Commonwealth v. Keller, 35 Pa. D. & C.2d 615 (1964), is not a leading case in American criminal law, but it should be. Ostensibly about the common law misdemeanor of "indecent disposition of a dead body," this trial court opinion in fact raises important questions about the foundation of the state's power to punish through criminal law, questions that have not received sufficient attention in American legal and political discourse in general, and in American criminal law teaching in particular. In fact, Keller's irrelevance itself is symptomatic of the irrelevance of the principle of legality in American criminal law. Rather than being regarded, and employed, as a fundamental principle of legitimacy of state penal power, the principle of legality is poorly understood as a disconnected aggregate of maxims, rules, and guidelines – preferably cited in lawyers' Latin phrases of uncertain formulation and meaning ("nullum crimen sine lege" and "nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege" being two popular variations) that join other groundless, anachronistic, and ill-examined bedrocks of American criminal law, most notably actus reus and mens rea, or their combination as "actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea."


Accumulating correlative evidence suggests that the clinical responses observed in some patients with cancer after treatment with checkpoint inhibitors or adoptive T-cell therapy are mediated by T cells that target cancer mutations. More direct evidence that mutation-reactive T cells can mediate antitumor activity in humans was recently demonstrated in a patient with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma who experienced tumor regression after receiving a highly enriched population CD4+ T cells targeting a mutation in the ERBB2IP protein uniquely expressed by her cancer. Thus, strategies to identify and harness the mutation-reactive T-cell response may provide clinical benefit to some patients with cancer. To this end, we used a next-generation sequencing approach combined with high-throughput immunologic screening and found that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) from 29/32 patients with metastatic gastrointestinal (GI) cancers contained CD4+ and/or CD8+ T cells that recognized at least one neoepitope derived from somatic mutations expressed by the patient9s own tumor. Most of the immunogenic mutations were unique and patient specific, however we also identified HLA-C*08:02-restricted CD8+ T cells from two patients with colorectal cancer that targeted the KRASG12D hotspot driver mutation found in many human cancers. Treatment of one of these patients with ~1.1 x 1011 KRASG12D-reactive T cells led to the regression of all metastatic lesions, but one lesion progressed 9 months after therapy. This lesion was resected and found to have loss of the chromosome 6 haplotype that encoded the HLA-C*08:02 allele thereby providing the tumor with a direct mechanism of immune escape from the transferred HLA-C*08:02-restricted KRASG12D-reactive T cells. The treatment of ten additional patients with variable frequencies of TIL targeting predominantly one patient-specific mutation has been largely ineffective. Thus, TIL therapy targeting somatic mutations can mediate tumor regression in some patients with metastatic GI cancers but most patients have not responded. We are currently investigating strategies to enhance the efficacy of T-cell transfer therapy against cancer mutations. Citation Format: Eric Tran. T-cell transfer therapy targeting somatic mutations in human gastrointestinal cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy; 2016 Oct 20-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2017;5(3 Suppl):Abstract nr IA27.


A software connector is an abstraction capturing interactions among components. Apart from middleware independence, connectors provide additional services (e.g., adaptation, synchronization, etc.). They play a major role in heterogeneous deployment (i.e., building applications from components implemented in different component models) where they are invaluable for solving distribution and overcoming incompatibilities stemming from coexistence of different component models and middleware. However, to make the use of connectors in heterogeneous deployment possible, it is imperative to have means of generating them automatically. In this paper, we show how to create an extensible connector generator with features needed for heterogeneous deployment. The work is based on our experience with designing and implementing such an extensible connector generator for SOFA, Fractal and EJB component models.


A novel and selective tyrosine functionalization strategy through SuFEx (sulfur fluoride exchange) chemistry is presented. In this approach, free tyrosine (Tyr) reacts selectively with aryl fluorosulfate in the presence of various nucleophilic amino acid residues in bio-tolerable conditions. Chemoselectivity of this unique SuFEx reaction was confirmed in amino acid, peptide, and protein conjugations. The functions of peptides and proteins were well-preserved as demonstrated from the Tyr-specific modification of cell-penetrating peptide and erythropoietin. This method is well-suited for residue-specific modification of native proteins, and thus would expand the versatility of bio-conjugation in protein chemistry.


In order to achieve sustainable development to protect the environment and society, an increasing number of scholars have conducted in-depth research on green marketing and green purchases. Although great achievements have been made in this field, there still is room for further progress. This study reviews 97 papers providing empirical research on green purchase behavior from 2015 to 2020. First, we review the widely used consumer theory and its extended application in recent years. Second, we divide the influencing factors of green purchase behavior into the following three categories and discuss them in detail: individual factors, product attributes and marketing, and social factors. Finally, we put forward the following possible directions for future research. (1) The authors can consider adjustment to the survey objects to weaken the subjectivity of the data. (2) Longitudinal research can be used to assess the impact of education and policies with a lagging effect on consumers. (3) The authors can broaden the research direction towards a cross-cultural background. (4) The behavior of various green products (such as recyclable tires, recycled glass containers, recycled paper) could be explored to enrich the research content. (5) It will be beneficial to combine a variety of consumer theories to explore the green purchase behavior of consumers and break through the existing linear hypothesis path to explore new research methods.


Patient-centered healthcare and increased efficiency are major goals of modern medicine, and physician---patient interaction and communication are a cornerstone of clinical encounters. The introduc...


A new parallel algorithm for estimation of parameters of sinewave, distorted by DC exponential signal and contaminated by noise, is proposed. The method may be seen as an extension and generalisation of the standard least-squares (L/sub 2/-norm) optimisation approach. The advantage of the developed algorithm is that it is more robust with respect to the modelling error and impulsive (wild) noise than when a standard least-squares criterion is employed. The implementation of the algorithm by a suitable adaptive analogue network is also given. Computer simulation results are presented to confirm the validity and performance of the proposed network. The proposed method seems to be particularly useful for real-time high-speed and low-cost estimation of parameters of sinusoidal signals.


Specimens of long-term femoro-popliteal ePTFE bypass implants were examined by means of scanning electron microscopy in order to analyze the structure of the prosthetic wall. Twelve months after implantation, the structure of the ePTFE wall was inhomogeneous with a widening of the micropores, and both compressed and ruptured fibrils. The most significant disturbances were observed in the knee joint area. Our results suggest that deterioration of the prosthetic wall is possible and indicate the necessity for a wrap to protect against aneurysm formation, as well as an external supportive device to prevent the graft from bending.


Introduction: In Saudi Arabia, diabetes affects one in four individuals. It greatly impacts on their Quality of Life and is a heavy burden on the country. Many patients are not compliant with their treatments which leads to high morbidity. Aim: The goal of this work was to assess the perceived problems with diabetes, their distress, and the relative fatalism felt by affected individuals. Methods: The Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) scale, the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), and the Diabetes Fatalism Scale (DFS) were used after translating them to Arabic. They were distributed anonymously to patients with diabetes and were then analyzed. Results: Results of the PAID questions showed that the main concerns displayed by diabetic patients include complications of the condition, adverse effects of low blood sugar levels on health and the effect of glycemic control on their mood. Results to the DDS showed that the main stressor for patients is the constant feeling that they are unable to control their regiment well enough. The DFS results showed that patients feel that diabetes interferes with their lives causing distress and frustration, and they feel upset about it. Conclusion: Whether they vocalize their feelings or not, diabetic patients perceive this disease as a weighty and difficult condition with which they must live. Understanding their concerns can enable the dental team in appeasing fears, catering to their patients' frustrations and ultimately helping them cope and take control of their oral and overall health.


A pulsed NQR spectrometer specifically designed to facilitate real-time tuning of pulse sequence parameters is described. A modular approach based on the interconnection of several rack-mounted blocks provides easy access to all spectrometer signals and simplifies the task of modifying the spectrometer design. We also present experimental data that demonstrates the ability of the spectrometer to increase the signal to noise ratio of NQR measurements by automatically adjusting the pulse width in the strong off-resonant comb pulse sequence.


— While feedback is a key facilitator of learning, researchers have yet to determine the ideal feedback process for optimal performance in learners. The current study investigates the combined effects of ease of decoding, and utility of feedback during learning. Accuracy and rate of learning were recorded alongside changes to the feedback related negativity (FRN), an event-related potential (ERP) elicited by feedback stimuli. This study investigates the FRN within the context of future-focused directive feedback (DF), in addition to past-focused evaluative feedback (EF) typically seen in the neuroscience literature. Results indicate a main effect of utility together with an interaction with ease of decoding on the accuracy data, but only the main effect of utility on learning rate. DF produced an FRN, like EF, which was then larger during high-utility feedback, specifically following negative EF or when hard-to-decode. Implications and future research directions are discussed.


The desirability of motors possessing the good characistics of induction motors and being capable of operating with leading power factor is pointed out. A new machine is described which operates as self-excited synchronous motor under normal operating conditions. During the starting period and excess overloads, it has the characteristics of an induction motor with wound secondary. The machine has excellent starting and synchronizing torque with a small current draw. The electrical and mechanical phenomena, during the starting and synchronizing periods, are discussed. The size of the machine is nearly equal to that of a slip-ring induction motor of equal rating, and the full-load efficiency is approximately equal to that of a corresponding induction motor. It is shown that the overall efficiency of a plant, consisting of squirrel-cage motors and this new type of motor, is usually higher than that of an equivalent plant using induction motors only, correcting the power factor by idle running correcting devices.


