Corfu is a platform for building systems which are extremely scalable, strongly consistent and robust. Unlike other systems which weaken guarantees to provide better performance, we have built Corfu with a resilient fabric tuned and engineered for scalability and strong consistency at its core: the Corfu shared log. On top of the Corfu log, we have built a layer of advanced data services which leverage the properties of the Corfu log. Today, Corfu is already replacing data platforms in commercial products, and the thriving Corfu open source code base enjoys regular contributions from a number of industrial and academic institutions.One of the key properties of Corfu is consistency, a highly desirable property which simplifies programming complex, asynchronous distributed systems by increasing the number of assumptions a programmer can make about how a system will behave. For years, system designers focused on providing the strongest possible guarantees on top of unreliable and even malicious systems. The rise of the Internet and cloud-scale computing, however, shifted the focus of system designers towards scalability. In a rush to meet the needs of cloud-scale workloads, system designers realized that if they weaken the consistency guarantees they provided, they would greatly increase the scalability of their systems. As a result, designers simplified the guarantees provided by their systems and weaker consistency models such as eventual consistency emerged, greatly increasing the burden on developers leading to error-prone applications. Programmers in the cloud era are forced to choose between consistency and scalability.Corfu, the topic of this dissertation, is a platform for scalable consistency. Corfu answers the question: ``If we were to build a distributed system from scratch, taking into consideration both the desire for consistency and the need for scalability, what would it look like?''. The answer lies in the Corfu distributed log. We begin by introducing the Corfu distributed log. Corfu achieves strong consistency by presenting the abstraction of a log --- clients may read from anywhere in the log but they may only append to the end of the log. The ordering of updates on the log is decided by a high throughput sequencer, which we show can handle nearly a million requests per second. The log is scalable as every update to the log is replicated independently, and every client appending to the log merely needs to acquire a token before beginning replication. This means that we can scale the log by merely adding replicas, and our only limit is the rate of requests the sequencer can handle.While building a single distributed log already provides strong consistency and scalability, multiple applications may wish to share the same log. By sharing the same log, updates across multiple applications can be ordered with respect to one another, which form the basic building block for advanced operations such as transactions. This dissertation details two designs for virtualizing the log: \emph{streaming}, which divides the log into streams built using log entries which point to one another, and \emph{\branching}, which virtualizes the log by radically changing how data is replicated in the shared log. \xmakefirstuc{\branching} greatly improves the performance of random reads, and allows applications to exploit locality by placing virtualized logs on a single replica.Efficiently virtualizing the log turns out to be important for implementing distributed objects in Corfu, a convenient and powerful abstraction for interacting with the Corfu distributed log introduced earlier. Rather than reading and appending entries to a log, distributed objects enable programmers to interact with in-memory objects which resemble traditional data structures such as maps, trees and linked lists. Under the covers, the \emph{Corfu runtime}, a library which client applications link to, translates accesses and modifications of in-memory objects into operations on the Corfu distributed log.The Corfu runtime provides rich support for objects. An automated translation process converts plain old Java objects (POJOs) directly into Corfu objects through both runtime and compile-time transformation of code. This allows programmers to quickly adapt existing code to run on top of Corfu. The Corfu runtime also provides strong support for transactions, which enables multiple applications to read and modify objects without relaxing consistency guarantees. We show that with stream materialization, Corfu can support storing large amounts of state while supporting strong consistency and transactions.Finally, we describe our experience in both writing new applications and adapting existing applications to Corfu. We start by building an adapter for Apache Zookeeper clients to run on top of Corfu and then describe the implementation of Silver, a new distributed file system which leverages the power of the Corfu log. We then conclude by describing our efforts to retrofit a large and complex commerical application: a software defined network (SDN) switch controller, and detail how the strong transaction model and rich object interface greatly reduce the burden on distributed system programmers.Overall, Corfu promises to change how data platforms are built. Instead of forcing developers to compromise, Corfu offers programmers the best of both worlds. This dissertation traces the development and evolution of Corfu over five years and through eight publications. As a testament to the robustness of the original Corfu log design, the core log API remains mostly unchanged from the early Corfu papers, even though Corfu is now a public open source project with contributors from multiple academic and industrial institutions.


Previous research documents widespread confusion about who can and cannot vote among people who have come into contact with the criminal justice system. This research, and considerable activism drawing attention to the issue, has spurred a number of state legislatures to pass laws requiring the states to notify ex-felons about their voting rights. The purpose of this article is to better understand the policy processes that produce these notification laws and to assess whether the laws affect ex-felons' registration and turnout rates. Data on discharges from the correctional system and voter files are merged from three states that have recently passed notification laws: New Mexico, New York, and North Carolina. Our findings show little evidence of an increase in ex-felon registration or turnout after notification laws are implemented.


Background : Thrombocytopenia is a common complication of critical illness and an independent risk factor for death in the intensive care unit (ICU). Whether platelet transfusions modify the risk of death in critically ill patients is unknown. Methods: Adult patients admitted to ICU who received one or more platelet transfusion over a 10-year period (2006 - 2015) from 3 academic hospitals in Canada were analyzed from a blood transfusion registry. Oncology patients were excluded. Contemporaneous non-transfused ICU patients were used as controls. Data from the registry were validated by integrity checks with medical records and laboratory information systems. We estimated the effect of platelet transfusion on mortality in ICU adjusted for baseline and time-varying covariates including multi-organ dysfunction score (MODS) and severity of thrombocytopenia using a stratified cox proportional hazards model. Significance was set at p Results: Of 43,234 non-oncology patients admitted to ICU, 5,621 (13.0%) received one or more platelet transfusion. Compared with non-transfused controls, transfused patients had lower platelet counts (median, 82 x10 9 /L vs. 163 x10 9 /L); were more often admitted after surgery (90.7% vs. 46.9%) especially cardiac surgery (86.8% of surgeries vs. 60.6%); and had higher unadjusted mortality (10.7% vs. 6.5%). Using regression analysis adjusted for covariates (nadir platelet count, red blood cell transfusion, need for hemodialysis) and stratified by age, baseline MODS score (available for 66.2% of patients) and need for invasive mechanical ventilation, platelet transfusions were associated with a lower risk of death in ICU [hazard ratio (HR)= 0.66; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.46 - 0.96; p= 0.028; n= 26,404 with all available data]. A similar effect was observed in the subgroup of cardiac surgery patients (HR= 0.50; 95% CI, 0.26 - 0.98; p=0.044; n= 10,676) but not all surgical patients (HR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.46 - 1.17; p= 0.188; n= 14,461). Conclusion: After adjusting for illness severity, thrombocytopenia and other confounders common among critically ill patients, platelet transfusions were associated with improved survival in the population of mostly cardiac surgery patients. This potential protective effect of platelet transfusions requires further evaluation in prospective studies. Disclosures Arnold: Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy; UCB: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding.


This study investigated the effect of salt reduction and partial replacement with KCl on the microbiological and sensory characteristics of fresh and matured Halloumi cheese. Halloumi samples were matured for 8 wk and moisture, fat, protein, pH, lactic acid, sodium, and potassium contents determined. Instrumental textural characteristics of the samples were measured using a texture analyzer. Microbiological analyses included counts of total bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and molds, total coliforms, and psychrophilic bacteria. Descriptive sensory analysis was carried out by a 9-member panel, and acceptability testing was conducted with 72 panelists. Salt treatment had a significant effect on the pH, sodium, and potassium contents of the cheeses, whereas age by salt treatment interaction had a significant effect on the pH, lactic acid, and potassium contents of the samples. No major trends could be discerned from the texture profile analysis. All tested microorganisms increased with storage but in general did not differ between treatments and were, in certain instances, lower than levels reported in the literature for other cheeses. Descriptive analysis revealed a significant difference between salt treatments for bitterness, crumbliness, and moistness, whereas age of cheese was significant for saltiness and squeakiness. Salt treatment had no significant effect on any of the acceptability variables for all Halloumi samples.


The revolution in communication and embedded systems Electronic Toll Collection, the new era of intelligent transportation systems enables the automatic collection of Toll fees from the prepaid account through RFID. Yet there is lack of security in the existing system, number plate detection and recognition can be made. In the existing system detection is made with condition random field algorithm. Recognition method is implemented by optical character recognition. A system can be designed to extract the number plate from vehicle automatically using image processing technique, match with database automatically and generate the One Time Password(OTP) and bill without any delay and identify the theft vehicles. This is done by using Image processing and motion capturing technology


Joubert syndrome (JBTS) is a recessive neurodevelopmental ciliopathy, characterized by a pathognomonic hindbrain malformation. All known JBTS-genes encode proteins involved in the structure or function of primary cilia, ubiquitous antenna-like organelles essential for cellular signal transduction. Here, we use the recently identified JBTS-associated protein ARMC9 in tandem-affinity purification and yeast two-hybrid screens to identify a novel ciliary module composed of ARMC9-TOGARAM1-CCDC66-CEP104- CSPP1. TOGARAM1-variants cause JBTS and disrupt its interaction with ARMC9. Using a combination of protein interaction analyses and characterization of patient-derived fibroblasts, CRISPR/Cas9-engineered zebrafish and hTERT-RPE1 cells, we demonstrate that dysfunction of ARMC9 or TOGARAM1 results in short cilia with decreased axonemal acetylation and glutamylation, but relatively intact transition zone function. Aberrant serum-induced ciliary resorption and cold-induced depolymerization in both ARMC9 and TOGARAM1 patient cells lines suggest a role for this new JBTS-associated protein complex in ciliary stability.


