Exogenous zinc has been shown to alter the cellular response to inflammatory conditions. Both common zinc salt and novel zinc compounds have been shown to be therapeutic in various disease states. However, little is known about their action on immune cells in these conditions. This thesis aims to investigate the effectiveness of zinc monoglycerolate (ZMG), a novel zinc compound, in providing bioavailable zinc. This study also aims to examine the effect of zinc on the inflammatory responses of immune and gastric cells.Using cell culture techniques, fluorescence microscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), comparison was made of zinc bioavailability from ZMG, zinc oxide and zinc sulphate. The cellular protein interactions of the zinc provided by these compounds was investigated by autoradiography, Western blot analysis and cytokine assay. As a result of the biological study, chemical analyses were carried out on ZMG using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation time of flight (MALDI-ToF).The result of the cell culture study indicated that ZMG and zinc oxide provided significantly more bioavailable zinc than zinc sulphate. Furthermore, these results showed that the different cell lines examined treated the zinc in distinctly different manners. The studies on direct zinc-protein interactions did not conclusively determine whether such interactions occurred between cytoplasmic proteins and exogenous zinc. However, zinc was shown to modulate cytokine secretions in vitro in cultured cell lines. The chemical analyses provided novel observations about the polymeric structure of ZMG and its solubility profile.In conclusion the results showed that ZMG is a highly effective source of bioavailable zinc and that exogenous zinc can modulate the immune response of cultured cell lines to external stimuli.


Word sense induction (WSI), which addresses polysemy by unsupervised discovery of multiple word senses, resolves ambiguities for downstream NLP tasks and also makes word representations more interpretable. This paper proposes an accurate and efficient graph-based method for WSI that builds a global non-negative vector embedding basis (which are interpretable like topics) and clusters the basis indexes in the ego network of each polysemous word. By adopting distributional inclusion vector embeddings as our basis formation model, we avoid the expensive step of nearest neighbor search that plagues other graph-based methods without sacrificing the quality of sense clusters. Experiments on three datasets show that our proposed method produces similar or better sense clusters and embeddings compared with previous state-of-the-art methods while being significantly more efficient.


A novel UHF RFID tag antenna that can be seamlessly integrated into wrapping paper of metallic objects is reported. When designed for printing on cigarette carton with aluminum foil contained, both numerical simulation and measurement indicate that the proposed antenna has input impedance of (20+ j149) at resonant frequency of 915MHz, which provides satisfactory conjugate match to the Alien Higgs-2 RFID ASIC. The UHF RFID tag with de- signed antenna on cigarette carton demonstrates -10dB return loss bandwidth of 31MHz at the 915MHz UHF RFID band, and a read range of approximately 0.63m.


__Abstract__

The last two centuries, the increased life expectancy has led to a shift in the age distribution
towards higher ages, in high-income countries. Although the total number of
older people is increasing and people reach a higher age, the additional life years are
not always healthy years. As a consequence, both individuals and society have to deal
with age-related health problems including chronic diseases, cognitive decline, social
isolation and disabilities in daily functioning. As Clegg and coauthors recently stressed
in the Lancet, eventually, the accumulation of such problems may lead to the onset of
frailty, a phenomenon receiving increased attention in both science and health care.
Frail individuals are more likely to deteriorate in their daily functioning, develop mobility
limitations, are more often hospitalized, develop more often chronic diseases and have
shorter survival probabilities. With increased longevity, the number of frail older persons
is increasing, making frailty one of the major health care problems in high-income
countries.


Atmospheric refraction bends optical beams resulting in that an object appears in a position different from the real one. This phenomenon is very important in astronomy. Astronomical refraction can only be assumed if the light source is at a very far distance from the observer. In case of optical free-space communication, the distances are comparatively short and well-known formulas for astronomical refraction are no longer sufficient. An exact knowledge of the structure of the whole atmosphere is required to assess refraction in this case. Due to the complexity of the atmosphere, analytical solutions are not possible. Hence, ray tracing based on the International Standard Atmosphere was used instead. A method of ray tracing applied for astronomical refraction was modified for non- astronomical objects. Two different categories of refraction were examined: 1) the observer is situated on ground and the object is at an altitude of at least 25 km and 2) both object and observer are below 25 km and the link path is mainly vertical. A simple approximation formula included the wavelength, ground temperature, ground pressure and the height of the homogeneous atmosphere was found. This formula is different for altitudes above and below 25 km. The refraction for horizontal rays in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere is examined. Since refraction varies with wavelength, rays of different wavelength are refracted differently and separate from each other. The size of the deviation of the rays is examined for three sets of typical laser wavelengths: 1) 800, 1064, 1550 nm and 2) 1470, 1530 and 1550 nm. The results of this part of the work are useful in the development of wavelength diversity. Optical free-space communication is negatively affected by turbulence in the atmosphere and wavelength diversity would reduce these effects. The results presented in this work are useful for applications like laser beam pointing and satellite tracking, optical free-space communication between HAPs (High Altitude Platforms) and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).


Milk samples were analyzed for progesterone content by a petroleum ehter extraction and competitive protein binding assay validated for milk. In one experiment, 11 cows were sampled twice daily for 24 days beginning with an observed estrus 15 to 45 days postpartum, and again 19, 21, 23, and 25 days after breeding. Progesterone values during the estrous cycle paralleled those for blood plasma but were slightly higher at estrus (1.49 ng/ml milk) and maximum (9 ng/ml) on days 11 to 16 of the estrous cycle. After breeding, cows later diagnosed pregnant averaged 7.12 ng/ml while those later found to be nonpregnant averaged 2.36 ng/ml. All diagnoses of pregnancy were correct. In a separate experiment there was no difference between milk from front and rear quarters, but progesterone was highest in last milk, intermediate in composite milk, and lowest in first milk.


MAX-2 illustrates how a small set of instruction extensions can provide subword parallelism to accelerate media processing and other data-parallel programs. This article proposes that subword parallelism-parallel computation on lower precision data packed into a word-is an efficient and effective solution for accelerating media processing. As an example, it describes MAX-2, a very lean, RISC-like set of media acceleration primitives included in the 64-bit PA-RISC 2.0 architecture. Because MAX-2 strives to be a minimal set of instructions, the article discusses both instructions included and excluded. Several examples illustrate the use of MAX-2 instructions, which provide subword parallelism in a word-oriented general-purpose processor at essentially no incremental cost.


This paper reviews the limitations in the performance of CMOS flash ADCs. Methods to enhance sampling rate, such as interleaving and latch cascading, are discussed, and a method that employs inductors to improve comparator performance is presented. We also consider the benefits and trade-offs of implementing a flash ADC without a track-and-hold.


BACKGROUND
Although brain activities in Alzheimer's disease (AD) might be evaluated MRI and PET, the relationships between brain temperature (BT), the index of diffusivity along the perivascular space (ALPS index), and amyloid deposition in the cerebral cortex are still unclear.

PURPOSE
To investigate the relationship between metabolic imaging measurements and clinical information in patients with AD and normal controls (NCs).

STUDY TYPE
Retrospective analysis of a prospective dataset.

POPULATION
58 participants (78.3 ± 6.8 years; 30 female): 29 AD patients and 29 age- and sex-matched NCs from the Open Access Series of Imaging Studies dataset.

FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE
3T; T1-weighted magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo, diffusion tensor imaging with 64 directions, and dynamic 18 F-florbetapir PET.

ASSESSMENT
Imaging metrics were compared between AD and NCs. These included BT calculated by the diffusivity of the lateral ventricles, ALPS index that reflects the glymphatic system, the mean standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) of amyloid PET in the cerebral cortex and clinical information, such as age, sex, and MMSE.

STATISTICAL TESTS
Pearson's or Spearman's correlation and multiple linear regression analyses. P values <0.05 were defined as statistically significant.

RESULTS
Significant positive correlations were found between BT and ALPS index (r = 0.44 for NCs), while significant negative correlations were found between age and ALPS index (rs  = -0.43 for AD and - 0.47 for NCs). The SUVR of amyloid PET was not significantly associated with BT (P = 0.81 for AD and 0.21 for NCs) or ALPS index (P = 0.10 for AD and 0.52 for NCs). In the multiple regression analysis, age was significantly associated with BT, while age, sex, and presence of AD were significantly associated with the ALPS index.

DATA CONCLUSION
Impairment of the glymphatic system measured using MRI was associated with lower BT and aging.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 1.


The treatment of acute chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is aimed at minimizing the manifestations of this aggravation and prevention of its progression. This article covers the information about the etiology of acute illness and its diagnosis criteria, recommendations about methods of assessing of exacerbations, place of treatment of this pathology and definition of treatment policy. The data about preferrable means of pharmacotherapy--bronchial spasmolytics, corticosteroids and antibacterial drugs, is given. Recommendations concerning oxygen therapy, respiratory support, mucoactive therapy and prevention of thromboembolic complications are given. An algorithm for the management of patients on an outpatient basis in a hospital is presented.


