This paper shows how addressing gender in water supply and sanitation projects can improve the well being
of society at large. The study was carried out in Ward 22, Chipinge district in Manicaland province, Zimbabwe.
Interviews and group discussions were held with community people, Rural District Council personnel
and UNICEF personnel. Community-based Management of water supply and sanitation in the Ward was a
success because of the meaningful contribution of both men and women. This led to empowerment of women,
effectiveness and efficiency, increased coverage, community development among other positive impacts. This
paper concludes that meaningful participation of both gender groups in community water supply projects is
quite pivotal in ensuring effective development and should be encouraged at all levels.


this work, impacts of the thickness on electron mobility of Ga and H2 co-doped ZnO (HGZO) thin films were investigated. The HGZO films were prepared on glass substrate by using magnetron sputtering from ceramic Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) target in the gas mixture of argon and hydrogen. Based on the Hall measurement, the mobility enhanced fastly from 44.6 to 53.4cm2/Vs with the increasing thickness from 350 to 900 nm, then tends to be saturated at ~55cm2/Vs with further thickness. Most of the films achieve the mobility of >50cm2/Vs, which is very high value for sputtered TCOs thin films. The thicknessdependent mobility is explained in term of grain boundary scattering. The improvement of crystalline quality reduced grain boundary scattering, which lead to the fast increase in mobility of the films with 350–900nm in thickness. When the thickness increased more than 900nm, however, the appearance of many defects increased scattering centers and saturates the mobility. Furthermore, the results showed the HGZO films with optimum thickness of 800nm obtained low resistivity (5.3 10-4􀁛cm), high average transmittance (83.3%) in the wide wavelength range of 400–1100nm, and the highest figure of merit (10.3 103􀁛-1cm-1) corresponding to high mobility (51.1cm2/Vs).


One of the side effects of each electrical device work is the electromagnetic field generated near its workplace. All organisms, including humans, are exposed daily to the influence of different types of this field, characterized by various physical parameters. Therefore, it is important to accurately determine the effects of an electromagnetic field on the physiological and pathological processes occurring in cells, tissues, and organs. Numerous epidemiological and experimental data suggest that the extremely low frequency magnetic field generated by electrical transmission lines and electrically powered devices and the high frequencies electromagnetic radiation emitted by electronic devices have a potentially negative impact on the circadian system. On the other hand, several studies have found no influence of these fields on chronobiological parameters. According to the current state of knowledge, some previously proposed hypotheses, including one concerning the key role of melatonin secretion disruption in pathogenesis of electromagnetic field induced diseases, need to be revised. This paper reviews the data on the effect of electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields on melatonin and cortisol rhythms—two major markers of the circadian system as well as on sleep. It also provides the basic information about the nature, classification, parameters, and sources of these fields.


Theory suggests that financial liberalisation, through increasing investment as well as the average productivity of capital, stimulates economic growth. Since bank-based financial deepening is often problematic due to adverse selection and moral hazard effects, the establishment and expansion of capital markets has been advocated. This study examines the effect stock market expansion has had for South Africa's economic development. A statistically significant negative relationship between stock market development and economic growth is found. The data suggests that the presence of thin trading prevents the theorized benefits of market development from accruing to the economy.


The aim of the research is to identify how the ruling system prevailing in this vast sultanate, as well as to study and analyze the reality of the ruling system in it, and the purpose of that is to emulate what is qualified for that. The problem of the study is based on the philosophy of the ruling system over the previous centuries, which was adopted in the Valley of the Sultanate of Before its sultans who did a good job in order to advance the sultanate to the best political levels, it turned out that the problem of the research lies in the lack of clarity of the prevailing system of governance adopted by those sultans, so how was the prevailing system of governance in this sultanate? The most important results were as follows: 1- During the reign of its great sultans, the Sultanate of Wadai was able to establish a tight administrative system, which was applied in all the provinces of the Sultanate, which helped in the length of their rule, which lasted for nearly four centuries. 2- Dividing the region into colonels, which included most of the region's tribes, especially the incoming tribes. 3- The emergence of the impact of Islamic civilization clearly in the Sultanate of Wadai in all the ruling systems followed in the country (the courts, the judiciary, the Imamate, the caliphate, and others).


This research aimed to explore the attitudes of teachers of practically based subjects (arts and sports) towards ability grouping. Teachers from 45 secondary schools adopting different levels of ability grouping completed a questionnaire which elicited their responses to statements of beliefs about ability grouping and its effects. Overall, the physical education teachers exhibited the most positive attitudes towards ability grouping, drama teachers the least, with the music and art teachers in between. The best predictor of teachers' attitudes was the subject that they taught. These findings support the notion that, overall, teachers of practical subjects have positive attitudes towards mixed‐ability teaching.


In this paper, FLUENT software was used to simulate the burning process in a utility boiler. Chose the kinetics/diffusion-limited as combustion model, two-competing-rates as devolatilization model, RNG k-emodel as viscous model, and PDF model as combustion turbulent flow model. Numerical calculation of NOx formation in a 330 MW cyclone-opposed coal-fired utility boiler with 32 double air registers was done. The distribution characteristics of temperature, NOx and oxygen concentration in furnace were studied. They were symmetrically distributed in furnace. In the combustion area, temperature and NOx concentration are high, while oxygen concentration is low. Temperature and NOx concentration are declined gradually along with furnace height, while oxygen concentration is raised. The higher the temperature is and the greater the excess air coefficient is, the more NOx formation.


In the year since the onset of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, the International Monetary Fund (IMF or the Fund) has granted loans and emergency financing to over 85 countries, an unprecedented number. In the past, a shock on this scale would have brought the issue of the sufficiency of its resources centre-stage. However, on this occasion, given the characteristics of the loans granted, the IMF's general resources have not been excessively squeezed. Pressure has been greater on the concessional resources granted to low-income countries. Against this background, the IMF's general and concessional resources have two different needs to contend with. In the case of the former, the IMF has the leeway to respond to any future increase in the demand for ordinary financing and, if necessary, it could activate its temporary resources. Conversely, in the case of the latter, it must ensure there are sufficient resources to avert stiffer concessional financing terms for the most vulnerable countries, in what is the most complicated economic juncture of recent decades. The IMF should obtain new borrowed resources as these countries progressively replace emergency assistance with conditional financing.


Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is the nonenveloped virus containing a single-stranded positive-sense RNA as a genome. CVB3 infection can induce acute myocarditis and dilated cardiomypathy. CVB3 of icosahedral symmetry has four capsid proteins called VP1, VP2, VP3, and VP4. Although VP1 is a major antigenic determinant, VP2 is also an important protein for viral physiology, such as maturation cleavage and attenuation. However, VP2 study has been hampered, partly because VP2 antibody is not available. In this study, we developed peptide-based polyclonal VP2 antibody and analyzed its potency by Western blotting analysis and immunofluorescent assay. Purified B3-1 antibody (VP2 peptide antibody developed in here) showed the sensitivity and specificity, similar to VP1 monoclonal antibody which is commercially available. Moreover, this peptide antibody may be useful for double-staining with other antibodies derived from mouse. Therefore, the VP2 antibody may allow us to study CVB assembly and understand VP2 function in depth.


Tacit and explicit knowledge sharing must be continually cultivated to enable information technology implementation success. Effective information technology deployment necessitates a holistic focus beyond technical and legacy factors to include social, organizational, political, and interpersonal dimensions. Attention to cultural integration is a critical component of managing joint venture change and building employee engagement, perception of legitimacy and knowledge sharing norms. Individual employees occupy a key role in determining intended strategic impacts by committing to and enacting change efforts, particularly though making discretionary decisions to share their knowledge or alternatively to hoard, hide or disengage from sharing; an outcome which may be influenced by perceptions on knowledge ownership and value.


The authors report measurements of absolute differential cross sections for the electron impact excitation of the nu 1,3 vibrational modes of NH3 at incident energies of 5, 7.5 and 15 eV. Previous experiments have demonstrated the influence of a broad shape resonance (E symmetry) on the vibrational excitation cross section but have differed significantly as to the position and width of this feature. Consequently, the authors have also measured the energy dependence of the nu 1,3 excitation cross section in the energy range 5-10 eV at a scattering angle of 90'. This revealed a resonance centred at about 7.3 eV with a width of approximately 3.5 eV, the latter being in good agreement with the measurement of Cvejanovic et al. The present differential cross section at 7.5 eV also confirms the dominant l=2 character of the resonant partial wave.


Objective: To study the effect of health educational video instruction on increasing patients' knowledge in a hospital waiting area of a developing country. Methods: An educational video on signs, symptoms, and risk factors of myocardial infarction (MI) was played in an Emergency Department (ED) patient waiting area of an urban tertiary care hospital in India. Participants (n = 217) were randomly assigned to two groups: an intervention group that viewed the MI video (n = 111) and a control group that did not view the video (n = 106). Each group took a standard survey of thirty-seven questions to assess baseline knowledge pertaining to MI (pretest). The intervention group then viewed the video and the initial survey was re-administered to each group (posttest). Results: At baseline (pretest) there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control group in the mean number of correct (18.1 vs. 19.0, p = 0.19), incorrect (9.4 vs. 8.6, p = 0.27) and unsure (9.6 vs. 9.3, p = 0.78) responses per participant. After viewing the video on MI, the intervention group had a statistically significant improvement in the mean number of correct responses (27.0 vs. 20.0, p < 0.001), and a significant decline in the mean number of unsure responses (1.8 vs. 9.4, p < 0.001) compared to the posttest responses of the control group. There was no significant change in the number of incorrect responses on the posttest between the intervention and control groups, (8.3 vs. 7.7, p = 0.35), respectively. Conclusion: A health educational video can serve as an effective tool for increasing patients' short-term knowledge and awareness of health conditions in a hospital waiting area of a developing country.


