Science trains children experimenting with carrying out multiple experiments, enriching children's insights to always want to try and try. So that science can lead and encourage children to be a creative and full of initiative and can build a knowledge that later can be used in adulthood. Science familiarizes children following the experimental stages and should not hide a failure. That is, science can train positive mental, logical thinking, and order (systematic). In addition, it can also train children to be careful, because children must observe, make predictions, and make decisions. The introduction of early science should be tailored to the child's developmental level and characteristics, the educator does not stuff the child with the concept but facilitates the child to discover facts and concepts in a simple experiment. Like scientists, children need skills on how to use observing, classifying, measuring, predicting, experimenting and communicating skills. Basically, activities in the concept of science can be learned through simple and simple daily experiences. Fun and exciting atmosphere will motivate the child to continuously seek answers to what the child thinks and prove because in essence the child is born with something miraculous to bring curiosity or find out about what he saw, heard and felt in the neighborhood.


Video-Text Retrieval (VTR) is a crucial multi-modal task in an era of massive video-text data on the Internet. A plethora of work characterized by using a two-stream Vision-Language model architecture that learns a joint representation of video-text pairs has become a prominent approach for the VTR task. However, these models operate under the assumption of bijective video-text correspondences and neglect a more practical scenario where video content usually encompasses multiple events, while texts like user queries or webpage metadata tend to be specific and correspond to single events. This establishes a gap between the previous training objective and real-world applications, leading to the potential performance degradation of earlier models during inference. In this study, we introduce the Multi-event Video-Text Retrieval (MeVTR) task, addressing scenarios in which each video contains multiple different events, as a niche scenario of the conventional Video-Text Retrieval Task. We present a simple model, Me-Retriever, which incorporates key event video representation and a new MeVTR loss for the MeVTR task. Comprehensive experiments show that this straightforward framework outperforms other models in the Video-to-Text and Text-to-Video tasks, effectively establishing a robust baseline for the MeVTR task. We believe this work serves as a strong foundation for future studies. Code is available at https://github.com/gengyuanmax/MeVTR.


An antenna structure based on the geometry of the bent folded monopole is described in this letter. This novel tapered bent folded monopole is designed to cover popular frequency spectrum of the 2.4 and the 5 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) bands. The proposed antenna capable of dual-frequency operation is fed by the coplanar waveguide (CPW) and fabricated on the RO4003 substrate. Obtained numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental data. It has been validated that the configuration can meet the demands for the WLAN systems and effectively enhance the impedance bandwidth to 12.5% for the lower band and 32.4% for the upper band for VSWR<2:1.


An association between the N314D polymorphism of galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase and endometriosis has recently been reported in a North American population. To determine whether such an association exists in the UK population, we genotyped 148 women with sporadic (n = 91) or familial (n = 57) endometriosis, a control population of 95 male blood donors and a control group of 53 women with a normal pelvis at hysterectomy. Heterozygosity for the polymorphism was found in 14.9% (22/148) of affected women, 13.7% (13/95) of male blood donors and 11.3% (6/53) of women with a normal pelvis. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of the polymorphism between cases and controls in the UK population, even when the cases were divided into groups of moderate-severe disease, sporadic cases or familial cases. We conclude that the galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase N314D polymorphism is unlikely to be associated with endometriosis in the UK population.


Maize is considered one of the most imperative cereal crops worldwide. In this work, high throughput silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NPs) were prepared via the sol–gel technique. SiO2-NPs were attained in a powder form followed by full analysis using the advanced tools (UV-vis, HR-TEM, SEM, XRD and zeta potential). To this end, SiO2-NPs were applied as both nanofertilizer and pesticide against four common pests that infect the stored maize and cause severe damage to crops. As for nanofertilizers, the response of maize hybrid to mineral NPK, "Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K)" (0% = untreated, 50% of recommended dose and 100%), with different combinations of SiO2-NPs; (0, 2.5, 5, 10 g/kg soil) was evaluated. Afterward, post-harvest, grains were stored and fumigated with different concentrations of SiO2-NPs (0.0031, 0.0063. 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 5, 10 g/kg) in order to identify LC50 and mortality % of four common insects, namely Sitophilus oryzae, Rhizopertha dominica, Tribolium castaneum, and Orizaephilus surinamenisis. The results revealed that, using the recommended dose of 100%, mineral NPK showed the greatest mean values of plant height, chlorophyll content, yield, its components, and protein (%). By feeding the soil with SiO2-NPs up to 10 g/kg, the best growth and yield enhancement of maize crop is noticed. Mineral NPK interacted with SiO2-NPs, whereas the application of mineral NPK at the rate of 50% with 10 g/kg SiO2-NPs, increased the highest mean values of agronomic characters. Therefore, SiO2-NPs can be applied as a growth promoter, and in the meantime, as strong unconventional pesticides for crops during storage, with a very small and safe dose.


Four cases of primary pneumatosis coli which exhibit a changing pattern of severity and distribution including cure without therapy are described. No previous similar cases with radiographic correlation have been found by the author in the literature. The pathogenesis of pneumatosis coli is discussed and the literature is reviewed.


Family enhancement is an approach to child protection that has been recommended by numerous reviews of child welfare practice. A recent example emerged from a comprehensive review of the child welfare system in Manitoba, Canada. The inquiry recommended that family enhancement be utilised in all child welfare cases, and be funded at levels reasonable enough to allow comprehensive support for families seeking to re-unify. Agency staff told the inquiry, however, that current resources permitted only limited service, for insufficient time, and for only a small percentage of families in care.
An Indigenous agency in Manitoba, Metis Child, Family, and Community Services, has devised an innovative approach in which parents were fostered along with their children. This allows the agency to make a wide range of resources available to families on a 24-hour basis for 8-to-12-month periods. The costs do not appear to exceed those of regular fostering of children.
This Live-In Family Enhancement (LIFE) program was extensively evaluated in 2015. The findings show a significant set of benefits to families such as stronger attachment between parents and children, improved parenting skills for caregivers, strengthened social support for families, newly acquired household management skills, successful completion of employment training, and significantly improved trust in social workers and the agency. Many of these factors are correlated, in research, with increased rates of family reunification. The paper documents these findings, and recommends that this approach be expanded for use in prevention as well as reunification.


Activation of latent Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in the spleen has been studied by co-cultivation with allogeneic or syngeneic cells. Activated virus was isolated by co-cultivation from T lymphocytes of spleen, as shown by indirect immunofluorescence or by inoculation into mice. The B lymphocytes and macrophages of latently infected mice did not reactivate the virus. A higher proportion of Lyt 1 cells than Lyt 2 cells were harbouring JEV as shown by indirect immunofluorescence. The spleen cells from latently infected mice elicited the lymphoproliferative response but this was much lower than that observed in the controls. These findings suggest the establishment of latent JEV infection in T lymphocytes.


This research aimed to investigate the influence of the Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) model assisted by Zoom Cloud Meeting on learners' critical thinking skills. This research employed a quasi-experimental design. The population of the study was all tenth graders of MAN 2 Tulang Bawang Barat. The samples were class X MIA 2 as the experimental class and class X MIA 3 as the control class. Tests were utilized as the data collecting technique. The researchers performed the normality and homogeneity tests on the research data before performing the independent sample t-test as the hypothesis test. Based on the test results on the Pre-test and Post-test data, the N-gain values tested using the t-test obtained a significance value (2-tailed) of 0, 00. The Contextual Teaching and Learning model assisted by Zoom Cloud Meeting improved students' critical thinking skills. Based on the research, the Contextual Teaching and Learning assisted by Zoom Cloud Meeting could improve students' critical thinking skills.


Power-to-Gas is a technology that generates hydrogen by electrolysis. It can be used to provide a number of energy services including energy storage, ancillary services for the electrical grid, and the production of hydrogen for industrial processes and transportation fuel. Hydrogen has many industrial applications for example in oil refining where it is used primarily in hydrotreating and hydrocracking processes. The purpose of this paper is to provide an incentive for using power-to-gas technology for oil refining processes in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint in the refining industry and ultimately the transportation sector. It also highlights the optimal size and operation of the hydrogen production facility that includes polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), electrolyzers to meet the proposed refinery demand. The economic calculations include a comparison of the cost of hydrogen ($ per kg) between electrolysis and steam methane reforming. The carbon pricing is also incorporated in the analysis to show its potential impact in the costing of both technologies. P3 Adaptive Energy Ecosystems: Improved Operability, Efficiency and Economics for Electricity and Gas Power to Gas Energy Storage


A thirty years old polluted site (Nery-Saintines, Oise, France) is selected for the development and in situ implementation of a chemical process for the reductive dechlorination (RDC) of chlorinated solvents (CS) in groundwater. Before this implementation, the pollution was investigated through the underground water analyses: i) during 15 years (2000-2014) from several tens of piezometers distributed in a large area of more than 1 km², and ii) during 6 months (July-December, 2014) locally, from 12 piezometers sampled at minus to depths (-10 and-20 m) and located in the pilot implementation zone of 50 m x 50 m, or 2500 m² (0.0025 km²). The objective of the study is to improve understanding on the mechanisms and kinetics of natural bioremediation occurred in the groundwater of this so old polluted site. The pollution in the sandy aquifer (Cuisian period) stands today as a majority of CSs and their metabolites. The nature and the relative abundances of these compounds are investigated and their spatiotemporal evolutions are charted. Some other parameters or species were measured and considered (temperature, pH, redox potential, conductivity, contents in chloride, bicarbonate, dissolved iron, sulfate, phosphate, sulfide, ..). Chloride ion is the principal produced component (evolution from 20 mg/L in a near not impacted zone to up to 350 mg/L, fig. 1), as well as bicarbonate (150 to up to 650 mg/L). Chloride ion, is the result of reductive biodechlorination of (presence in w/w percentage): Tetrachloroethylene or PCE (0.3-1.0%), Trichloroethylene, TCE (25-45%), trans-1,2-DiChloroEthylene (DCE) (0.3-0.4 %), cis,1,2-DCE (0.5-15.0 %) and 1,1-DCE (40-50%), Vinyl Chloride (VC) (0.7-1.0%), 1,1-DiChloroEthane (0.8-1.3%), DC-Methane (0.2-0.4%), TCMethane (3.5-6.0), TetraCMethane (0.3-0.4%). The nature and the relative abundances of the components show the mechanism and the limiting steps of the RDC. The bicarbonate is resulted from CO 2 dissolution after its production by the total biodegradation of organics. The higher the chloride content, the higher the conductivity, the higher the bicarbonate content and the lower the redox potential. This means that the reductive biodechlorination and the anaerobic biodegradation occur concurrently in the same zones. These investigations once again confirm the mechanism of RDC (fig. 1) as proposed in the literature by Morrison and Murphy (2006), for natural RDC and also give and clear indication on its kinetics.