Scalability and accuracy are well recognized challenges in deep extreme multi-label learning where the objective is to train architectures for automatically annotating a data point with the most relevant subset of labels from an extremely large label set. This paper develops the DeepXML framework that addresses these challenges by decomposing the deep extreme multi-label task into four simpler sub-tasks each of which can be trained accurately and efficiently. Choosing different components for the four sub-tasks allows DeepXML to generate a family of algorithms with varying trade-offs between accuracy and scalability. In particular, DeepXML yields the Astec algorithm that could be 2-12% more accurate and 5-30x faster to train than leading deep extreme classifiers on publically available short text datasets. Astec could also efficiently train on Bing short text datasets containing up to 62 million labels while making predictions for billions of users and data points per day on commodity hardware. This allowed Astec to be deployed on the Bing search engine for a number of short text applications ranging from matching user queries to advertiser bid phrases to showing personalized ads where it yielded significant gains in click-through-rates, coverage, revenue and other online metrics over state-of-the-art techniques currently in production. DeepXML's code is available at https://github.com/Extreme-classification/deepxml.


2382 While the majority of CaP patients treated with hormonal therapy experience clinical regression of disease, essentially all will develop recurrent CaP, suggesting a response of the prostate tissue microenvironment to androgen ablation may have a critical role in facilitating recurrent growth. A previously described model of human angiogenesis in primary xenografts of CaP and benign prostate tissue was used to characterize the response of the human prostate vasculature to castration of the nu/nu mouse host. Human vessels in the xenografts were identified with a combination of human specific antibodies specific for CD31 and CD34. Endothelial cell proliferation or apoptosis was identified using antibodies specific for Ki-67 (proliferation) or activated Caspase-3 (apoptosis). The number of human vessels observed in the prostate xenografts at one month post-transplantation was between 2 or 5 fold greater than the number of vessels in the CaP or benign prostate tissue, respectively, before transplantation. Hosts were castrated at one month post-transplantation, and vascular dynamics were measured over the initial fourteen days post-castration. The number of human vessels identified by CD31/CD34 staining, and the percentage of human vessels containing at least one Ki-67 positive endothelial cell, was initially high, decreased to a low at four days post-castration, and increased markedly by day 14 post-castration. Conversely, the number of vessels that contained at least one activated Caspase-3 positive nucleus was initially low, increased to a peak about day 4, and decreased markedly by day 14. This finding indicates that circulating and/or microenvironmentally available androgens either directly or indirectly modulate prostate vasculature homeostasis. Further, our findings support the hypothesis that hypoxia follows androgen ablation induced vascular involution, and that the hypoxic response may drive an androgen-independent re-vascularization of the prostate in the absence of testicular androgen.


In the present study the hepatoprotective activity of Bramhi Ghrita was tested against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. The degree of protection was determined by measuring levels of serum marker enzymes, serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase and acid phosphatase. Histopathological studies were also carried out to support the above parameters. Bramhi Ghrita is a formulation that belongs to the panchagavya class of Ayurvedic formulations in which one or more of the five products obtained from cow (milk, ghee, curd, urine and dung) are used in combination with herbs. The formulation was administered at doses 100 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg/day to rats. Bramhi ghrita significantly reduces levels of serum marker enzymes serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase and acid phosphatase elevated due to carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity. A comparative histopathological study of liver from different groups further corroborated the hepatoprotective activity of Bramhi Ghrita.


Introduction Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease that occurs primarily in women (9:1 compared to men). Available data argue that gender and sex hormones modify susceptibility to, and expression of SLE. Subjects and methods One hundred and fifty male patients (pts) aged 15 to 64 years (mean age 30, 5 y) with a valid diagnosis of SLE who had been followed up for 15 years were assessed. Results: The mean age at onset was 20 year (range 6–62 years). The distribution of disease onset by decade of age was following: between the ages of 6–20 y – 80 pts (53%), 21–40 y – 49 pts (33%), 41–64 y – 21 pts (14%). Mean duration from the onset to time of diagnosis valid SLE was 12 month (range 1–336). 77 pts were diagnosed during first year from disease onset. 35 pts had delay of true diagnosis for 5 and more years. The most common manifestations for men at disease onset were arthritis (50%), renal disease (16,7%) and haematological abnormalities (23,3%). During follow-up we observed malar rash (58%), arthritis (73,3%), renal disease (54,7%), CNS involvement (49,4%), photosensitivity (51,3%), discoid lupus (14%), mucosal ulcers (28%), serositis (32,7%), haematological (72%) and immunological (93,3%) abnormalities. 41 male pts (27,3%) satisfied classification Sapporo criteria of definite antiphospholipid syndrome (APS)/Vascular thrombosis developed in 41 pts: 26 pts had only venous thrombosis, 8 pts – merely arterial thrombosis, 7 pts – a+v thrombosis. Pts with APS had higher frequency of livedo reticularis (13 pts, 31,7%), pulmonary hypertension (8 pts, 19,5%) and heart valve disease (20 pts, 48,8%) in comparison to pts without APS (11,9%, 6,5%, 16,6% respectively). Conclusion The present investigation do not confirm older age at disease onset among men with SLE: one half of our pts were younger 20 y at disease onset. We found high frequency of arthritis, renal disease and neuropsychiatric manifestations over the course of illness. CNS involvement was the rare initial symptom. Men with SLE often had delay of valid diagnosis of SLE. We observed high incidence of definite APS in men with SLE.


One of the most beautiful and important results in geometric convexity is Hadwiger's characterization theorem for the quermassintegrals. Hadwiger's theorem classifies all continuous rigid motion invariant valuations on convex bodies as consisting of the linear span of the quermassintegrals (or, equivalently, of the intrinsic volumes) [4]. Hadwiger's characterization leads to effortless proofs of numerous results in integral geometry, including various kinematic formulas [7, 9] and the mean projection formulas for convex bodies [10]. Hadwiger's result also provides a connection between rigid motion invariant set functions and symmetric polynomials [1, 7].


We investigate an improvement to GSAT which associates a weight with each clause. GSAT moves to assignments maximizing the weight of satisfied clauses and this weight is incremented when GSAT moves to an assignment in which this clause is unsatisfied. We present results showing that this algorithm and its variants outperform one of the best known modifications of GSAT to date using two metrics: number of solved problems on a single try, and minimum mean number of flips to solve a test suite of problems.


Destination prediction has been a critical topic in transportation research, and there are a large number of studies. However, almost all existing studies are based on high predictability data conditions while pay less attention to the data condition with low predictability, where the regularity of single individuals is not exposed. Based on a certain period of observation, there is a fact that individuals may choose destinations beyond observation, which we call "potential destinations". The number of potential destinations is very large and can't be ignored for the data condition with low predictability formed by short-term observation. To reveal the choice pattern of potential destination of individuals under the data condition with low predictability, we propose a global optimization method based on knowledge graph embedding. First, we joint the trip data of all individuals by constructing Trip Knowledge Graph(TKG). Next, we optimize the general algorithm of knowledge graph embedding for our data and task in training strategy and objective function, then implement it on TKG. It can achieve global optimization for association paths that exist between almost any two entities in TKG. On this basis, a method for potential destination prediction is proposed, giving the possible ranking of unobserved destinations for each individual. In addition, we improve the performance by fusing static statistical information that is not passed to TKG. Finally, we validate our method in a real-world dataset, and the prediction results are highly consistent with individuals' potential destination choice behaviour.


Advances in automation are making it possible for a single operator to control multiple unmanned vehicles (UVs). This capability is desirable in order to reduce the operational costs of human-UV systems (HUVS), extend human capabilities, and improve system effectiveness. However, the high complexity of these systems introduces many significant challenges to system designers. To help understand and overcome these challenges, high-fidelity computational models of the HUVS must be developed. These models should have two capabilities. First, they must be able to describe the behavior of the various entities in the team, including both the human operator and the UVs in the team. Second, these models must have the ability to predict how changes in the HUVS and its mission will alter the performance characteristics of the system. In this report, we describe our work toward developing such a model. Via user studies, we show that our model has the ability to describe the behavior of a HUVS consisting of a single human operator and multiple independent UVs with homogeneous capabilities. We also evaluate the model's ability to predict how changes in the team size, the human-UV interface, the UV's autonomy levels, and operator strategies affect the system's performance.


Free radical polymerization of the resulting monomers methyl methacrylate (MMA), ethyl methacrylate (EMA), methylacrylate (MA) and ethylacrylate (EA) with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) (in 1:1 mole ratio) were carried out using azobis(isoboutyronitrile) (AIBN) as initiator at the temperature ranges 60-70°C. The modification of polymers were carried out by 9-anthracenecarboxylic acid (9-ACA) via the esterification reaction between —OH of poly(HEMA) and —COOH of 9-ACA, in presence of N,N′-dicyclohexyl-carbodiimide (DCC), 4-(dimethylamino) pyridine (DMAP) and N,N-dimethyl formamid (DMF). It was found that the molar ratio acid/alcohol/catalysts= 0.02: 0.02: 0.02 and 0.002, optimal for preparation of the ester. As demonstrated by FT-IR, 1H-NMR and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). The Tg value of methacrylate and acrylate copolymers containing 9-ACA groups was found to increase with incorporation of 9-ACA groups in polymer structures. The presence of 9-ACA groups in the polymer side chains created new polymers with novel modified properties that find some applications in polymer industry. These anthracenic factors could take part in cyclo addition reaction with other factors such as anhydrides and kinons.