The working paper focuses on the current situation of Spanish legislation on Internet Service Providers liability, particularly dealing with the hosting service. It starts by presenting the Spanish liability system and the more salient peculiarities of the Spanish transposition of the safe harbors laid down in the E-Commerce Directive. These peculiarities relate to the actual knowledge requirement of the hosting safe harbor. The working paper focuses particularly on a judgment handed down by the Supreme Court that hold an open interpretation of actual knowledge, an issue where courts had so far been split. Very few cases have dealt with the actual knowledge and the hosting safe harbors, though the latter was discussed in an interesting scenario involving the worldwide known hosting service YouTube against the private national broadcasting channel Telecinco.


"We've reached the point of total ridiculousness when we think there is a magic pill you can take to cure the magic pill of addiction. There isn't. The cure for addiction is a process which is painful sometimes but very good sometimes. It's called living." In this statement, the Executive Director of Odyssey House explains one of its guiding principles. And this blend of candor, zest, outrage and compassion reflects the type of energy [udianne Densen-Gerber has brought to building the nation's most effective addict rehabilitation program and to telling its story in a new book, We Mainline Dreams. The book's words and pictures go beyond the program's history and statistics, and behind the stories that have appeared on network news programs, in newspapers from coast to coast, and in numerous magazines. Dr. Densen-Gerber has written a dramatic first-person account of her rigorous a nd often unorthodox methods of treatment, of her pioneering concern for child addicts and the special problems of addicted mothers, and of her unending battle with politicians and bureaucrats for an adequate response to the drug epidemic. But this narrative is only part of the story, The ex-addicts and professionals who run the program have contributed revealing autobiographical sketches, along with news clippings and photos, drawings and poems, schedules, reports, and other documents that capture the texture of day-to-day life at Odyssey. Harvard School of Education; Richard Lewontin, Univers ity of Chicago; and other leading experts in the field. From the Jensen theory to the Moynihan study, this important book is bound to become standard reading on the subject.


IntroductionAlcoholism has become a prominent problem among Mexican Americans, but few studies have examined it using a structured diagnostic instrument. This study describes the demographics and drinking patterns of a heavy drinking group of Mexican American men by using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism II (SSAGA-II). MethodologySix hundred thirty subjects were screened. After screening, 201 male Mexican Americans with heavy alcohol consumption histories (more than 6 drinks per day for more than 5 years) were assessed. Subjects' demographic variables were collected and a portion of SSAGA-II was used to establish alcohol dependence criteria and drinking patterns. ResultsThe prevalence rate for DSM-IV alcohol dependence among the 201 heavy drinking male Mexican Americans was 91.5% (n = 184). Demographic characteristics showed that the average age of subjects was 39, with a majority of them being single, unemployed, born in Mexico, and having less than 12 years of education. They started drinking at a young age and reported being drunk early in the course. More than half drank only beer, and one third drank more than 12 drinks per day on average. The inability to control drinking and the physiological symptoms associated with alcohol consumption were clusters of dependence criteria most likely to be endorsed by our subjects. DiscussionWe studied a cohort of heavy drinking Mexican American men and described their drinking patterns as well as their demographics. Our study was the first to use a structured instrument on Mexican Americans. Although our findings are not generalizable to all Mexican Americans, they provide us needed information in this area.


Prokaryotic diversity in Aran-Bidgol salt lake, a thalasohaline lake in Iran, was studied by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), cultivation techniques, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR-amplified fragments of 16S rRNA genes and 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis. Viable counts obtained (2.5–4 × 106 cells mL−1) were similar to total cell abundance in the lake determined by DAPI direct count (3–4×107 cells mL−1). The proportion of Bacteria to Archaea in the community detectable by FISH was unexpectedly high and ranged between 1:3 and 1:2. We analyzed 101 archaeal isolates and found that most belonged to the genera Halorubrum (55%) and Haloarcula (18%). Eleven bacterial isolates obtained in pure culture were affiliated with the genera Salinibacter (18.7%), Salicola (18.7%) and Rhodovibrio (35.3%). Analysis of inserts of 100 clones from the eight 16S rRNA clone libraries constructed revealed 37 OTUs. The majority (63%) of these sequences were not related to any previously identified taxa. Within this sampling effort we most frequently retrieved phylotypes related to Halorhabdus (16% of archaeal sequences obtained) and Salinibacter (36% of bacterial sequences obtained). Other prokaryotic groups that were abundant included representatives of Haloquadratum, the anaerobic genera Halanaerobium and Halocella, purple sulfur bacteria of the genus Halorhodospira and Cyanobacteria.


Although nondiabetic nephropathies are common among type 2 diabetic patients, very few cases of minimal change nephrotic syndrome have been reported in diabetic patients. We describe a type 2 diabetic patient that rapidly developed a nephrotic syndrome accompanied by a mild worsening of renal function. Proteinuria was negative one year before and no signs of diabetic retinopathy were found. Renal biopsy established the diagnosis of minimal change disease. Steroid treatment induced a complete remission of nephrotic syndrome and recovery of normal renal function. However, massive proteinuria relapsed two years later. A second cycle of steroids was followed by a disappearance of proteinuria, but a third bout of nephrotic syndrome was observed 6 months later. An 8-weeks cycle of steroids plus chlorambucil induced a complete and persistent remission. Throughout a five-year follow up, no relapse of the nephrotic syndrome was observed and microalbuminuria is negative.


Abstract. Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) affect bathing water
quality of receiving water bodies by bacterial pollution. The aim of this
study is to assess the health hazard of bathing waters affected by CSOs.
This is useful for bathing water managers, for risk assessment purposes, and
for further impact and economic assessments. Pollutant hazard was
evaluated based on two novel indicators proposed in this study: the mean
duration of insufficient bathing water quality (1) over a period of time
(i.e., several years) and (2) after single CSO/rain events. In particular, a
novel correlation between the duration of seawater pollution and the event
rainfall volume was developed. Pollutant hazard was assessed through a coupled urban drainage and seawater quality model that was
developed, calibrated and validated based on local observations.
Furthermore, hazard assessment was based on a novel statistical analysis of
continuous simulations over a 9-year period using the coupled model.
Finally, a validation of the estimated hazard is also shown. The health
hazard was evaluated for the case study of Badalona (Spain) even though the
methodology presented can be considered generally applicable to other urban
areas and related receiving bathing water bodies. The case study presented
is part of the EU-funded H2020 project BINGO (Bringing INnovation to OnGOing
water management – a better future under climate change).


Mooring fittings mean various devices and fittings to safely fasten vessels to quays, jetties and sea-floating buoys, etc. They include mooing winches, capstans, chocks, fairleads, guide rollers, bollards, and bitts. Not only the seats and reinforced parts for the installation of fittings but also ropes and chains for mooring and chain stoppers can be also considered. Because of damages to mooring fittings during mooring directly related to large-scale accidents such as the drifting of vessels, mooring fittings with strength appropriate for the physical features of the vessels must be installed. The reinforcement of the vessels on which the mooring fittings are installed must be designed to withstand the loads transferred from the fittings as well. Also mooring fittings with efficient strength should be required because damaged ships lead to sea pollution such as oil or fuel oil spillage. This study has been performed by the Finite Element Method for two aspects of closed chocks which are divided into structure-supporting shapes and working load. In the case of structure-supporting shapes, they have been performed in the field of sheet and bulwark. As for working load, it has been analyzed according to working load direction such as chock's side and below. At first, strength analysis for unique closed chocks has been carried out by using the Finite Element Method, they are applied for the situation when vessels pass by the panama canal. And then the experiment has been done to verify the analyzed date obtained by FEM. The experimental results were found to be similar to the numerical results with up to 16% difference. On the basis of the results obtained, standardization has been carried out by the Finite Element Method for various sizes of closed chocks.


Background Recent management guidelines for gout have identified unmet educational needs in patients with gout. Qualitative studies have documented that there is a paucity of patient-focused materials to facilitate ongoing patient-physician communication. Objectives To develop and test a web-based interactive educational resource for patients with gout tailored to improve their knowledge. This electronic platform has the potential to educate patients about gout and help facilitate communication with their physician to improve long term outcomes. Methods The website was developed in four phases. 1. Two advisory panels - 30 gout patients and 10 gout experts iteratively reviewed pre-identified content areas of modifiable gaps in pathogenesis, natural history and treatment goals from previously conducted focus groups1. They evaluated the design (graphics and lay out) of the website and provided written input. 2. Incorporation of a validated knowledge questionnaire2 on gout and a 5-minute post-survey to assess knowledge about critical take-home messages and satisfaction with their physician's care. 3. With a team of web designer and health informatics expert content areas were tailored in the website so the patient could walk through their own journey to learn various aspects of gout including triggers of flares, comorbidities, pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment, healthy gout diet, and lifestyle choices. 4. Beta testing by patients with gout in clinics for clarity and usability. The website is called MyGoutCare® and in the pilot study, the patient completes a baseline survey of demographics and gout knowledge, reviews the website and generates a list of customized questions (Mygoutreport®) to discuss at the upcoming visit with their physician. They next complete a post-survey within two weeks of the physician visit. Data was analyzed using a paired t-test and presented as mean change in scores between post and baseline surveys. Results 10 patients beta-tested the website for clarity, format, and flow. In the ongoing pilot study 22 subjects (mean age of 57 years, disease duration of 9.5 years, and 3–5 flares per year) were recruited from general medicine, podiatry, and rheumatology clinics and have completed MyGoutCare®. They were extremely receptive of an e-learning tool that was accessible 24/7. Pre-survey scores (0–10) on knowledge questions improved significantly (20%) when compared to post-survey scores with mean (SD) at -1.95 (1.76), p<0.001. All subjects reported satisfaction with the discussion on the natural history of disease and treatment choices. Most importantly they reported actionable changes moving forward, such as decision to continue lifelong urate-lowering therapy, compliance with monitoring serum urate, and dietary changes to achieve flare-free status. Conclusions Our preliminary data suggests web-based patient-focused materials can serve as a practical tool to positively impact ongoing educational needs of patients in busy clinical practice. It remains to be seen if this will lead to better long term outcomes and improve patient-physician interactions. References Khanna P. Gouty patients and clinicians admit to knowledge gaps about the disease: A qualitative experience from the US. Ann Rheum Dis. 2013;72(Suppl 3):768. Zhang LY et al. Development and evaluation of a survey of gout patients concerning their knowledge about gout. J Clin Rheumatol. 2011 Aug;17(5):242–8. Disclosure of Interest P. Khanna Grant/research support from: research supported by investigator initiated grant to University of Michigan by AstraZeneca, A. Rankin: None declared, L. An: None declared, D. Khanna: None declared