Abstract We examine the effect of non‐mandatory corporate governance practices on a comprehensive set of audit judgments.1 We provide initial evidence on how auditors respond to corporate governance in an institutional environment where corporate governance is not mandated by law. Based on the agency and resource dependence theories, we hypothesise associations between corporate governance and auditors' judgments relating to client acceptance, risk assessments, and the extent and timing of substantive testing. Sixty Big 4 audit managers from Singapore are randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions comprising weak, moderate and strong corporate governance. Our results show auditors make more favourable client acceptance judgments when corporate governance is stronger. Clients with stronger corporate governance are assessed as having lower control environment risk. After controlling for control environment risk, we find that stronger corporate governance increases auditors' reliance on the client's internal controls and reduces the extent of substantive tests. When corporate governance is stronger, we observe that auditors conduct more substantive testing during the interim period compared to the year‐end. Our findings suggest that audit strategies are responsive to the strength of a client's corporate governance.


Probabilistic packet marking (PPM) is one of the methods on IP traceback, which embeds (i.e., marks) the address of an intermediate router into the header of the sampled packet. However, because the PPM does not have a mechanism to avoid an override of marking, there is a problem that it requires a lot of packets to get the packet mark the router far from the victim node. In this paper we propose a new packet marking scheme which uses the history of previously marked packets to decide for marking the current sampled packet. Through simulation results, we show that our proposed method can reduce the required number of packets significantly to reconstruct the paths for attacking nodes compared with the original PPM


The vascularity of the proximal aspect of the humerus has recently been studied in detail2,6. The anterior humeral circumflex artery appears to be the main blood supply to the humeral head, while the posterior humeral circumflex artery has the most sizable anastomoses. The role of the intraosseous blood supply has been difficult to assess quantitatively, given the fact that no method has been developed to study the blood supply to the humeral head after complete obstruction of the major vessels. We recently examined a patient who had rupture of both circumflex arteries, as documented with angiography and operative observation, in association with a traumatic anterior dislocation of the shoulder. There was no evidence of avascular necrosis of the humeral head on radiographs or magnetic resonance images made eighteen months after the injury.

A fifty-seven-year-old man, who was right-hand dominant and had no history of problems related to the shoulder, sustained a closed anterior subcoracoid dislocation of the right glenohumeral joint as the result of a fall (Fig. 1). Immediately after the injury, the patient had pain and numbness in the entire hand and forearm and was unable to flex or extend the elbow or to move the digits. On clinical testing, the flexors of the wrist and digits as well as the intrinsic muscles of the hand did not contract. Active flexion of the elbow was possible against gravity but not against manual resistance. There was numbness over the deltoid muscle and no clinical activity of that muscle.

Anteroposterior radiograph of the right shoulder, showing a subcoracoid dislocation.

With use of a Kocher maneuver and intravenous sedation, a closed reduction was achieved without difficulty. A …


This thesis incorporates a reassessment of Roman pottery from non-Roman contexts in southern Scotland to investigate the complex processes of interaction between Romans and provincial societies. Modern theoretical constructs form the interpretive framework for the discussion to explore how Roman objects functioned in their new social settings.

A detailed database has identified a total of 168 sites containing c. 1766 Roman pottery sherds and other objects, while Roman non-ceramic objects have been recovered from an additional 234 sites. The insertion of this data into the ArchGIS program has produced detailed distribution maps to graphically display material spreads and facilitate the identification of material foci. A lack of clearly definable central nodes suggests that the concept of elite access to and control over incoming Roman exotica may be inadequate explanations for the complex and multifarious processes by which the material culture of Empire moved through provincial communities. The hillfort at Traprain Law, East Lothian, is often used to epitomise elite restriction of prestige goods (Hunter 2009) and a detailed study of the Roman ceramics from Traprain is used as a case study (see Chapter 9) to determine the viability of this model.

The incorporation of robust and demonstrably appropriate social theories is suggested as an effective means of investigating these processes in a region that conventional wisdom has traditionally deemed to be marginal. The concept of Romanisation is critically deconstructed in favour of a more nuanced approach to the issue of culture contact. Modern postcolonial approaches, most of which have been applied predominantly to Mediterranean colonial situations, are tested against the data to determine their suitability in the context of the aggressive territorial expansionist policies of Rome in northern Britain. These paradigms consider the different ways in which Roman and frontier societies may have experienced the same events and how these communities selectively adopted, adapted or reused foreign material culture.

The effects of the conquest are shown to have been differently experienced in Scotland compared to other parts of the Empire and the research proposes methods of recognising the active participation of local people in past events. Rather than viewing northern societies as passive recipients of the imposition of oppressive Roman cultural values, an attempt is made to strip away widespread Romanocentric biases inherent in traditional approaches to the subject. The research adopts a bottom-up approach to the material remains to determine the demonstrable realities of interaction between Romans and northerners, the chronologically restricted and geographically variable extent of contact over time and the role of material culture in negotiating such contact as well as potential resultant cultural transformations.

A detailed contextual analysis of Roman pottery from non-Roman contexts has confirmed the variable character of contact across time and space. The study further recognises the potentially lengthy curation of culturally significant objects and traces material biographies to determine alternative social functions of Roman objects in their new cultural settings through their contexts of deposition. Roman objects are confirmed as being appropriated into local ritual and ideological practices, having been subjected to culturally specific physical and symbolic redefinition and structured votive deposition. The research also confirms the heterogeneous, inter and intra regionally variable character of local contact with the Empire and serves as model against which the data from other frontier regions can be tested.


In the presence of penguin contributions, the indirect CP asymmetry in B^0(t) -->pi^+ pi^- measures sin 2alpha_{eff}, where alpha_{eff} deviates from the true value of the CKM phase alpha by an amount theta, i.e. alpha_{eff} = alpha + theta. Using the measured value of direct CP asymmetry in B^0(t) -->pi^+ pi^-, we derive new bound on |2 theta|.


Nasatech is a company that produces kitchen cabinets from granite materials. Nasatech has been almost ten years in the city of Malang, Indonesia. So far, Nasatech only serve consumers who live in Malang and surrounding areas. However, Nasatech has a commitment to be able to market its products abroad if there is a chance. The excellence of Nasatech is its unique product and Nasatech has already used to use internet marketing to market its products and conduct online transactions.
Some research data show that furniture and kitchen countertops from granite materials are becoming a trend in the US so Nasatech is very suitable to market its products in the US. Nasatech needs to make some patent designs for its products with knock-down system so it is more easily shipped and marketed to the US through furniture importers in the US who can become a distributor. Internet marketing can be a good marketing strategy to enter the US market as online furniture purchase transactions increase significantly in the US. This is expected to be a good opportunity for Nasatech to enter the US market.


The rapidly developing Web environment provides users with a wide set of rich services as varied and complex as desktop applications. Those services are collectively referred to as ``Web 2.0'', with examples such as Google Docs, Flickr, or Wordpress, that allow users to create, manage and share their content online. By switching from desktop applications to their cloud-based Web equivalents users release even more data online. It is the user who creates this data, who disseminates it and who shares it with other users and services. Storing and sharing resources on the Web poses new security challenges. Access control, in particular, is currently poorly addressed in such an environment and is not well suited to the increasing number of resources that are available online. We propose a new approach to access control for the Web. Our approach puts a user in full control of assigning access rights to their resources which may be spread across multiple cloud-based Web applications. Unlike existing authorization systems, it relies on a user's centrally located security requirements for these resources.


A mithraeum always has long benches, which were called praesepiae, "places where cattle are fed in a stall" (CIMRM 233). The name is inappropriate for a dining room, which was usually called, instead, triclinium. Mithraeum is the current modern name, whereas the ancients called it spelaeum, antrum, templum. Another important name was Leonteum, which was not a separate cultic place for Leones only, because Porphyry states that the members of a Mithraic community were the Leones and the servants were called Korakes, the Ravens (Porphyr. de abst. 4. 16). The Mithraic menu apparently consisted of meat rather than of vegetables, even though one should take into account the fact that bones are better preserved than vegetables in an archaeological site, and therefore they are often published, whereas vegetal remains had never been investigated by means of chemical analyses. Lions are notoriously carnivorous and the praesepiae had to be filled with meat for the Leones.
 The initiation of Leones was supposed to be dry and fiery (Tert. Adv. Marcionem I 13), and we are also told that the Mithraic Leones avoided water for their purifications and washed their hands with honey (Porph. De antro 15–16). Moreover, a lion and a snake are often depicted on Mithraic reliefs as going to drink from a crater. It is possible to get some information from those facts about what Leones were used to drinking during their symposia: they were thirsty but their drink could not be water, but eventually, wine was permitted. Iustin. Apol. I 66 speaks of a cup of water, but only to mention some ritual acts during initiations and not during symposia.