PCR primers specific for conserved domains of the reverse transcriptase (RT) genes of gypsy-like retrotransposons amplified their corresponding gene in two Gossypium barbadense cultivars. Analysis with the FASTA software showed a high DNA sequence homology to pine, gypsy LTR-retrotransposon. Using the PCR product as a hybridization probe, gypsy-like retrotransposons were detected in wild type species of Gossypium, suggesting that gypsy-like retrotransposons are present in the Gossypium genome. This supports the view that gypsy-like retrotransposons are major components of plant genomes. Our results suggest gypsy-like retrotransposons have played a fundamental role in the shaping and evolution of the Gossypium genome.


The effects of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae extract were tested for the anti-stress action. 100g of crude drug of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae was extracted with pure water and the total extractive was evaporated under reduced pressure to give 10.7g. ICR male mice() were fed orally with the dose of 100mg/kg/day for five days. Foot shock was given to make experimental environment of physiological stress. Foot shock mice were placed individually in the foot shock compartments and sociopsychological mice were placed nonfoot shock compartment-the side of foot shock compartments. Mice were exposed to sociopsychological stress by restraining and seeing foot shock stressed mice for one hour for five days. Semen Ziziphi Spinosae extract administered group showed a significant decrease of serum corticosterone secretion compared with control group. Noradrenaline secretions in the dorsal cortex of brain were increased but not significant. Lipid peroxidation of the liver of mice were tested by measuring malondialdehyde, and Semen Ziziphi Spinosae extract had tendency of decreasing lipid peroxidation but not significant. But Semen Ziziphi Spinosae extract administration had the effect of decreasing serum level of aspartate aminotransferase and malondialdehyde. These results suggest that Semen Ziziphi Spinosae extract can effectively rid the sociopsychological stress and stress concerned diseases.


Aim: This phenomenological study looked at the nature of undergraduate medical student learning in an ophthalmology environment. The study set out to identify what influences the quality of medical students' educational experience in ophthalmology. The study was conducted on 17 final-year medical students from a medical school in the west of Ireland, after undertaking their 3-week combined clinicalbased ophthalmology/neurology programme at a tertiary referral teaching hospital. Methods: Learning diaries were used as a reflective tool for recording the learners' personal learning experiences. A primary analysis of the diaries was used to formulate a topic guide for semi-structured interviews with each of the participating students. Template analysis was used to code the data, create themes and establish thematic hierarchies. Results: Individual students' learning experiences were affected by intra-personal and inter-personal factors. Inter-personal factors included the quality of the learner–teacher relationship and the interaction between peer learners. Intra-personal factors were individual perceptions of what was expected of the students by tutors and by the medical school. Conclusion: To create positive and effective learning environments for learners in ophthalmology and orthoptics, teachers should become much more aware of themselves as models of practice and should take time to observe students perform as well as provide feedback.


Catharanthus roseus is a well-known herb with great pharmaceutical value for being the only source of natural antineoplastic drugs vinblastine and vincristine. The terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) biosynthetic pathway responsible for the production of these antineoplastic drug molecules is under a strict spatiotemporal regulation that requires five different cellular as well as at least four intracellular compartmentations for its completion. Therefore, several efforts were made to investigate the cell and tissue cultures of Catharanthus roseus to establish as an alternative source of TIAs production. Cell suspension, hairy roots and callus cultures of Catharanthus roseus do not provide the required cellular complexity for the completion of entire TIAs pathway, therefore, failed to produce vinblastine and vincristine. However, the multiple shoot cultures do provide the required cellular complexity to complete the entire TIAs pathway. Therefore, in the present study, the multiple shoot cultures along with callus cultures were subjected to the abiotic elicitors and TIAs pathway precursors feeding for the first time to chase the effect of these abiotic elicitors and pathway precursors on the production of major TIAs of Catharanthus roseus. The multiple shoot cultures treated with TIAs pathway precursor tryptamine 300 mg/L accumulated highest vinblastine content (0.0277% dry wt) followed by tryptophan feeding at 300 mg/L (0.0180% dry wt) and 500 mg/L (0.0175% dry wt) whereas, callus cultures failed to produce vinblastine.


Author(s): Aiyar, Anaka | Advisor(s): Deolalikar, Anil | Abstract: Child health is a major concern in developing countries. Annually six million children die before their fifth birthday. Eighty percent of the deaths happen in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia and forty five percent of these deaths are caused by under-nutrition. For those children who survive, thirty three percent are stunted over their life time. In this dissertation I identify two mechanisms through which we can deal with the problem. One is the role of health policy and the other is the role of economic growth. In the case of the former, we are now aware from extant literature in economics that investments in health and education resources for children under the age of six will positively impact their long run health and productivity outcomes. In chapter two and three of the dissertation, I evaluate the benefits and the unintended consequences of providing government subsidized health insurance policy to children under the age of six in Vietnam. I find that parents are more likely to take children who are covered by health insurance to doctors and spend more on their health. However, this comes at the cost of human capital investments such as health and education spending for older children in the household who are not eligible for the policy. Women, who are primary care givers in the house, allocate more time in the labor market once their children are covered by insurance. This increases both spending on food and health within the household. Chapter four models the relationship between economic growth and child health, as measured by height for age z (HAZ) scores. With the help of new methodological and conceptual tools, this paper shows that economic growth provides a cushion against the rapid loss of HAZ in the first two years of a child's life. The paper also shows that economic growth in the birth year of a child has cumulative positive effects on HAZ when they are between the ages of one to three. At age four, economic growth in the more recent period and the current disease environment may play a bigger role in determining child health.


Employees' behavior and corporate social responsibility (CSR) can affect firms' profitability and increase the corporate economic burden. This current research endeavors to explore how business firms navigate employees' technology-driven behavior and CSR sustainable practices for tax avoidance to affect firms' performance. This study examines how CSR sustainable practices moderate the relationship between employees' behavior and tax avoidance to achieve sustainable business performance. The study incorporated the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) for the purpose of data analysis using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique that is suitable for this sample size. The study's target population is employees of small and medium enterprises located in Pakistan. The study has drawn a sample of employees and applied a convenience sampling technique. The findings show that tax avoidance, employee behavior, and corporate social responsibility positively affect business firms' performance. The results further indicate that sustainable CSR practices significantly moderate tax avoidance's effect on business firms' performance. However, there is no condition to identify the relationship between employee behavior and firm performance. In theory, this research contributes to the corporate strategy literature by answering how corporate social responsibility sustainable practices mediate the relationship between tax avoidance, employees' behavior, and sustainable business performance. It shows that socially responsible organizations will engage less in tax avoidance behaviors. The results exhibit that the study provides a systematic, holistic framework to attain sustainable firms' performance. The findings' generalizability offers future direction with helpful insights for business managers and policymakers.


© 2020 The Authors. Zygon® published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Joint Publication Board of Zygon This article is an introduction to a philosophical approach termed "panspiritism." The fundamental principles of this approach are summarized, with discussion of how it links to earlier (mainly Eastern) philosophical perspectives, how it differs from panpsychism and its relationship to idealism and theism. Issues such as the relationship between mind and matter, the relationship between the mind and the brain, and the emergence of mind are discussed from a "panspiritist" perspective. There is a discussion of how panspiritism relates to mystical experiences. The article concludes by suggesting that this approach can help to elucidate a wide range of phenomena that appear anomalous or problematic from a materialist point of view.


We study the VP correction to the energy levels in the hydrogen-like electronic and muonic atoms. The result is obtained for the ground state of hydrogen-like atoms (muonic and electronic) analytically without any expansion over Zα.


Background Ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast (DCIS) represents a challenge in mammographic screening due to its unknown progression into invasive cancer. The majority of the DCIS is detected due to signs of calcifications on the mammograms. Purpose To analyze the combinations of mammographic morphology and distribution of calcifications by Van Nuys nuclear grade (grade). Material and Methods A total of 217 DCIS diagnosed in women aged 50–69 years old who participated in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program in the period November 1995 to December 2007 were reviewed by four breast imaging specialists. The mammograms were classified according to the morphology and distribution of the calcifications, using BI-RADS nomenclature. Chi square test was used to compare the groups of morphology and distribution by grade. Results Calcifications were identified in 93% (202/217) of the cases, 15% (30/202) as grade 1 and 74% (149/202) as grade 3. Fine pleomorphic calcifications were seen in 38% (77/202) of the lesions and fine linear and fine linear branching in 31% (62/202). Sixty-nine percent (53/77) of the fine pleomorphic and 84% (52/62) of the fine linear and fine linear branching calcifications were high grade lesions. Grouped distribution was seen in about half of all the cases (104/202). Among the high grade lesions with fine pleomorphic or fine linear and fine linear branching calcifications, 75% (40/53) and 69% (36/52), respectively, had grouped or segmental distribution. Conclusion DCIS presented overlapping groups of morphology and distribution of calcification by grade, but fine pleomorphic and fine linear and fine linear branching calcifications with grouped and segmental distributions were associated with high grade DCIS. Seeking for further knowledge that allows separation of non-high grade from high grade DCIS has to continue to improve the quality of mammographic screening.


