses planes' information in the object space under a multiple camera system (more than two cameras simultaneously observing a target). We propose two methods to address the aforementioned issue. One method involves minimizing the square of the object-space angle residual (OAR) and the other method involves minimizing the square of the image-space angle residual (IAR). The linear optimization method is used for the above minimizing problems. The simulation results demonstrate that the IAR method has higher accuracy than the PI and OAR methods under multiple and dual camera systems because it incorporates information of a pair of corresponding image points. Furthermore, our experiments have shown that the linear method is generally faster, and it has an equivalent accuracy compared to the iterative method.


The surface of medical polymethylmethacrylate intraocular lens was treated by F+ ion implantation at 80 keV with various doses. Hydrophobicity test showed that contact angle was increased from 68.5° to 83.5° with increasing dose. No appreciable changes in optical transparency and tensile strength were observed. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron spin resonance analysis indicated that F+ ion implantation broke some original O-containing groups to form some new C-F bond and radicals on the surface.


Human face recognition is highly accurate, and exhibits a number of distinctive and well documented behavioral "signatures" such as the use of a characteristic representational space, the disproportionate performance cost when stimuli are presented upside down, and the drop in accuracy for faces from races the participant is less familiar with. These and other phenomena have long been taken as evidence that face recognition is "special". But why does human face perception exhibit these properties in the first place? Here we use convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to test the hypothesis that all of these signatures of human face perception result from optimization for the task of face recognition. Indeed, as predicted by this hypothesis, these phenomena are all found in CNNs trained on face recognition, but not in CNNs trained on object recognition, even when the amount of face experience is matched. To test whether these signatures are in principle specific to faces, we optimized a CNN on car discrimination and tested it on upright and inverted car images. As for face perception, the car-trained network showed a drop in performance for inverted versus upright cars. Similarly, CNNs trained only on inverted faces produce an inverted inversion effect. These findings show that the behavioral signatures of human face perception reflect and are well explained as the result of optimization for the task of face recognition, and that the nature of the computations underlying this task may not be so "special" after all.


Objectives: The study aimed to examine the utility of a traditional think aloud (TA) training package versus a golf specific TA training package.

Design: Social validation was used to assess participant's perceptions and satisfaction of traditional TA training methods and task specific TA training methods.

Methods: Skilled (n = 10; handicap ≤ 5) competitive gofers were trained to use TA and then required to TA whilst completing a short game challenge on a golf practice green. Prior to performing, participants were allocated to their TA training treatment; traditional TA training or golf specific TA training. Specifically, the traditional training video incorporated alphabetical problems solving, mental arithmetic and general problem solving tasks and required participants to TA during these tasks. The golf specific training video incorporated three golf scenarios which required participants to verbalise their thoughts again whilst engaging in these tasks. Social validation interviews were conducted immediately following the short game challenge to explore each participant's perceptions regarding the adequacy of the training they received. A deductive thematic analysis to identify satisfaction and evaluations of the training provided was conducted.

Results: Although both groups reported positive responses from the TA training they had received, the golf specific TA training group did provide more positive responses towards this type of training.

Conclusions: This study provides evidence that task specific training may be more appropriate for studies that employ the TA methodology and that researchers should consider this for future research within this area.


We study a ground state of some non-local Schrödinger operator associated with an evolution equation for the density of population in the stochastic contact model in continuum with inhomogeneous mortality rates. We found a new effect in this model, when even in the high-dimensional case the existence of a small positive perturbation of a special form (so-called, small paradise) implies the appearance of the ground state. We consider the problem in the Banach space of bounded continuous functions and in the Hilbert space .


Differential aluminum tolerance of 'Perry' and 'Chief' soybean varieties, determined previously from growth on acid Bladen soil, was confirmed in nutrient solutions containing Al as the known growth-limiting factor. Differences in Al tolerance between the two varieties were steadily increased as the Ca level of the nutrient solution was reduced from 50 to 8 to 2 ppm. Aluminum toxicity in soybeans was associated with decreases in concentrations of Ca in the tops and roots of both varieties, but this effect of Al was much more pronounced in the Al-sensitive Chief variety than in the more tolerant Perry. Greater Al sensitivity of the Chief variety was associated with greater susceptibility to a petiole collapse symptom. This symptom was related to a lower Ca concentration in the leaves and petioles, and specifically, related to a lower Ca concentration in the small petiole zone actually showing the collapse. Soil and solution studies indicated that the Ca deficiency observed in acid Bladen soil was Al induced. Aluminum appears to interfere to different degrees in the uptake and use of Ca by these two soybean varieties. The petiole collapse appeared to be a secondary effect of Al injury, and the presence of the symptom wasmore » not required for yield reduction by Al. The fact that soybean varieties differ in Al tolerance suggests that plant breeders may be able to develop varieties that can root more effectively in acid, Al-toxic subsoils. Varieties differing in Al tolerance also provide valuable tools for fundamental studies on the physiological nature of Al toxicity in plants. The petiole collapse symptom associated with Al sensitivity may be useful to plant breeders in screening genetic populations of soybeans for Al tolerance.« less


