The worth or success of a business company is conventionally defined or measured in terms of its business performance; that is, whether the company is operating as a financially viable going concern by making expected returns. But in addition to its business performance, the efficiency of a company is measured based on its alignment of business operations with human rights and other non-financial concerns. This view of the company is often described under the concept of corporate social responsibility. This Paper assesses the nature of corporate social responsibility in Ghana primarily focusing on the mining industry. The Paper outlines the various human rights and mineral rights in Ghana and the effects of mining on human rights. It establishes that although the Constitution of Ghana guarantees social, economic, cultural and other human rights, mining operations continue to affect human rights as if these laws did not exist. The Paper attributes this, in part, to incoherent institutional and legal frameworks in the mining and environmental sectors and the lack of a comprehensive corporate social responsibility policy in Ghana. The Paper suggests that to resolve this dilemma there is the need for a corporate social responsibility policy and legal framework peculiar to the mining industry. It is also asserted that it is the primary role of the State to ensure that human rights as guaranteed are truly enjoyed. But the Paper also recognises that business and human rights challenges require direct participation of businesses and, therefore, suggests that businesses should incorporate and integrate specific human rights challenges in their business operations prior to commencement of operations and that the grant of mineral rights should be conditioned upon satisfactory evidence of companies' actual commitment to respect and uphold human rights. The Paper suggests that since mining operations are inherently risky in view of associated risks such as environmental degradation, chemical pollution and human rights violations, mining companies in Ghana must be held absolutely liable for inherent risks associated with their operations.


MOTIVATION
Contig maps are a type of physical map that show the native order of a set of overlapping genomic clones. Overlaps between clones can be detected by finding common sequences using a number of experimental protocols including hybridization of probes. All current mapping algorithms of which we are aware require that hybridizations be scored using a fixed number of discrete values (typically 0/1 or high/medium/low). When hybridization data is captured automatically using digital equipment, this provides the opportunity for hybridization intensities to be used in map construction. More fine-grained distinctions in the levels of hybridization may be exploited by algorithms to generate more accurate physical maps.

RESULTS
We describe an approach to creating contig maps that uses measured hybridization intensities instead of data scored with a fixed number of discrete values. We describe and compare four algorithms for creating physical maps with hybridization intensities. Simulations using measured intensities sampled from actual data on Aspergillus nidulans indicate that using hybridization intensities rather than data that is automatically scored with respect to threshold values may yield more accurate physical maps.


Aim: To evaluate the accuracy of doppler echocardiography (DE) in estimating the key measurements of right heart catheterization (RHC) in an heterogeneous pulmonary hypertension (PH) population: mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP), cardiac index (CI), capillary wedge pressure (CWP) and pulmonary vascular resistances (PVR). Methods: One hundred thirty-five consecutive patients referred to our PH tertiary center from January to December 2011 underwent standard DE within 1 hour of a clinically indicated RHC. Results: Twelve/135 (9%) did not have PH. Of 123 PH patients with PH, 54 (40%) had group 1, 39 (29%) group 2, 22 (16%) group 3, and 8 (6%) group 4 PH. Echo showed a satisfactory correlation to invasive evaluation. Nevertheless, it was inaccurate in defining the presence of pre-capillary (CWP ≤15 mmHg, groups 1, 3 and 4) versus post-capillary (CWP >15 mmHg, group 2) PH leading to a misclassification in 22/123 (18%) of analyzed patients. In particular, sensitivity of echo for pre-capillary PH was 82% and specificity 83%. Conclusion: Doppler echocardiography is an essential tool for the screening of PH, but it provides an initial approach to the patients with suspected PH. In particular, DE is frequently inaccurate in estimating the CWP leading to an hazardous misclassification of the PH.


Cysteine dioxygenase (CDO) is a mononuclear non-heme Fe-dependent dioxygenase that catalyzes the initial step of oxidative cysteine catabolism. Its active site consists of an Fe(II) ion ligated by three histidine residues from the protein, an interesting variation on the more common 2-His-1-carboxylate motif found in many other non-heme Fe(II)-dependent enzymes. Multiple structural and kinetic studies of CDO have been carried out recently, resulting in a variety of proposed catalytic mechanisms; however, many open questions remain regarding the structure/function relationships of this vital enzyme. In this study, resting and substrate-bound forms of CDO in the Fe(II) and Fe(III) states, both of which are proposed to have important roles in this enzyme's catalytic mechanism, were characterized by utilizing various spectroscopic methods. The nature of the substrate/active site interactions was also explored using the cysteine analogue selenocysteine (Sec). Our electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism, and resonance Raman data exhibit features characteristic of direct S (or Se) ligation to both the high-spin Fe(II) and Fe(III) active site ions. The resulting Cys- (or Sec-) bound species were modeled and further characterized using density functional theory computations to generate experimentally validated geometric and electronic structure descriptions. Collectively, our results yield a more complete description of several catalytically relevant species and provide support for a reaction mechanism similar to that established for many structurally related 2-His-1-carboxylate Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenases.


The major technical challenge of vegetable tanning is to improve the higher wear-comfort, leather strength and water resistance efficiency in daily necessities of leather products, aiming as an alternative to chrome tanning. The demonstration has been made by indigenous bovine fat and Tanoak tree (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) bark-wood extract for usage in the tanning process as a new kind of stuffing tanning technique for the first time. The tannin content maximum efficiency was found at 34.25% for the bark and 28.5% for the wood sample. The presence of tanning content was characterized by using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy and HPLC techniques. The characterization data revealed mainly catechol presence in the bark and pyrogallol presence in the wood. The stuffing techniques tanned leather showed a shrinkage temperature of 95±2 °C. Other physical properties such as tensile strength, tear strength, grain cracking load, and flexing endurance were comparable to conventional chrome-tanned leather. The cross-sectional morphology and thermal degradation of the tanned leathers were characterized by FE-SEM and TGA techniques which revealed a fat-coated compact structure of the leather fibres and decomposition at mainly 100 °C to 300 °C respectively. The average contact angle of a water droplet on bark-tanned leather was greater than 100° and wood-tanned 88° at the solid-liquid interface respectively, which indicated the low wettability of leather as a water resistance leather. These new kinds of stuffing techniques of vegetable tanning processes will help to replace the chromium tanning, sustainable tanning approach and save the environment.


To supply more fine looking for mineral resources information, Uranium prospecting is a complex system project which needs new ways and new technologys to support and serve. Zhuguang Uranium Ore Concentrated Area is one of the largest granite-type Uranium Ore Concentrated Areas in China. Through structural interpretation on high spatial resolution remote sensing data, a lot of particular structural information is interpretated and some new structural phenomena are found. The work can supply fine structural information and some reveals for forming mineral resources rules research.


A resonancelike structure, the ${P}_{c}(4450)$, has recently been observed in the $J/\ensuremath{\psi}p$ spectrum by the LHCb Collaboration. We discuss the feasibility of detecting this structure in $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ photoproduction in the CLAS12 experiment at JLab. We present a first estimate of the upper limit for the branching ratio of the ${P}_{c}(4450)$ to $J/\ensuremath{\psi}p$. Our estimates, which take into account the experimental resolution effects, predict that it will be possible to observe a sizable cross section close to the $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ production threshold and shed light on the ${P}_{c}(4450)$ resonance in the future photoproduction measurements.


Abstract The Misaki Formation, Miura peninsula, SE Honshu, Japan, comprises deep-shelf/slope volcaniclastic rocks deposited on a segment of the Izu-Bonin island arc prior to accretion about 2.5 Ma. Wet-sediment deformation structures occur as gravity-controlled slides, and sediment injections intruded into semi-lithified over-pressured sediments. Vein structures are locally abundant in the Misaki Formation, mainly as 1–10 cm wide layer-parallel zones, with individual veins about 0.1–3 cm apart. The veins are planar and up to 0.1–2.0 mm in width in their central parts. Vein structure occurs within blocks in chaotic horizons, interpreted as early sediment slides on the seafloor. The vein structures have a strike interpreted as forming parallel to the strike of the basin slope and are considered to arise from pervasive creep-related phenomena in unconsolidated sediments at shallow depths of burial. Back scattered electron (BSE) studies of the vein structure suggest high average atomic number contrasts between the infill of the vein structure and the surrounding sediments and, together with microprobe analyses, suggest that this is due to very fine disseminated pyrite. The pore-fluids involved in the vein evolution were derived from trapped sea water in which certain elements such as S, Fe and Ca were preferentially concentrated in the vein structure. Later generations of vein structure tend to have more complex geometry, are larger, show greater spacing, and appear to have a geometry that cannot be related to any regional trends.


We introduce a sequence $P_{2n}$ of monic reciprocal polynomials with integer coefficients having the central coefficients fixed. We prove that the ratio between number of nonunimodular roots of $P_{2n}$ and its degree $d$ has a limit when $d$ tends to infinity. We present an algorithm for calculation the limit and a numerical method for its approximation. If $P_{2n}$ is the sum of a fixed number of monomials we determine the central coefficients such that the ratio has the minimal limit. We generalise the limit of the ratio for multivariate polynomials. Some examples suggest a theorem for polynomials in two variables which is analogous to Boyd's limit formula for Mahler measure.


