This paper describes the AFETR Real-Time Telemetry Data System and identifies the data transmission limitations from the various stations. The manner in which the system is implemented so as to select and merge data from multiple asynchronous sources and to obtain an efficient retransmission format is described. The features of the various operational data handling modes are discussed. Finally, the features of the initial system are tabulated, and areas where increased capability is possible simply by adding additional units are identified.


In the course of modernization of the Globus-M spherical tokamak, the experiments at the increased toroidal magnetic field (from 0.4 to 0.5 T) and with the additional heating by neutral beam injection were carried out. The numerical simulations were performed using the ASTRA transport code. A considerable increase in the absorbed neutral beam power as well as in the energy lifetime and total energy content was achieved due to the increase in the toroidal magnetic field and plasma current.


L'occasione di ricerca progettuale e data dall'incontro fra l'innovazione del vetro in architettura e in arte, applicato al recupero degli involucri post-industriali. Nasce cosi la collaborazione fra LABAA non rilevante e la sperimentazione di altre tecniche, di un nuovo linguaggio e sensibilita alla materia vetraria. The research project is given at the meeting between the innovation of glass in architecture and art, applied to the recovery of post-industrial enclosures. Hence the venture between LABA & A - "Art & Architecture Laboratory" (Turin Polytechnic and the Academy of Fine Arts, Turin) and the German company Derix GLASSTUDIOS. From the tradition of stained glass church has developed a repertoire of techniques and materials - paint, airbrush, silkscreen, etching, sandblasting, leading, casting / fusion - with glazed elements for a flat surface by rolling are available for inclusion in composite panels , in the various types of laminated glass, the double grazing and glass energy generator. The diversification of the visual and the tactile quality of the relief glass, open up new potential in the project, either through the manual and digital drawing. In parallel, production for single item or small series allow you to retrieve a custom size craft, to depict "savoir faire" that translates the vision into reality. In Italy and in Mediterranean countries that the production of art glass is limited, in general, to lead and fusion glass techniques, it is not relevant to the testing of other techniques, new languages and sensitivity to the material glass


Second vertical derivative methods developed by Henderson and Zietz, Elkins, Rosenbach, and Danes are applied to various mathematical harmonic fields and the response of the methods is investigated. All methods give good results as long as the wavelength of the anomaly is large compared with station spacing. As the wavelength decreases, Elkins' formulae give progressively lower values. Rosenbach's values decrease slightly, but values are still very close to correct. Henderson and Zietz's values are about halfway between the above ones. Danes' results can be made correct to the degree of accuracy of the input data.


There is a need for brief and non-intrusive measures to identify common mental disorder (CMD) in worker populations. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether workers reporting CMD symptoms indicative of minor psychiatric morbidity could be reliably identified by a single-item job stressfulness measure (SIJSM). A secondary aim was to determine the number of response categories required to maximize the sensitivity and specificity of the SIJSM. Data from seven occupational groups were analysed (N = 20,658). We measured CMD using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and job stressfulness with a single item involving five response options. We applied tests of discriminatory power to assess whether a report of high job stressfulness (SIJSM score ≥4, very stressful or extremely stressful) correctly classified CMD cases (GHQ-12 score ≥4) and non-cases. Both sensitivity and specificity of the SIJSM were acceptable (≥70%) in samples where at least 50% of respondents reported high job stressfulness (prison officers, public protection unit police officers dealing with domestic violence and child abuse). Discriminatory power was optimal and almost identical at the ≥4 cut-off on a 5-point scale and ≥6 on a 9-point scale. In occupations with elevated prevalence of high job stressfulness the SIJSM appears to demonstrate acceptable sensitivity and specificity, providing for efficient and non-intrusive identification of likely minor psychiatric morbidity. The measure could be used with such groups to identify workers that would benefit from in-depth psychosocial risk assessment and targeted intervention.


A space-time nonlinear receiver for a DS-CDMA synchronous channel is proposed for jointly mitigating impulsive noise and multiple access interference. The proposed scheme combines linear decorrelators and antenna arrays with nonlinear front ends based on the affinity matched myriad nonlinear filter. This myriad (log Cauchy) filter is incorporated to combat the impulsive noise and prevent it from entering the system. The proposed detector also incorporates a structure for estimating the impulsive noise parameter in order to update a filter parameter called the nonlinearity parameter. Monte Carlo simulation results of the proposed space-time receiver are presented to justify the relative merits of nonlinear signal processing in the space-time domain.


