The synthesis of graphene (Gr) gold (Au) nanoparticle (NP) composite was achieved using continuous ultraviolet wave exposure. The functional groups were investigated with FTIR spectra. From the Raman spectra, D-band and G-band of Gr were identified. As a result, the uniform deposition of nanometer-sized Au NPs on the Gr sheets was observed from the field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images. The photodegradation of methylene blue in aqueous solutions was studied using various photocatalysts, including neat TiO2, Gr/TiO2 and Gr-Au/TiO2 composites. The Gr weight ratio in this research was 2% . The Gr2% -Au0.1% /TiO2 composite had the highest photoactivity.


Abstract This article aims to assess how democracy affects social welfare by analyzing Uruguay and Paraguay, one country with a vibrant democratic history and a progressive political landscape, the other with a generally authoritarian past and a conservative dominant party. The article maintains that welfare systems in these countries have been critically shaped by the impact of democracy, or by its absence, and by the strategies adopted by major social and political actors, especially parties; these strategies have been determined, in turn, by parties' ideologies and by the workings of electoral competition. The article also emphasizes that the impact of democracy on social welfare is critically mediated by the role of previous welfare legacies, the presence of welfare constituencies defending acquired rights and privileges, and social and economic variables, such as overall wealth levels, the formal or informal nature of labor markets, and the political organization of domestic economies.


To enhance signal acquisition stability and diminish background interference for conventional flow bead-based fluorescence detection methods, we demonstrate here an exceptional microfluidic chip assisted platform by integrating near-infrared optical tweezers with upconversion luminescence encoding. For the former, a single 980 nm laser is employed to perform optical trapping and concurrently excite upconversion luminescence, avoiding the fluctuation of the signals and the complexity of the apparatus. By virtue of the favorable optical properties of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), the latter is carried out by employing two-color UCNPs (Er-UCNPs and Tm-UCNPs) with negligible spectral overlaps. With the assistance of the double key techniques, we fabricated complex microbeads referred to a UCNPs-miRNAs-microbead sandwich construct by a one-step nucleic acid hybridization process, and then obtained uniform terrace peaks for the automatic and simultaneous quantitative determination of miRNA-205 and miRNA-21 sequences with detection limit of pM level on the basis of a special home-built flow bead platform. Furthermore, the technique was successfully applied for analyzing complex biological samples such as cell lysates and human tissue lysates, holding certain potential for disease diagnosis. In addition, it is expected that the flow platform can be utilized to investigate many other biomolecules of single cells and to allow analysis of particle heterogeneity in biological fluid by means of optical tweezers.


Data analysis usually suffers from the Missing Not At Random (MNAR) problem, where the cause of the value missing is not fully observed. Compared to the naive Missing Completely At Random (MCAR) problem, it is more in line with the realistic scenario whereas more complex and challenging. Existing statistical methods model the MNAR mechanism by different decomposition of the joint distribution of the complete data and the missing mask. But we empirically find that directly incorporating these statistical methods into deep generative models is sub-optimal. Specifically, it would neglect the confidence of the reconstructed mask during the MNAR imputation process, which leads to insufficient information extraction and less-guaranteed imputation quality. In this paper, we revisit the MNAR problem from a novel perspective that the complete data and missing mask are two modalities of incomplete data on an equal footing. Along with this line, we put forward a generative-model-specific joint probability decomposition method, conjunction model, to represent the distributions of two modalities in parallel and extract sufficient information from both complete data and missing mask. Taking a step further, we exploit a deep generative imputation model, namely GNR, to process the real-world missing mechanism in the latent space and concurrently impute the incomplete data and reconstruct the missing mask. The experimental results show that our GNR surpasses state-of-the-art MNAR baselines with significant margins (averagely improved from 9.9% to 18.8% in RMSE) and always gives a better mask reconstruction accuracy which makes the imputation more principle.


A novel adaptive degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) finite-element method (FEM) for the numerical computation of transient magnetic fields is presented. The proposed adaptive FEM incorporates functions of both mesh refinement and mesh coarsening. The mesh refinement procedure is implemented using the longest edge bisection algorithm, whereas for the coarsening procedure, a novel DoFs constraining algorithm is proposed to replace conventional algorithms which explicitly eliminate the unnecessary nodes which have sufficiently small estimated errors. This process avoids solution interpolation errors due to the changes from a fine mesh to a coarse mesh. It can also be implemented readily in element analysis level. The slave-master technique is adopted to eliminate the constrained DoFs in the linear system conveniently to result in coarsening of the underlying finite element space and hence it has the same effect as mesh coarsening. Implementation details of the algorithm are presented and numerical examples using the proposed method are tested to validate the algorithm and showcase its effectiveness in transient magnetic field computation of engineering problems.


Conclusion. Artificial middle ear mucosa (AMEM), a sheet of mucosal cells grown on collagen gel populated with fibroblasts, is useful as graft material that is able to promote mucosal regeneration after middle ear surgery. Objectives. Regeneration of the middle ear mucosa and pneumatization of the mastoid cavity is critical for good prognosis. We examined whether implantation of AMEM into damaged middle ear cavity would promote mucosal regeneration. Materials and methods. AMEM was prepared as described previously using epithelial cells and fibroblasts isolated from the rabbit middle ear. We implanted AMEM into rabbit middle ear from which mucosa had been surgically removed and evaluated its histological and functional recovery 8 weeks later. Three other groups were used for comparison: a normal control group, a mucosa-eliminated group, and a collagen-implanted group. Results. AMEM grew to be morphologically similar to the native middle ear mucosa. Electron microscope studies showed that implanted AMEM has basal lamina and cilia. AMEM implantation suppressed bone hyperplasia and granulation, leading to better mucosal regeneration. Mucosal gas exchange was also significantly improved after implantation.


The biological effects of neurotensin (NT) are mediated by two distinct G protein-coupled receptors, NTS(1) and NTS(2). Although it is well established that neurotensin inhibits gastric acid secretion in man, the plasma membrane receptor mediating these effects has not been visualized yet. We developed and characterized a novel antipeptide antibody to the carboxy-terminal region of the human NTS(2) receptor. The cellular and subcellular distribution of NTS(2) receptors was evaluated in various human gastrointestinal tissues. Specificity of the antiserum was demonstrated by (1) detection of a broadband migrating at M(r) 90 000-100 000 in Western blots of membranes from NTS(2)-expressing tissues; (2) cell-surface staining of NTS(2)-transfected cells; (3) translocation of NTS(2) receptor immunostaining after agonist exposure; and (4) abolition of tissue immunostaining by preadsorbtion of the antibody with its immunizing peptide. In the gastrointestinal tract, NTS(2) receptor immunoreactivity was highly abundant in parietal cells of the gastric mucosa, in neuroendocrine cells of the stomach small and large intestine, and in cells of the exocrine pancreas. NTS(2) receptors were clearly located in the plasma membrane and uniformly present on nearly all target cells. The presence of NTS(2) receptors was rarely detected in human tumors. This is the first localization of NTS(2) receptors in human formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues at the cellular level. The abundant expression of low-affinity NTS(2) receptors on the plasma membrane of human parietal cells provides a morphological substrate for the direct inhibition of gastric acid secretion observed after i.v. administration of neurotensin.


Abstract Given a number field K, we consider families of critically separable rational maps of degree d over K possessing a certain fixed-point and multiplier structure. With suitable notions of isomorphism and good reduction between rational maps in these families, we prove a finiteness theorem which is analogous to Shafarevich's theorem for elliptic curves. We also define the minimal critical discriminant, a global object which can be viewed as a measure of arithmetic complexity of a rational map. We formulate a conjectural bound on the minimal critical discriminant, which is analogous to Szpiro's conjecture for elliptic curves, and we prove that a special case of our conjecture implies Szpiro's conjecture in the semistable case.


Abstract Direct-contact heat transfer involves the exchange of heat between two fluids by bringing them into intimate contact with each other. While one of the fluids involved is the continuous phase or the 'quiescent phase', the other, which is intimately mixed with the former, is called as the 'dispersed phase'. The advantage of direct-contact heat transfer is that it generates a very high value of overall heat transfer coefficient resulting in higher heat transfer efficiency. This overall heat transfer coefficient is at its maximum at the instant when the two fluids (phases) make their contact. The value of the heat transfer coefficient decreases rapidly due to the additional heat transfer resistances built up such as the condensate layer and so on. This rapid process has made experimental measurement of the initial heat transfer coefficient illusive. So far there has been only one such analytical expression that has been derived to describe this initial process. The same authors also devised an experimental technique for measuring the direct contact heat transfer coefficient during this initial phase. However, while the experimental technique of the abovementioned authors was adequate, their analytical expression to evaluate the direct-contact heat transfer coefficient was incorrect. In this paper, five mathematical expressions have been presented for estimation of the direct-contact heat transfer coefficient for a condensing vapour bubble. Of these, three have been exclusively derived here and the other two are modifications from the already existing expressions. Comparisons have been made with the available experimental results and the physics revealed by the comparisons are described.


Excitation functions are measured for different charge products of the 19F+27Al reaction in the laboratory energy range 110.25–118.75 MeV in steps of 250 keV at θlab = 57°, 31° and −29°. The coherence rotation angular velocities of the intermediate dinuclear systems formed in the reaction are extracted from the cross section energy autocorrelation functions. Compared the angular velocity extracted from the experimental data with the ones deduced from the sticking limit, it is indicated that a larger deformation of the intermediate dinuclear system exists.