Objectives : To compare the predictive power of International Classification of Diseases 10th Edition(ICD-10) based International Classification of Diseases based Injury Severity Score(ICISS) with Trauma and Injury Severity Score(TRISS) and International Classification of Diseases 9th Edition Clinical Modification(ICD-9CM) based ICISS in the injury severity measure. Methods : ICD-10 version of Survival Risk Ratios(SRRs) was derived from 47,750 trauma patients from 35 Emergency Centers for 1 year. The predictive power of TRISS, the ICD-9CM based ICISS and ICD-10 based ICISS were compared in a group of 367 severely injured patients admitted to two university hospitals. The predictive power was compared by using the measures of discrimination(disparity, sensitivity, specificity, misclassification rates, and ROC curve analysis) and calibration(Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistics), all calculated by logistic regression procedure. Results : ICD-10 based ICISS showed a lower performance than TRISS and ICD-9CM based ICISS. When age and Revised Trauma Score(RTS) were incorporated into the survival probability model, however, ICD-10 based ICISS full model showed a similar predictive power compared with TRISS and ICD-9CM based ICISS full model. ICD-10 based ICISS had some disadvantages in predicting outcomes among patients with intracranial injuries. However, such weakness was largely compensated by incorporating age and RTS in the model. Conclusions : The ICISS methodology can be extended to ICD-10 horizon as a standard injury severity measure in the place of TRISS, especially when age and RTS were incorporated in the model. In patients with intracranial injuries, the predictive power of ICD-10 based ICISS was relatively low because of differences in the classifying system between ICD-10 and ICD-9CM.


Background
 This report presents the single case of Jack, a 67-year-old referred to our Older Adult Community Mental Health Team (OA CMHT) for his distressing persecutory delusion and high levels of worry. Jack also reported learning difficulties and autistic traits, although neither were formally diagnosed.

 Method
 Ten sessions of worry intervention taken from The Feeling Safe Programme worry module were used to reduce Jack's time spent worrying and increase his engagement in meaningful activity. Weekly face-to-face sessions were held, with Jack's brother acting as a co-therapist. Adaptations to the intervention were made based on Jack's learning preferences. An AB single case experimental design was adopted to compare Jack's scores on measures of worry, paranoia and delusional conviction, and wellbeing and daily functioning before and after intervention.

 Results
 Results demonstrate the worry intervention improved Jack's scores on all measures to a clinically significant degree.

 Conclusions
 This is the first known report of applying the worry intervention to an older adult. The results show the intervention can be of considerable benefit in terms of reducing worry and paranoia, in the context of both older age and suspected neurodiversity.


Despite the reduction in deforestation rate in recent years, the impact of global warming by itself can cause changes in vegetation cover. The objective of this work was to investigate the possible changes on the major Brazilian biome, the Amazon Rainforest, under different climate change scenarios. The dynamic vegetation models may simulate changes in vegetation distribution and the biogeochemical processes due to climate change. Initially, the Inland dynamic vegetation model was forced with initial and boundary conditions provided by CFSR and the Eta regional climate model driven by the historical simulation of HadGEM2-ES. These simulations were validated using the Santarem tower data. In the second part, we assess the impact of a future climate change on the Amazon biome by applying the Inland model forced with regional climate change projections. The projections show that some areas of rainforest in the Amazon region are replaced by deciduous forest type and grassland in RCP4.5 scenario and only by grassland in RCP8.5 scenario at the end of this century. The model indicates a reduction of approximately 9% in the area of tropical forest in RCP4.5 scenario and a further reduction in the RCP8.5 scenario of about 50% in the eastern region of Amazon. Although the increase of CO2 atmospheric concentration may favour the growth of trees, the projections of Eta-HadGEM2-ES show increase of temperature and reduction of rainfall in the Amazon region, which caused the forest degradation in these simulations.


In the domestic violence literature, meta-analyses examining the effectiveness of Batterer Intervention Programs (BIPs) have provided a decontextualized catalogue of the results of separate studies. Researchers have been distracted by a few methodological criticisms, namely attrition and study design, when selecting the best studies for comparison in these analyses and drawing their conclusions. This paper provides a closer examination of every BIP study in the most recent comprehensive meta-analysis (Eckhardt et al, 2013, The effectiveness of intervention programs for perpetrators... Partner abuse, 4 (2), 196–231) to go beyond criticisms of attrition and study design, paying attention to more substantial factors like participant characteristics and violence assessment in order to generate more informed and meaningful conclusions. The goal is to provide a richer picture to researchers and challenge the growing consensus lauding alternative BIPs as the way forward. Alternative BIPs were found to consistently use participants who were much lower-risk, casting doubt on Eckhardt's conclusion that they are a promising substitute for traditional BIPs. Despite consistent employment of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale, violence assessment was found to be inconsistently applied across studies, and conceptions of violence were often questionable (e.g., rape was commonly conceived as a form of physical violence like hitting). Research on domestic violence has been split into treating physical aggressors and treating abusers, but conclusions about the former are carelessly being applied to the latter. This calls into question the common claim that alternative BIPs provide an antidote to the '˜one-size-fits-all approach of traditional BIPs. Recommendations are made toward researchers exercising more clarity on which domain of violence is being studied and that future meta-analyses carefully consider this when interpreting results. Discussion follows with reference to research on the neuroscience of morality as a potential way to more adequately address the 'one-size-fits-all' problem of traditional BIPs.


ABSTRACT The Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS) leaf area index (LAI) product is one of the most widely used global LAI products in the scientific community. The latest (version 5) GLASS LAI product has been generated from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface reflectance data. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality of the version 5 GLASS LAI product. The GLASS LAI product was compared with the latest MODIS LAI product (MCD15A2 H, Collection 6) and the second version of Geoland2 (GEOV2) LAI product to evaluate their temporal and spatial discrepancies. A direct validation was conducted to compare these LAI products to the LAI values derived from the high-resolution reference maps from the Validation of Land European Remote Sensing Instruments (VALERI) and Implementing Multi-Scale Agricultural Indicators Exploiting Sentinels (IMAGINES) sites. The results show that the GLASS and GEOV2 LAI products have great spatial integrity. However, the MODIS LAI product contains many missing pixels in tropical areas. These LAI products follow fairly consistent seasonal characteristics. The spatial discrepancies of these LAI products mainly exist in forest areas, especially evergreen broadleaf forests where the GLASS LAI values are generally lower than the GEOV2 LAI values by approximately 1.0 LAI units and lower than the MODIS LAI values by 0.5 to 1.0 LAI units. The spatial distribution of these LAI products has slight discrepancies in savannahs, broadleaf crops, grasses/cereal crops and shrubs. The GLASS and GEOV2 LAI products capture a complete and reasonable temporal profile, contrasting with the MODIS LAI product, which shows dramatic fluctuations, particularly during the growing seasons. These LAI products show similar temporal trajectories and interannual variations for all biome types except evergreen broadleaf forests. The direct validation shows that the accuracy of the GLASS LAI product is better than the accuracy of the MODIS and GEOV2 LAI products. The coefficient of determination (R2) of the GLASS, MODIS and GEOV2 LAI products versus the LAI values derived from the high-resolution reference maps are 0.68, 0.47 and 0.55, respectively, and the root mean square error (RMSE) of these products are 0.86, 1.22 and 1.21, respectively.


Plasma corticosterone levels were evaluated during operant conditioning in order to determine the effect of reinforced and nonreinforced responding (extinction) on adrenal activation. The influence of instrumental responding was assessed by comparing trained rats with yoked subjects that received a matched reward schedule in the absence of an operant task. Reinforcement sessions resulted in a significant decrease in adrenal secretion at 20 min, but not at 5 min, whereas extinction caused a rapid increase in corticosterone levels at 5 min and an even greater elevation by 20 min. Comparison of the operant and yoked subjects showed that this effect of reinforcement and extinction was not dependent on instrumental responding, but rather on the receipt or withdrawal of the expected reward.


By adding an absentee layer on the top of the metallic layer, the figure of merit (FOM) of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor with Kretschmann configuration was enhanced, without changing the resonance angle and the reflectance at the resonance angle. Comparing with a traditional SPR sensor, the FOM of the SPR sensor with an absentee layer composed of either 1367 nm thick KCl or 235 nm thick Si3N4 can be improved by 5.53% or 11.41%, respectively. The enhancement of the FOM should be attributed to the faster decrease of the full width at half-maximum than the sensitivity after an absentee layer was applied in the SPR sensor.


Central venous pressure is used for monitoring intravascular volume and heart function, and the administration of intravenous fluid. Central venous pressure monitoring is commonly used in critically ill patients such as multiple trauma, sepsis, major surgery, and heart dysfunction. Critically ill patients are at high risk of hemodynamic changes, leading to inadequate tissue perfusion. Central venous pressure monitoring is therefore significant for guiding healthcare providers to tailor effective management for critically ill patients. However, patients with central venous catheterization are at high risk of complications, including infection, thrombosis, and venous air emboli. Nurses play an important role in caring for patients with central venous catheterization. They are responsible for central venous pressure measuring and interpreting, and also detecting or preventing complications related-to the catheterization. Therefore, knowledge and practice in caring for patients with central venous catheterization are essential for nurses in order to provide an optimal care; collecting accurate data, ensuring correct interpretation, and preventing complications.


Guar patha (Aloe vera L.) is a succulent plant which is known for anormous medicinal properties. It propagates vegetatively in its natural state. However, propagation rate is very slow because a single plant can produce only three to four lateral shoots in a season. An efficient micropropagation protocol has been developed using shoot apical meristem as explants of Aloe vera L. The protocol involves induction, multiplication and in vitro rooting of the regenerated shoots and their acclimation under ex vitro conditions. High frequency of regenerated shoot buds from explants was achived on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 3 mg/l BAP and 1 mg/l IAA. All cultures showed shoot regeneration in this medium with 27.7±1.08 shoots/explants. Cytokinine free medium was found competent for further elongation of regenerated shoots. Further elongation and 100% rooting was achived on 1 mg/l IAA. Rooted shoot were transferred to Pre acclimination chamber (PAC) filled with vermiculite, where they grew well and attained maturity. The plantlets were then successfully hardened. Cent per cent plants survived in the field conditions. It is recommended that this protocol can be used effectively for rapid multiplication of elite plants of Aloe vera L.


