Ghanaian culture revolves around religion hence it is not surprising that Ghanaians have established sects upon resettlement in the United States of America. However, the sects have changed the social organization of the adherents. Instead of mainstream institutions, adherents depend on the spiritual leaders of their sect in dealing with immigration, unemployment, illness and other social problems. The study contends that there are relevant characteristics of some Ghanaians that make it likely that they would be drawn to the sects. Some adherents are drawn to the sects as a result of profound post-migration insecurities including the threat of deportation and limited entitlements such as the denial of employment and educational rights. To such adherents the sects are an important avenue for resolving their post-migration insecurities. Results of this research also suggest that some Ghanaians are drawn to the sects by religious aspirations including the unique theology of the sect. Overall, the sects are not just a transfer of an important segment of indigenous life in Ghana to the United States of America, they also represent a miniature portrait of the changing nature of religion in the United States.


This article deals with the potential of a subculture which considers itself sustainable through orientation towards natural (re)production of life. Distinctiveness of this subculture is spreading across the planet, gathering its supporters in Serbia as well. It shows a developing awareness of various aspects of need for reconnection with nature and its laws in all the lifeforms. It is rooted in caring for life on Earth by following the principles of nature. By harmonizing relations within the environment connected to the principles of ecological economy, it links technology and science with ancient insights that are in accord with contemporary scientific views. The label 'permaculture' stands to point out the idea of a permanent regenerating of culture and cultivating all aspects of life. It is directed towards a conception of niches in which the ecological way of living represents a pattern of restraint from the shortcomings of civilization which rapidly destroy the environment and dehumanize the world. The concept of permaculture surpasses the common urban/rural dichotomy although its resemblance to the utopian desire to escape the system of technological civilization makes it, from the point of view of that system, marginal by default. However, considering catastrophic weaknesses of the neo-liberal political culture, the concept still has a potential to create a new kind of political culture.


As an effort to present a new working example for an advanced class in statistical mechanics, we employ Lawson's path integral formalism to calculate the microcanonical density operator and apply it to a one-dimensional particle interacting with an attractive delta potential. As an offshoot we derive the ground-state energy for a system of bosons in one dimension interacting via the delta potential.


Silicon quantum dots are attractive materials for luminescent devices and bioimaging applications. For these light-emitting applications, higher photoluminescence efficiency is desired in order to achieve better device performance. Nonthermal plasma synthesis successfully allows for the continuous production of silicon nanocrystals, but postprocessing is necessary to improve photoluminescence quantum yields so that nanocrystals can be used for luminescence applications. In this work, we demonstrate an all-aerosol-phase synthesis and processing route that integrates nonthermal plasma synthesis, plasma-assisted surface functionalization with alkene ligands, and in-flight annealing within one flow stream. Here, luminescent silicon nanocrystals are synthesized and postprocessed on a time scale of only 100 ms, which is orders of magnitude faster than previous synthesis and functionalization schemes. The as-produced silicon nanocrystals have photoluminescence quantum yields exceeding 20%, which is a 5-fold increase compared to previous silicon nanocrystals synthesized with all-aerosol-phase approaches. We attribute the enhanced photoluminescence to the reduced "dark" nanocrystal fraction due to reduction of dangling bond density and desorption of surface silyl species induced by the in-flight annealing. We also demonstrate that the ligand coverage plays a minor role for the photoluminescence properties, but that the nature of the silicon hydride surface groups is a major factor.


Technology must work for human race and improve the way help reaches a person in distress in the shortest possible time. In a developing nation like India, with the advancement in the transportation technology and rise in the total number of vehicles, road accidents are increasing at an alarming rate. If an accident occurs, the victim's survival rate increases when you give immediate medical assistance. You can give medical assistance to an accident victim only when you know the exact location of the accident. This paper presents an inexpensive but intelligent framework that can identify and report an accident for two-wheelers. This paper targets two-wheelers because the mortality ratio is highest in two-wheeler accidents in India. This framework includes a microcontroller-based low-cost Accident Detection Unit (ADU) that contains a GPS positioning system and a GSM modem to sense and generate accidental events to a centralized server. The ADU calculates acceleration along with ground clearance of the vehicle to identify the accidental situation. On detecting an accident, ADU sends accident detection parameters, GPS coordinates, and the current time to the Accident Detection Server (ADS). ADS maintain information on the movement of the vehicle according to the historical data, current data, and the rules that you configure in the system. If an accident occurs, ADS notifies the emergency services and the preconfigured mobile numbers for the vehicle that contains this unit.


Importance
The gut microbiome, home to the vast kingdom of diverse commensal bacteria and other microorganisms residing within the gut, was once thought to only have roles primarily centered on digestive functions. However, recent advances in sequencing technology have elucidated intricate roles of the gut microbiome in cancer development and efficacy of therapeutic response that need to be comprehensively addressed from a clinically translational angle.

Observations
This review aims to highlight the current understanding of the association of the gut microbiome with the therapeutic response to immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, cancer surgery, and more, while also contextualizing possible synergistic strategies with the microbiome for tackling some of the most challenging tumors. It also provides insights on contemporary methods that target the microbiota and the current progression of findings being translated from bench to bedside.

Conclusions and Relevance
Ultimately, the importance of gut bacteria in cancer therapy cannot be overstated in its potential for ushering in a new era of cancer treatments. With the understanding that the microbiome may play critical roles in the tumor microenvironment, holistic approaches that integrate microbiome-modulating treatments with biological, immune, cell-based, and surgical cancer therapies should be explored.


Theory for wave propagation in inhomogeneous media is used in a critical examination of observed P-wave travel time and amplitude anomalies. The NORSAR array data analysed exhibits several features predicted theoretically assuming the crust and upper mantle to be randomly inhomogeneous. It is demonstrated that in modelling plane wave time deviations a better fit to the observations is obtained by including a stochastical term in the plane wave equation. It is also demonstrated that wave scattering effects is of critical importance for seismic velocity estimation when using data from small aperture arrays. In such cases, a spatial sampling of the area under investigation is recommended in order to obtain reliable velocity estimates.


This research was designed to test the efficiency of the Roof Photovoltaic Array for Tilth, as well as analyzed the energy consumption and economic viability of the Roof Photovoltaic Array. The 10 Modules of 280-watt solar cell installed capacity of 2.8 kWh. The roof photovoltaic Array has 1 meter of width and 10 meters in length. The power of pumping water is 3 horse power (HP) that installed a submersible pump 55 meters in depth and pump to a 6,336-litre storage tank 28 meters in high. The solar cell also provides power to sprinkle plant for 5 rais by installing 1.5 HP pump. The sprinkler system containing 210 sprinkler head is 6 rows are 35 head per rows. The result of the experiment, the average solar irradiance is 844.27 W/m 2 on 27-29 Jan 2017. The average efficiency of producing electricity via the roof photovoltaic array is 0.23 on 27-29 Jan 2017. The average energy consumption reduced per day of the Roof Photovoltaic Array was 16.416 kWh on 27 Jan 2017, 16.731 kWh on 28 Jan 2017 and 17.145 kWh on 29 Jan 2017. The electricity saves cost is 51.21 baht per day. The payback period of the Roof Photovoltaic Array for Tilth is 5.35 years.


This thesis investigates the adverse outcomes amongst survivors of childhood cancer using the British Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (BCCSS) and the Pancare Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Survivor Care and Follow-up studies (PCSF).
The specific aims were to investigate (1) adverse outcomes up to 50 years of follow-up in survivors of Wilms' tumour; (2) risks of hospitalisations due to renal morbidities in childhood cancer survivors; (3) risk of subsequent primary neoplasms arising in the digestive system in survivors of childhood cancer; and (4) adverse outcomes beyond 50 years of follow-up in survivors of heritable retinoblastoma.
This thesis demonstrated that survivors of Wilms' tumour are at substantial risk of premature mortality, particularly for those who have survived 30 years from original diagnosis. This particular group of survivors have the highest risk of hospitalisations due to renal morbidities, such as chronic renal failure, and subsequent primary neoplasms in specific organs in the lower digestive system. Survivors of heritable retinoblastoma who received external beam radiotherapy experienced an increased risk of subsequent primary neoplasms developing above the shoulder, whereas those who received brachytherapy were similar to those who did not receive any radiotherapy and did not experience an increased risk of subsequent primary neoplasms.


Many psychological treatments have been shown to be cost-effective and efficacious, as long as they are implemented faithfully. Assessing fidelity and providing feedback is expensive and time-consuming. Machine learning has been used to assess treatment fidelity, but the reliability and generalisability is unclear. We collated and critiqued all implementations of machine learning to assess the verbal behaviour of all helping professionals, with particular emphasis on treatment fidelity for therapists. We conducted searches using nine electronic databases for automated approaches of coding verbal behaviour in therapy and similar contexts. We completed screening, extraction, and quality assessment in duplicate. Fifty-two studies met our inclusion criteria (65.3% in psychotherapy). Automated coding methods performed better than chance, and some methods showed near human-level performance; performance tended to be better with larger data sets, a smaller number of codes, conceptually simple codes, and when predicting session-level ratings than utterance-level ones. Few studies adhered to best-practice machine learning guidelines. Machine learning demonstrated promising results, particularly where there are large, annotated datasets and a modest number of concrete features to code. These methods are novel, cost-effective, scalable ways of assessing fidelity and providing therapists with individualised, prompt, and objective feedback.