Present study aims is to correlate the microstructural evolution with mechanical flow behaviour for Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy during plastic deformation processes, in order to maintain the desirable microstructure without damage occurrence. Deformation behavior for Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy during elevated temperature compression, tension and extrusion process was examined. Hot compression data at temperatures above and below, as well as at transus temperature (800°C) was examined at three strain rates. The key outcomes are summarized as follow:
1- A reliable phenomenological equation for Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy was developed based on the hyperbolic-sine law to describe the flow stress dependence on the temperature and strain rate during plastic deformation. This phenomenological equation was effectively implemented in the FEM DEFORM2D software to predict damage evolution for Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy during hot compression test.
2- The critical conditions for the initiation of dynamic recrystallization were mathematically determined at deformation temperatures 800°C, 810°C, 850°C and 870°C.
3- Optimize processing parameters by designing processing map for Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy based on the variation of the power dissipation efficiency and instability criteria. The optimum region with higher power efficiency was observed at temperature range (760°C~795°C) and strain rate range (0.01 s-1 ~0.16 s-1). However, the instability region was clearly observed at 760°C and higher strain rate 1s-1, due to the formation of adiabatic shear bands.
Extrusion process was carried out at 1000°C and 1100°C and extrusion ratio 8:1 on the samples that had been solution treated at 760°C and 900°C. Dynamic recovery, dynamic recrystallization, abnormal grain growth and surface cracks that might occur during extrusion, were critically identified. It was found that the billet sample that extruded at 1100°C (larger grain size) exhibited abnormal grain growth (in some regions). Further, recrystallized grains were clearly observed in both extrusion temperatures especially in the deformation zone.

Simulation results showed that the extrusion temperature and speed are independent variables, and that the material at the centre of the billet does not suffer damage, but beyond a critical radius, damage increases significantly. Critical fracture criteria for Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy based on Cockcroft - Latham were obtained from the hot tensile tests at 760°C 800°C and 870°C and strain rates 0.01s-1, 0.1s-1 and 1 s-1. It was found that the damage value increases as the temperature decreased and strain rate increased.


Mobile Ad hoc networks perform multi-hop communication in an environment without a dedicated fixed infrastructure, with mobile nodes and changing network topology. In the last 15 years, the wireless networking community designed hundreds of new routing protocols targeting the various scenarios of this design space. The objective of this paper is to create taxonomy of the mobile ad hoc routing protocols, and to survey and compare representative examples for the topology based and position based routing protocols. Keywords-topology based routing protocols;position based routing protocols;Mobile ad hoc Networks; styling; insert (key words)


Total Defence is a defence policy combining and extending the concept of military defence and civil defence. While several countries have adopted total defence as their defence policy, very few studies have investigated its effectiveness. With the rapid proliferation of social media and digitalisation, many social studies have been focused on investigating policy effectiveness through specially curated surveys and questionnaires either through digital media or traditional forms. However, such references may not truly reflect the underlying sentiments about the target policies or initiatives of interest. People are more likely to express their sentiment using communication mediums such as starting topic thread on forums or sharing memes on social media. Using Singapore as a case reference, this study aims to address this research gap by proposing TotalDefMeme, a large-scale multi-modal and multi-attribute meme dataset that captures public sentiments toward Singapore's Total Defence policy. Besides supporting social informatics and public policy analysis of the Total Defence policy, TotalDefMeme can also support many downstream multi-modal machine learning tasks, such as aspect-based stance classification and multi-modal meme clustering. We perform baseline machine learning experiments on TotalDefMeme and evaluate its technical validity, and present possible future interdisciplinary research directions and application scenarios using the dataset as a baseline.


This article revisits the concept of semi-consociational democracy and distinguishes it from full consociationalism. Semi-consociationalism features just two of the characteristics of full consociationalism, proportionality and segmental autonomy, and exists without strong grand coalitions and veto powers. The case studies of prewar Lebanon and post-invasion Iraq demonstrate this new category of power sharing, which relies on three conditions: concentration of executive powers in the presidential office (prewar Lebanon) or premiership (post-invasion Iraq), communal hegemony in the system, and communal control over the armed forces. Full consociationalism then is mistakenly blamed for democratic failure in these two case studies.


With the growth of resistance to commercial dewormers in small ruminant gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN), alternative methods are needed for GIN control. It has been shown that plants containing certain secondary compounds (SC) suppress GIN infection, but there is a lack of knowledge concerning the mechanism behind this anthelmintic activity, as well as a lack of viable alternatives to commercial dewormers in the northeastern United States. Secondary compounds, such as proanthocyanidin (PAC), have complex chemical structures that vary between plant species, while SC concentrations can vary between different varieties of the same species. The relationship between specific SC and anti-parasitic efficacy is unknown. This study explores the use of PAC-rich cranberry vine (CV) and birdsfoot trefoil (BFT) as an alternative to commercial dewormers in the control of GIN in small ruminants. In vitro techniques were used to test BFT against H. contortus eggs, first stage (L1) and third stage larvae (L3). The anti-parasitic activity of purified proanthocyanidin extract (Bruce-PAC) and crude aqueous extracts (BFT-AqE) from 51 strains of BFT were tested using the following in vitro assays: 1) egg hatching and viability of L1 Haemonchus contortus larvae and 2) exsheathment and viability of L3 H. contortus larvae. The BFT-AqE was prepared by soaking BFT powder in water at room temperature for 24 h, and then the plant matter was removed, leaving an aqueous extract. 1) For in vitro egg hatch inhibition and mortality of L1 larvae, H. contortus eggs were exposed to varying concentrations of BFT extracts for 24 h. 2) For in vitro exsheathment, 2,000 H. contortus L3 larvae were exposed to BFT extracts prior to exsheathment. Proanthocyanidin content ranged between 1.4 and 63.8 mg PAC/g powder across 51 BFT strains. Inhibition of egg hatch and L1 mortality were observed: at 3 mg/mL BFT-AqE, percent inhibition of egg hatch and L1 mortality ranged between 0 and 100% across 51 strains tested. Inhibition of exsheathment and L3 mortality was observed across thirteen tested strains: at 25 mg/mL, percent inhibition of exsheathment bridged between 0 and 75% inhibition. Incubation in Bruce-PAC exhibited 8% egg hatch inhibition, 98% L1 mortality, 4% percent L3 mortality, and 100% exsheathment inhibition at the highest concentration of 6 mg/mL Bruce-PAC. Results indicate that strains of BFT-AqE inhibited egg hatch and inhibited larval mortality, but the degree of inhibition varied. Results also indicate that Bruce-PAC did not inhibit egg hatch or mortality of L3 larvae, but did inhibit mortality of L1 larvae and inhibit exsheathment. When comparing PAC content of varietal BFT powders to anthelmintic efficacy of aqueous extracts, there were no significant correlations. Since PAC content was not related to activity, PAC structure was investigated for its potential influence on bioactivity. Further testing of PAC extracted from different varieties will provide additional information about the anthelmintic efficacy of strains of BFT for small ruminant GIN control. Inhibition of egg hatch, L1 and L3 mortality, and inhibition of exsheathment were observed with incubation in BFT-AqE; however, the concentration at which this inhibition was most effective varied among BFT strains. Correlations between the anthelmintic efficacy and PAC structure of each individual variety were determined based on these results. This study tested CV extracts against H. contortus eggs, first stage larvae, third stage larvae, and exsheathment. This investigation is the first to examine the anthelmintic potential of cranberry vine against the GIN Haemonchus contortus, while advancing the study of plants containing PAC. The purpose of this study was to explore the anti-parasitic potential of cranberry vine proanthocyanidin extract (CVPAC) and cranberry vine aqueous extract (CV-AqE) on in vitro egg hatching, larval and adult worm mortality, and exsheathment of H. contortus, to observe cranberry vine treated H. contortus via scanning electron microscopy, and to investigate the efficacy of cranberry vine powder (CV) drench against an experimental infection of H. contortus in lambs. The in vitro anthelmintic effect on egg hatching and mortality of L1, L3, and adult worms was determined after 24-hour exposure to varying concentrations of CV-PAC and CV-AqE. The in vivo anthelmintic effect on an experimental infection in lambs was determined by administering 21.1 g CV or not to lambs (n = 9 per group) for three consecutive days, and collecting fecal egg count (FEC) data for four weeks post treatment. Inhibition of egg hatch was observed in concentrations ≥ 5 mg/mL CV-PAC and significant L1 mortality following hatching was observed at concentrations ≥ 0.3 mg/mL. Egg hatch inhibition occurred at ≥ 5 mg/mL CV-AqE (0.6 mg PAC/mL), and significant L1 mortality occurred in L1 exposed to ≥ 1.2 mg/mL (0.15 mg PAC/mL). Third stage larvae exhibited mortality when exposed to ≥ 2.5 mg/mL CV-PAC; no significant mortality was observed in CVAqE. Inhibition of L3 exsheathment was observed at concentrations ≥ 5 mg/mL CVPAC but was not observed at any concentration of CV-AqE. Adult worm mortality was observed at concentrations ≥ 0.6 mg/mL CV-PAC and ≥ 12.5 mg/mL CV-AqE (1.5 mg PAC/mL). Scanning electron microscopy revealed an accumulation of aggregate on the cuticle in the buccal area of adult worms incubated in both CV-AqE and CV-PAC. Both extracts (CV-PAC and CV-AqE) demonstrated anti-parasitic effects on all tested stages of H. contortus, but the extracts differed in their level of efficacy. In the lamb trial, no significant difference emerged between the weekly average FEC of the groups, but a significant treatment over time effect was observed. Cranberry vine extracts were also tested in vitro against H. contortus adults and morphological changes in the adults incubated in extracts were observed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect that feeding cranberry vine (CV) to lambs had on 1) an established infection of H. contortus in lambs, 2) the establishment of a trickle infection of H. contortus in lambs, and 3) the morphology of H. contortus adult worms that were exposed to CV in vivo as determined by scanning electron (SEM), transmission electron (TEM), and light microscopy. Lambs were experimentally infected with L3 larvae in two separate trials; 1) CV trial: 21 lambs, stratified into three groups (n = 7) based on gender and fecal egg count (FEC) once the infection (10,000 H. contortus) matured; and 2) CVP trial: 14 lambs, stratified into two groups (n = 7) based on gender and twin separation, received trickle infection of 500 L3 H. contortus 3 times/week for 3 weeks. For the CV trial, lambs were fed CV0 (0 g CV, 250 g chopped alfalfa hay (AH)), CV100 (100 g CV, 150 g AH), or CV200 (200 g CV, 50 g AH). Fecal egg counts (FEC) were measured weekly for the duration of the trial. At the conclusion of the study, total worm burden was determined and five adult female H. contortus worms were collected from the abomasum of each lamb and preserved until viewed under SEM, TEM or light microscopy. There was no difference in FEC between CV0 and CV200. Evaluation of worms using SEM showed cracking in the cuticle of the adult worms from the CV200 group, compared to minimal or no cracking observed in CV0. Some accumulation of an aggregate was observed on worms collected from the CV200 group. Evaluation of vesicles internal to the microvilli lining of the lumen of the intestines worms using TEM showed a lower number of vesicles present in the worms collected from the CV200 group. For the CVP trial, lambs were fed CVP0 diet: 0 g CVP, 500 g grain; or CVP200 diet: 500 g CVP, 100 g grain for 8 weeks. Fecal egg counts (FEC) were measured weekly for the duration of the trial. At the conclusion of the study, total worm and larval burden were determined. There was no difference in FEC or total worm burden between CVP0 and CVP200 groups. Results indicate that feeding 200 g of CV to lambs experimentally infected with H. contortus for five weeks resulted in cuticular damage and possible malnutrition of the adult worms and may have potential as an antiparasitic against H. contortus. Further investigation feeding a higher intake of CV is warranted.