Domestic and international travel study programs have grown in length and popularity since they began in 1923. Regardless of the field of study, the goal of most programs is to enhance student cultural sensitivity. The purpose of this study was to explore the contribution of an undergraduate food-focused domestic travel study program on long-term cultural sensitivity based on the ASKED model. A travel study program focused on transcultural food and cuisine was initiated in 1987 and as of 2017, implemented 22 times. The program length varied between 3 and5 weeks and was offered in two locations in the United States. A survey developed to explore the long-term impact of the program incorporated the ASKED model of cultural competence. This model includes five domains: cultural awareness, skill, knowledge, encounters, and desire. The survey was validated and found to be reliable. University of Delaware alumni who participated in the travel study program (n = 461) and a comparison group of alumni (n = 402) who did not participate in the program were invited to complete the survey. The majority of respondents majored in nutrition and dietetics. Alumni who participated in the travel study program had significantly higher total cultural sensitivity scores and also higher scores on 3 domains, namely cultural skill, knowledge, and desire compared to those that did not. Of the 11 program activities participants were asked to rank as contributors to cultural sensitivity, dining experiences and farm to table tours were rated as the top two, respectively. The study findings provided evidence that a short-term, domestic travel study program enhanced long-term cultural sensitivity. Since domestic programs may be a more cost-effective option and align more closely with employment opportunities in healthcare than international travel programs for college graduates, educators should provide opportunities and encourage dietetic students to participate in these travel programs.


In this paper, an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) receiver scheme with very low sampling rate is proposed for ranging in indoor multipath environments. The idea underlying the proposed scheme is that, instead of processing the whole UWB band, only partial sub-bands are considered at the receiver. The missing sub-bands are estimated by exploiting an estimate of the frequency correlation properties of the channel to reconstruct the signal over the whole UWB band. For the simulations, the IEEE UWB channel model is used and the range error using the proposed receiver scheme is obtained and compared to that of conventional UWB receivers which require very high sampling rates. Furthermore, a large number of UWB channel measurements in an office environment has been used to validate the accuracy of the obtained results. These results show that the range accuracy strongly depends on the number of received sub-bands and the spacing between them. For instance, using 1% of the total UWB bandwidth, an average range error of less than 10 cm is obtained. Furthermore, unlike conventional UWB receivers, the proposed technique performs better (in terms of range error) for low signal-to-noise ratios.


Coal comprises 70 per cent of China's primary energy source and 80 per cent of China's electricity generation. This study investigates the long-run relationship between coal consumption-economic growth nexus considering both supply and demand side models in a multivariate framework over the period of 1978 and 2010. Our innovation in this paper is to include a coal-to-electricity efficiency indicator into the economic growth model ; and trade exposure in coal demand. Using Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds testing approach, we find improvement in coal-to-efficiency indicator causes almost 35 per cent increase in real GDP in the long-run. The Toda-Yamamoto approach of causality test indicates unidirectional causality from coal consumption to economic growth; feedback effect both for coal-to-electricity efficiency indicator to economic growth and openness to coal consumption. For robustness check, using the generalised forecast error variance decomposition method we forecast the validity of causal relationships beyond the sample horizon. The paper suggests the role of advanced coal technologies will play a significant role along with other environmental and energy policies in maintaining sustainable economic growth in China .


The g-2 muon storage ring at Brookhaven National Laboratory will have a 1.7 meter long superconducting inflector magnet for injection of the muon beam into the storage ring. The field within the inflector is designed to be nearly zero. The inflector bucks out the main dipole field, but generates little or no stray field of its own. A portion of the field that remains is the field that is generated by circulating currents in the inflector magnet superconductor. Because the magnetization field has a different structure from field generated by the transport current, the magnetization field can adversely affect the field quality within the muon storage ring good field region. Correction of the effects of inflector superconductor magnetization and its effect on the good field region in the storage ring is discussed.<<ETX>>


Vertically aligned long ZnO nanorods (NRs) were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique. Prior to the NRs growth Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) film was deposited by DC sputtering technique on glass substrates. The length and width of the NRs were 25 microm and 450-500 nm, respectively. Structural and optical properties of the NRs were investigated after the growth. The NRs were single crystalline in nature with the preferred growth along c-axis. The diffusion of Ga atoms in the bottom of the NRs during the growth is detected. A prominent near band edge emission of NRs was observed from room-temperature photoluminescence study. Electrical characteristics across the NRs-thin film hybrid structure were measured with UV exposure, where the rise and fall of the photocurrent was exponential in nature due to the desorption and adsorption of oxygen in the surface.


Migration has been a recurrent phenomenon since the dawn of human history. Though its form has changed but it remains a dominant event in the global social system. In modern days people also migrate from underdeveloped areas to the developed ones in search of better opportunities. A number of social, cultural, economic, spatial, climatic, demographic factors induce migration, however, the economic factors are considered as the primary reasons for inducing migration. Migration of male labour force from Bihar has increased during last two decades. It was observed that the youngsters are more prone to migration and most of them are migrating to urban centers for non-farm work. Migration helped more rational use of two critical inputs, labour and irrigation in rice production on migrant households. The migration seems to have helped in judicious use of human labour at native place due to migration of surplus labour force for gainful employment to destination of migration. Remittances have been utilized for meeting consumption needs, improved livelihood, better education to children and better health care facilities. The migration seems to have helped in judicious use of human labour at native place due to migration of surplus labour force for gainful employment to destination of migration. Remittances have been utilized for meeting consumption needs, improved livelihood, better education to children and better health care facilities. Migrant households also preferred to save money to meet their requirements in unforeseen situations. It can thus be inferred that migration may be one of risk-coping strategies for the weaker sections of the society and has inculcated the saving habits among migrant households. The allocation of remittances on agricultural inputs could have increased if proper infrastructure facilities were present in rural areas for faster dissemination of modern agricultural technology for increasing agricultural production. Analysis of determinants of migration revealed that a male member of lower caste with larger size of land and larger number of dependents is more prone to migration in Bihar. The caste barrier for migration has weakened but still persists; however, size of farm is no more taboo for migration.


Oxygen is essentially required for aerobic metabolism in most eukaryotic organisms. Therefore, it is striking that a number of tissues develop, and are maintained at low oxygen (hypoxic) conditions in the body. For instance, the human embryo is located in a hypoxic environment. At the cellular level, hypoxia activates a signaling pathway, governed by hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1α). Hypoxic adaptation leads to induced erythropoiesis and angiogenesis, as well as a switch to glycolytic metabolism. In addition, hypoxia also promotes the undifferentiated cell state in various stem and precursor cell populations. One of the principal signaling mechanisms that controls development, is Notch signaling, an evolutionarily conserved pathway involved in cell fate decisions. In this thesis, I have investigated the interplay of hypoxia with the Notch signaling pathway. Here we showed that Notch signaling is required for hypoxia-mediated reduction of progenitor cell differentiation (Paper I). Hypoxia blocked neuronal and myogenic differentiation in a Notch-dependent manner. Furthermore, the Notch intracellular domain (ICD) interacted with HIF-1α, and HIF-1α was recruited to Notch-responsive promoters upon Notch activation during hypoxic conditions. Taken together, these data provide molecular insights into how reduced oxygen levels control the cellular differentiation status and demonstrate a role for Notch in this process. Hypoxia signaling pathway is frequently involved in several adult pathologies, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Therefore, it is interesting from at therapeutic prospective to investigate whether the link between hypoxia and Notch signaling also synergize during tumor development. Specifically, hypoxia induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which leads to increased migration of tumor cells, and clinically associates with an aggressive tumor phenotype. However, the molecular mechanisms linking hypoxia to EMT in tumors are poorly understood. In Paper II, we report that Notch signaling is critically required to convert a hypoxic stimulus into EMT in tumor cells. Inhibition of Notch signaling abrogated the hypoxia-induced EMT and reduced cell migration. Furthermore, Notch positively regulated the level of the EMT inducer Snail-1 in two distinct ways: through direct transcriptional control of Snail-1 and indirectly, through increased lysyl oxidase expression. In sum, these data provide support for a hypoxia-Notch-EMT link in tumor cells. The hypoxia inducible transcription factors (HIFs) are regulated at the level of protein stability and transcriptional activity in an oxygen-dependent manner by prolyl and asparaginyl hydroxylation, respectively. Both these families of hydroxylating enzymes use oxygen as co-substrates, and thus are oxygen sensors in the cell. In the presence of oxygen, the hydroxylase Factor inhibiting HIF-1α (FIH-1) targets a conserved asparaginyl residue within the C-terminal transactivation activation domain (C-TAD) of HIF-α, leading to repression of HIF-mediated transcription by abrogating recruitment of cofactors. In Paper III, we identify Notch as a novel substrate for hydroxylation by FIH-1, providing yet another interaction point between hypoxia and Notch signaling. Notch ICD was hydroxylated at an asparaginyl residue within its ankyrin repeat region. In addition, FIH-1 interacted with Notch, and enforced expression of FIH-1 resulted in abrogated Notch activity. Furthermore, FIH-1 increased differentiation of myocytes, in keeping with the inhibitory effect of FIH on Notch signaling. These data show that FIH-1 interacts with Notch ICD, and is capable of reducing Notch activity. To more closely investigate the temporal and spatial aspects of Notch signaling, we designed a fluorescent reporter assay that allows Notch activation to be followed in real time in individual cell (Paper IV). We generated a reporter construct composed of 12 CSL-binding motifs linked to two fluorescent proteins. After transfection into cells, the reporters rapidly responded to various forms of Notch activation, including ligand activation of full-length Notch receptors. Finally, we used this assay to gain insights into the level of Notch signaling in CNS progenitor cells in culture and in vivo. To conclude, we have identified a crosstalk between hypoxia and Notch signaling. Our results show that there is a functional relationship between Notch, hypoxia and FIH in the control of progenitor cell differentiation. In addition, we have shown that the hypoxia-Notch link also occurs in tumors, and is specifically important for hypoxia-induced EMT. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS This thesis is based on the following papers: I. Maria V. Gustafsson, Xiaowei Zheng, Teresa Pereira, Katarina Gradin, Shaobo Jin, Johan Lundkvist, Jorge L. Ruas, Lorenz Poellinger, Urban Lendahl and Maria Bondesson. Hypoxia requires Notch signaling to maintain the undifferentiated cell state. Developmental Cell (2005) 9; 617-628. II. Cecilia Sahlgren, Maria V. Gustafsson, Shaobo Jin, Lorenz Poellinger and Urban Lendahl. Notch signaling is required for hypoxia-induced epithelialmesenchymal transition in tumor cells.