The effective protection and utilization of poultry resources depend on an accurate understanding of the genetic diversity and population structure. The breeding of the specialized poultry lineage "Yufen 1", with its defined characteristics, was approved by the China Poultry Genetic Resource Committee in 2015. Thus, to investigate the relationship between the progenitor H line and other poultry breeds, the genetic diversity and population structure of "Yufen 1" H line (YF) were investigated and compared with those of 2 commercial chicken breeds, the ancestor breed Red Jungle Fowls, and 11 Chinese indigenous chicken breeds based on a whole-genome resequencing approach using 8,112,424 SNPs. The genetic diversity of YF was low, and the rate of linkage disequilibrium decay was significantly slower than that of the other Chinese indigenous breeds. In addition, it was shown that the YF population was strongly selected during intensive breeding and that genetic resources have been seriously threatened, which highlights the need to establish a systematic conservation strategy as well as utilization techniques to maintain genetic diversity within YF. Moreover, a principal component analysis, a neighbor-joining tree analysis, a structure analysis, and genetic differentiation indices indicated that YF harbors a distinctive genetic resource with a unique genetic structure separate from that of Chinese indigenous breeds at the genome level. The findings provide a valuable resource and the theoretical basis for the further conservation and utilization of YF.


Introduction Open repair was considered for several years the gold standard therapy for the treatment of peripheral artery aneurysms (PAAs). However, with advancements in endovascular technology increasing attention has been directed toward repairing PAAs using an endovascular stent graft. Methods This retrospective study evaluated a cohort of patients after the correction of PAAs with Viabahn. Patients treated from January 2011 to January 2018 were assessed for all-cause mortality, amputation and the need for re-intervention. Data were extracted from an administrative database from a healthcare organization in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Results Fifty-two patients were included in the study (median age 69.1 years, range 15 to 90 years; male 63.5 percent), three of whom also received Viabahn for contralateral PAAs. In total, 84 devices were used (average 1.5 per PAA); distribution: popliteal and tibial arteries (n = 30; 57 percent), femoral and iliac arteries (n = 19; 37 percent), axillary artery (n = 1; 2 percent), splenic artery (n = 1; 2 percent), abdominal aorta (n = 1; 2 percent). After a mean follow up time of 1.98 ± 1.68 years, we observed death (n = 3; 5.8 percent), amputation (n = 3; 5.8 percent) and the need for re-intervention (n = 17; 32.6 percent) in 23 patients (44.2 percent). The combined overall survival for the first, second and third year of follow up was 70.2 percent (Confidence Interval [95% CI]: 58.9 - 83.6); 63 percent (95% CI: 51.0 - 78.0) and 57.3 percent (95% CI 44.6 - 73.6). Conclusions There are still several unanswered questions regarding the best approach for patients with PAAs. In the absence of well-designed clinical studies, the assessment of databanks on real-world patients may contribute to improve our understanding of treatment alternatives and provide guidance to improve current clinical results.


Only sixty miles west of tall steel border walls in Ambos Nogales on the U.S.-Mexico border, people pass casually through staggered fences on the Tohono O'odham reservation. These border spaces are adjacent points along the same international boundary, but the contrast between them could not be more apparent. Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, together are known as Ambos Nogales and assert a single community identity despite different histories (the Spanish word ambos means "both"). Ambos Nogales has continuous border fencing, storefronts, and homes that crowd as close to the international line as laws permit, and hundreds of U.S. and Mexican government agents police everything that moves across the border. (See cover illustration for a view of this border fencing in the mid-twentieth century). Heading west from the city, steel walls turn into chain link and barbed wire fences, and vehicle barriers spaced far enough apart for cattle and people to cross through. These fences soon reach the lands of the Tohono O'odham, a binational indigenous group divided by the border. Their borderlands remain rural, sparsely populated, and comparatively less policed. They lack the fortress-like walls that symbolize the border's militarization; brick and mortar businesses that represent cross-border commerce; and customs and immigration compounds that embody U.S. and Mexican states on the frontiers of both nations.1 This article explains how two borderlands so close together developed so differently. It begins in the mid-nineteenth century, with the demarcation of the border after the U.S.-Mexico War, but moves quickly to the mid-twentieth century. After World War II, the U.S.-Mexico border region boomed. Hundreds of thousands of people with varied citizenships, races, and identities streamed into borderlands cities. U.S. and Mexican officials enforced the border, but they also encouraged cross-border social, cultural, and economic exchanges that promoted harmonious international relations and shared visions


The mouse genome encodes a family of Oas proteins that synthesize 2′-5′A in response to dsRNA. 2′-5′A activates the endonuclease RNase L to cleave single-stranded viral and cellular RNAs. The inactive, full-length Oas1b protein confers flavivirus-specific disease resistance. Although similar numbers of neurons were infected in resistant and susceptible brains after an intracranial virus infection, viral components amplified only in susceptible brains at later times. A line of resistant RNase L−/− mice was used to evaluate the contribution of RNase L to the resistance phenotype in vivo. Activation of RNase L antiviral activity by flavivirus infection was indicated by increased viral RNA levels in the brains of RNase L−/− mice. Oas1a and Oas1b mRNA levels were higher in infected RNase L−/− mice, indicating that activated RNase L also have a proflaviviral affect. However, the resistance phenotype was equally robust in RNase L−/− and RNase L+/+ mice. ABSTRACT In mice, resistance to central nervous system (CNS) disease induced by members of the genus Flavivirus is conferred by an allele of the 2′-5′ oligoadenylate synthetase 1b gene that encodes the inactive full-length protein (Oas1b-FL). The susceptibility allele encodes a C-terminally truncated protein (Oas1b-tr). We show that the efficiency of neuron infection in the brains of resistant and susceptible mice is similar after an intracranial inoculation of two flaviviruses, but amplification of viral proteins and double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is inhibited in infected neurons in resistant mouse brains at later times. Active OAS proteins detect cytoplasmic dsRNA and synthesize short 2′-5′-linked oligoadenylates (2′-5′A) that interact with the latent endonuclease RNase L, causing it to dimerize and cleave single-stranded RNAs. To evaluate the contribution of RNase L to the resistance phenotype in vivo, we created a line of resistant RNase L−/− mice. Evidence of RNase L activation in infected RNase L+/+ mice was indicated by higher levels of viral RNA in the brains of infected RNase L−/− mice. Activation of type I interferon (IFN) signaling was detected in both resistant and susceptible brains, but Oas1a and Oas1b mRNA levels were lower in RNase L+/+ mice of both types, suggesting that activated RNase L also has a proflaviviral effect. Inhibition of virus replication was robust in resistant RNase L−/− mice, indicating that activated RNase L is not a critical factor in mediating this phenotype. IMPORTANCE The mouse genome encodes a family of Oas proteins that synthesize 2′-5′A in response to dsRNA. 2′-5′A activates the endonuclease RNase L to cleave single-stranded viral and cellular RNAs. The inactive, full-length Oas1b protein confers flavivirus-specific disease resistance. Although similar numbers of neurons were infected in resistant and susceptible brains after an intracranial virus infection, viral components amplified only in susceptible brains at later times. A line of resistant RNase L−/− mice was used to evaluate the contribution of RNase L to the resistance phenotype in vivo. Activation of RNase L antiviral activity by flavivirus infection was indicated by increased viral RNA levels in the brains of RNase L−/− mice. Oas1a and Oas1b mRNA levels were higher in infected RNase L−/− mice, indicating that activated RNase L also have a proflaviviral affect. However, the resistance phenotype was equally robust in RNase L−/− and RNase L+/+ mice.


We examine the dynamical effects on disk stars of a "long bar" in the Milky Way by inserting a triaxial rotating bar into an axisymmetric disk+bulge+dark halo potential and integrating 3-D orbits of 104 tracer stars over a period of 2 Gyr. The long bar has been detected via "clump giants" in the IR by Lopez-Corredoira et al. (2007), and is estimated to have semi-major axes of (3.9 : 0.6 : 0.1) kpc and a mass of 6 10^9 Msun. We find such a structure has a slight impact on the inner disk-system, moving tracers near to the bar into the bar-region, as well as into the bulge. These effects are under continuing study.


Bi2212 single-phase films are prepared using the liquid-phase epitaxial (LPE) method. The dependence of the relative content of the Bi2212 phase in the as-grown films on the growth temperature has made it clear that the Bi2212 phase can be obtained in a narrow temperature region around 980°C. LPE growth under the liquid-temperature gradient is examined. It is found that the temperature gradient suppresses the growth of the Bi2212 phase.


Background: Most researches on the correlate of Tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes place emphasis on sociodemographic characteristics of the patients, Human Immunodeficiency Virus status and CD4+ count of patients and nutrition among others. This study assessed the effect of delay in commencement of anti-TB regimen on the treatment outcomes of all Tuberculosis patients treated between 2011 and 2014 in three directly observed treatment short course centres in Benue State, Nigeria. Methodology: A retrospective cohort study with convenient sampling technique was used for all registered Tuberculosis patients enrolled for treatment within the reviewed period. Chi-square (χ2) test was used for test of association between the independent variables and the main outcomes of the study, with statistical significance set at p-value of 5%. Results: Of the total 1711 cases reviewed, the males to females ratio was 3.9:1. The mean age for the males' patients was 39.0 ± 15.3 years and the females 33.7 ± 14.2 years. Majority of the patients were new pulmonary Tuberculosis cases and they commenced their treatment after 3 weeks of diagnosis. Higher failure and death rate were reported amongst the patients who commenced their treatment late (78.7% and 42.5% respectively). The relationship between the treatment outcome and the time of commencement of anti-TB drug regimen was statistically significant (p < 0.005). Conclusions: Commencement of anti-TB drugs in all diagnosed Tuberculosis patients is an important correlate that must be addressed in order to achieve the global goal of reducing Tuberculosis prevalence to the level at which it will no longer constitute a public health problem in Nigeria.