This study has mainly focused on ecological issues of Section Heterobalanus, which contains about nine sclerophyllous alpine species and occurs mainly in the China Mountains. To investigate the population history and demography of an endemic oak species (Quercus aquigolioides, Fagaceae) from the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains region, and elucidate how the unique climatic conditions and heterogeneous topography resulted the uplift of the QTP shaped the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of the species.We sequenced and analyzed a total 1406 base pairs from chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) trnT-L sequences for 296 individuals from 19 populations across the species' geographic range. Based on these data, we constructed the genealogical relationships and coalescent analysis was used to test demographic hypotheses. 38 haplotypes were identified based on cpDNA variation, and of overall 38 haplotypes, 33 hyplotypes are restricted to single population. High levels of haplotype diversity (Hd=0.948) and low levels of nucleotide diversity (π=0.1976) were detected within the whole species, and a great amount of variation occurred among populations within groups (57.3%). The phylogenetic result demonstrated that Q. aquifolioides cpDNA hyplotypes have three main genetic lineages with distinct distribution. And these genetic lineages resulted by two main bottlenecks in the species took place at 9.37Ma and 8.41Ma, and they have undergone several genetic bottlenecks for a time span of ca. 9 million years. Significant interpopulation differentiation and phylogeopgraphic structure were also detected (GST=0.629, NST= 0.946, NST>GST, P<0.01), and the mismatch distribution analyses indicated a demographic equilibrium for Q. aquifolioides. But as a result of its complex topography, the overall network gave no clear indication regarding demographic process. Together with fossil evidence, the results strongly suggested that multiple microrefugia of Q. aquifolioides existing and the microrefugia were scattered throughout the present geographical range before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Although this species seems to have post-glacial expansion, Q. aquifolioides did not undergo marked changes in population sizes from the late Miocene. And the uplift of the QTP contributed to the phylogeny of cpDNA hyplotypes and differentiation among the population by heterogeneous topographies and climatic change formed the uplift. The two main genetic bottlenecks at ca. 9Ma could contribute to the uplift of eastern and southern QTP at 13-8Ma and strengthen of Asian Summer monsoon at same time causing by the uplift. And several genetic differentiations at ca. 3Ma could confirm with the uplift of the QTP since 3.6Ma. It was reasonable to conclude that the Mio-Pliocene growth of the QTP and the accompanied climatic changes could account for the modern pattern of Q. aquifolioides phylogenetic structure in the HHMs region: first, the center and northern QTP drought and the different evaluation in south and east margin at 13-8Ma made the three main different lineages (NW group and other all). Then the asynchronous and heterogeneous uplifting of QTP in different regions during 9-0.7 Ma resulted to the difference time of the bottleneck in the different lineages. These findings have wide implications for understanding plant species' responses to the uplift of QTP and climatic change with it.


The author is of the opinion that rehabilitation is characterised rather by stimatisation and isolation than by overall measures persuring the aim of partnership and community organisation. As a rule, the severely handicapped set an example of a social community through their own life performance. In their social community marginal groups are unknown unless the individual considers himself and his family outsiders or marginal group, and favours this situation A desirable goal, however, is that joint efforts be made on the part of all members of the community and that these efforts be based on partnership. A means to reach this goal is through the creation of local citizen groups as co-ordinating bodies of neighbourhood self-help groups, if possible, in all local districts. The author gives some examples on how this can be realised.


Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is an obscure but economical and helpful technology for removing phosphorus biologically from wastewater. A 3-MLD capacity pre-anoxic selector-attached sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treated municipal wastewater from the residents of IIT Roorkee. The treatment in the plant satisfied the effluent discharge standards in all respects except phosphorus, observed during an intensive two-year study. An elaborated 80-day study was performed to enhance and improve the plant's performance in terms of phosphorus removal specifically, with run 1: solid retention times (SRT) reduced from 56 to 20 days (t = 35d),run 2: lowering the diffuser's running time from 15 min to 10 min in anoxic cum anaerobic selector chambers (dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration reduced to <0.15 mg/L) along with reducing SRT to 15 days (t = 25d), and run 3:intensive reduction in SRT to ≤10 days (t = 20d). During run 3, the increment in the enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) efficiency was three times that of the initial run (ɳmax~65%) with a readily biodegradable chemical oxygen demand to total phosphorus ratio (rbCOD/TP) of 7.8. The 16SrRNA sequencing revealed the microbial community structure before and after the changes in SRT and EBPR efficiencies, to correlate the biochemical processes and functional organisms.


Forty-nine liver disease patients (7 chronic persistent hepatitis, CPH; 10 chronic active hepatitis, CAH; 13 liver cirrhosis, LC; 9 primary hepatocellular carcinoma, PHC, without LC; and 10 PHC with associated LC) and 20 controls were assessed for their serum alpha-L-fucosidase (ALF) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels and several routine liver injury parameters. Tumor diameter in those with hepatic cancer was assessed by angio-CT. Only ALF and AFP were significantly greater in patients with PHC and PHC + LC patients as compared to patients with LC alone. At an accepted cutoff level of 500 ng/ml, the AFP level provided 43% false negative tests. On the other hand, an ALF level exceeding 740 mumol/hr/ml provided a sensitivity of 84% with a specificity of 94%. No relationship between the ALF level and Child's criteria or with any liver injury parameter was evident. Considering all individual values, the ALF, rather than the AFP, correlated with tumor size. This finding suggests the ALF level may be of value in the early detection of PHC as well as in the follow-up of patients treated for PHC.


Personality dimensions and psychopathological symptoms were assessed in 50 female patients hospitalized for the treatment of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa and in 19 healthy female controls of similar age. Restricting anorexia nervosa patients, who had lost weight by consistently reducing their food intake, reported significantly greater self-control, inhibition of emotionality, and conscientiousness than controls or bulimia nervosa patients, before and after the data were corrected for depressive and eating pathology. Both nonbulimic and bulimic anorexia nervosa patients expressed stronger than normal conformance to moral and family values. On the impulsivity dimension, bulimia nervosa patients scored in the high normal range, whereas bulimic anorexia nervosa patients rated in the low normal range. The results suggest that a personality disposition toward overcontrol and reserve might constitute a risk factor for the restricting type of anorexia nervosa through fostering restrictive behavior toward food and avoidance of personal relationships.


Cooperation of large developing countries such as India would be important in achieving a low carbon future, which can help in restricting the global temperature rise to 2 °C. Global modeling studies of such low carbon scenarios point to a prominent role for renewable energy. This paper reports scenarios for a low carbon future in India. An integrated modeling framework is used for assessing the alternate development pathways having equal cumulative CO2 emissions. The modeling period ranges from 2005 to 2050. The first pathway assumes a conventional development pattern together with a carbon price that aligns India's emissions to an optimal 450 ppmv CO2-eq. stabilization global response. The second emissions pathway assumes an underlying sustainable development pattern. A low carbon future will be good for renewable energy under both the development pathways, though the share of renewable energy will be higher under a sustainable pathway. Renewable energy faces competition from low carbon technologies lik...


The primary emphasis in rehabilitating the hearing impaired has involved fitting a hearing aid. There are patients however, who can be helped by communication aids in addition to, or in place of hearing aids. Communication aids include any device, other than a conventional hearing aid, which assists the hearing impaired in maintaining contact wiht the normally hearing. In Scandinavian countries a sophisticated system for rehabilitating the hearing impaired has evolved and communication aids are recommended extensively. Similar aids exist in North America, but clinicians have not yet developed a full awareness of how these devices can benefit their patients. This paper represents the results of a two year survey undertaken to identify and evaluate various devices available in Toronto. The contribution these aids can offer in rehabilitating patients is discussed.