Abstract. A discrete rainfall–runoff model has been developed, which uses retrievals of Water Saturated Soil (WSS) and inundation area from 37 GHz microwave observations. The model was implemented at three levels of increasing complexity using field-measured ground water table, WSS and inundated area, and precipitation data. The three levels, defined by the key-variables are: (1) precipitation and base flow; (2) overland flow, infiltrated flow and base flow; (3) overland flow, potential subsurface flow and base flow. The base flow is estimated from observed ground water table depth, while overland and infiltrated flows are estimated from precipitation and the WSS and inundated area. A linear scaling method is developed to estimate the potential subsurface flow. The three model implementations are calibrated with the gauge measurements of 10-day average river discharge in 2002 and 2005 respectively at Changsha station, downstream of Xiangjiang River basin, China. The discrete rainfall–runoff model assumes that specific runoff is determined by antecedent precipitations over a variable period of time. This duration is a model parameter varying between 10 and 150 days. The performance of the discrete rainfall–runoff model increased with the duration of antecedent precipitation for all three implementations in both years. With a duration of 150 days, the model reaches its best performance: Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency, NSE, for the 1st implementation was ≥ 0.90 with relative RMSE ≤ 22 %; NSE ≈ 0.99 with relative RMSE ≤ 5 % for the 2nd implementation, and NSE ≥ 0.99 with relative RMSE ≤ 4 % for the 3rd one. These good performances prove that the retrievals of WSS and inundated area clearly improve model accuracy, thus justifying the choices of parameters and the method to estimate the potential subsurface flow. The set of parameters driving each implementation is an indication of dominant hydrological processes, particularly water storage, in determining the catchment response to rainfall. Significant differences in the annual water yield have been observed across the three implementations. The relative RMSE in each season demonstrates the possible recharge period of the ground water in Xiangjiang River basin.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of income, relative income and level of religiosity on life satisfaction, which effect is greater. The research approach is quantitative with questionnaire data source by 96 pilgrims KBIH X Malang and analyzed using multinomial logit models. Consistent with the theory of hedonic adaptation and social comparison theory, estimates show that its income someone lower than his friend own chance 0.002 times greater for achieve low levels of life satisfaction, someone past its income is less than currently income has 0.004 times the chance of achieving life satisfaction medium level and someone with high levels of religiosity have the same opportunities to achieve low levels of life satisfaction compared to someone with a low level of religiosity. This shows the influence of the small Islamic doctrine on assessing the relationship between income and satisfaction of life.


The resonance neutron capture cross section of 58Fe has been measured at the Oak Ridge electron linear accelerator with 0.2% energy resolution from 2.5 to 200 keV. Large corrections for scattered neutrons are required for the s-wave resonances which prohibit a study of correlation effects. The s- and p-wave radiative widths are Gamma gamma (s)=0.86+or-0.8 and g Gamma gamma (p)=0.58+or-0.06. Many new l>0 resonances are observed which have not been seen previously in transmission measurements. The Maxwellian averaged capture cross section at kT=30 keV is 15.9+or-1.5 mb.


Abstract An analysis of combined piled raft foundations could be performed by means of a special geotechnical finite element software that utilizes 3D modeling and advanced constitutive models for the soil. However, a foundation is generally included in the structural models in a structural design program. The least advanced part of finite element software that has been developed for structural FEM modeling are the tools used for modeling behaviour. A method is required with which the input parameters of the structural design software that are used for modeling the soil structure interaction as well could be determined so that the results calculated by means of a geo-technical software that approximates realistic soil behaviour the best can be reproduced by structural design software as well. The procedure outlined in this paper by means of a cluster analysis provides a tool for a substantial and innovative improvement in subsoil modeling, to which not enough attention is generally paid in the structural FEM software, thereby resulting in a reduced amount of work associated with the task of inputting data.


Negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) in plasma-nitrided oxide affected by the nitrogen incorporation of a TiN diffusion barrier layer of gate stack is first proposed. In the standard 50-nm DRAM technology, three different groups including high, medium, and low N2 flow were deposited by sputtering to investigate in this paper. The high N2 flow group was with higher drive current and higher transconductance, but worse NBTI performance in pMOSFETs than that of the low N2 flow group. Boron (B) concentration at the bottom of p+ polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) for the high N2 flow group is 5.4% higher than that for the low N2 flow group, which is verified by the secondary ion mass spectroscopy depth profile. A vertical electric field across gate nitrided oxide enhanced by high B concentration in the interface of p+ poly-Si/nitrided oxide resulted in the degradation of NBTI and time-dependent dielectric breakdown of the high N2 flow group. However, process optimization still needs to be studied between device performance and reliability of pMOSFETs in future generation.