The paper presents findings from a research project on conceptual change and the affective domain, an increasing area of research interest. The study presented comprised interviews conducted with master students who studied economics, having a degree in biology. The results show that students' prior knowledge, values, professional aims and conceptions of society cause difficulties in understanding economical concepts. From an educational point of view the key points in the paper are that students' learning difficulties can be as much due to issues of values and the social and cultural setting, as to cognition. The paper gives an account of these aspects explicitly, however, from a teaching perspective these are often hidden and unknown.


About twenty years ago, American veterinarians adopted the policy of using the tuberculin test as a means for detecting previously unrecognized potential and active disseminators of bovine tubercle bacilli and of slaughtering all contaminated cattle to protect the uninfected members of herds. In response to repeated general applications of these rigorous prophylactic measures, the former widespread menace of bovine tuberculosis has practically disappeared from the United States. This outstanding demonstration of the control of communicable disease suggests the possibility of effectively and promptly controlling the human source of contagion by intensively applying comparable prophylactic measures suitable for preventing infection in man by contact. The magnitude of this problem is such that its ultimate solution will doubtless require the concerted efforts of the large number of physicians engaged in private practice. An ideal and complete method for attaining this objective probably should include: (1) the routine application of the Mantoux test


ABSTRACT The project "Audiovisual production and vital strategies" interwove art, life, academic research, and activism with decolonial feminist perspectives. It was carried out as part of an audiovisual laboratory with students from the Federal State University of Rio de Janeiro and Casa Nem, a squatters' settlement, cultural and educational project in Rio de Janeiro led by transgender people in situations of high social vulnerability. The audiovisual Lab was facilitated by a group of artists and educators, and the majority of project participants were Black people who identified as trans* or LGBTQIA+. We worked with critical and emancipatory pedagogies that allowed the impacts of each participants racialized and gendered life experiences to guide the entire creative processes. The project's creative processes were inspired by bodywork dynamics from the field of performance art, and focused on uncovering profound dialogues and depths in each participant's life narratives. In this essay, we reflect critically on aesthetic choices and modes of creation. Through our discussion of the images and processes as a whole, we discuss how reimagining the encounter between pedagogy and audiovisual production established new modes of mediating relationships inside and outside of the university, and connect these processes to broader questions of health promotion.


Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has become a highly demanded information transfer technology in recent years. This demand has been driven by the increasing needs for information sharing and office automation, and by the increasing accessibility to largescale, fast, and powerful computer resources. A problem of current OCR technology is that texts produced by the state-of-the-art OCR software contain an unacceptable frequency of errors. This prevents the OCR technology from being efficiently used for vast-volume information transfer or daily office operation applications. To correct these errors in a conventional way requires a significant amount of costly human-machine interaction. In this article, we identify and classify the types and distributions of optical recognition errors. We propose a novel postprocessing strategy, based on machine learning techniques, to correct errors resulted from unrecognized or misrecognized characters during the recognition process. By applying this strategy, the accuracy of recognition can be significantly improved, and the human interaction required can be dramatically reduced. Experimental results indicate that, in a typical environment, about 46% of total errors can be corrected automatically (i.e., without human interference), with an accuracy of 91%.


Many orally administered drugs are marketed in sustained-release formulations. Manufacturers describe their products as long acting, or as gradual-, prolonged-, slow-, controlled- or timed-release. The British National Formulary refers to all of them as sustained-released (s/r) preparations. In this article we consider the place of such formulations.


Empirical evidence on the productive efficiency of non-profit organisations is at present scarce and not conclusive. In the present work, we analyse this issue by relying on a new data-set about Italian for-profit and non-profit organisations engaged in the provision of communal services. While most of the existing evidence relates to health-care organisations only, our data-set also surveys organisations involved in other communal services.The results indicate that the efficiency of non-profit organisations does not significantly differ from that of other organisations, and shed some light about the determination of their performance. The selection procedures adopted in hiring labour are found to be very relevant. We also find that the production of relational goods (measured by two different proxies) is related to organisational efficiency and to the promotion efforts of non-profit organisations.


"Transcription bottlenecks", created by a shortage of effective human transcribers (i.e., transcriber shortage), are one of the main challenges to endangered language (EL) documentation. Automatic speech recognition (ASR) has been suggested as a tool to overcome such bottlenecks. Following this suggestion, we investigated the effectiveness for EL documentation of end-to-end ASR, which unlike Hidden Markov Model ASR systems, eschews linguistic resources but is instead more dependent on large-data settings. We open source a Yoloxóchitl Mixtec EL corpus. First, we review our method in building an end-to-end ASR system in a way that would be reproducible by the ASR community. We then propose a novice transcription correction task and demonstrate how ASR systems and novice transcribers can work together to improve EL documentation. We believe this combinatory methodology would mitigate the transcription bottleneck and transcriber shortage that hinders EL documentation.


The QEMDIM, a no-reference image quality assessment (IQA) algorithm, calculates the quality scores based on the quality difference between an image and reference images. Therefore, scores can be affected by the quality of the reference images. We modified the QEMDIM by changing the scoring method to compensate for this drawback. Brain MR images of various qualities were scored by subjective IQA (our gold standard), QEMDIM, and the modified algorithm. Modified scores showed a higher correlation with subjective IQA scores than the QEMDIM scores, using reference images of varied qualities. Our modified algorithm would be more clinically advantageous than the QEMDIM.


Wireless communication networks provide convenience, however, also challenges to multimedia services due to typically limited bandwidth and various QoS (Quality-of-Service) requirements. For a wireless communication network service provider/administrator, it is then essential to develop an effective resource allocation policy so as to fully satisfy possibly different QoS requirements by different classes of traffic; while in the meantime, for example, the overall long-term system revenue rate can be maximized. In this paper, we consider the problem of time slot allocation for multiple classes of traffic in wireless networks under throughput and delay constraints. To solve the problem, we propose an algorithm that is a novel combination of the Markovian decision process (MDP) and Lagrangean relaxation (LR). Another primal heuristic based on the policy enhancement algorithm is also developed for comparison purposes. Our experiment results show that the proposed approach can find a near optimal time slot allocation policy to maximize long-term system revenue under QoS requirements.


In the field of the appliance of passive design technique to building form in the early step of the
architectural design process, most researches and papers have been concerned with the
component of building or the way of controlling the gain and loss of energy according to seasons.
But it causes some difficulties to apply them to the practical architectural design because most
architects have little background about passive design techniques in detail. So it is recommended to
classify the passive design technique according to architectural design process and analyze the
critical factors which effect on the building form in applying the passive design techniques. In this
study I searched the passive design techniques to be applicable in the early step of architectural
design and also the architectural design processes to be currently used by architects.


Optical properties of fully-strained wurtzite and zincblende In x Ga 1-x N/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) structures were compared to discuss the origin of exciton localization. In contrast to the hexagonal InGaN MQWs, the photoluminescence (PL) peak energy of cubic InGaN MQWs showed a moderate blueshift with decreasing well thickness, L, and low-temperature PL decay time of the cubic MQWs did not depend strongly on L. The results imply that the wavefunction overlap in cubic InGaN MQWs was not reduced compared to the hexagonal ones, since they do not suffer from the electric field normal to the QW plane due either to spontaneous or piezoelectric polarization. Both MQWs exhibited a large and composition-dependent bandgap bowing, and time-resolved PL (TR-PL) signals showed a stretched-exponential decay even at room temperature. The exciton localization is considered to be an intrinsic property of InGaN.


Social Networking Sites (SNS) is a buzz word in today's world due to its enormous growth, customer base and usage. The main focus of this paper is to present an insight into impact of SNS usage on the minds of youth population. SNS has created a fourth world without boundaries. A platform for people to connect and share on 24/7/365. It is a common phenomenon across the world where growing citizens (i.e. youth population) are the biggest users and consumers of SNS. This platform has provided the youth a golden opportunity in exchanging knowledge, finding employment and social quotient among them. Increased participation in issues of social importance, providing quick help for the needy are other positive effects of SNS among youth population. On the other side it has created new issues to society to solve. Privacy has taken beating due to overexposure to social media. Participation in chats and discussions in subjects of least importance is killing the valuable creative time among youth. Recent studies has also pointed out that SNS has created change of character, lose in concentration and spike in psychological disorders.


Now that the Laue method has been established as a tool for protein crystallography, the main problem involved in any prospective time-resolved X-ray diffraction study is one of chemistry. The reaction or process in question must be initiated on a timescale that is fast compared with its kinetics. For most biochemical events photochemistry is the most suitable trigger, but not all substrates can be caged for photochemical release. This problem can be solved by the novel strategy of caging the enzyme with a photoreversible covalent inhibitor. The logic of this method will be discussed and its application to a time-resolved study of the reaction of a suicide substrate with the protease gamma chymotrypsin shown. The question of real-time crystallographic 'movies' of enzymatic reactions can now be considered. It seems likely that following a reaction in real time in a single experiment will be very difficult if not impossible in most cases, in part because even a synchronized process will rapidly become asynchronous in a protein crystal, and also because it will be very difficult to know exactly what species one is observing at any instant unless one has extremely high resolution. It seems that the best use of the Laue technique will be to study unstable species that can be accumulated in the crystal under defined conditions for short periods of time. An entire reaction sequence can then be obtained as a series of individual steps, each of which is obtained from a separate experiment.


Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been drawing researchers' and practitioners' attention since its onset in the 1980s. The rich and still expanding literature on TBLT is helping to mature both its theoretical conceptualization and practical implementation in foreign and second language education. Technology has played and will continue to play an important role in this maturation process. This review focuses on the intersection of technology and TBLT, examines the mutual contributions of technology and TBLT to each other, and discusses the challenges in implementing and researching TBLT in technology-mediated environments. In addition, this review outlines a set of crucial issues to which attention must be paid to further develop technology-enhanced TBLT.


Background Rural residents' fatal injuries stand for near to one third of total mortality. While they are expected to suffer such burden of injury at rural areas, but about 85% of those are involved in crashes at urban areas or intercity roads. Moreover the average mortality rate across a time trend shows annually 6 more death per 100 thousands of rural residents compared to urban population. This study attempts to analyze factors that contribute to such increase in the exposure to the risk of rural residents. Methods This is a cross-sectional study using death registry data from 2012 to 2016. Also other sources of information on rural socio-economic variables were used to determine the correlation of each factor on fatal injury involvement. Then tests of association between selected variables performed. Results The findings revealed that female pedestrians around intercity roadways are less exposed to fatal crashes compared to those crossing on urban roadways. But walking around minor/rural roads leads to higher exposure to death. While crossing urban and intercity roadways increases the vulnerability of female pedestrians who are respectively 65+and 16–24 years to traffic crashes, walking through minor/rural roads increases the vulnerability of those who are under 15 years. Vulnerability of female pedestrians to crashes showed no significant differences for different day time but wearing dark clothing (mostly veils as common robe in the country) significantly increases their vulnerability. Conclusions As proved that female pedestrians are more vulnerable at some specified road areas and due to several factors, the above findings assist the officials to deploy pedestrian crash preventive measures at identified hazardous traffic areas and to plan more relevant awareness campaigns and education for females especially at more prone locations.


Epidemiological studies (WHO 2013; US-EPA 2009; EEA 2013) show that air pollution causes adverse effects on human health. The last years in Greece several events of air pollution took place. The aim of this study is to make a quantitative estimation of the effects on human health from the excess of limit values of air pollutants in Greece.

The number of concentration exceedances and their size were calculated for PM10, O3, NO2 and SO2 for 15 Stations during 2007-2012. The factors increasing molarity and morbidity when concentrations exceed a limit value were determined. Finally, the increase (%) of mortality and morbidity is calculated at each station at the specific days where exceedances occurred.

Results: Although the mean concentrations decrease over time, there is an increase of exceedances, especially for PM10. ([Table 1][1])

View this table:

Table1. Estimation of increase (%) width of mortality and morbidity for PM10 in three Stations: Athens – Aristotelous (Urban), Athens – Marousi (Suburban) and Thessaloniki – Agias Sofias Sq. (Urban)

Conclusions: a significant increase in mortality and morbidity is observed in Greece during last years due to the exceedance of limit values of various air pollutants.

 [1]: #T1


Marxism is the guiding ideology of our Party and after decades of struggle, the people across the country in the form of legislation, to confirm that it is our country's guiding ideology. And Marxism is not a source for China since the late Qing Dynasty Chinese people understand and learn Marxism, mainly through the translation of the text. Translate article from the perspective of this paper discusses the cross-cultural Perspective of Marxist classics in China spread and acceptance, noted that the classics of Marxism Translation in China, through a complex process, and translation plays a historical planning body summons a huge role.


The design evolution of the pediatric supraglottic airway device has experienced a long and productive journey. We have a wealth of clinical studies to support progress and advancements in pediatric clinical practice. While all of the supraglottic airway devices have been used successfully in millions of children, it is important to be aware of design advantages and disadvantages of the different models of supraglottic airway devices. Current pediatric supraglottic airway devices may be improved in design to be more ideal. Industry‐changing technological advancements are likely to occur in the near future, which may further improve clinical performance of these devices.


To simplify the analysis of Boolean networks, a reduction in the number of components is often considered. A popular reduction method consists in eliminating components that are not autoregulated, using variable substitution. In this work, we show how this method can be extended, for asynchronous dynamics of Boolean networks, to the elimination of vertices that have a negative autoregulation, and study the effects on the dynamics and interaction structure. For elimination of non-autoregulated variables, the preservation of attractors is in general guaranteed only for fixed points. Here we give sufficient conditions for the preservation of complex attractors. The removal of so called mediator nodes (i.e. vertices with indegree and outdegree one) is often considered, and frequently does not affect the attractor landscape. We clarify that this is not always the case, and in some situations even subtle changes in the interaction structure can lead to a different asymptotic behaviour. Finally, we use properties of the more general elimination method introduced here to give an alternative proof for a bound on the number of attractors of asynchronous Boolean networks in terms of the cardinality of positive feedback vertex sets of the interaction graph.


Recurrence or persistence of varicose veins after treatment may be charged to incomplete original evaluation of the patients' venous insufficiency and to therapy that was not adequate because not planned on the basis of the particular kind or degree of venous incompetence in each individual case. The chief factors in the avoidance of failures of treatment are the eradication of all sites of incompetence and of all secondary incompetent venous communicating pathways; and careful follow-up examination and additional treatment when necessary.


One of the major threats humanity is facing in the 21st century is climate change. Its early warning signs are already visible and scientists claim that the '[w]arming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished and sea level has risen.' The effects of climate change result in an inherently unjust phenomenon: those countries which have contributed less to the problem are the ones which suffer the most under its consequences. Moreover, as climate change impacts threaten lives and livelihoods across the world, it challenges the development of many regions, especially of the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations. In recent years, development banks have adapted their operations to new local and global challenges and have increasingly invested in climate finance. Especially projects registered under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) have received special attention. Historically, development banks have assumed that the majority of the citizens will benefit through their funding activities. However, this assumption has not been proven reliable. This paper aims at unravelling the complex interlinkages of climate finance, national and international development policies, economy and human rights. It argues that the manifold and often competing national and international legal and political layers of climate change mitigation projects, such as those under the CDM, often leave project affected people vulnerable to human rights violations without adequate safeguards and mechanism to effectively articulate their interests, protect their rights and promote access to justice. The paper firstly starts out to analyse the link between development banks and climate finance in the framework of the CDM and, secondly, elaborates on the human rights dimension of CDM projects financed by development banks. The paper discusses its findings with the example of a concrete case study, the Barro Blanco hydro-power plant in Panama, evidencing the weaknesses of the CDM system particularly from the perspective of affected persons, before it concludes in a last chapter that addressing the human rights shortcomings is especially relevant as climate finance will gain in importance in the near future.


The author examines the use of measures of mortality as indicators of social development. Separate consideration is given to general mortality infant mortality and life expectancy. He concludes that the Chilean and Latin American mortality data cannot be analyzed separately from the available social data as a whole and that the traditional health indicators for the measurement of social development continue to be valid. Comments by Ernesto Medina Dagmar Raczynski Juan P. Illanes and Tarsicio Castaneda are included (pp. 107-14) as well as a reply to these comments by the author (pp. 114-6).


STUDY QUESTION
Is prior testicular torsion associated with testicular function (semen quality and reproductive hormones) in young men from the general population?

SUMMARY ANSWER
In young men from the general population, no differences in semen parameters were observed in those who had experienced testicular torsion compared to controls and observations of higher FSH and lower inhibin B were subtle.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Testicular function may be impaired after testicular torsion, but knowledge is sparse and based on studies with small sample sizes and no control group or a less than ideal control group.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
A cross-sectional population-based study was carried out including 7876 young Danish men with unknown fertility potential, examined from 1996 to 2020.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
All men (median age 19.0 years) had a physical examination, provided a blood and semen sample, and filled in a questionnaire including information about prior testicular torsion, birth, lifestyle and current and previous diseases. Markers of testicular function, including testis volume, semen parameters and reproductive hormones, were compared between men operated for testicular torsion and controls, using multiple linear regression analyses.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
The average participation rate was 24% for the entire study period. In total, 57 men (0.72%) were previously operated for testicular torsion (median age at surgery 13.4 years) of which five had only one remaining testicle. Men with prior testicular torsion were more often born preterm (25% versus 9.5% among controls), and they had significantly higher FSH and lower inhibin B levels, and a lower inhibin B/FSH ratio than controls in crude and adjusted models. The association was mainly driven by the subgroup of men who had undergone unilateral orchiectomy. No differences in semen parameters were observed.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
A limitation is the retrospective self-reported information on testicular torsion. Also, results should be interpreted with caution owing to the high uncertainty of the observed differences.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Overall, the results of our study are reassuring for men who have experienced testicular torsion, especially when treated with orchiopexy, for whom reproductive hormone alterations were subtle and without obvious clinical relevance. Our study found no differences in semen parameters, but follow-up studies are needed to assess any long-term consequences for fertility.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
Financial support was received from the Danish Ministry of Health; the Danish Environmental Protection Agency; the Research fund of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital; the European Union (Contract numbers BMH4-CT96-0314, QLK4-CT-1999-01422, QLK4-CT-2002-00603, FP7/2007-2013, DEER Grant agreement no. 212844); A.P. Møller and wife Chastine Mckinney Møllers Foundation; Svend Andersens Foundation; the Research Fund of the Capital Region of Denmark; and ReproUnion (EU/Interreg). The authors have nothing to declare.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
N/A.