Purpose: The aim og this study was to evaluate the role of uterocervical angle (UCA) and cervical length (CL) in predicting the success of induction of labor before induction was performed in late term and post-term pregnancies. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was carried out between January 2018 and April 2020, in Medipol University based on the data about 260 late-term and post-term nulliparous pregnant women who underwent induction of labor. UCA and CL values in pregnant women were assessed just before the induction was performed. Our study population was assigned into two groups: successful IoL group (group1) and failed (group 2) IoL group. The primary outcome of the study is the effectiveness of UCA and CL in predicting successful induction of labor (latent phase duration ≤720 min). Results: While the mean UCA was 102.17 ± 4.26 degree in the successful labor induction group, it was 94.25 ± 7.141 degree in the unsuccessful group. While the mean CL was 27.85 ± 3.5 mm in the successful labor induction group, it was found as 31.73 ± 2.71 mm in the unsuccessful group. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of mean values for the CL and UCA. Both the UCA and the CLsignificantly predicted the duration of the prolonged latent phase. Conclusions: This study indicated that both the UCA and CL measurements had a significant predictive value in predicting successful induction of labor and normal birth in late term and post-term nulliparous pregnant women.


As traffic volumes increase, in both urban and rural areas, the demand on the highway network also increases. Specifically, as rural traffic volumes rise in Texas, the pressure on the state's network of two-lane highways rises accordingly. Previous research in Texas demonstrated that periodic passing lanes can improve operations on two-lane highways with average daily traffic (ADT) lower than 5000; these "Super 2" highways can provide many of the benefits of a four-lane alignment at a lower cost. This project expands on that research to develop design guidelines for passing lanes on two-lane highways with higher volumes, investigating the effects of volume, terrain, and heavy vehicles on traffic flow and safety. This report discusses findings from field observations and crash analysis of existing Super 2 highway corridors in Texas and computer modeling of traffic conditions on a simulated Super 2 corridor. Results indicate that passing lanes provide added benefit at higher traffic volumes, reducing crashes, delay, and percent time spent following. Empirical Bayes analysis of crash data reveals a 35 percent reduction in expected nonintersection injury crashes. Simulation results indicate that most passing activity takes place within the first mile of the passing lane, so providing additional passing lanes can offer greater benefit than providing longer passing lanes. Whether adding new passing lanes or adding length to existing lanes, the incremental benefit diminishes as additional length is provided and the highway more closely resembles a four-lane alignment. The simulation study also showed that the effects of ADT on operations were more substantial than the effects of terrain or truck percentage for the study corridor.


K-5 teachers teach a range of subjects & develop generic teaching skills; when starting to teach computing, particularly programming, practitioners may not realise that they can draw on these other skills to support their teaching. In a small study of K-5 teachers, potential synergies were suggested between using planning in the the teaching of writing and design in the teaching of programming. In this paper, we explore these synergies by surveying a wider group of teachers (n=207) on their uses of planning and design. Teachers reported the usefulness of planning for writing and design for programmingas equally important. However, there were significant differences in their uses. The majority saw planning as essential in writing & put this into practice in their teaching. For example, they demonstrated the creation of plans, expected students to annotate plans, required students to refer to plans when writing and used plans to differentiate. By contrast, these uses were implemented less frequently in programming tasks. We also report on differences in the confidence of male & female respondents, & between generalists (who teach programming & writing) & specialists (who do not teach writing). For example, females were more confident to teach writing than programming, with males vice versa. Having revealed opportunities for reuse of successful techniques used in teaching writing for the teaching of programming we recommend further work is needed to explore this transfer of pedagogical knowledge.


Firstly, the paper takes National Topographic Database by assuming DEM (Digital Elevation Model) with 1:250,000 scale as a data source, extracts simulated drainage network by using Arc Hydro Tools 9.2. Secondly, a new coding method is presented, which can reflect the topology of drainage network. It becomes easily to locate any reach of drainage network directly and operate the topology of drainage network effectively. Finally, this coding method is applied to Hunhe drainage system of Liaohe basin. The successful application proves that the self-replicating code has excellent expansibility and high efficiency, and can be handled easily by the computer.


BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphological and functional standards and quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS.

METHODS
This was a quasi-experimental study with 15 people living with HIV/AIDS between 35 and 51 years old. The intervention consisted in a program of resisted exercises. The following parameters were evaluated: BMI, WHR, % G, and scapular and hand strength and the Quality of Life (QoL) was evaluated using the WHOQOL HIV BREFS.

RESULTS
Significant changes were observed in the %G (17.01±2.66 x 15.12±2.25, P=0.031), scapular force (26.16±2.73 x 29.00±2.76, P=0.007), and hand strength (35.45±9.69 x 37.88±10.84, P=0.039). Significant changes were observed in the following areas in the QL domains: environment (12.90±0.52 x 14.10±0.22, P=0.021), spirituality, religion and personal beliefs (15.60±0.88 x 17.06±0.60, P=0.032), and perception of quality of life and overall health (15.33±0.46 x 17.20±0.47, P=0.005).

CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate an improvement in body composition, increasing functional capacity, and improving QL through resisted exercise program.


Hypoxia is a key component of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and promotes not only tumor growth and metastasis, but also negatively affects infiltrating immune cells by impairing host immunity. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells and their biology is weakened in the TME in many ways, including the modulation of their viability. RNASET2 belongs to the T2 family of extracellular ribonucleases and, besides its nuclease activity, it exerts many additional functions. Indeed, RNASET2 is involved in several human pathologies, including cancer, and it is functionally relevant in the TME. RNASET2 functions are not restricted to cancer cells and its expression could be relevant also in other cell types which are important players in the TME, including DCs. Therefore, this study aimed to unravel the effect of hypoxia (2% O2) on the expression of RNASET2 in DCs. Here, we showed that hypoxia enhanced the expression and secretion of RNASET2 in human monocyte-derived DCs. This paralleled the HIF-1α accumulation and HIF-dependent and -independent signaling, which are associated with DCs' survival/autophagy/apoptosis. RNASET2 expression, under hypoxia, was regulated by the PI3K/AKT pathway and was almost completely abolished by TLR4 ligand, LPS. Taken together, these results highlight how hypoxia- dependent and -independent pathways shape RNASET2 expression in DCs, with new perspectives on its implication for TME and, therefore, in anti-tumor immunity.


Chromosomal DNA replication machinery is essential for growth of all cells in all organs in multicellular organisms. Its knockdown in several tissues of Drosophila led to rough eye phenotype and the loss of bristles in the eye. These results show that the DNA replication machinery contributes to the body development independent of growth.


The first betatron developed for current use of fast electrons in radiation therapy (15 MeV, Siemens) has been installed at the Dermatologische Klinik der Universität Göttingen in 1952 (Bode, Markus). The first human carcinoma treated with fast electrons was irradiated using the first 6-MeV-betatron (Dr. Gund, Siemens) at the 2nd institute of physics of the Göttingen university (Bode, Kopfermann, Paul, 1949). Characteristics of the electron radiation utilized for treatment and its particular advantages in dermatological radation therapy are reported. Two clinical examples, one of them the first human carcinoma irradiated with fast electrons, are described, and the frequency distribution of the indications for electron therapy at the dermatological clinics of the university is tabulated for a total of 3419 cases treated between 1949 and 1972 (Bode et al.).


The UMTS terrestrial radio access (UTRA) is composed of a frequency division duplex (UTRA-FDD) mode and a time division duplex (UTRA-TDD) mode. In UTRA-TDD the uplink and downlink are on the same carrier frequency. This creates additional interference scenarios, to be precise: MS/spl hArr/MS and BS/spl hArr/BS interference. Since power leakage between adjacent carriers cannot be avoided this inherent property of TDD has an impact on adjacent channel interference (ACI) and thus on cell capacity. The power leakage results from transmitter mask imperfections and non-ideal receiver filters. From interference power measurements using a 7th and a 9th order Butterworth receiver filter the relationship between carrier spacing and adjacent channel interference power ratio (ACIR) is established This relationship is used to find the best carrier spacing in UTRA-TDD considering several cell deployment scenarios. It is found that the ACIR must be greater than 30 dB, but the capacity gains from an ACIR greater than 40 dB converge rapidly.


ENETIC recombination in bacteria was first successfully studied in strain G K-12 of Esclzericlzia coli (TATUM and LEDERBERG 1947; LEDERBERG 1951). Since the nutritional mutants used in the crosses were derived directly from this strain under clonal propagation, their conipatibility implied a homothallic or self-compatible sexual system (cf. WHITEHOUSE 1949). The inference that crossing was genetically unrestricted was supported by the absence of marked hereditary mating preferences among the segregants of a variety of crosses (LEDERBERG 1947, 1949; cf. LEUPOLD 1950). More recently, evidence has been secured for a system of sexual compatibility which was previously obscured by its unique inheritance via an infective agent.


This research study introduces the use of a change detection and classification algorithm that relies on the change vector analysis (CVA) method. Its implementation aims to ensure adequate response to operational production needs and allow optimized data processing over extended and environmentally complex areas. Automatic change class labelling relies on the use of a (3n+2)‐dimensional feature space, where n denotes the number of sensor bands. Such enhanced feature space allows for a finer and more accurate definition of change classes of the 'from‐to' type. Moreover, and to efficiently address the problem of change area overestimation, the proposed method takes into account specific evidence derived from the pixel's geographic neighbourhood, the latter defined as a 3×3 pixel kernel. The performance of this integrated algorithmic approach has been tested and validated in the framework of the CORINE Land Cover‐Greece 2000 and the ESA/GSE Forest Monitoring projects in three test sites located in the outskirts of the city of Ptolemais, Thasos island and the suburbs of Athens in Greece. Its implementation in such highly fragmented and dynamically changing landscape environments has resulted in qualified and accurate land cover change maps, achieving an overall level of classification accuracy of 88–96%. Compared to visual image interpretation, the method requires half the effort. In conclusion, the proposed method has proved effective and can be recommended for use in the framework of operational projects.