Now a days for the radio network communication multi-hop routing is used. This multi-hop routing technique covers larger coverage area. Therefore to reach at specific location data is transferred in form of packets from one node to other node. But for the transmission of radio signals over the large distance, large number of transreceivers are required and these transreceivers requires large power to operate. As a result, multi-hop routing can saves energy over separate routing. Therefore it is necessity to design a cost effective multi-hop routing technique for successful transmission of ratio packet data. In this paper a hop by hop adaptive link state optional routing (HALO) is explained. It is the first packet transmitting solution with hop by hop and link state routing, which reduces the cost of transporting data across a packet switch network[3]. The triple model is designed for multi hop packet routing. In this work each node of network iteratively and separately improves the small part of traffic bound. This algorithm finds the shortest path of specific location for every iteration and it is calculated by the marginal cost of the various links of network. The marginal link cost is used to calculate the shortest path between the node and the destination location. This marginal link cost is gathered from link state updates. The various networks changes are automatically identified by the adaptive method which is used in this paper. Due to this the exchange between the packets on wrong node is reduced over the overhead traffic. To validate these theoretical results the experimental evaluations and mathematical calculations are also reported in this work. Net beans java is the programmed use in this proposed project.


Multiplexed assays allow functional testing of large synthetic libraries of genetic elements, but are limited by the designability, length, fidelity and scale of the input DNA. Here we improve DropSynth, a low-cost, multiplexed method which builds gene libraries by compartmentalizing and assembling microarray-derived oligos in vortexed emulsions. By optimizing enzyme choice, adding enzymatic error correction, and increasing scale, we show that DropSynth can build thousands of gene-length fragments at >20% fidelity.


At mammalian neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), innervation induces and maintains the metabolic stability of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs). To explore whether neural agrin may cause similar receptor stabilization, we injected neural agrin cDNA of increasing transfection efficiencies into denervated adult rat soleus (SOL) muscles. As the efficiency increased, the amount of recombinant neural agrin expressed in the muscles also increased. This agrin aggregated AChRs on muscle fibers, whose half-life increased in a dose-dependent way from 1 to 10 days. Electrical muscle stimulation enhanced the stability of AChRs with short half-lives. Therefore, neural agrin can stabilize aggregated AChRs in a concentration- and activity-dependent way. However, there was no effect of stimulation on AChRs with a long half-life (10 days). Thus, at sufficiently high concentrations, neural agrin alone can stabilize AChRs to levels characteristic of innervated NMJs.


This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by introducing emotional intelligence (EI) as an additional factor that explains how entrepreneurs perceive their own success. Using survey data from a sample of Dutch entrepreneurs, we find that emotionally intelligent entrepreneurs are more likely to judge positively their entrepreneurial success in terms of: employee satisfaction, social responsibility, personal satisfaction, customer satisfaction and business performance. Furthermore, not all EI dimensions are equally relevant to explain self-perceived success. In this respect, we find that the (self-perceived) ability to regulate emotions of other people is most strongly linked to entrepreneurial success.


In conditions of poor soil fertility and increasing importance of global value chain, agricultural extension projects have been one of the main channel to increase farmer's production and income. In the literature assessing the return to these innovations, prices received by farmers for their production are usually assumed to be homogeneous. We dispute this over-simplification: prices and production levels in developing countries are often jointly determined. The analysis relies on an extension programme in the Peruvian highlands, where the main income source is the dairy sector characterised by a highly segmented market. A simple theoretical model is developed to show how the segmented market conditions, i.e. price levels, induce non-linear return to the investment and affect the incentive to innovate. The econometric analysis confirms the propositions derived from the model: producers that were not included in the formal market at baseline, but close to it, have more intensively innovated. The consequence of this investment is a higher price increase than the rest of the population, creating heterogeneous impact of the programme and social mobility.


The theme of integrity in mission from an Asian woman's perspective is explored by Korean theologian, Chun Chae Ok who identifies two important characteristics of women's mission. First, women's mission is usually exercised by poor women to other poor women. Second, women often console and comfort other women, a particularly important quality in Asia given the poverty and suffering that many women experience. Chun argues that the often marginalized or ignored story of women's mission needs to be told.


Health Canada has approved 7 targeted immune modulators for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, which include 5 biologics (adalimumab, infliximab, golimumab, ustekinumab, and vedolizumab) and 2 small molecules (tofacitinib and ozanimod). Biosimilars for adalimumab and infliximab and generics for tofacitinib are currently available in the Canadian market; however, although their patent protection has expired, there are no biosimilars for golimumab and ustekinumab.
All targeted immune modulators have undergone pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance negotiations and concluded with a Letter of Intent except for ustekinumab, which is the only targeted immune modulator not included on any public formularies for ulcerative colitis. Coverage is consistent across all drug plans except for golimumab and tofacitinib, which is not covered by all jurisdictions for ulcerative colitis.
Most public drug plans have implemented or have announced a biosimilar policy to promote the use of biosimilars over originator biologics. The listing status for targeted immune modulators in ulcerative colitis is similar across public drug plans; however, there is heterogeneity in criteria requirements for prior treatments and diagnosis definitions.
Considering these factors and the emergence of new data, it would be important to reassess these drugs and evaluate their place in therapy. Further research, such as horizon scanning, utilization analyses, and long-term effectiveness and safety studies, is warranted for targeted immune modulators to ensure the appropriate use of these drugs in the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.