Security has been always a prominent concern in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) irrespective of the evolution of various scientific approaches that mainly mechanizes key management approaches to secure the communication system among the resource constraints sensors. Out of various key management approaches, pairwise key is one effective approach to ensure cost effective key management scheme; however, review of existing approaches shows that they still are characterized by various issues connected to optimized performance. Adopting analytical research methodology, the proposed system implements an optimized multi-tier framework for resisting key-based threats and it targets to introduce a lightweight pair wise predistribution of keys by joint integration of enhanced public key encryption and digital signature. The study outcome shows that proposed system offer a better security performance in contrast to existing pair wise predistribution of keys.


Author(s): Salgado, Ruben | Advisor(s): Balandin, Alexander A | Abstract: ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATIONElectrical and Thermal Characterization of Low Dimensional Materials and DevicesbyRuben A. SalgadoDoctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Materials Science and EngineeringUniversity of California, Riverside, June 2019Dr. Alexander A. Balandin, ChairpersonLow-dimensional materials such as quasi-one-dimensional carbon nanotubes and quasi-two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides reveal interesting properties, which have potential for future device applications. In some cases, the attractive feature of low-dimensional materials is their heat conduction capabilities, in other cases – it is the unusual electronic conduction and switching phenomena. In this dissertation research, I investigate (i) the thermal characteristics of carbon nanotubes incorporated in the battery electrode; and (ii) the electronic characteristics of quasi-two-dimensional 1T-TaS2 material system and devices based on these systems The selected material systems and different properties demonstrate a wide range of possibilities of the device applications for the low-dimensional materials. In the first part of this dissertation work, I describe the effects of the incorporation of carbon nanotubes, known for their high thermal conductivity, into Li-ion battery electrodes. It was demonstrated that the in-plane thermal conductivity of the composite electrodes with incorporated carbon nanotubes is as large as ~206 W/mK. This value exceeds the thermal conductivity of conventional laminated electrodes by about three orders of magnitude. The cross-plane thermal conductivity of the carbon-nanotube-based electrodes is in the same range as thermal conductivity values of conventional laminated electrodes. The electrodes with carbon nanotubes revealed a superior electrochemical performance and stability. The results of this research demonstrated that incorporation of highly thermally conductive low-dimensional materials can substantially improve the thermal properties of the battery electrodes without degrading their electrochemical performance. In the second part of this dissertation research, I report results of the investigation of current-voltage characteristics and low-frequency current fluctuations in vertical 1T-TaS2 charge-density-wave devices. The electron transport, perpendicular to the atomic planes, was studied in the temperature range below T=180 K, which is a known transition temperature to the commensurate charge-density-wave regime. The resistivity of the vertical 1T-TaS2 devices reveal an intriguing abrupt change below 100 K. The low-frequency noise spectra suggest a presence of an additional "hidden" phase transition at this point. The obtained results confirmed the potential use of low-frequency noise spectroscopy for the investigation of electron transport and switching phenomena in low dimensional materials.


In the recent years, the efforts of web services have focused on the acquisition of as more information related to their users as possible. This information is usually related to the content of users' online searches, the kind of websites they visit, the people they come in touch and the products they buy online. The tracking of the users, in most of the cases, is performed by content or service providers for purely commercial reasons. In reality though, it has been proven that web tracking is used by different carriers for various reasons. The acquired information is not always used directly by the carrier itself. A very common practice is the collected data to be sold to third parties, such as insurance companies or e-shops. There are also cases that government services or identity thieves get access to this data. It is therefore obvious that privacy constitutes the Achilles' heel of today's web. Users' web tracking can be performed in many ways. For this reason, many mechanisms, which can be grouped to categories, have been developed, among which remarkable are the ones which are based exclusively on browsing, on storage, on cache memory (web or operational), on fingerprinting and more. All these tracking mechanisms' target is the online recognition of users and the connection with their real identity attributes, such as name, home address, phone number, email address etc. The revelation of all this information may have consequences which are sometimes unpleasant for the users. Thus, the challenge ahead is how users' web tracking can be tackled. From time to time, many different approaches have been presented, some of which are focusing on a specific web tracking mechanism, whereas others are more generic. The main goal of the present thesis is the research and the register of recent web tracking methods, the presentation of their goals and working ways, as well as the analysis of ways to address them. For this reason, this thesis is divided in three basic parts. In the first part there is a generic presentation of web tracking, an analysis of the purposes of web tracking methods through the consequences that their implementation has for the users, as well as a brief mention of the impacts of web tracking on the users' online privacy. In the second part, there is a synopsis of all known web tracking methods and mechanisms. In the third part, the possible ways of defenses are discussed through the approaches that have been presented from time to time for this purpose and also some thoughts and proposals for the future of web tracking. The thesis is completed with the presenting of conclusions drawn from the study.


Introduction. The article considers the question of the formation of inequality in legal regulation, highlighting different periods of historical development of society. It is noted that the term «discrimination» as such was not described by philosophers of the ancient period, but it is noted that inequality existed at all times, as indicated by historical and legal experience. It is the theory of non-discrimination formed within the framework of natural law theory, the principles of equality and justice, so for the modern study of the topic is important its historical and genetic analysis of the origins of discussing the issue in the early stages of state and legal thought.

Relevance. The definition of discrimination and the phenomenon of inequality as such remains popular at any historical time in various socio-political circumstances, as it can be traced at all stages of society. Only some of its forms were considered and the ideas of equality and justice for all people were traced, which makes it difficult to form a unified view of the concept of discrimination and at the same time determines the relevance of this article.

The purpose of the article is the features of the philosophical and legal thought of the Ancient and Middle Ages periods, concerning inequality in society and discrimination.

Research methods. Solving research problems requires a solid methodological basis. General philosophical methods were used - logical, systemic, special-scientific, historical-genetic and formal-logical.

The content of the main results of the article. The term «discrimination» was not described by philosophers of the ancient period, but the phenomenon of inequality existed at all times. Plato in his reasoning described the «ideal» state, distinguishing three classes, Aristotle – divided society into rich, middle and poor classes. The ideas of equality of citizens were described by Cicero (equal opportunities, except for property status), Seneca (ideas of spiritual freedom and equality), Epictetus (natural law principle), Aurelius Augustine, etc. Bogomilism (one of the first great heretical movements), the heresy of the Cathars, the Waldenses, the Albigensians, as well as the bourgeois and peasant-plebeian heresies are considered. The teachings of John Wycliffe on refuting the canonical doctrine of the Catholic Church, the utopian theories of Thomas More and Tommaso Campanella are considered.

Conclusions. The concept of discrimination was formed and considered gradually. Inequality between people was observed in the ancient world, because the legal status of a citizen depended in ancient policies on a particular type, size of land or income that a person received from him. Therefore, inequality between different strata of society originated in ancient times, as exemplified by the prohibition of interclass marriages. During the Middle Ages, the phenomenon of discrimination continued its formation on the principle of equality, due to restrictions on the rights of certain social groups and by perpetuating certain types of inequality.


Genomic prediction accuracy (r_MP) is affected by many factors, such as the trait heritability, training population size and structure, and the number of markers. This study's objective was to investigate the factors associated with r_MP for the ear height and the plant height in two planting densities in testcrosses of maize (Zea mays L.) IBM population. Genetic correlations between the training and validation populations were calculated. The high heritability estimates and correlations between the traits were observed. The non-zero estimates of r_MP for all trait-density combinations implied an efficiency of genomic selection. The lower than expected values of genetic correlations were observed between the training and validation populations. However, a strong correlation was observed between a genetic correlation of training and the validation population and r_MP in all three sizes of training populations assessed (20-40%, 40-60%, and 60-80%), suggesting that the size of the training population can be kept low by an appropriate selection while maintaining a high r_MP. Further studies of relationships between the training and validation populations with larger effective population sizes are suggested, as reducing the size of training population while maintaining a high r_MP can facilitate a more effective allocation of resources in a maize breeding program.


The Safewards model is used across various mental health settings to reduce incidents of conflict and containment and its efficacy in reducing the use of seclusion and restraint, improving patients' experiences of care, and enhancing safety within clinical settings is well documented (Bowers, Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing, 21, 2014, 499). However, there are barriers to successful implementation, including level of staff buy-in (Baumgardt et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 2019, 340; Price et al., Mental Health Practice, 19, 2016, 14). This mixed-method study assessed the impact of adopting a Safewards model within a clinical supervision framework in an approach, named Group Reflective integrated Practice with Safewards (GRiP-S), which integrates Safewards theory within the clinical supervision framework. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using the questions derived from the Manchester Clinical Supervision Scale -26© (Winstanley & White, The Wiley International Handbook of Clinical Supervision. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2014). A total of 67 surveys and eight interviews were completed by nursing staff. Overall, the results showed that the GRiP-S approach improves the implementation of Safewards and nurses' clinical practice. Nursing staff satisfaction with clinical supervision and Safewards improved post GRiP-S pre-GRIP-S- 69.54 (SD 16.059); post-GRIP-S 71.47 (SD 13.978). The survey also identified nursing staff's perception of GRiP-S in the restorative and formative domains of clinical supervision improved. The restorative mean score pre-GRiP-S was 28.43 (SD 5.988) and post-GRiP-S 29.29 (SD 3.951). The formative mean score pre-GRiP-S was 20.10 (SD 5.617) and post-GRiP-S 20.63 (SD 13.978). The qualitative results further explained the satisfaction levels and the changes seen in perception domains. The GRiP-S approach reported (i) improved therapeutic relationships and patient centred care, (ii) improved staff communication and teamwork, (iii) barriers to GRiP-S engagement, and (iv) assistance with the change process. The results indicate that the GRiP-S approach had a positive impact on Safewards delivery and supports ongoing change of practice.