The pharmaceutical industry is dependent on the granting of patents. Patents make it possible for pharmaceutical companies to invest in the necessary R&D to bring new drugs to the market. This benefits consumers and the health care sector at large. The biggest pharmaceutical companies invest in R&D, and as a result are the major holders of pharmaceutical patents. While the big pharmaceutical companies contribute positively to the health of European citizens, the conduct of those companies may sometimes have a negative impact on competition. EU competition law can be used for this purpose to prevent competition on the internal market from being distorted. Evergreening is one type of anti-competitive conduct where originator companies use different strategies to extend expiring patent rights in order to maintain their market position and to keep generic competition off the market.
This thesis investigates abuse of dominant position by evergreening of pharmaceutical patents. The aim is to examine the effectiveness of EU competition rules to prevent evergreening practices by pharmaceutical companies on the internal market. This is carried out by first providing an analysis of the pharmaceutical sector in Europe and its special characteristics. This includes a definition of evergreening and a summary of the Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry which was conducted by the European Commission in 2009. Thereafter, EU competition law in the pharmaceutical sector is investigated, with special focus on the assessment under Article 102 TFEU.
The findings of the thesis indicate that EU competition rules can be a suitable tool to deal with evergreening in the pharmaceutical industry. However, the efficiency of competition rules is limited because of the lack of precedent and guidance primarily from the Commission, CJEU and national competition authorities. One way to increase the effectiveness would therefore be if pharmaceutical companies were provided with clearer guidance regarding use of their patent rights. This could be implemented through guidelines issued by the Commission in relation to evergreening under Article 102 TFEU in combination with a notice on the definition on the relevant market in the pharmaceutical sector.


a 57% lower risk with ever use of MHTand a 22% lower risk per 5 years of MHTuse. Signi fi cant effect modi fi cation was also observed for rs910416 in ESR1, whereby the decreased CRC risk was attenuated in carriers of the minor C allele (p interaction ¼ 0.03 for ever use and 0.07 for duration of use). Conclusion Our results provide the fi rst evidence that polymorphisms in sex steroid-related genes may modify CRC risk associated with MHT. Our fi ndings warrant replication in independent study populations.


A recent ruling (No. 1397/2013) of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation on customs penalties has identified new aspects of the long running debate around the call for a harmonized EU customs penalties regime. This ruling supports the applicability of domestic customs penalties to cases that fall outside the scope of the applicable law. This article first offers an overall picture of customs penalties at EU level; next, after a brief introduction to the applicable law covered by the case, we will briefly comment on the controversial ruling. Lastly, we will offer some conclusions as to the consequences rising from an inconsistent interpretation of a domestic customs penalty regime in one EU Member State.


This study aims to develop a vision inspection system for screw threads. To inspect external defects in screw threads, the vision inspection system was developed using front light illumination from which bright images can be obtained. The front light system, however, requires multiple side images for inspection of the entire thread surface, which can be performed by omnidirectional optics. In this study, an omnidirectional optical system was designed to obtain annular images of screw threads using an image sensor and two reflection mirrors; one large concave mirror and one small convex mirror. Optical simulations using backward and forward ray tracing were performed to determine the dimensional parameters of the proposed optical system, so that an annular image of the screw threads could be obtained with high quality and resolution. Microscale surface defects on the screw threads could be successfully detected using the developed annular inspection system.


The Healthcheck is an evaluation of the 2003 years reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). When the Healthcheck of CAP is decided, most likely in the beginning of 2009, there will be a discussion about how CAP will appear in the next budget period 2013. One main question in the Healthcheck is how the farm support will be designed. A suggestion that has arised is if todays addition amount for dairy- and beef production should be transferred to the fundamental farm support. In this exam theses calculations has been done in created typical farms in every Swedish support region for cereals-, dairy- and beef production. Also calculations for horse farms that offers nature riding have been made. Personal deep interviews have been done with farmers in these different areas. This potential transfer to fundamental farm support does not benefit neither dairy- or beef production, whether the price level of 2007 or 2015 is used. If the expected price level of 2015 is used, dairy producers can get a reduced income between -15,4 to -39,2 %. Beef producers risk to get a reduced income between -30 to -38,9 %. One probable development if this transfer take place in year 2015 is that there could be fewer dairy- and beef producers in the southern part of Sweden. These farmers can instead change their production to cereal production. One development towards increase cereal production with larger farms would also result in more sparsely populated area between farms and therefore less population in the actual area. A development can take place that smaller farms are shut down and included into bigger unities. That does not benefit the desirable development for the countryside, which is the opposite . When it comes to cereals it should be mentioned that the prices were high in year 2007, and therefore there were higher incomes than usual for the cereal farmers. With consideration to the price level 2007 and what support region set in focus, the income for cereal farmers could vary between 1,9 – 12,7 %. Consider the hypothetical price level of 2015, TB 2 would decrease for all farmers except one. That is despite increased basic amount the fundamental farm support. Overall the cereal farmers would be the once that get more payments. Also horse farms benefits from a increase of the fundamental farm support. Although horse farms have lower land area, an increase in the fundamental farm support would be of big meaning for them according to the interviews in this study.

If there would be a raise in the fundamental farm support the value of the land would increase as well. This can affect the farmers who rent large areas for their production. If the farm support rises it actually means that the land owner who rents out can demand a higher price.

If the climate change question is taken into consideration, it is also conceivable that the conditions for cereal production in the long run would be improved northwards. In that case the development in Swedish agriculture structure becomes more like regardless localisation. If the farm conditions become better more northwards in Sweden, maybe it will be according to Krugmans economical geography. That is more people that move there due to increased concentration. That could be an improvement for the development of the rural areas.


ABSTRACT Resistance to yellow virus (YV) is an important breeding trait in melon. However information regarding genetic inheritance pattern of the character are limited. This study aimed to provide information on genetic control for resistance to YV in melon caused by Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV). Twenty genotypes from three major melon groups (dudaim, cantaloupe, and inodorous) were evaluated using controlled inoculation method. The results revealed that one line, MEV1 from the dudaim group, showed high resistance to YV; while other lines belong to cantaloupe and indororus indicated as highly susceptible lines. Screening of the F1 from crossing between resistant and susceptible parents resulted in resistant F1 after inoculation and planted in endemic location. Subsequently, evaluation on F2 population revealed a non-normal distribution for disease severity score, indicating that resistance to YV in melon was controlled by major genes. Chi-square (χ2) test resulted in 13:3 ratio and indicated that the resistance to YV was controlled by 2 genes pair with dominant and epistasis recessive actions. Keywords: dominant and epstasis recessive action, major gene, Bemicia tabaci, Begomovirus


Determining the toroidal rotation for future tokamaks like ITER is a challenging and important problem. By combining empirical scalings for the intrinsic rotation at the top of the pedestal with the expected neutral beam torque and modeling of momentum transport, the toroidal rotation profile for ITER is predicted with TGYRO using TGLF (SAT0 and SAT1). On axis rotation exceeds 20 krad s−1 and the shear is significant enough to reduce turbulent transport and significantly increase confinement and fusion power when comparing to cases that ignore the effect of rotation. The prediction of the rotation at the top of the pedestal is made with increased confidence due to experiments and modeling in DIII-D that have determined the importance of fast-ion and neutral particle transport effects on intrinsic rotation at this location. In particular, the effect of neutral particles on momentum transport in the pedestal region is found to be insignificant.


Abstract This article explores the interactions between populations and their diaspora, as sources and amplifiers of problems and conflicts. Whether in terms of their tangible or intangible properties, populations and their diaspora mutually constitute one another, with the diasporas often contributing more to the semantic load of heritage, and to easily demarcatable conflict lines, than the population from which they originally derived.


As extended reality (XR) systems become increasingly available, XR-based remote instruction is being adopted for diverse purposes in professional settings such as surgery and field servicing. Hobbyists have been well-studied in HCI and may similarly benefit from remote skill-sharing. However, little is known about how XR technologies might support expert-novice collaboration for skilled hobby activities. This paper examines the potential and limitations of XR to connect experts and novices for one such activity: gardening. Through two studies involving 27 expert and novice gardeners, we designed prototypes to understand 1) practitioner perceptions of XR and remote skill-sharing in the garden and 2) what kinds of interactions can be supported in XR for expert-novice groups. We discuss design opportunities and challenges for XR systems in supporting informal connecting interactions and meaningful sensory interactions with a remote environment during skill-sharing.


Spinal stimulation is a promising method to restore motor function after impairment of descending pathways. While paresis, a weakness of voluntary movements driven by surviving descending pathways, can benefit from spinal stimulation, the effects of descending commands on motor outputs produced by spinal stimulation are unclear. Here, we show that descending commands amplify stimulus-evoked joint torque and the function of intraspinal elements. During the wrist torque tracking task, optimized currents of spinal stimulation over the cervical enlargement facilitated and/or suppressed activities of forelimb muscles. Magnitudes of these effects were dependent on directions of voluntarily-produced torque and positively correlated with levels of voluntary muscle activity. Furthermore, the directions of evoked wrist torque corresponded to the directions of voluntarily-produced torque. These results suggest that spinal stimulation is beneficial in cases of partial lesion of descending pathways by compensating for reduced descending commands through activation of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic connections to motoneurons.


In article it is showed the definition technological parameters of one chamber two saw cylinder gin. For maintenance of efficiency of ginning and productivity increase it is necessary to choose correctly diameter of the working chamber, an arrangement corner saw cylinders under the relation of a horizontal axis. These factors are major factors influencing productivity and quality of a fiber at practical and theoretical researches of one chamber two saw cylinder gin.


More and more applications (apps) are entering vehicles. Customers would like to have in-car apps in their infotainment system, which they already use regularly on their smartphones. Other apps with new functionalities also inspire vehicle customers, but only as long as the customer can utilize them. To ensure customer satisfaction, it is important that these apps work and that failures are found and corrected as quickly as possible. Therefore, in-car apps also implicate requirements for future vehicle diagnostics. This is because current vehicle diagnostic methods are not designed for handling dynamic software failures of apps. Consequently, new diagnostic methods are needed to support the diagnosis of in-car apps. Log data are a central building block in software systems for system health management or troubleshooting. However, there are different types of log data and log environment setups depending on the underlying system or software platform. Depending on that, the creation of log data takes place with different logging approaches, leading to heterogeneous results that complicates the analysis of log data. In order to classify different types of log data, a taxonomy for log data is derived systematically in this paper. This taxonomy is deduced from identified challenges and heterogeneity regarding logging and log data. Furthermore, the taxonomy is applied to evaluate four logging frameworks for vehicle diagnostics based on three software platforms that are commonly used to operate in-car apps within vehicles: Android, AUTOSAR Adaptive, and Java Standard Edition (SE). As these platforms generate different types of log data, this leads to determining and compare the differences between these frameworks and their commonalities for deployment in vehicles. In addition, the evaluation offers potential starting points for future work regarding the utilization of log data for future vehicle diagnostics and related methods.


Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia, has a large scale garbage disposal site or landfill located in Njawar. It is commonly called Njawar Landfill. In this landfill area there are many communities of scavengers living in some villages not far from the landfill site. Although they live in various limitations, still they are able to show their high survival  rate due to their assets or potential. During the field identification towards the scavengers, some physical, financial, human resources, and social capital and waste assets have been found.  They are still considered in a low condition, except for the waste assets, so that they have less role in finding and developing some activities for the business empowerment of the scavenger community. This research was conducted by combining the quantitative and qualitative methods, and  data collection techniques were carried out through  questionnaires, observations, interviews and FGDs with the scavenger communities. A simple random technique using confidence intervals was applied for sampling in this study. There were several deep consideration due to the business empowerment for the scavengers of Njawar landfill, and they included the low technology, low income and the exploitation of the collectors on the scavengers. Three dimensions of opportunity, scavenger HR, and accessibility of business sources had been determined  for the proposed activities to build the business empowerment of the scavengers.  Keywords: business empowerment, scavengers.


Using antibodies specific for argininosuccinate lyase (EC 126.96.36.199), we isolated two cDNA clones by screening a human liver cDNA library constructed in the lambda gt11 expression vector. The identity of these isolates was confirmed by in vitro translation of plasmid-selected mRNA. One of these isolates was used to rescreen the cDNA library and a 1565-base-pair (bp) clone was identified. The entire nucleotide sequence of this clone was determined. An open reading frame was identified which encoded a protein of 463 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 51,663. The clone included 115 bp of 5' untranslated sequence and 46 bp of 3' untranslated sequence. A canonical poly(A) addition site was present in the 3' end, 16 bp from the beginning of the poly(A) tract. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of the human enzyme with that of the yeast enzyme revealed a 56% homology, when conservative amino acid changes were taken into consideration. The yeast protein is also 463 amino acids long, with a molecular weight of 51,944. By use of a genomic DNA panel from human-Chinese hamster somatic cell hybrids, the human gene was mapped to chromosome 7. Another hybridizing region, corresponding to a portion of the 5' end of the cDNA, was found on chromosome 22.


Abstract We explore the problem of finding the Hausdorff dimension of the set of points that recur to shrinking targets on a self-affine fractal. To be exact, we study the dimension of a certain related symbolic recurrence set. In many cases, this set is equivalent to the recurring set on the fractal.


Chronic heart failure (CHF) constitutes a significant clinical issue due to its increasing prevalence in general population and still fatal prognosis. During last twenty years the significance of beta-blockers in the treatment of CHF has changed. It resulted from the hypothesis from 1975 that in the course of CHF it comes to the activation of sympathetic system and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Authors presented the actual views on CHF pathogenesis, mechanisms of favourable action of beta-blockers in CHF and the data from clinical trials on effectiveness of beta-blockers in different stages of CHF (among the others in elderly patients and in comparison with other treatment). Nevertheless, there are still several questions related to beta-blockers treatment in patients with CHF waiting to be resolved. Although the number of patients with CHF treated with beta-blockers is still increasing, the usefulness of conclusions resulting from clinical trials--as it has been shown in IMPROVEMENT-HF--is still insufficient. In contrast, following the recommendations of ESC, AHA and the Section of Heart Failure of Polish Cardiology Association both beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors constitute two main groups of medications that should be undoubtedly used in patients with CHF.


Objective: In a retrospective review to assess neuroanatomical targets of radiation-induced cognitive decline, dose volume histogram (DVH) analyses of specific brain regions of interest (ROI) are correlated to neurocognitive performance in 57 primary brain tumor survivors. Methods: Neurocognitive assessment at baseline included Trail Making Tests A/B, a modified Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure, California or Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Digit Span, and Controlled Oral Word Association. DVH analysis was performed for multiple neuroanatomical targets considered to be involved in cognition. The %v10 (percent of ROI receiving 10 Gy), %v40, and %v60 were calculated for each ROI. Factor analysis was used to estimate global cognition based on a summary of performance on individual cognitive tests. Stepwise regression was used to determine which dose volume predicted performance on global factors and individual neurocognitive tests for each ROI. Results: Regions that predicted global cognitive outcomes at doses <60 Gy included the corpus callosum, left frontal white matter, right temporal lobe, bilateral hippocampi, subventricular zone, and cerebellum. Regions of adult neurogenesis primarily predicted cognition at %v40 except for the right hippocampus which predicted at %v10. Regions that did not predict global cognitive outcomes at any dose include total brain volume, frontal pole, anterior cingulate, right frontal white matter, and the right precentral gyrus. Conclusions: Modeling of radiation-induced cognitive decline using neuroanatomical target theory appears to be feasible. A prospective trial is necessary to validate these data.


The project is basically about simulation study to identify the effect of injection rate on the foam stability based on a foam model. Gas has properties of higher mobility ratio and very low density. Due to this properties, the gas tends moves upwards and override the oil zones causing less oil production. Foam flooding was introduced to avoid this gas overriding problem.
The foam model was built based on reservoir rock properties and foam half-life parameter. The analysis were done focusing on injection rate, bottom-hole pressure and decaying rate of the foam over injection time. The model was run for 19 years with injector and producer well


Large overwinter leaching and denitrification losses of fall-applied N are common in many Corn Belt soils cropped to wheat (Triticum aeslivum L.). These losses decrease the utilization efficiency of N fertilizers, lower crop yields and quality, necessitate multiple fertilizer applications, and predispose wheat to several soil-borne diseases. This study was conducted to determine if inhibiting nitrification of fall-applied ammoniacal fertilizers would reduce N losses and be a practical alternative to multiple fertilizer applications in maintaining crop yield, quality, and tolerance to disease. We tested the effectiveness of a specific nitrification inhibitor, Z-chloro-6(trichloromethyl)-pyridine (nitrapyrin), in reducing losses of fall-applied NH₄⁺ sources of N in four Indiana soils of varying texture. The field experiment was conducted over a 5-year period by comparing the growth, disease incidence, grain protein, and yield of wheat in field plots receiving anhydrous ammonia, urea, or ammonium sulfate plus nitrapyrin with wheat production in plots treated with these N sources without the inhibitor. Calcium nitrate was used in some studies to provide a source of N exhibiting high potential for loss. Inorganic N analyses of soil showed that severe loss of N frequently occurring as a result of fall application of N may be markedly reduced by using a nitrification inhibitor. Wheat yields were increased as much as 40% (average increase was 14.7%) as a result of applying 0.55 kg of nitrapyrin/ha with fall-applied NH₄⁺ fertilizers. Yields obtained with fall-applied N plus nitrapyrin were similar to those observed with a split-application (25% fall—75% spring) of N without the inhibitor. Fall application at 44 kg N/ha plus nitrapyrin resulted in yield similar to those with 88 kg N/ha without the inhibitor. Inhibition of nitrification of fall-applied NH₄⁺ also increased protein content, minimized N loss from the up per soil profile, and reduced the severity of fungal root and crown rots. Nitrification inhibitors added to fallapplied NH₄⁺ should provide a practical alternative to multiple fertilizer applications for maintaining the yield, quality, and disease tolerance of wheat grown in the Corn Belt.


Current methods of nuclear waste disposal are not suitable for the immobilisation of
novel defence-based waste due to the high halogen content resulting from pyrochemical
reprocessing. The objective of this thesis was to investigate β-tricalcium phosphate (β-
TCP, Ca3(PO4)2) encapsulated in a sodium aluminoborophosphate glass (NABP) matrix
as a potential host for this waste using a variety of structural probes. Samples were
prepared to determine the structural changes in β-TCP as components of the simulated
waste streams were substituted into the material. Zn, Mg, Al, and Ga incorporation was
investigated.
A combination of X-ray and neutron diffraction was used to determine the changes
in long-range order as a function of Zn and Mg substitution up to 13% and 25% cation
substitution respectively. Both Zn and Mg substitution caused a contraction of the unit
cell up to complete substitution of the Ca(5) site, at which point the contraction ceased.
Under further substitution on the Ca(4) site, the a lattice parameter continued to decrease,
while the c lattice parameter increased, resulting in an unchanged unit cell
volume. Evidence of tricalcium trimagnesium phosphate second phase was observed
for the Mg-based compositions above Ca2:8Mg0:2(PO4)2, as has been previously documented,
however single phase samples were observed for all Zn-based compositions, in
contrast to previous studies. 31P NMR was used to confirm this Ca(5)-Ca(4) substitution
model for the Zn-based β-TCP compositions by tightly constrained simulations as
a function of composition.
A combination of solid-state NMR techniques were used to identify the substitution
mechanism of Al and Ga in β-TCP up to the composition Ca9M(PO4)7, where M
is Al or Ga respectively. The 31P and 43Ca NMR spectra were simulated as with the
divalent cations mentioned above to determine the origin of each resonance in the spectra.
Subsequently, 27Al-f31Pg and 71Ga-f31Pg R3-HMQC experiments were performed to
explicitly identify substitution on the Ca(5) site only.
Studies were also performed to model the NABP:β-TCP interface formed as a result
of the encapsulation process, for both pure β-TCP and Ga-substituted β-TCP. To simulate
the range of compositions expected at this interface, calcium phosphate and NABP
preparations were mixed in proportions from 10 wt:% to 80 wt:% (Ga-substituted) β-
TCP. 31P NMR and Raman spectroscopy showed a progressive depolymerisation of the
phosphorus network, consistent with the replacement of Al3+ and Na+ with Ca2+. The
Al3+ was shown to exist primarily in a 4 coordinated state, showing a tendency to exist
within the phosphorus network, whereas 11B NMR showed the B to move from a 4
coordinated site in NABP to a B-rich 3 coordinated environment.
Differential thermal analysis showed an increase in the temperature of the two recrystallisation
events as a function of both β-TCP and Ga-substituted β-TCP. Studies
of the phases present after recrystallisation of the pure β-TCP-based samples showed
calcium sodium phosphate and Na Al co-substituted β-TCP for the lower and higher
crystallisation temperatures with β-TCP incorporation. For the Ga-containing samples,
Na Al Ga co-substituted β-TCP was observed for both crystallisation temperatures.
Critically, Ga was shown to displace Al in the β-TCP phase.