Because of the threat of advanced multi-step attacks, it is often difficult for security operators to completely cover all vulnerabilities when deploying remediations. Deploying sensors to monitor attacks exploiting residual vulnerabilities is not sufficient and new tools are needed to assess the risk associated to the security events produced by these sensors. Although attack graphs were proposed to represent known multi-step attacks occurring in an information system, they are not directly suited for dynamic risk assessment. In this paper, we present the Bayesian Attack Model (BAM), a Bayesian network-based extension to topological attack graphs, capable of handling topological cycles, making it fit for any information system. Evaluation is performed on realistic topologies to study the sensitivity of its probabilistic parameters.


Nanoimprint has the advantages of high throughput, sub-10-nm feature and low cost. However, the uniformity is a major concern of the pattern transfer fidelity across large area. In this study, the authors present a method for uniform printing by introducing a designed local mold deformation along the block boundary. This method is simple and effective. The shallow grooves are cut on the back of the mold along the boundaries defining the blocks of patterned features. The grooves absorb the most mold deformation and enable each block to lie on the substrate with close fit to obtain uniform pattern transfer over a large area. Both simulation and experimental investigations are conducted to verify the proposed approach. The results reveal that increasing the imprinting pressure will cause large mold deformation and affect the imprinted quality significantly. The method of cutting grooves can reduce the imprint defects and increase the uniformity in the patterned area. Using the proposed technique to fabricate 50 nm grates with the aspect ratio as high as 4 is proved successful. The results demonstrate a new imprint method of introducing the controlled local mold deformation for uniform imprint across large area.


In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of electrons in the -helix polypeptide chain and show that an electron can be bound in the compression area of the proton sublattice and become an electrosoliton state described by a bell-shaped electronic wave function. Due to the coupling between the three hydrogen-bonded chains, symmetric and asymmetric electrosoliton-soliton pairs are obtained.


Infertility, as a social and cultural problem affecting individuals and  families, makes People Living with Infertility (PLWI) to seek solution through different pathways, but with little or no information on patriarchal barrier(s) militating against counselling in the course of treatment. The study, therefore, investigated infertility treatments and counselling in the context of patriarchy among Ijebu, south western Nigeria. The study  utilized Ecology Model as theoretical guide and cross-sectional survey design was adopted for data gathering. Two local government areas were purposively selected: Ijebu North and Ijebu-Ode LGAs. Infertile females were purposively selected in the churches and other care centres.  Questionnaires were administered on snowball basis. Eight in-depth  interviews (IDIs) were conducted for two medical doctors, two Traditional  Birth Attendants (TBAs), two opinion leaders and two clergy. Quantitative  data were analysed with simple percentage. Content analysis was used for qualitative data. Assisted reproductive technologies - ARTs were not  acceptable. 62% agreed that government should intensify legislation,  health education; legal and medical counselling centres that would provide level playing ground for PLWI. PLWI to have easy access to the  treatments, social and financial costs should be de-emphasized and the need for counselling should be emphasized in case of ART Key words : Patriarchy, Infertility, Health-seeking behaviour, Counselling, Gender inequality.


Background To evaluate the clinical efficacy of common pedicle screw placement combined with pedicle screw fixation for the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures using a posterior minimally invasive approach. Methods Between May 2015 and December 2016, a total of 33 cases of thoracolumbar burst fracture (AO/Magerl type A3) were treated using a posterior minimally invasive procedure with ordinary pedicle screws under the channel in combination with injured vertebra transpedicular fixations. The patient cohort included 20 males and 13 females with an average age of 43.5 yr (range: 26~61 yr). 16 cases were due to traffic accidents, whereas 11 cases were due to falls, and 6 cases of other injuries. All patients showed no nerve injury. Of the injured segments, 5 cases were T 11 , 14 were T 12 , 13 were L 1 , and one was L 2 .No patients presented with spinal nerve injury. The duration of the operations and intraoperative blood loss in each patient were recorded. The pain visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to estimate the degree of back -surgical incision pain. Measurements of the percentage of injured vertebral height loss and the sagittal Cobb angle, which was evaluated for correction of the kyphosis angle and height restoration using plain radiographs, Every patient were recorded preoperatively and at postoperative day 3, 6 month, 1 year, and final follow-up visits. Plain CT scans and reconstructions were used to assess fracture healing. Results No patients experienced intraoperative complications. The average operating time was 109.2 min (range: 90~130 min), and the average intraoperative blood loss was 82.4 ml (range: 50~150 ml). The VAS scores for the lumbar back incision on the 3rd postoperative day and at the final follow-up were 2.39 ± 0.83 points and 0.70 ± 0.68 points, respectively.Additionally, all incisions healed without any postoperative complications. All patients were followed up over a period of 13 to 24 months postoperatively (average 15.9 months). Compared to preoperative values, every patient in the percentage of vertebral height loss and the sagittal Cobb angle significantly improved over the follow-up period, with significant differences between day 3, 6 month, 1 year, and final follow-up visits (P<0.05). However, the difference was not significant between the groups at all postoperative time points (P>0.05). CT scans showed that the injured vertebrae healed well, with no subsidence, loosening, or fractures of the internal fixation. Conclusion The minimally invasive posterior approach with common pedicle screw placements and combined pedicle screw fixation is similar to percutaneous minimally invasive screw fixation. The pedicle screw rests on a strong internal fixation to restore and maintain vertebral height. This procedure is safe and effective for the treatment of A3 thoracolumbar burst fractures, resulting in less trauma and bleeding as well as satisfactory deformity correction.


Objective To evaluate hematopoietic reconstitution, immune reconstitution, infection, incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and other complications between unrelated donor peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation and bone marrow (BM) transplantation.

Methods The clinical results in 21 patients receiving a PBSC graft mobilized by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) from unrelated donors were compared to 32 patients receiving unrelated BM transplants.

Results The PBSC graft contained significantly more nucleated cells ( P =0.000), and resulted in a significantly shorter time-to-neutrophil (12.43±3.67 versus 16.16±2.99 days) and platelet engraftment (14.67±6.19 versus 21.23±8.25 days), compared to the BM group ( P =0.000, 0.003, respectively). T cell reconstitution between the two groups differed little after transplantation. The incidences of early-stage infection were 42.86% and 53.13% (not significant [NS]) in the PBSC and BM groups, respectively. Probabilities of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) were 61.90% and 71.88% (NS), of grades III to IV aGVHD 23.81% and 15.63% (NS) and of chronic GVHD 47.06% and 43.48% (NS) in the PBSC and BM groups, respectively. The probabilities of relapse were 6.90% and 12.50% (NS) in the PBSC and BM groups, respectively. The 2-year disease free survival (DFS) rates of the two groups were (50.14±12.00) % and (59.81±8.99) %( NS), respectively.

Conclusion G-CSF-mobilized PBSCs engraft rapidly in unrelated donor recipients compared to conventional BM, but T cell reconstitution and the incidence of infection between the two groups differed little. There were no significant differences of the incidence and severity of aGVHD and cGVHD, and 2-year DFS rates between the two groups.


BACKGROUND
Bowel intussusception represents an infrequent and challenging condition in adult patients. Preoperative diagnosis and treatment strategies often remain difficult especially in emergency patients. Primary reduction of intussusception before surgical resection is discussed controversially in adult patients and at the moment there is no consensus about the best treatment in literature.

CASE REPORT
We report the case of a 40-year-old male patient with a ten-day history of increasing colicky abdominal pain and constipation associated with nausea and vomiting. Clinical examination revealed acute abdomen with a palpable mass in the right upper abdomen. Ultrasonography and CT-scan showed typical signs of bowel intussusception. Emergency laparotomy and extended right hemicolectomy were performed. Histological examination detected an adenocarcinoma of the ileocecal valve as leading pathology.

CONCLUSIONS
In adults most cases of intussusception are caused by structural lesions. The high incidence of malignancies in adult patients, which require an optimal oncological treatment, should be the main reason for primary surgical resection without reduction.


We present a practical numerical method for evaluating the Lagrange multipliers necessary for maintaining a constrained linear geometry of particles in dynamical simulations. The method involves no iterations and is limited in accuracy only by the numerical methods for solving small systems of linear equations. As a result of the non-iterative and exact (within numerical accuracy) nature of the procedure, there is no drift in the constrained geometry, and the method is therefore readily applied to molecular dynamics simulations of, for example, rigid linear molecules or materials of non-spherical grains. We illustrate the approach through implementation in the commonly used second-order velocity-explicit Verlet method.