We introduce two new structured output models that use a latent graph, which is flexible in terms of the number of nodes and structure, where the training process minimises a high-order loss function using a weakly annotated training set. These models are developed in the context of microscopy imaging of malignant tumours, where the estimation of the number and proportion of classes of microcirculatory supply units (MCSU) is important in the assessment of the efficacy of common cancer treatments (an MCSU is a region of the tumour tissue supplied by a microvessel). The proposed methodologies take as input multimodal microscopy images of a tumour, and estimate the number and proportion of MCSU classes. This estimation is facilitated by the use of an underlying latent graph (not present in the manual annotations), where each MCSU is represented by a node in this graph, labelled with the MCSU class and image location. The training process uses the manual weak annotations available, consisting of the number of MCSU classes per training image, where the training objective is the minimisation of a high-order loss function based on the norm of the error between the manual and estimated annotations. One of the models proposed is based on a new flexible latent structure support vector machine (FLSSVM) and the other is based on a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) model. Using a dataset of 89 weakly annotated pairs of multimodal images from eight tumours, we show that the quantitative results from DCNN are superior, but the qualitative results from FLSSVM are better and both display high correlation values regarding the number and proportion of MCSU classes compared to the manual annotations.


The amount of correlation attainable between the components of a quantum system is constrained if the system is closed. We provide some examples, largely from the field of quantum thermodynamics, where knowing the maximal possible variation in correlations is useful. The optimization problem it raises requires us to search for the maximally and minimally correlated states on a unitary orbit, with and without energy conservation. This is fully solvable for the smallest system of two qubits. For larger systems, the problem is reduced to a manageable, classical optimization.


Our intuitive understanding of adaptation by natural selection is dominated by the power of selection at early ages in large populations. Yet, as the forces of natural selection fall with adult age, we expect adaptation to be attenuated with age. Explicit simulations of age-dependent adaptation suggest that populations adapt to a novel environment quickly at early ages, but only slowly and incompletely at later adult ages. Experimental tests for age-dependent adaptation to a novel diet were performed on populations of Drosophila melanogaster. The results support the prediction that populations should perform better on an ancestral, long-abandoned diet, compared to an evolutionarily recent diet, only at later ages. D. melanogaster populations also perform poorly on a novel diet compared to an evolutionarily recent diet that has been sustained for hundreds of generations, particularly at earlier ages. Additional experiments demonstrate that the timing of the shift to better performance in our populations on the long-abandoned diet is dependent on when the forces of natural selection weaken in the evolutionary history of experimental populations. Taken together, these experimental findings suggest that the forces of natural selection scale the rate of adaptation to novel environments.


This study aims to explore the co-evolutionary processes of network structure and state for examining the evolutionary dynamic and adaptation of networks. The study addresses several major areas of network research: network structure dynamics (ie., the longitudinal study of network structure); network evolution mechanisms (ie, variation, selection, retention); actors' attachment logics (ie, cumulative advantage, embedding, multi-connectivity, homophily); and self-organized network behaviour. Theories and hypotheses from the intersection of network theories, evolutionary theories and complex adaptive systems are drawn and synthesized Finally the co-evolution of local dynamics versus global dynamics of networks over time has been explored through proposing a research framework.


Digital images are usually encoded by lossy compression methods due to their large memory or bandwidth requirements. The lossy compression methods achieve high compression ratio at the cost of image quality degradation. Here presents a lossless color image compression algorithm, based on the hierarchical prediction. For the lossless compression of an RGB image, it is first decorrelated by a reversible color transform and then Y component is encoded by a conventional lossless grayscale image compression method. For encoding the chrominance images, a hierarchical scheme that enables the use of upper, left, and lower pixels for the pixel prediction, whereas the conventional raster scan prediction methods use upper and left pixels. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing is one of the multi-carrier modulation techniques that transmit signals through multiple carriers. These carriers (subcarriers) have different frequencies and they are orthogonal to each other. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing techniques have been applied in both wired and wireless communications, such as the asymmetric digital subscriber line and the IEEE 802.11 standard. Here use the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing as the modulation technique for the transmission of the compressed image.