Metchnikoff, and his school, in the face of much opposition, lasting many years, have offered convincing proofs of the importance of phagocytosis in the protection of the animal body against bacterial invasion. The main theses of the Metchnikovian theory are now almost universally accepted, but the exact mechanism of the processes involved is even now the subject of keen controversy. If a highly virulent organism is injected into a susceptible animal, the leucocytes appear to be repelled, and to be unable to deal with the microbe, which multiplies and causes the death of the animal. If, however, the suitable immune serum is injected into the animal before inoculation, the phagocytes attack and devour the invading micro-organisms. Much discussion has centred round the interpretation of such experiments. The early work of Nuttall and others on the bactericidal action of normal serum, and Pfeiffer's demonstration of the bacteriolysis of cholera and typhoid bacilli by immune sera in the absence of cells, formed the chief basis on which rested the humoral theory, which attributed the protection in such cases to the destructive action of the serum on the microbes. Flugge graphically illustrated the view of the humoralists by likening the phagocytes to the trenches made ready behind the fighting line to receive the conquered dead.


John Maynard Keynes was the most brilliant and infuential economist of the 20th century. His revolutionary treatise written during the Great Depression of the 1930s, "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money", overturned the conventional free market vision of the time and proposed that a healthy economy and full employment depended on the total spending of consumers, business investors "and" governments. Frightened by mass unemployment, governments throughout the capitalist world pursued Keynesian policies until the late 1970s, when a new economic theory, Monetarism, became fashionable. However, Monetarism was not as successful as its advocates had precdicted, and a Keynesian approach returned to favour. Keynes "remains" the most influential economist of the 20th century. "Introducing Keynesian Economics" lucidly explains the Keynesian revolution and paints a vivid picture of Keynes the man - a brilliant scholar, a colourful member of the Apostles and the Bloomsbury Group, and an open homosexual who later married a ballerina. This book is the ideal introduction to Keynes, for both students and general readers.


Aspergillus Niger and Pseudomonas fluorescens have the ability to absorb heavy metals during the stationary phase of growth. To improve the removal the efficiency of the oxidation ditch, we have introduced Aspergillus Niger and Pseudomonas fluorescens to the traditional Carrousel oxidation ditch process and the comparative experimental study were carried out when the Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) was 36h. According to the HRT of the oxidation ditch in the criterion, six different HRTs of 12h, 16 h, 20 h, 24 h, 28 h, and 32 h were considered to study the degradation of cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb) and copper (Cu) by Aspergillus Niger or Pseudomonas fluorescens which was introduced to the oxidation ditch process, respectively. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of the four heavy metals by each of the two strains compared to the control group was improved significantly, and the removal increased with the increasing HRT. When the HRT was 20h, the removal of the four heavy metals by the Aspergillus Niger was found to be in the range of 52% to 91%, and the removal of Pseudomonas fluorescens reached more than 70%. Most of the heavy metals can be degraded at the HRT of 20h, and this time is exactly the conventional design parameter of oxidation ditch. It can be say that the removal efficiency of heavy metals can be significantly improved after introduced Aspergillus Niger and Pseudomonas fluorescens to the traditional Carrousel oxidation ditch process.


The current study aimed to explore the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the behavioral memory impairment caused by repeated anesthesia of sevoflurane in aged rats. A total of 54 Sprague‑Dawley (SD) aged rats were randomly divided into six groups: Blank control group (Control), sevoflurane group (Sev), DHA group (3g/kg), Sev + DHA (0.3g/kg) group, Sev + DHA (1g/kg) group and Sev + DHA (3g/kg) group. Morris water maze experiment was used to evaluate the learning and memory ability. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to observe histological changes. The content of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were detected. Immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis were used to determine the expression of proteins. Rats were indicated to exhibit prolonged escape latency following sevoflurane anesthesia. The number of times taken to cross the platform and the time for target quadrant stay were also demonstrated to be significantly reduced. Rats treated with different doses of DHA were revealed to exhibit reduced escape latency. The number of times taken to cross the platform and the time for target quadrant stay increased. Histopathological examination indicated that DHA treatment ameliorated the pathological change of the rats brain tissue. Furthermore, the expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 protein were demonstrated to be significantly increased. The present study revealed that DHA has a protective effect on learning and memory impairment in aged rats induced by repeated sevoflurane anesthesia, and the mechanism may be associated with the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.


This study is concerned with the determination of optimal appointment times for a sequence of jobs with uncertain durations. Such appointment systems are used in many customer service applications to increase the utilization of resources, match workload to available capacity, and smooth the flow of customers. We show that the problem can be expressed as a two-stage stochastic linear program that includes the expected cost of customer waiting, server idling, and a cost of tardiness with respect to a chosen session length. We exploit the problem structure to derive upper bounds that are independent of job duration distribution type. These upper bounds are used in a variation of the standard L-shaped algorithm to obtain optimal solutions via successively finer partitions of the support of job durations. We present new analytical insights into the problem as well as a series of numerical experiments that illustrate properties of the optimal solution with respect to distribution type, cost structure, and number of jobs.


A cubic spline interpolating technique for approximating the dented pipeline profiles in both longitudinal and circumferential directions was proposed.This method can be used to determine the strains of pipeline with inspection data of dent.The pipeline dent was evaluated by using strain-based criteria.The results obtained from the cubic spline interpolation method are in good agreement with those of the finite analyses when the strain of pipeline was less than 9%.The new method can meet the requirement of engineering evaluation.According to calculation result,the length corresponding to half of dent depth should be taken as calculation length of dent,while calculating strain of pipeline based on the pipeline inspection data.The evaluation results of pipeline dents with different depths suggested that the pipeline dent evaluation should be based on both strain criteria and depth criteria.


Mining operations at Steep Rock Lake since 1945 have yielded about ten million tons of high-grade iron ore and have cast new light on the geology of this long-famous Precambrian area. The productive length of this most-recently discovered of the Lake Superior ranges should exceed four miles and ore intersections have been obtained at depths down to 2,000 feet below the old lake bed, implying that potential reserves must be measured in hundreds of millions of tons.The Steeprock group lies unconformably upon a granitic complex ("Laurentian") and consists of:5. Interbanded flows, tuffs, and sediments4. "Ashrock" (a basic pyroclastic containing minor flows and tuffs)3. The "orezone"2. Limestone and dolomite (in part showing "algal" and other organic (?) structures1. Basal conglomerate (not everywhere present)All these formations (together with younger basic intrusives) have been steeply tilted, more or less altered, and show foliation or brecciation in appropriate rock types. Such features (plus sporadic pyritic replacement lenses along and near the hanging-wall of the "orezone," as well as recrystallization, modification, and minor migration of the iron ores) are ascribed to the activities of a post-Steeprock ("Algoman") batholith that outcrops two miles to the west. Several major faults cross the area, the largest of which has caused a strike separation of more than two miles in the Steeprock group.The "orezone" holds all the known iron ore-bodies, is up to several hundred feet in width, shows remarkable continuity and uniformity wherever explored, and is made up of two members. The stratigraphically lower part is chiefly manganiferous waste (averaging more than 2 percent Mn) with minor iron ore, resting residually in erosional disconformity on the underlying leanly manganiferous and ferruginous limestone and dolomite. The upper part of the "orezone" carries negligible manganese and is composed chiefly of goethite with a few relatively narrow bands of cherty, sandy, and aluminous sediments. The ores show a variety of breccia, vuggy, and colloform structures. The most common type of breccia has fragments of very fine-grained goethite surrounded either by coarsely crystalline goethite or specularite or by earthy hematite. A pisolitic facies locally present along the hanging-wall of the "orezone" contains gibbsite and resembles a ferruginous bauxite.The field relations, mineralogy, and paragenesis suggest that the ore-bodies represent sedimentary limonite of Steeprock age, brecciated by compaction and folding, with the more finely comminuted matrix recrystallized or modified by hydrothermal solutions, locally effecting migration of iron.


Resonance-ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) for carbon has been demonstrated. A two-photon-resonant, three-photon ionization scheme provided large ionization signals from carbon atoms obtained by heating microgram samples of graphite. These results show that elemental carbon vapor can be detected at densities at least as low as 107 cm−3. The feasibility of efficient resonance ionization is a first step to the development of a RIMS-analysis capability for elemental and isotopic carbon.


This paper presents a novel compositional multidisciplinary uncertainty analysis methodology for systems with feedback couplings, and model discrepancy. Our approach incorporates aspects of importance resampling, density estimation, and Gibbs sampling to ensure that, under mild assumptions, our method is provably convergent in distribution. A key feature of our approach is that disciplinary models can all be executed offline and independently. Offline data is synthesized in an online phase that does not require any further model evaluations or any full coupled system level evaluations. We demonstrate our approach on a simple aerodynamics-structures system.