The aim of the study is to assess, in advanced lung cancer patients, the frequency of depression and the related demographic and biomedical factors before diagnosis and after the initial treatment period. Seventy-nine patients from among 105 advanced lung cancer patients diagnosed between July 1994 and April 2003 in the Division of Chest Surgery and Pulmonary at King Hussein Medical Center in Amman were included in the study. Each patient's demographic and biomedical features were recorded and all patients underwent a baseline interview by psychiatrist for assessment of a depressive state prior to diagnosis. The evaluation was repeated after completion of initial treatment. Symptoms of depression were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory Scale. The overall frequency of depression before diagnosis and after initial treatment was 50.6% and 21.5%. Mean depression score was 16±11 and 12±9.7, respectively, before diagnosis and after initial treatment. Patients with small cell lung cancer had significantly higher depression scores than those with non-small cell lung cancer. Severe breathlessness, cough, pain, tiredness, poor nutrition and performance status were associated with an increased risk of depression. Logistic regression analysis confirmed that pain was the most important predictor of depression prior to diagnosis and after initial treatment. Our results indicate that depression may be present prior to diagnosis in-patients with advanced lung cancer and it does not necessarily increase over time. The most important risk factor in the development of depression was pain and its management is therefore essential during the clinical course. Psychological screening and evaluation of subjective physical symptoms should be part of the initial evaluation of patients with advanced lung cancer. Keywords : lung cancer, depression, therapy Mary Slessor Journal of Medicine Vol. 5(2) 2005: 25-34


Classification systems are valuable to ecological management in that they organize information into consolidated units thereby providing efficient means to achieve conservation objectives. Of the many ways classifications benefit management, hypothesis generation has been discussed as the most important. However, in order to provide templates for developing and testing ecologically relevant hypotheses, classifications created using environmental variables must be linked to ecological patterns. Herein, we develop associations between a recent US hydrologic classification and fish traits in order to form a template for generating flow–ecology hypotheses and supporting environmental flow standard development. Tradeoffs in adaptive strategies for fish were observed across a spectrum of stable, perennial flow to unstable intermittent flow. In accordance with theory, periodic strategists were associated with stable, predictable flow, whereas opportunistic strategists were more affiliated with intermittent, variable flows. We developed linkages between the uniqueness of hydrologic character and ecological distinction among classes, which may translate into predictions between losses in hydrologic uniqueness and ecological community response. Comparisons of classification strength between hydrologic classifications and other frameworks suggested that spatially contiguous classifications with higher regionalization will tend to explain more variation in ecological patterns. Despite explaining less ecological variation than other frameworks, we contend that hydrologic classifications are still useful because they provide a conceptual linkage between hydrologic variation and ecological communities to support flow–ecology relationships. Mechanistic associations among fish traits and hydrologic classes support the presumption that environmental flow standards should be developed uniquely for stream classes and ecological communities, therein. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.


The role of small and middle sized enterprises in national economy of each EU member is irreplaceable. The paper deals with partial results of research made in 188 enterprises ranging from family firms to firms with 250 employees during the years 2010-11. Results of this investigation are oriented on firms' strategy, its formal formulation, and joining enterprises into Supply Chains. Next processing of the data will be oriented on comparison of different indicators among firms with different number of employees or firms with different specialization of production.


Machine learning has been used to improve the predictability of different physical design problems, such as timing, clock tree synthesis and routing, but not for legalization. Predicting the outcome of legalization can be helpful to guide incremental placement and circuit partitioning, speeding up those algorithms. In this work we extract histograms of features and snapshots of the circuit from several regions in a way that the model can be trained independently from region size. Then, we evaluate how traditional and convolutional deep learning models use this set of features to predict the quality of a legalization algorithm without having to executing it. When evaluating the models with holdout cross validation, the best model achieves an accuracy of 80% and an F-score of at least 0.7. Finally, we used the best model to prune partitions with large displacement in a circuit partitioning strategy. Experimental results in circuits (with up to millions of cells) showed that the pruning strategy improved the maximum displacement of the legalized solution by 5% to 94%. In addition, using the machine learning model avoided from 22% to 99% of the calls to the legalization algorithm, which speeds up the pruning process by up to 3x.


The multiple sclerosis (MS) community has a surprising and important new animal model, the Japanese macaque monkey, which could provide a tantalizing new clue to the etiology of the human disease. The monkey develops an MS-like demyelinating disease after infection with a newly characterized virus, according to a study that appeared online before print in the Annals of Neurology. "The new model offers the opportunity to try to understand the pathogenesis in an animal a lot closer to humans, and to test therapeutics," said Neurology Today Associate Editor Kenneth L. Tyler, MD, who was not involved in the research. "It also raises the possibility that a related virus could potentially be playing a role in human disease," said Dr. Tyler, the Reuler-Lewin Family Professor and chair of neurology at the University of Colorado-Denver. INSIDE 8/4/11


Fifteen cases of histologically proven Askin Rosai tumor were treated at Tata Memorial Hospital over a period of 3 years. Patients included 12 men and three women. Clinical features included chest wall mass (14), pain (11), bony involvement (6), fever (4), dyspnoea (4), weight loss (1), cough (1), and hemoptysis (1). Previously treated patients received different treatment protocols, which made evaluation difficult. Of our ten patients who have completed induction therapy, five received vincristine and cyclophosphamide, whereas the other five received more aggressive chemotherapy. Complete remission has been achieved in two and four of these patients, respectively. One patient in each group had recurrence of the disease, in both cases at the local site. Thus, from our preliminary data, we suggest that Askin Rosai tumor should be treated with complete surgical excision followed by an aggressive combination of chemotherapy and local radiotherapy.


The development of logical argumentative writing in science classes is an important skill in scientific literacy. Here we developed a sequence of Immunology classes that with reading, interpretation, analysis and development of a scientific text in the immunology classes of the Nursing course. The analysis of the material produced by the students showed an increase in the percentage of development of written arguments.


Background: Although surgical resection remains the optimal treatment for early-stage NSCLC, up to 50% of patients with stage I and II relapse and die within 5 years after curative resection. Therefore prognostic markers are important as these patients might benefit from adjuvant therapy. The goal of this study was to evaluate established PET quantification metrics including: maximal standard uptake volume (SUV max ), metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) as prognostic markers for early recurrence and overall survival in resected early stage lung cancer. Methods: Between January 2003 and December 2010 182 surgically resected patients with stage I-II NSCLC who underwent 18 F FDG PET/CT less than one month prior to surgery have been evaluated. All patients had at least 5 years of follow-up. Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine the association between variables and survival respectively time to recurrence. For the multivariate analysis the following variables have been included: tumor size on CT, age tumor stage, histology, SUV max , TLG (for TLG 42% (threshold at 42% SUV max ) and TLG 2.5 (cut-off at SUV 2.5) and MTV 42% and MTV 2.5 ). Results: 133 patients were included, 71 with adeno carcinoma, 62 with squamous cell carcinoma. TLG 2.5 and MTV 2.5 values have been a significant prognostic factor for recurrence (P 3 had a mean recurrence time of 0.8±0.9 years, while patients with MTV2.5 ≤ 42 cm 3 recurred within 2.8±1.3 years. TLG 2.5 and MTV 2.5 PET volume metrics have not been predictable for overall survival in adenocarcinoma patients, recurrence or overall survival in squamous cell cancer. SUVmax, TLG 42% and MTV 42 were not predictable for early recurrence or survival for both histologies. Conclusions: TLG2.5 and MTV2.5 may be useful prognostic variables in stage I-II NSCLC depending on the tumor type. Using a cut-off at 42 cm 3 for early stage adenocarcinoma patients a high risk of recurrence within one year might be identified and adjuvant therapy following surgical resection could improve outcome for those patients. Citation Format: Irene A. Burger, Michael Arvanitakis, Seraina Steiger, Walter Weder, Sven Hillinger. FDG PET quantification for prediction of early recurrence in patients with stage I and II non small cell lung cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2245.


Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant leading cause of death and disability among adults and children globally. To date, there are no Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs that can substantially attenuate the sequelae of TBI. The innumerable challenges faced by the conventional de novo discovery of new pharmacological agents led to the emergence of alternative paradigm, which is drug repurposing. Repurposing of existing drugs with well-characterized mechanisms of action and human safety profiles is believed to be a promising strategy for novel drug use. Compared to the conventional discovery pathways, drug repurposing is less costly, relatively rapid, and poses minimal risk of the adverse outcomes to study on participants. In recent years, drug repurposing has covered a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases and neurological disorders including brain injury. This review highlights the advances in drug repurposing and presents some of the promising candidate drugs for potential TBI treatment along with their possible mechanisms of neuroprotection. Edaravone, glyburide, ceftriaxone, levetiracetam, and progesterone have been selected due to their potential role as putative TBI neurotherapeutic agents. These drugs are Food and Drug Administration–approved for purposes other than brain injuries; however, preclinical and clinical studies have shown their efficacy in ameliorating the various detrimental outcomes of TBI.


The Central Great Plains Climate Education Partnership conducted focus groups throughout Kansas to gain a better understanding of farmer perceptions and attitudes towards climate change education. Results indicate concern about climatic changes, even if producers are unsure that "human caused climate change" is occurring. Participants indicated they would like access to information through Web-based programs that allow them to manipulate variables relevant to their area and situation. Participants prefer locally relevant information and identified Extension agents as trusted educators. The study provided an expanded understanding of agricultural producer perceptions that will be valuable to individuals or organizations providing climate education.


Malignant central airway obstruction (MCAO) is an important manifestation of advanced primary lung cancer or metastatic disease and has a significant impact on both morbidity and mortality. Several minimally invasive endobronchial techniques exist which can provide rapid recanalization of the airway and improve a patient's quality of life and potentially overall survival by improving candidacy for systemic or surgical therapies. Modalities for the management of MCAO include thermal ablative techniques, non-thermal techniques, mechanical debulking, and airway stent placement. These therapies are not without complications and as such, the risks and benefits of each intervention should be weighed and individualized to a patient's particular need. Though large randomized trials are lacking, data show that in experienced hands, multimodality therapy in MCAO can provide significant overall symptom palliation.