Von Willebrand factor deficiency in dobermanns VON Willebrand factor (VWF), a large, adhesive multimeric protein found in plasma, platelets and elsewhere, maintains haemostasis by non-covalent bonding and stabilisation of coagulation factor VIII. Von Willebrand disease is the most common hereditary bleeding disorder in animals. Measurement of plasma VWF in parents and progeny of dobermanns revealed a trimodal percentile distribution of vwF with results which were consistent with a single gene defect. The authors also concluded that it may be difficult to distinguish normal homozygotes from heterozygotes if evaluation is based solely on plasma vwF concentration. MOSER, J., MEYERS, K. N. & RUSSON, R. H. (1996) Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 209, 1103 Electron microscopic demonstration of an adenovirus in the hepatocytes of birds experimentally infected with hydropericardium syndrome R. Chandra, S. K. Shukla, M. Kumar, S. K. Garg Veterinary Record (1997) 140, 70-71 HYDROPERICARDIUM syndrome (HPS) in poultry is an emerging disease which was initially reported from Pakistan (Khawaja and others 1988, Cheema and others 1989). In India, a similar disease characterised by the accumulation of straw-coloured clear fluid in the pericardial sac, discolouration of the liver with large necrotic patches, spongy lungs and enlarged kidneys with distended tubules, resulting in 61-62 per cent mortality in broilers, has been reported (Kumar and others 1997). On the basis of the demonstration of basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies in the hepatocytes, the causative agent was suspected to be an adenovirus (Khawaja and others 1988). However, further studies indicated that another agent in association with an adenovirus may be responsible for producing the typical signs of the disease (Afzal and others 1991). The present study reports the presence of a possible aetiological agent in a liver homogenate extract and hepatocytes. The livers from birds naturally infected with HPS were collected during post mortem examination and homogenised in phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7-4 to make a 20 per cent (w/v) liver homogenate extract as described by Kumar and others (1997). The supernatant, collected after centrifugation at 8000 g for 30 minutes, was passed through membrane filters of 0-22 and 0.1 pm average pore diameter. Twenty millilitres of filtrate (10 ml in each tube) were centrifuged at 100,000 g for two hours and the pellets resuspended in either one drop of distilled water to serve as inoculum A, or 1 ml of PBS as inoculum B. A minute drop of inoculum A was placed on a carbon-coated grid, stained with 1-0 per cent phosphotungstic acid and examined under an electron microscope (Philips CM-10). Five commercial broiler chicks, aged three weeks, were each given 0-2 ml of inoculum B subcutaneously and were observed daily for mortality. The birds that died were examined post mortem for characteristic lesions of HPS. The liver from a bird showing severe changes was collected in 2-5 per cent glutaraldehyde in PBS and processed for transmission electron microscopy (Doane and Anderson 1987). Briefly, the tissues from different sections of the liver were trimmed to 1 to 2 mm cubes, washed in PBS and post fixed in 1.0 per cent osmium tetraoxide. After dehydration, the tissues were embedded in Araldite Cy 212. The blocks were sectioned, stained with toludine blue and examined under light microscopy. The areas showing severe changes were retained during further trimming. The ultrathin sections were then prepared and placed on carbon-coated grids and stained using uranyl acetate and lead citrate. The sections were examined by transmission electron microscopy (Philips CM-10). Electron microscopical examination of the liver extract from the initial natural infection which formed inoculum B was not done. In negative staining electron microscopy, the pellet obtained after ultracentrifugation of liver homogenate extract prepared from naturally infected birds (inoculum A) showed a large number of isometric virus particles measuring 85 to 90 nm in diameter. Both empty and complete virus particles were seen. It also retained the disease producing capacity and caused the death of all five inoculated chicks by day 5 after inoculation. On post mortem R. Chandra, S. K. Garg, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, S. K. Shukla, M. Kumar, Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Sciences, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263 145, District Nainital (US Nagar) Uttar Pradesh, India 70


There is a strengthened assimilation tendency of industrial structure all over China.The sustainable development of economy has been troubled by difficulties on adjusting and upgrading Industrial structure all the times.The main factor is contending for resources among local governments,which Led directly to the deviation of government functions and connotation chaos of regional economic development.Emphasizing the transformation of government functions,clearing the connotation of regional economic development in the Twelfth Five Years is still a major issue.


While climate change denial is pervasive throughout the United States, it is more acute in some regions than others. One such region is the Southeastern U.S., which is also an area projected to suffer the most direct harms from climate change over the near term. This article makes a modest — though unconventional — suggestion for how to chip away at climate change denial culture in the Southeastern U.S.: using mass media (television commercials) to convey to Southeastern citizens the ways in which entities that they tend to trust accept the science of climate change and/or are taking climate action. The article first discusses the effects of climate change on the Southeast, then summarizes a recent study demonstrating the disproportionate climate change related economic and health impacts on the Southeast relative to other regions of the United States. Next, the article diagnoses some of the cultural and sociopolitical causes for climate denial in the Southeast, before proposing "associational messaging" through mass media as an avenue for addressing the disconnect between southern political culture and climate change. This proposal is related to the "vouchers" theory of risk communication, whereby trusted members of an individual's cultural group help convince the group that information conforms with the group's pre-existing worldviews. What we call associational messaging, however, is not a pure voucher, but rather conveyance of information about the climate views and actions of entities that southern climate skeptics are more likely to identify with and trust, in an effort to assuage their skepticism. These media messages highlight the climate action positions and policies of (1) the United States' military, (2) specific Fortune 500 companies (as representative of "the private sector/free market" that southerners generally support), (3) the insurance industry (also representative of the "private sector/free market"), and (4) sports and recreation groups and related industries (both outdoor sports and recreation groups and college and professional sports teams). Identification of mechanisms for influencing southern culture to embrace climate action — without simply relying on obliteration of the culture or hoping to outnumber current anti-climate voters with voters already inclined to support climate action — is an important step toward ushering in substantial and long-lasting policies to address climate change in the United States.