This is a time of "false facts." It was not always so. It used to be generally accepted that there are true opinions and false opinions and that it makes no sense to speak of "true facts" and "false facts." Yet it has now become common, even normal, to speak of "false facts" and to regard "true facts" and "false facts" as "alternative facts." This paper examines this problematic development and its philosophical implications. It investigates the conceptual shift from the distinction between true opinions and false opinions to the difference between "false facts" and "true facts." It indicates that the Classical philosophical approach to the difference between opinion and knowledge was to distinguish between true opinion and false opinion as a first step to distinguishing between true opinion and knowledge. It outlines how a certain contemporary culture has substituted the difference between "false facts" and "true facts" for the distinction between true opinions and false opinions. It argues that evidence is the essential element that distinguishes knowledge from true opinion. To achieve its goals, the paper applies Husserl's phenomenological method of sense-investigation (Besinnung) to the philosophical problem of "false facts" and "fake news." Sense-investigation aims at what is genuine, and what is genuine is what is justified by evidence. The point of the paper is that the distinction between true opinion and false opinion is a genuine distinction, whereas the difference between "true facts" and "false facts" is a pseudo-distinction. The factual may have some normative power, but the falsely factual must have no power at all.


In this article the history of the attribution approach to emotion and motivation is reviewed. Early motivation theorists incorporated emotion within the pleasure/pain principle but they did not recognize specific emotions. This changed when Atkinson introduced his theory of achievement motivation, which argued that achievement strivings are determined by the anticipated emotions of pride and shame. Attribution theorists then suggested many other emotional reactions to success and failure that are determined by the perceived causes of achievement outcomes and the shared characteristics or dimensions of causality. The article outlines the hypothesized dimensional antecedents of a number of self- and other-directed achievement-related emotions following success (admiration, apprehension, confidence, disliking, envy, gratitude, liking, pride, and surprise) and failure (anger, guilt, helplessness, hope, hopelessness, pity, regret, Schadenfreude, scorn, shame, surprise, and sympathy). Motivational consequences of emotions also are highlighted.


Transplant-related intensive care treatment after transplantation of visceral organs, in Germany traditionally headed by transplant surgeons, is an integral part of postoperative therapy after liver, pancreas, intestinal, and combined organ transplantation, i.e. pancreas-kidney, liver-kidney, and multivisceral transplantation. Apart from adjustment and monitoring of immunosuppressive therapy, as well as common intensive care issues such as cardiopulmonary disease and complications, the avoidance, early detection, and rigorous treatment of transplant-related problems are the focus of surgical intensive care treatment of transplant patients. In the following article, its role after visceral organ transplantation is described regarding the most frequent transplant-related complications such as technical failure, various kinds of infection, and graft failure with different etiologies.


PUFAs are important constituents of membrane glycerophospholipids. However, changes in the capacities to incorporate and metabolize PUFAs when cells enter the cell cycle have not been thoroughly studied. In this study, differences in the incorporation and metabolism of exogenous PUFAs in resting and proliferating primary human T-cells and in the Jurkat cell line were measured. Overall, proliferating T-cells and Jurkat cells had a greater capacity to incorporate and elongate exogenous 18- and 20-carbon PUFAs compared with resting T-cells. Proliferating T-cells and Jurkat cells also showed a greater capacity to desaturate 18-carbon PUFA substrates. Consistent with these observations, a significant increase in the expression of fatty acid desaturase (FADS) 1, FADS2, and elongation of very long chain fatty acids protein (ELOVL) 5 was measured in proliferating T-cells compared with resting T-cells. No quantifiable ELOVL2 was measured. Knockdown of ELOVL5 in T-cells and Jurkat cells significantly affected cellular monounsaturated and PUFA profiles and strongly impaired the elongation of 18- and 20-carbon PUFAs. In conclusion, the induction of proliferation in human T-cells is associated with a significant increase in the capacity to take up and metabolize exogenous PUFAs, and ELOVL5 is responsible for the elongation of 18- and 20-carbon PUFAs in these cells.


In this work the electrical performance of a radiation hard designed 1T-1R resistive random access memory (RRAM) device is investigated in DC (voltage sweep) and AC (pulsed voltage) modes. This new device is based on the combination of an Enclosed Layout Transistor (ELT) used as selector device and a TiN/ HfO_2/ Ti/TiN RRAM stack used as resistive device. The high cell to cell variability in the DC mode makes it difficult to define an electrical gap between the High Resistive State (HRS) and the Low Resistive State (LRS). The strong reduction of the variability by the use of Incremental Step Pulse with Verify Algorithm (ISPVA) makes the later a mandatory programming approach. The Quantum Point Contact (QPC) model defines an energy barrier located in the rupture point of the filament in HRS. The compensation between the width and height variations of this barrier during cycling could explain the stability of HRS and LRS. The good performance of the proposed device using the ISPVA programming approach makes it a good candidate for Rad-Hard Non Volatile Memories integration.


We study adversarial attacks that manipulate the reward signals to control the actions chosen by a stochastic multi-armed bandit algorithm. We propose the first attack against two popular bandit algorithms: $\epsilon$-greedy and UCB, \emph{without} knowledge of the mean rewards. The attacker is able to spend only logarithmic effort, multiplied by a problem-specific parameter that becomes smaller as the bandit problem gets easier to attack. The result means the attacker can easily hijack the behavior of the bandit algorithm to promote or obstruct certain actions, say, a particular medical treatment. As bandits are seeing increasingly wide use in practice, our study exposes a significant security threat.


In Public Policy and Administration Taylor (1999) concluded that the charter system was inadequate to safeguard consumers' and citizens' interests and that they would have to have a greater input to ensure success. Following its introduction in 1991, the Charter initiative certainly made an impact and by 1997 there were 40 main charters and perhaps 10,000 local ones. However since then the original Citizen'. Charter has, in the words of one commentator, 'perished, or at least atrophied' Drewry (2002, p.12). There is little doubt that it could have been more effective. For example, tax charters seem to have had more success - indeed the UK Taxpayers' Charter pre-dates the Citizen'. Charter, having been introduced in 1986. This paper therefore reviews the Charter initiative in the light of the development of tax charters and describes a particularly successful one - the Australian Taxpayers' Charter - that continues to provide a clear focus on twelve basic principles of tax administration. An important factor in the Australian success appears to be the more strategic approach taken with respect to the implementation, monitoring and development of its Taxpayers' Charter. The paper also presents relevant results of two surveys (N = 2,040 and 2,374) on the extent to which Australian voters consider the Australian Tax Office adheres to the principles outlined in the Charter. The evidence is consistent with Taylor'. (1999) views and concludes that initiatives such as the Citizen'. Charter would benefit from more strategic or systematic preparation that incorporates the views and expertise of a wide range of stakeholders before being introduced and for the initiative to become an integral part of the approach to standards of service thereafter.


Abstracts: AACR Special Conference: Metabolism and Cancer; June 7-10, 2015; Bellevue, WA

The acquisition of resistance to chemotherapy is the underlying cause of relapse leading to metastasis and mortality. It is clear that the metabolic states of cancer cells contribute to cancer therapy failure. However, the inherent plasticity of cancer cells and the complexity of intratumoral heterogeneity have obscured a clear understanding for the role of metabolism in the development of resistance. Here, we used a computational biology approach in-tandem with functional assays at the single cell level to build a mechanistic understanding of an adaptive, metabolic cell-state-switch which leads to cross-therapy resistance of chemotherapies in cancer. We show that cytotoxic chemotherapies induce a temporally-dependent cell behavior via 1. induction of cell surface scaffold-kinase interactions 2. mitochondrial-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are then requisite to drive 3. redox stress-mediated glucose uptake. Interestingly, we identified that the early-enhanced mitochondrial ROS promotes a delayed glucose shunt towards the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) which was mediating cross-drug resistance. Using pharmacologic inhibitors of proteins in the PPP as well as inhibitors of upstream glycolysis intermediates, we were able to restore cancer cell sensitivity to combination therapies producing robust tumor responses in otherwise resistant cancer cells. These findings unveil a systems analysis of metabolic plasticity leading to therapy failure and provide novel strategies for treatment.

Citation Format: Aaron Goldman, Andrew Dhawan, Ragini Medhi, Mohammad Kohandel, Shiladitya Sengupta. Temporal dynamics underpin metabolism-driven cancer therapy cross-resistance. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Metabolism and Cancer; Jun 7-10, 2015; Bellevue, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2016;14(1_Suppl):Abstract nr A58.


Purpose: To determine, by means of a phantom study, the distortion-related factors and appropriate iodine concentration for three-dimensional reconstruction rotational angiography. Materials and Methods: Four phantoms were created: crossed metal rods, one metal rod, one contrast rod, and a contrast rod under water. Iodine concentrations were 300, 250, 200, and 150 Img/ml, respectively. For each phantom, rotational angiography was performed in the rotational, right-angled (90to rotational), intermedial (45), close to rotational (20), and close to right-angled (70) planes. Two-dimensional projection images were transferred to a workstation at which 3D images were produced using the volume rendering technique. Image quality in each plane was evaluated in terms of opacity, homogeneity, and margin sharpness, which were graded as low, intermediate or high by two neuroradiologists who used images obtained in the right-angled plane as the standard reference. The same assessors evaluated in terms of the same parameters, cross-sectional images obtained at the central, intermedial, and peripheral portions of one metal rod positioned in the right-angled, close to right-angled, and intermedial planes, and in order to compare the values at different sites, one neuroradiologist measured the horizontal and vertical diameters of each cut image. Results: Three-dimensional images of all four phantoms were high quality in the close to right-angled and intermedial plane, but in the rotational and close to rotational plane were degraded. In particular, metal rod images obtained in the rotational plane were poor for all three items. In these two planes, image quality was better for the contrast rod than the metal rod, and at 200 and 250 Img/ml concentrations than at 300 and 150 Img/ml concentrations. There was no significant difference in image quality, nor in measured values of the diameter between cut images. Conclusion: A three-dimensional image was more distorted when a linear object was placed at a lesser angle to the rotational plane and when inherent X-ray attenuation was greater, a finding which must be closely related to the beam-hardening artifact. Distortion was least at 200-250 Img/ml of iodine concentration, the concentration thought to be most appropriate for in-vitro 3D angiography.