Records from 14,288 animals of the Mangalarga Marchador breed, born from 1990 to 2005, were used to discard morphofunctional traits in a principal component analysis. The following traits were used: height at withers, height at croup, lengths of head, neck, back, croup, hip length and body, widths of head, hip width, thorax perimeter, cannon bone circumference and gait score. For the traits considered it was observed that 7 principal components showed variation lower than 0.7; suggesting that seven variables could be discarded. The reason is that when variable are highly correlated with the principal components of smaller variance, their variation is practically insignificant. Based on those results the recommendation is to maintain the following traits for future research with this database: gait score, height at croup, length of back, length of croup, width of head and cannon bone circumference.


The periodic behaviour of glucose-stimulated insulin release was studied using islets isolated from ob/ob-mice and rats. A single islet was perifused at a rate of 150 microliters/min and insulin measured in samples of the medium taken at intervals as short as 3 s. Exposure to 11 mM glucose resulted in intermittent insulin release, implying that previously observed 2-3 min cycles of secretion could be resolved into regularly occurring fast (< 25 s) transients. A further raise of glucose to 20 mM was associated with increase of the amplitudes of the transients leaving their frequencies unaffected. The discovery of the insulin transients raises the question whether there is a quantal release of the hormone in response to glucose-induced rapid oscillations of cytoplasmic Ca2+ in the pancreatic beta-cells.


Homogenization using mortar and pestle is a traditional method for powder mixing of drugs formulations. Compounding pharmacies have used a method of homogenization using plastic bags inflated with air in order to improve the production of capsules. In this work the efficiency of this method compared to the mortar and pestle one, for the production of sodium alendronate capsules, was evaluated. Batches of capsules containing 70 mg of alendronic acid (equivalent to 91.42 mg of sodium alendronate trihydrate) were produced using, for the homogenization of powder blend, the mortar and pestle technique (ALE-MP) and the plastic bag method with or without the previous sieving of the bulk materials (ALE-PB-S and ALE -PB, respectively). Acid-base titration method was used for the quantitative determination of alendronate in the capsules. Each batch was evaluated with respect to drug content, uniformity of mass and content uniformity and presented results according to the pharmacopeial specifications. However, after analysis of the content uniformity data, we found a statistically significant difference in the variance of the ALE-PB batch compared to the other batches, mainly the ALE-MP batch (P < 0.0001, for α = 0.05). This result suggests poor homogenization efficiency for the plastic bag method without sieving.


The main aim of this study is to conduct energetic and exergetic investigations of a dual stage heat pump for drying applications in order to evaluate the performance of the overall system. The integrated system consists of two processes, namely a drying unit and a dual stage heat pump. In the heat pump process, R-134A is used as the thermodynamic f luid and the drying unit is used to reduce the moisture content of the air. There are two evaporators used in the dual stage heat pump process: the first evaporator works at high pressures and the second evaporator works at lower pressures. The second evaporator provides supplementary cooling and drying effect for the air used in the drying unit. In the integrated system, there are two sub-coolers which provide additional heating to R-134A after the condenser. In this study, the energy and exergy efficiencies and exergy destruction rates of the overall integrated system, and each component and subprocess are calculated and discussed in detail. Exergetic performance of each component and subprocess are further investigated to identify where the highest exergy destructions occur in order to minimize irreversibilities within the integrated system and hence enhance the overall exergetic efficiency of the integrated system. The impact of environmental conditions on exergetic efficiency and exergy destruction is investigated via parametric studies. In addition, the coefficient of performance (COP) of the whole system and the effect of operating conditions are examined. The highest energy and exergy efficiencies occur when the drying unit's inlet air mass f low rate is 0.5 kg/s and the environmental pressure and temperature are at 101 kPa and 298K which are 62% and 35%, respectively. The overall integrated system has a COP of around 3.8.


The starting point for this research study is the application of astrological consulting in the area of business consultancy. In many Western civilisations there is considerable prejudice regarding astrological consulting especially
when it is active in the area of business consultancy. In contrast to this, astrological business consulting is encountered much more commonly in Asia and the USA, where it is not unusual that enterprises enquire for astrological
consulting service. The research aims to investigate the applicability of astrological consulting in the domain of business counselling within a context of economic sociology. Management consulting has been used as a reference
concept of business consultancy. The realm of systems thinking is considered to be suitable as the theoretical framework for this research. The systems methodology of the Networked Thinking approach of the interpretive tradition has been used to determine the systems of astrological business consulting as well as that of management consulting. This research proposes that, from a system-theoretical view or, let us say, from a technical-oriented perspective on management, astrological business consulting as compared with management consulting is not an applicable and justifiable consultancy concept in the area of business consulting.
The research methodology used aims to set up a direct confrontation between the system of astrological business consulting and that of management consulting. For this purpose the thesis has been broken down into five stages. In
the first stage each of the two consulting concepts was theoretically developed as a hypothesis on the basis of a comprehensive review of the literature with the aim of determining its systems structure. In this stage of theory-building, an exploratory as well as a descriptive type of research was employed. By applying an exploratory research type, the author's intention is to look for ideas and patterns in order to construct the systems of reference as hypotheses. This research type has been supported to an even greater extent by a descriptive
type to identify and classify the structure of each of the systems. Hence an inductive and a basic research approach are embedded in this first stage of the research process. The secondary data collection involves a mixture of
qualitative and quantitative approaches. The knowledge acquired from this secondary data collection comes from multi-disciplinary but scientific sources. In the second stage of the research process the structure of each of the two
systems derived from literature was statistically verified and modified where necessary. In the third stage, subsequent to the statistical verification, the two hypotheses were tested in practice. The primary data collection represents a
deductive and a quantitative research approach mixed with qualitative components by using survey research as a suitable research method. The Delphi technique is regarded as appropriate to be employed as a data collection tool.
Astrological and management consulting experts were contacted by a questionnaire procedure to achieve consensus with regard to the structure of each of these two consulting systems. Prior to this survey procedure, the questionnaires were subject to a pilot testing. The analysis of the findings from the primary data collection required modifications in each of the two consulting systems with regard to their systems structure. In stage four the two system models theoretically derived from the literature were compared with the empirical data. Subsequent to this comparison, in stage five, the two consulting systems empirically validated were confronted with each other by comparing
their determinants.


This paper describes a novel application of Fiber Braggs Grating (FBG) sensors in the assessment of human postural stability and balance on an unstable platform. In this work, FBG sensor Stability Analyzing Device (FBGSAD) is developed for measurement of plantar strain to assess the postural stability of subjects on unstable platforms during different stances in eyes open and eyes closed conditions on a rocker board. The studies are validated by comparing the Centre of Gravity (CG) variations measured on the lumbar vertebra of subjects using a commercial accelerometer. The results obtained from the developed FBGSAD depict qualitative similarities with the data recorded by commercial accelerometer. The advantage of the FBGSAD is that it measures simultaneously plantar strain distribution and postural stability of the subject along with its inherent benefits like non-requirement of energizing voltage to the sensor, electromagnetic immunity and simple design which suits its applicability in biomechanical applications. The developed FBGSAD can serve as a tool/yardstick to mitigate space motion sickness, identify individuals who are susceptible to falls and to qualify subjects for balance and stability, which are important factors in the selection of certain unique professionals such as aircraft pilots, astronauts, cosmonauts etc. Keywords—Biomechanics, Fiber Bragg Gratings, Plantar Strain Measurement, Postural Stability Analysis.


Redstem is an important weed in California water-seeded rice fields because of its aquatic habit, wide distribution, interference with harvest, and resistance to the herbicide bensulfuron. Our objective was to understand the mechanisms of competition for light between rice and redstem, with the goal of improving redstem control. A replicated greenhouse experiment was done in 1993 and 1994. Rice was water-seeded at a rate of 400 seeds m−2, and redstem was seeded simultaneously at approximate densities of 0, 50, and 100 seeds m−2 in continuously flooded 0.77 m2 basins. Plants were harvested once at final harvest in 1993 and twice in 1994, with an additional nondestructive sampling 34 days after seeding (DAS). Despite slower early growth, redstem height exceeded rice height about 45 DAS. At the midseason harvest in 1994 (56 DAS), no effects of redstem competition on any rice response variables were detected. However, at final harvest (110 and 118 DAS, 1993 and 1994, respectively) redstem competition at both treatment densities reduced rice tiller density, panicle density, shoot drymass, and grain drymass. Redstem competition reduced rice growth only after penetrating the canopy. Shade cast by redstem through rice maturity decreased shoot and grain production and increased tiller mortality. Lodging caused by redstem further affected rice growth. Season-long competition from redstem at mean densities of 67 and 110 plants m−2 reduced rough rice yields 31 and 39%, respectively, making redstem the most competitive broadleaved rice weed yet studied. Improved understanding of rice-redstem interactions indicates that using alternative herbicides to bensulfuron is unlikely to increase yield losses to redstem, and that control may be improved by increasing rice plant densities or slightly delaying early season chemical control. Because these strategies are mechanistic, they may also be useful for controlling other rice weeds with growth patterns similar to redstem.


There has been a long-lasting debate over whether increasing ethnic diversity undermines support for social welfare, and whether this conflict thesis applies not only to the United States, but also to European welfare states. In their 2016 ASR article, Schmidt-Catran and Spies analyzed a panel (1994 to 2010) of regional units in Germany and concluded that this thesis also holds for Germany. We argue that their analysis suffers from misspecification: their model specification assumes parallel time trends in welfare support in all German regions. However, time trends strongly differed between Western and Eastern Germany after reunification. In the 1990s, Eastern Germans' attitudes adapted to a less interventionist Western welfare system ("Goodbye Lenin effect"). When allowing for heterogeneous time trends, we find no evidence that increasing proportions of foreigners undermine welfare support, or that this association is moderated by economic hardship (high unemployment rates). We conclude with some general suggestions regarding the conceptualization of context effects in spatial analyses.