Oral melphalan has been included in multi-agent rescue protocols for canine lymphoma but its activity as a single-agent for this purpose has not been established. Inexpensive cost, ease of administration and tolerability make oral melphalan an attractive candidate for single-agent rescue therapy of canine lymphoma. Retrospective evaluation of 19 cases of relapsed canine lymphoma treated with oral melphalan was performed. Melphalan was primarily administered (n = 16) via a high dose protocol (HDM) with a median dosage of 19.4 mg m-2 . Fifteen dogs (78.9%) were treated concurrently with corticosteroids. Response evaluation was possible for all dogs with a calculated overall clinical benefit (partial response [PR] + stable disease [SD]) of 31.6% (PR 3/19; SD 3/19). Times to progression following melphalan (TTP-M) were 14, 24 and 34 days for responders and 20, 28 and 103 days for dogs experiencing SD. Twelve of 17 dogs evaluable for toxicity experienced an adverse event (AE) with only 3 dogs experiencing a grade III or higher AE. Haematologic toxicity was common (11/17) while gastrointestinal toxicity was rare (1/17). Although treatment resulted in limited clinical benefit and non-durable responses, oral melphalan was well-tolerated and may be a reasonable rescue option in cases where minimal effective agents remain.


Traffic signals are not only useful facilities to ensure the safety at an intersection, but also an important traffic management tool to improve the urban traffic network performance. Many traffic signal strategies have been presented to increase the throughput of an urban network and reduce the total delay. The difficulty is that a successful local optimization does not mean a better global performance and that the high complexity makes centralized coordinated strategies usually not efficient for a large network. To overcome these drawbacks, some promising distributed strategies are presented, such as the back-pressure algorithm. Whereas the back-pressure algorithm overcomes the main fundamental problems, some practical issues are not considered. Firstly, the original back-pressure algorithm does not take the all red time into consideration. Secondly, the algorithm relies strongly on the loop detector, which decreases the robustness. Therefore, this paper shows a dynamic green time approach which overcomes these drawbacks of the back-pressure algorithm. In the approach, the green time length depends on two elements: the back-pressure at the intersection and the upstream queue length. Meanwhile the green time for each phase is restricted to durations between 15 seconds and 65 seconds to ensure the robustness. The method is tested in a simulation. This shows that optimal dynamic green time approach shows the best performance among other green time mechanisms, such as fixed green time approach. The green time approach not only makes the back-pressure more practical, but also keeps the good network performance of the original algorithm.


Introduction: Iron is essential for normal, neoplasmic and microbial cells. Transferrin (Tf) is responsible for iron transport and its interactions with chelators are of physiological and toxicological importance and could lead to new therapeutic applications. Areas covered: Differential interactions of Tf with chelators such as deferiprone (L1) could be used to modify toxicity and disease pathways in relation to iron and other metal metabolism. Iron mobilization by L1 could achieve normal body iron stores in thalassemia patients. Iron mobilization from the reticuloendothelial system by L1 and exchange with Tf could be used to increase the production of hemoglobin in the anemia of chronic disease. Iron accumulation is pathogenic in neurodegenerative, acute kidney and other diseases and could be removed by L1 with therapeutic implications. Deprivation of iron from neoplasmic and microbial cells by chelators could increase the prospect of improved treatments in cancer and infectious diseases. Other applications include metal detoxification and inhibition of oxidative stress-related conditions. Expert opinion: Specific mechanisms apply in the interactions of chelators with Tf, which could be used in the design of targeted therapeutic strategies in many conditions. In each case specific chelator protocols have to be designed for achieving optimum therapeutic activity


Strangulated right Richter's inguinal hernia of the cecum is relatively rare. A case of this unusual hernia was successfully managed with a wedge resection and closure of the infarcted bowel wall in conjunction with complementary tube cecostomy. The procedure is easy to perform and relatively safe and is therefore recommended for use in selected cases of Richter's hernia of the cecum.


Background: The emergence of Enterococcus as an important nosocomial pathogen is mainly attributed to its inherent resistance to commonly used antibiotics and now in recent times, it has acquired resistance to other available therapeutic options as well. Materials and Methods: Enterococcus isolates from clinical samples received in the department of microbiology over a period of 1 year were included in the study. Isolates were identified and species determined by standard methods. Antibiotic susceptibility test was done by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion test. Epsilometer test was done to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration for vancomycin. Results: A total of 145 Enterococcus isolates were obtained; 73 (50.3%) isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecalis, 69 (47.5%) Enterococcus faecium, 2 (1.3%) Enterococcus durans and 1 (0.68%) as Enterococcus gallinarum. Most of the isolates were from urine samples (125, 86.2%); followed by pus (16, 11.03%). Vancomycin resistance was seen in 14 (9.6%) isolates while linezolid resistance was seen in 8 (5.5%) isolates. Conclusion: E. faecalis is the most common clinical species isolated from clinical samples and the emergence of linezolid-resistant enterococci from the hospital is a matter of concern as till now it is considered to be the last resort for treatment in patients infected with vancomycin-resistant enterococci.


Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Based on the findings of the interim analysis of the clinical trial CLEOPATRA (NCT00567190) conducted in 2015, Pertuzumab resulted in an unprecedented absolute increase in Overall Survival by 15.7 months. After a median follow-up of 50 months, the median Overall Survival was 56.5 months for the Pertuzumab group and 40.8 months for the placebo group respectively. At the time, a 32% reduction in mortality was recorded, (hazard ratio 0.68, p<0.001).
Over the whole duration of the study (end-of-study analysis), the median Overall Survival of Pertuzumab was 57.1 months while for the control group was 40.8 months respectively. In other words, there was an absolute difference of 16.3 months in favor of the intervention group. Also important is the fact that the overall safety profile of the triplet was consistent with the safety profile of Pertuzumab. It was not associated with a higher incidence of symptomatic left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) or reductions in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) compared to placebo and the simple combination of Trastuzumab and Docetaxel.
Pertuzumab (Perjeta®) is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that, as a key function, inhibits intracellular growth factor (HER2) signaling pathways and can lead to inhibition of cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively.(www.ema.europa.eu, SPC). Pertuzumab was approved by the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) on June 8, 2012, while in Greece the first approval was given on March 4, 2013. The cost-effectivenessof the combination of Pertuzumab, Trastuzumab and Docetaxel compared with the simple combination of Trastuzumab and Docetaxel in HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer has not been evaluated in Greece.
The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Pertuzumab compared to the simple combination as a first-line treatment for patients with HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer, in Greece. The viewpoint of the analysis is that of the Greek National Health System.
The analysis uses a Markov model. The model was comprised of three health states: Progression Free (PFS), Progressed Disease (PD) and death. The population of interest was adults 54 years old at the start of the model with HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer. The data used to populate the model were drawn from international and Greek published sources.
The model follows a hypothetical group of patients from the beginning of treatment till death over monthly cycles. Data and probabilities for OS and PFS were derived from the clinical trial CLEOPATRA, and were extrapolated to a period of 120 months thus covering the life expectancy of these patients (lifetime analysis). Clinical effectiveness was assessed in terms of life expectancy and quality adjusted life expectance and the corresponding cost was estimated by combining the volume of resources used with their unit costs based on NHS current prices. The cost and effectiveness were calculated for each health state, per cycle and per patient. In addition sensitivity analysis was performed due to the uncertainties introduced by model parameters.
The triplet combination of pertuzumab/trastuzumab/docetaxel compared to placebo/trastuzumab/docetaxel as first line treatment in adult patients with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer was more costly per patient, while at the same time improved the life expectancy (LYs) and the quality of life (QALYs). The ICER was estimated at €197,844.95/QALY gained and at €123,653.09/LY gained for the life expectancy of those patients. The sensitivity analysis showed that the results are sensitive to drug unit cost and do not appear to be sensitive to the discount rate.
According to the results of this study, Pertuzumab compared to placebo as a treatment for HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer, is considered a non cost-effective treatment option for the National Health System of Greece.