In this paper, a new method for optimum design of frame structures is presented. The method is based on a hierarchical decomposition of the structure into two-levels, namely, the bottom- and the top-level. The bottom-level consists of several subproblems each dealing with the cross-sectional sizing of a given frame-element. The top-level consists of one subproblem which is formulated for configuration design of the frame structure. Since there may be a large number of frame elements, a new shape multiplier method has been developed to simplify the formulation of the bottom-level subproblems. Furthermore, a two-level solution procedure has been developed which first solves the bottom-level subproblems based on their monotonicity analysis. It then solves the top-level subproblem as it coordinates, based on a linear approximation, the solutions to the bottom-level subproblems. Three examples with increasing degree of difficulty are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.


Hot aqueous and methanol extracts of the two selected herbal medicines such are Vellarugu chooranam (V.C) and Amukkirai Chooranam (A.C) were examined for total phenolic and flavonoid contents and in vitro antioxidant activity using four different methods. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents in methanol extract of V.C were found to be higher (44.41±1.26mg GAE/g; 174.44±9.32mg QE/g) than in the methanol extract of A.C (20.56±0.67mg GAE/g; 7.21±0.85mg QE/g). Hot methanol and aqueous extracts of both medicines showed low antioxidant activity in DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP methods and Iron chelating activity not found at highest possible concentration. V.C contains higher concentrations of total phenolic and flavonoid contents than A.C and can also exert greater antioxidant activity than A.C, although the activities demonstrated were lower than the positive control Trolox. The in vitro antioxidant activity was not related with the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the methanol and aqueous extracts of both herbal medicines (A.C and V.C). Keywords—Activity, Different extracts, Herbal medicine, in vitro antioxidant.


OBJECTIVE
Employment appears to influence employees' sense of purpose, insofar as work roles can provide life direction and allow individuals to fulfill meaningful aims or have regular goal-related activity engagement. However, research is needed on which specific characteristics of the work predict employees' sense of purpose. The current study sought to quantify the degree to which specific work characteristics, including skill variety, autonomy, coworker support, and supervisor support, were associated with initial levels and changes in purpose. Additionally, we examine positive and negative work-home spillover as moderators of these relationships.

METHODS
We examined hypothesized relationships in a subsample (N = 4,963) of a nationally representative panel study which included between two and three assessments of work characteristics, spillover, and sense of purpose, each roughly 10 years apart.

RESULTS
Using multilevel models to assess within-person associations and lagged effects, we found that greater skill variety and coworker support but not autonomy or supervisor support, were associated with higher levels of purpose. Moreover, increases in purpose were associated with higher initial levels of skill variety. These relationships were not moderated by spillover.

CONCLUSION
Individuals with skill variety and coworker support at work appear to experience the strongest levels of sense of purpose.


This study aims to point out and analyze, from the perspective of practice theory, the process in which ambidexterity are formed within the innovation process, considering the mutual constitution between local actions and institutional logics. Qualitative data were collected from a longitudinal approach throughout the development of an innovative software solution for the mining industry. The results show that process of becoming ambidextrous is based on three stages that reflect the relationships between logics and actions: generation of initial conflicts, reaction to conflicts and stabilization via logic-action dynamics.


: Chest pain is well reported in emergency settings and angina pectoris reveals sever underlying cardiovascular disease. The search for various inflammatory markers including interleukin 6 (IL-6) to label it is under investigation. Objective: To determine the frequency of raised Interleukin-6 levels in patients with angina pectoris. Methods; This cross sectional study was conducted during July to December 2018 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi; where 100 cases of angina pectoris with normal ECG and cardiac enzymes were included and their detailed sociodemographic and clinical history was taken. Three ml of venous blood was collected in a sterilized disposable syringe and assessed for IL-6 level. The values more than 5 ng/ml were considered as raised. Results: In this study there were total 100 cases out of which 66 (66%) were males and 34 (34%) females. The mean age was 54.19±6.72 years. There were 70 (70%) cases that had age more than 50 years. There were 18 (18%) cases with DM, 28 (28%) had HTN and 42 (42%) had smoking history positive. Raised IL-6 was seen in 72 (72%) of cases. Raised IL-6 were almost equal in both genders (p= 0.89) while it affected more with age group of more than 50 years comprising 80% of its respective group with p= 0.07. IL-6 levels were significantly higher in cases with DM and HTN with p values of 0.04 and 0.02 respectively while this difference was not significant in smokers and non smokers. Conclusion; Angina pectoris is a first step towards to ischemic cardiac diseases. Raised IL-6 levels are almost seen in every 3 out of 4 (72%) cases. These levels are significantly raised in cases with DM and HTN.