Initiation and recurrence of lung cancer, the most fatal cancer worldwide, are attributed to lung cancer stem cells (CSCs). Evidence suggests that cancer cells can be turned into CSCs in a spontaneous way, and therefore simultaneous elimination of lung CSCs and cancer cells is crucial to achieve effective therapy of lung cancer. In lung cancer, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in both CSCs and cancer cells. The present study developed salinomycin poly(ethylene glycol) 2000-distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine nanomicelles conjugated with EGFR aptamers (M-SAL-EGFR) to kill lung CSCs and cancer cells. The 24 nm sized M-SAL-EGFR was prepared by a lipid film based method. The EGFR was overexpressed in lung CSCs and cancer cells. Results revealed that the M-SAL-EGFR could efficiently bind to EGFR-overexpressing lung CSCs and cancer cells, and induced enhanced cyotoxic effect than non-targeted M-SAL and salinomycin. Administration of M-SAL-EGFR in mice with lung cancer xenograft inhibited tumor growth more effectively compared with M-SAL and salinomycin. The EGFR aptamers were thus able to promote effective salinomycin delivery to lung cancer. Our results also suggest that the M-SAL-EGFR represents a promising approach for targeting both lung CSCs and cancer cells.


Objective

To identify the factors associated with barriers to and facilitators of return to work (RTW) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients in the first six months post-treatment.
Methods

This cross-sectional study examined HNC patients who completed treatment from the outpatient radiation department of a single cancer center in northern Taiwan from October 2018 to July 2020. Demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded, and patients were assessed using the Return to Work Barrier Scale, Return to Work Facilitator Scale, Distress Thermometer, Numeric Rating Scale, and Karnofsky Performance Status Scale questionnaires.
Results

Of the 106 HNC patients surveyed, 54.7% successfully RTW. Barriers to RTW included patient-perceived worst health status, greater symptom burden, and age ≥55 years. These factors explained 34.6% of the variance in overall barriers to RTW. Facilitators of RTW were lower psychological distress and who did not receive reconstruction surgery. These factors explained 17.9% of the variance in facilitators to RTW.
Conclusion

Patient-perceived health status and age most strongly influence RTW in HNC patients. HNC patients who can RTW should be encouraged to do so, and clinician awareness of potential barriers can aid patients in their RTW.


Photograph of the new Fire Station No. 10 in Fort Worth, Texas. The firemen pose in front of the building with their horses and carriage. This photo is part of the Southwestern Mechanical Company Photograph Album.


Implementation according to the rules of occupational safety and health is needed in all jobs that are useful to avoid things that are not desirable, such as work accidents. The workforce consists of educated and trained people. One of the educated people referred to is the D-IV and DP-III graduates of the Makassar Shipping Polytechnic, because one of the fillers in the world of work is the Polytechnic graduate. The learning process while in the laboratory must be a serious concern in order to get qualified prospective workers, especially understanding about the application of occupational safety and health (K3) especially the use of personal protective equipment so that there are no direct or indirect obstacles in the work, such as work accidents occur, damage to machinery, cessation of production processes, environmental damage and expenses related to work accidents. The purpose of this research is to find out the availability and analyze the application of personal protective equipment to occupational safety and health in the workshop. This research includes the type of survey research with quantitative methods. This design seeks to determine the PPE facilities available at the Workshop, symbols / cues about occupational safety and health, the conditions of the practice room and what percentage of PPE use by cadets during practice. The data collection method is done by using a questionnaire and documentation used to determine PPE facilities available in the Workshop, symbols / cues about occupational safety and health, the conditions of the practice room and what percentage of the use of PPE cadets during practice. The conclusion is that the personal protective equipment (PPE) facilities in the workshop have been provided by the workshop and can be used by cadets or pasis and safely in accordance with government regulations, and the knowledge, understanding and application of cadets towards PPE have reached an average of 95%


Increasing of Muslim population around the world will build a huge Islamic market by 2030. Since the origin of most cosmetics products are non-Muslim companies, the control of Halal quality products according of Islamic standards is a big issue for Muslims. The current research goal is to determine the controller elements of Halal quality and the effects of Halal policy on the different parts of Halal cosmetic supply chain stages and players. Use of Halal policy traceability showed that with help of this system, high halal quality cosmetics can provide and attract the consumer confidence to develop these products in Islamic markets. Therefore, Halal quality assurance by different supply chain players becomes an important subject.


Infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) induces vigorous and persistent cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses. CTL clones were derived from peripheral blood or cerebrospinal fluid of three HIV-1 patients, with depressed CD4+ T cell counts. When stimulated with HLA-compatible target cells (B-LCL) presensitized with cognate HIV-1 peptides, all clones produced GM-CSF, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma and most produced low amounts of IL2, IL3, and IL4. After nonspecific stimulation with a phorbol ester and calcium ionophore, the clones secreted cytokines at levels similar to those from CD4+ lines from an HIV-1 infected donor. The ability of supernatants from the stimulated CTL clones to support the formation of granulocyte-macrophage colonies in normal bone marrow suggests that the GM-CSF was biologically active. Release of cytokines by activated CTL may influence the immunopathogenesis of HIV disease.


In this paper, the suitability of wireless sensor networks for networked control loop is shown. As the non beacon-enabled mode of IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee does not ensure the stability for the control loop since non mechanism can prevent the perturbation coming from other applications sharing the same network, we investigate the beacon-enabled mode using the Guaranteed Time Slot (GTS) mechanism and show it is suitable.


[1] Correlations between the longitudinal wave number two distribution of water-equivalent hydrogen (WEH) at low latitudes to midlatitudes of Mars with variations in topography, surface albedo, thermal inertia, regional dust storms, and atmospheric water vapor are explored to provide guidance in determining the mechanisms that recharge or maintain these WEH reservoirs. The closest match is with low thermal inertia coupled with orographic control of the present-day atmospheric circulation dynamics. The engine for the simulated longitudinal two-wave pattern (maxima in Arabia and Tharsis) is relatively cold nighttime surface temperatures and large-amplitude temperature inversions that concentrate water ice over these regions. Geologically recent precipitated water ice, by itself, is insufficient to account for the observed distribution of WEH. Retention of precipitate by hydratable minerals is necessary. While current research cannot presently identify the hydration mechanism for the WEH distribution (whether it be from a past obliquity, present climate conditions, or some convolution of both), this research suggests that current climatic conditions can sustain, if not emplace, the observed longitudinally constrained distribution of equatorial WEH.


In recent years, the continuous growth of drug costs has become one of the hot issues of society. In this paper, by using principles and methods of pharmacoeconomics, we study on the management of drug cost control in hospital. Pharmacoeconomics involves the effective allocation and rational use of drug resources, and study the economic effect, that is to carry out the study of drug resources utilization efficiency. Through the analysis of the cost-benefit analysis of drug treatment, we could find the a more cost-effective treatment. Pharmacoeconomics can be applied to the clinical diagnosis and treatment, make reasonable prescription cost effect, it could provide patients with high economic efficiency of treatment, so that drug treatment to achieve the best results.


Experiments in the United States have found that pairs of individuals are generally able to form socially efficient conventions in coordination games of common interest in a remarkably short time. This paper shows that this ability is not universal. The paper reports the results of a field experiment in India in which pairs of men from high and low castes repeatedly played a coordination game of common interest. Low-caste pairs overwhelmingly coordinated on the efficient equilibrium, consistent with earlier findings. In contrast, high-caste pairs coordinated on the efficient equilibrium at a much lower rate, with only 47 percent in efficient coordination in the final period of the experiment. The study traces the divergence in outcomes to how an individual responds to the low payoff he obtains when he attempts efficient coordination but his partner does not. After this event, high-caste men are significantly less likely than low-caste men to continue trying for efficiency. The limited ability to form the efficient convention can be explained by the framing effect of the culture of honor among high-caste men, which may lead them to interpret this event as a challenge to their honor, which triggers a retaliatory response.


Introduction: Oncoplastic breast-conserving surgery (OBCS) is considered a cornerstone in the management of locally invasive breast cancer. We evaluated patient-reported outcomes of OBCS with contralateral balancing breast reduction mammoplasty and reviewed its oncologic outcomes and complications. Methods: This is mixed method study design using retrospective chart review and prospective cohort study. Patient demographics were reviewed. Outcome measures included clinicopathologic characteristics, complications, margin status, local recurrence, tumor histopathologies, duration of follow-up, patient satisfaction, self-esteem, event-related stress, and quality of life. Results: A total of 48 patients were included in this study. Complete excision with negative margins was obtained in 42 (87.5%) patients, positive margins in 6 (12.5%) patients, all who had re-excision with repeat lumpectomy. Thirteen patients developed minor complications, defined as being managed as an outpatient. No patients developed major complications requiring inpatient admission. These complications did not delay commencement of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Postsurgery BREAST-QTM26 scores demonstrated no statistical difference in satisfaction with breasts, nipples, and sexual well-being. There was high satisfaction with overall outcome with average score of 80.8%. For the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, the results were similar for 3- and 12-month post-operative indicating maintenance of normal self-esteem post-operatively. The Impact of Events Scale showed statistically significant difference at 12-month post-operative (25.1) when compared with preoperative scores indicating that patients had lower event-related stress. There was no significant change in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Conclusion: Our study has shown that the patient who undergo OBCS have high patient-reported outcomes with acceptable oncologic outcomes and complication rates.