We study f-electron lattice models which are capable of supporting octupolar, as well dipolar and quadrupolar, order. Analyzing the properties of the Gamma8 ground state quartet, we find that (111)-type combinations of the Gamma5 octupoles Tbeta(111)=Tbeta(x)+Tbeta(y)+Tbeta(z) are the best candidates for octupolar order parameters. Octupolar ordering induces Gamma5-type quadrupoles as secondary order parameter. Octupolar order is to some extent assisted, but in its basic nature unchanged, by allowing for the presence of quadrupolar interactions. In the absence of an external magnetic field, equivalent results hold antiferro-octupolar ordering on the fcc lattice. In this sense, the choice of our model is motivated by the recent suggestion of octupolar ordering in NpO2.
The bulk of our paper is devoted to a study of the effect of an external magnetic field on ferro-octupolar ordering. We found that octupolar order survives up to a critical magnetic field if the field is lying in specific directions, while for general field directions, the underlying symmetry of the model is destroyed and therefore the phase transition suppressed even in weak fields. Field-induced multipoles and field-induced couplings between various order parameters are discussed on the basis of a group theoretical analysis of the Helmholtz potential. We also studied the effect of octupolar ordering on the non-linear magnetic susceptibility which satisfies Ehrenfest-type relations at continuous octupolar transitions.


How We got OUT Prayer Book. By T. W. Drury and R. T. Beckwith. (Latimer Studies, 22.) Pp. 56. Oxford: Latimer House, 1986. £1.50. o 946307 21 o Effectively a pamphlet reprint of the work of an erstwhile bishop of Sodor and Man, T. W. Drury, this labour of Mr T. R. Beckwith offers students a useful introduction to the liturgical genius of Thomas Cranmer. There are strengths and weaknesses about the piece. Its clarity will certainly inform the uninitiated as well as anything in print, although lack of a bibliography however 'select' will hardly encourage readers to get to grips with F. E. Brightman and E. C. Ratcliff. The epilogue will, moreover, intrigue: does Mr Beckwith's critique of the Alternative Service Book indicate the raison d'etre, or 'real reason', for his endeavour? For it contains a veiled plea for Prayer Book restoration 'if the Church of England recovers from its present spiritual decline' (p. 52). This ABC of Anglican liturgical origins would seem to be a Tract for the Times!


We present measurements of Collins asymmetries in the inclusive process e þ e − → h 1 h 2 X , h 1 h 2 ¼ KK , K π , ππ , at the center-of-mass energy of 10.6 GeV, using a data sample of 468 fb − 1 collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II B factory at SLAC National Accelerator Center. Considering hadrons in opposite thrust hemispheres of hadronic events, we observe clear azimuthal asymmetries in the ratio of unlike sign to like sign, and unlike sign to all charged h 1 h 2 pairs, which increase with hadron energies. The K π asymmetries are similar to those measured for the ππ pairs, whereas those measured for high-energy KK pairs are, in general, larger.


The intertype specificities of the epitopes present on the surface of the hexon types belonging to human adenovirus (Ad h) subgenus C were studied. The reactivity pattern (RP) and the titres of ascitic fluids containing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were determined in ELISA. From three panels of MAbs 38 directed against Ad h1, 17 directed against Ad h 35 and 6 MAbs directed against bovine adenovirus type 2 were studied. Twelve of the MAbs proved to be genus or type specific. The rest of the MAbs showed numerous intertype specific RPs in different combinations on the different hexon types according to previous experiments with purified hexons of different Ad h subgenera and animal serotypes. With hexon types 1, 2, 5 and 6 of subgenus C all intertype specific MAbs gave identical RPs and the titres of the individual MAbs with all the four hexon types were generally high, and the most frequently found titres were evenly distributed among them. These results indicate the presence of numerous different intertype specific epitopes on the hexons of subgenus C in identical combination on the four hexon types.


Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy is gaining in popularity among all diagnostic tests used in the evaluation of patients for thyroidectomy. Its safety and accuracy have been well documented, but criteria regarding when FNA is appropriate are lacking. We retrospectively reviewed our experience with 408 consecutive patients evaluated for thyroid surgery. Two hundred seventy‐three ultimately underwent thyroidectomy; 100 of these had preoperative FNA. An additional 135 patients underwent FNA without surgery. Patients who benefited from FNA were those in whom cytologic findings led to surgery for otherwise unsuspected malignancy (15), and those with asymptomatic benign nodules who avoided unnecessary thyroidectomy on the basis of FNA findings (96). FNA is superfluous when clinical conditions mandate surgery. These include nodules that arouse clinical suspicion of malignancy, massive nodules that cause aerodigestive tract compression or cosmetic disfigurement, and nodules extending into the mediastinum. All patients with asymptomatic, clinically benign thyroid nodules should undergo FNA biopsy, as approximately 50% can anticipate significant benefit from the procedure.


Startup businesses have always played an important role in the global economy, but recently their importance has grown significantly. For this reason, governments around the world have amended regulation and created incentives to encourage their development. However, statistics show that startups have an extremely high mortality rate, often due to a lack of strategic planning, wrong marketing investments or inefficient resource allocation. The purpose of this paper is to propose a decision-driven tool which will enable the creation of a successful promotional strategy. The proposed strategy is a three-stage process allowing startups to gradually eliminate non-optimal advertising formats. The first stage focuses on the analysis of the e-market where the startup operates. The second stage is dedicated to the economic environment that the new company will face relative to its available resources. Its aim is to reject overly expensive advertising formats by linking costs to availability of funds. The third and last stage is a cost effectiveness analysis, allowing the entrepreneur to identify the best advertising formats and using an impact-factor as a proxy of effectiveness. The proposed methodology has been applied to the case of an Italian early-stage startup for validation.


The Radio Frequency Identification and Wireless Sensor Networks exemplify computationally constrained environments, where the compact nature of the components cannot support complex computations or high communication overhead. On the other hand, such components should support security applications such as message integrity, authentication, and time stamping. The later are efficiently implemented by Hash Message Authentication Codes (HMAC). Current approved implementations of HMAC require resources that cannot be supported in constrained components. The stream ciphering is used in the HMAC mechanism. The same seed based key generation is used in the system. The proposed system is designed to provide authentication, confidentiality and message integrity for wireless sensor node communication. The public key cryptography technique is used to secure the key transfer process. The session-based key is used for message communication. The elliptic curve cryptography technique is used for the key distribution process. The message communication is secured using the RC4 (Rivest Cipher) algorithm. The secure hashing algorithm is used for the message integrity analysis. The Java in Simulation Time (JiST) simulation environment is used for the system development.


The intercomparison of upper troposphere and lower stratosphere NOx measured on board of commercial aircraft with results of the chemistry-climate model E39/C revealed an underestimation of summertime simulated NOx concentrations. A further investigation of the causes within the EU-project TRADEOFF, using new satellite data, indicated a deficiency in the lightning parameterisation. A new parameterisation has been developed, which is based on t he convective massflux. The effect of individual emissions on the NOx and ozone concentration is shown. Tropical lightning emissions have the potential to enhance the mid-latitude NOx concentration via transport through the lowermost stratosphere. This transport process enhances ozone at mid - latitudes to the same magnitude as mid-latitude lightning. Compared to the previous formulation of lightning the impact of air traffic is reduced when applying the new lightning parameterisation, although the absolute amount of emitted NOx by lightning was not affected, but the horizontal and vertical location of the emitted NOx. The contribution of air traffic to the NOx budget in the northern upper troposphere is reduced from 30%-40% to 20%-30% and the contribution to ozone is reduced from 3%-4% to 2.5%.


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: 47 coagulase-positive staphylococcal strains were isolated from the nasal smears of 175 healthy donkeys. In accordance with the schemes of Akatov--Devriese and Mayer-Witte--Akatov, 10.6% of the cultures were classified with the coagulase-positive species S. hyicus and 89.3%, with the species S. aureus. Out of S. aureus strains, 11.9% were found to have the characteristics of ecovar hominis, while 16.2% of the cultures could not be classified with definite ecovars. Most of the strains (71.4%) were found to differ from the known ecovars of S. aureus in their biological properties. For this reason, the above strains were classified with the new ecovar asinae. The authors propose to make the existing S. aureus identification scheme (the scheme of Mayer-Witte--Akatov) more complete by adding the tests for hyaluronidase and phosphatase.


The distribution of charitable organizations in an equitable and socially just manner is a long-standing policy concern in the United Kingdom and many other jurisdictions. Geographic variations are important as they are linked to potentially inequitable service provision and opportunities for participation in voluntary activities. This study links large-scale administrative data on charities registered in England and Wales with local authority-level measures of material deprivation for 5 U.K. census years (1971–2011). Count and spatial regression models show evidence of nonlinear associations between charity density and social need, and changes in the shape of this distribution over time. In general, charity density is highest in the least deprived local authorities but this varies across different types of organizations and census years. These results provide important new insights into the evolving relationship between charity density and social need, and demonstrate the value of adopting more advanced, longitudinal statistical approaches for studying this phenomenon.


Tools for clinical examination have not fundamentally evolved since the invention of the stethoscope by René Laennec in the nineteenth century. However, three decades ago, the medical community started to consider repurposing ultrasound scanners to improve physical examinations. A broad community of healthcare professionals trained in the new clinical examination paradigm could not be created due to the very high price of portable ultrasound scanners available on the market. In this paper, we study an Open-Source Hardware (OSH) community that aims to improve diagnosis in hospitals and medically underserved areas worldwide. They are designing an echo-stethoscope – a portable ultrasound scanner – that would be affordable in low and middle-income countries. The variety of expertise pooled to achieve this objective puts this knowledge common (KC) at the crossroads of open-source software (OSS), OSH, and medical communities. Unlike typical KC outcomes, an ultrasound probe is a physical object. Development and innovation in the physical world bring social dilemmas that the community has to overcome, restrictions in terms of openness, and in this case, unintended privatization. Our study uses the governing knowledge common framework (GKCF), a modified institutional analysis and development framework, to untangle the interactions between resources, participants, and governance structures. Our research describes why and how the creation of a physical object subject to industry regulation influences the evolution and governance of the KC. We provide evidence that temporary privatization of the KC can be used as a way to protect and sustain a common during the industrialization phase. We also demonstrate how a portfolio of projects is an effective and resilient way to help the common survive this privatization step.