Biomass burning aerosol (BBA) emissions in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) historical forcing fields have enhanced temporal variability during the years 1997–2014 compared to earlier periods. Recent studies document that the corresponding inhomogeneous shortwave forcing over this period can cause changes in clouds, permafrost, and soil moisture, which contribute to a net terrestrial Northern Hemisphere warming relative to earlier periods. Here, we investigate the ocean response to the hemispherically asymmetric warming, using a 100-member ensemble of the Community Earth System Model version 2 Large Ensemble forced by two different BBA emissions (CMIP6 default and temporally smoothed over 1990–2020). Differences between the two subensemble means show that ocean temperature anomalies occur during periods of high BBA variability and subsequently persist over multiple decades. In the North Atlantic, surface warming is efficiently compensated for by decreased northward oceanic heat transport due to a slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. In the North Pacific, surface warming is compensated for by an anomalous cross-equatorial cell (CEC) that reduces northward oceanic heat transport. The heat that converges in the South Pacific through the anomalous CEC is shunted into the subsurface and contributes to formation of long-lasting ocean temperature anomalies. The anomalous CEC is maintained through latitude-dependent contributions from narrow western boundary currents and basin-wide near-surface Ekman transport. These results indicate that interannual variability in forcing fields may significantly change the background climate state over long timescales, presenting a potential uncertainty in CMIP6-class climate projections forced without interannual variability.


Photoluminescence spectra from the high-T(c) superconductor YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-x), the semiconductor GaAs, and GaP under intense picosecond laser excitation were studied with their surfaces exposed to different alkali solutions. Strong absorption of D lines of neutral-alkali atoms was observed in these spectra. These absorption lines indicate that free ground-state alkali atoms were formed by recombination of the sublimated alkali ions with photoelectrons through various processes.


In order to assess the development tendency in teaching methods adopted in private and government secondary schools, the study was carried out during 2014 in Tandojam district Hyderabad (Sindh) as the area of study. Forty students were divided into two groups such as: experimental group (attended teacher with modernized/innovative teaching methods) and control group (attended teacher having traditional teaching methods). Using a checklist, the impacts and students" perceptions were assessed. 10th class students of private and government secondary schools were evaluated to study impact of teaching methods on learning concepts of the students. Modernized English teaching techniques and conventional teaching were compared on English subject. The respondent students" ability to learning concepts in relation to English subject was tested on the basis of their conceptual as well as traditional way of test. In conceptual test for English subject, experimental students secured 71.15% (SD ±5.6154, S.E.±1.3004) and control group secured 58.55% marks (SD= ±4.8165, S.E. ±1.0772) indicates that students attended innovative teaching methods in class acquired 12.60% higher marks in the conceptual test than those attended conventional teaching methods. In test based on traditional questions, experimental group secured 69.95 %marks (SD=±4.9468, S.E.±1.1061) and students of control group secured 68.75% marks (SD=±4.0115, S.E.±0.8570) showing 1.20% difference in favour of students attended modernized English teaching methods. The performance of students attended teachers using innovative teaching methods performed very well in concept paper as well as in the traditional test. The performance of control group students was poor in test based on concept paper, but performed well in the tradition test. High majority experimental group rated all innovative teaching methods adopted at their schools as "good" and "satisfactory" but fewer gave "unsatisfactory" opinion. The majority of the control group students rated modern teaching methods as "unsatisfactory" at their schools.


The performance of the planter is directly linked to the mechanisms of contact with the soil, more specifically to the furrow openers mechanism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the responses of the soil, machine, and the corn crop, according to furrow openers hoe type and working depths, in an eutroferric Red Latossol and no-tillage system. Soil disturbance, drawbar power and force, speed of operation and corn grains yield was evaluated. The soil disturbance presented difference for the factors; openers and depths. The distinct behavior of the openers, due to their geometry, was a limiting factor for the working depth that determines the area of disturbed soil. Energy demand to the tractor presented difference for openers and depths. The opener with angle of inclination of 17° and width of 21 mm (Opener 1) caused higher soil disturbance and lower force and power. In a Red Latosol with no-tillage system, the working depth of 90 mm required lower draft demand and a soil disturbance suitable to the corn crop development.

 Key words: Agricultural mechanization, direct seeding, planter.


The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between ocurrence of fungi in children and living environment (city - countryside), sex, age, diet, undergone diseases therapy with antibiotics and exposure to hospital environment, and to indicate children potentially vulnerable to fungal infections. The material was consisted of swabs collected from the oral cavily, the throat and the nose of healthy children, aged 6-9 and 10-15, from both urban and rural environmens. Candida albicans , the basic aetiological factor in thc majority of mycoses recorded in humans, unquestionably prevailed in the group of the 13 speciec of yeast-like fungi and yeasts isolated. Records of C. glabrata and C. krusei increasing numbers of whose strains show resistance to basic antimycoties, as well as relatively frequent records of Trichosporon beigelii, Saccharomycopsis capsularis and Saccharomyces sp., fungi whose expansiveness and enzymatic activity have been growing, may be considered disconcerting. Vulnerability to fungal infection increases following anti-bacterial antibiotic therapy in the majority of subjects regardless season or age. This is particularly true primarily of the most stable ontocoenosis of the throat. Younger children, on the other hand, are the most vulnerable foUowing infection of the respiratory system. Fungi are likely to colonise the nose in this case. Children living in the countryside who had been ll immediately prior to the collection of the material constitute the highest risk group of the occurrence of fungi in any of the ontocoenoses studied. A greater number of positive inoculations were recorded in these children in comparison to the children from the city. It may be indicative of a more extensive spectrum of natural reservoirs of fungi and the vectors of their transmission in rural areas than those in the city, lower health hygiene and lower immunity or of a more common carriage of fungi among rural children.


We have previously demonstrated that firefly luciferase can be imported into peroxisomes of both insect and mammalian cells. To determine whether the process of protein transport into the peroxisome is functionally similar in more widely divergent eukaryotes, the cDNA encoding firefly luciferase was expressed in both yeast and plant cells. Luciferase was translocated into peroxisomes in each type of organism. Experiments were also performed to determine whether a yeast peroxisomal protein could be transported to peroxisomes in mammalian cells. We observed that a C‐terminal segment of the yeast (Candida boidinii) peroxisomal protein PMP20 could act as a peroxisomal targeting signal in mammalian cells. These results suggest that at least one mechanism of protein translocation into peroxisomes has been conserved throughout eukaryotic evolution.


Today, due to the ineffective physical education among university students, there is a need in the
process of revising the content of PE lessons in order to adapt them to the students' needs. It is
important to update interests and motives in order to replenish the theoretical competence of students
about the most productive means and methods of physical education, in order to increase the
effectiveness of the performed physical exercises as a way to reach qualitatively different levels of
training physical qualities. The article discusses the possibilities of developing students' strength
indicators as a result of training in the gym


This analysis seeks to understand the causes affecting variations in COVID-19 case rates at American college campuses during the Fall 2020 semester. The literature suggests that certain university policies like testing and community factors like partisanship will impact case rates in a significant way. Data is reported by university COVID-19 dashboards, and the dependent variable is measured as the percent of students, faculty, and staff on each campus to test positive for COVID-19. Testing frequency is shown to increase, not decrease, COVID-19 case rates, and Greek life percentage, in-person opening decisions, county partisanship, state COVID-19 case rates, and county COVID-19 case rates are the statistically and substantively significant variables in the model. These findings indicate that while university decisions can play a significant role in shaping university COVID-19 case rates, external factors like community behavior and COVID-19 spread hold the most explanatory power. The results tend to not support the reasoning for widespread angst by frustrated students and faculty toward university administrators regarding university re-opening in Fall 2020.


Using tritium water as a tracer in man, water absorption through the gastrointestinal tract began in 2–9 minutes and was complete in 40–45 minutes. The volume of water transferred from the intestine to the blood was linear with time and proportional to the volume of water ingested, within the range of 100–1000 ml. When exposed to HTO vapor via inhalation, man absorbed through the respiratory system 98–99% of the activity inspired. The activity in venous blood increased sharply during and shortly after inhalation exposure, after which it declined exponentially to equilibrium with a half-time of about 12 minutes. The average dilution volume in five experiments on three normal males was 62.2% and the biological half-time of tritium in body water of eight males on ad libitum water intake averaged 11.5 days. At equal vapor pressures man absorbed HTO inward through the skin at a rate comparable to the rate of insensible perspiration. HTO appeared to diffuse across the inert barrier of the outer skin with a half-time of about 3 minutes. When man was exposed to an atmosphere containing HTO, the HTO entering the body through the total skin area was approximately equal to that entering through the lungs. Both man and rat slowly oxidized inspired HT to HTO. The radiation hazard from exchange of tritium with hydrogen of the tissues after chronic or acute exposure to HTO was small compared to the hazard from the amount of HTO necessary to induce the activity into tissue components. On the basis of human data, the maximum permissible body burden of tritium was calculated to be 3.7 mc, and the maximum permissible concentrations of tritium oxide in air and water for continuous 24-hour exposure was estimated at 5 x 10 -6 μc/ml and 0.1 μc/ml, respectively. Adoption of the 1956 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection will result in the division of the above values by three. Submitted on August 6, 1956


Data in asthmatic children suggest that low vitamin D levels are associated with poor asthma control, reduced lung function, and increased medication intake. To investigate the role of vitamin D insufficiency in adult asthmatics 25-hydroxyvitamin D was measured in 280 adult patients with asthma (mean±SEM: 45.0±0.8 yrs., 40% male, FEV1 74.9±1.4%) and correlated with clinical parameters of asthma control.