Introduction The treatment of locally advanced or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma remains a significant clinical challenge, with overall survival rates of approximately 12 months observed with current first line palliative chemotherapy. A recently completed randomised phase III clinical trial entitled GeDDiS (ISRCTN07742377), was designed to compare first line treatment with gemcitabine in combination with docetaxel (GemDoc) versus current standard treatment with doxorubicin. A pharmacogenetic sub-study was incorporated into the trial to assess potential impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes associated with the pharmacology of the three drugs. Methods A total of 240 patients were recruited to the sub-study with 119 on the doxorubicin arm and 121 on the GemDoc arm. A 4 ml blood sample was taken from each participant and genomic DNA extracted. Individual candidate SNPs were assessed by Taqman PCR in 7 genes associated with doxorubicin pharmacology, 7 genes associated with gemcitabine and 5 genes associated with the pharmacology of docetaxel. Association between the SNPs and efficacy and toxicity was assessed. Results SNPs within the solute transporter SLC22A16, associated with the intracellular influx of doxorubicin, were associated with worse PFS (HR = 1.72, p=0.04) and decreased frequency of grade 3/4 adverse events (71% vs 48%, p=0.04) in the doxorubicin arm of the study but not in the GemDoc arm. Conclusions The association of genetic variants of SLC22A16 with decreased efficacy and decreased incidence of toxicity is consistent with a loss of function in the transporter and previous observation of increased AUC in pharmacokinetic studies assuming that distribution of the drug into target and collateral tissues is restricted. Citation Format: David Jamieson, Beatrice Seddon, Katja Kuever, Hakim-Moulay Dehbi, Sandra Strauss, Sandy Beare, Gareth Veal. Pharmacogenetics of doxorubicin, gemcitabine and docetaxel in the GeDDiS soft tissue sarcoma trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5029. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5029


Abstract. The Northeast Greenland shelf is highly sensitive to climate and ocean variability because it is swept by the East Greenland Current, which, through the western Fram Strait, forms the main pathway of export of sea ice and cold water masses from the Arctic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean. We carried out benthic foraminiferal assemblage, stable isotope- and sedimentological analyses of a marine sediment core retrieved from the Northeast Greenland shelf (core DA17-NG-ST7-73), which provided a multiproxy reconstruction of Holocene paleoceanographic conditions. The results reveal significant variations in the water masses and thus, in the strength of the East Greenland Current over the last ca. 9.4 ka BP. Between 9.4 and 8.2 ka BP the water column off Northeast Greenland was highly stratified, with cold, sea ice-loaded surface waters and strong influx of warm Atlantic Water in the subsurface. At ~8.4 ka BP a short-lived peak in terrestrial elements may be linked to influx of ice-berg transported sediments and thus, to the so-called 8.2 ka event. Holocene Thermal Maximum like conditions prevailed from 8.2 to 6.2 ka BP, with a strong influence of the Return Atlantic Current and a weakened transport of Polar Water in the upper East Greenland Current. After 6.2 ka BP we recorded a return to a more stratified water column with sea-ice loaded surface waters and still Atlantic-sourced subsurface waters. After 4.2 ka BP increased Polar Water at the surface of the East Greenland Current and reduction of the Return Atlantic Water at subsurface levels led to freshening and reduced stratification of the water column and (near) perennial sea-ice cover. The Neoglaciation started at 3.2 ka BP at our location, characterized by a strengthened East Greenland Current. Cold subsurface water conditions with possible sea-ice cover and minimum surface water productivity persisted here throughout the last ~3 kyr.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the vasoformative response of isolated vascular explants to a variety of growth factors that have been shown to stimulate angiogenesis. Rings of rat aorta were cultured in collagen gels under serum-free conditions in the presence or absence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), natural platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha), transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), epidermal growth factor (EGF), interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), or hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). The angiogenic response of the rat aorta was stimulated by VEGF, PDGF, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB, and IGF-1. Maximum stimulatory effects were obtained with VEGF and PDGF-BB. By contrast, TGF-beta 1 and IL-1 alpha had inhibitory activity. No significant effects were observed with TGF-alpha, EGF, or HGF. The vascular outgrowth of VEGF-stimulated cultures was primarily composed of microvessels, whereas that of PDGF- and IGF-1-stimulated cultures contained an increased number of fibroblast-like cells. The inability of TGF-alpha, TGF-beta 1, IL-1 alpha, EGF, and HGF to stimulate rat aortic angiogenesis in serum-free culture suggests that either these factors require the mediatory activity of accessory cells that are not present in the rat aorta model or that blood vessels are heterogeneous in their capacity to respond to different angiogenic factors.


In the sunflower, in addition to seed yield, it is of interest to evaluate number of leaves plant-1, head diameter, stem diameter and plant height, since these characteristics may be associated with seed yield or lodging. The objective of the work was to determine the optimal sample size (from which the experimental coefficient of variation, CV, can be established) for evaluation of these four characteristics. Fifteen cultivars were evaluated in an experimental design of randomized blocks with ten replications. The characteristics were evaluated using two sampling methods (in a single row of plants or in the two rows from the useable area of each plot) and sample sizes of from two to 18 sampling units, with an interval of two plants. In the two sampling methods, the experimental accuracy, as measured by the CV, increased with increasing sample size. A sample made up of ten sampling units is suitable for assessing the number of leaves, the diameters of the head and stem, and the plant height in cultivars of the sunflower. From this sample size upwards, additional gains in experimental precision are not obtained. This sample size can be used to evaluate plants in a single row or in two rows taken from the useable area of each plot, since there was virtually no difference between sampling methods with regard to experimental accuracy. However, it is most practical and quick to sample in one row of plants.


Congenital Malformations (CM) impose a heavy burden on families and society. Identification of spatial patterns of CM is useful for understanding the epidemiology of this public health issue. In Israel, about 1,000,000 births and 25,000 CM cases at 37 groups were geocoded during 2000-2006. These were geo-analyzed using global-Moran's-I statistics. Eight groups demonstrated geospatial heterogeneity and were further analyzed at both the census tract (Local Indicator of Spatial Association (LISA) and hot spot analyses) and street levels (spatial scan statistics with two population threshold sizes). The positional definition of results is further discussed in relevance to possible exposure to teratogenic sources in the region. Limitations of data and methods used are presented as well.


We use a parallel multi-objective genetic algorithm to drive a search and reconstruction spectroscopic analysis of plasma gradients in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosion cores. In previous work, we had shown that our serial multi-objective Genetic Algorithm was a good method to solve two-criteria X-ray spectroscopy diagnostics problems. However, this serial version was slow and we therefore could not incorporate better physics and more criteria to solve larger problems and handle larger data sets. In this paper, we develop and use a parallel multi-objective genetic algorithm based on a master-slave model to solve three criteria spectroscopic analysis problems. The algorithm works well in reconciling experimental observations with theoretical physics model parameters. In addition, theoretical analysis and experimental results on the parallelized version show good scalability with up to 150 processors. This reduces the time for running the GA from 9.6 hours to 5.9 minutes.


Propofol and fentanyl are commonly used agents for the induction of anesthesia, and are often associated with hemodynamic disturbances. Understanding pharmacodynamic impacts is vital for parasympathetic and sympathetic tones during the anesthesia induction period. Inspired by the thermodynamic interaction between drug concentrations and effects, we established a machine-learning-based response surface model (MLRSM) to address this predicament. Then, we investigated and modeled the biomedical phenomena in the autonomic nervous system. Our study prospectively enrolled 60 patients, and the participants were assigned to two groups randomly and equally. Group 1 received propofol first, followed by fentanyl, and the drug sequence followed an inverse procedure in Group 2. Then, we extracted and analyzed the spectrograms of electrocardiography (ECG) and pulse photoplethysmography (PPG) signals after induction of propofol and fentanyl. Eventually, we utilized the proposed MLRSM to evaluate the relationship between anesthetics and the integrity/balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity by employing the power of high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) bands and PPG amplitude (PPGA). It is worth emphasizing that the proposed MLRSM exhibits a similar mathematical form to the conventional Greco model, but with better computational performance. Furthermore, the MLRSM has a theoretical foundation and flexibility for arbitrary numbers of drug combinations. The modeling results are consistent with the previous literature. We employed the bootstrap algorithm to inspect the results' consistency and measure the various statistical fluctuations. Then, the comparison between the modeling and the bootstrapping results was used to validate the statistical stability and the feasibility of the proposed MLRSM.