The US Department of Energy standards for laundry and dishwashers are expected to be announced soon for appliances built after Jan. 1, 1999. To meet these high-efficiency targets, the OEM designers are searching for practical solutions to improve the efficiency of these appliances. The availability of turbidity sensing on appliances will provide design engineers with a way to determine how soiled a particular load of clothes or dishes may be so engineers can then create a control system that adapts the operation of the machine to save water, time, and energy, while providing superior cleaning performance. Because of this capability, the turbidity sensor is emerging as a key building block developing the next generation of energy-efficient "smart" appliances. This article is intended to provide some insight to the origin of turbidity sensing, improvements to the technology since its introduction, and its relative importance to the appliance industry today. Different turbidity sensor configurations are discussed, along with practical design issues the engineer will need to address.


Currently 17 million Americans have diabetes mellitus (DM); 90% of these have type 2 DM. Of these 17 million, 5.9 million remain undiagnosed. The undiagnosed patient with type 2 DM may be asymptomatic for years, while hyperglycemic injury to target organs occurs long before the development of frank diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes among adults is estimated to increase to almost double the present number by 2025. People with diabetes and at risk for diabetes are also at risk for cardiovascular disease. Several investigators have now demonstrated the benefit of controlling blood glucose levels as well as other risk factors in this population to decrease the incidence of microvascular and macrovascular disease. Prevention or delaying the onset of type 2 DM can be accomplished with a program of diet, weight loss, and exercise.


Introduction : Septicaemia is a clinical syndrome characterized by systemic inflammatory response. It is has been reported to be one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among children in developing countries of the world. Objectives : the aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of septicaemia in children brought to the Institute of Child Health Banzazzau, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, (ABUTH) Zaria and to isolate the aetiologic agents responsible for septicaemia in these children. Methods : Blood samples of children (aged one month – 12 years) with clinical symptoms of suspected septicaemia was taken under strict aseptic condition and inoculated into thioglycolate broth then incubated for 24hrs Subcultures were made after the first 24 hrs onto blood, chocolate and MacConkey agar plates and also when there were signs of bacterial growth shown by turbidity of the samples. Identification of isolates was based on their morphology on agar plates, Gram stain reaction and biochemical properties. Results : The mean age was three years with a peak in the first year of life. The male: female ratio was 1:1.3. Staphylococcus aureus and  Salmonella species were the commonest isolates accounting for 24 (43.64%) and 13 (23.64%) respectively. Other bacterial isolates included Coagulase negative staphyloc occi(CoNS) (7.27%), Citrobacter  specie (10.94%), Pseudomonas  specie (7.24%), Proteus  species (3.64%) and Klebsiella  species (3.64%). Conclusion : Results show both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria to be implicated with septicaemia with Staph aureus and Salmonella being the most frequent aetiologic agents, children less than or equal to five years were mostly affected, there is a need for routine monitoring of bacterial isolates and the age group at risk. Keywords : Bacterial isolates, children, septicaemia.


Some phytoplankton utilized a novel mechanism for obtaining nitrogen from primary amines. They oxidized the primary amines to produce extracellular hydrogen peroxide and aldehydes and used the third reaction product, ammonium, as a nitrogen source. The specificity, regulation, inhibition by bromoethylamine, and potential dependence on copper of this process are described.


In developed countries, aggregate employment is strongly pro-cyclical and almost as volatile as output. In China, the correlation of aggregate employment and output is close to zero, and the volatility of aggregate employment is very low. We argue that the key to understanding the aggregate employment fluctuations in China is the labour reallocation between the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, and that income effect plays an important role in determining the labour reallocation dynamics in both the long-run and short-run.