We described the indigestion caused by an involutive reduction in efficiency of intestinal digestion as a result of age-reduction enzymes of the pancreas, small intestine and stomach. Symptoms of involutive maldigestion eliminated fractional power, the use of pancreatic enzymes, pre- and probiotics.


Oxytocin is a valuable, time-tested drug and one of the most commonly used medications during labour and delivery.It acts on the smooth muscle of the uterus to stimulate contractions. In Canada, its uses include the induction of labour in patients with a medical indication for the initiation of labour; the stimulation and reinforcement of labour; and to control postpartum bleeding and hemorrhage.' As a high-alert medication, oxytocin bears a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm if used in error. For example, use of this drug to induce labour has been associated with significant adverse effects to both the mother (e.g., arrhythmias, uterine hyperstimulation, postpartum hemorrhage) and the fetus (e.g., bradycardia, hypoxia, hyperbilirubinemia, retinal hemorrhage).This bulletin shares information about incidents involving the use of oxytocin that have been voluntarily reported to the Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS). It includes an overview of the incidents and highlights major themes identified through a multi-incident analysis to raise awareness about continuous improvement opportunities for management of this medication.


Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with a risk of adverse pregnancy
outcome and is a predictor of subsequent diabetes. The aims of this work were to
describe a reliable routine to diagnose abnormal glucose tolerance during pregnancy,
to investigate women's opinions of the specialist care provided, to determine the
prevalence of diabetes one year after giving birth, and to elucidate the effect of
abnormal glucose tolerance on pregnancy outcome and on the women's future health.
Routines for a general decentralised oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) at antenatal
clinics, with high quality and high compliance of the patients are described. Perinatal
outcome was determined and compared for the years 1995-1999 and 2000-2003, and
in two geographical areas with different screening routines (OGTT and random
glucose measurements, RGM). The routine use of OGTTs identified twice as many
cases of GDM as RGM. Those not identified with RGM were as affected.
The women's opinions of the extended care programme were analysed using a
questionnaire. The results showed great satisfaction with the care provided, especially
the sound knowledge of the staff. However, a desire for better preparation before the
OGTT, better information flow and more information on normal pregnancy was
expressed.
Women delivered in 2003-2005 who had undergone an OGTT during pregnancy
participated in a follow-up study 1-2 years after delivery. Different cut-off limits were
used for 2-h capillary plasma glucose concentrations at OGTT during pregnancy.
GDM >10.0 mmol/L, gestational impaired glucose tolerance (GIGT) 8.6-9.9
mmol/L, and a control group <8.6 mmol/L. At follow-up, 11% (n=160) of the GDM
group, 4% (n=309) of the GIGT group and none of the controls had diabetes. When
diagnosed with GIGT a retest was offered. Two-thirds of the women with diabetes
after GIGT were found in the group diagnosed as having GDM after retest during
pregnancy. Adverse pregnancy outcome was observed in both the GDM and GIGT
groups compared with the controls.
Women with previous GDM were more than 3 times as likely as a group to consume
health care resources in a year after delivery (odds ratio 3.5, 95% CI 2.5-5.0), leading
to an average 50% higher cost (p<0.001). Annual excess cost was apparent up to 7
years after childbirth (p<0.01).
A general routine OGTT during pregnancy identifies women with GDM, providing
the opportunity to improve the pregnancy outcome and to make lifestyle changes that
can improve the future health of both mother and child.


O-iodoxybenzoic acid and its precursors o-iodbenzoic acid and o-iodosobenzoic acid, were first described by Meyer and his co-workers, 1 in 1892. The action of these substances was first investigated in 1899 by Heinz, 2 who attempted to study the action of nascent iodine in the body by their use. Loevenhart and Grove 3 discussed the preparation and modification of these preparations and studied the effect of sodium iodoxybenzoate on the blood. They found only slight changes following its intravenous administration, marked by a mild polymorphonuclear leukocytosis. Grove and Loevenhart 4 studied the effect of sodium iodosobenzoate and sodium iodoxybenzoate on the respiratory center and concluded that the apnea produced by these compounds was due to the presence of the oxygen combined with the iodine. They also studied the antagonism between sodium iodosobenzoate and hydrocyanic acid in regard to the respiratory center. Arkin 5 studied the germicidal action of the compounds


Abstract
From 2007 to 2009, Kansas State University Libraries (K-State Libraries) committed to strategically assess and redevelop their organizational structure. The Libraries' Strategic Plan and position redistributions commenced in 2007 and 2009 respectively, with adjustments in 2010 to accommodate the university's K-State 2025 Strategic Plan. Together, these changed the roles of former subject librarians, dividing and transferring responsibilities for outreach, reference, instruction, and collection development. Among the more significant changes was the creation of departments devoted to patron groups, rather than specific academic disciplines. Illustrating how the reorganization changed the roles of traditional library services, this chapter outlines the responsibilities of three librarian positions: Undergraduate and Community Services, Faculty and Graduate Services, and Content (collection) Development. The librarians are also founding members of the K-State Libraries Arts Matrix, an ad hoc team operating within the new organization to enhance communication and expand subject expertise in the visual and performing arts. These transitions presented both opportunities for engagement and specialization, as well as challenges to communication and subject identity. These issues are addressed, including solutions offered by the matrix model. Although this study is limited by the neoteric existence of this model, and lack of precedents for comparison, K-State Libraries' example may offer a viable model for institutions adapting to fiscal realities. Additionally, matrices may supplement the traditional subject librarian model for those seeking to enhance engagement and collaboration. This chapter offers further insight into a strategic planning process, as well as a transparent, inclusive strategy for librarians adjusting to organizational change.


In order to protect and adequately appreciate the different elements and heritage values available in the territory, the managing entities of these goods use different mechanisms depending on the characteristics of the elements and groups, as well as on the capabilities of their own agencies. A reading and classification of the diversity of methodolo - gies and strategies, using the case study of the Spanish environment, may provide a series of guidelines on which can be a model fit for a particular patrimonial element, as well as on which strategies can be the best to revalue its attributes, while optimizing the transfer of knowledge to its visitors.


The present report describes a one-step method for the derivatization and extraction of nonesterified fatty acids in plasma with subsequent analysis by conventional capillary gas-liquid chromatography or gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The procedure requires 200 microliters of citrated plasma, dilution with 200 microliters of methanol containing a suitable internal standard, and rapid methylation (10 min) with ethereal diazomethane. An aliquot (60%) of the ether layer is subsequently removed, taken to dryness with nitrogen gas, and the residue is dissolved in a small volume of hexane (usually 50 microliters) for chromatographic analysis (taking 1 microliter for on-column injection). Samples are ready for analysis within 15 min after initial preparation of the plasma. The method has been found to be simple and rapid, providing clean fatty acid profiles. Although the method has been tested with 200 microliters of rat and human plasma, it can easily be adapted to a 40 microliters plasma sample if the esterified plasma extract is suspended in a smaller volume of hexane and/or a larger aliquot of the extract were to be injected into the gas chromatograph through use of a splitless injector.


Collaborative design and simulation is the key technique for complex product development, which is a highly complicated multidisciplinary process. The information sharing and model transferring among different disciplinary domains are the bottleneck of complex product collaborative design and simulation. To solve this problem, this paper proposes the complex product collaborative design and simulation pattern based on product master model technology. Complex product master model is considered as the core model of the collaborative design and simulation process. A series of context models represent corresponding disciplinary context-specific, fully associate with the complex product master model. Three key techniques such as the logical structure of complex product master model, construction of complex product master model supporting collaborative design and simulation and the associative relationship and mapping mechanism between complex product master model and context models are studied to realize the pattern. The case study and implementation, adopted UG WAVE technology to actualize the complex product collaborative design and simulation process, illustrates the feasibility of the pattern proposed.


man may do very well with a very little knowledge, and scarce be found out, in mixed company; everybody is so much more ready to produce his own, than to call for a display of your acquisitions. But in a tete-a-tete there is no shuffling. The truth will out.-Charles


Objective: To evaluate the experience of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in infants with chest diseases. Methods: From May 1997 to May 2000, ten children with chest diseases received VATS under general anesthesia at our hospital. The median age was 1.8 years (range, 9 days to 3 years) and the median body weight was 9.7kg (range, 2.8~14.0 kg). The operative procedures include debridement and decortication in 4, resection of mediastinal tumor in 2, repair of diaphragmatic hernia in 2, and congenital lung cyst resection in 2. Results: There was one operative death with a mortality rate of 10%. The cause of death was respiratory failure due to left pulmonary hypoplasia in a 9-day old infant. The mean operating time was 69 minutes (range, 30~140 minutes). The mean duration of chest drainage after surgery was 2.0 days and the mean postoperative hospital stay was 7.5 days (range, 4~10 days). The survivals were followed up from 6 to 32 months and all recovered uneventfully. Conclusion: VATS is a safe and effective technique for infant.