Developing compiler optimizations, especially for new, rapidly evolving smart contract languages, can be onerous and error-prone, but is especially important for smart contracts, where deployment and execution directly translate to monetary cost and which cannot change once deployed. One common optimization technique is the use of peephole optimizations, replacement rules that are applied using pattern-matching. These rules are normally constructed using human expertise, which is both time-consuming and far from systematic in exploring opportunities for optimization. In this work we propose a pipeline to automatically populate the peephole optimizer of a smart contract compiler. We apply superoptimization to an existing code base to obtain sequences of instructions, which can be replaced by cheaper, observationally equivalent instructions. We then generate peephole optimization rules by extracting the underlying patterns of these optimizations. We provide a case study of our approach and a prototype implementation for bytecode of the Ethereum Virtual Machine, the tool ppltr, which combines the superoptimizer ebso and the rule generator sorg. Then we evaluate our approach by generating and applying nearly 1k peephole optimization rules extracted from 2k optimizations obtained from deployed bytecode. 2012 ACM Subject Classification Software and its engineering → Formal methods; Software and its engineering → Compilers


Objectives: To evaluate the outcome of patients with coronary perforations who were treated with the dual catheter approach. Background: Coronary artery perforation is a grave complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with high mortality and morbidity. Treating a coronary artery perforation with two catheters through dual access enables a rapid delivery of covered stent or coils to the vessel, without losing control of the perforation site. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who had a severe coronary perforation during a PCI in our center, and compared outcomes of patients treated with the dual versus the traditional single guiding catheter approach. Results: Between April 2004 and October 2008, 13,466 PCI's were performed in Columbia University – New York Presbyterian Medical Center. There were 33 documented cases of coronary perforations during that period of time (0.245%), among these, 26 were angiographically severe (Ellis type 2 or 3 perforations). Eleven patients were treated acutely with a dual catheter technique whereas the other fifteen patients were treated using a single guiding catheter. In the dual catheter group one patient expired after emergent CABG (9.1%), and four patients underwent emergent paricardiocentesis (36.4%). In patients treated with single catheter, there were three deaths (20%), two surgical explorations (13.3%), eight emergent pericardiocenthesis (53.3%), and one event of severe anoxic brain damage (6.7%). Conclusion: The dual catheter technique is a relatively safe and reproducible approach to treat a PCI induced severe coronary artery perforation, and may improve outcome compared to historical series. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The Catolé do Rocha Batholith, situated in the Rio Piranhas-Seridó Domain of the Borborema Province (Northeastern (NE) Brazil), is an important example of the post-collisional Ediacaran magmatism that affected this region. It includes metaluminous to slightly peraluminous syenogranite and quartz syenite, basic-intermediate rocks and minor microgranite dykes; the whole set is intrusive in the Paleoproterozoic basement. This batholith has been interpreted as a member of the high-K calc-alkaline magmatic suite with chemical affinities akin to the Caledonian I-type granites. However, there are many lithochemical evidence associating the batholith to the A-type magmas. The granites are alkali-calcic to alkaline, have fer roan character, significant concentrations of large-ion lithophile elements (LILE) and high-field-strength elements (HFSE) and relative enrichment of light rare earth elements (LREE) than heavy rare earth elements (HREE). Their chemical sig natures agree with a post-collisional A 2 -type setting. Geothermobarometric estimates provide crystallization at pressures of 4.6 – 6.3 kbar (ca. 16 – 24 km in depth) and temperatures in the range of 950 – 750°C, under low oxygen fugacity conditions (-4 < Δ FQM < -1). Geochemical data and distinct redox crystallization conditions for the felsic and basic-intermediate rocks suggest they represent distinct magma batches, with local mixing and mingling features. The origin of the batholith seems to be related to enriched (metasomatized) sources, with differentiation controlled mostly by fractional crystallization processes.


In 1965 a new group of polymeric materials has been introduced into dentistry which is used for temporary crowns, bridges and impression materials. In handling it contact may occur with all components of these impression materials (Scutan, Impregum). Contact over a long period may lead to allergic contact dermatitis. Epicutaneous tests in three dentists and a technical assistant revealed that the catalysts of the impression materials are responsible for contact allergy. In experiments with guinea pigs the strong sensitization capacity of the catalysts could be demonstrated. Methyl-dichlorbenzolsulfonat (catalyst of Impregum) showed a stronger effect than methyl-p-toluolsulfonat (catalyst of Scutan). Besides their allergenic properties these substances also act as primary irritants. As these materials are widespread in dentistry more attention should be payed at the risk of hand eczemas in dentists and dental personnel caused by the catalysts of Impregum and Scutan.


Though both clinicians and scientists have long recognized the influence of extracellular calcium on the function of muscle and nervous tissue, recent insights reveal that the mechanisms allowing changes in extracellular calcium to alter cellular excitability have been incompletely understood. For many years the effects of calcium on neuronal signaling were explained only in terms of calcium entry through voltage-gated calcium channels and biophysical charge screening. More recently however, it has been recognized that the calcium-sensing receptor is prevalent in the nervous system and regulates synaptic transmission and neuronal activity via multiple signaling pathways. Here we review the multiplicity of mechanisms by which changes in extracellular calcium alter neuronal signaling and propose that multiple mechanisms are required to describe the full range of experimental observations.


Objectives Interaction between neoplastic and stromal cells plays an important role in tumour progression. It was recently found that WNT2 was frequently overexpressed in fibroblasts isolated from tumour tissue tumour fibroblasts (TF) compared with fibroblasts from non-tumour tissue normal fibroblasts in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study aimed to investigate the effect of TF-secreted Wnt2 in OSCC development via the tumour–stroma interaction. Methods Quantitative PCR, western blotting, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were used to study the expression pattern of Wnt2 and its effect on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. A Wnt2-secreting system was established in Chinese hamster ovary cells and its conditioned medium was used to study the role of Wnt2 in cell proliferation and invasion. Results Expression of Wnt2 could only be detected in TF but not in OSCC cancer cell lines. In OSCC tissues, Wnt2(+) cells were mainly detected in the boundary between stroma and tumour tissue or scattered within tumour tissue. In this study, Wnt2-positive OSCC was defined when five or more Wnt2(+) cells were observed in 200× microscopy field. Interestingly, Wnt2-positive OSCC (22/51 cases) was significantly associated with lymph node metastases (p=0.001), advanced TNM stage (p=0.001) and disease-specific survival (p<0.0001). Functional study demonstrated that secreted Wnt2 could promote oesophageal cancer cell growth by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway and subsequently upregulated cyclin D1 and c-myc expression. Further study found that Wnt2 could enhance cell motility and invasiveness by inducing epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Conclusions TF-secreted Wnt2 acts as a growth and invasion-promoting factor through activating the canonical Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway in oesophageal cancer cells.


This research studied the moisture sorption behavior of jatropha seeds by developing a model that correlates the equilibrium moisture (EMC) and Free Fatty Acids (FFA) contents as a function of water activity and EMC, respectively. Two sets of sorption-isotherm experiments were performed to describe the relationship of EMC and FFA contents with water activity, both for fresh and dried seeds of Banten and Lampung varieties. The seeds are conditioned in a series of vessel with saturated salts at certain water activity. The EMC were increased following an increase in water activity in either desorption or adsorption. The hysteresis effect is more pronounced at Banten variety than Lampung one. The FFA content of fresh seeds was increased with an increase in water activity, while the FFA content of dried seeds is relatively constant. The moisture sorption behavior of jatropha seeds reveals that like most product, it exhibits the sigmoid pattern. The BET, GAB, Harkins-Jura, Halsey and Oswin models are recommended to be adequate in predicting the amount of moisture adsorbed or desorbed at known humidity. The relationship between EMC and FFA contents shows that the polynomial equation is the best for fresh seeds, and constant equation for dried seeds. Keyword: moisture sorption; jatropha seeds; water activity; equilibrium moisture content;


This paper presents the mitigation methods of PD on PIC in Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) distribution system. The area located near the coast will be selected as the pilot project because of having strong occurrence of PD which is mainly caused by salt contamination. The methods applied in this experiment consist of using tie wires made from an insulation sheath of low voltage cable, the sheath of PIC itself; composite tie wire and aluminium tie wire (reverse loop binding). Following the trial results, there are two methods that considered as the most effective ways for PD solving; binding PIC by using the PIC's insulation sheath and the composite tie wire instead of aluminium tie wire (conventional binding).


An east–west trending diabase dyke cuts a north–south dyke and therefore is clearly younger. Chemical, petrographic, and diffraction data suggest that the north–south dyke belongs to the tholeiite group and the east–west dyke to the alkali basalt group. Excess argon in pyroxene from the east–west dyke and the alkaline affinities are taken as evidence of a deeper genesis for the east–west than the north–south dyke.


Landscapes settled by indigenous communities represent nuanced inter-relationships between culture and environment, where balance is achieved through Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). Through IKS, native peoples worldwide live, farm, and consume resources in a manner that is responsive to natural systems and, as such, their lands present less deforestation and more sustainable production per capita than is exhibited by non-indigenous practices. In Bolivia, the Origin Farmer Indigenous Territory (TIOC) communities of Yaminahua-Machineri and Takana-Cavineño, located in the North Amazon, are facing external threats of non-indigenous anthropogenic land use change, such as road-building and industrial-scale resource extraction. In order to understand the potential environmental and cultural loss to these territories, the present work seeks to determine the present, base-line conservation state within these Bolivian communities, and forecast land use change and its consequences until the year 2030. This was undertaken using a three-stage protocol: (a) the TIOC communities' current forest-based livelihoods, characteristics and management were determined using on-site observation techniques and extensive literature review; (b) the historical land use change (LUC) from natural vegetation to anthropogenic use was estimated using multitemporal satellite imagery; and, finally, (c) geographically explicit non-indigenous anthropogenic land-use change threat was extrapolated until 2030 using the GEOMOD modeler from the TerraSet software. Preliminary results show that both TIOCs case-sites are fairly conserved due to their forest dependence. However, deforestation and degradation could be evidenced, particularly within TIOC areas not officially recognized by the central government, due to pressures from surrounding, new non-indigenous settlements, road infrastructure, connection to markets, and the threat of the oil exploitation. Projected LUC suggest serious threats to the unrecognized TIOC areas if community governance is not reinforced, and if extractivist and non-indigenous development patterns continue to be promoted by state and central government.