Suicide and deliberate self-harm during pregnancy is becoming an emerging problem in globally. Due to changes of the hormonal levels, lack of support at home and previous mental well-being issues would contribute for the bad outcomes during pregnancy. Pregnancy and the pueperium are at times sufficiently stressful to provoke mental illness. Such illness may represent recurrence or exacerbation of a preexisting psychiatric disorder, or may signal the onset of a new disorder. In developed countries suicide is a leading cause of maternal death. Post partum mood disorders are classified in to several categories based on the DSM-IV classification. Post partum blues is the commonest cause (85%). Puerperal psychosis is rare (0.1%), however, it is an psychiatric emergency. Electroconvulsive therapy is safe in pregnancy. Patient who need inward care better to admit to special mother and baby care units. Psychiatric disorders during pregnancy have been associated with poor prenatal care, substance abuse, poor obstetrical and infant outcomes, chronic mental health problems.


4 cases of subcutaneous injection of metallic mercury are reported and compared with those recorded by others. Subcutaneous injection always causes local inflammatory reaction and granuloma formation. Systematic mercury absorption is the rule as it is proved by high mercury levels in blood and urine. Nevertheless this absorption is usually too small to be responsible for toxic manifestations. Surgical excision of all accessible contaminated subcutaneous areas should be performed. When residual mercury is roentgenographically detectable regular monitoring of CNS, renal function and urinary and/or blood mercury levels are necessary.


By using novel oxidants, namely, sodium salt of para-toluene sulfonic acid, lithium perchlorate, and potassium ferricyanide, and varying the oxidant to monomer ratio from as low as 1/100 to 1/20 in the presence of concentrated HCl, it has been possible to simultaneously polymerize aniline and crystallize the polyaniline at room temperature. The crystals thus obtained have been characterized using FTIR, GPC, XRD, and Optical Microscope. It was found that highly crystalline substituted oligo-polyanilines were obtained. The studies indicate that the use of even weaker oxidants, like pTS-Na, LiClO4, and K3[Fe(CN)6], can bring about simultaneous polymerization and crystallization of aniline, as we observed earlier using ammonium persulphate. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 640–646, 2005


The typical enterprise's application portfolio links today's newer, multiplatform applications with legacy mainframe apps. These legacy relics were written in arcane languages few now understand, often contain more patches than source, and have poor, if any, documentation. Hard as they are to live with, you know your enterprise cannot live without them, they hold too much data. The author considers how reverse engineering can help by rescuing your priceless data from its retro prison.


Translation of an effective research intervention into a program able to be implemented in practice typically requires adaptations to ensure the outcomes can be achieved within the applied setting. User centred design (UCD) methodologies can support these iterative adaptations, with this approach being particularly well suited to peer-led interventions, due to a focus on usability. We describe and reflect on the UCD approach that was applied to optimise an online, peer-led workplace health promotion initiative (BeUpstanding: ACTRN12617000682347) to be suitable for wide-scale implementation and evaluation. Optimisation was aligned against the indicators of the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) framework, with UCD methodologies (discovery interviews, persona and scenario mapping, facilitated workshops, surveys and prototyping) employed to enhance the program according to all RE-AIM dimensions. The core team (content experts, implementation scientist, interaction designer, software developer, business developer) worked closely with policy and practice partners and end users (workplace champions, management and staff) to iteratively develop and test across the RE-AIM indicators. This description and reflection of the process of applying UCD and the RE-AIM framework to the optimisation of BeUpstanding is intended to provide guidance for other behaviour change research adaptations into practice.


CONTEXT
Oral contraceptive (OC) use is common, but bone changes associated with use of contemporary OC remain unclear.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study was to compare bone mineral density (BMD) change in adolescent and young adult OC users and discontinuers of two estrogen doses, relative to nonusers.