Manually annotating datasets requires domain experts to read through many documents and carefully label them, which is often expen-sive. Recently, pre-trained generative language models (GLMs) have demonstrated exceptional abilities in generating text which mo-tivates to leverage them for generative data augmentation. We improve generative data augmentation by formulating the data generation as context generation task and use question answering (QA) datasets for intermediate training. Specifically, we view QA to be more as a format than of a task and train GLMs as context generators for a given question and its respective answer. Then, we cast downstream tasks into question answering format and adapt the fine-tuned context generators to the target task domain. Finally, we use the fine-tuned GLM to generate relevant contexts, which is further used as synthetic training data for their corresponding tasks. We perform extensive experiments, case studies, and ablation studies on multiple sentiment and topic classification datasets and demonstrate substantial improvements in performance in few-shot, zero-shot settings. Remarkably, on the SST-2 dataset, intermediate training on SocialIQA dataset achieves an improvement of 40% on Macro-F1 score. Through thorough analyses, we observe that QA datasets that requires high-level reasoning abilities (e.g., abstractive and common-sense QA datasets) tend to give the best boost in performance in both few-shot and zero-shot settings.


Background.

Medical students demonstrate higher levels of psychological distress compared with the general population and other student groups. Mindfulness interventions show promise in stress reduction for this group, and in the reduction of cortisol, an established clinical marker of the body's stress response. This study investigated the relationship of mindfulness to perceived stress, salivary cortisol and assessment performance in undergraduate medical students in response to stressful and non-stressful events.
Methods.

A controlled pre-post analysis design with within-groups comparisons. 67 medical students completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and provided perceived stress ratings and saliva samples, from which cortisol was extracted, during group work (control/baseline) and immediately prior to end of year 2 examinations (experimental). Academic performance data was extracted for comparison with measures.
Results.

Salivary cortisol and perceived stress were significantly increased prior to examinations. The change in cortisol levels from baseline (non-stressful, group work conditions) to experimental (stressful, pre-exam conditions) showed a significant negative correlation with exam performance. FFMQ score showed a significant positive correlation with exam performance and a significant negative correlation with salivary cortisol concentration.
Conclusions.

This study suggests that there exists an important relationship between mindfulness and biomarkers of stress, which may manifest into improved assessment outcomes potentially through healthier, more adaptive coping and stress management strategies. A novel strength of the present study is the identification of individual facets of mindfulness associated with stress and exam performance (acting with awareness and non-judging) suggesting that these may be important targets for improving medical students' stress management and exam performance.


In this letter we purpose adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for channel estimation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. To evaluate the performance of this estimator, we compare the ANFIS with least square (LS) algorithm, minimum mean square error (MMSE) algorithm by using bit error rate (BER) and mean square error (MSE) criterias. According to computer simulations the performance of ANFIS has better performance than LS algorithm and close to MMSE algorithm. Besides there is unnecessity to send pilot when used the ANFIS.


Abstract Drawing on a study of dual-earner, middle-class families in Los Angeles, in this article I explore what it means to enact health as part of everyday life for a family of Mexican descent and how enacting health relates to parental talk about health. Based on a conjoint analysis of video recordings and parental interviews, I maintain that a recurring interactional dynamic toward maintaining an emotional atmosphere of individual contentment and harmonious relationships is central to how the family enacts health. Inspired by Bateson's discussion of ethos as part of his efforts to study the "feel" of culture, the analytic framework of enacting ethos is proposed as a way to approach the "feel" of everyday life—an interactive view of emotional atmosphere in situated contexts. For this family, studying health as ensconced in family life reveals the centrality of a socially embedded and relational view of health as "family well-being" that coexists, at times ambivalently, with health construed as an individual level concern. Examples from the video recordings illustrate some of the varied ways that the approach adopted allows for a more nuanced understanding of the microcultural realm of family life.


Eighteen kilodalton translocator protein (TSPO) is an important target for drug discovery and for clinical molecular imaging of brain and peripheral inflammatory processes. PK 11195 [1a; 1-(2-chlorophenyl)-N-methyl-(1-methylpropyl)-3-isoquinoline carboxamide] is the major prototypical high-affinity ligand for TSPO. Elucidation of the solution structure of 1a is of interest for understanding small-molecule ligand interactions with the lipophilic binding site of TSPO. Dynamic (1)H/(13)C NMR spectroscopy of 1a revealed four quite stable but interconverting rotamers, due to amide bond and 2-chlorophenyl group rotation. These rotamers have been neglected in previous descriptions of the structure of 1a and of the binding of 1a to TSPO. Here, we used quantum chemistry at the level of B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,p) to calculate (13)C and (1)H chemical shifts for the rotamers of 1a and for the very weak TSPO ligand, N-desmethyl-PK 11195 (1b). These data, plus experimental NMR data, were then used to characterize the structures of rotamers of 1a and 1b in organic solution. Energy barriers for both the amide bond and 2'-chlorophenyl group rotation of 1a were determined from dynamic (1)H NMR to be similar (ca.17 to 18 kcal/mol), and they compared well with those calculated at the level of B3LYP/6-31G*. Furthermore, the computed barrier for Z to E rotation is considerably lower in 1a(18.7 kcal/mol) than in 1b (25.4 kcal/mol). NMR (NOE) unequivocally demonstrated that the E rotamer of 1a is the more stable in solution by about 0.4 kcal/mol. These detailed structural findings will aid future TSPO ligand design and support the notion that TSPO prefers to bind ligands as amide E-rotamers.


Dianthus is a large genus containing many species with high ornamental economic value. Extensive breeding strategies permitted an exploration of an improvement in the quality of cultivated carnation, particularly in flowers. However, little is known on the molecular mechanisms of flower development in carnation. Here, we report the identification and description of MADS-box genes in carnation (DcaMADS) with a focus on those involved in flower development and organ identity determination. In this study, 39 MADS-box genes were identified from the carnation genome and transcriptome by the phylogenetic analysis. These genes were categorized into four subgroups (30 MIKCc, two MIKC*, two Mα, and five Mγ). The MADS-box domain, gene structure, and conserved motif compositions of the carnation MADS genes were analysed. Meanwhile, the expression of DcaMADS genes were significantly different in stems, leaves, and flower buds. Further studies were carried out for exploring the expression of DcaMADS genes in individual flower organs, and some crucial DcaMADS genes correlated with their putative function were validated. Finally, a new expression pattern of DcaMADS genes in flower organs of carnation was provided: sepal (three class E genes and two class A genes), petal (two class B genes, two class E genes, and one SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP)), stamen (two class B genes, two class E genes, and two class C), styles (two class E genes and two class C), and ovary (two class E genes, two class C, one AGAMOUS-LIKE 6 (AGL6), one SEEDSTICK (STK), one B sister, one SVP, and one Mα). This result proposes a model in floral organ identity of carnation and it may be helpful to further explore the molecular mechanism of flower organ identity in carnation.


Diabetic Retinopathy and diabetics are two highly associated severe diseases in human. This study assesses the risk of getting Diabetic Retinopathy among the Diabetic patients in the Kalmunai region. In this hospital based cross sectional study, all the diabetic patients who were attending to the diabetic clinic of the Ashraff memorial hospital from January 2014 to December 2014 were screened for Diabetic Retinopathy and their demographic details were recorded. Obtained information was analyzed for estimating the risk for Diabetic Retinopathy among the diabetic patients and it was estimated as 13.16%. No difference in risk of getting Diabetic Retinopathy was observed among different age group, educated level and gender. Risk of getting Diabetic Retinopathy increases with the increase of the duration suffered by the diabetic. The relative risk of getting Diabetic Retinopathy for patients with diabetic for more 12 years is 3.55 times greater compared to the fresh diabetic patients.


According to the Computational Social Science Society of the Americas (CSSSA), computational social science is "The science that investigates social phenomena through the medium of computing and related advanced information processing technologies". Positioned between the computer and social sciences, this new and emerging interdisciplinary field is fuelled by at least the following two developments: (i) availability of data: With the web, a huge volume of social data is now available which enables the study of traces of social interactions on new scales. (ii) increasing quantification of social theories: With recent advances in the social sciences, social theories become increasingly formal and/or mathematical and thus amenable to quantification. Taken together, these two developments give rise to a whole range of new and interesting problems on the intersection between computer and social sciences. While a multitude of social data is available on the World Wide Web, microblogs are of particular interest due to their real-time nature, their rich social fabric and their presumed on/offline coupling. In this talk, I am going to talk about the potentials and the challenges of doing computational social science based on data obtained from microblogs such as Twitter. In particular, I want to present previous work by my group and others to identify research avenues where progress has already been made or where progress is on the horizon, and contrast these with what I feel are open research challenges in this emerging field. Work that demonstrates the potential of microblogs for computational social science includes for example [1], where we have operationalized a number of theoretical constructs from sociology to characterize the nature of online conversational practices of political parties on Twitter. In another work, we have studied the ways in which users' fields of expertise can be inferred from microblog data [4]. Work that demonstrates the pitfalls and challenges of doing computational social science with microblog data include for example [5] where we have studied a network of bots who are competing against each other in attacking users on Twitter. In subsequent work, we have found that such attacks have the potential to impact the social graph of Twitter [3], i.e. the network of who follows whom respectively who replies to whom. In other work, [2] have shown that there is a stark difference between the demographics of Twitter and the general population of the US, finding that Twitter users significantly over-represent densely populated regions and are predominantly male. I will argue that these and other factors need to be considered when we aim to unlock the full potential of microblog data for computational social science