In this study, based on a magnetisation-controllable dynamic reluctance network (MC-DRN) model, an optimisation design method with an efficient modern evolution algorithm for the flux memory motor is proposed. To clarify the method conveniently, a doubly salient flux-control memory (DS-FM) motor is involved and taken as a design example. First, according to the motor topology, the detailed MC-DRN model of the DS-FM motor is built, in which the magnetisation state adjustment of the low coercivity force material is considered. During the optimisation design process, to meet the diverse design requirements of multiple operation modes, non-dominated sorting genetic II is employed to obtain the trade-off optimal design of the DS-FM motor under different magnetisation states. Moreover, to verify the feasibility of the optimisation method, the electromagnetic performances of the motor in different operation modes are investigated in detail, and the results are compared with that obtained by the finite-element method. Finally, a prototype is manufactured, and the experiments are carried out. The corresponding results not only validate the reasonability of the investigated DS-FM motor but also prove the accuracy and the effectiveness of the MC-DRN model and optimisation design method.


In recent years, considerable attention has been given to chitosan (CS)-based biomaterials and their applications in the field of soft tissue engineering (TE). CS is a glycosaminoglycan derived from chitin, the primary structural polymer in crustacean exoskeletons. CS is biocompatible, biodegradable, easily formed into various structures (i.e. sponges, nanofibers and films) under mild processing conditions and can be chemically modified through graft copolymerization and crosslinking. However, the rapid degradation of CS and its low mechanical strength are concerns that may limit its use in clinical applications. In the first part of the thesis, different non cytotoxic crosslinkers were used aiming at improving the structural properties of CS. Genipin (GP), γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS), dibasic sodium phosphate (DSP) were selected as biocompatible CS crosslinkers as reported in literature. After a preliminary physico-chemical and mechanical characterization, the proper crosslinking compounds were selected for the development of different typologies of CS scaffolds for both human and veterinary applications. CS- based scaffolds were developed as nerve guidance channels (NGCs) and internal fillers fabrication to promote peripheral nerve regeneration in humans. Two CS based hollow NGCs were prepared and tested in vitro and in vivo (coded as CS flat membrane and bi-layer CS membrane) and a CS based nanostructured internal filler was optimized and characterized in vitro. i. CS flat membranes were prepared by solvent casting. According to the results obtained in the first part of the thesis, DSP alone (CS/DSP) or in association with the GPTMS (CS/GPTMS_DSP) were used as crosslinkers. CS crosslinked membranes showed permeation to nutrients and did not exert any cytotoxic effect on RT4-D6P2T. The higher mechanical stability of CS/GPTMS_DSP under wet state allowed to confirm the RT4-D6P2T attachment and proliferation as well as the neurite outgrowth of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) on CS substrates. Before in vivo implantation in rats, CS/GPTMS_DSP and CS/DSP membranes were easily rolled up to form a NGC. Then, membranes were used to bridge median nerve defects in rats. After 12 week post-operative CS/GPTMS_DSP tubes were found to be detached from the distal suturing site and functional recovery did not occurred. On the other hand, crushed nerve encircled with CS/DSP membranes, allowed nerve fibre regeneration and functional recovery, showing similar results to autografts. ii. Bi-layer CS membranes were developed using a two-step coating technique. CS/DSP and CS/GPTMS_DSP flat membranes were combined to produce scaffold structures with good biocompatibility in the inner layer (CS/DSP) and with the desired mechanical strength imparted by the outer (CS/GPTMS_DSP, GPTMS 25% wt./wt.). Gradual water uptake and permeation to small molecules was observed compared to single layers. From in vivo tests, median nerves treated with bi-layer tubes displayed regenerated and aligned fibres at the injury site. iii. CS crosslinked electrospun nanofibres were fabricated by electrospinning solutions containing CS, polyethylene oxide (PEO), and dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO). PEO and DMSO were introduced to allow the spinnability of CS solutions at high polymer concentration with controllable fiber size and increase fiber yields by relaxing CS chain entanglement. Optimization of the process and solution parameters allowed to obtain CS nanofibres with size of 128±17 nm. To increase CS stability in aqueous media, DSP was used as crosslinker After DSP crosslinking fibre size decreased to 109±17 nm while an increase in the mechanical strength (E, from 63±10 MPa to 113±8 MPa) was observed compared to uncrosslinked nanofibrous matrices. In the third part of the thesis, CS porous membranes with improved antimicrobial properties were prepared for veterinary application. The developed scaffolds were fabricated by freeze-drying to promote the wound healing process and to reduce the bacterial proliferation in chelonian shell injury site. Different ratios of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs, 5%, 10% and 15% wt. /wt.) and gentamicin sulphate (GS, 3.5 mg/ml) were loaded into the CS/GPTMS_DSP membranes to impart the proper antibacterial properties and to favor drug release avoiding the risk of systemic toxicity. After a preliminary in vitro characterization, CS/GPTMS_DSP loaded with AgNPs at a concentration of 10% wt./wt (CS/GPTMS_DSP_AgNP10) was selected as ideal candidate for this application field. GS release profile from CS/GPTMS_DSP_GS evidenced high burst release of the antibiotics in the first day (about 70%). Finally, GS and AgNPs (10 % wt./wt.) effect on bacterial inhibition was evaluated and confirmed against Gram+ and Gram-. The results reported in this thesis work demonstrate that CS is a promising candidate for applications in human and veterinary soft TE. Mechanical and physico-chemical properties of CS scaffolds can be tuned by using different crosslinking methods. By the in vitro characterization, GPTMS and DSP were selected as ideal compounds to the development of scaffolds for peripheral nerve regeneration (in human) and wound healing (in animals). Four different morphologies (3 for peripheral nerve regeneration and 1 for wound healing application) were obtained by varying the fabrication methods and the final composition. All membranes were found to satisfy the requirements for the application of interest. CS based membranes developed for peripheral nerve regeneration were found to be biocompatible, and successful functional recovery was observed in case of CS/DSP and bi-layer membranes. Porous membranes with improved antimicrobial properties were prepared to enhance wound healing in chelonians and were found to be effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria following the release of two different investigated antimicrobial agents (AgNPs and GS)


Safety training is a vital component of any construction organization's safety program. Training offers an opportunity for the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge of safe work practices. Often, safety training focuses on core issues faced by the specific organization and links to desired worker behaviour. Unfortunately, the typical delivery modes involve PowerPoint presentations, written safety protocols, and classroom-style settings. Such teaching modes do not facilitate active, inductive, context-based learning that is essential for effective andragogy (i.e., adult learning) and, therefore, often fail to achieve their desired objectives. This study tests the hypotheses that a new method of risk-free safety training, Live Safety Demos, increases engagement through emotional response to training activities. The technique involves demonstrating the cause and effect of actual injuries to human hands, which are the most commonly injured body part in construction. The delivery of the demos include the following key components: (1) biologically-realistic replicas of human hands that include flesh, bones, and blood networks; (2) in-person demonstrations of common injuries to worker's hands (e.g., pinch-points between sections of pipe); (3) videos showing injuries to the replicas recorded at over 2100 frames per second to show detail; and (4) worker-led activities to design work practices that would prevent each injury type. The research was achieved with a team that included one faculty member, three students, a senior manager from the owner organization, four safety managers, and an English-to-Spanish translator. To test the aforementioned hypothesis, the research team used field-validated methods from experimental psychology to measure emotional response to the training program. Using a longitudinal A+B experiment, the demos were tested over the course of a one-week period with approximately 1,200 workers who belonged to approximately 100 crews. The results indicate a very strong emotional response to the Live Safety Demos with statistically significant changes in almost every emotion category. There was a significant increase in negative emotions, which is known to increase risk perception and decrease risk tolerance. Increase in induced activating emotions lead to a more engaged learning commitment during safety training, which increases the ability of workers to recognize more hazards. Thus, this research shows that live safety demos, although resource-intensive, has the potential to transform safety training in the construction industry. Future research is suggested to broaden the sample population and to test additional elements such as retention levels, duration of these induced emotions, communication networks, and ability to respond ad hoc to new safety environments.


Indoor wireless communication using Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) is becoming a major need for the success of Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud robotics in both developed and developing countries. With different operating conditions, interference, obstacles and type of building materials used, it is difficult to predict the path loss components in an indoor environment, which are crucial for the network design. It has been observed that the indoor path loss models proposed for western countries cannot be directly used in Indian scenarios due to variations in building materials utilized, floor plans, etc. In this paper, we have proposed a non-deterministic statistical indoor path loss model-Tata Indoor Path Loss Model (T-IPLM) which can be used for the 2.4–2.5 GHz, Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. To propose and validate, we have conducted several drive tests with different conditions such as busy office premise with obstacles, open office premise, corridor, canteen, and multistorey office locations, etc. We have also compared T-IPLM with popular path loss models such as ITU-R and Log-distance; T-IPLM matches closely with the drive test results as compared to other models. We believe that T-IPLM model can be used extensively to design accurate indoor communication networks required for regular WiFi communications and deployment and operations of IoT and cloud robotics.


Glass ceiling, the metaphor, is an invisible barrier that impede the upward movement of women to high level management in the organisation. A growing economy like India with a prospective ownership of more banking assets foresees more job opportunities in the banking sector. Liberalised reforms and women-friendly environment in the banking sector not only weaken the male domination in that area but also attracted more women employees towards it. A persistent increase in percentage of women employees in the banking sector shows a positive sign of breaking of glass ceiling. The study analyses glass ceiling affects in different types of banks - public sector, private sector and foreign bank using secondary data and also analyses the character and attitude of women employees towards the glass ceiling beliefs using a questionnaire survey. A steady increase in women employment participation in the banking sector is analysed from secondary data. Attitude on glass ceiling beliefs provide a clear picture of women's view on this. This study may shed light to more women empowerment initiatives from personal, organisational and governmental aspects as it provide a clear data required. The study may act as a path finder to different concepts of career such as training, succession planning, etc.