Air pollution is a global issue that has a harmful impact on living things and the environment. It is commonly recognized that bioremediation, including the use of tree plants, helps reduce air pollution. Tree plants can respond physically to air pollution. The value of the air pollution tolerance index (APTI) can be used to determine the physiological response. Based on APTI values, this study seeks to determine the tolerance levels and physiological response differences of six tree plant species (Mangifera indica, Pterocarpus indicus, Cerbera odollam, Pometia pinnata, Syzygium myrtifolium, and Swietenia macrophylla) in Pulogadung Industrial Estate, East Jakarta and Universitas Indonesia (UI) Campus, Depok. Environmental factors and APTI values with relative water content parameters, leaf extract pH, ascorbic acid content, and total chlorophyll content were measured in six kinds of tree plants at both research sites. The maximum APTI score in the Pulogadung Industrial Estate was 9.79 0.13, indicating that Mangifera indica plants are air pollution tolerant. Meanwhile, Pterocarpus indicus is classified as sensitive to air pollution, with the lowest APTI score of 6.59 0.18 at the UI Campus, Depok. The APTI test results revealed that tolerant species had high relative water content (RWC) values and ascorbic acid concentration, whereas sensitive species had low RWC values and poor total chlorophyll content.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the predominant cause of chronic liver diseases and HCC, particularly in Western countries. Multiple molecular mechanisms are involved in the development and progression of HCV-related HCC, of which oxidative stress plays a pivotal role. HCV infection induces overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and impairs the function of endogenous antioxidants. Excessive amount of ROS directly damages DNA, lipids and proteins. Meanwhile, ROS indirectly activates a series of signaling cascades, and modulates the activity of many transcription factors, resulting in altered expression of genes that control cell survival, proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. In this review, we aim to summarize the possible molecular mechanisms underlying the link between the oxidative stress and hepatocarcinogenesis in HCV-infected individuals, in order to facilitate discovery of possible approaches or interventional targets for HCV-related HCC.


Performance modeling of simultaneous tracking and data-relay satellite system (TDRSS) support of existing Space Shuttle and planned Space Station communications is discussed. Eight Ku- and S-band forward and return links are considered. The modeling of each of the communications link includes the modulation format, data rate, convolutional coding, pseudonoise coding, high power amplification, filtering, synchronization, and detection. The interference link models include the modulation format, data rate, pseudonoise coding, filtering, high power amplification, and signal-to-interference ratio. The communication links, with the models described, are simulated by computer and the performance results are presented in an accompanying paper (see ibid., p.11-19).<<ETX>>


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of contrast-enhanced sonography in the detection of acute parenchymal injury.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
In a model of acute renal injury in pigs, four separate renal parenchymal bleeds were created by puncturing an interlobar artery of the upper and lower poles of the kidneys. B-mode gray-scale scans of the kidneys before and after injury, and after the administration of i.v. and intraarterial (i.a.) contrast agents were recorded on videotape for 5 min for each condition (baseline, after injury, after i.v. contrast administration, and after i.a. contrast administration). For each condition and injury, selected frames were analyzed with regions of interest of the normal renal parenchyma, the area of injury, and the perinephric space. Randomized videotape clips from each of the experimental conditions were rated by three sonologists as to the presence or absence of increased intrarenal parenchymal echogenicity, perinephric echogenicity, and confidence as to whether renal injury was present.

RESULTS
Areas of renal injury were isoechoic with normal parenchyma on unenhanced scans. After both i.v. and i.a. contrast material injection, areas of injury were visible as areas of increased echogenicity. Contrast increased from 0.2 on unenhanced images to 4.0 and 4.5, respectively, after i.v. and i.a. administration of the new contrast agent. The three observers' ability to diagnose renal injury increased from 0.61, 0.64, and 0.54 to 0.71, 0.70, and 0.74 after i.v. injection and to 0.93, 0.92, and 0.97 after i.a. injection as indicated by the area under the curve in the receiver operating characteristic analysis.

CONCLUSION
Transabdominal contrast-enhanced gray-scale sonography can reveal the area of acute renal hemorrhage. This procedure may be applicable in patients when sonographic contrast agents, imaging procedures, and modes of contrast administration are optimized for clinical use in trauma.


In order to decrease the cost of β-alumina for solid electrolytes of AMTEC (alkali metal thermo-electric converter), it is desirable to use low purity starting materials. In this paper, we investigated the influence of impurities such as SiO2 and Fe2O3, which are usually contained in low purity alumina, for several hundreds ppm, on properties and microstructure of β″-alumina. The content of β″-alumina phase and the density decreased with the addition of SiO2, and the resistivity of β″-alumina increased even with the addition of amounts of SiO2 as small as 500ppm. Additional SiO2 formed as a glassy phase at multiple grain junctions, but no secondary phase was observed at boundaries between two adjacent grains. Si segregated along the grain boundaries. It was suggested that the segregated Si suppressed the sintering and increased the resistivity. The addition of Fe2O3 did not affect the properties such as content of β″-alumina phase, density and resistance, but the addition of Fe2O3 in ≥0.5 mass% resulted in grain growth. Because Fe ions were suggested dissolved in spinel block of β″-alumina, it was considered that Fe2O3 did not influence the properties of β″-alumina.


FUNCTIONAL_CLASS_INDOTMODEL_IN is a line shapefile that shows the Federal Highway Administration functional classification of roadways from the Road Inventory of the Indiana GIS Department of Transportation (INDOT). The data were derived from pre-existing INDOT basemaps and databases. Functional classification generally is the process by which streets and highways are grouped into classes, or systems, according to the character of the service they are intended to provide year to year. Classifications are "Interstate," "Principal Arterial - Other Freeways or Expressways," "Principal Arterial - Other," "Principal Arterial," "Minor Arterial," "Major Collector," "Minor Collector," and "Local." The data were collected between 2011 and 2015.


Spectral Imaging is one of the current topics in science and industry. To capture spectral images many investigations were made in the past and will be done in the future. For reasonable and robust results in spectral imaging, a high image quality should be provided. One part of all spectral imaging systems is the optical system beside illumination and sensor characteristics. Lenses with a low chromatic aberration or systems, which can correct these aberrations, will lead to good image quality as mentioned. This article will show an approach to correct the chromatic aberrations, which is natural generated in refractive lens systems. This is realized by moving the image sensor with a very high precision. Therefore, investigations considering the accurate bearing of the sensor as well as an evaluation of the system characteristics were done and explained in this paper. Finally, the image sensor can be placed in less than microseconds with a micron accuracy of less than a pixel of the sensor. The tilt along the moving axis stays below one micron.


Colocalization measurements aim to characterize the relative distribution of two molecules within a biologically relevant area. It is efficient to measure two distinct features, co‐occurrence, the extent to which the molecules appear together, and correlation, how well variations in concentration of the two molecules match. The Manders overlap coefficient (MOC) appears in most colocalization software but the literature contains three interpretations of its measurements: (a) co‐occurrence, (b) correlation, or (c) a combination of both. This is surprising given the simplicity of the underlying equation. Testing shows that the MOC responds both to changes in co‐occurrence and to changes in correlation. Further testing reveals that different distributions of intensity (Gaussian, gamma, uniform, exponential) dramatically alter the balance between the contribution from co‐occurrence and correlation. It follows that the MOC's ability to differentiate between different patterns of colocalization is very limited, since any value is compatible with widely differing combinations of co‐occurrence, correlation, and intensity distribution. To characterize colocalization, we recommend reporting both co‐occurrence and correlation, using coefficients specific for each attribute. Since the MOC has no clear role in the measurement of colocalization and causes considerable confusion, we conclude that it should be discarded.


Mid-temperature creep deformation in the range of 600 to 850°C is assuming greater importance in Ni-based superalloys. This is because the design operating temperature of the combustion cycle is increasing as the new generations turbofan engines become more efficient. The temperature at the rim of turbine disks and the root of turbine blades can be in this critical range of temperatures for significant portions of the mission cycle, leading to a complex time-dependent mode of plasticity called "microtwinning"'. Unfortunately this kind of coupled displacive-diffusive deformation mechanism is not yet well understood, and even the range of temperatures and stresses where microtwinning occurs is not clearly defined. This work explores the fundamentals of this phenomenon, from the kinetics of microtwinning to its influence on the mechanical behaviour of the material. To achieve this objective, coupled computational-experimental studies have been carried out. First, the contribution of microtwinning mechanism to the creep deformation of a single crystal superalloy is studied. The accumulated creep strain computed from quantitative stereology of the tested samples supports the role of this mechanism in conferring plastic deformation. Second, the chemical composition of the microtwins is analysed by means of atomic-resolution characterisation techniques (APT and TEM). Segregation of γ'-stabilisers to the growing faults is found to be crucial for the understanding of the creep mechanisms in this range of temperatures. Third, a model for diffusion-controlled growth of microtwins is proposed and used to recover the experimental creep strain rates. This then provides the basis for a thermodynamically consistent constitutive model developed on the basis of crystal plasticity theory. The constitutive model is subsequently implemented into a finite element code to study the activation of the different plastic mechanisms within single crystal and polycrystalline aggregates depending on the crystal orientation. With the support of this model, a relation between the rotations of the crystal and the creep life of the different crystal orientations is established. The numerical and experimental results ultimately reveal the critical role of the microtwinning on the asymmetric behaviour of the alloy and thus, its influence on the mechanical performance.