We previously isolated a family of bone-resorbing proteins from human cancer ascites fluid and established that the three purified bone-resorbing proteins were chemically and immunochemically related to each other and to alpha-2HS glycoprotein (alpha 2HS). After this finding we purified the normal human serum counterpart of these ascites proteins and studied its effects on bone resorption. The bone-resorbing properties of normal human serum alpha 2HS were examined in vitro over a wide dose range. This normal human serum glycoprotein had a biphasic effect on 45Ca2+ release from bone. More specifically, this protein stimulated bone resorption at the lower concentrations tested, with a maximum effect [treated over control ratio of 2.5 +/- 0.30 (+/- SE); P less than 0.01] at 40 micrograms/mL. In contrast, at doses above 40 micrograms/mL, a sharp decline in calcium mobilization occurred, with a return to baseline occurring above 80 micrograms/mL. These results suggest that serum alpha 2HS may participate in the regulation of bone metabolism in vivo.


This paper presents a multi-story power delivery scheme which shows significant reduction of supply noise and power consumption compared to conventional power delivery scheme. To maximize the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, a digital voltage regulator is designed to balance the current dissipation of circuits in different voltage domains. Data transfer circuits based on capacitive coupling are developed for efficient inter-story data communication. Simulation results show 66% and 67% reduction of IR noise and Ldi/dt noise, respectively, while the total power consumption was reduced by 5% compared to a conventional power delivery scheme.


Antibodies for therapy and diagnostics form one of the fastest growing segments of the pharmaceutical market. The combination of hybridoma and recombinant DNA technologies have led to an increased production of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), including fully human MAbs, that can be tailored for specific applications. With advances in imaging methods, MAbs are increasingly used as in vivo diagnostic tools. Therapeutic MAbs, used to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, have proven beneficial in the clinic. An overview is presented of the history, current state and future perspectives of this emergent field.


The co-operation between the Dutch fisheries research institute RIVO and the Mauritanian fisheries research institute IMROP (Institut Mauritanien des Recherches Oceanographiques et de Peche) in the field of pelagic stock assessment was continued in 2002. In January, a new contract was signed between RIVO and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries (LNV) that allowed the existing co-operation to be continued and expanded for the next three years. As a consequence, RIVO project staff was increased to three scientists who worked full-time on the project. The project contributed to two major working group meetings: the FAO working group on small pelagics in West Africa (Banjul, March 2002) and the IMROP Groupe de Travail (Nouadhibou, December 2002). Both meetings concluded that there was no evidence yet for over-exploitation of small pelagics at a regional level, but that as a precautionary measure catch levels should not be further increased. The IMROP Groupe de Travail went even further and recommended a freeze on pelagic fishing effort in the Mauritanian zone. During a survey with the Mauritanian research vessel "Al Awam" in November, large concentrations of pelagic fish were observed in the coastal waters off Nouadhibou and Cap Blanc. Especially the presence of large quantities of sardines indicated the recruitment of a strong year-class and good prospects for the sardine fishing for several years to come.


To determine the role of rATG to modify the development of acute GvHD we conducted a randomized, prospective, open-label, multi-center pilot study in patients with ALL or AML in first or second remission. CsA was the only agent used for GvHD prophylaxis. Patients (N=22) were randomized (1:1) to receive either 4.5 mg/kg or 8.5 mg/kg of ATG during the preparative regimen. The rATG infusions were completed on Day -1, within 18 hours prior to SCT on Day 0. The low (N=11) and high dose groups (N=11) were comparable for age, diagnosis and remission status. The mean age was 41.4 and 39.6 years in the low and high dose groups respectively. In both groups 6/11 patients had AML and 5/11 had ALL. All patients received a fully ablative preparative regimen from a HLA matched related donor. Results: Mean time to neutrophil engraftment was 6.5 and 7.3 days for the low and high dose arms, respectively. The incidence of Grade > II acute GvHD was 0/11 for the low dose arm and 3/11 for the high dose arm. Infections were seen in 9/11 patients in both groups. The cumulative number of hospitalization days was 30.4 and 47.6 days (p=n.s.) in the low and high dose groups respectively. The overall survival at 180 days was 63.6 % in the low dose group and 54.5 % in the high dose group (p=n.s.). The disease free survival (DFS) at day 180 was 54.5% in both groups. The treatment related mortality (TRM) was 18.2 % in the low dose and 45.5 % in the high dose (p=n.s.) The relapse rate was 18.2 % in the low dose group and 0% in the high dose group (p=n.s). Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that rATG may modify the development of serious acute GvHD in patients who received a fully ablative SCT. The low, combined, 3/22, incidence of acute GvHD (13.6%) in patients who received rATG(Thymoglobulin) and post transplant CsA suggests that this combination is an acceptable regiment for GvHD prophylaxis. The lower dose of rATG, 4.5 mg/kg, was as effective and was associated with a lower TRM as compared to the higher, 8.5mg/kg dose. The use of rATG administered during the preparative regimen was well tolerated and may provide an effective alternative to methotrexate when used as part of an ablative conditioning regimen in HLA identical related donor SCT.


Conjugation of Paramecium caudatum among cells of a single mating type can be induced parthenogenetically by exposing them to certain chemical solutions, a process called chemical induction of conjugation. The ionic conditions for chemical induction of conjugation are also the conditions that are required for the induction of the activation of voltage dependent Ca2+ channels in Paramecium. Four mutants controlled by independent gene loci with defects in Ca2+ channels, were subjected to an induction solution containing various concentrations of KCl and 0.01, 0.06 and 0.6 mmol/L CaCl2. Conjugation was able to be induced chemically in all four mutants. However, some locus‐dependent differences were observed in the profiles of induction. Mutants controlled by different alleles but with the same locus were similar in their profile of induction, even when they exhibited opposite phenotypes on the activation of Ca2+ channels. These results suggest that the function of Ca2+ channels is not directly involved in the mechanism of chemical induction of conjugation. The locus dependency observed reflects the different role of each gene controlling Ca2+ channel functions.


The comparative activities of sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, and sulfadiazine against experimental infections with pneumococci, β hemolytic streptococci, Friedlander's bacilli, staphylococci and dysentery bacilli have been determined. The results have shown that sulfamerazine and sulfamethazine are slightly superior to sulfadiazine in the treatment of pneumococcal septicemia in mice and meningitis in rats. Sulfadiazine was as effective as or slightly more effective than the other drugs against infections with β hemolytic streptococci and Friedlander's bacilli and was distinctly superior against infections with staphylococci and dysentery bacilli. The bearing of these observations on the clinical use of the 3 drugs has been discussed.

In vitro experiments have also been carried out to determine the capacities of sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine and sulfadiazine to inhibit the growth of pneumococci, Friedlander's bacilli, staphylococci, dysentery bacilli and E. coli. As was noted previously, the relative activities of the drugs depended upon the test medium. In the complex medium, sulfamerazine and sulfamethazine were somewhat more active than sulfadiazine against pneumococci, whereas sulfamethazine was the most active drug against staphylococci; the 3 drugs had essentially the same activity against the other organisms. In the synthetic medium, sulfamerazine and sulfadiazine were equally active against Friedlander's bacilli, E. coli and dysentery bacilli and were considerably more active than sulfamethazine. These results did not agree with the in vivo findings. An explanation for the discrepancy has been attempted.


In this paper we shall prove a theorem of existence and uniqueness of the solution for the equilibrium equations of a non linear elastic dielectric, provided that for the connected linear problem an existence and uniqueness theorem is valid. To this purpose we shall apply a functional analysis method which has been previously used by Van Buren [1] and Stoppelli [2] for a non linear elastic system.The underneath scheme will be the continuum-elastic one.