The circular economy (CE), as opposed to the current linear economy, is seen as a sustainable economic system where the economic growth is decoupled from the resources use, through the reduction and recirculation of natural resources. In the shift towards the CE, quantifying the circularity of products and services (or their contribution to the CE) is crucial in designing policies and business strategies, and prioritizing sustainable solutions based on evidence. This study explores the role of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in assessing the circularity of products and services. A review was made on current LCA case studies assessing progress in the CE, attending to the following aspects: the goal of the studies, the modelling and allocation approaches, the assessment methods used, and their alignment with the CE goals. The results indicate that LCA is one of the most used and comprehensive tools to assess CE. However, the multifunctional and multidimensional nature of the CE strategies impose methodological challenges that are still not solved.


It is the purpose of this paper to give a short summary of our experiences with the Zeiss light coagulator over the past two years. The basic principles and design of this apparatus are well-documented in the literature 1-3 and will not be discussed further. When this instrument was first used by Dr. Meyer-Schwickerath, it was felt that its greatest value would be in the treatment of retinal detachment. In our experience time has borne this out. Imminent or early retinal separation due to tears or holes in the retina from various causes lend themselves extraordinarily well to this kind of treatment. In such instances where opercula are torn from the retina due to vitreous adhesions or where holes are formed in degenerated areas of the retinal periphery, light coagulation can be carried out quickly and safely and the patient spared the shock of major surgery and prolonged hospitalization. It


Modern embedded systems incorporate multiple applications that run on the same execution platform. However, due to limited resources and other constraints, not all the combinations of applications may run concurrently. This paper tackles the problem of determining which combinations of applications can run on a given hardware architecture without violating given constraints, thus creating feasible operational modes of the system. The architecture itself may include standard processors for software implementation of applications and dynamically (partially) reconfigurable hardware resources, which enable dynamic sharing of the resource in different operational modes. The paper describes the models, theoretical results, and the mode exploration algorithm to perform this task. Here, the specification is symbolically encoded so that the feasibility of modes can be tested by applying a SAT solver. In the experiment, we demonstrate how to apply our approach to build a self-organizing smart camera framework.


Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) has recently gained popularity and has been successfully applied to a wide range of applications. Variants using regularization are now a common practice in the state of the art in the ELM field. The most commonly used regularization is the `2 norm, which improves generalization but results in a dense network. Regularization based on the elastic net has also been proposed but mainly applied to regression and binary classification problems. In this thesis, it is proposed a generalization of regularized ELM (RELM) for multiclass classification and multitarget regression problems. The use of `2,1 and Frobenius norm provided an appropriate generalization. Consequently, it was possible to show that R-ELM and OR-ELM are a particular case of the methods proposed in this thesis, termed GR-ELM and GOR-ELM, respectively. Furthermore, another method proposed in this thesis is the DGR-ELM, which is an alternative method of GR-ELM for dealing with data that are naturally distributed. The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is the algorithm used to solve the resulting optimization problems. Message Passing Interface (MPI) in a Single Program, Multiple Data (SPMD) programming style is chosen for implementing DGR-ELM. Extensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the proposed method. The conducted experiments show that GR-ELM, DGR-ELM, and GOR-ELM have similar training and testing performance when compared to R-ELM and OR-ELM, although usually inferior testing time is obtained with our method due to the compactness of the resulting network.


The unexpected diversity of the human microbiome and metabolome far exceeds the complexity of the human genome. Although we now understand microbial taxonomic and genetic repertoires in some populations, we are just beginning to assemble the computational and experimental tools to understand the metabolome in comparable detail. However, even with the limited current state of knowledge, individual connections between microbes and metabolites, between microbes and immune function, and between metabolites and immune function are being established. Here we provide our perspective on these connections. We also outline a systematic research program that could turn these individual links into a broader network that allows us to understand how these components interact. This program will allow us to exploit connections among the microbiome, metabolome, and host immune system to maintain health, and perhaps help us understand how to reverse the processes that lead to a wide range of immune and other diseases.


The Third Package allows EU energy islands to be exempted from most if not all of the acquis communautaire in energy, both on market design and the regulatory framework. However, even if a supply monopoly is the most efficient market structure in a given situation, this monopoly in theory still needs to be regulated. Therefore, has the EU struck the right balance in this area? This paper first disentangles the complex system of derogations open to EU energy islands. It focuses inter alia on the unbundling regime and what it means to have an express derogation from Article 9 (ownership unbundling). The second part looks at the opening of the Cyprus gas market and the concrete effects of the derogation system on the powers of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority, the national regulator, in monitoring this market. Cyprus is considered to be both an isolated (Article 49(1) of Directive 2009/73) and an emergent (Article 49(2) of Directive 2009/73) market under the new legislation and, as such, is an interesting case. The paper argues that, beyond the complexity of the derogation regime applying to energy islands, the scope of possible derogations from the Third Energy Package seems to be exceedingly wide. The Package allows for full vertical reintegration and a loss in regulatory independence and powers which does not seem justified. The Third Energy Package's derogation system for energy islands should, strictly, be used to ensure the viability and attractiveness of the investments and, in particular, should not reduce the role, power and responsibilities of the national regulatory authority, especially on the Numbers of security of supply, transparency and consumer protection through the proper regulation of tariffs, bearing in mind that the market will be monopolistic.


The paper presents how solving regression problems can be posed as finding solutions to multiclass classification tasks. The accuracy (averaged over several benchmarking data sets used in this study) of an approximating (hyper)surface to the data points over a given high-dimensional input space created by a nonlinear multiclass classifier is slightly superior to the solution obtained by regression (hyper)surface. In terms of the CPU time needed for training i.e., for tuning the hyperparameters of the models, the nonlinear classifier shows significant (order of magnitudes for large datasets) advantages too. Here, the support vector machine (SVM) has been solving given regression problems as a classic SVM regressor and as the SVM classifier. In order to transform a regression problem into a classification task two possible discretizations of a continuous output (target) vector y are presented and compared. A very strict double (nested) cross-validation technique has been used for measuring performances of regression and multiclass classification SVMs. A novel approach and the experimental results obtained for five benchmarking regression data sets warrant both further theoretical investigations and broad application in practice.


One of the challenging issues for investors and professionals is appropriate models to evaluate financial situation of the firms. In this regard, many models have been extracted by researchers using different financial ratios to resolve these issues. However, choosing a model based on the conditions and users' needs is complex. The main objective of this study is to identify the effect of contingency variables on the firms' financial performance forecasting models. The statistical population of the research includes all firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during the period 2011-2018, among which 154 firms were selected. The research data were collected from firm's financial statements and other source. Multiple Discriminant Analysis and Logit Regression model were used to test the research hypotheses. According to the results of discriminant analysis, environmental uncertainty and firm size positively improve the predictive power of the firm's financial performance, and business strategy and business competition don't improve the predictive power of the firm's financial performance. Also, the results of logit regression indicated that environmental uncertainty, business strategy, and firm size improve predictive power of the firm's financial performance; but, business competition don't improve predictive power of the model. The results of comparing the two methods showed that the Discriminant analysis method outperformed the logistic regression method.


Background & Aims: Workplace violence is one of the most complex and dangerous occupational hazards facing nurses working in today's health care environment and it has been noted that workplace violence most frequently occurs in hospitals .The purpose of this study was to assess the situation of workplace violence committed against healthcare workers in Tabriz. Materials & Methods : It was a descriptive, cross- sectional study. Clinical personel (n 400) of Tabriz educational hospitals (%13 of study population) were recruited by cluster sampling of hospitals, and randomly selection of one cluster in each group (seven hospitals were selected) considering their position. Data was collected using a questionnaire through face- to- face interviews and analyzed by logistic regression using SPSS-PC (v.16). Results : Twenty-one percent and 64.3 percent of workers reported experiencing physical and verbal workplace violence during the last year respectively. The frequency of reported violence was %23.6. There was a strong correlation between physical and verbal violence (p<0.001).Avoidance of reporting violence was occurred because of shrug violence off (%31.9) or to be known as an offending or problematic person (%18.9). Men had more chance to confront with violence than women (CI: 0.26-0.82, p<0.009). Conclusion: Performing some measures such as educational courses about prevention of violence, repression of the opponent's anger explanation of rules and regulations for workers and clients are recommended.


Small metal clusters exhibit physical and chemical properties that differ substantially from those of corresponding bulk metals. Furthermore, the properties of clusters vary greatly depending on the number of constituent atoms. Metal clusters with these characteristics currently attract great attention in a wide range of fields as new nanoscale functional materials. In recent years, the techniques to precisely synthesize metal clusters protected with organic ligands and polymers with atomic precision have advanced dramatically. In addition, substantial knowledge of the size-specific physical/chemical properties exhibited by these metal clusters has been accumulated. In this chapter, we describe the precise synthesis methods of the most studied thiolate (SR)-protected gold clusters Au n (SR) m and their heteroatom-substituted clusters (alloy clusters).


In her state of the nation address before Congress last July, President Arroyo drew attention to the government's worsening fiscal and debt problems, calling the deficit "our most urgent problem". That was an accurate statement. The looming threat represented by an uncontrolled public debt is indeed the biggest economic challenge the country will have to confront immediately and for the remainder of this decade. Recent events and discussions give ample reason to doubt whether the President's message has been truly understood and internalized by the political elite and public alike – and hence whether the issue will be given its due importance. The quality of public debate on the issue stirs grave doubts whether the scale and consequences of "our most urgent problem" are indeed being fully appreciated.