PT Gemah Ripah Loh Jinawi Industri (GRLJI) is a fertilizer industry  company which produces two types of products; phosphate and dolomite. The company has quite large business process in ordering the fertilizer products from  customers, manufacturing raw materials until delivering the accomplishes  products to the customer back. However, in raw manufacturing process still has  disadvantage like there is no control in specific inventory of raw materials which  could make disruption production process in financial losses. It relates to the raw  materials' and customers' schedule order late to deliver. Raw materials quantity should be bought in certain period with minimum cost. Then, calculate the Safety Stock in order to determine the amount of inventory security by comparing the use of raw materials and searching the value  of deviation standard. After that, calculate Re-order Point (ROP) which used to  determine the value point of re-ordering raw materials. It was need an  application control of raw materials by counting the total minimum quantity and  calculating of raw materials stock amount and procurement as a safe point in  production process. Economic Order Quantity method (EOQ) used to provide the  quantity of raw materials which should be purchased at certain period with  minimum cost. Based on application trial result by using the data synopsis which known by the company in limited period, it is about 1 month or 4 weeks. The Data showed the EOQ value, the Safety Stock, and the ROP on each form automatically. The application also could help the data processing and control the raw materials processing faster. It was made the raw material inventory control process scheduled without interrupting the production process. Keywords: Economic Order Quantity, Inventory control, application, fertilizer, raw materials


The Taffarud or singurality in ḥadīth sciences is one of the important and most critical type. Therefore, scholars of the ḥadīth paid it much attention and wrote number of books on the account of "al-Afrād and al-Gharīb aḥādīth". Many scholars like Īmām al-Daraquṭnī, Īmām al-Bazzār, al-Īmām al-Ṭabrānī and other critics composed books on this subject. The discussion about the narrator's uniqueness and singularity compared to other narrators from his sheikh who has many students, includes in the issue of reasoning, that a transmitter narrates a ḥadīth from that sheikh which his peers do not know about it. If a transmitter who is unique in its narration and also contains the critics of the scholars is called "Taffarud" which comes with different conditions in terms of acceptance and rejection. In that case, it is not acceptable to consider those terms as a totality and whoever takes it as such will be mistaken, as these rules must be understood in the light of the scholar's understandings and their intention of usage. Otherwise we will eventually deviate from their methodology. This research is divided into an introduction, two articles, and a conclusion. As for the introduction, author defined the "taffarud" literally and lexically. In the first section, author explained the opinions of critics regarding; not to accept the uniqueness of the narrators narrating from a lot others. In the second section, author conducted an applied study on the transmitters who are not likely to be accepted in their narrations from the one who narrates a lot. As well as, author mentioned the conclusion and stidy results.


This paper summarizes the findings of the research carried out in the area of the voltage sag (dip) propagation in distribution networks. The emphasis is on the influence of embedded generation on voltage sag characteristics and propagation. Two different, realistic, network topologies are used in the analysis. Different types of faults and different levels of embedded generation penetration are considered. The influence of embedded generation on symmetrical and asymmetrical voltage sags is assessed. Variations in voltage sag magnitude, phase-angle jump and sag propagation through the network as a function of the level and type of embedded generation are illustrated. New indices for the assessment of voltage sag propagation are proposed. The results of the research have shown that the effects, either beneficial or detrimental, of the embedded generation on voltage sag propagation and characteristics are closely coupled with the level of their penetration into the network and the location of the generators. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We present a security protocol for ubiquitous computing. It provides data authentication, and data freshness besides unobtrusiveness that is the essential property of ubiquitous computing. We creatively use both asymmetric-key and symmetric-key algorithms to make the protocol more security and suffice severe resource constraints, limited computation, memory, and communication capacities.


Denisova Cave in Siberia's Altai Mountains is one of the world's most important archaeological sites. It is famous for preserving evidence of three early human groups: Neanderthals, early Homo sapiens, and a third group known as the Denisovans. Fossil bones, stone tools and ancient DNA gathered from the cave have told a story that is extremely significant for understanding the early chapters of human evolution in Asia, going back 300,000 years. But our new analysis of the cave's dirt floor reveals that it was also frequented by hyenas, wolves, and even bears for much of its history.


Background: Sepsis has high mortality globally. The key factor in decreasing the mortality is early diagnosis and the initiation of appropriate treatment within hours. Various biomarkers are in use for timely diagnosis but none is without limitation. It's imperative to predict the mortality early in order to sensitize those involved in the care. We studied Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) as a prognostic marker in sepsis.
Methodology: It was a retrospective study, conducted at Aga khan university hospital from 30th November 2020 to 31st March 2021. Data was calculated from patient medical record after approval from ERC. Multiple linear regression technique was used to determine the association between increased NLR with mortality.
Results: Our study included 168 patients. The median (IQR) NLR of the patients was 10.4 (13.4). The mean SOFA score of the patients was noted to be 5.7 ± 2.9, mortality was reported in 26.1% (n=44) patients. Multiple linear regression showed NLR increased by 2.0 times with every mg/dl increased in average total bilirubin level (95% CI: 0.4-3.2), and by 1 times with every one unit increase in SOFA score (95% CI: 0.1-1.5). However, there was no significant association found between NLR and mortality rate.
Conclusion: NLR is an effective marker for predicting sepsis; however, its role in predicting mortality is yet to be established.


Introduction: Adhesive small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a disease process that has been difficult to prevent. Mechanical barriers and chemical agents exist to disrupt the formation of adhesions following surgery but each associated with medical risk and financial burden. Identifying risk factors for developing SBO in patients post laparotomy would aid in the appropriate use of such agents. We hypothesize that there might be additional risk factors that are associated with a higher likelihood of SBO. Methods: A retrospective analysis from 2008 to 2012 was performed. Cases of SBO following previous laparotomy were compared to those without SBO. Results: 468 medical records were reviewed (57% male). Operations that caused the highest risks for SBO included gynecological, colorectal and hernia operations with prosthetic materials. 66% percent of patients underwent a prior abdominal or pelvic high-risk procedure. The average time from surgery to the development of SBO was 24 months (median 19 months). Patients who developed SBO had a median age of 58.4 years on initial surgery, average previous operative time of 4.3 hours, and an av-erage of two prior operations. For every hour of operative time, the odds of developing SBO increased by 33% (p 3 decreased the odds of SBO (p = 0.05). Conclusions: Longer operative times are associated with post-operative adhesive small bowel obstruction. Patients with an ASA score greater than or equal to 3 appear to have a reduced risk of adhesive small bowel obstruction.


Cryptocurrency is a blockchain-based technology that is often used as a digital currency. Digital money is different from conventional money, this type of money does not have a physical form but only a block of data bound by a hash as validation. The data is spread to every cryptocurrency user who is in the environment. So that when a user makes a transaction, data mining will be carried out. Cryptocurrencies have several advantages but also have disadvantages when used as currency, from a legal point of view there is still no law governing the circulation of currency in digital form (cryptocurrency). The government must recognize digital currency so that it can be accepted by the general public as a means of payment. For now, the government has not recognized digital money (cryptocurrency) as a currency, because Cryptocurrency is a new phenomenon by some people in Indonesia. The rapid development of technology in the 4.0 revolution era, in the next few years money in physical form will be replaced by digital money, seeing the many conveniences provided by using digital money.


CENP-A incorporation is critical for centromere specification and is mediated by the chaperone HJURP. The CENP-A-targeting domain (CATD) of CENP-A specifically binds to HJURP, and this binding is conserved. However, the binding interface of CENP-A-HJURP is yet to be understood. Here, we identify the critical residues for chicken CENP-A or HJURP. The A59Q mutation in the α1-helix of chicken CENP-A causes CENP-A mis-incorporation and subsequent cell death, whereas the corresponding mutation in human CENP-A does not. We also find that W53 of HJURP, which is a contact site of A59 in CENP-A, is also essential in chicken cells. Our comprehensive analyses reveal that the affinities of HJURP to CATD differ between chickens and humans. However, the introduction of two arginine residues to the chicken HJURP αA-helix suppresses CENP-A mis-incorporation in chicken cells expressing CENP-AA59Q. Our data explain the mechanisms and evolution of CENP-A essentiality by the CENP-A-HJURP interaction.


Background Despite advances in surgical techniques, sterile protocols, and perioperative antibiotic regimens, surgical site infections (SSIs) remain a significant problem. We investigated the relationship between wound classification (i.e., clean, clean/contaminated, contaminated, dirty) and SSI rates in plastic surgery. Methods We performed a retrospective review of a multi-institutional, surgical outcomes database for all patients undergoing plastic surgery procedures from 2006-2010. Patient demographics, wound classification, and 30-day outcomes were recorded and analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Results A total of 15,289 plastic surgery cases were analyzed. The overall SSI rate was 3.00%, with superficial SSIs occurring at comparable rates across wound classes. There were similar rates of deep SSIs in the clean and clean/contaminated groups (0.64%), while rates reached over 2% in contaminated and dirty cases. Organ/space SSIs occurred in less than 1% of each wound classification. Contaminated and dirty cases were at an increased risk for deep SSIs (odds ratios, 2.81 and 2.74, respectively); however, wound classification did not appear to be a significant predictor of superficial or organ/space SSIs. Clean/contaminated, contaminated, and dirty cases were at increased risk for a postoperative complication, and contaminated and dirty cases also had higher odds of reoperation and 30-day mortality. Conclusions Analyzing a multi-center database, we found that wound classification was a significant predictor of overall complications, reoperation, and mortality, but not an adequate predictor of surgical site infections. When comparing infections for a given wound classification, plastic surgery had lower overall rates than the surgical population at large.