DESIGN AND SETTING
This was a prospective cohort study, Group Health Cooperative.

PARTICIPANTS
Participants included 606 women aged 14-30 yr (50% adolescents aged 14-18 yr): 389 OC users [62% 30-35 μg ethinyl estradiol (EE)] and 217 age-similar nonusers; there were 172 OC discontinuers. The 24-month retention was 78%.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
The main outcome measure was BMD measured at 6-month intervals for 24-36 months.

RESULTS
After 24 months, adolescents using 30-35 μg EE OCs, but not those using lower-dose OCs, had significantly smaller adjusted mean percentage BMD gains than nonusers at the spine [group means (95% confidence interval for between group differences) 1.32 vs. 2.26% (-1.89, -0.13%)] and whole body [1.45 vs. 2.03% (-1.29%, -0.13%)]. Adolescents who discontinued 30-35 μg EE OC showed significantly smaller gains than nonusers at the spine after 12 months [0.51 vs. 1.72% (-2.38%, -0.30%)]. Young adult OC users did not differ from nonusers. However, OC discontinuers of both doses differed significantly from nonusers at the spine 12 months after discontinuation [-1.32% < 30 μg EE, -0.92% 30-35 μg EE vs. +0.27% nonusers (-2.48, -0.54, and -1.94%, -0.55%, respectively)]. Results were similar for mean absolute BMD change (grams per square centimeter).

CONCLUSIONS
Both OC use and discontinuation were associated with BMD losses/smaller gains relative to nonusers (differences < 2% after 12-24 months for all skeletal sites). The clinical significance of these results regarding future fracture risk is unknown. Study of longer-term trends after discontinuation is needed.


Pre-reinforcement with umbrella arch grouting is conducted around a tunnel where a portion of the upper part of the tunnel is located in a sand and gravel layer. Surroundings of a first tunnel situated below groundwater table are reinforced with LW or SSM that is composed of ultra-fine cement and injected into multi-stages through large diameter steel pipes. With them, a first tunnel is safely excavated without both leaking of groundwater and fallings of sand and gravel from the arch. A second tunnel where groundwater is drained down to the bedrock is reinforced with jet grouting. The effect of the pre-grouting reinforcement is monitored by checking whether groundwater is dripping or sand or gravel is falling from the arch of the tunnels.


The natural age hardening and its influence on age hardening of Al11Si0.3Mg cast alloy were investigated by hardness measurement. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and TEM analysis are used to analyze the age precipitation behaviors. The artificial age hardening response is significantly influenced by natural aging time before artificial aging. There is a harmful effect for natural aging 5-30 h on artificial age hardening response. TEM and DSC analysis results show that the precipitation of β″ and/or β′ phases during artificial aging is influenced obviously by natural aging time before heating. The relationship of artificial age hardening response with the precipitation of β″ and/or β′ phases has been discussed.


THE NATIONAL Health Service is a plan to provide complete medical care for the entire population of Great Britain. It includes preventive medicine, family medicine, dental and nursing services, hospitalization, medicines and drugs and all appliances and equipment necessary for the complete care of everyone. The Minister of Health has "the duty to promote the establishment in England and Wales of a comprehensive health service"1and is in supreme control. Under him is a Central Service Council of 41 members that serves in an advisory capacity. Serving the Central Council and advising it and the Minister are committees of specialists on various medical services. There is a Medical Distributing Committee which allots to the local committees the compensations for general practitioners, including traveling expenses. There is also the Medical Practice Committee which, with the local Executive Council and Medical Committee, decides where physicians should locate, and whether or not