PROBLEM
Anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare form of congenital heart disease with no known genetic cause. It is usually diagnosed within the first year of life; it results in myocardial cell death, congestive heart failure and lethality if left untreated. Connexin 43alpha1 is a member of the gap junction family of proteins demonstrated by animal studies to have a role in coronary artery patterning during development. No previous studies have investigated the role of this gene in patients with ALCAPA.

METHODS
We forth herein describe the clinical presentation of four patients who presented to the Children's Heart Center at AUBMC and had the final diagnosis of ALCAPA. Screening the GJA1 gene coding for connexin 43alpha1 was undertaken.

RESULTS
No mutations were found in the patients or their parents, except for one polymorphism in one of the parents in the 3' untranslated region. All four patients underwent surgical repair with excellent outcome.

CONCLUSION
This paper raises the awareness of this rare condition enabling physicians to reach the adequate diagnosis which will allow early surgical intervention and better prognosis. Our patient sample did not exhibit any evidence of association between connexin 43alpha1 and the clinical phenotype.


A new mechanism leading to multiple stable operating states in coherent-electron tunneling devices is proposed and numerically verified in a model system. This mechanism utilizes the charge accumulation in virtually bound and quasi-bound states in a quantum-well/barrier structure. The electrostatic energy associated with these states causes the lowest occupied of them to be pinned to the conduction-band edge. For fixed bias, more than one solution to the Poisson equation is found, with each solution being uniquely determined by the quantum number of the pinned state. These different solutions show up as different current branches in the I(V) characteristic of a tunneling diode. Switching between them – for example by using lateral gates – should be very fast, as virtually bound states have a much shorter life time than quasi-bound states.


Completely Randomized Block Design is one type of design experiments in Statistics which is used to conduct experiment involving treatments and blocks. Blocking is used to make experimental unit become homogen in each blok. Analysis to the reults of the experiment using the design usually perform using licensed software such as SPSS or Minitab. In order to use those softwares, we have to buy the license. In addition, if use them, we have to arrange the data into column form which require knowledge about orthogonality principle. This research will develop an application to analyze the experimental data easily, because the input in the form of table that suitable with experimental data format. In this research we used Lazarus Visual Programming which is one of open source software. The result of this research is a practical application that can be used to analyze experimental result produced using completely randomized block design which is bery easy to use. Experimental data from table of experimental result can be directly copied into the cells of the program thus data entry can be fastened. This program is an executable file (*.exe) so it is not necessary to be installed and the size of file is small enough which is 19 megabyte.


The purpose of this study is to propose the proper fillet welding process for preventing the buckling distortion in thin panel welded structure. In order to do it, a heat input model for laser hybrid welding process was developed using FEA and experiment. The principal factors controlling the angular distortion and longitudinal shrinkage force caused by FCA and laser hybrid welding were identified as the welding heat input and weld rigidity using FEA. The predictive equations of angular distortion and longitudinal shrinkage force for each welding process were formulated as a function of the principal factors proposed. With the predictive equations, the buckling distortion at the thin panel welded structure with welding process was evaluated and compared using nonlinear buckling analysis and STEM(simplified thermo elastic method). Based on the results, the best way to prevent the buckling distortion at the given welded panel structures was identified as an intermittent FCA welding.


In the present study, response surface methodology (RSM) based on the Box-Behnken design (BBD) was employed to investigate the effects of the different operating conditions on the removal of the fungicide (Vapam) onto soil modified with perlite using sorption process. The process parameters such as pH of the fungicide solution (2, 5 and 8), temperature (15, 25 and 35°C), shaking time (2, 13 and 24 h) and the percentage of perlite in the modified soil (0, 2 and 4 %) were investigated using a four-factor-three-level Box-Behnken design at an initial fungicide concentration of C0 = 1.6 mg/L as a fixed input parameter. A second-order quadratic model suggested the optimum conditions to be as follows: fungicide solution pH of 3.57, temperature of 15°C, shaking time of 3.5 h and 4% of perlite in the modified soil which resulted in the improvement of Vapam sorption. Under optimum conditions, the fungicide (Vapam) removal was predicted 12.88 μg/g by BBD. The confirmatory experiments were conducted and the results revealed that the fungicide removal was 13.14 μg/g which indicated that the predicted and the observed values of response (Vapam removal) were in close agreement. Therefore, the soil modified with perlite holds good potential for Vapam sorption. This is the first report on fungicide Vapam sorption onto soil modified with perlite using statistical experimental design employing response surface methodology.


Based on virtual distributed processing unit (DPU) technology of distributed control system (DCS), a supervisory control system for commercial electric vehicle charging station was designed and exploited. The real time data exchange between charger and virtual DPU of supervisory control system was realized with CAN bus. Virtual DPU configuration function was used to exploit the control logic and monitoring interface. History data was reliably stored utilizing DCS platform. Fully utilizing mature and stable function of historical trend query, sound and light alarm, operation record, statistical report and fault remembrance in DCS, subsystems of charging, metering and billing, power distribution, entrance guard and video guard were totally monitored. The performance of the supervisory control system can accord with the relevant document regulation and requirement of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), which fully satisfy the requirement of commercialization operation.


Mixed neuroendocrine non-neuroendocrine neoplasms (MiNEN) are a peculiar entity that can occur throughout the whole gastrointestinal trait, and pancreatic localization is rare. Their main characteristic is the presence of at least a neuroendocrine and an epithelial component, each accounting for at least 30% of the tumour mass. The presence of epithelial ductal component defines adeno-MiNEN. We report a case of a 59-year-old woman affected by pancreatic adeno-MiNEN with challenging diagnosis and successfully treated. A systematic literature review and pooled analysis was also performed, aiming to define the management and outcomes of pancreatic adeno-MiNEN. Out of 190 identified records, 15 studies including 28 patients affected by pancreatic-adeno-MiNEN were included in the analysis. Pancreatic adeno-MiNEN occurred mainly in males (82.8%) and at a mean age of 61.7 (range: 24–82) years. Pre-operative diagnosis was possible only in 14.2% of cases. At presentation, the majority had already advanced disease (TNM stage III (53.8%) and stage IV 19.3%). Adjuvant therapy was performed in 55% of patients, and the tumour recurrence rate was in 30% of cases. Median disease-free survival (DFS) was 12 months (range: 0–216 months) with a 5-year DFS of 16.6%, while the median overall survival (OS) was 12 months (range: 0–288 months) with a 5-year OS of 23.5%. Pancreatic adeno-MiNENs are rare; as they have very heterogenous behaviour, they are rarely diagnosed preoperatively and have poor prognosis. Treatment of localised MiNEN still relies on radical surgical resection, which seems essential to achieve a good oncological prognosis. International registry on MiNEN is necessary to improve the knowledge on this rare tumour and to improve its outcomes.


Equations are developed for the calculation of insulation aging in apparatus, in which it is recognized that the temperature of the apparatus usually changes in accordance with an exponential relation. The results from this method are compared with the simplification usually made of assuming rectangular temperature cycles and also with the assumption of a triangular temperature cycle. Insulation aging rate is based on the use of the Arrhenius chemical reaction rate theory, which relates insulation deterioration to the reciprocal of the absolute temperature. All aging values are in terms of relative aging, which assigns a value of unit aging to a specified temperature. To establish the errors involved in the simplifying assumptions conventionally used in aging computations, the calculations in this paper are carried out to more significant figures than basic aging data and time constants would justify.


In the field of complex networks, how to identify influential nodes is a significant issue in analyzing the structure of a network. In the existing method proposed to identify influential nodes based on the local dimension, the global structure information in complex networks is not taken into consideration. In this paper, a node information dimension is proposed by synthesizing the local dimensions at different topological distance scales. A case study of the Netscience network is used to illustrate the efficiency and practicability of the proposed method.


The diffusion of innovation is a multilayered process that involves five main steps: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. Between 1951 and 1963 California State Librarian Carma Zimmerman Leigh utilized several methods to introduce and eventually develop public library cooperative systems statewide. But the process was not easy. A study conducted by Ed Wight provided the knowledge needed to persuade the state's librarians to adopt (or decide on) a library master plan for California, which was finally implemented with the passage of the Public Library Development Act in 1963. Confirmation occurred shortly afterward with the successful creation of public library systems statewide.


Spontaneous regression of herniated nucleus pulposus occurs when intervertebral disc herniation loses its volume partly or totally without surgical interventions. Cases of spontaneous regression of large extruded lumbar disc are rare. We presented a patient with large lumbar disc extrusion documented by Magnetic Resonance Imaging, but not found intraoperatively four months after performing diagnostic. Postoperatively he felt well for two months when the pain reappeared. Control Magnetic Resonance of lumbar spine showed complete resolution of extruded disc fragment comparing with the initial Magnetic Resonance Imaging.


The influence of increasing gentamicin concentrations on ionized calcium concentration was determined in pH-controlled, phosphate-buffered saline and normal human serum with an ion-specific calcium electrode. No evidence of calcium chelation was found.