We have developed a compact three-dimensional (3-D) display using a depth-fused 3-D (DFD) visual illusion in which two overlapped images with edges displayed at different depths can be perceived as a 3-D image. To make the display compact, we utilize the apparent luminance summation using the summation of polarization-angle changes at two transparent liquid-crystal displays instead of direct luminance summation. This enables moving color 3-D images to be shown on a compact display. Our compact DFD display is promising for various applications, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and computer monitors. A Compact Depth-fused 3-D Display Using a Stack of Two LCDs † NTT Cyber Space Laboratories Musashino-shi, 180-8585 Japan E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


Italian banks are burdened with high levels of nonperforming loans, the cleanup of which depends in important part on the efficiency of insolvency and enforcement processes. Traditionally, these processes in Italy have taken very long, hampering the timely cleanup of balance sheets. In response, the authorities have legislated a number of measures. This paper explores the recent insolvency and enforcement reforms and the remaining challenges. These reforms introduce important positive changes that are expected to yield full benefits over the medium to long term. The efficacy of the reforms, including to deal with the current stock of high nonperforming loans, can be enhanced by introducing effective out-of-court enforcement mechanisms, supplemented by a more intensive use of informal and hybrid debt-restructuring solutions. Moreover, there is an urgent need to rationalize the system, which over the years has become very complex and intricate.


The present work aims to study the fluidization and heat transfer characteristics around a single horizontal heated tube, in-line tubes arrangement and staggered tubes arrangement immersed in a gas fluidized bed. The experiments were carried out on a square test section column (16 cm x 16 cm x 95 cm) from a steel sheet of 3 mm thickness. Each arrangement of the tubes is installed in a separate test section. The plane tube bank for both in-line and staggered tubes arrangement consists of 5 rows and four tubes per row in equal vertical and horizontal pitch arrangement. The experimental setup has a transition channel with the same square section and 30 cm height. The other side of the transition channel has one hole of 5 mm inside diameter and 30 mm long to measure the pressure before the distributor plate. The bed material used is sand particles of different sizes (1400 µm, 1600 µm, and 1850 µm). For the tested arrangements, the results show that the average heat transfer coefficient increases with the increase of the fluidizing velocity and with the decrease in particle diameter. Also, the comparison between the in-line and staggered tube arrangement showed that, the average heat transfer coefficient in case of staggered is higher than that of the in-line tube arrangement. Moreover, empirical correlations for the average Nusselt number of the tested arrangements using the experimental data are presented.


Various oscillatory modes of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) observed over a period of 8.8 years with the NASA Nimbus 7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and for 13 years with the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), the latter sensing in the thermal infrared band, are described for the Pacific Ocean. The various modes are isolated by a combination of techniques designed also to accommodate non-stationary phenomena. After detrending and removing the seasonal cycle from each grid map element of the data, singular value decomposition (SVD) is used to separate the data into spatial and temporal parts to facilitate the modal analysis. Empirical Mode Decomposition is then used to separate the temporal parts of the data into approximately seven intrinsic modal functions (IMFs) for the temporal parts of the first five principal components (PCs) resulting from the SVD. A filtered time sequence of SST grids is then obtained by selecting IMFs with periods longer than 1.5 years and then reconstructing the SST grid maps from the filtered PCs. The time sequence of SMMR SSTs in the Pacific Ocean shows El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) oscillations not only along the Equator, but also in both the North and South Pacific, with, in fact, even larger amplitudes than along the Equator. A similar analysis was applied to the SST record from the AVHRR instrument. During the period of overlap with the SMMR record, similarities occur in the equatorial region, but the records are by no means identical. The AVHRR SSTs do not show any strong oscillations in the South Pacific.


On-board antenna-feeder devices constitute an integral part of spacecrafts both according to the type used and according to the target-oriented task. There is a target-oriented data radio transmission line besides other on-board systems such as telemetry, navigation, intersatellite communications, etc., comprising receiving or transmitting antennas. In this paper presents the construction of on-booard data radio transmission line antenna system of information transmission for big-size spacecrafts "Meteor" series and small-size spacecrafts designed on space-based platform "Canopus-B". VHF -band, UHF -band, S-band and X-band antennas are used as part of the target-oriented data transmission radio line. The drawbacks of the approach being used for the vehicle-borne radio line construction are shown. Thus, the research work shows the status of the vehicle-borne antenna-feeder devices of the space vehicle target-oriented data radio transmitting line through the example of spacecrafts "Meteor" series and space-based platform "Canopus-B". The future trends in the further development of the radio line on-board antennas are as well revealed and presented.


Objective: Was used data from epidemiological study ECVD-RF (Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Diseases and their Risk Factors in Regions of Russian Federation) including adult population at the age of 25–64 y.o. of 10 regions RF (n = 16936, including 64% females and 36% males): Vladikavkaz, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Krasnoyarsk, Orenburg, Samara, Tomsk, Tyumen. Design and method: Was used the systematic stratified multistage random sampling creating by the territorial principle of method by Keesh. Renal dysfunction was assessed on the basis of the calculation 0f glomerular filtration rate (GFR). GFR was conducted on the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (GRF-EPI). Statistic data calculation was done with computer-based statistic software STATISTICA 10.0 and SPSS 14.0. Results: Final analysis included 15570 persons. The study reveals a high prevalence of GFR decline (< 90 ml/min/1,73 m2) in the population studied – 26,5%. According to the identification of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and minor renal dysfunction, these patients were divided into different groups. 1st group – persons with normal renal function 73,5%, 2nd group – patients with minor renal dysfunction (GRF 60–90 ml/min/1,73 m2) 25,4%, 3rd group – patients with CKD 1,1%. Among the patients with arterial hypertension (AH) CKD was found 3 times more often than without – 1,8% and 0,43% respectively, minor renal dysfunction was twice higher in patients with AH (34,8%), than without (16,2%). Systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in hypertensive patients (152,6 ± 21,4 mmHg) with renal dysfunction (p < 0,0001) than without (144,8 ± 17,9 mmHg). But diastolic blood pressure didn't have differences. Antihypertensive treating was undergoing only 60% hypertensive patients 1st group, 70% – 2nd group and 80% – 3rd group. According multivariate analysis major risk factors associated with renal dysfunction (odds ratio) were hypercholesterolemia 1,92 (95% CI, 1,77–2,08), fasting hyperglycemia 1,63 (95% CI, 1,41–1,89) and systolic blood pressure 1,7 (95% CI, 1,56–1,88). Conclusions: Study results showed high prevalence of renal dysfunction in the investigated Russian population, especially among patients with AH. The large part hypertensive patients with renal dysfunction don't have antihypertensive drugs. Therefore more careful outpatient observation for patients with AH is necessary.


Vegetables have a great importance in agriculture sector. These crops share a great contribution to agriculture in national economy. There are many vegetables which can be grown in Pakistani climate and soil. Tunnel farming is a new technology for growing vegetables due to increase in population and small land for agricultural use. Government of Punjab is doing its effort to disseminate this technology among the farmers to enhance their vegetable production. Fruit and Vegetable Development Project (F&VDP) was also started by the Punjab government in 20 districts of the Punjab. The study was done in Faisalabad district of Punjab, Pakistan. In Faisalabad, there were 12 Farmer Field Schools (FFSs) under F&VDP, out of which six FFSs were randomly selected for the collection of data through interview schedule. From each selected FFS, 20 respondents were selected randomly making sample of 120 respondents. The data were analyzed through the computer software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Based on the findings of the present study, it was assessed that respondents got benefits from the project in term of increase in their income and their area under vegetable cultivation also increases. Similarly, farmers knowledge about plants growth also enhanced, quality of produce increased. It is suggested that the time period of the project should be extended and there should be facility of small credit schemes for poor farmers to ensure the timely availability of quality seeds, pesticides and fertilizers. It is proven that project has enhanced livelihood assets to sustain the family lives of farming community.


Abstract A method is described for measuring the vertical component of velocity fluctuations due to three-dimensional turbulence in the ocean from a freely falling microstructure profiler. The dynamic pressure measurement relies on a commercially available and very sensitive piezoresistive differential pressure transducer. At nominal profiler fall speeds of 0.9 m s−1, the noise limit in vertical velocity fluctuations is ∼3 mm s−1. Scaled turbulence spectra from shear probes and from the new sensor demonstrate the validity of the measurement. Although hydrodynamic noise (eddy-shedding) at frequencies near the peak in the dissipation spectrum precludes full resolution of the high wavenumber portion of the spectrum, the high end of the inertial subrange of the turbulence is resolved. At low wavenumbers, the measurement is limited by the finite size of the profiler. It is anticipated that the method will be useful in examining turbulent fluxes using an eddy-correlation technique.


Serum concentration of the aminoglycoside tobramycin was followed for 120 min after intraarticular injection of 20 mg tobramycin in six rabbit knee joints. Highest concentration was observed after 15-30 min, and compared with the values after intramuscular injection the serum half life was equal. No pathological changes were observed by histological examination of the synovial membrane and articular cartilage. It was concluded that no damage of the joint has been demonstrated after intraarticular injection of tobramycin, but the serum concentration must be monitored due to the rapid transport from the joint cavity.