The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of alendronate, calcitriol, and calcium in bone loss after kidney transplantation. We enrolled 40 patients (27 men and 13 women, aged 44.2 ± 11.6 years) who had received renal allograft at least 6 months before (time since transplant, 61.2 ± 44.6 months). At baseline, parathyroid hormone (PTH) was elevated in 53% of the patients and the Z scores for bone alkaline phosphatase (b‐ALP) and urinary type I collagen cross‐linked N‐telopeptide (u‐NTX) were higher than expected (p < 0.001). T scores for the lumbar spine (−2.4 ± 1.0), total femur (−2.0 ± 0.7), and femoral neck (−2.2 ± 0.6) were reduced (p < 0.001). After the first observation, patients were advised to adhere to a diet containing 980 mg of calcium daily and their clinical, biochemical, and densitometric parameters were reassessed 1 year later. During this period, bone density decreased at the spine (−2.6 ± 5.7%; p < 0.01), total femur (−1.4 ± 4.2%; p < 0.05), and femoral neck (−2.0 ± 3.0%; p < 0.001). Then, the patients were randomized into two groups: (1) group A—10 mg/day of alendronate, 0.50 μg/day of calcitriol, and 500 mg/day of calcium carbonate; and (2) group B—0.50 μg/day of calcitriol and 500 mg/day of calcium carbonate. A further metabolic and densitometric reevaluation was performed after the 12‐month treatment period. At the randomization time, group A and group B patients did not differ as to the main demographic and clinical variables. After treatment, bone turnover markers showed a nonsignificant fall in group B patients, while both b‐ALP and u‐NTX decreased significantly in alendronate‐treated patients. Bone density of the spine (+5.0 ± 4.4%), femoral neck (+4.5 ± 4.9%), and total femur (+3.9 ± 2.8%) increased significantly only in the alendronate‐treated patients. However, no trend toward further bone loss was noticed in calcitriol and calcium only treated subjects. No drug‐related major adverse effect was recorded in the two groups. We conclude that renal transplanted patients continue to loose bone even in the long‐term after the graft. Alendronate normalizes bone turnover and increases bone density. The association of calcitriol to this therapy seems to be advantageous for better controlling the complex abnormalities of skeletal metabolism encountered in these subjects.


Thirty-one genomic SSR markers with a M13 tail attached were used to assess the genetic diversity of the peanut mini core collection. The M13-tailed method was effective in discriminating almost all the cultivated and wild accessions. A total of 477 alleles were detected with an average of 15.4 alleles per locus. The mean polymorphic information content (PIC) score was 0.687. The cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) mini core produced a total of 312 alleles with an average of 10.1 alleles per locus. A neighbour-joining tree was constructed to determine the interspecific and intraspecific relationships in this data set. Almost all the peanut accessions in this data set classified into subspecies and botanical varieties such as subsp. hypogaea var. hypogaea, subsp. fastigiata var. fastigiata, and subsp. fastigiata var. vulgaris clustered with other accessions with the same classification, which lends further support to their current taxonomy. Alleles were sequenced from one of the SSR markers used in this study, which demonstrated that the repeat motif is conserved when transferring the marker across species borders. This study allowed the examination of the diversity and phylogenetic relationships in the peanut mini core which has not been previously reported.


Amavata is term derives from the word as Ama and vata.Ama is a type of metabolic toxin; it is an essential factor in development of pathology.Mandagni (low digestive fire) produce Ama in the body,when ama get associated with vitiated vata and starts circulating in the body accupies in shleshmal sthana(asthi sandhi) results in painful disease Amavata.
Madhavakara (900 AD) has identified first time the disease.Amavata as seprate entity and discribed the disease in detail.Madhavakara describes etiopathology of amavata that the person with weak digestion (Mandagni) if he is posseses a secondary life (nishchalasya)or if he indulges into virrudha aaharaand vihara e.g.excessive exercise after taking heavy and fatty food,ama is produced and vata get vitiated. This ama provoks by vata (Vayuna preritah),Circulates in the body especially towards shleshmal sthanas. the resultant of cardinal symptoms of amvata are painful swelling of the joints (sarujashotham ) of hands,feet,ankle,knee,hip,Spinal column,and stiffness(jadyata),fever( Jwara),loss of appetite (aruchi),indigestion (apaka),Constipation(vibandhata),gurguling(antrakujanam)etc. this impairs the day to day functions of person.in spite of presence of NSAID,DMRD,steroids etc. the rheumatology remains refractory to treatment but Ayurvedic drug which are therapeutically safe and effectiveness.


Convex relaxations of the AC Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problem are essential not only for identifying the globally optimal solution but also for enabling the use of OPF formulations in Bilevel Programming and Mathematical Programs with Equilibrium Constraints (MPEC), which are required for solving problems such as the coordination between transmission and distribution system operator (TSO/DSO) or optimal network investment. Focusing on active distribution grids and radial networks, this paper introduces a framework that collects and compares, for the first time to our knowledge, the performance of the most promising convex OPF formulations for practical applications. Our goal is to establish a solid basis that will inform the selection of the most appropriate algorithm for different applications. This paper (i) introduces a unified mathematical and simulation framework, (ii) extends existing methods to retain exactness in a wider number of cases and (iii) consider reactive power injections. We conduct simulations on the IEEE 34 and 123 radial test feeders with distributed energy resources (DERs), using yearly solar irradiation and load data.