Community service activities is one activity that takes the role of Information Technology (IT). IT utilization minimize the possibility of the emergence of various problems in the activities. Documents such as decrees, letters of assignment, proposals and reports of activities is often inconsistent. In the evaluation of the activities also has many limitations. If the required information such as who the lecturer is involved in the activities, how much total cost for each activity or completely very hard to know. A system built to help manage community service activities (CS) both institutional and group of lecturers CS. Users can manage at the beginning of each submission period CS activity. When necessary administrative documents such as decree and Letter of Assignment, can be generated automatically from the system. The proposal documents, reports and documentation of evidence can be uploaded into the system in order to be archived digitally and structured. The system is expected to be a solution of the problems experienced. With the new system, human error can be minimized and management activities can be done more easily with the help of IT.


Termicidal toxicity of Xylopia aethiopica and Piper guineense seeds on termites, Macrotermes subhyalinus (Isoptera: Termitidae) and toxicological study on liver and kidney functions of albino rats were investigated in the Laboratory at a temperature of 28 ± 2°C and 75 ± 5% relative humidity. The parameter assessed were toxicity of X. aethiopica and P. guineense powders at a concentration of 3 g and extracts at concentrations of 1% - 5%. The toxicity was assessed in term of % mortality of termites. Toxicological studies involved the assay of liver and kidney functions in albino rats. The rats were divided into four groups (Groups A, B, C and D) of five animals each. Group A - Control rats fed with basal diet, Group B - rats fed with basal diet plus 1% plant seeds powder, Group C – rats fed diet supplemented with 2% plant seeds powder and Group D – rats fed diet supplemented with 4% plant seeds powder for 28 days. Plasma aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total protein, urea and creatinine contents were determined using commercially available kits. The levels of these biochemical functions were also determined in the liver and kidney. The results obtained from this study showed that P. guineense and X. aethiopica methanoic extracts at 4% and 5% concentrations of treatment manifested acute biological activity as shown by high percentage mortality (90 - 100%) of termites within 1hour. The non-availability of Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) in the serum of animals fed with basal diet plus 1%, 2% and 4% of X. aethiopica and P. guineense powders in a significant values with the serum of animal fed with basal diet (control) is an indicator of no chemical assaults in the liver as well as normal Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activities in the liver of all experimental animals. With the evidence of normal urea and creatinine level in serum rats fed with basal diet (Control-Group A), 1% (Group B), 2% (Group C) and 4% (Group D), it means that there is no toxic effect on kidney function after feeding for a period of 28 days. Therefore, fumigation of wooden structures for the storage of food or all types of domestic furniture made of wood susceptible to termites, M. subhyalinus with X. aethiopica and P. guineense powders and extracts at the tested concentrations may not be likely to cause oxidative liver and kidney damages.


The main purpose of this study was to reveal the information seeking behavior of faculty members of Government College University, Lahore. An effort was also made to know the impact of information and communication technologies on information seeking behavior. The study was conducted in four phases. In the first phase, a comprehensive review of related literature was conducted to understand the theoretical and technical aspects of this study. In the second phase, instrument of questionnaire was developed for data collection. In the third phase, collected data were tabulated and analyzed. In the final phase, conclusions were drawn along with recommendations. Findings of the study reveal that majority of the respondents used to converse with experts for seeking information. Respondents often used to seek information for teaching purposes. Respondents used electronic resources for seeking their specific information. They were pleased with overall environment, staff and services of the Library. The problems mentioned by the respondents indicate the need of formal training to use electronic resources for seeking information.


The objective of this preliminary study was to determine whether domestic pig social dominance confers later reproductive success. Two seminatural environments were established with a feeder, shaded pond, shelter and 2 acres of ground cover with alfalfa. Four prepuberal (2 males and 2 females) "resident" pigs were placed on the fields after the post-weaning dominance order was established. Pigs on one field showed a very stable dominance order, while the other field's dominance order was more volatile. Later, additional estrous gilts were brought to each field to determine which boar(s) bred each gilt. Boars shared estrous gilts, that is, both boars on each field bred estrous gilts. Fathership of litters from resident gilts was also shared by both boars on each field. Certain males which were socially dominant mounted estrous gilts more frequently. But all boars shared breedings of estrous gilts and paternity of litters.


The Danish National Hospital Register (LPR) has collected nationwide data on all somatic hospital admissions since 1977, and since 1995 data on outpatients and emergency patients have been included as well. Numerous research projects have been undertaken in the national Danish context as well as in collaboration with international teams, and the LPR is truly a valuable source of data for health sciences, especially in epidemiology, health services research and clinical research. Nearly complete registration of somatic hospital events in Denmark is combined with ideal conditions for longterm follow-up due to the existence of a national system of unique person identification in a population of relative demographic stability. Examples of studies are provided for illustration within three main areas: I: Using LPR for surveillance of the occurrence of diseases and of surgical procedures, II: Using the Register as a sampling frame for longitudinal population based and clinical research, and III: Using the Register as a data source for monitoring outcomes. Data available from the Register as well as studies of the validity of the data are mentioned, and it is described how researchers may get access to the Register. The Danish National Hospital Register is well suited to contribute to international comparative studies with relevance for evidence-based medicine.


A 112-day trial was carried out to evaluate the effect of dietary calcium level and limestone particle size on the egg quality of 288 HyLine Brown semi-heavy layers, with 83 weeks of age at the beginning of the experiment. A completely randomized experimental design was applied in a 2x3 factorial arrangement, with two dietary calcium levels (3.5 and 4.0%) e three limestone particle size compositions (100% fine limestone (FL), with 0.185mm; 30% coarse limestone (CL), with 2.83mm, + 70% FL, with 0.185mm; and 50% CL, with 2.83mm, + 50% FL, with 0.185mm), with six replicates of eight birds each. Mean geometric diameter and in-vitro solubility of the limestone sources were, respectively, 0.185mm and 18.7% for the fine limestone, and 2.83mm and 10.5% for the coarse limestone. At the end of each 28-day period, 72 eggs per treatment were used to determine egg specific gravity, yolk percentage, albumen percentage, eggshell percentage, yolk index, Haugh units, eggshell thickness, and eggshell breaking strength. There was no influence of the treatments on the evaluated parameters. It was concluded that feeding the level of 3.5% calcium usually recommended for layers in their first laying cycle, and the substitution of up to 50% fine limestone by coarse limestone in the feed of semiheavy commercial Hy-Line Brown layers in their second laying cycle can be applied with no impairment of egg quality.


In this paper, we present a mobile Audience Response System (ARS) in order to improve the teaching process for both students and teachers. A mobile app was designed and created that students can download and use on their phones to answer Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) given by the teacher during lecture. The students answer on their phones in real time and the teacher can then get the results and see a graph distribution of their answers. This is a step towards encouraging the Active Learning Model and increasing student participation during class while also providing teachers with immediate feedback.


2,5-Dimethyl-1-phenyl-1-silacyclopentane (DMPSC) has been prepared in good yield, as a mixture of stereoisomers, by the reaction of 2,5-dibromohexane and dichlorophenylsilane with magnesium in tetrahydrofuran. The silane so prepared consists of a ca. 1:1:3 mixture of the cis-isomers 2, 3 and the racemic trans-isomer 4+5, respectively. Treatment of this product with copper(II) chloride in acetonitrile gives 1-chloro-DMPSC as a mixture of the cis-isomers 6, 7 and the racemic trans-isomer 8+9 in the approximate ratio 1:6:12. Mono-O-silylation of dimethyl L-tartrate with this mixture of chlorosilanes gave the silyl ether 11 and the diastereoisomeric pair of trans-compounds 12 and 13 as crystalline solids. The molecular structure of the cis-silyl ether 11 has been determined by X-ray diffraction. Corresponding monosilylation of (2S)-1,1,2-triphenylethane-1,2-diol [(S)-TPED] occurs selectively at the less hindered secondary OH group; the stereoisomeric products were separated by a combination of recrystallisation and column chromatography and the molecular structure of the (2S,5S)-silyl ether was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Reduction of this diastereoisomer with LiAlH4 afforded (2S,5S)-(+)-DMPSC, [α]D22+27.8 (c 2.16, cyclohexane), with an estimated enantiomeric excess of >98%. The (2R,5R)-(–)-enantiomer was prepared in a similar manner using (R)-TPED as the resolving agent, which was readily recovered in an optically-pure state and could be recycled.


This paper examines whether the Anthropocene can be a helpful metaphor for holistic understandings of human impacts on the Earth. I argue that for this, splitting the Anthropocene into several consecutive stages would be helpful, and suggest a multistage Anthropocene: the early Anthropocene, the first acceleration phase, the post-1950 Great Acceleration, and finally the good or the bad anthropocene depending on whether humans take decisive action in time that ensures us staying within planetary boundaries. This reframing uses the power of storytelling by presenting a multifaceted picture of human agency in the Anthropocene, provides a deep framing that is positive and supports action, and provides clear signals on the direction in which we are moving. It puts humans back in their rightful place on Earth – as one of many species, although with large power for the good or the bad, and the responsibilities this brings.


Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was applied to the 400-year-old Sendai Castle in Japan during site excavation. The aim of the experiment was to detect old stone walls under the castle, and to compare the effectiveness of 50- and 100-MHz antennae in locating and identifying archaeological features.