The authors carried out a historiographical review of the development of legal education of officers in higher military education institutions of Ukraine in the twentieth century in terms of modern historical and pedagogical science.The article clarifies the concepts related to the organization of legal education of officers in higher military educationalinstitutions of the USSR and independent Ukraine. It was found that in the period under study laid the foundation for further development of the modern system of domestic military education.The authors analyzed a set of studies on the legal education of officers, the degree of scientific development of the problem of legal education in higher military school in Ukraine and identified areas for its study. The authors found that representatives of various fields of scientific knowledge (history, philosophy, law and pedagogy) studied certain aspects related to the legal education of officers in higher military educational institutions. Such as the systematization of the experience of officer training; pedagogy and psychology of higher military school; problems of development of the modern system of military education in Ukraine, humanitarianization and technological aspects of personalityoriented training of military specialists with higher education; content and structure of the process of legal training of the contingent in military educational institutions; legal regulation of the military education system.The article offers a classification of scientific works related to this issue according to: the moment of their creation (modern works and published in the period under study); origin (Soviet scientific works and published in independent Ukraine and the countries of the former USSR); purpose (those that reveal the peculiarities of maintaining general discipline in the army and are devoted to issues of team training); subject (legal education of officers as an element of professional training and in the context of rulemaking of public authorities and military administration.).It was found that despite the appeal of some scholars to certain aspects of the formation of legal education of military officers in Ukraine, this problem has not been the subject of a separate scientific study.


The World Health Organization has identified retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) as one of the emerging causes of preventable childhood blindness in developing and middle-income countries. It is becoming a major public health problem in developing countries like India and China. ROP blindness in India is increasing due to the highest number of preterm births in the world, suboptimal neonatal care, lack of awareness, screening programs and treatment not in place, and increasing numbers of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and special newborn care units (SNCUs) opening all over the country without appropriate ophthalmic care. On top of it, heavier and late preterm babies are developing severe ROP due to the variable quality of neonatal services and insufficient optimal eye care in the NICU and SNCU. The situation become more precarious during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and it became a challenge to motivate health workers and parents to keep the screening and treatment of ROP babies in place.


The aim of the study was to analyse the impact of inbreeding on the frequency of hereditary diseases and the number of genetically tested dogs. The pedigrees of 100 Chinese Crested dogs from Polish Kennel Club and information about genetic tests for hereditary eye diseases and other veterinary diagnoses were collected. Inbreeding coefficients and relatedness were estimated for all dogs examined. The relationship between the level of inbreeding and genetic testing was analysed with logistic regression. The relationship between the occurrence of eye disease carriers and sex or the level of inbreeding was also tested. A significant relationship (P < 0.01) was found between inbreeding and the number of animals genetically tested for PLL eye disease. The effect of sex or the level of inbreeding on the eye disease carrier status was non-significant (P > 0.05). However, in some inbred animals the status of the eye disease carrier could be connected with inbreeding, although this needs further research. We found that most of the dogs had related parents and genetic defects. We also found that the breeders often used related dogs, which reduced the genetic diversity of the group and caused hereditary diseases. We suggest that Chinese Crested dog breeders be more open about publishing DNA-test results, which is fundamental for the health of the breed.


Film history has been transformed over the last two decades. Films are no longer viewed as merely texts, set apart in a cultural vacuum. Film historians are now giving increased consideration to the contexts of the films: their production, distribution, exhibition and consumption. Kathryn H. Fuller-Seeley's edited volume is an important addition to this trend. Significantly, though, this new collection disapproves of the tendency of many recent film histories to equate the emergence and popularity of cinema at the turn of the 20th century with the introduction of modernity. While being careful not to dismiss the 'modernity thesis' entirely, Fuller-Seeley and George Potamianos (in the Introduction) and Ronald G. Walters (in the Conclusion) draw attention to the weaknesses of this grand theory: it views movie-goers as a vast, homogenous group; it is too metropolitan in its focus; and it ignores continuities with the past. Edited by Kathryn H. Fuller-Seeley


The world is entering a new phase now. Modernization has ended and we have to think in a new way, because the old way does not work anymore. Putting it another way, we have made a big pragmatic change that we ourselves are not aware of it. The blend between transmission technology and computer has produced an era, called the era of information technology. In addition, in the world of education, information technology is a connecting tool that connects various parts of educational institution so that the institution becomes a comprehensive unit. Educational institution is badly in need of information technology in order to get modern and progressive activities of education.


Introduction: One of the main issues when designing drugs targeting the central nervous system (CNS) is penetration of the blood brain barrier (BBB). When studying the extent of drug transport across the BBB it is the unbound concentration, both in plasma and in the brain that is the most relevant for pharmacological effects. Therefore, the extent of unbound drug transport across the BBB is measured through Kp,uu, a ratio of brain interstitial fluid to plasma unbound drug concentrations.Aim: The aim of the study was to determine whether there are any regional differences in the extent of drug transport across the BBB assessed by Kp,uu between the following regions: hypothalamus, cerebellum, cortex, striatum, hippocampus, brainstem and the spinal cord for four D2-antagonists (paliperidone, clozapine, olanzapine and quetiapine).Methods: This was investigated through in vivo studies where drugs were administered to rats (n=4 per compound) via four hour intravenous constant rate infusion designed to achieve and maintain a steady state concentration. Blood, brain and CSF were sampled by the end of the infusion and stored at -80oCpending the analysis of total drug concentrations. Equilibrium dialysis in vitro studies were performed on brain homogenate of the regions of interest to determine the regional fraction of unbound drug. All samples were analysed by LC-MS/MS to measure the concentration of the drugs in brain, plasma and CSF matrices. Results & Conclusions: It was found that there are significant differences in Kp,uu (p ≤ 0,01) between the structures for all the studied compounds. Noteworthy are the consistently high Kp,uu values for the hypothalamus as well as the low values in the spinal cord for paliperidone. The importance of unbound concentrations was also underlined as quetiapine had no significant regional differences when measuring total concentrations as opposed to when the unbound fraction had been accounted for. These results are a promising lead for further research in the area which may lead to a better understanding of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs targeting the CNS.


This study sought to identify the predictive power of social influences on smoking behavior among Asian American adults. A cross-sectional self-report survey method and stratified-cluster proportional sampling technique was used. The survey was conducted at the 26 randomly selected Asian American community organization locations in the Delaware Valley region. A sample of 1374 was recruited from 26 selected organizations and 1174 completed the survey with an average response rate of 83%. Social influences were measured by examining the predictive power of parental, other important family members' and friends' tobacco use prevalence on smoking behavior, and the perception of the number of people who smoke in the U.S. A Chi-Square test and logistic regression models were used to analyze the data. Current smoking father/brother, number of smoking friends, and gender were positively associated with current tobacco use. Asians who had an ever and current smoking father/brother and those who had current smoking friends were more likely to be current smokers. The youngest age group were more likely to be influenced by an ever and current smoking father/brother, by having close friends who smoke, and perceived the highest amount of peer pressure. The smoking rate was highest among the 22-45 age group. Successful smoking prevention and cessation programs designed for Asian Americans must take into consideration male parental tobacco use because it represents the primary source of learned behavior and this influence continues beyond adolescence.


Carl Schneider's 1992 article in the Hofstra Law Review, The Channelling Function in Family Law, is part of the canon of family law. It has earned a lasting place in the family law constellation, at least in part, because it stakes out a distinctive claim for the role of law in family governance. The article identifies the role of family law as an intermediate one that falls short of the coercion of criminal sanctions but is more directive than the voluntary obligations taken on in contractual regimes. The channelling function allies family law with public purposes, implemented through private associations. It recognizes understandings that protect the vulnerable without undermining the authority of the powerful or negating the possibility of individual choice. Above all, Schneider made the case for the role of law in channelling the behavior necessary to build, shape, sustain, and promote social institutions. Schneider maintained that a culture survives through "the power of its institutions to bind and loose men in the conduct of their affairs with reasons which sink so deep into the self that they become common and


When will my hands become roots? is a performance and installation motivated by the sense of displacement and desire to belong, which I draw from my own experience growing up in Brazil and then moving to Canada. The project is inspired by phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty's notion of body as chiasm (from the Greek letter chi "x" used to describe crossing over relations), which defines that body and world are intertwined by their common texture, the flesh. Following the idea of the chiasm, I cross over elements from both the performance stage and the art gallery into a project that combines my personal memories, cultural identity questions, and interdisciplinary interests. The outcome is a sensorial installation with performance elements and a performance with visual art elements.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the efficacy and safety of Mizolastine in the treatment of perennial allergic rhinitis.

METHOD
Multicentric random Double-blind parallel-controlled study was adopted, and compared with placebo and Cetirizine. Patients (n = 177) were grouped, seventy-two in Mizolastine group, sixty-nine in Cetirizine and thirty-six in placebo group.

RESULT
In the seventh curative day symptomatic and sign marks in Mizolastine group and Cetirizine group were lower, but the mark in Mizolastine group reduced more than in Cetirizine group and placebo group. Mizolastine group is better than Cetirizine group in improvement of nasal obstruction and itching with Visual analogue scale. In the twenty first curative day reduction of symptomatic and sign marks in Mizolastine group was lower than Cetirizine group, but no statistic difference. There were 27 adverse events, no serious adverse events in 177 patients during experimental period. Most adverse events were headache and dryness in mouth and eyes. There were 10 cases adverse events in Mizolastine group, one case was related with experiment and four cases might be related with experiment. There were 14 cases adverse events in Cetirizine group, one case was related with experiment and four cases might be related with experiment. There were three cases adverse events in placebo group.

CONCLUSION
Generally speaking the efficacy of Mizolastine in treatment of perennial allergic rhinitis is better than Cetirizine, Bad events are less. It is safe.