The majority of patients had severe asthma (n=155, 55%) and were uncontrolled (n=144, 51%). Serum levels of vitamin D were significantly related to asthma severity (mean±SEM: intermittent 31.1±3.2 ng/ml, mild 27.3±1.6 ng/ml, moderate 26.5±1.5, severe 24.0±0.9, p=0.046) and asthma control (controlled 29.5±1.9, partly controlled 25.9±1.1, uncontrolled 24.2±1.0 ng/ml, p=0.030). Frequency of vitamin D insufficiency (vitamin D <30 ng/ml) was significantly higher in patients with severe or uncontrolled asthma and was associated with a lower FEV1 (vitamin D <30 vs. ≥30 ng/ml 2.3±0.1 L vs. 2.7±0.1 L, p=0.006), higher levels of exhaled NO (45±4 ppb vs. 31±4 ppb, p=0.023), a higher BMI (28.3±0.5 vs. 25.1±0.4, p<0.001), and sputum eosinophilia (5.1±1.6% vs. 0.5±0.2%, p=0.005).

Levels of serum vitamin D were associated with clinical parameters of asthma severity and control supporting the hypothesis that improving suboptimal vitamin D status might be effective in prevention and treatment of asthma.


Objectives: The aim of this study to assess instructional labor support behaviors among laboringwomen in teaching hospitals in Hilla city.Methodology: A descriptive analytic study was concluded to select a sample purposely of one hundredmultipara laboring women in maternity hospital in Hilla city and data was collected throughquestionnaire form during February (1st to March 30th) 2014. A descriptive statistical method was usedto analyze the data.Results: The result showed that the highest percentage of study sample was at age (20-24) years, mostof them was house wife, more than third graduate from primary school, and more than half of themlived in rural area, (86%) of study sample delivered normal delivery, and (47%) of them their babieswere healthy, regarding instructional labor support behaviors, the highest mean of score refer toinstruction with eye to eye contact with persons who provide support, use open mouth (glottis) pushingand follow urges to push and rise the baby to let mother see her baby's gender.Recommendations: The result of this study indicated need for providing all midwifery school withlabor support behaviors, revising clinical guideline and efficient updating training to all staff and giverole to family to share in labor support behaviors


Unlike other organs the energy requirement of the brain is met almost exclusively by aerobic glucose degradation (Siesjo, 1978). The energy requirement of the brain is 20–30% of the whole organism at rest, although its weight is only 2%. The energy stores in the brain are extremely small when compared with the high rate of glucose utilisation: thus the brain is reliant on a continuous glucose supply. Only about 30% of glucose is required for direct energy production; much of the remainder is used for the synthesis of amino acids, peptides, lipids and nucleic acids (Siebert, Gessner & Klasser, 1986). Thus a source of glucose is essential for the synthesis of physiologically active amines such as serotonin, noradrenaline and acetylcholine. Although it is well accepted that hypoglycaemia can result in the disruption of cognitive functioning, this is a rare phenomenon and it has usually been assumed that levels of blood glucose, within the normal range, do not influence intellectual functioning. This assumption is discussed in this paper.


The Namibian Department of Water Affairs has in the past faced considerable pressure to relieve the water shortages caused by recent droughts. One of the options considered in 1996, following poor runoff during the 1994/95 and 1995/96 seasons, was a proposal to abstract some 17Mm3 of water per year from the Okavango River at Rundu, and transfer this via a 260km long pipeline to the head of the Eastern National Water Carrier at the town of Grootfontein. Part of the overall evaluation of this scheme included an assessment of the potential environmental impacts that could arise. An initial environmental evaluation was conducted from a point approximately 40 kilometres upstream of Rundu in Namibia, to the distal end of the Okavango Delta at Maun in Botswana. Hydrological studies showed that the proposed abstraction represented a reduction of approximately 0.32% in the mean annual flow of the Okavango River at Rundu. The abstraction represents 0.17% of the mean annual flow at Mukwe, downstream of the Cuito River confluence. The adverse effects of the proposed water abstraction scheme would be extremely small along the Okavango River in Namibia, whilst outflows from the lower end of the Okavango Delta to the Thamalakane River would be reduced by some 1.44Mm3/year (11%). Additional studies showed that these effects could be reduced by some 10–13% if abstraction was confined to the falling limb of the hydrograph. Hydrological simulations have shown that the maximum likely loss of inundated area in the Okavango Delta would total approximately 7km2 out of some 8 000km2. This potential loss in inundated area would be concentrated in the lower reaches of the seasonal swamps and seasonally inundated grasslands, specifically in the lower reaches of the Boro, Gomoti, Santantadibe and Thaoge channels. However, these effects would most likely be expressed as a shoreline effect, with the loss in area spread out over the shoreline and periphery of islands and would not be restricted to a single specific area. This anticipated loss in inundated area is unlikely to have measurable impacts on environmental components. Overall, the study found no 'fatal flaws' which would prevent the water abstraction scheme from proceeding and the anticipated effects on the Okavango system are more likely to be seen in the Okavango Delta, rather than along the Okavango River. The anticipated ecological implications of the scheme were small in spatial extent and are unlikely to be perceptible against the natural year-to-year variability in inundation of the Okavango Delta or outflows to the Thamalakane River. However, the public perceptions of the proposed water transfer project were strongly negative and appeared to be at least in part due to the very low water levels in the Okavango River and Okavango Delta during the past three years and during the study period. These low water levels were amongst the lowest on record and it is likely that the public would attribute any adverse effect recorded in the future to the abstraction scheme, whether this were true or not. These negative perceptions of the desirability and acceptability of the proposed scheme were strongly linked to potential adverse affects on the tourism industry along the Okavango River and in the Okavango Delta, with possible adverse economic effects on local residents.


Tim Gorringe's is the first book to reflect theologically on the built environment as a whole. Drawing on a wide range of both theological and social-scientific sources, Professor Gorringe explores Christianity in its urban settings, focusing on theuse of space, design, architecture and town planning tomake a theological critique. After considering the divine grounding of constructed space, he looks at the ownership of land, the issues of housing, town and country, and the city, and then considers the built environment in terms of community and art. The book concludes with two chapters that set the whole within the framework of the environmental crisis and asks what directions the Church should be looking for in building for the future. This unique book will challenge not only theologians, ethicists and sociologists of religion but also church teachers and professionals.


Proteomic analysis of the stigmatic exudate of Lilium longiflorum and Olea europaea led to the identification of 51 and 57 proteins, respectively, most of which are described for the first time in this secreted fluid. These results indicate that the stigmatic exudate is an extracellular environment metabolically active, participating in at least 80 different biological processes and 97 molecular functions. The stigma exudate showed a markedly catabolic profile and appeared to possess the enzyme machinery necessary to degrade large polysaccharides and lipids secreted by papillae to smaller units, allowing their incorporation into the pollen tube during pollination. It may also regulate pollen-tube growth in the pistil through the selective degradation of tube-wall components. Furthermore, some secreted proteins were involved in pollen-tube adhesion and orientation, as well as in programmed cell death of the papillae cells in response to either compatible pollination or incompatible pollen rejection. Finally, the results also revealed a putative cross-talk between genetic programmes regulating stress/defence and pollination responses in the stigma.


: The goal of this study was to examine the effect of engaging students in socially engaged art (SEA) education to create 3D virtual worlds for fostering creative problem-solving (CPS) skills. The study was conducted with 135 students (aged 16) of boys' high school in Korea who participated in the SEA program through four stages: Stage 1-appreciation and interpretation of artwork about social issues; Stage 2 - discussion on the potential solution to the selected social issue; Stage 3 - creating a 3D virtual world k to express proposed solutions; and Stage 4 - experiencing and sharing 3D virtual worlds. The following research questions guided the study: (1) What is the effect of SEA education with VR on students' CPS? (2) How are the students' CPS as expressed in their artifact (essay and VR work)? (3) What are the relationships between students' CPS and their artifact (essay and VR work)? For data collection, we administered the instrument to measure students' CPS skills in three areas (higher-order thinking, divergent thinking, and problem-solving) and also evaluated student essays and VR work to examine CPS specific to art education. Overall, the results indicate that the students improved their CPS skills significantly after participating in the SEA program. The CPS skills had significant relationships with the essay scores, whereas only one significant relationship was found between CPS and VR work. This study provides empirical findings concerning how the formal school curriculum can introduce students to an authentic context concerning social issues through artmaking practices with VR.


How do people and firms choose to relocate to new cities? We argue that this difficult yet consequential choice is often poorly made, or not made at all, resulting in under-mobility and consequent losses in individual utility and aggregate social welfare. We propose a behavioral economic theory of why this happens and the predictable directions in which failure occurs in terms of characteristic biases and heuristics in city choice (including status quo bias, loss aversion, endowment effect, availability heuristics, present bias, social norms, anchoring, elimination heuristics, sunk cost effects, and regret aversion). We examine how cities might mitigate this problem by improving information as inputs into choice and by redesigning the choice architecture to embed effective choice heuristics into city search and match databases.