This study is conducted to investigate the quality characteristics of kimchi with added Allium hookeri root (AHR) during a 56-day fermentation process at 4°C. AHR was added to salted cabbage at concentrations of 0, 5, 10, and 20% (w/w). The quality characteristics of the kimchi with added AHR were determined by measuring pH, acidity, salinity, reducing sugar, microbial amounts, and sensory evaluation. AHR had a higher level of crude lipid and potassium than other kinds within the Allium family. All kimchi with added AHR gradually decreased in the pH level compared to Baechu kimchi until 2 weeks, and kept a higher level of pH than Baechu kimchi until 8 weeks. Salinity showed a range of 1.87~2.43% over 8 weeks. The reducing sugar content showed no difference between all kimchi. In sensory evaluations, overall acceptance, taste and texture were highest in kimchi with added 10% AHR.


Tortuosity is an important parameter used in areas such as vascular medicine, neurobiology, and the field of soil permeability and diffusion to express the mass transport in porous media. It is a function of the porosity and the shape and distribution of particles. In this paper, the tortuosity of cubic particles is calculated. With the assumption that the porous medium is homogeneous, the problem is converted to the micro-level over a unit cell, and geometry models of flow paths are proposed. In three-dimensional (3D) cells, the flow paths are too complicated to define. Hence, the 3D models are converted to two-dimensional (2D) models to simplify the calculation process. It is noticed that the path in the 2D model is shorter than that in the 3D model. As a result, triangular particles and the interaction are also taken into consideration to account for the longer distance respectively. We have proposed quadrate particle and interaction (QI) and quadrate and triangular particle (QT) models with cubic particles. Both models have shown good agreement with the experimental data. It is also found that they can predict the toruosities of some kinds of porous media, like freshwater sediment and Negev chalk.


The pathogen of pebrine is transmitted to a host either vertically or horizontally. Vertical transmission may arise in two distinct ways depending upon whether the passage of the pathogen occurs on the surface of the egg or within the ovary of the mother moth. Horizontal transmission occurs only in the larval stage. The most frequent source of infection in this stage is that which occurs when feces from infected larvae contaminate the food and are thus ingested by healthy larvae in the same colony. Sanitation and disease-free stock are the principal strategies of pebrine prevention.


The purpose of this study is to compare the perceptions and needs for nutrition education between early childhood teachers and parents. This data will address the effective plans and suggest further nutrition education programs for early childhood education centers. This study was conducted with 200 early childhood teachers and 174 parents in Busan. We collected data through questionnaires from teachers and parents and then computed the frequency and χ 2 test to analyze the data. The questionnaire was revised and complemented on the basis of related literatures and previous researches. According to our results in this study, there was a significant difference between the teachers' and parents' perceptions on the need of nutrition education and the reason for needing nutrition education. And there were differences among aims, contents, methods, and effective ways of nutrition education for children. In addition, there was a significant difference among the needs from teachers and parents on nutrition education. Finally, the results of this study suggest various implications for developing nutrition education programs in early childhood education centers. These results can be used to develop nutrition education program by considering the teachers' and parents' perceptions and needs. These may be useful data when planning for the nutrition curriculum in early childhood education centers.


Marine mammals are under pressure from multiple threats, such as global climate change, bycatch, and vessel collisions. In this context, more frequent and spatially extensive surveys for abundance and distribution studies are necessary to inform conservation efforts. Marine mammal surveys have been performed visually from land, ships, and aircraft. These methods can be costly, logistically challenging in remote locations, dangerous to researchers, and disturbing to the animals. The growing use of imagery from satellite and unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) can help address some of these challenges, complementing crewed surveys and allowing for more frequent and evenly distributed surveys, especially for remote locations. However, manual counts in satellite and UAS imagery remain time and labor intensive, but the automation of image analyses offers promising solutions. Here, we reviewed the literature for automated methods applied to detect marine mammals in satellite and UAS imagery. The performance of studies is quantitatively compared with metrics that evaluate false positives and false negatives from automated detection against manual counts of animals, which allows for a better assessment of the impact of miscounts in conservation contexts. In general, methods that relied solely on statistical differences in the spectral responses of animals and their surroundings performed worse than studies that used convolutional neural networks (CNN). Despite mixed results, CNN showed promise, and its use and evaluation should continue. Overall, while automation can reduce time and labor, more research is needed to improve the accuracy of automated counts. With the current state of knowledge, it is best to use semi-automated approaches that involve user revision of the output. These approaches currently enable the best tradeoff between time effort and detection accuracy. Based on our analysis, we identified thermal infrared UAS imagery as a future research avenue for marine mammal detection and also recommend the further exploration of object-based image analysis (OBIA). Our analysis also showed that past studies have focused on the automated detection of baleen whales and pinnipeds and that there is a gap in studies looking at toothed whales, polar bears, sirenians, and mustelids.


In this paper the transformation of the vertically integrated firm is analyzed on the example of the externalization process. This process allows building network structures by utilizing units placed outside the corporate boundaries, supporting, therefore, the firm's functions. Derived from the analysis the general managerial decision making tree is suggested. The longitudinal case study methodology is selected for the empirical investigation.


Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that in its advanced stages leads to significant impairments.Previous studies suggest that COPD patients receive little palliative care even in very advanced stages. Aim: To describe the clinical practice of Spanish Pulmonologists in the care of COPD patients at the end-of-life (EoL). Materials: An on-line survey was sent to members of the Spanish Pneumology Society (SEPAR) including a)symptom management,b) structure and collaboration in each service, c) specialized medical training in palliative care,d) communication with the patient and family e)barriers to treat these patients. Results: We obtained 203 answers (13% of all contacted). 41% of participants reported treating dyspnea with opioids, 47% reported treating pain and only 34% stated that they treated anxiety/depression. About half of physicians did not have formal protocols to provide palliative care to patients with COPD. Physicians did not usually initiate discussions about EoL issues with their patients. The main barrier to communication about EoL issues were the lack of training (83%) and the belief that patients would not be certain about the type of care that would be preferred when illness progressed (81%). Conclusions: Education in palliative care to treat patients with advanced COPD is poor among Spanish Pulmonologists. Limited resources are a significant impediment to effective EoL care. The problems identified in this study could provide new areas for improvement.


Objective: To establish whether the use of ultrasound to direct shock waves to the area of greater calcification in calcaneal enthesopathies was more effective than the common procedure of directing shock waves to the point where the patient has the most tenderness. Design: Two-armed nonblinded randomized control trial with allocation concealment. Setting: The Sports Clinic at Sydney University. Patients: Participants 18 years or older with symptomatic plantar fasciitis (PF) (with heel spur) or calcific Achilles tendinopathy (CAT). Seventy-four of 82 cases completed treatment protocol and 6-month follow-up. Interventions: Patients were randomized to receive either ultrasound-guided (UG) or patient-guided (PG) shock wave at weekly intervals over 3 to 5 weeks. Main Outcome Measures: Reduced pain on visual analog scale (VAS) and improved functional score on Maryland Foot Score (MFS) (for PF) or Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) (for CAT). Follow-up was at 6 weeks and 3 and 6 months. Results: Comparative 6-month improvements in MFS for the 47 PF cases were PG +20/100 and UG +14/100 (P = 0.20). Comparative 6-month improvement in VISA-A score for the 27 CAT cases were PG +35/100 and UG +27/100 (P = 0.37). Comparative (combined PF and CAT) 6-month improvement in VAS pain scores for all 38 PG cases were +38/100 with +37/100 for all 36 UG shock wave cases. Conclusions: Although both treatment groups had good clinical outcomes in this study, results for the 2 study groups were almost identical. Clinical Relevance: This study shows that there is no major advantage in the addition of ultrasound for guiding shock waves when treating calcaneal enthesopathies (PF and CAT).


Bacteria isolated from the environment during the present study were representative of normal microflora of the skin, respiratory and urinary tracts; it also includes some soil and water-borne pathogenic and nonpathogenic genera. Six samples from different locations were studied for bacterial investigation. Among 14 isolates obtained, 13 were Gram positive, and the rest one was Gram negative. Out of 13 Gram positive isolates, 12 were round-shaped non spore forming and were identified as Planococcus citreus, Stomatococcus mucilaginosus, Kocuria kristinae, Micrococcus agilis (2), Kytococcus sedentarius (2), Micrococcus luteus, Micrococcus lylae and M. roseus, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and rod-shaped non spore forming identified as Renibacterium salmoninarum. The Gram-negative bacteria was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Other than provisional identification, two isolates (JG 40 and SG 49) were further confirmed through molecular characterization on the basis of 16Sr RNA gene sequence analysis as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa repectively. Spearman's correlation showed that air temperature and wind speed negatively correlated with the bacterial abundance. It is clear that none of the samples containing airborne pathogens collected was safe for human health due to presence of potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Many were human pathogenic as well as food poisoning microorganisms.
Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 30(1): 15-25, 2020 (June)


Adenosine released during cardiac ischemia exerts a marked protective effect in the heart that is mediated by the A1 and A3 subtypes of adenosine receptors. The signaling pathways activated by these adenosine receptors have now been characterized in a chick embryo ventricular myocyte culture model of cardioprotection against ischemia. Selective A1 and A3 receptor agonists were shown to activate phospholipases C and D, respectively, to achieve their distinct cardioprotective effects. The specificity of the A3 receptor‐phospholipase D interaction was also demonstrated in chick embryo atrial myocytes (which do not express endogenous A3 receptors) that had been transfected with a vector encoding the human A3 receptor. Activation of both endogenous A1 and A3 receptors in ventricular myocytes resulted in a protective response greater than that induced by stimulation of either receptor alone. Agonists that activate both adenosine A1 and A3 receptors may thus prove beneficial for the treatment of myocardial ischemia.—Parsons, M., Young, L., Lee, J. E., Jacobson, K. A., Liang, B. T. Distinct cardioprotective effects of adenosine mediated by differential coupling of receptor subtypes to phospholipases C and D. FASEB J. 14, 1423–1431 (2000)


We introduce a hierachy of equivalence relations on the set of separated nets of a given Euclidean space, indexed by concave increasing functions φ : (0,∞) → (0,∞). Two separated nets are called φ-displacement equivalent if, roughly speaking, there is a bijection between them which, for large radii R, displaces points of norm at most R by something of order at most φ(R). We show that the spectrum of φ-displacement equivalence spans from the established notion of bounded displacement equivalence, which corresponds to bounded φ, to the indiscrete equivalence relation, coresponding to φ(R) ∈ Ω(R), in which all separated nets are equivalent. In between the two ends of this spectrum, the notions of φ-displacement equivalence are shown to be pairwise distinct with respect to the asymptotic classes of φ(R) for R→ ∞. We further undertake a comparison of our notion of φ-displacement equivalence with previously studied relations on separated nets. Particular attention is given to the interaction of the notions of φ-displacement equivalence with that of bilipschitz equivalence.