Introduction: Iodine deficiency disorders are one of the most common public health problems throughout India. The long term goal of salt iodization is elimination of iodine deficiency and reduction of goiter rate in school aged children. Objective of the study was to find out the prevalence of goiter in primary school children. Methods: In a cross sectional study, a total of forty-seven villages (about 5%) having primary schools, were selected by systematic random sampling method to study the prevalence of goiter and the status of iodized salt at consumer and distribution level. Results: The overall prevalence of goiter in the primary schools children is estimated about 21.23%. Thus it falls under moderate IDD. In the study maximum 311 (53.25%) salt samples have shown 15 ppm iodine. Conclusion: Goiter prevalence is still a public health problem in study area even after the introduction of iodized salt.


In this paper, a piecewise H∞ controller design is proposed for a class of T-S fuzzy systems with time-delay. For a given T-S fuzzy system, we design the observer to estimate the states and the controller to guarantee the global stability with H∞ performance of the resulting closed loop fuzzy control system. Subsequently, the controller design problem is characterized in terms of three LMIs, the first one is for the control gain with the current states, the second one is for the control gain with the time-delay states, and the third one is for observer gain. Finally, a simulation example illustrates the design procedure and demonstrates the performance of the proposed control strategy.


Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are pathologically and clinically distinct subtypes of aggressive non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma. To learn more about their biology, we employed metabolomic and proteomic methods to study both established cell lines as well as cryopreserved and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections of BL and DLBCL. Strikingly, NMR analyses revealed DLBCL cell lines to produce and secrete significantly (padj = 1.72 × 10-22) more pyruvic acid than BL cell lines. This finding could be reproduced by targeted GC/MS analyses of cryopreserved tissue sections of BL and DLBCL cases. Enrichment analysis of an overlapping set of N = 2315 proteins, that had been quantified by nanoLC-SWATH-MS in BL and DLBCL cultured cells and cryosections, supported the observed difference in pyruvic acid content, as glycolysis and pyruvate metabolism were downregulated, while one-carbon metabolism was upregulated in BL compared to DLBCL. Furthermore, 92.1% of the overlapping significant proteins showed the same direction of regulation in cryopreserved and FFPE material. Proteome data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD004936.


Amongst the thin-film based approaches for photovoltaics, which aim to combine high conversion efficiencies (> 10%) and low cost manufacturing (<1$/Wp), poly-crystalline silicon (poly-Si) based solar cells (<10 µm thick) are nowadays considered a promising candidate. Poly-Si couples the high quality crystalline Si technology with the potential for large area and low-cost thin film manufacturing. One of the most followed approaches is the development of poly- Si on inexpensive (e.g. glass) substrates upon solid-phase crystallization (SPC), i.e. an annealing procedure under a controlled temperature ramp up to 600-650 °C, of plasma- deposited amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films. Here the challenge is the development of large (in the range of few µm) grain poly-Si and large area, high growth rate a-Si:H films have generated in the recent years several (fundamental) research questions. Among these, the impact of the a-Si:H microstructure on the crystallization kinetics (incubation-nucleation-grain development) represents the key towards large grain poly-Si and process up-scaling. The approach chosen in this Ph.D. project initiates from the development of state-of-the art poly-Si layers characterized by grain sizes developing up to a 1 µm in diameter, as obtained upon SPC of expanding thermal plasma deposited a-Si:H layers [1]. Furthermore, a selected experimental approach based on an extensive use of in situ and ex situ surface and bulk film diagnostics is applied with the purpose of disclosing the impact of the a-Si:H film properties on the crystallization kinetics. In particular, a-Si:H bulk parameters such as the hydrogen content and microstructure parameters (hydrogen distribution in several SiHx configurations, medium range order) are studied in depth [2-3]. In detail, larger grains are found to be promoted by an increase in the a-Si:H microstructure parameter R* [2]. R* represents the order (low R*)/disorder (high R*) in the matrix according to the Si-H bond distribution in mono-/di-vacancies (–low stretching mode-LSM) and nano-sized voids (–high stretching mode-HSM), and it is quantified by the integrated IR absorption band ratio IHSM/ (ILSM+IHSM). Furthermore, the incubation time towards nuclei formation appears to be not only controlled by the medium range order in the a-Si:H films, as previously reported in literature, but also by the density of nano-sized voids which undergo a faster hydrogen out-diffusion and chemical bond rearrangement towards a higher medium range order and more ordered microstructure. Next to the insight into the impact of the a-Si:H properties on the crystallization kinetics, an in-depth study is also devoted to the control of the a-Si:H properties by means of a proper tuning of film growth- related parameters such as the ion flux and energy involved during the plasma deposition of thin a-Si:H layers [4]. In view of the manufacturing challenges of high throughput, the expanding thermal plasma approach is further explored [5] for the deposition of high growth rate a-Si:H films, in the range of 11- 58 nm/s. Poly-Si layers characterized by large grains (~1.5 µm) were obtained from disordered a-Si:H films deposited at 11- 25 nm/s. The study confirmed the role of the medium range order and the R* parameter in affecting the crystallization kinetics of a-Si:H, i.e. the incubation time and the grain size development, respectively. The present thesis addresses the results of the research efforts towards high conversion efficiency, high throughput thin-?lm poly-Si solar cells. It addresses a significant contribution to the insight on the SPC kinetics, the impact of a-Si:H microstructure on the incubation step and grain development and demonstrates the potential for large grain (~1.5 µm), high growth rate (~25 nm/s) poly-Si from SPC of ETP deposited a-Si:H films.


BackgroundPrevious research investigating the influence of location in young people's educational development often focus on measuring levels of poverty in urban communities and largely ignores the impact of rural areas and comparisons between urban and rural locations. This research advocates that including urban and rural location variables in research methodologies is imperative to gaining a fuller understanding of educational inequalities.
ObjectivesThe aim of this research is to examine the disparities in educational attainment between urban and rural locations in Northern Ireland (hereafter NI) and to identify the possible factors associated with such location disparities. Minimal research efforts have been dedicated to understanding these inequalities and even less attention has been aimed towards explaining them in a NI context. This research aims to fill this gap in knowledge.
MethodsA quantitative methodology, incorporating secondary data analysis will be utilised to achieve the research aims. This research will use administrative data provided by ADRC-NI which links the 2011 Census to the School Leavers Survey and School Census. Using GCSE results as a measure of educational attainment, multilevel modelling will be conducted on this data which has a sample size of N = 55,000 pupils.
FindingsThe findings of this research will provide information on how much of the variance in pupils' educational attainment across urban and rural locations is associated with the individual, the school and the location.
ConclusionsThis research will add to the body of knowledge surrounding educational inequalities in NI.


In recent years, governmental pressure on reducing the cost of drugs, together with the growth in the number of generic manufacturers, have given a considerable boost to competition in the pharmaceutical sector. Such relevant market change has highlighted the necessity of controlling and improving performance in order to reduce costs while maintaining high qualitylevels, both enhancing working capital management and increasing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of production lines (activities that had previously been somewhat neglected in the pharmaceutical sector). In this paper, the paradigm of buffer design for availability (BDFA) an approach developed to conciliate these apparently conflicting strategies to achieve performance improvement and cost reduction is briefly recalled and discussed, being contextualized in the state-of-the-art of buffer design research. Its valuable practical applicability and effectiveness is then demonstrated by the means of a real case study application, and future developments are eventually presented.


Abstract Extramedullary involvement in the absence of bone marrow disease is rare in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). We report two patients with APL who had central nervous system (CNS) relapse without evidence of cytologic and molecular disease of bone marrow after all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) treatment. Both of the patients were treated successfully with combination of intrathecal chemotherapy and radiotherapy with or without systemic chemotherapy. Although increasing number of cases with extramedullary involvement of APL after ATRA including therapy have been reported, further studies with a large series of patients are necessary to determine whether ATRA increases the risk of development of extramedullary involvement of disease in patients with APL.