Objectives Poor control of asthma in the majority of patients could be partly due to their lack of knowledge concerning disease management, its triggering agents and when to seek advice from the healthcare provider. This study aims to assess the impact of pharmacist-led educational intervention on knowledge of self-management among asthmatic patients. Design A pre–post cohort study. Setting Outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital affiliated with Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan. Participants Approximately 265 adult asthmatic patients selected through a spirometry process, aged ≥18 years, were approached. 240 patients gave consent to participate in the study and were divided into control and treatment groups. Interventions The educational intervention consisted of individual patient counselling using educational material with time varied according to each patient's comprehension and previous knowledge. Primary and secondary outcome measures Assessment consisted of a 14-item Asthma Self-Management Knowledge Questionnaire (ASMQ) quantifying a patient's self-management knowledge through an ASMQ score and its change following an educational intervention. Results Disease self-management knowledge was low with an average raw ASMQ score of 4.1 (max 14); which equates to a transformed score of 29.34 (max 100) and the proportion of patients who correctly answered more than 50% of questions were 16.7% preintervention. More than half of the participants (55%) did not know that asthma cannot be cured. The administration of educational intervention protocols resulted in significantly improved level of knowledge of asthma self-management (<0.001) in the treatment group (mean ASMQ score improved from 4.20 to 9.77). Conclusion On baseline visit, patients possessed a poor knowledge about asthma self-management. Educational intervention protocols had a positive impact on improving patients' knowledge about disease self-management. This would suggest that education and self-management skills should be seen as an integral component of asthma management and should be incorporated in structured patient care to achieve optimal asthma control.


C. forskohlii (willd.) Briq. is an industrially viable medicinal crop and is widely exploited for the therapeutic potential of its bioactive metabolite, forskolin. The present investigation aimed to explore the chemotypic variability of forskolin content and existing molecular diversity in the wild population of C. forskohlii from the Western Himalayan region of India. Twelve germplasm(s) from different populations were assessed for molecular fingerprinting (ISSR marker) and densitometeric quantification of forskolin. Two elite germplasms viz. NBC-24 (0.728%) and NBC-16 (0.641%) were obtained as the highest accumulator of forskolin with high genetic variability (92%). The UPGMA hierarchical clustering patterns revealed strong genetic grouping between the individuals corresponding to their geographical ranges. Mantel tests showed positive correlation (r = 0.354, p = 0.003) between molecular and chemical fingerprints that reflects the feasibility of the ISSR markers in analyzing genome information related to forskolin biosynthesis from varied phytogeography. Pearson correlation coefficient (0.102) between forskolin content with altitude gradient also denoted a positive correlation. However, the association of both genetic and chemical fingerprinting data with the geographic distance matrix was apparently negative (r = −0.234, p = 0.054; r = −0.067, p = 0.584) which meant that distance might be a predictor of population differentiation. Our study signifies the utility of metabolic and molecular fingerprints for identification of elite accessions and provides a lead to industry for commercial exploitability of Coleus species including its location specific commercial cultivation.


At present the basic intellectual aim of academic inquiry is to improve knowledge. Much of the structure, the whole character, of academic inquiry, in universities all over the world, is shaped by the adoption of this as the basic intellectual aim. But, judged from the standpoint of making a contribution to human welfare, to the quality of human life, academic inquiry of this type, devoted, in the first instance, to the pursuit of knowledge, is grossly and damagingly irrational. Three of four of the most elementary and uncontroversial rules of rational problem solving conceivable are violated. This rarely noticed, damaging, structural irrationality in current academic inquiry stems from the 18th century Enlightenment. In seeking to learn from scientific progress how humanity might make social progress towards a wiser, more enlightened world, Voltaire, Diderot, Condorcet et al. blundered; these blunders were developed throughout the 19th century, and built into the institutional structure of academic inquiry in the 20th century with the creation of diverse branches of social science. In order to create a kind of academic inquiry free of these blunders, devoted in a genuinely rational way to helping promote human welfare by intellectual and educational means, we need to bring about a major revolution in the overall aims and methods of inquiry, in its whole institutional and intellectual structure and character. The basic intellectual aim needs to become to promote wisdom - wisdom being understood to be the capacity to realize what is of value in life for oneself and others (and thus including knowledge, know-how and understanding). The social sciences need to become social philosophy, or social methodology, devoted to promoting more cooperatively rational solving of conflicts and problems of living in the world. Social inquiry, so pursued, would be intellectually more fundamental than natural science. The natural sciences need to recognize three domains of discussion: evidence, theories, and aims. Problems concerning research aims need to be discussed by both scientists and non-scientists alike, involving as they do questions concerning social priorities and values. Philosophy needs to become the sustained rational exploration of our most fundamental problems of understanding; it also needs to take up the task of discovering how we may improve our personal, institutional and global aims and methods in life, so that what is of value in life may be realized more successfully. Education needs to change so that problems of living become more fundamental than problems of knowledge, the basic aim of education being to learn how to acquire wisdom in life. Academic inquiry as a whole needs to become somewhat like a people's civil service, having just sufficient power to retain its independence and integrity, doing for people, openly, what civil services are supposed to do, in secret, for governments. These and many other changes, affecting every branch and aspect of academic inquiry, all result from replacing the aim to acquire knowledge by the aim to promote wisdom by cooperatively rational means.


Rheology and rheo-(2)H NMR measurements are presented for 30 wt % ammonium perfluorononanoate (APFN)/(2)H(2)O mixture in the temperature range 20-70 °C. A first-order lamellar-to-nematic transition occurs at 42 °C, and a first-order nematic-to-isotropic transition occurs at 49 °C. Different rheological behaviors of the lamellar phase were observed with increasing the temperature. The lamellar structure at low temperature (Lα(-)) has a clear gel-like viscoelasticity, while at high temperature the lamellar structure (Lα(+)) has a liquid-like response. In this study we have observed for the first time, along with the lamellar phase of a surfactant containing fluorinated fatty acid, the formation of multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) ("onions") induced by shear. With the aid of nonlinear rheology and rheo-NMR techniques, onion formation was found to occur in both temperature regimes of the lamellar phase, but at different strain units. It is suggested that the lamellar phase consists of smectic structures in both Lα(-) and Lα(+), but with different percentages of defect density.


SUMMARY Influenza A virus was discovered in 1933, and since then four major variants have caused all the epidemies of human influenza A. Each had an era of solo world prevalence until 1977 as follows: H0N1 (old style) strains until 1946. H1N1 (old style) strains until 1957, H2N2 strains until 1968. then H3N2 strains, which were joined in 1977 by a renewed prevalence of H1N1 (old style) strains. Serological studies show that H2N2 strains probably had had a previous era of world prevalence during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and had then been replaced by H3N2 strains from about 1900 to 1918. From about 1907 the H3N2 strains had been joined, as now. by H1N1 (old style) strains until both had been replaced in 1918 by a fifth major variant closely related to swine influenza virus A/Hswine1N1 (old style), which had then had an era of solo world prevalence in mankind until about 1929. when it had been replaced by the H0N1 strains that were first isolated in 1933. Eras of prevalence of a major variant have usually been initiated by a severe pandemic followed at intervals of a year or two by successive epidemics in each of which the nature of the virus is usually a little changed (antigenic drift), but not enough to permit frequent recurrent infections during the same era. Changes of major variant (antigenic shift) are large enough to permit reinfection. At both major and minor changes the strains of the previous variant tend to disappear and to be replaced within a single season, worldwide in the case of a major variant, or in the area of prevalence of a previous minor variant. Pandemics, epidemics and antigenic variations all occur seasonally, and influenza and its viruses virtually disappear from the population of any locality between epidemics, an interval of many consecutive months. A global view, however, shows influenza continually present in the world population, progressing each year south and then north, thus crossing the equator twice yearly around the equinoxes, the tropical monsoon periods. Influenza arrives in the temperate latitudes in the colder months, about 6 months separating its arrival in the two hemispheres. None of this behaviour is explained by the current concept that the virus is surviving like measles virus by direct spread from the sick providing endless chains of human influenza A. A number of other aspects of the human host influenza A virus relationship encountered in household outbreaks are among the list of 20 difficulties that are inexplicable by the current concept of direct spread. Alternative concepts have usually been designed to counter particular difficulties and are incompatible with other features of influenzal behaviour in mankind. The new concept detailed in the appendix provides simple explanations for most if not all of the difficulties. It proposes that influenza A virus cannot normally be transmitted during the illness because it too rapidly becomes non-infectious in a mode of persistence or latency in the human host. Many months or a year or two later it is reactivated by a seasonally mediated stimulus which, like all seasonal phenomena, is ultimately dependent on variations in solar radiation caused by the tilt of the plane of earth's rotation in relation to that of its circumsolar orbit. The carriers, who are always widely seeded throughout the world population, become briefly infectious and their non-immune companions, if infected, comprise the whole of the next epidemic. The reactivated virus particles must encounter the immunity they have engendered in the carrier, thus allowing minor mutants an advantage over virions identical with the parent virus, and so favouring antigenic drift and automatic disappearance of predecessor and prompt seasonal replacement. Antigenic shift and recycling of major variants may also be explained by virus latency in the human host.


Summary A review of all known schizophrenics from a discrete geographical area, Nithsdale in Dumfries and Galloway Region, found a point prevalence of 2.38 per 1000 of the total population; this figure fell to 1.73 when only Feighner positive schizophrenics were considered. Only 3 per cent of the population interviewed had no abnormality in mental state or behaviour; negative schizophrenic symptoms were prominent positive symptoms uncommon. Approximately one quarter were in-patients, who were an atypical group, showing much more obvious social and psychiatric disability. In- and day patient care and state benefits for schizophrenics cost each member of the Nithsdale community approximately £12 a year.


This article examines how monetary policy responses to economic shocks and monetary policy effectiveness have changed in the Philippines since inflation targeting was implemented in 2002. The study makes use of a structural vector autoregression to estimate financial and monetary policy shocks, among other shocks, based on an identification strategy similar to Gilchrist and Zakrajsek [2012] and Bassetto et al. [2016]. A Philippine financial conditions index (FCI) purged of monetary influences then decomposed according to instrument or market is used to aid estimation and analysis. Results of the recursive vector autoregressions (VAR) comparing pre-inflation-targeting and inflation-targeting periods reveal stronger and more systematic policy responses to non-financial demand shocks, partial and transitory accommodation of supply shocks, and greater exchange rate flexibility initially under the new monetary policy regime. There is, however, an observed weakening of monetary policy responses to financial disturbances and monetary policy transmission to growth likely related to episodes of strong capital inflows.