Heizmannia (Heizmannia) carteri n. sp. from Sri Lanka is described and illustrated based on characters of the adult female. This species is compared with, and separated from, all other described members of the genus from South and Southeast Asia.


Objectives: Loss of epithelial heparan sulfate proteoglycan syndecan-1 has been associated with a more aggressive behavior in various cancer forms, but the prognostic significance of syndecan-1 expression in colorectal cancer is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of immunohistochemical syndecan-1 expression in a series of 237 patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: Paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed specimens were stained with a syndecan-1-specific monoclonal antibody, and both the epithelial and stromal expression were analyzed. Results: Epithelial expression of syndecan-1 was seen in 222 tumors (94%), and it was associated with low stage of disease (p = 0.002) and low histological differentiation grade (p = 0.048). The cumulative 5-year survival of patients with weak and strong syndecan-1 expression was 49 and 54 %, respectively (p = 0.234). Syndecan-1 stromal immunoreactivity was observed in 138 tumors (58%), but lacked prognostic significance. Staining pattern and distribution can be viewed from digitized representative microscope slides (virtual slides) at http://www.webmicroscope.net/supplements/syndecan. Conclusions: The results are in line with previous reports in that low epithelial syndecan-1 expression was associated with a higher histological grade and a more advanced clinical stage of the patients. This study shows that syndecan-1 is expressed also in stromal tissue of colorectal cancer, but it does not support the proposed role of stromal syndecan-1 expression as a marker of poor clinical outcome.


Objective. Hepatic vein segmentation is a fundamental task for liver diagnosis and surgical navigation planning. Unlike other organs, the liver is the only organ with two sets of venous systems. Meanwhile, the segmentation target distribution in the hepatic vein scene is extremely unbalanced. The hepatic veins occupy a small area in abdominal CT slices. The morphology of each person's hepatic vein is different, which also makes segmentation difficult. The purpose of this study is to develop an automated hepatic vein segmentation model that guides clinical diagnosis. Approach. We introduce the 3D spatial distribution and density awareness (SDA) of hepatic veins and propose an automatic segmentation network based on 3D U-Net which includes a multi-axial squeeze and excitation module (MASE) and a distribution correction module (DCM). The MASE restrict the activation area to the area with hepatic veins. The DCM improves the awareness of the sparse spatial distribution of the hepatic veins. To obtain global axial information and spatial information at the same time, we study the effect of different training strategies on hepatic vein segmentation. Our method was evaluated by a public dataset and a private dataset. The Dice coefficient achieves 71.37% and 69.58%, improving 3.60% and 3.30% compared to the other SOTA models, respectively. Furthermore, metrics based on distance and volume also show the superiority of our method. Significance. The proposed method greatly reduced false positive areas and improved the segmentation performance of the hepatic vein in CT images. It will assist doctors in making accurate diagnoses and surgical navigation planning.


Cloud storage is not a new technology and it is being embraced more every day. Security and privacy concern of the data on the cloud is growing every day, this creates the need for data encryption and access control. Using access policy with specified attributes, although several implementation of access control exists, they require re-encryption of the data when some users' access has to be restricted. Therefore the focus of this research work is developing a framework that allows user revocation without re-encrypting previous data. The order of operation was split into four – Setup, Keygen, Encryption, and Decryption. In order to provide timely access control, a proxy server was employed. The proxy server checks user's attribute each time access is made to the data encrypted, using the current users attributes, generated a user key that may decrypt the data to be accessed. In the experiment, the proxy based access control framework was tested in an educational environment using faculty, department and level as attributes. The size of ciphertext was O(n), private key - O(A), encryption time - O(n), and decryption time O(T). In other implementations of cp-abe, cost increase in the multiples of the number of user revocation while only initial cost is incurred in our framework. Our framework was able to remove the cost of re-encryption through the use of proxy based access control leading to reduction in activity without re-encrypting the data.Keywords: User-revocation, Access Control, proxy server, attributes, encryption.


Three newly recorded gobiid genera of coral-reef gobies have been collected and examined by scuba diving in the Dongsha Atoll, also known as the Pratas Islands, South China Sea. They are Feia Smith, 1959; Sueviota Winterbottom and Hoese, 1988; and Trimmatom Winterbottom and Emery, 1981. These three genera were formerly unrecorded in the Dongsha Atoll and all Taiwanese waters before this paper. One representing species was found for each gobiid genus. The diagnosis for these three newly recorded species and genera will be provided in this paper.


The authors report a case of suicidal elemental mercury injection in the antecubital fossa, resulting in granuloma formation, which was treated with delayed resection. A 21-year-old man presented with a granuloma in the antecubital fossa after a suicide attempt by self-injection of elemental mercury. The patient was treated surgically with excision of the necrotic skin and granuloma under X-ray guidance, with good result. Despite the fact that human exposure to mercury has been ongoing for centuries, the deposition of metallic mercury into the skin and subcutaneous tissue, causing cutaneous granuloma formation is uncommon, with fewer than 100 reports presented in the dermatologic, toxicologic and general medical literature. On the contrary, there is a lack of reports of this soft-tissue injury in the orthopaedic literature.


Background: Double-J (DJ) stents were commonly used for internal drainage after major reconstructive procedures or in cases of obstruction and ureteral injuries. They should be removed or changed within the stipulated time; otherwise, they can lead to various complications such as stent occlusion, migration, breakage, encrustation, stone formation at either end of the stent, and entanglement of the two stents if bilateral stenting was done. The present study focuses on the complications and the management due to delay in the removal of the DJ stents due to the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study over a period of 9 months. Children <12 years were included in the study. The patients' demographic data, indication for DJ stenting, time gap between DJ stenting and removal, complication with delay in DJ stent removal, and its management were recorded. Indwelling duration for >4 months was considered a delay in removal. All patients were followed up for 3 months. Results: A total of 10 patients were included in the study. Encrustation, proximal migration, distal migration, knotting of the stent, and entanglement of the bilateral stents in the bladder were observed. These complications were managed by various endourological procedures such as ureteroscopy, percutaneous nephroscopic, and cystoscopic removal. During follow-up, all patients were symptom-free. Conclusion: Prolonged indwelling stents can cause various complications. Endourological procedures are an essential armamentarium for a pediatric surgeon to manage these complications. Proper patient counseling regarding indwelling stents and maintaining stent registry and sending automatic messages and e-mails to patients may prevent these complications.


Susceptible individuals develop immune-mediated drug-induced liver injury (DILI) after receiving halogenated anesthetics, anti-seizure medications, antibiotics or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In anesthetic DILI, serum cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1) autoantibodies and diminished CYP2E1 activity assist in confirming the diagnosis, while responsible epitopes are unknown. We hypothesize that anesthetic DILI is initiated by pathogenic CYP2E1 epitopes centered on the Ser129 active site and presented by MHC II molecules in susceptible haplotypes. To test our hypothesis, we identified 15 mer human CYP2E1 candidate epitopes centered on Ser129 that bind to mouse MHC II using competitive inhibition of OVA323 - 329 in I-Ad DO11.10 T cell hybridomas + LS102.9 activation. Next we measured splenocyte T cell proliferation to candidate epitopes using our model of anesthetic DILI in BALB/c mice two weeks following TFA-S100 immunizations. Two CYP2E1 epitopes were detected by competitive inhibition; however, only one epitope Gly113 - Leu135 was recognized by proliferation and human sera ELISA assays. SYFPEITHI prediction of the probability of binding confirmed H2-Ad and H2-Ed haplotypes in BALB/c mice and identified 6 human MHC II haplotypes that could bind this epitope: HLA-DRB1*0101, HLA-DRB1*0301 HLA-DRB1*0401, HLA-DRB1*0701 HLADRB*1101 and HLADRB1*1501. This is the first demonstration of a CYP2E1 epitope and MHC II haplotypes that may increase the risk of developing anesthetic DILI.