We have previously proposed the osmofiltration method based on a modified Hanss hemorheometer to analyze distributions of erythrocytes in their ability to pass through membrane filters with 3 microns pores. Upon decrease in medium osmolality (u) the erythrocyte volume increases. When cell volume becomes V = Vcr at u = ucr, such cell loses its ability to pass through a 3 microns pore. The flow rate of erythrocyte suspension containing cells with different ucr through a filter gradually decreases with decreasing medium osmolality. This rate becomes zero at some u = omega, when the number of non-filterable cells in the applied sample approaches the number of pores in filter. Experimental determination of the dependencies of the filtration rate on medium osmolality for various hematocrit values allows to obtain omega for each hematocrit and, thereby, to assess the distribution of erythrocytes in ucr. Here, we propose a simplified version of this method, which allows screening of the erythrocytes in heterogeneous suspensions for the distribution in ucr by measuring omega for only two hematocrit values, 0.1% and 1%. Applications of the proposed method are exemplified by analysing the erythrocyte populations of healthy donors, of patients with microspherocytosis, hemochromatosis and normal erythrocyte populations in an acidic environment.


Discounting in the presence of catastrophic risk is a hotly debated issue, in particular with respect to climate change. Many scientists and laymen concerned with potentially catastrophic impacts feel that if an increase in the discount rate drastically increases the likelihood of catastrophic outcomes, this discredits economic cost-benefit calculations. This paper argues that this intuition is sound and that if cost-benefit calculations are done within a model that encompasses the type of catastrophic risk that these scientists worry about, the resulting stabilization target will only be slightly influenced by the discount rate. This is shown within a stylized model of a risk neutral decision maker facing a problem with a catastrophic threshold with unknown location.


Objective Patients treated with statins for dyslipidemia may still have a residual risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). To determine whether genetic variants in the cholesteryl ester transport protein (CETP), rs3764261 (C>A), rs708272 (G>A), and rs12149545 (G>A) affect ASCVD risk, we studied the association of these variants with dyslipidemia in statin-treated patients. Patients and Methods We included 299 adult Thai patients treated with a statin (95 men and 204 women). Genotyping was performed by conducting a TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction-based analysis. We used logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders of age, body mass index, blood pressure, insulin resistance, and statin dosage to analyze the association between CETP variants and atherogenic lipoprotein patterns. Results CETP polymorphisms of rs3764261 and rs708272, but not rs12149545, were significantly associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apoA-I, triglycerides, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-C, and large LDL (LDL1-C) levels as well as mean LDL particle size (all p < 0.020). However, no significant difference was observed in total cholesterol, LDL-C, or apoB levels by CETP variants. Regardless of sex, the combination of rs3764261 (CC genotype) and rs708272 (GG or GA genotypes) showed a stronger association with atherogenic dyslipidemia, including features of decreased HDL-C, elevated triglycerides, and LDL subclass pattern B (odds ratio [OR] = 2.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.78–5.02) compared with the single variant rs3764261 (OR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.27–3.50) or rs708272 (OR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.29–3.49). Conclusion The polymorphisms of CETP rs3764261 (CC genotype) and rs708272 (GG and GA genotypes) may have a higher susceptibility to atherogenic dyslipidemia. Testing for CETP rs3764261 and rs708272 may serve as a surrogate marker for lipid management in statin-treated patients, which may help individualize treatment for reducing the residual risk of ASCVD.


It was hypothesized that successful time-limited nsvchotherap is characterized by movement through three interactional stages (the early r pport attainment stage, the middle conflict stage, and the final resolution stage) and these stages are indicated by the relative presence of communicational harmony. Therapist topic determination (defined as the proportion of therapist topic initiation responses that ware subsequently followed by the client) was used to represent the degree of communicational harmony evidenced. It was hypothesized that successful time-limited therapy dyads would demonstrate a high-low-high sequence of therapist topic determination over the course of treatment while unsuccessful dyads would not. The degree of topic determination over the course of treatment was examined using a replicated N of 1 design for six time-limited psychotherapy dyads, one successful and one unsuccessful dyad from each of three therapists. The results indicated that each successful dyad evidenced the general high, low, high pattern of therapist topic determination, but also that there was a fair degree of variation among them with respect to the abruptness and speed of moving through the stages. None of the unsuccessful dyads were found to have the hypothesized pattern of topic determination.


Abstract Background: Gap at the implant-healing abutment junction can increase the risk of bacterial proliferation. In this study, we determined the leakage at the microgap, and we evaluated hand screwing among clinicians. Materials and methods: The torques tested with nitrogen gas flow were 10, 15, 20, and 30 N cm, and 54 clinicians were asked to torque down a healing abutment as for a surgical procedure. Results: There were no significant differences between 10 and 15 N cm, with a total lack of tightness. For 20 and 30 N cm, there was a notable decrease in leakage. The torque achieved by hand was <10 N cm for 61.7% of the clinicians, between 10 and 15 N cm for 29.1%, between 15 and 20 N cm for 8.0%, and between 20 and 25 N cm for 1.2%. Conclusion: There was a significant difference related to the strength of tightening. Under the conditions of our experiment, the gap of connection was reduced with a torque of ≥20 N cm. Only a small portion of the clinicians could obtain these values by hand. Therefore, a dynamometrical manual wrench should be used to minimize the gap during the osseointegration period.


The use of mechanical thrombectomy for the treatment of acute childhood arterial ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion is increasing, with mounting evidence for its feasibility and safety. Despite this emerging evidence, clear guidelines for patient selection, thrombectomy technique, and postprocedure care do not exist for the pediatric population. Due to unique features of stroke in children, neurologists and interventionalists must consider differences in patient size, anatomy, collateral vessels, imaging parameters, and expected outcomes that may impact appropriate patient selection and timing criteria. In addition, different causes of stroke and comorbidities in children must be considered and may alter the safety and efficacy of thrombectomy. To optimize the success of endovascular intervention in children, a multidisciplinary team should take into account these nuanced considerations when determining patient eligibility, developing a procedural approach, and formulating a postprocedure neurological monitoring and therapeutic plan.


Background: Acinetobacter baumannii has evolved as a common Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) microbe. This study was conducted to find the profile of antimicrobial resistance and mortality and their associated factors in A. baumannii infection of lower respiratory tract.
Materials and Methods: This was a record based cross sectional study done in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kerala. Records of all the 63, A. baumannii lower respiratory infection in 2017, were retrieved and analyzed. MDR was defined as resistance to at least one agent of three or more antimicrobial classes. Proportion of MDR, carbapenam resistance and resistance to other major antimicrobials were calculated. Determinants of carbapenam resistance and its associated antimicrobial resistance were explored. Proportion of mortality and the associated factors were explored. Student's t-test, chi-square test or fisher exact test were used appropriately.
Results: Proportions of MDR and carbapenam resistance were 85.7% and 41.3% respectively. Highest proportion (90.5%) was resistant to piperazillin-tazobactam. Carbapenam resistance was associated with MDR (p-value95% CI: 63.9% to 85.3%). Older age and ICU stay prior to infection were associated with mortality (p-value
Conclusions: Rates of antimicrobial resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii and the mortality were high in the setting, comparable to reports from other parts of India. The drug resistance increases hospital care burden. There is an urgent need to implement stringent infection control measures.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; Nosocomial infection; Antimicrobial resistance; Multi Drug Resistance; ESKAPE.


Broadcasting is a fundamental operation in wireless networks and plays an important role in the communication protocol design. In multihop wireless networks, however, interference at a node due to simultaneous transmissions from its neighbors makes it non-trivial to design a minimum-latency broadcast algorithm, which is known to be NP-complete. We present a simple 12-approximation algorithm for the one-to-all broadcast problem that improves all previously known guarantees for this problem. We then consider the all-to-all broadcast problem where each node sends its own message to all other nodes. For the all-to-all broadcast problem, we present two algorithms with approximation ratios of 20 and 34, improving the best result available in the literature. Finally, we report experimental evaluation of our algorithms. Our studies indicate that our algorithms perform much better in practice than the worst-case guarantees provided in the theoretical analysis and achieve up to 37% performance improvement over existing schemes.


Smart Cities are a key mechanism for facilitating sustainability – be that in the use of resources (e.g. energy, water), the running of city infrastructure (e.g. transport) or in terms of social policy (e.g. politics). Using our experience of a Smart City project, MK:Smart, we describe what role citizen-led innovation could have in promoting long-term sustainable change. Beyond this we detail some of the barriers to success we have identified in the hope that design patterns might help us address these challenges.


A method was developed to determine the secondary hazard potential of avicides and rodenticides to nontarget wild or domestic birds and mammals. Evaluation of this hazard is not adequately covered by existing American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standards. Our report describes a laboratory method which may be used. Criteria for selection of nontarget test species and minimum laboratory maintenance requirements and conditioning are discussed. The test includes a pretreatment period during which the test animals are conditioned to feed upon the target species, a 7-day treatment period during which test animals are fed target species killed with the test pesticide as applied in the field, and a 14-day post-treatment period during which test animals are observed for signs of intoxication. All test animals undergo necropsy at death or, for survivors, at the end of the post-treatment period. Selected tissues are sectioned and histopathological effects are determined. This method has been used in twelve tests of four avicides on six species of birds and mammals.