Both common-offset and common-midpoint (CMP) data of 50- and 100-MHz were collected along three survey lines. We processed the data and compared the results obtained by different observation and data-processing methods. It is easy to identify reflections from underground objects on 1-m common-offset 100-MHz profiles, but it is difficult to recognize them on 50-MHz profiles of the same offset. The comparable post-stack migration result of the stacked data of 50-MHz and the migration stack section of 50-MHz CMP data with the results of 100-MHz common-offset data, however, indicate that low frequency radar images can be improved by both data acquisition and processing techniques. We also know from the processed results that the migration stack method is better than the post-stacking migration method.

The GPR results are consistent to a great extent with the excavations. The GPR method can be applied to archaeological investigations, before and during excavation. Appropriate data acquisition and processing schemes are important in archaeological prospection using GPR. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A novel multistage compressor performance analysis method based on the three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations is presented in this paper. This approach is a "continuous interface plane approach" where deterministic stresses are used to ensure continuous physical properties across interface planes. The average unsteady effects due to neighboring blades and/or vanes are approximated using deterministic stresses along with the application of bodyforces. Bodyforces are used to account for the "potential" interaction between closely coupled (staged) rows. Deterministic stresses account for the "average" wake blockage and mixing effects both axially and radially. The attempt here is to implement an approximate technique for incorporating periodic unsteady flow physics that provides for a robust multistage design procedure incorporating reasonable computational efficiency. The present paper gives the theoretical development of the stress/bodyforce models incorporated in the code, and demonstrates the usefulness of these models in practical compressor applications. Compressor performance prediction capability is then established through a rigorous code/model validation effort using the power of networked workstations. The numerical results are compared with experimental data in terms of one-dimensional performance parameters such as total pressure ratio and circumferentially averaged radial profiles deemed critical to compressor design. This methodology allows the designer to design from hub to tip with a high level of confidence in the procedure.Copyright © 1995 by ASME


The earthworm and the nematode are primary soil sentinel and model invertebrate organisms. Their metallothioneins (MT) display striking structural and functional features. Firstly, the primary sequences, though remarkably conserved within species belonging to the same genus, have notable divergencies containing additional potentially metal-binding residues. Secondly, cadmium is the major transcriptional activator of MT expression in the intestinal cells. Thirdly, the MT promoters seemingly lack functional metal response elements which underlines the finding that MTF-1 is absent from the nematode and possibly the earthworm genome. This chapter highlights past, present, and future advances aiming to dissect the synergies and discrepancies of the metallothioneins from two evolutionary very distant relatives of soil dwelling worms.


The space of the Internet is often described as easy to traverse with no regard for national borders. Yet few have considered what such easy border crossings on the Internet might mean to the ordinary people actually doing the traversing. Our qualitative study of regular Internet users in Kazakhstan shows that the naming of a state-controlled space on the Internet, through the use of country code top-level domain names (ccTLDs), does in fact matter to the average user. People are aware of national boundary traversals as they navigate the Internet. Respondents in our study identified their activity on the Internet as happening within or outside the space of the state to which they felt allegiance and belonging. National borders are demarcated on the Internet through naming via ccTLDs and can result in individual expressions of various types of nationalism online. We find that ccTLDs are not just symbolic markers but have real meaning and their importance increases in locations where notions of statehood are in flux.


The article considers the expert practice of studying the occurrence of accidents in the performance of gas hazardous work with non-compliance with the regulatory requirements of the «Typical Instructions for the Organization of the Safe Conduct of Gas Hazardous Work» by officials and performers of work and also analyzes the cause-and-effect relationships between their actions (inaction) and occurrence of the event under investigation. The relevance of the study is due to the negative statistics on the neglect of timely preventive work of sewerage networks, which later lead to unjustified costs, which became the subject of the study by the forensic expert. The author summarizes the current labour protection standards for gas hazardous work and notes the procedural aspects of their implementation, taking into account the role of engineering and technical workers responsible for the organization. The analysis of expert practice to determine the causes of accidents in the performance of gas hazardous work has been carried out. Real examples of such violations with fatal consequences are given.
As a result of the study, the author established causal relationships between non-compliance with labour protection requirements and the inaction of officials in organizing the performance of gas hazardous work. The place of examination in the event of accidents during the performance of gas-hazardous work in the creation of an effective labour protection system at the enterprise has been established. The author came to the conclusion that compliance with the relevant labour protection measures at the enterprise should be the obligation of the officials organizing the management. In addition, the standardization of requirements for gas-hazardous work at the enterprise by officials will help to avoid the onset of the harmful consequences of an accident and increase the level of labour and production discipline.


Background: Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are a heterogeneous group of tumors with varying biological, functional, and clinical characteristics that develop from the gastroenteropancreatic tract's diffuse neuroendocrine system. The objective of this study is to determine the clinicopathological features of GEP-NETs at our facility. Methodology: A cross-sectional analysis of 87 biopsies and resection specimens from January 2020 to January 2022 was performed. The histopathological reports as well as patient's demographic and clinic pathological data were obtained. Two pathologists with a special interest in gastroenteropancreatic pathology blindly reviewed all cases. The tumor grade and stage were determined using the WHO classification (2019) and the AJCC TNM system (8th edition). The data were analyzed with SPSS version 22 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results: Of the total 87 patients, 49 (56.3%) were male. The age range was 11 to 80 years, with a mean of 45.7±16.4 and the majority (56.3%) were under 50 years. The most frequent symptom was abdominal pain (55.2%). The most common site of GEP-NETs was the appendix (21.8%), followed by the ileum (18.4%), with the majority of tumors being non-functional (96.5%). Furthermore, neuroendocrine tumor (NET) grade 1 accounts for 62% of the total, followed by NET grade 2 (24.1%), neuroendocrine carcinoma (NET) grade 3 (10.3%), and mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasms (MINENs) (3.5%). Synaptophysin was found to be positive in 83.9% cases while Chromogranin A was positive in 39.1%. A pathologic tumor (pT) stage was determined in 47 resection specimens in our study and the most common stage was pT3 (36.1%). Nodal metastasis was found in 25.5% of patients. Conclusions: According to our study, appendix and ileum were the most common GEP-NETs sites. The tumor site and grade were shown to significantly correlate among the clinicopathological features but there was no discernible correlation between the tumor grade and the gender, age, or pathological tumor (pT) stage.


Objectives: 1. To compare severity of pain from endometrial curettage by Karman cannula and metal curette. 2. To compare duration of bleeding after endometrial curettage by Katman cannula and metal curette. 3. To compare adequacy of pathological specimen obtained by Karman cannula and metal curette. Design: Randomized controlled trail study Setting: Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University Subjects: Women who attended gynecological outpatient clinic with abnormal uterine bleeding which required endometrial curettage from 16 June 1997 to 20 January 1998 were randomly allocated to either Karman cannula or metal curette group. Intervention: Endometrial curettage by Karman cannula or metal curette Main outcome measurement: 1. Level of pain by visual analogue scale and descriptive pain evaluation. 2. Duration of bleeding after endometrial curettage in day(s) by postcard questionnaire. 3. Adequacy of pathological specimen. Results: The number of patients in the metal curette group who suffered from severed from severe pain was more than in the Karman cannula group, with relative risk of 5 (95% confidence interval 2.25-11.13) and 7.25 (95% confidence interval 2.71-19.36) in pain assessment by visual analogue scale and by descriptive pain evaluation, respectively. Duration of bleeding after curettage by Karman cannula was 2.93±2.58 days and by metal curette was 2.50±2.06 days and there was no significant difference in duration of bleeding between the procedures. Adequacy of pathological specimen was 86.67% in metal curette group and 83.33% in Karman cannula group which was not significantly different. Conclusion: Endometrial curettage by Karman cannula is less painful than curettage by metal curette and there is no significant difference in both duration of bleeding after the procedure and adequacy of pathological specimen. Key words: Karman cannula, metal curette, endometrial curettage, pain, bleeding


An air-cooled triode, the L600E, was developed to produce a peak pulse power of 25 kilowatts at 600 megacycles for radar operation. The water-cooled 6C22 was then developed to provide higher efficiency in continuo s-wave operation at that frequency. The construction and characteristics of these tubes are described. In an experimental crystal-controlled transmitter the 6C22 has delivered 500 watts at 600 megacycles.


Barn owl pellet content was studied on seven occasions over a 2-y period during which terrestrial small-mammal populations were assessed via a capture-mark-recapture (CMR) programme in a Sahelian agro-ecosystem of the Inner Delta of Niger River in Mali. Rodents (especially Mastomys huberti representing 78.5% of the total number of prey) were the major prey of the barn owl on all but one occasion, when bats were dominant. This exception coincided with the period of lowest abundance of M. huberti at the study site. Distribution of M. huberti prey into four age classes was assessed through analysis of tooth wear in remains from the seasonal pellet samples. Comparisons with age structure of the CMR population indicate that the barn owl tended to prey on smaller-than-average (thus younger) individuals, especially when these are rare in the population (non-reproductive period between June and October). The spectrum of prey consumed is compared with data previously reported in Sahelian Africa, showing for the first time in this region a major shift in prey choice by the barn owl when its preferred prey becomes rare. At the rodent population level, the apparent choice of younger M. huberti prey at some periods is interpreted in the light of our knowledge on population dynamics of the species in this habitat.