Now-a-days a tremendous amount of data is generated and shared per second, so there is real need of efficient data storage management and utilization of bandwidth. Data compression is one of solution to this problem. Compression ratio and time required for compression and decompression are two main pillars of data compression. If either of the two gets hampered then data compression may be termed as inefficient. LZMA (Lample-Ziv-Markov) is one of the finest algorithms for data, to be more precise, text compression in terms of compression ratio. But we found that it has not got that much amount of success due to its comparatively high time complexity for compression. We are trying to improve its time complexity by implementing it in a parallel fashion. GPGPU has provided a well-defined and economic path of parallel implementation to a computer community. Here we suggest an implementation of a general data compression algorithm that has been designed by keeping in mind the parallel nature of the computing devices that we will be using. This, as we have discovered over the past few months, not only decreases the compression time but also provides us with a compression ratio slightly better than that of LZMA. Keywords— LZMA, CUDA, lossless data compression, GPU, BZIP2, GZIP.


Bottom-up or saliency-based visual attention allows primates to detect nonspecific conspicuous targets in cluttered scenes. A classical metaphor, derived from electrophysiological and psychophysical studies, describes attention as a rapidly shiftable "spotlight." We use a model that reproduces the attentional scan paths of this spotlight. Simple multi-scale "feature maps" detect local spatial discontinuities in intensity, color, and orientation, and are combined into a unique "master" or "saliency" map. The saliency map is sequentially scanned, in order of decreasing saliency, by the focus of attention. We here study the problem of combining feature maps, from different visual modalities (such as color and orientation), into a unique saliency map. Four combination strategies are compared using three databases of natural color images: (1) Simple normalized summation, (2) linear combination with learned weights, (3) global nonlinear normalization followed by summation, and (4) local nonlinear competition between salient locations followed by summation. Performance was measured as the number of false detections before the most salient target was found. Strategy (1) always yielded poorest performance and (2) best performance, with a threefold to eightfold improvement in time to find a salient target. However, (2) yielded specialized systems with poor generalization. Interestingly, strategy (4) and its simplified, computationally efficient approximation (3) yielded significantly better performance than (1), with up to fourfold improvement, while preserving generality.


OBJECTIVE
To clarify the impact of radical perineal prostatectomy (RPP) on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer.

METHODS
A total of 117 patients with a median age of 69 years who underwent RPP alone between August 2002 and August 2005 were included in the study. We measured LUTS on the basis of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and IPSS quality of life (QOL) questionnaire before, and 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery.

RESULTS
The overall mean total IPSS and IPSS QOL score decreased over time after RPP and was significantly reduced at 12 months after surgery. The decrease of the score was more prominent and rapid in patients with moderate to severe symptoms (IPSS > or = 8), whereas in those with no or only mild symptoms (IPSS < or = 7), the score did not change significantly after RPP. When the patients were divided into groups with baseline scores of 0-1 and 2-5 for each of the seven composites of the IPSS, scores for the 2-5 group improved significantly after RPP in all composites, whereas the 0-1 group had significantly worse scores for voiding frequency and nocturia. No significant change was noted in any of the other five composites.

CONCLUSION
This longitudinal study shows that RPP is significantly beneficial for moderate to severe LUTS, but also has adverse effects on voiding frequency and nocturia in some men with no or mild symptoms. This information is important when counseling patients about treatment options for localized prostate cancer.


The estimation and calculation of the acoustic sound of electric machinery is of high interest. Various approaches have been presented relying either on analytical or on numerical models. In general, the analytical models are based on the electromagnetic-field theory and the results are compared to measurements. Numerical models allow for the separation of different exciting forces stemming from various effects. In the studied case of an induction motor with squirrel-cage rotor three effects are taken into account in the analytical model: the fundamental field, saturation, and eccentricity. The numerical analysis is applied for the analysis of acoustic sound of an electric machine. Nevertheless, the numerical results have to be verified. Hence, they are compared to the physically based analytical results. The radiated noise depends directly on the surface's deformation of the machine. Therefore, the analysis is focused on the structure-dynamic vibrations. The combined analysis presented here, allows for the reduction of vibrations and noise optimizing the coupling of stator and housing. Here, an induction machine (IM) with squirrel-cage rotor is studied. Its housing is mounted with six spiral-steel springs to the stator. With the presented method the impact of different numbers of springs is analyzed.