Study Design: A retrospective analysis of feasibility of intraoperative computed tomography (iCT) navigation for pedicle screw insertion of the thoracolumbar spine. Objectives: This study assessed the feasibility of an iCT navigation system by evaluating the screw insertion time, screw revision time, and learning curve of the iCT surgical team in patients who underwent thoracolumbar pedicle screw surgery using this navigation system. Summary of Background Data: The iCT navigation system has been reported to improve the accuracy and safety of pedicle screw insertion. However, the assessment of the feasibility of spinal instrumentation guided by iCT navigation system is limited. Materials and Methods: From the time iCT navigation system was set-up to a period covering 16 months, consecutive patients who underwent thoracic or lumbar spinal pedicle screw surgery were enrolled. The screw insertion and screw revision times were estimated using the system's automatic time recording between the iCT scans. The insertion time per screw of the first 50 patients not requiring screw revision was also analyzed to evaluate the learning curve of the iCT surgical team. Results: There were 178 patients with a total of 932 pedicle screws. The cortical breach rate was 3.2% and the screw revision rate was 1.4%. The insertion time per screw was 10.2±6.3 minutes and the screw revision time was 13.8±9.9 minutes. The learning curve of the iCT surgical team for pedicle screw insertion guided by this navigation system was not steep, and experience from <10 patients was adequate to provide familiarity with this system. Conclusions: The iCT navigation system is clinically feasible for thoracolumbar pedicle screw surgery. It provides high-level safety and accuracy, as well as ease of screw revision when required.


It has been shown that atopic dermatitis improves in children when certain foods are eliminated from the diet. Because of the unreliability of the history and the low sensibility of the total and specific IgE and skin tests, at present the elimination-provocation test is the most definitive means to establish which are the offending food(s). Although many authors claim that reactions following the challenge test in atopic dermatitis are only of the delayed type, others assert that immediate reactions are frequent and can sometimes threaten life. The pathogenesis of such reactions is not yet completely understood. However, it has been suggested that a direct IgE-mediated mechanism, inducing a release of anaphylactic mediators, could play some role. The aim of our study is to investigate the incidence of immediate reactions which can follow the food challenge in children with atopic dermatitis who have never experienced such reactions and, in addition, to investigate the reliability of total and specific IgE and skin tests in predicting immediate reactions after the challenge test. Our preliminary data indicate that immediate reactions following food challenge are frequent. Moreover they can be severe and cannot be predicted by the history, by the total and specific IgE levels and by the skin tests' results.


This article should be seen as an attempt to put the early medieval chronicles in a more theoretical frame concerning identity formation and creation of historical tradition. The empirical examples are provided by two tenth-century chronicles: Chronicon AEthelweardi by AEthelweard of Wessex, and Res gestae Saxonicae by Widukind of Corvey. As the theoretical frame serve the conclusions and ideas taken from the research on collective memory, discourse analysis, and a more general reasoning about the affinity between knowledge and power. In effect, the article illustrates not only those mechanisms and literary strategies, but also, more broadly, demonstrates the pointlessness of common accusations of medieval historiography's failure in its pursuit of objectivity. Partiality was the raison d'etre of medieval chronicles, and, it is argued, our research should focus more on its appearances.


Geographic indicators — trademarks that use a place name to indicate goods or services — are now theoretically easier to register, even if the good or service does not actually come from that place. This shift is a result of three cases, two authored by Chief Judge Randall R. Rader of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (California Innovations and Les Halles), and one where he served on the panel (Spirits International). These cases made it more difficult for a trademark examiner to reject an application for a primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive mark by adding a materiality requirement. However, raising the bar was not the intent of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) amendments, the subject of interpretation in the case trio. This Article tracks the significant change in the analysis of geographic indicators, ultimately arguing that the Federal Circuit should take guidance from its earlier opinions, In re Wada and Save Venice, and be willing to infer materiality when a location is known for a particular good or service.


Objective To assess whether the 90 minute corrected thrombolysis in myocardial infarction frame count (CTFC) in the infarct related artery predicts left ventricular function at 48 hours in patients with myocardial infarction treated with aspirin, streptokinase, and either heparin or Hirulog. Design and setting Analysis of 251 patients with acute myocardial infarction enrolled in the international, multicentre Hirulog early reperfusion/occlusion (HERO-1) trial, who underwent both 90 minute coronary angiography and 48 hour left ventriculography. Main outcome variables The CTFC was determined in the infarct related artery 90 minutes after starting intravenous streptokinase (1.5 × 106 U over 30 to 60 minutes), and compared with indices of left ventricular function assessed by contrast ventriculography at 48 hours. Results A CTFC of ⩽ 27 frames (previously reported mean + 2 SD in coronary arteries of patients without acute infarction) occurred in 29% of infarct related arteries, and was associated with a lower infarct zone mean chord score (−2.06 v −2.54, p = 0.01), a lower fraction of chords > 2 SD below normal (37%v 51%, p = 0.005), and trends towards higher left ventricular ejection fractions (60.9%v 58.2%, p = 0.11) and lower end systolic volumes (50.1 ml v 55.9 ml, p = 0.23). A CTFC of ⩽ 40 at 90 minutes occurred in 50% of infarct related arteries, and was associated with a significantly lower mean chord score (−2.20 v −2.60, p = 0.02), a smaller fraction of chords > 2 SD below normal (41%v 52%, p = 0.025), a smaller end systolic volume (49.1 ml v 59.3 ml, p = 0.02), and a higher left ventricular ejection fraction (60.4%v 56.5%, p = 0.03). Conclusions The 90 minute CTFC predicts left ventricular function at 48 hours following streptokinase. The CTFC associated with better ventricular function may be higher than values determined from a non-infarct population.


BACKGROUND
The tradition of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has spread in Europe as a result of immigration. Although it is known to have negative health impacts, the exact prevalence of FGM/C and its health effects in Finland are unknown. This study explores the prevalence of FGM/C, the sociodemographic characteristics associated with it, and its health effects among women of Somali and Kurdish origin in Finland.

METHODS
Data were obtained from the Migrant Health and Well Being Study carried out in 2010-2012. This study uses data from interviews with Somali (N = 165) and Kurdish origin (N = 224) women. The participation rate was 37 percent for Somali and 54 percent for Kurdish origin women.

RESULTS
The prevalence of FGM/C was 69 percent among those of Somali origin and 32 percent among those of Kurdish origin. Having no education and older age were significantly associated with FGM/C, as was marriage amongst women of Somali origin, and the practice of Islam among women of Kurdish origin. Reporting good self-perceived health was more common among women without FGM/C. Outpatient visits to medical doctors were less common among women of Somali origin with FGM/C, compared with women without FGM/C. About 26 percent of Somali origin and 39 percent of Kurdish origin women with FGM/C reported reproductive or other health problems because of FGM/C.

DISCUSSION
FGM/C is more common in Finland than previously assumed, particularly among women of Kurdish origin. Women with FGM/C need improved access to culturally competent health services to address the health impacts of FGM/C. Education and outreach to immigrant communities to prevent future FGM/C are also urgently needed.


All countries, especially those still on the path to economic development, must work hard to protect the environment. The state with the most economic policy discussion and development because of its focus on fair economic growth, protecting the environment, saving energy, and ensuring there is enough energy for everyone. According to the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, we should look for a U-shaped link between rising wealth per capita and emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), agricultural methane (ACH4), and carbon monoxide (C.O.) (CO2). We also examine the links between G.D.P. growth, energy intensity, foreign direct investment (FDI), human capital, and CO2 emissions. Using a panel generalized linear model (G.M.M.), we found that trade increases emissions of N2O, ACH4, and CO2 by a large amount for all of S.S.A. and its income groups (Upper-Middle-Income Countries (UMIC), Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), and Low-Income Countries (L.I.C.)). We think that the EKC proves that future emission reductions are possible and that trade hurts the environment in all sample countries, no matter how developed their economies are. On the policy side, the research showed that domestic trade liberalization and foreign control of the economy are bad and that industrialization must be done in a way that is both energy efficient and secure.


SUMMARY During postembryonic development of insects, molting cycles affect epidermal cells with alternate periods of proliferation and differentiation. Cells of the cell line established from imaginal discs of the Indian meal moth (IAL-PID2) differentiate under the action of the molting hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone, in a manner that is meaningful in terms of the development of the tissue from which they were derived. In particular, the hormone caused an accumulation of the cells in the G2 phase of their cycle and induced the formation of epithelial-like aggregates and the synthesis of specific proteoglycans. Recent discovery of members of the insulin superfamily in insects and the role of growth factors played by this family of molecules in vertebrates led us to check for their potential effects on IAL-PID2 cell cycle regulation. On the one hand, our results showed that insulin was involved in partial resumption of the cell cycle after an arrest caused by serum deprivation, but that other growth factors present in fetal calf serum were needed for full completion of mitosis. On the other hand, the cytostatic effect of 20-hydroxyecdysone was reversible, and, prior exposure of the cells to the hormone allowed the cells to complete one cell cycle in serum-free medium. These results suggest that the production of autocrine growth factors induced by ecdysteroids could circumvent the absence of serum. This cell culture model provides potential for further study of interactions between ecdysteroids and growth factor homologs during differentiation of insect epider


We present recent lattice results on the baryon spectrum, nucleon electromagnetic and axial form factors, nucleon to Δ transition form factors as well as the Δ electromagnetic form factors. The masses of the low lying baryons and the nucleon form factors are calculated using two degenerate flavors of twisted mass fermions down to pion mass of about 270 MeV. We compare to the results of other collaborations. The nucleon to Δ transition and Δ form factors are calculated in a hybrid scheme, which uses staggered sea quarks and domain wall valence quarks. The dominant magnetic dipole nucleon to Δ transition form factor is also evaluated using dynamical domain wall fermions. The transverse density distributions of the Δ in the infinite momentum frame are extracted using the form factors determined from lattice QCD.