BACKGROUND/AIM
Advanced unresectable and metastatic non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) are rare, but often arise in elderly patients. When surgery or irradiation are no longer feasible, chemotherapy is often precluded by the patient's age and comorbidities. Whether low-dose multi-agent chemotherapy could be an alternative for this vulnerable population in an outpatient setting was the issue examined in this retrospective analysis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Twenty-six patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic NMSC received weekly multi-agent chemotherapy with carboplatin at an area under the curve of 2 or 40 mg total dose of cisplatin, with 15 IU total dose of bleomycin, 40 mg total dose of methotrexate, and 500 mg total dose of 5-fluorouracil (CMF-b) until best response, toxicity, or progression of their disease.

RESULTS
Twenty-four patients were treated as outpatients; two were hospitalized. Twenty-three patients were previously treated with surgery or radiotherapy. The median age was 68 years (range=44-100 years). The median number of cycles was 6 (range=1 to 17). The overall response rate was 61.5% (seven complete remissions, nine partial remissions) for the entire cohort and 63.6% (two complete remissions and five partial remissions) for patients >80 years. The median duration of response was 6.1 months (range=1.6-63 months). Responses longer than 6 months were obtained in 11/26 (42.3%) of the entire cohort and in 4/11 (36.3%) patients >80 years. Symptom improvement was observed in 17 patients (65.3%). Toxicity was acceptable, with grade 3 renal failure (n=1) and grade 3 or 4 myelotoxicity (n=2).

CONCLUSION
CMF-b is a safe, weekly low-dose multi-agent regimen that offers palliation for vulnerable patients with NMSC.


To improve the performance of a broadband traveling-wave tube (TWT), a helix pitch profile incorporating a section with reduced phase velocity followed by a positive phase-velocity taper is used. A simple technique to design a pitch profile of this kind is elaborated upon and later applied to an existing 6-18-GHz uniform pitch mini-TWT to improve its interaction efficiency. By using the newly designed helix, a TWT is developed, which shows increases in electronic efficiency and output power up to 8.75% points and 2.6 dB (75 W), respectively. Further application of this method to another uniform pitch baseline tube results in similar improvements.


A new method for enlarging the domain of attraction of dual-mode nonlinear model predictive control( NMPC) is developed for a constrained affine nonlinear system by adopting the extended terminal constraint set and its admissible set. First,an optimization method for calculating a maximal control invariant set with respect to a feedback linearizing control law and a polytope linear difference inclusion( PLDI) for an affine nonlinear system is presented. Accordingly,a switching control strategy of the control invariant set is designed to extend the terminal constraint set. Second,interval arithmetic is introduced to compute the N step admissible sets of the extended terminal constraint set off-line,and then the resulting dual-mode controller with a one-step predictive horizon can guarantee the stability and enlargement of the domain of attraction of predictive control by considering this sequence as an attraction domain of initial states in the optimization problem. Finally,the method is tested in a typical nonlinear process control system- a continuously stirring tank reactor( CSTR); the results show the feasibility of the proposed method.


The use of web applications in education allows the creation of Personal Learning Environments - PLE. This article presents the results of a qualitative study which involves the use of web applications in the final years of elementary education in a private school in Brazil. The aim is to present a framework that helps in the selection of web tools for use in the school, from a PLE perspective. The framework is organized in two layers. The first layer is based on the technical characteristics of the web tool, and the second layer focuses on the possibilities of using some web tool in an educational context. Results point out that the proposed framework can be used to support the teacher in the design of learning activities and in the selection of web tools which are appropriate to the pedagogical approach applied in the teaching and learning process.


The paper firstly discusses the development of the institutional framework of trade relations between the EU and Vietnam. It then presents briefly the main features of the EU-Vietnam FTA. Finally some conclusions are drawn on the opportunities and prospects which the Agreement presents to Bulgaria.


Intelligent search depends on effective methods for identifying the information needs of a user and making relevant information resources available when needed. Reflecting user context has long been recognized as a key aspect to realizing the potential of intelligent Web search. This paper proposes a theoretical basis for better understanding the role of context in Web retrieval. It addresses the problem of identifying context-specific terms, finding relevant information sources, and automatically formulating and refining queries. We describe ongoing research on the use of incremental methodsto retrieve relevant content through two main approaches. The first, feed-based, periodically checks for new relevant items in specific websites by accessing RSS feeds. The second, query-based, incrementally formulates queries, which are submitted to search interfaces (e.g., major search engines or individual search forms). We discuss the technical challenges imposed by these approaches, outline our system architecture, and present preliminary evaluations of the proposed techniques.


A series of platinum(II) complexes with the formulas Pt(phebox)(L)(+) (phebox(-) = 1,3-bis(4,4'-dimethyl-2'-oxazolinyl)phenyl anion; L = pyridine (py), 4-phenylpyridine, quinoline, acridine) and Pt2(phebox)2(μ-L')(2+) (L' = pyrazine, 4,4'-bipyridine, 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane) was prepared. Crystallographic data establish that the metal center is bonded to the tridentate phebox(-) and monodentate pyridyl ligands. The five-membered oxazoline rings favor a CH2-CMe2 twist conformation. Pt(phebox)Cl and Pt(phebox)(py)(+) undergo a ligand-based chemically reversible redox reaction, whereas the electrochemistry of the other complexes is chemically and electrochemically less reversible. In contrast to complexes with the 1,3-bis(piperdylmethyl)phenyl anion ligand (pip2NCN(-)) or related pincer ligands, each of the phebox(-) complexes described here exhibits intense emission in room-temperature methylene chloride solution, which is assigned as originating from a lowest, predominantly phebox(-) ligand-centered excited state. In acetonitrile, the complexes undergo solvolysis resulting in displacement of the pyridyl ligands. The accumulated data demonstrate that subtle variations in the nature of the NCN and ancillary ligands of platinum(II) complexes provide access to at least five orbitally distinct emissive excited states.


Despite taxonomy's 250‐year history, the past 20 years have borne witness to remarkable advances in technology and techniques, as well as debate. DNA barcoding has generated a substantial proportion of this debate, with its proposition that a single mitochondrial sequence will consistently identify and delimit species, replacing more evidence‐rich and time‐intensive methods. Although mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has since been the focus of voluminous discussion and case studies, little effort has been made to comprehensively evaluate its success in delimiting closely related species. We have conducted the first broadly comparative literature review addressing the efficacy of molecular markers for delimiting such species over a broad taxonomic range. By considering only closely related species, we sought to avoid confusion of success rates with those due to deeply divergent taxa. We also address whether increased population‐level or geographic sampling affects delimitation success. Based on the results from 101 studies, we found that all marker groups had approximately equal success rates (∼70%) in delimiting closely related species and that the use of additional loci increased average delimitation success. We also found no relationship between increased sampling of intraspecific variability and delimitation success. Ultimately, our results support a multi‐locus integrative approach to species delimitation and taxonomy.


Qualitative descriptive research was employed in this study to examine the experiences of pregnant women with electronic fetal monitoring during the fi rst stage of labor in the delivery room of the Khon Kaen Hospital. The study was conducted using semi-structured interviews, focusing on and following pre-determined question guidelines; as well as non-participant observations. Content analysis was carried out for data collection according to the Symbolic Interaction Theory. The results revealed that pregnant women described their experiences within 2 issues:1) The process was a confi rmation of live birth. And 2) This process had to be under the supervision of experienced and knowledgeable nurses. The results suggested guidelines for caring for pregnant women who undergo electronic fetal monitoring during the fi rst stage of labor that nurses should provide information on EFM installation and suggestions for self-monitoring. It was also recommended to improve the external EFM limitations.


We report the synthesis and reactivity of a chiral aminoborane displaying both rapid and reversible H2 activation. The catalyst shows exceptional reactivity in asymmetric hydrogenation of enamines and unhindered imines with stereoselectivities of up to 99% ee. DFT analysis of the reaction mechanism pointed to the importance of both repulsive steric and stabilizing intermolecular non-covalent forces in the stereodetermining hydride transfer step of the catalytic cycle.


AbstractChen Sanli broke the conventional stereotypes, regulations and structural limitations of past poetry to create innovations in poetic form, as well as adopting a variety of writing devices such as the transformed metaphors and the abstruse diction. Within these invented poetic forms, converted metaphors and recondite diction, Chen Sanli experiments with new subject matters which were unprecedented in poetry before his time, and convey his psychological reactions such as oppression, anxiety, helplessness, fear, despair, and confusion toward the change and upheaval. All the poetic forms, metaphors, linguistic devices and emotions in Chen's verse have a great impact on modern Chinese literature. This paper aims to examine how Chen's verse promoted classical Chinese poetic tradition but also contributed to the transition from traditional to modern literature.


Scaffolds for bone tissue engineering lack often control of cellular instructions. We propose a triple sequential approach for customizing scaffold features from the macro to the nanoscale. The nano/mesoscale is composed by human platelet lysate and marine-origin polysaccharides assembled by layer-by-layer and shaped into fibrils by freeze-drying. We show that osteogenic induction of stem cells is tunable within a low range of layers. This approach has the potential to develop new scaffolds with enhanced cell-instructive capabilities using affordable autologous sources of bioactive molecules.


Sigurd Aa. Aarnes in memoriam By K. E. Bugge K. E. Bugge's obituary for Sigurd Aa. Aarnes, professor of history and literary scholar, University of Bergen, lays weight upon his contributions in three areas: historiography in his doctoral thesis Grundtvig's view of history and his view of life from 1961 with its structural analysis of the two-worlds motif, literary history with a special interest in shared Danish-Norwegian literature, and identityhistory with researches into Norwegian nation-building especially after 1814. Aarnes also collaborated in planning of the historical section of the forthcoming German translation of Grundtvig, and left among his papers a completed manuscript of a textual-critical edition of Bjornson's story Synnove Solbakken.