The aggregation (sorting) of the individual solar cells into an array is commonly based on a single operating point on the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curve. An alternative approach for cell performance prediction and cell screening is provided by modeling the cell using an equivalent electrical circuit, in which the parameters involved are related to the physical phenomena in the device. These analytical models may be represented by a double exponential I-V characteristic with seven parameters, by a double exponential model with five parameters, or by a single exponential equation with four or five parameters. In this article we address issues concerning methodologies for the determination of solar cell parameters based on measured data points of the I-V characteristic, and introduce a procedure for screening of solar cells for arrays. We show that common curve fitting techniques, e.g., least squares, may produce many combinations of parameter values while maintaining a good fit between the fitted and measured I-V characteristics of the cell. Therefore, techniques relying on curve fitting criteria alone cannot be directly used for cell parameterization. We propose a consistent procedure which takes into account the entire set of parameter values for a batch of cells. This procedure is basedmore » on a definition of a mean cell representing the batch, and takes into account the relative contribution of each parameter to the overall goodness of fit. The procedure is demonstrated on a batch of 50 silicon cells for Space Station Freedom.« less


Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a significant public health problem and it is associated with enormous costs to society and disability. Kinesio Taping (KT) is widely used in patients with LBP with different techniques of application.
Objective of Study: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different techniques of KT on pain, disability and muscle endurance in patients with chronic nonspecific LBP.
Methodology: Forty five patients with chronic nonspecific LBP were randomly assigned into three equal groups. Group A received the conventional physical therapy program only, group B received the conventional physical therapy program plus the "H pattern technique" KT while group C received the conventional physical therapy program plus the "Star-pattern technique" KT. Pain was evaluated by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), disability was evaluated by Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) while muscle endurance was evaluated by Sorensen test. All measurements were recorded at baseline and after four weeks intervention.
Results: One-way ANOVA revealed that there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) among the three groups following four weeks of treatment. Post-hoc test showed greater significant improvement (P < 0.05) in the measured outcomes for group B in comparison to the other groups.
Conclusion: Adding KT to the conventional physical therapy treatment of chronic nonspecific LBP significantly reduced pain, disability and improved isometric endurance of the trunk muscles than conventional physical therapy treatment alone.


The European Union and Germany have recently committed themselves to greenhouse-gas neutrality by 2050 and 2045, respectively. This substantially reduces their gaps in ambition to the Paris climate goals. However, the current climate policy mix is not sufficient to reach these targets: There is a major implementation gap. Based on economic, legal, and political science perspectives, this article identifies key obstacles in legislating stringent climate policy instruments and making them effective. Using a simple framework, we map the stage of the process in which the obstacles are at work. Moreover, we discuss the potential effectiveness of a select list of prominent drivers of climate-related regulation in overcoming said obstacles and conclude by pointing towards conditions for closing the implementation gap. In doing so, we focus on the current legislative processes of the "Fit-for-55" package by the European Commission and the 2021 Federal Climate Change Act in Germany. Our analysis builds on the extant literature, and we suggest avenues for further research.


Microstructure of heterojunction usually has strong influence on its electrical characteristic. In order to study the effect of microstructure, the layers of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) are deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate by thermal evaporation method. The modification of microstructure in the organic semiconductor layer with varied underneath layer is studied in the heterojunction between CuPc and TCNQ. Then the effect on its electrical characteristic is examined between ITO and aluminum (Al) electrodes in these alternative structures. By determining the microstructure by atomic force microscope (AFM), the CuPc and TCNQ thin films provide very tiny and large grain, respectively. These large grains in TCNQ thin film connect into line pattern probably due to the slow grain growth. Therefore the CuPc film is deposited on this TCNQ layer, the larger gain size of CuPc film can be achieved. However, the TCNQ layer grown on top of tiny grain of CuPc exhibits relatively small grain size. The variation of X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks of these alternative structures support the microstructure extracted from AFM image very well. The optical absorption of these various structures exhibits the combination of absorption peaks from each layer. The electrical characteristics of these structures strongly depend on junction between ITO electrode and organic layer. The heterojunction structures of ITO/CuPc/Al and ITO/CuPc/TCNQ/Al show rectifier characteristics while the structures of ITO/TCNQ/Al and ITO/TCNQ/CuPc/Al exhibit similar IV characteristic for both polarities. However the effect of larger grain size in TCNQ layer leads to very much higher current than those other structures. By measuring current down to temperature of 50 K, it is found that the structures with rectifier junction indicate the current decreasing more than five orders of magnitude while the junctions with no rectifier characteristic exhibit only slightly current change even the measured temperature is reduced to very low temperature.


Model based feature enhancement techniques are constructed from acoustic models for speech and noise, together with a model of how the speech and noise produce the noisy observations. Most techniques incorporate either Gaussian mixture models (GMM) or hidden Markov models (HMM). This paper explores using a switching linear dynamic model (LDM) for the clean speech. The linear dynamics of the model capture the smooth time evolution of speech. The switching states of the model capture the piecewise stationary characteristics of speech. However, incorporating a switching LDM causes the enhancement problem to become intractable. With a GMM or an HMM, the enhancement running time is proportional to the length of the utterance. The switching LDM causes the running time to become exponential in the length of the utterance. To overcome this drawback, the standard generalized pseudo-Bayesian technique is used to provide an approximate solution of the enhancement problem. We present preliminary results demonstrating that, even with relatively small model sizes, substantial word error rate improvement can be achieved.


Background. The role and significance of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection is not yet well known. Methods. We therefore conducted a study on 46 symptomatic subjects with disease ascertained by laboratory tests to evaluate the presence of IgG and IgM antibodies in these subjects in relation to the time elapsed since the onset of symptoms. The analytical performance of the method used in the study (Maglumi 800, SNIBE, China) and the effect of two different serum and plasma matrices were also assessed. Results. IgG positivity was demonstrated in 100% of cases 15 days after the onset of the disease. IgM show lower concentrations and do not exceed 77% of cases after 15 days. The analytical performance of the method used was confirmed to be good in terms of imprecision, linearity, commutability in two blood sample matrices. Conclusion. The serological study through the search for specific IgG for SARS-CoV-2 results in our case series is sensitive and suitable for population research and can also play a role in diagnosis. The diagnostic performance of specific IgMs are lower.


According to folklore, Bacopa monnieri commonly called as Brahmi is known for its cognitive enhancing properties. The plant is found abundantly in wetlands but the drug content (bacosides) is very low (0.2%), therefore, alternative biotechnological protocols are highly needed to supplement the constant source of this valuable plant material which produces stable amounts of bacosides. The present study was conducted to explore the application of different culture systems for cultivation of shoot biomass and maximization of biologically active bacoside biosynthesis in this medicinally important plant. Shoot cultures of Bacopa were cultivated in two different modified benchtop bioreactors: glass bottle bioreactor and balloon type bubble bioreactor and compared with those grown in traditional Erlenmeyer agitated flask. The shoots cultivated in the balloon type bubble bioreactor system showed excellent growth (growth index 796.47 ± 17.27 fresh weight and 395.55 ± 7.55 dry weight) as compared to glass bottle bioreactor system (growth index 488.17 ± 14.4 fresh weight and 327.79 ± 6.64 dry weight) and agitated flask (growth index 363.43 ± 11 fresh weight and 304.22 ± 6.76 dry weight). Furthermore, bacosides produced by shoot cultures cultivated in the balloon type bubble bioreactor (321.95 ± 17.14 mg/L) and glass bottle bioreactor (180.18 ± 6.25 mg/L) configurations were ∼2.78 fold and ∼1.55 fold higher than that recorded in agitated flask cultures (115.7 ± 3.84 mg/L). The balloon type bubble bioreactor system was found to be advantageous for enhancing B. monnieri shoot biomass and bacoside biosynthesis along with ensuring a successful protocol for continuous supply.


Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of obesity, dietary habits, and sedentary patterns among Sudanese adolescents. Methods: A multistage stratified sampling method was used to select 945 adolescents (507 males and 438 females) aged 14 to 18 years, from Khartoum State, Sudan. A self-reported pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Overweight and obesity were determined using the International Obesity Task Force standard, which is based on body mass index for sex and age. Results: Overweight and obesity were growing problems among urban Sudanese adolescents (10.7%). Breakfast was commonly consumed on a daily basis by the majority of adolescents (74.2%), followed by lunch (63.9%) and supper (33.5%). Snacking was not a common practice among these individuals. Vegetables (63.9%) were more frequently consumed (more than 3 days per week) than fruit (30.1%). There were significant differences between genders regarding intake of vegetables (P < .048), chicken (P < .013), dairy products, sweets, nuts, chocolate, and legumes (P < .001 for all). Sedentary behaviors (long duration of television viewing and Internet use) were highly prevalent, and physical activity was rarely practiced (6.8%). Conclusion: The findings indicated that risk factors for diet-related chronic diseases such as unhealthy dietary habits and sedentary behaviors are starting to rise among urban adolescents in Sudan. This creates the need for immediate action to prevent and control these risk factors before these diseases become major public health problems.


We consider the problem of noisy private information retrieval (NPIR) from <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N$ </tex-math></inline-formula> non-communicating databases, each storing the same set of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$M$ </tex-math></inline-formula> messages. In this model, the answer strings are not returned through noiseless bit pipes, but rather through <italic>noisy</italic> memoryless channels. We aim at characterizing the PIR capacity for this model as a function of the statistical information measures of the noisy channels such as entropy and mutual information. We derive a general upper bound for the retrieval rate in the form of a max-min optimization. We use the achievable schemes for the PIR problem under asymmetric traffic constraints and random coding arguments to derive a general lower bound for the retrieval rate. The upper and lower bounds match for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$M=2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$M=3$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, for any <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and any noisy channel. The lower and upper bounds show a separation between channel coding and retrieval scheme except for adapting the traffic ratio from the databases. We refer to this as <italic>almost separation</italic>. Next, we consider the private information retrieval problem from multiple access channels (MAC-PIR). In MAC-PIR, the database responses reach the user through a multiple access channel (MAC) that mixes the responses together in a stochastic way. We show that for the additive MAC and the conjunction/disjunction MAC, channel coding and retrieval scheme are <italic>inseparable</italic> unlike in NPIR. We show that the retrieval scheme depends on the properties of the MAC, in particular on the linearity aspect. For both cases, we provide schemes that achieve the full capacity without any loss due to the privacy constraint, which implies that the user can exploit the nature of the channel to improve privacy. Finally, we show that the full unconstrained capacity is not always attainable by determining the capacity of the selection channel.