Materials and methods: Prospective study of reproductive age group of female patients in the range of 30-39 years were included in the study who had conceived for the first time -elderly primigravida were obtained from Navodaya hospitals during the period of 2017 to 2019 in Karnataka who had bad obstetric history with high risk of complications of hypertension, fibroids, malpresentation, malposition, prolonged labour, premature labour and perinatal mortality. Few of the elderly primigravida had past history of anaemia, diabetes and heart diseases. Children born to them who were suspected to be suffering from Down syndrome were evaluated genetically. Children suffering from Down syndrome who had bad oral hygiene comprising periodontal disease, dental caries, facial and dental anomalies and other clinical presentations like compromised immune system, hypotonia, seizures were included in the study of age ranging from 01-10 years. Total data obtained for a period of 3years were 108 children of which 62 were boys and remaining girls 46. Periodontal disease was the most common oral health problem in children with Down syndrome born to elderly primigravida with bad obstetric history followed by dental caries.
Results: In the genetic evaluation the children who were suffering from Down syndrome found out to be was standard trisomy (83.6%), comparing to translocation1 and mosaicism. Majority of the children presented with periodontal disease were 33 (30.6%), of which 23 boys and remaining girls. Dental caries17 (15.7%), boys presented were 10 and the remaining cases were girls (07).
Conclusion: Majority of the Down syndrome children presented with periodontal disease and caries teeth apart from other clinical presentations.
Keywords: Elderly primigravida, Down syndrome, bad oral hygiene.


(1) Background: Like many other countries, Poland is obliged to report forest area to the Climate Convention (UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO/UN). Differences between national and international forest definitions lead to differences between actual and reported forest area. Remote sensing is a useful tool for estimating forest area for reporting purposes. One of the most important parts of the estimation is the choice of a basal area to calculate the percentage of vegetation cover. (2) Methods: Height, crown projection area, and minimum complex area were used to classify the area with forest vegetation. Percentage canopy cover was determined using three different methods based on segmentation polygons, triangular grid and canopy height model pixels. The accuracy of the above methods was verified by manual vectorization performed on a selected set of test plots in the Milicz study area according to the international definitions. The differences were examined using three statistical metrics. (3) Conclusions: This paper compares for the first time methods for determining the area for which canopy cover is calculated (using data from (ALS) and discusses the differences between them in the context of accuracy (the correspondence between the results and the reference data) and the complexity of the process (time and effort required to perform the analysis). This is important in the context of reporting, estimating carbon stocks and biodiversity to mitigate the effects of climate change. Method 2 proved to be the most accurate method, Method 1 was found to be the worst option. Accuracy was better in the case of the Kyoto Protocol definition.


In this paper, we present the design of a metamorphic engine representing a type of hurdle that antivirus systems need to get over in their ght against malware. First we describe the two steps of the en- gine replication process : obfuscation and modeling. Then, we apply this engine to a real worm to evaluate current antivirus products detection ca- pacities. This assessment leads to a classication of detection tools, based on their observable behavior, in two main categories: the rst one, rely- ing on static detection techniques, presents low detection rates obtained by heuristic analysis. The second one, composed of dynamic detection programs, focuses only on elementary suspicious actions. Consequently, no products appear to reliably detect the candidate malware after appli- cation of the metamorphic engine. Through this evaluation of antivirus products, we hope to help defenders understand and defend against the threat represented by this class of malware.


Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common human enzymopathy. G6PD Mediterranean is caused by a C-->T transition at nucleotide 563, is characterized with less than 10% of normal enzyme activity and is classified as severe G6PD deficiency. Nineteen unrelated males from Southern Croatia with severe G6PD deficiency were tested, by enzyme digestion, for the presence of the Mediterranean mutation. Individuals with G6PD Mediterranean were further screened for the silent C-->T transition at nucleotide 1311. Four of the nineteen individuals were positive for the Mediterranean mutation (21%) and all four had the silent mutation.


This paper addresses a novel idea of real-time traffic safety improvement on freeways. First by predicting traffic crashes on the freeway mainline using on-line loop detector data, then by proposing ITS remediation strategies to reduce the crash risk in real-time. The results of the predictive models were found to be consistent with the probable mechanisms of crashes under different flow regimes. Using micro-simulation software and the crash potential determined through the models developed in this research to associate traffic characteristics with the risk of a crash occurring, several mitigation strategies were attempted to improve safety in real-time. The before (pre-ITS) and after case were then compared to examine the effects of the crash mitigation methods. The results show that Variable Speed Limits and Ramp metering have positive effects on lowering the crash potential.


The study examined the conduct, structure and performance of plantain marketing in Edo State. The objectives of the study were to examine the structure and conduct of plantain marketing system, assess its performance and estimate the cost and returns in plantain marketing. Data for the study were collected using a well-structured questionnaire administered to 240 marketers of plantain selected using a two–stage sampling process involving random and purposive sampling techniques. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, marketing margins, marketing efficiency and the Gini-coefficient. The results indicate that the market was characterized with many buyers and sellers reflecting a pure competitive structure, prices were determined mainly by factors such as purchase price, ability of the buyers to haggle, supply and demand forces and cost of transportation. Market associations existed among the marketers but only 32.42% belonged to such associations. Most of the respondents agreed that they used both open display and persuasive efforts to attract customers. The value of the Gini coefficient (0.677) indicates some level of inequality suggesting the presence of market concentration among the respondents. The results indicated a net profit of N15.70 per kg of raw plantain. The marketing margin of #32.1 and efficiency of 95.79% indicate reasonably good performance. © JASEM


Kounis syndrome is defined by the occurrence of an acute coronary syndrome with conditions associated with mast cell activation, involving interrelated and interacting inflammatory cells, and including allergic or hypersensitivity and anaphylactic or anaphylactoid attacks. 34 years old gentleman with a history of young hypertension came with a complaint of wasp sting over his left eyelid. Post sting, he developed shortness of breath associated with sweating, palpitation however no shortness of breath. He was unconscious shortly after that. During the casualty review, the patient has cold and clammy peripheries with the swollen left eyelid. He is hypotensive and tachycardic. Respiratory and cardiovascular examination was unremarkable. Electrocardiography (ECG) showed ST depression over lead 1 and aVL with ST-elevation at lead V1-V3 and T inversion lead 1, aVL, V4 – V6. Repeated ECG showed evolving changes of ST-elevation over lead V1-V3. Troponin I, 3 hours post wasp sting was not elevated. The patient was given intravenous hydrocortisone, intramuscular adrenaline, antihistamine, and intravenous fluids challenge. Blood pressure normalized and repeated ECG showed resolved ST elevation changes. This patient fits the criteria for Kounis syndrome type 1 secondary to an anaphylactic reaction towards wasp sting. The ECG changes were attributed to the coronary artery vasospasm secondary to an anaphylactic reaction. Type 1 Kounis syndrome can happen with or without raised cardiac enzyme or troponin. It resolved by itself when proper medications were given to reverse the anaphylactic reaction. Early recognition of Kounis syndrome leads to correct treatment approach.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Supplementary Issue-2: 2021 Page: S13


A system and method for identifying and establishing preferred modalities or channels for communications based on participants' preferences and capabilities is provided. In one approach, the system attempts to optimize the inferred or directly accessed preferences of a contactee given the accessed or inferred preferences, capabilities and goals of the contactor while keeping the rationale and context of the contactee private. Such optimization can be achieved using preferences and policies concerning handling the attempted contact based on a deterministic specification or through inferring context, content and task under uncertainty by employing decision-theoretic inferences to attempt to maximize the expected utility of the communication to the contactee. The methods may include a consideration of metadata within a standard schema that is transmitted along with a communication attempt, representing information about such attributes as the identity of the contactor, the task at hand, the overall context of the contactor, and the communication capabilities available to the contactor. The invocation of the communication service may be performed in a variety of ways, including single button invocations, and via a communication service that is more deeply integrated with other applications and functionalities. The service can also include automated rescheduling of communications based on a consideration of forecasts of availability of both the contactor and contactee.


this paper, an aperture distribution for the synthesis of a specified radiation pattern is designed and it is applied to a linear array of discrete sources. The cosecant pattern is achieved by an optical antenna system with Luneburg lens.These patterns are produced using Fourier transform method. Computed cosecant patterns for different beamwidths are presented. These patterns are used in ground-mapping airborne radars and ground-based search radars applications.


Beginning in the 1930s, eelgrass meadows declined throughout the Wadden Sea, leav- ing populations susceptible to extinction through patchiness, low density and isolation. Additional anthropogenic impacts have altered current regimes, nutrients and turbidity — al l of which affect eelgrass. Recent abiotic modeling studies suggest that poor recovery is the result of a regime shift caused by the loss of positive feedbacks between seagrass meadows and their capacity to mediate turbidity. Additionally, it is hypothesized that genetic and demographic factors — in particular, the loss of genetic diversity and patch connectivity — have contributed to lower fitness of eelgrass, thereby further diminishing recovery potential. We assessed genetic diversity and connectivity of Zostera marina among 19 locations, covering some 950 km of coastline between Zeeland, Nether- lands and Langholmen, Sweden. Both allelic and genotypic diversity were high. A Bayesian analysis of population structure revealed 6 significant clusters of subpopulations that are connected by vary- ing degrees of dispersal. Although population divergence was significant at as little as 5 km, isolation by distance was very weak, indicating high connectivity at scales of 150 km. A demographic interpre- tation of these data suggests that realized gene flow is strong and predominantly northward, leaving the western Wadden Sea relatively isolated. The failure of eelgrass to recover in the western Wadden Sea is, therefore, due to both unsuitable physical conditions and low incoming gene flow. Nonethe- less, the greater Wadden Sea can be considered a seed transfer zone providing source material for restoration efforts in any areas where abiotic conditions are more favorable.