Sound levels and sound perception are interesting topics which can be studied in almost any
environment where sound exists. However, the focus of this study is quite exceptional. The objective
of the first study was to get insight in the actual sound levels in Dutch cinemas during an action
movie and how visitors perceive these sound levels. Sound levels in cinemas have been studied rarely
and results from these studies are not unambiguous. High sound levels can result in Noise Induced
Hearing Loss and yet it was not clear if these sound levels were reached in Dutch cinemas. Next to
that, sound perception of visitors has not been measured. In other words, it was not clear if visitors
of cinemas are satisfied with the current sound levels.
Warning messages are commonly used within society and are applied on many products and
in many environments. For example the tobacco products, chemical products and toy products are
easy examples of products which use warning messages. But not only on products warning messages
are used, considering constructions areas and warning messages for content on television. As far as is
known warning message are hardly used within sound level environments. The second study
investigated what kind of influence warning messages have whenever they are used in sound level
environments.
By selecting four completely different cinemas a sample was set up in order to conduct the sound
level measurements and investigate the sound perception of the visitors. Every cinema was visited
six times, diffused over week, weekend, midday, eve and evening show times. Summarized, twentyfour
shows of the same movie were visited to construct a reliable sample. In total 359 respondents
participated on study one after the sound levels of the movie were measured.
A small auditory room with a high end sound system was arranged to divide the 120
participants randomly in four experimental groups (70 dBA with warning / 70 dBA without warning /
90 dBA with warning / 90 dBA without warning). The participants watched a short trailer before they
answered the questionnaire.
The sound levels during an action movie are not hazardous for the visitors, since the sound levels
stayed beneath the limits of definitive NIHL. The average sound level (64.30 dBA) can be described as
comfortable. Nevertheless the sound levels in Dutch cinemas can be annoying, especially the
maximum sound levels. During the study an absolute maximum sound level of 106 dBA was
measured and this sound level is for a lot of people annoying; however visitors are only exposed to
these kinds of sound levels for a short period. The perception of the visitors during the action movie
is in line with the objective measurement. The average sound level is reviewed as comfortable by
most of the respondents, while a majority of the respondents think the maximum sound level as
loud. The maximum sound level is assessed as too loud or painfully loud by a quarter of the
respondents. Yet it can be stated that the sound levels are a part of the cinema experience, since
most of the respondents would not change their visiting behavior nor change the change sound level.
It turns out that the warning message had a minor influence on the sound perception of the
participants. Whenever the participants were warned, they perceived the sound level slightly more
comfortable. Thereby the presence of the warning message was appreciated and enhanced the
knowledge of the participants, even more whenever the respondents were exposed to higher sound
levels.


Obesity poses a substantial threat of a worldwide epidemic and requires better understanding of adipose-tissue biology as well as necessitates research into the etiology and therapeutic interventions. In this study, Medicarpin (Med), a natural pterocarpan, was selected (by screening) as a small-molecule inducer of adipocyte differentiation among 854 candidates by using C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cell; a cellular model of adipogenesis. Med induced the expression of brown-adipocyte commitment marker Bmp7 as well as the early regulators of brown fat fate Pparγ, Prdm16, and Pgc-1α during differentiation of C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells. Med also induced the expression of a key thermogenic marker-uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-along with expression of other brown-fat-specific markers and beige-fat-specific markers. Of note, Med significantly reduced the expression of white fat markers too. Furthermore, Med treatment promoted formation of multilocular lipid droplets (LDs), expression of mitochondrial-biogenesis-related genes, and increased oxygen consumption. Gene silencing study revealed that Med promotes the development of brown- and beige-adipocyte characteristics in C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells through activation of the AMPK pathway, and our data allow us to propose Med as a candidate for therapeutics against obesity or related metabolic disorders. © 2017 BioFactors, 44(2):168-179, 2018.


A versatile synthetic method of azo-conjugated metalladithiolenes was developed, and new complexes with various central metals and substituent groups were synthesized. Molecular structures of the azo-conjugated metalladithiolenes of Ni(II), Pd(II), and Pt(II) with diphenylphosphinoethane as a co-ligand were determined by X-ray crystallography. While the energy of the reversible trans-to-cis photoisomerization is considerably lower than that of azobenzene, the thermal stability of the cis form is much higher than that of the organic azobenzene derivatives showing similar low-energy trans-to-cis photoisomerization. A novel proton response of the azo group occurs, and the combination of photoisomerization and protonation leads to a novel proton-catalyzed cis-to-trans isomerization, the rate of which correlates with the redox potential of the metalladithiolene moiety. The study including other azo-conjugated metalladithiolenes has indicated that the protonation is a common feature for the azo-conjugated metalladithiolenes, but trans-to-cis photoisomerization is strongly dependent on the electronic structure of the trans form or a steric effect in the cis form.


This paper proposes a method for tuning the fractional exponent of different types of fractional order resonant controllers for a voltage source converter in a weak AC grid context. The main objective is to ensure the stability of the controlled system in a weak AC grid environment and to achieve an adequate dynamic response under disturbances. Therefore, six commonly used integer order proportional resonant (PR) control structures are selected from the literature and compared with each other according to their frequency behaviour. Afterwards, a rational approximation for the fractional order term is selected based on continuous fraction expansion technique. The inclusion of a fractional exponent in each integer order PR structure generates the fractional order proportional resonant (FPR) control transfer functions. Once the FPR controllers have been obtained, their closed-loop responses are tested via eigenvalue trajectory analysis. For each FPR control structure, a range of the fractional exponent that ensures stability is obtained. The conclusions of eigenvalue trajectory analysis are tested by implementing the FPR control structures in an specific application consisting in a modular multi-level converter (MMC) connected to a weak AC grid with adjustable short-circuit ratio. By means of time-domain simulations, not only the previous eigenvalue analyses are validated, but also new tuning criteria are given for the fractional exponent in combination with other control parameters, such as the damping frequency and the inductance of the complementary feedback branch. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis of the tuning criteria is carried out for other sizes of the AC filter inductance.


Abstract Background Tuberculosis (TB) is an important cause of illness and death in HIV‐positive children living in areas of high TB prevalence. We know that isoniazid prophylaxis prevents TB in HIV‐negative children following TB exposure, but there is uncertainty related to its role in TB preventive treatment in HIV‐positive children. Objectives To summarise the effects of TB preventive treatment versus placebo in HIV‐positive children with no known TB contact on active TB, death, and reported adverse events. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase and two trial registers up to February 2017. Selection criteria We included trials of HIV‐positive children with and without known TB exposure, randomized to receive TB preventive treatment or placebo. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently used the study selection criteria, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data. We assessed effects using risk, incidence rate and hazard ratios and assessed the certainty of evidence using GRADE. Main results We included three trials, involving 991 participants, below the age of 13 years, from South Africa and Botswana. Children were randomized to isoniazid prophylaxis or placebo, given daily or three times weekly. The median length of follow‐up ranged from 5.7 to 34 months; some were on antiretroviral therapy (ART). In HIV‐positive children not on ART, isoniazid prophylaxis may reduce the risk of active TB (hazard ratio (HR) 0.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.11 to 0.87; 1 trial, 240 participants, low certainty evidence), and death (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.95; 1 trial, 240 participants, low certainty evidence). One trial (182 participants) reported number of children with laboratory adverse events, which was similar between the isoniazid prophylaxis and placebo groups. No clinical adverse events were reported. In HIV‐positive children on ART, we do not know if isoniazid prophylaxis reduces the risk of active TB (risk ratio (RR) 0.76, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.14; 3 trials, 737 participants, very low certainty evidence) or death (RR 1.45, 95% CI 0.78 to 2.72; 3 trials, 737 participants, very low certainty evidence). Two trials (714 participants) reported number of clinical adverse events and three trials (795 participants) reported number of laboratory adverse events; for both categories, the number of adverse events were similar between the isoniazid prophylaxis and placebo groups. Authors' conclusions Isoniazid prophylaxis given to all children diagnosed with HIV may reduce the risk of active TB and death in HIV‐positive children not on ART in studies from Africa. For children on ART, no clear benefit was detected. . 12 April 2019 Up to date All studies incorporated from most recent search All eligible published studies found in the last search (17 Feb, 2017) were included


During processing, visualization and analysis of multi-variable oceanographic data sets from an AUV it can be challenging to both maintain overview and pay attention to detail. We here describe a software system intended to bridge this gap and discuss its application on ADCP and CTD data recently acquired by the HUGIN 1000 AUV in the Barents Sea. The software, ANCOR II, features interactive graphics functionality designed to facilitate comprehension of the relationship between spatial/temporal characteristics of the surveyed environment, the sampling process and the sampled data. It Earth-references the sensor data by means of vehicle navigation data and offers temporal/spatial averaging and various visualization options for the processed results. The user navigates the temporal and spatial distribution of vector and scalar data through interconnected plots of vehicle trajectory, current velocity profiles and time-series. The system differs from vessel-mounted ADCP software solutions by handling data from ADCPs that have been moving in three dimensions as well as concurrently sampled CTD data from the same platform. The main objective of the described case-study survey was to investigate the spatio-temporal distribution of diapausing zooplankton organisms. The AUV sensor package comprised an ADCP, a CTD and an LOPC. The paper discusses how the software facilitates processing of AUV-ADCP-CTD data and helps visualizing the data to ease the interpretation of dominant features.


The past few decades have shown an increasing progress towards business role in social and environmental concerns other than business as usual. Such corporate social responsibility role became an important tool for corporate success and inclusive development all over the world despite it emerged in advanced countries. To that end, learning business organizations strive to erudite sustainability practices to meet the interests of stakeholders. Applying organizational learning concepts and norm life cycle theory, this study was carried out to investigate CSR learning in the leather and footwear firms of Ethiopia.
The study was carried out as a qualitative case study, informed by the selected leather and footwear firms, industry association and leather industry development institute. Interviews and content analysis of policy/regulatory documents were the main methods employed. The firms and the state were at the centre of the analysis. The issue of analysis was empirical CSR practice and how regulative, normative and strategic motives shape firms learning towards responsible business.
Findings show that firms' learning social responsibility is at emergence stage with the state and foreign market pressure as key motivators. While regulating environmental and labour conditions, the state offer incentives for higher economic responsibility of firms. Then, there exists collaborative learning in the firm-state institutions affinity. The civil society organizations are away from nurturing responsible investment and are not sources of social responsibility unlike advanced nations. Because firms see each other as rival, there is isolation which deter inter-firm learning too. Responsible investment, to move forward in the industry, needs multi-stakeholder dialogue and learning platform to share experiences and develop organizational learning.