Traits that mediate species interactions are evolutionarily shaped by biotic and abiotic drivers, yet we know relatively little about the relative importance of these factors. Herbivore pressure, along with resource availability and 'third-party' mutualists, are hypothesized to play a major role in the evolution of plant defence traits. Here, we used the model system Plantago lanceolata, which grows along steep elevation gradients in the Swiss Alps, to investigate the effect of elevation, herbivore pressure, mycorrhizal inoculation and temperature on plant resistance. Over a 1200 m elevation gradient, the levels of herbivory and iridoid glycosides (IGs) declined with increasing elevation. By planting seedlings at three different elevations, we further showed that both low-elevation growing conditions and mycorrhizal inoculation resulted in increased plant resistance to herbivores. Finally, using a temperature-controlled experiment comparing highand low-elevation ecotypes, we showed that high-elevation ecotypes are less resistant to herbivory, and that lower temperatures impair IGs deployment after herbivore attack. We thus propose that both lower herbivore pressure, and colder temperatures relax the defense syndrome of high elevation plants.


Hymenodictyoii orixense (Roxb). Mabb. (Ku-than) is belonging to the family Rubiaceae. It is widely distributed in Bago, Mandalay and Yangon of Myanmar. The botanical descriptions of this plant was classified, identified to confirm by the literature references. The morphological characters and preliminary phytochemical tests of the samples are described in this study. The main constituent, scopoletin was isolated from the methanolic extract of the stem bark and identified from UV, FT-IR and *H NMR spectral data.


Recently the additive increase multiplicative decrease (AIMD) algorithm has been applied in fields other than congestion control in communications networks. A major attribute of these new applications is that the share of each user is bounded. Simulations suggest that AIMD performs well, even in the case of individual constraints on each user. In this paper, we provide a formal proof of exponential convergence to a unique fixed-point for the AIMD algorithm under individual user constraints.


The antihypertensive effect and safety of treatment of hypertension with isradipine, a Ca antagonist of dihydropyridine group in monotherapy and in combination with the betablocker bopindolol was assessed in a multicentre study joined by six Czechoslovak centres. When administered alone to 102 patients with essential hypertension stages I and II, isradipine was effective in 59%. Forty-one per cent of patients required combined therapy. The treatment led to a marked decrease in diastolic BP in smokers and non-smokers alike. A significant rise in ALP was observed during therapy in both therapeutic regimens. A significant decrease in cholesterolaemia was found in patients treated with the isradipine-bopindolol combination. No serious adverse effects were seen during three-month follow-up.


The Green Human Resource Management has least been explored especially in the context of Pakistan's hotel industry. The instant research explored the relationship of Green Human Resource Management with employees' commitment, employees' eco-friendly behavior and overall organizational performance for Pakistan's hotel industry. The hotels situated in Lahore were systematically selected and data was collected on structured questionnaire from top, middle and lower management of these hotels. Data was analyzed by employing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that the Green Human Resource Management exerted positive effect on Employees' Organizational Commitment and Hotels' Environmental Performance but did not affect Employees Eco-friendly Behavior. Therefore, hotel management in Pakistan should look for potential candidates at the time of recruitment who cherished environmental practices. Further, a significant mediating role of employees' eco-friendly behavior was observed to be existed directly and indirectly for the relationship between Hotels' Environmental Performance and Green Human Resource Management. It is suggested that appropriate reward mechanism is required to instill eco-friendly behavior in the hotel employees of Pakistan.


I .Heteroepitaxy techniques for the growth of group IV binary alloys, in particular, SiGe, .~iC, GeC and SiSn films are reviewed. Deposition of heteroepitaxial films using various reactors like molecular beam epitaxy, gas source molecular beam epitaxy, and different chemical vapour depositior~ techniques are compared. Issues related to heteroepitaxial film deposition, ~uch as criticallay'er thickness are examined. Growth of strained silicon on relax6d SiGe buffer layers, poly-SiGe film and hydrogenated amorphous SiGe (a"SiGe:H) film is a~so reviewed.


A basic problem confronting Florida's state and local agencies involved in coastal management bas been a lack of information for constructing a common coastal data base for planning, funding and coordinating state and local programs. This paper reports on a Florida-wide research project which developed an information base composed of comprehensive, yet integrated set of data designed for local as well as state government decision-making. A set of scientific data arrayed to facilitate decision-making via their display and interrelationships allows physical and land use attributes to be correllated. This paper provides a general overview of the approach employed and the types of data generated for barrier and mainland beaches in Florida.


Background: To investigate the clinical significance of monitoring the coagulation indexes, immune factors and inflammatory factors in pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome (PIH). Methods: 90 pregnant women with PIH admitted in Weihaiwei People's Hospital of Shandong Province, China from 2016 to 2017 were collected, including 45 cases in mild-moderate group and 45 cases in severe group. Another 45 normal pregnant women at the same period were selected as control group. The immune indexes, four index signs of coagulation bloods and serum inflammatory factors in three groups of subjects were determined. Results: The levels of complement 3 (C3), complement 4 (C4), immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) were successively increased in severe PIH group, mild-moderate PIH group and normal pregnancy group (P<0.05). Compared with those in normal pregnancy group, the levels of PT, APTT and TT were significantly decreased and Fib levels were significantly increased in PIH groups (P<0.05). Compared with those in normal pregnant women, the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in pregnant women with PIH were significantly increased (P<0.05), and the changes in severe PIH group were more obvious than those in mild-moderate group. Conclusion: Pregnant women with PIH are in a hypercoagulable state and have a higher risk of thrombus and secondary hyperfibrinolysis. Immune factors and inflammatory factors are also associated with the occurrence and development of the disease. Monitoring the changes in coagulation indexes and levels of immune factors and inflammatory factors provide an important reference value for clinical treatment and prevention of complications.


We investigate the doped t-J model close to half-filling and the frustrated Heisenberg model, both in two dimensions, within the variational scheme of the generalized flux phases. We show, that in the doped case the staggered flux state has lower energy, while in the frustrated case the uniform has lower energy, thus an "adiabatic continuation" between the two models would lead to level crossings and different low-energy physics. The optimal fluxes also show different behavior in the doped and frustrated cases. Our results are compared with recent exact diagonalization and quantum Monte Carlo data.


Recent technological advances in fiber optics, light sources, detectors, and molecular biology have stimulated unprecedented development of optical methods to detect pathological changes in tissues. These methods, collectively termed "optical biopsy," are nondestructive in situ and real-time assays. Optical biopsy techniques as fluorescence spectroscopy, polarized light scattering spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography, confocal reflectance microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy had been extensively used to characterize several pathological tissues. In special, Raman spectroscopy technique had been able to probe several biochemical alterations due to pathology development as change in the DNA, glycogen, phospholipid, non-collagenous proteins. All studies claimed that the optical biopsy methods were able to discriminate normal and malignant tissues. However, few studies had been devoted to the discrimination of very common subtle or early pathological states as inflammatory process, which are always present on, e.g., cancer lesion border. In this work we present a systematic comparison of optical biopsy data on several kinds of lesions were inflammatory infiltrates play the role (breast, cervical, and oral lesion). It will be discussed the essential conditions for the optimization of discrimination among normal and alterated states based on statistical analysis.


The Wu-Huberman clustering is a typical linear algorithm among many clustering algorithms, which illustrates data points relationship as an artificial "circuit" and then applies the Kirchhoff equations to get the voltage value on the complex circuit. However, the performance of the algorithm is crucially dependent on the selection of pole points. In this paper, we present a novel pole point selection strategy for the Wu-Huberman algorithm (named as PSWH algorithm), which aims at preserving the merit and increasing the robustness of the algorithm. The pole point selection strategy is proposed to filter the pole point by introducing sparse rate. Experiments results demonstrate that the PSWH algorithm is significantly improved in clustering accuracy and efficiency compared with the original Wu-Huberman algorithm.


Cryptococcosis is caused by the fungal genus Cryptococcus. Cryptococcosis, predominantly meningoencephalitis, emerged with the HIV pandemic, primarily afflicting HIV-infected patients with profound T-cell deficiency. Where in use, combination antiretroviral therapy has markedly reduced the incidence of and risk for disease, but cryptococcosis continues to afflict those without access to therapy, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. However, cryptococcosis also occurs in solid organ transplant recipients and patients with other immunodeficiencies as well as those with no known immunodeficiency. This article reviews innate and adaptive immune responses to C. neoformans, with an emphasis on recent studies on the role of B cells, natural IgM and Fc gamma receptor polymorphisms in resistance to cryptococcosis.


ABSTRUCT In this paper, we describe a phonetic vocoder based on sy!lable-units which represents spe ec h waves by extremeiy low rate (100 bits /s) using a speech recognition tequnique. We take syllables into consideration as the unit of r ecognition I synth esis. Speech waves are transformed into a sequence of frames, each of which consists of LPC cepstrum, PARGOR coefficients, pitch and power. After the O(n)DP matehing with refer e nc e patterns, the input s peec h is transformed into a sequence of Japan ese syllables. Th e Information of r eco gnized syllable contains the category of syllables, duration, power and pitch, and is represented by 16 bits. Using this vocoder , speech can be repres ented by only 100 bits/sec.


The aim of the paper is to present new method for merging the 3D model data of the measured object with thermograms. Our technique is based on the combination of visual 3D imaging technique and thermal imaging technique, which maps the 2D thermograms on to 3D anatomical mesh model. The combination of these imaging modalities allows the generation of combined 3D and thermal data from which thermal signatures can be verified and quantitative analysed.


Over the last few years, a nationwide voluntary certification system for cancer centres has been established in Germany. To qualify for certification, cancer centres must provide psycho‐oncological care to every patient who needs it. The aim of this study was to find out how many patients have been treated by a psycho‐oncologist in the certified centres.