Amodal Instance Segmentation (AIS) aims to segment the region of both visible and possible occluded parts of an object instance. While Mask R-CNN-based AIS approaches have shown promising results, they are unable to model high-level features coherence due to the limited receptive field. The most recent transformer-based models show impressive performance on vision tasks, even better than Convolution Neural Networks (CNN). In this work, we present AISFormer, an AIS framework, with a Transformer-based mask head. AISFormer explicitly models the complex coherence between occluder, visible, amodal, and invisible masks within an object's regions of interest by treating them as learnable queries. Specifically, AISFormer contains four modules: (i) feature encoding: extract ROI and learn both short-range and long-range visual features. (ii) mask transformer decoding: generate the occluder, visible, and amodal mask query embeddings by a transformer decoder (iii) invisible mask embedding: model the coherence between the amodal and visible masks, and (iv) mask predicting: estimate output masks including occluder, visible, amodal and invisible. We conduct extensive experiments and ablation studies on three challenging benchmarks i.e. KINS, D2SA, and COCOA-cls to evaluate the effectiveness of AISFormer. The code is available at: https://github.com/UARK-AICV/AISFormer


Objective. Metal artifacts are a persistent problem in CT and cone-beam CT. In this work, we propose to reduce or even eliminate metal artifacts by providing better sampling of data using non-circular orbits. Approach. We treat any measurements intersecting metal as missing data, and aim to design a universal orbit that can generally accommodate arbitrary metal shapes and locations. We adapted a local sampling completeness metric based on Tuy's condition to quantify the extent of sampling in the presence of metal. A maxi-min objective over all possible metal locations was used for orbit design. A simple class of sinusoidal orbits was evaluated as a function of frequencies, maximum tilt angles, and orbital extents. Experimental implementation of these orbits were performed on an imaging bench and evaluated on two phantoms, one containing metal balls and the other containing a pedicle screw assembly for spine fixation. Metal artifact reduction (MAR) performance was compared amongst three approaches: non-circular orbits only, algorithmic correction only, and a combined approach. Main results. Theoretical evaluations of the objective favor sinusoidal orbits with large tilt angles and large orbital extents. Furthermore, orbits that leverage redundant azimuthal angles to sample non-redundant data have better performance, e.g. even or non-integer frequency sinusoids for a 360° acquisition. Experimental data support the trends observed in theoretical evaluations. Reconstructions using even or non-integer frequency orbits present less streaking artifacts and background details with finer resolution, even when multiple metal objects are present and even in the absence of MAR algorithms. The combined approach of non-circular orbits and MAR algorithm yields the best performance. The observed trend in image quality is supported by quantitative measures of sampling and severity of streaking artifact. Significance. This work demonstrates that sinusoidal orbits are generally robust against metal artifacts and can provide an avenue for improved image quality in interventional imaging.


The chemical equilibria concerning formaldehyde and formic acid are computationally investigated in water over a wide range of thermodynamic conditions. The free energy is evaluated in the method of energy representation for the solvent effect on the decomposition processes of these two compounds. The solvation is found to suppress the production of nonpolar species from a polar. In the two competitive decomposition reactions of formic acid, the solvent strongly inhibits the decarboxylation (HCOOH-->CO2+H2) and its effect is relatively weak for the decarbonylation (HCOOH-->CO+H2O). The equilibrium weights for the two decomposition pathways of formic acid are determined by the equilibrium constant of the water-gas-shift reaction (CO+H2O-->CO2+H2), which is an essential and useful process in fuel technology. The reaction control by the solvent is then examined for the water-gas-shift reaction. Through the comparison of the equilibrium constants in the absence and presence of solvent, even the favorable side of the reaction is shown to be tuned by the solvent density and temperature. The reaction equilibrium is further treated for aldehyde disproportionation reactions involving formaldehyde and formic acid. The disproportionation reactions are found to be subject to relatively weak solvent effects and to be dominated by the electronic contribution.


The paper proposes to present the silent revolution taking place in India related to battery-powered e-rickshaws. Though many State and Central Governments did come forward with some schemes to promote e-rickshaws, the main reason for this rapid growth has been the opportunity of self-employment (as drivers) for uneducated and poor people, who migrated to cities in search of livelihood. Taking advantage of this, many manufacturers started producing e-rickshaws with low-cost parts imported from China. These manufacturing factories along with their ancillary units and distribution centres also provided jobs to a large number of semi-skilled persons. Some agencies provided further growth by purchasing a large number of e-rickshaws and giving these on rent to the poor people. But still there are possibilities of further growth if Central/State Governments and manufacturers can take some measures, recommended in the paper.


Recently the power window system is widely used in automobiles to increase convenience of passengers and drivers. However some accidents or injuries have been caused by malfunction or misusage of the system. Therefore safety regulations of the system to cope up with these accidents have been strengthened gradually in many countries. Especially in America, since 2005, all vehicles which had power window system should be contented with FMVSS 118-S5 regulations. We suggest very low-cost anti-pinch window control system satisfying the regulation in this paper. Hall sensors are used and installed around a motor rotor with ring magnet to detect motor speed for anti-pinch. The optimum number of hall sensor and location angel of them are mainly investigated to get sufficient speed resolution for anti-pinch. Through some experiments, the validity of the suggested system was verified to satisfy the regulation.


The role of culture and intercultural awareness in the language classroom is not a new area of research in ESL/EFL, and its relative importance has shifted in different approaches and methods of foreign language teaching. Today, the goal of some English textbooks has transcended a pure linguistic and language training orientation as text developers have moved towards also teaching intercultural awareness. The development of intercultural awareness was presented as a key component in ensuring the success of the latest Colombian National Bilingual Programme 2015-2025 (NBP), and the textbook series English, Please! was promoted as a breakthrough in this context. This article presents the research analysis and findings of an exploratory study based on the ambitious task set forth in the NBP policy on English textbooks. We examine the theoretical constructs adopted by the National Ministry of Education and by using, both quantitative and qualitative, analysis we explore the intercultural awareness activities presented in the series. At the end, we suggest that although the series is an important addition to existing materials in the area, it presents an overly reductionist and instrumentalist use of the concept of intercultural awareness.


The use of pesticides botanists to be the solution due to the use of chemical pesticides in controlling pests unwise caused negative impact on the environment. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of the leaves of the Annona muricata on mortality of Sitophilus oryzae . Research conducted at the Laboratory of Taxonomy Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Ambon. The treatments tested was the heavy leaves of the soursop, consists of five levels, namely 0 g, 20 g, 25 g, 30 g and 35 g, using a completely randomized design with four replications. The results showed that showed that the treatment leaves of the Annona muricata which is effective against Sitophilus oryzae mortality was 35 g with a mortality rate reached 78.31%.


The first phase of the Urban air quality Model InterComparison Study in Japan (UMICS) has been conducted to find ways to improve model performance with regard to elemental carbon (EC). Common meteorology and emission datasets are used with eight different models. All the models underestimate the EC concentrations observed in Tokyo Metropolitan Area in the summer of 2007. Sensitivity analyses are conducted using these models to investigate the causes of this underestimation. The results of the analyses reveal that emissions and vertical diffusion are dominant factors that affect the simulated EC concentrations. A significant improvement in the accuracy of EC concentrations could be realized by applying appropriate scaling factors to EC emissions and boundary concentrations. Observation data from Lidar and radiosonde suggest the possible overestimation of planetary boundary layer height, which is a vital parameter representing vertical diffusion. The findings of this work can help to improve air quality models to that they can be used to develop more effective strategies for reducing PM2.5 concentrations.


Combined gold and silicon nano-system has spurred tremendous interest in the scientific community due to its application in different metal-semiconductor electronic devices and solar driven water splitting cells. Silicon, fabricated on gold layer, is prone to gold atom diffusion at its surface. In this study, detailed analysis of mechanical properties of gold coated silicon nanowafer is studied by performing molecular dynamics tensile and compressive simulations. The effects of temperature, gold coating thickness, strain rate and crystallographic orientation of silicon on the mechanical properties are observed for the nanowafer. It is found that both the ultimate tensile and compressive strength show inverse relationship with temperature. The nanowafer fails mainly by slipping along {110} plane due to excessive shear when loaded in [100] direction while a mixed slip and crack type failure occurs for 300K. Interesting crystallographic transformation from fcc to hcp crystal is observed in gold layer for the highest gold layer thickness during tension. The effects of strain rate in tension and compression is also studied. Finally, the crystal orientation of silicon is varied and the tension-compression asymmetry inn the gold coated silicon nanowafer is investigated. Reverse tension-compression asymmetry is observed in case of loading along [110] crystal orientation. The failure mechanism reveals that interesting crystal transformation of silicon occurs during compression leading to early yielding of the material.


Grasslands, located in different physical and geographical conditions, can be affected by a number of natural factors such as: arid climate, catastrophic floods, permanent or temporary excess moisture, soil erosion, acidification, salting, invasion of valuable grassy and woody vegetation, water imbalance, pollution and more. In this context, the purpose of the research is to identify the vulnerabilities of the grasslands in the plain area, based on ecological factors: landform, geology, climate, soil, with influence on the vegetation ground cover. The experimental sites in this study were selected so that they could define the lowland areas of Banat as a whole. The working methodology was divided into two stages. In the first phase, the physical-geographical conditions were analyzed at the level of the Timiş plain, and in the second phase, the geospatial information for the meadow surfaces was extracted from the experimental device: plot geometry, including area calculation, minimum, maximum and average altitude, minimum maximum and average slope, climatic conditions (air temperature and atmospheric precipitation), geological substrate and soils, vegetation aspects and mode of operation It was found that grasslands are vulnerable to the following groups of factors and/or processes: flood hazard, in the case of grasslands on alluviosols; deficiency or excess moisture; in the case of high temperatures, due to low rainfall, the decrease in the amount of biomass of grasslands in the second and third cycles of grazing. For all risk factors, measures to combat or mitigate adverse effects have been specified.


We describe a new technique that utilizes birefringence for phase matching of stimulated parametric emission in a single-mode optical fiber. The frequency shift between the generated frequencies and the pump frequency can be controlled over a wide range (approximately 1000 cm(-1)) by the magnitude of birefringence built into the fiber.