We report the implementation of the central building block of the Schulman-Vazirani procedure for fully polarizing a subset of two-level quantum systems which are initially only partially polarized. This procedure consists of a sequence of unitary operations and incurs only a quasi-linear overhead in the number of quantum systems and operations required. The key building block involves three quantum systems and was implemented on a homonuclear three-spin system using room temperature liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. This work was inspired by the state initialization challenges in current NMR quantum computers but also shines new light on polarization transfer in NMR.


The wettability of molten glass powder plays an essential role in the encapsulation of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices with glass paste as an intermediate layer. In this study, we first investigated the flow process of nano glass powder melted at a high temperature by simulation in COMSOL. Both the influence of the different viscosity of hot-melt glass on its wettability on SiO2 and the comparison of the wettability of hot-melt glass on Au metal lead and SiO2 were investigated by simulation. Then, in the experiment, the hot-melt glass flew and spread along the length of the Au electrode because of a good wettability, resulting in little coverage of the hot-melt glass on the Au electrode, with a height of only 500 nm. In order to reduce the wettability of the glass paste on the Au electrode, a SiO2 isolation layer was grown on the surface of golden lead by chemical vapor deposition. It successfully reduced the wettability, so the thickness of the hot-melt glass was increased to 1.95 μm. This proved once again that the wettability of hot-melt glass on Au was better.


1-Benzyl-2-(methylthio)-imidazole-5-ketone is obtained in a few simple steps starting from thiocyanate and glycine amide (glycin). Subsequent treatment with diethyl phosphorocyanidate and functional group manipulations gives 1-benzyl-5-chloromethyl-imidazolium chloride. This compound is converted under mild O'Donnell conditions into the corresponding L-histidine derivative. After deprotection L-histidine is obtained in good yield and 99% enantiomeric excess. 2'-13C-L-Histidine has been obtained via this new scheme with high (99%) 13C incorporation starting with commercially available 13C- thiocyanate. This synthetic scheme allows access to any isotopomer of L-histidine and many other biologically important imidazole derivatives.


Economic and social development of each locality and finally, of human communities that live here, depends increasingly on the ways of their internal organizing but also on becoming closer with social partners in the area(s) concerned. It is increasingly important that each locality (territorial administrative unit, TAU) solve multiple problems of ensuring development conditions through various strategies and policies of cooperation and association. These may represent a real support and vector for sustainable development of several TAU, capitalizing new forms of territorial development. Our paper aims to present some strategies that can capitalize the benefits of a territorial structure as the Metropolitan Area. We mention those of urban-rural partnership, the associative kind and those of cooperation between localities belonging to the same territorial structures/ regions. These strategies have been customized by a study on setting up a possible Galati Metropolitan Area. Based on the analysis performed at the territorial scale proposals were made concerning its territorial delimitation, in two variants, the ring 1 and ring 2. A map of the county Galati was made, marking variants proposed to configure the Metropolitan Area.


Monochloroacetic acid (MCA) has been used widely as herbicide in agricultural industry. One of the best ways to turn this hazardous compound into nonhazardous compounds is by degradation of the toxic compound. Biodegradation is a natural process, where the degradation of a xenobiotic chemical or pesticide by organisms is primarily a strategy for their own survival. In this research, four different bacteria were isolated. Three isolated were from soil sample in UTM agricultural area while the fourth one was isolated from Philippine contaminated seaside area. The four strains were able to degrade monochloroacetic acid (MCA). All bacteria were tentatively identified using 16S rRNA analysis. Blast search in GenBank showed that these bacteria can be grouped into 3 distinct genera: Labrys, Arthrobacter and Enterobacter. Furthermore, all isolated bacteria were screened for haloacetate dehalogenase gene that able to degrade MCA by using haloacetate primers.


Objective: To determine prevalence of temporomandibular joint disorders signs and symptoms of elderly adults in Medellin as well as related factors. Material and methods: The present was a crosssectional study conducted at the «Metrosalud» hospital network. The study was composed of 342 adult patients ≥ 65 years, (57.8% females) Variables: Socio-demographical and social support (Duke- 11); Self-perceived stress, mental health, self-perceived general health, satisfaction with respect to dental circumstances, self-perceived oral health, oral problems (previous 30 days), number of teeth present, presence of prostheses (upper/lower), Helkimo Anamnestic Index and clinical assessment. Prevalence of temporomandibular joint disorders- Helkimo Anamnestic Index was assessed with respect to health and socio-demographic variables, temporomandibular joint disorders was assessed according to clinical evaluation. Association between temporomandibular joint disorders-Helkimo Anamnestic Index and health indicators was evaluated as well as clinical temporomandibular joint disorders by means of logistic regression calculating crude and adjusted Odds Ratio with 95% (CI95%) confi dence intervals. Results: Prevalence of severe symptoms was higher in males (32%), females exhibited higher prevalence of mild symptoms (18.8%); differences were found according to socio-demographic factors. Subjects reporting symptoms tended to report higher prevalence of poor oral and general health indicators. Higher association was found for patients with dental problems in the previous 30 days. (aOR 3.57; CI95% 1.80-7.08) in the case of women and, for men, the indicator was poor mental health (aOR 2.83; CI95% 1.31-6.09) Even though females exhibited greater risk of reporting TMJ related problems (except for the presence of articular noises) no statistical signifi cant associations were found. Conclusions: Further epidemiological surveillance systems are required in order to suitably and clearly establish associations found in the present study.


Phase change, a major factor that restricts the development of gas hydrate, is likely to cause blockage in well completion section (sieve section – wellbore lifting section), thus resulting in the engineering losses. In view of the defects in the previous studies on the confluence mechanism of completion section of gas hydrate pressure drop method mining under openhole completion technology, the flow of gas hydrate in the well completion section was simplified as the Main-Branch pipe confluence model in this paper. Firstly, a physical model was established. On the basis of the energy conservation law and the Peng-Robinson equation, the temperature and pressure coupling model was also derived. Then, the Fluent software was used to simulate the temperature gradient and pressure gradient changes in the Main-Branch model. The gas hydrate phase diagram and P-T environment under different velocity were obtained. Finally, the contrast analysis between theoretical model and numerical simulation was carried out and the established model was verified. Through the study of this paper, it is possible to prevent blockage of the well completion section by means of depressurization, which can provide theoretical guidance for the control of pressure drop when gas hydrate is extracted by depressurization. It is important for the exploitation and continuous production of gas hydrate in the later stage.


Although k-Anonymity is a good way to publish microdata for research purposes, it still suffers from various attacks. Hence, many refinements of k-Anonymity have been proposed such as ldiversity and t-Closeness, with t-Closeness being one of the strictest privacy models. Satisfying t-Closeness for a lower value of t may yield equivalence classes with high number of records which results in a greater information loss. For a higher value of t, equivalence classes are still prone to homogeneity, skewness, and similarity attacks. This is because equivalence classes can be formed with fewer distinct sensitive attribute values and still satisfy the constraint t. In this paper, we introduce a new algorithm that overcomes the limitations of k-Anonymity and lDiversity and yields equivalence classes of size k with greater diversity and frequency of a SA value in all the equivalence classes differ by at-most one.


To evaluate the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a potent ROS scavenger and thiol group supplier, on normoglycemic and diabetic rats, the animals received 50 or 200 mg/kg NAC by gavage daily for 45 days. The results showed a lack of uniformity in acetylcholinesterase activity among the four cerebral structures. While neither dose of NAC produced significant hypoglycemic activity, 50 mg/kg NAC partially reverted the weight loss of diabetics and was effective in restoring aminolevulinate dehydratase activity and non-protein thiol content in liver, and in diminishing serum protein carbonylation. The dose of 200 mg/kg NAC presented some negative effects per se in both the antioxidant and cholinergic systems. In conclusion, 50 mg/kg NAC produced an improvement in some parameters suggesting NAC as a possible drug in antioxidant therapies against diabetic state. However, future studies are necessary to investigate the better dose of this compound to counteract its undesirable effects.


Abstract : This thesis focuses on the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) and its need to reduce its budget through becoming more efficient. There are many means for becoming more efficient; this report will analyze the adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology as one way in which DMEA can achieve cost savings. The goal was to construct a working model to simulate factory conditions at electronics manufacturers' facilities, regardless of the size or breadth of production. The end state was to identify all major variables associated with the costs of RFID implementation, and the derived annual benefits, thereby giving decision makers an idea of the relative financial attractiveness of RFID.


A shear press has been used to determine mechanical behavior of serpentinized dunite and forsterite at normal pressures to 50 kb, temperatures to 900°C, and at strain rates from 10−1/sec to 10−1/sec. Less than 5% by weight of serpentine reduces shear strength by at least 30% as the temperature is raised from 300°C to 500°C due to reduction of effective normal stress within the compressed wafers. The reduction of effective stress and subsequent weakening is thought to be due to generation of pore pressure resulting from dehydration of associated hydrous minerals. Mechanical behavior of upper mantle mineral analogs suggests that earthquakes are not produced by ordinary faulting, but may be associated with deformation of "weak" hydrous phases.