In Republican Beijing matchmakers (mei) not only arranged marriages, but also acted as brokers in domestic labor. Finding and helping a family to keep a suitable wet nurse often proved contentious. Changes to the legal environment from the 1910s to the 1930s made the task even more challenging. Previously Chinese society may have treated wet nurses as part of a household with stakes in the overall well-being of the family and a paternal guarantee of food and shelter, but the emphasis on contract as the mode of engagement in the early twentieth century altered wet nurses' status. For some women contracts became a device through which to confront their employers, while for others the loss of constructed family obligation proved devastating. This article draws upon police records to expose rivalries between servants and the precarious nature of domestic employment in this transitional period. The experience of wet nurses also reveals competing ideas about what constituted a family at the beginning of the twentieth century, as eventually co-sanguinal prevailed over co-residential conceptions of the household unit.


Quick-release mooring hooks have become increasingly popular for use in design of new mooring systems, especially for larger vessels. Hooks offer several operational and safety benefits over the standard bollards or cleats. Such benefits include the abilities to release mooring lines without detensioning the lines, release mooring lines remotely from a distant control location in possible emergency situations, as well as monitoring of tension in the mooring lines while a vessel is at berth. In addition, mooring hooks are increasingly being required for new installations by local rules or regulations. This paper discusses the challenges and solutions for designing and installing quickrelease mooring hook at existing marine facilities. Examples of successful installations and typical technical challenges are presented.


This paper describes a concurrent operating cache DRAM (CDRAM) for low cost multi-media systems, in which the program and graphic data coexist in the main memory. The concurrent operation of the DRAM and SRAM completely removes the idle cycles. As a result, the average access time is equal to the SRAM access time of 6.5 ns with 0.6 /spl mu/m CMOS process. The flash write and direct read/write are also useful for the multi-media systems.


. The tar oxidation process has been studied at 523 K, air flow rate of 2.0; 2.5 and 5.0 h -1 and process time of 6, 9 and 12 h in the presence of 2.5; 5.0 and 7.5 mas % (to calculate for the raw material)of petroleum resin with fluorine atoms. The tar is the residue of black oil vacuum distillation obtained from the oils of Western-Ukrainian fields. The effect of process conditions on the characteristics of obtained bitumen has been determined. The structural-group composition of blown bitumen has been examined.


Machine tool chatter is an intensive type of vibration of the work-tool-fixture (WTF) system
during metal cutting. It is caused by interaction of the instability of the chip formation process
and natural frequencies of the individual components of the WTF system [1, 2, 3]. It was
established earlier [1, 2] and confirmed by recent investigations [4] that the chip formation
process is unstable for most materials due to the formation of a fourth type of chip; namely the
serrated, segmented or cyclic chip at cutting speed exceed certain critical value. When the
frequencies of the instability of these serrated chip formation grow close to the natural
frequencies of the individual components, resonance occurs [1, 2]. During resonance the
frequency of the vibration remains practically constant and the amplitude increases to a
maximum value and the gradually decreases and the component gets out of resonance [3]. This
type of vibration during metal cutting is termed as chatter vibrations. The occurrence of chatter,
if uncontrolled, can easily result in a poor surface finish, damaged cutting tool, and an irritating
and unacceptable noise. In recent years, chatter research has been concentrated into the automatic
suppression of machine tool chatter using various control strategies. One of the easy,
effective, and popular chatter control strategies is the change of spindle speed [5]. This is
because through a proper selection of spindle speed, a favourable condition may be generated to
remove machine tool chatter. The main feature of the spindle speed control strategies is that
stable spindle speeds can easily be searched without altering any machine tool structure. In the
absence of stability data it is very difficult to program for the depth of cut, feed and cutting speed
of the tool in order to maintain a satisfactory level of dynamic stability of the machine tool
during operation. So it is important to know the ranges of cutting speed over which chatter
vibration of the tool and the workpiece exists. These data could be useful in developing stability software, which could facilitate the selection spindle speeds to facilitate stable cutting operation
and also for online monitoring and suppression of self excited Vibrations [6]. The present work
therefore aims at investigating the influence of the tool holders (their rigidity and natural
frequencies), job materials and cutting parameters on chatter and surface roughness during metal
cutting on the Vertical Machining Centre (VMC)


A copy of the thesis will be available for viewing in the General Office of the Department of Philosophy at least one week prior to the oral examination.


The liquid switch gyroscope is used as a reference of the original horizontal coordinate system in the inertial navigation system of ballistic rockets. The stability of gyro is significant for finding ground level when a missile enters the destination region. A damping is adapted to increase the tremor convergence rate which may be caused by vibrations of generators, crustal movement and others. This paper proposed several experiments of the liquid electrolyte in the gyro horizon. The damping rate is variational with the bubbles. As a result of that, small tremor can be eliminated and the gyrohorizon can achieve steady mode rapidly.


The stable carbon isotopic composition of dissolved organic matter (δ13C‐DOC) reveals information about its source and extent of biological processing. Here we report the lowest δ13C‐DOC values (−43.8‰) measured to date in surface waters. The streams were located in the High Arctic, a region currently experiencing rapid changes in climate and carbon cycling. Based on the widespread occurrence of methane cycling in permafrost regions and the detection of the pmoA gene, a proxy for aerobic methanotrophs, we conclude that the low δ13C‐DOC values are due to organic matter partially derived from methanotrophs consuming biologically produced, 13C‐depleted methane. These findings demonstrate the significant impact that biological activity has on the stream water chemistry exported from permafrost and glaciated environments in the Arctic. Given that the catchments studied here are representative of larger areas of the Arctic, occurrences of low δ13C‐DOC values may be more widespread than previously recognized, with implications for understanding C cycling in these environments.


Generalized comb filters (GCFs) are efficient anti-aliasing decimation filters with improved selectivity and quantization noise (QN) rejection performance around the so called folding bands with respect to classical comb filters. In this paper, we address the design of GCF filters by proposing an efficient partial polyphase architecture with the aim to reduce the data rate as much as possible after the SigmaDelta A/D conversion. We propose a mathematical framework in order to completely characterize the dependence of the frequency response of GCFs on the quantization of the multipliers embedded in the proposed filter architecture. This analysis paves the way to the design of multiplier-less decimation architectures. We also derive the impulse response of a sample third-order GCF filter used as reference scheme throughout the paper.


In the early 1990s, attempts at treating patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and end-stage heart failure by using right-sided, dual-chamber pacing met with equivocal results. Although initially discouraging, this work did provide further insight into the electromechanical consequences of advanced heart failure and suggested that atrial-synchronized biventricular pacing, or cardiac resynchronization therapy, might provide better and more consistent symptomatic and hemodynamic improvement. Several studies have recently validated the safety and efficacy of cardiac resynchronization therapy in advanced heart failure. Data from these studies have shown statistically significant improvements in left ventricular ejection fraction, New York Heart Association class, exercise tolerance, and quality of life. Observed reductions in morbidity and mortality await confirmation from ongoing large-scale outcomes studies. This article reviews the evolution of pacing in heart failure and discusses the underlying mechanisms that are potentially responsible for the improvement seen in patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy. In addition, the results of recently completed clinical trials, as well as the status of ongoing clinical trials, are reviewed.


In business, innovation is the link between the possibilities of invention and the realities of consumer needs and desires. It is a dynamic relationship, one Justien Marseille and Ilan Roos argue benefits from trend analysis. In the context of different customer types and different time frames, this tool helps managers maintain the allure and value of their brands and products.


A unifled approach for design of controllers achieving various input-to-state (ISS) like stability properties is presented. Controllers can be obtained by numerically solving appropriate dynamic programming equations. Both full state and measurement feedback cases were considered. Our results make an important connection between the ISS literature and nonlinear H 1 design methods. In particular, we make use of recently developed results on controller synthesis to achieve uniform l 1 bound [9].


The research articles in this special issue address some of the challenges of on-chip networked embedded systems and low-power distributed wireless embedded systems usually termed as wireless sensor networks. These networked embedded systems have potential for far-reaching societal advancements. High-performance video/audio processing, medical applications, networking services, scientific computing and hybrid computing of various applications require enormous computing capacity which can be realized using multicore embedded systems. Network-on-Chip (NoC) is generic and scalable communication architecture for many core systems. A number of different NoC architectures along with frameworks and tools for high-level exploration of NoC architectures have been proposed during this decade. Also, many NoC architectures have been implemented and evaluated in both FPGA and ASIC platforms. Most of existing approaches either provide exploration and design solutions without taking rapid prototyp-ing into account, or provide rapid prototyping without exploration. There is a need to bridge this gap by developing EDA tool flow which performs high-level exploration, automatic RTL implementations of the interconnection network and rapid prototyping. Technology scaling has brought about dramatic rises in the on-chip power density of modern microprocessors. Higher temperatures or uneven distribution of temperatures result in timing uncertainties which causes performance and reliability problems. Three-dimensional (3D) stacking of chips offers greater device integration as well as flexibility, besides reduced signal delay and interconnect power. However, 3D stacking also exacerbates the on-chip thermal issues and increases packaging and cooling costs. In order to resolve these issues, and avoid high and uneven temperatures, accurate thermal modeling, and analysis, as well as thermal-aware mapping algorithms and placement optimizations are crucial. The number of applications which can take advantage of wireless sensor networks (WSN) is tremendous. More and more applications are


The paper is devoted to the experimental studies of the aerodynamic drag of staggered bundles of helical tubes in order to create highly effective heat exchangers with reduced weight and size. The researches of the aerodynamic drag of staggered bundles of helical tubes at their airflow were carried out on an experimental setup, which is an open-circuit wind tunnel of rectangular cross section and conducted by the method of physical modeling in an isothermal flow, using the data of the drainage selection of static pressures before and after the bundle. The influence of geometric characteristics of helical tubes and parameters of their placement in the bundle on the aerodynamic drag is shown. The comparison of the aerodynamic drag of the bundles of helical and plain tubes of the same outside diameter depending on the incident velocity was conducted. The research results can be used in developing recuperative heat exchangers having high heat-aerodynamic efficiency and applied in thermal power engineering, petrochemical industry, gas compressor units of the gas transportation system ofUkraine. The obtained results can be the basis for aerodynamic calculations in the design of new heat exchangers of helical tubes.