The bank's good health level is the primary pillar in running banking
business. The healthy bank will encourage the society's trust in accepting the
service product the bank gives. PD BPR BKK KARANG MALANG SRAGEN is
one of BUMD (Local Government-Owned Enterprise) of Regency Sragen that
always attempts to realize the best performance. For that reason, the research
entitled "An Analysis on Bank Health Level Using Camel Method in PD. BPR
BKK Karangmalang Sragen in 2007-2009 Period" aims to find out the bank
health level. The problem statement of research is how the bank's health level is
in PD. BPR BKK Karangmalang Sragen in 2007-2009 Period. The method
employed to analyze the bank's health level in BPR is CAMEL method (Capital,
Asset, Management, Earning and Liquidity).
The result of analysis shows that (a) Capital calculated using capital
adequacy ratio (CAR) shows the ratio of 11.5% (2007), 10.5% (2008), and 12%
(2009) in the three periods. (b) The Quality of Productive Asset shows the KAP
ratio the PD. BPR BKK Karangmalang obtains (in 2007-2007) of 5.1% (2007),
5.4% (2008) and 4.2% (2009) belonging to health predicate. Meanwhile the PPAP
ratio produced is 60.7% (2007), 93.8% (2008) and 107.8% (2009). (c)
Management encompasses two assessment components: general management
with the ratio of 38% (2007-2008) and 40% (2009); risk management with the
ratio of 46%, 51% and 53%. From the total calculationofthe management factor
of 84 (2007), 89 (2008) and 93 (2009). (d) Earning measured using ROA ratio
produces the ratio of 3.7% (2007), 4.0% (2008) and 4.3% (2009), while the BOPO
ratio is 81.4% (2007), 89.3% (2008) and 88.7% (2009) included in health
predicate. Liquidity is measured using two ratios: Cash ratio produced is 20.9%
(2007), 22.9% (2008) and 27.2% (2009). Loan to Deposit Ratio produced is
95.5% (2007), 90.8% (2008) and 90.5% (2009). With such method, the
assessment of bank health in PD BPR KARANG MALANG SRAGEN gets
healthy predicate based on Indonesian Bank's criteria.
Keywords: bank's health level, camel method, capital, asset quality,
management, earnings, liquidity.


In this paper, we examine how adding objectives to a given optimization problem affects the computational effort required to generate the set of Pareto-optimal solutions. Experimental studies show that additional objectives may change the running time behavior of an algorithm drastically. Often it is assumed that more objectives make a problem harder as the number of different tradeoffs may increase with the problem dimension. We show that additional objectives, however, may be both beneficial and obstructive depending on the chosen objective. Our results are obtained by rigorous running time analyses that show the different effects of adding objectives to a well-known plateau function. Additional experiments show that the theoretically shown behavior can be observed for problems with more than one objective.


Abstract The Global Land Survey (GLS) 2000 data were generated from Geocover™2000 data with the aim of producing a global data set of accuracy better than 25 m Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). An assessment and validation of accuracy of GLS 2000 data set, and its co-registration with Geocover™ 2000 data set is presented here. Since the availability of global data sets that have higher nominal accuracy than the GLS 2000 is a concern, the data sets were assessed in three tiers. In the first tier, the data were compared with the Geocover™2000 data. This comparison provided a means of localizing regions of higher differences. In the second tier, the GLS 2000 data were compared with systematically corrected Landsat-7 scenes that were obtained in a time period when the spacecraft pointing information was extremely accurate. These comparisons localize regions where the data are consistently off, which may indicate regions of higher errors. The third tier consisted of comparing the GLS 2000 data against higher accuracy reference data. The reference data were the Digital Ortho Quads over the United States, ortho-rectified SPOT data over Australia, and high accuracy check points obtained using triangulation bundle adjustment of Landsat-7 images over selected sites around the world. The study reveals that the geometric errors in Geocover™2000 data have been rectified in GLS 2000 data, and that the accuracy of GLS 2000 data can be expected to be better than 25 m RMSE for most of its constituent scenes.


This articles deals with the tension between criminal prosecution of grave breaches of human rights and amnesties in the field of transitional justice. In recent years, there have been a very important activity in the international community on the fight against impunity and the defense of victims' rights that seems to have changed the perception on amnesties favoring criminal prosecution in every case. Of couse, arguments to justify such criminal prosecution are convincing, but the intention of the author in this article is to explore some arguments that would provide good reasons to justify certain types of amnesties possibly considered in accordance to international law under the fulfillment of certain conditions and limitations.


During the early development of the nervous system, synchronized activity is observed in a variety of structures, and is considered to play a fundamental role in neural development. One of the most striking examples of such activity is the depolarization wave reported in chick and rat embryos. In the accompanying paper ( Momose‐Sato et al., 2012 ), we have demonstrated that a depolarization wave is also present in the mouse embryo by showing large‐scale optical waves, which spread remarkably over the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, hindbrain, cerebellum, midbrain, and forebrain. In the present study, we examined the pharmacological nature of the mouse depolarization wave and its developmental changes. We show here that two types of switching in pharmacological characteristics occur during development. One is that the depolarization wave is strongly dependent on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors during the early developmental stage [embryonic day (E)11–12], but is dominated by glutamate at the later stage (E13 onwards). The second is that γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), which acts as an excitatory mediator of the depolarization wave during the early phase, becomes an inhibitory modulator by E14. These changes seemed to occur earlier in the hindbrain than in the spinal cord. Furthermore, we show that the second switch causes the loss of synchronization over the network, resulting in the disappearance of the depolarization wave and segregation of the activity into discrete regions of the medulla and spinal cord. We suggest that pharmacological switching is a possible mechanism underlying replacement of the primordial correlated network by a mature neuronal circuit.


The possibility of constructing very low anastomoses using stapling devices led many surgeons to reduce the length of the distal clearance to 1-2 cm. This made it possible to perform a low anterior resection instead of an abdominoperineal resection of the rectum in a greater number of cases. Furthermore, the enthusiasm in preserving sphincteric function induced some Authors to perform a local excision for tumors of the distal portion of the rectum. On the other hand, in order to improve patients' survival after curative operations for cancer, either of the rectum or rectosigmoid junction, other surgeons have adopted a more aggressive approach, extending exeresis to the peri-aortocaval and pelvic nodes, and to the possible liver metastases as well. On the basis of our experience (374 cases from 1972 to March 1989) and a critical review of the literature, indications, techniques, and results of curative operations for both rectal and recto-sigmoid junction cancer are examined. The role of extended abdomino-pelvic lymphadenectomy is also discussed. The Authors believe that in the absence of a reliable evaluation of the potential of these tumors, an aggressive approach is required. Local excision is reserved to very selected cases, which should undergo an intensive follow-up in order to detect recurrences at a very early stage.


Constructing a dynamic equivalent for a power system involves several steps: the partition of the system into coherent areas, the coherent area aggregation, and the aggregation of the coherent generators and their control devices. In this paper we investigate the aggregation of exciter models. A trajectory sensitivity method is used to tune the aggregate exciter parameters of the reduced model. The optimal results are used to evaluate the aggregation from the DYNRED program and a weighted MVA method. A three-machine system with one coherent area satisfying the theoretical coherency conditions is used to investigate the impact of the variations of the individual generator, network, and exciter parameters on the aggregate exciter model parameters. The results are then applied to the exciter aggregation of a larger 48-machine system.


The construction of Kahler geometry of WCW ("world of classical worlds") is fundamental to TGD program. I ended up with the idea about physics as WCW geometry around 1985 and made a breakthrough around 1990, when I realized that Kahler function for WCW could correspond to Kahler action for its preferred extremals defining the analogs of Bohr orbits so that classical theory with Bohr rules would become an exact part of quantum theory and path integral would be replaced with genuine integral over WCW. The motivating construction was that for loop spaces leading to a unique Kahler geometry. The geometry for the space of 3-D objects is even more complex than that for loops and the vision still is that the geometry of WCW is unique from the mere existence of Riemann connection. This article represents the updated version of the construction providing a solution to the problems of the previous construction. The basic formulas remain as such but the expressions for WCW super-Hamiltonians defining WCW Hamiltonians (and matrix elements of WCW metric) as their anti-commutator are replaced with those following from the dynamics of the modified Dirac action.


Although the implementation of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) has been studied in different contexts and countries all over the world, further contributions are needed to consolidate the concept. Little research has been done on the integration of marketing communications in tourism-related sectors. Moreover, previous studies have focused mainly on managers' opinions while overlooking consumers' perceptions of IMC. The purpose of this research is to study in greater detail the IMC concept in the tourism sector, specifically in the hotels of Central and Southern Dalmatia, from a double perspective: managers-guests. Therefore, managers of 15 high-quality hotels and 118 guests were interviewed during April and May 2010. The results of descriptive statistical analysis showed a high degree of IMC implementation in hotels and a high degree of guests' perceptions of IMC. However, the Mann-Whitney U test revealed small but significant differences between managers' and guests' perceptions of some of the IMC items. The findings of this study are expected to provide useful information to hotel managers, who deal with an increasingly competitive marketplace where traditional marketing approaches are no longer sufficient to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Thus, IMC should be considered as a new approach which might enable hotels to gain competitive advantages.


The centers of galaxies host both a supermassive black hole and a dense stellar cluster. Such an environment should lead to stellar collisions, possibly at very high velocities so that the total energy involved is of the same order as supernova explosions. We present a simplified numerical analysis of the destructive stellar collision rate in a cluster similar to that of the Milky Way. The analysis includes an effective average two-body relaxation Monte Carlo scheme and general relativistic effects, as used by Sari & Fargione, to which we added explicit tracking of local probabilities for stellar collisions. We also consider stars which are injected into the stellar cluster after being disrupted from a binary system by the supermassive black hole. Such stars are captured in the vicinity of the black hole and enhance the expected collision rate. In our results we examine the rate and energetic distribution function of high-velocity stellar collisions, and compare them self-consistently with the other destructive processes which occur in the galactic center, namely tidal disruptions and extreme mass ratio inspirals.