Abstract The aim of this study is to analyse how graphicacy is promoted through activities with images of the human body in third to sixth year primary school textbooks from three different publishers. The analysis was based on categories related to type of image, type of task, procedures, cognitive processing level required and whether there are explicit instructions on how to use the image. The results show that illustrations and visual diagrams are the most frequent images. The main task is image interpretation, whereas production tasks are scarce. Moreover, the tasks are not evenly distributed among the different procedures. The processing level required is low and requires superficial processing of the images, resulting in a learning process based on copy and repetition. There is some evidence of activities being sequenced according to educational level. We conclude that the kind of graphicacy found in the textbook activities is insufficient for acquiring competence in the use of images.


This paper considers the coverage problem for hybrid networks which comprise both static and mobile sensors. The mobile sensors in our network only have limited mobility, i.e., they can move only once over a short distance. In random static sensor networks, sensor density should increase as O(log L + k log log L) to provide k-coverage in a network with a size of L. As an alternative, an all-mobile network can provide k-coverage with a constant density of O(k), independent of network size L. We show that the maximum distance for mobile sensors is O( 1/radic(k) log 3/4(kL)). We then propose a hybrid network structure, comprising static sensors and a small fraction of O( 1/radic(k)) of mobile sensors. For this network structure, we prove that k-coverage is also achievable with a constant sensor density of O(k). Furthermore, for this hybrid structure, we prove that the maximum distance which any mobile sensor has to move is bounded as O(log(3/4)L). We then propose a distributed relocation algorithm, where each mobile sensor only requires local information in order to optimally relocate itself. We verify our analysis via extensive numerical evaluations and show an implementation of the mobility algorithm on real mobile sensor platforms.


The present paper analyses the variations of daytime mesopause temperature over an equatorial station during polar Stratospheric Sudden Warming (SSW) events, indicating a possible dynamical coupling between the two regions, through the intensification of planetary wave activity. The amplified wave signatures of quasi‐16 day period have been seen in the Equatorial Mesopause Temperature (EMT) and Polar Stratospheric Temperature (at 10 hPa) during the course of the SSW. The EMT measurements were made from Trivandrum (8.5°N, 76.5°E), an equatorial station in India and the stratospheric temperatures were obtained from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. This investigation reveals (1) an overall enhancement and amplified wave activity in the EMT prior to the SSW and (2) propagation of a wave disturbance from equatorial stratosphere to North Pole in about a month. These results are new and reveal some newer aspects of the SSW and its equatorial effects.


Aim: COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown period following was a very challenging time for pediatric dentistry. We aimed to find whether the characteristics of dental care provided to children at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Hadassah medical center, Jerusalem, Israel, differed between the periods, before COVID-19 outbreak, during the lockdown period and during the period that followed it. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed computerized records of patients who visited the pediatric dental clinic at three different periods: pre-lockdown period, lockdown period, and post-lockdown period. Results: Nine-hundred and forty-nine children were included in the study; most of them were healthy children between 3 and 6 years old. During lockdown, all scheduled appointments except for treatments under general anesthesia and deep sedation were canceled due to the government's restrictions; the frequency of treatments with non-pharmacological behavior management, general anesthesia or deep sedation was higher than in the previous or subsequent periods and the use of inhaled/conscious sedation was significantly lower. During lockdown most of the children were diagnosed with dentoalveolar abscess (32.3%), compared to 14 and 21% at the previous or subsequent periods, respectively (P < 0.001). Treatments combination during lockdown included more extractions, pulpectomies and pulp extirpation and less permanent restorations (P < 0.001). None of the staff members was infected with COVID-19 at the clinic during these periods. We concluded that dentists should be updated about Covid-19 modes of transmission and the recommended infection control measures in dental settings. Effective management protocols can help the dental staff to continue to provide efficient treatment and prevent Covid-19 contamination.


Modern herbicides greatly contribute to world agricultural production but their sustainability is threatened by the widespread evolution of herbicide resistant weedy plant populations. Despite the commercial and scientific importance of resistance, there has not been an experimental model system for pro-actively evaluating the potential for herbicide resistance evolution. Here, utilizing the rapidly growing, unicellular photosynthetic microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Dangeard), a ratchet protocol has been developed that solves the problem of maintaining both large populations and strong herbicide selection. The ratchet protocol is a progressive set of cycles, each cycle commencing with a population of approximately one million individuals apportioned amongst three herbicide doses for 14 days. Whenever the evolving population demonstrates growth across the three herbicide selection intensities, then the population ratchets to the next cycle of higher herbicide dose. Therefore, by always maintaining large populations under selection pressure, this system offers the opportunity for beneficial mutations to arise and be enriched. Using the well-characterized atrazine herbicide, the ratchet protocol resulted in rapid evolution of populations with different levels of resistance. This robust laboratory based Chlamydomonas system is proposed for application in establishing the respective propensity for resistance evolution to herbicides or other selecting agents. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 91, 257–266.


We estimate the effect of consolidation efforts on investors' perception of government's solvency. To this end, we analyze announcements by Dutch government officials between September 2008 and December 2014 and select those messages that contain relevant new information on the likelihood and substance of consolidation packages. We then scrutinize whether announcements affect the yield spread of Dutch ten year government bonds vis-à-vis German bonds. Our findings indicate that announcements hinting at improvements in the budget balance significantly lowered yield spreads. As most announcements involve events during the negotiation process on consolidation packages rather than the official date of agreement or implementation of these packages, our results illustrate the importance of accurately assessing the news content of messages.


In this paper, wind-induced vibration of a super-high tower is numerically studied. The natural frequencies of the tower are calculated. Karman's Vortex Street is simulated and the alternate lateral forces across the wind are obtained. It is found that with the wind speed range of 0–52.3m/s acting on the tower, the maximum vortex shedding frequency is lower than the second natural frequency of the tower. Resonance of the tower could occur at the first natural frequency with the horizontal force amplitude 241.5N/m. For high towers, it is suggested that the wind actions in across the wind and fatigue strength checks should also be considered in the design approach.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


The effect of the hepatoprotective drug silymarin (Carsil) on the incorporation rate of 14C-leucine into total proteins and on the biosynthesis of UDP-N-acetylhexosamine and microsomal glycoproteins using 14C-glucose of rat liver with D-galactosamine hepatitis was studied. It was found that i.p. treatment with Carsil in a dose of 140 mg/kg applied for 4 consecutive days partly abolishes the inhibitory effect of galactosamine on protein and glycoprotein biosynthesis. The specific activity of 14C-labelled UDP-N-acetylhexosamine is higher in the liver of D-galactosamine treated rats, compared with the specific activity of the nucleotide from liver pretreated with Carsil and then injected with galactosamine. This fact supports the suggestion that Carsil probably activates the metabolic conversion of UDP-hexosamine to the acetylated metabolite-UDP-N-acetylhexosamine, which is the normal liver cell metabolite, in liver cells.


Melioidosis is an infectious disease endemic in tropical and subtropical areas but is most often described in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. It has increasingly gained attention in the Western Hemisphere because of its potential use as a biological weapon. Progress in our understanding of the virulence mechanisms of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent, has provided clues to the pathogenesis of the disease. The bacterium can remain latent in the body for long periods of time and also possesses mechanisms to evade the host immune response. The complex spectrum of clinical manifestations resulting from infection could reflect the various outcomes after the host immune response encounters the bacteria. The use of appropriate animal models of susceptibility will likely shed light on what determines the development of an acute, chronic, or latent infection.


In present article the concept of creation and introduction a high-quality and complex servicing system of cargo transportation and multimodal cargo flows on the basis integration participants in transport chain, safety methodology and stability life-cycle of transport-logistical processes is offered. The existing approach in sphere of transport-logistical servicing is added by the innovative approach based on use five levels model of provision complex safety in delivery chains at the operative control expense, and also participants integration of cargo delivery chain into a uniform information field for steady freight consumer's traffic servicing.


Twenty-seven young patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were studied to determine if they had received prior measles vaccination. Fourteen patients whose immunization records were available had received measles vaccine in childhood. Eight other patients gave a history of receiving measles vaccine. These results suggest that infection by measles virus is probably not the sole cause of MS and that, unlike subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and postmeasles encephalitis, MS may not be preventable by measles vaccination given at an appropriate age.


Despite a rise of interest in information communications technology (ICT) and in community informatics (CI) initiatives, these are not 'magic bullets' or 'quickfix solutions' for SMEs or even larger organisations, communities, or industries. There is growing recognition of the need to go beyond anecdotal evidence and to assess more effectively the change brought about by providing access to and utilisation of ICT in communities. Denison et al. (2002) have presented a taxonomy that differentiates between various types of ICT and community networking initiatives. The application of this schema to a cluster of community informatics initiatives originating from the Central Highlands region of Victoria proves to be useful. A single case study is then presented which reviews the evolution of GrowExport.com, one of the online communities within that cluster. The diverse factors that are involved in establishing sustainable online services are examined. Access to a comprehensive toolset specifically designed to meet the skills and infrastructure gaps that often exist in regional areas has been important. The active involvement of community members in designing, implementing and sustaining web-based services has also been important. By generating debate and discussion and by sharing the critical learning from specific cases it is hoped that others can be better informed about the major characteristics and the diverse factors which impact on the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of CI initiatives in a regional and rural context. ____________________