Many phosphate solubilizing fungi (PSF) are found in soil and their introduction in the rhizosphere of crops not only increases the availability of phosphorus from insoluble sources of phosphate but also increases the efficiency of phosphate fertilizers such as superphosphate and rock phosphate. Studies on 2 strains belonging to Aspergillus niger, and 1 strain each of Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium aurantiogriseum and Penicillium claviformis with special reference to phosphate solubilization were performed in this communication. All the fungal strains showed halo zone around them on Pikovskaya plates. Quantitative estimation of 3 indigenous strains along with the other 2 non-indigenous strains taken as reference strains was done in two nutrient broths namely: Czapek's Dox and Pikovskaya containing dicalcium phosphate (DCP) as insoluble source of phosphorus. Out of the two media selected for the study, Pikovskaya broth supported better solubilization. The insoluble phosphates DCP, TCP (tricalcium phosphate) and hypt (hydroxyapatite) were tested, DCP was least solubilized by all strains but there was no significant difference in solubilization of TCP and hydroxyapatite. There was significant negative correlation between pH and phosphate solubilized in all forms of insoluble phosphates. Types of nitrogen sources and metal ions were also screened during the study. (Na4)2SO4 supported more solubilization than NaNO3, whereas phosphate solubilizing activity decreased (except in A. niger ATCC 282) in presence of Mn +2 and Fe +3 but presence of Al +3 did not have statistically significant effect on solubilization. Though various species of Penicillium have been reported for phosphate solubilization in literature but to the best of our knowledge this is first report of phosphate solubilization by P. claviformis.


ABSTRACT This presentation will highlight similarities between off-road equipment production and oil and gas production from a perspective in "virtual" space. Among the similarities are spatial extent; complicated, constrained systems requiring optimization; fluid dynamics relationships; and decisions involving multiple disciplines with collaborators distributed globally. The processes used in producing off-road equipment are in transition. They are moving away from reliance on physical prototypes and toward predictive, virtual models. Factors contributing to this transition will be presented, as will highlights of an industrial research program fostering it. The basic message of this presentation is: advanced visualization tools and immersive projection technology used in designing, analyzing, and evaluating product models and production processes in the off-road equipment industry have similar value in making business decisions about sub-surface oil and gas reservoirs. End_of_Record - Last_Page 182-------


Chemometrics was employed to study the effect of various reaction conditions on the graft copolymerization of acrylamide
(AM) and diallyl dimethylammonium chloride (DADMAC) onto guar gum using the cerous sulfate and potassium persulfate
complex initiation system. A two level full factorial design was used to study the effect of reaction parameters on percentage grafting
(%G) and monomer conversion (%MC). Synthesized polymers were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR), 1H-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy), and 13C-NMR and also were analyzed for differences in intrinsic viscosity
and charge incurred with changing reaction conditions. The concentration of AM was observed to have the greater effect on
%grafting. Interaction effects between the reaction temperature and concentration of AM were also found to be important. Under the
reaction condition studied, the highest grafting (%G) was obtained for polymer 1 (0.7M AM concentration, 60C reaction temperature,
and 1M acid concentration). VC


Banded iron formations (BIFs) are rock deposits common in the Archean and Paleoproterozoic (and regionally Neoproterozoic) sedimentary successions. Multiple hypotheses for their deposition exist, principally invoking the precipitation of iron via the metabolic activities of oxygenic, photoferrotrophic, and/or aerobic iron‐oxidizing bacteria. Some isolated environments support chemistry and mineralogy analogous to processes involved in BIF deposition, and their study can aid in untangling the factors that lead to iron precipitation. One such process analog system occurs at Okuoku‐hachikurou (OHK) Onsen in Akita Prefecture, Japan. OHK is an iron‐ and CO2‐rich, circumneutral hot spring that produces a range of precipitated mineral textures containing fine laminae of aragonite and iron oxides that resemble BIF fabrics. Here, we have performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of microbial communities across the range of microenvironments in OHK to describe the microbial diversity present and to gain insight into the cycling of iron, oxygen, and carbon in this ecosystem. These analyses suggest that productivity at OHK is based on aerobic iron‐oxidizing Gallionellaceae. In contrast to other BIF analog sites, Cyanobacteria, anoxygenic phototrophs, and iron‐reducing micro‐organisms are present at only low abundances. These observations support a hypothesis where low growth yields and the high stoichiometry of iron oxidized per carbon fixed by aerobic iron‐oxidizing chemoautotrophs like Gallionellaceae result in accumulation of iron oxide phases without stoichiometric buildup of organic matter. This system supports little dissimilatory iron reduction, further setting OHK apart from other process analog sites where iron oxidation is primarily driven by phototrophic organisms. This positions OHK as a study area where the controls on primary productivity in iron‐rich environments can be further elucidated. When compared with geological data, the metabolisms and mineralogy at OHK are most similar to specific BIF occurrences deposited after the Great Oxygenation Event, and generally discordant with those that accumulated before it.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am


Summary From Xenopus laevis tadpoles which possessed conical hind-limb buds with pigmented melanophores the caudal two-thirds of the tail was amputated. One group of these animals was kept in tap-water and another group in 001 % phenyl-thiourea in tapwater while regeneration of the tails took place. After one month the tails of the operated animals together with tails from a control group of normal animals at the same stage of development were examined histologically. In the normal tail melanin was only absent from the region of the ventral fin immediately behind the anus: in the untreated regenerate melanin was only absent from the major part of the ventral fin: in the treated regenerate melanin was absent from the whole regenerate. Branched DOPA-positive cells situated beneath the epidermis and each accommodated by a circle 0-05 mm in diameter were present in the normal tails, untreated regenerates, and treated regenerates. They were present only in the regions lacking melanophores in the normal tail and untreated regenerate, but in the animals treated with phenylthiourea they were present in the unpigmented regenerate and in the pigmented part of the tail-stump. The pigmented melanophores were DOPA-negative. Cells which were stained by the hexamine-silver technique and Schmorl's reaction were found only in the regenerate of the treated tadpoles. It is suggested that the DOPA-positive cells are potential melanophores. In the normal tail and untreated regenerate tyrosinase activity was present without promelanin granules and in the treated regenerate tyrosinase activity was present with promelanin granules. The negative response of pigmented melanophores could reflect a loss of tyrosinase activity as pigmentation of the granules is completed. Phenyl-thiourea does not inhibit melanogenesis in vivo by acting on a metabolic process essential for the normal activity of the cell, or by inhibiting the production and action of tyrosinase, or by preventing formation of promelanin granules, as these were all present in the treated animals. A test-tube experiment showed that phenyl-thiourea inhibits the autoxidation of DOPA. It is suggested that the drug acts by combining with an intermediate produced during the conversion of tyrosine to melanin.


This paper studies the latest research concept in computer security namely identity based cryptography. To start with, the paper gives an introduction to the concept called identity based encryption with mediated RSA and then applies this concept in data transfer through VPN. The paper also highlights on the future work that can be carried over in this area


Spatial processing of speech sounds by the human auditory cortex was studied measuring neuromagnetic responses utilizing magnetoencephalography (MEG). Realistic spatial sound environment was produced using modern stimulus generation methodology utilizing head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). In order to compare localization of speech sounds to that of non-speech, the stimulus set involved three different stimulus types: 1) a semi-synthetic /a/-vowel, 2) a pseudo-vowel composed as a sum of sinusoids and 3) a wide band noise burst. Stimuli were filtered through HRTFs of eight horizontal equally spaced directions. The most prominent response, the cortically generated N1m, was investigated above the left and right hemisphere. We found, firstly, that cortical activity reflecting the processing of spatial sound stimuli was more pronounced in the right than in the left hemisphere. Secondly, we found that N1m amplitudes were largest for the /a/-vowel. However, behaviour of the N1m amplitude elicited by the pseudo-vowel was relatively similar to that of the /a/-vowel.


Abstract - This article has the purpose of developing an educational robotic cell through the automation by using the Arduino programming, demonstrating from the simplest to the most complex application. We will approach the main routines and their particularities. We will also discuss existing type of robot in today's world and which applies the best in this project.


Automation industry has undergone a drastic development in recent years. In this busy world human intervention in very high critical industrial processes are compensated by the enormous growth of the automation industries. Due to the advancement there is no need for a person to continuously monitor the system instead by implementing automation through latest technologies, a very high efficient operation of the system is possible. Conveyor system plays an important role in automation for material handlin       g and packaging. For the movement of the material, that is transportation, in any processing, the lack of safety factor leads to many limitation in the automation, due to the unachievable efficiency, that is operational efficiency. For that variable speed drive are used for the purpose of modeling the conveyor belt speed, which is controlled through programmable logic controller. The main objective is to develop an embedded system that will automate the boiler control system by monitoring and controlling the temperature and pressure using the CAN bus communication technology. A PIC microcontroller is used in the project to control the entire operation of the embedded system.


A noise-robust pitch synchronous feature extraction algorithm for speaker recognition systems is proposed in this paper. Since the pitch synchronous algorithms utilize pitch information, which is meaningful only for periodic segments, we propose a new scheme to deal with non-periodic ones such as unvoiced and noise-corrupted. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional algorithm us- ing fixed length of analysis window in actual identification tasks even in low SNR noisy environments.