Abstract : Until approximately 1970, radio frequency (RF) requirements were driven by military usage, and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) efforts were conducted by the military and a few select industries. This was largely due to the fact that limited applications and high costs had kept the use of consumer electronics to a minimum. The past three decades, however, have seen a fundamental shift in this status quo. Starting with the emergence of the microprocessor in the mid-70s, commercial applications began to take the lead of technology development and the consumer market has grown exponentially. Widespread use of electronics in both the military and private sectors has impacted the available use of the RF spectrum. As the demands for ?connectivity? continue to grow, wireless capabilities are competing for the bandwidth necessary to handle the expanding flow of information society has come to expect. As consumer usage has come to drive electronic development, the military also finds itself in the position of adopting and adapting commercial technology. This study examines the origins of the military and commercial requirements that regulate EMC, evaluates the adequacy of these requirements with respect to current spectrum demands, and investigates the potential for harmonizing military and commercial EMC assessments.


Common anti-phishing advice tells users to mouse over links, look at the URL, and compare to the expected destination, implicitly assuming that they are able to read the URL. To test this assumption, we conducted a survey with 1929 participants recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk and Prolific Academic platforms. Participants were shown 23 URLs with various URL structures. For each URL, participants were asked via a multiple choice question where the URL would lead and how safe they feel clicking on it would be. Using latent class analysis, participants were stratified by self-reported technology use. Participants were strongly biased towards answering that the URL would lead to the website of the organization whose name appeared in the URL, regardless of its position in the URL structure. The group with the highest technology use was only minorly better at URL reading.


In order to discern slowly varrying weak anomalies on a background of noise field and to deal with problem like limiting the instability of the solution due to high-frequency magnification of errors in the series of calculations such as the downward-continuation of potential field, this paper discusses the designing principles of an optimum linear digital filter in the least square sense. This may be transformed into the mathematical problem, namely how to select the optimum filtering function in the space of the L2 linear normed function. It would be very complicated and difficult, if the problem is to be solved directly in the space domain. We found that it may be mathematically much simplier and more rigorous, if we should directly select the trnasfer function or the wave-number response of the optimum linear filter in the wave-number domain by using the method of isoperimetric problem in calculus of variations. In this way, the expression of the transfer function of the selected optimum linear filter is quite simple, namely,L(f,k)=|Si(f, k)|2/{|Si(f,k)|2+λ|Ni(f,k)|2}where|Si(f,k)|2 and |Ni(f,k)|2 express the energy spectra (or the power spectra) of the filter input signal and noise respectively; f, k are wave numbers on the x and y directions.In regard to the above-mentioned two types of the problem and the two related optimum linear filters, the expressions of L(f,k) are the same. They differ only in the conditions of selecting the parameter (λ).After setting up the theoretical expression of the transfer function L(f,k) of the optimum linear filter, we should be able in the least square sense to examine various linear filtering methods, so far published in foreign and domestic literatures in solving the above-mentioned two types of the problems and to show that the optimum results of the linear filtering can be achieved theoretically for different signal and noise conditions. Thus, it provides theorectical criterion for designing two-dimensional linear digital filters.For the observed results of the harmonic functions of potential fields, the above theory can be applied easily to the designing of optimum linear digital filters, but only in the approximate manner.


In modern rheumatology, comorbid infections (CIs) have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The increased susceptibility of SLE patients to infections is associated with various immune disorders. A number of risk factors for CIs in SLE, which are related to the disease and its treatment, have been identified. However, despite the fact that there are a sufficient number of these factors, the contribution of each of them varies considerably with the cohort of examined SLE patients. The paper considers the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of some bacterial and viral CIs in patients with SLE in current clinical practice. It underlines the importance of primarily influenza and pneumococcal vaccination in patients with SLE since among them the risk of deaths from lower respiratory tract infections is quite high. The ways of further investigations in the framework of the problem under consideration are outlined.


BACKGROUND
Dalteparin is used to prevent thrombotic complications in dogs. Measurement of anti-factor Xa (anti-FXa) activity is currently used for monitoring therapy, but remains a nonfunctional test. The calibrated automated thrombogram (CAT) could be a suitable approach for functional monitoring.

OBJECTIVES
We hypothesized that the CAT will detect decreased endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) in healthy dogs receiving dalteparin.

METHODS
Twenty-four healthy adult Beagles were randomly allocated to 4 equal groups. A single subcutaneous (SC) dose of 50 U/kg, 100 U/kg, or 150 U/kg of dalteparin was given. Platelet-poor plasma (PPP) was collected over a 24-hour period and evaluated by thrombin generation (TG) via CAT, anti-FXa activity, and APTT. Analysis was performed with a repeated-measures general linear mixed model, and the treated groups were compared to a placebo group.

RESULTS
Time, dose, and time-dose interaction significantly affected ETP (P < .0001 for all effects), peak (P < .0001 for all effects), rate index (P < .0006 for all effects), and anti-FXa activity (P < .0001 for all effects). No significant time trend was detected in the control group. Dogs receiving the 100 U/kg dalteparin SC injection showed the most homogeneous response of ETP inhibition among treated groups. The % inhibition of ETP from baseline increased nonlinearly as a function of anti-FXa activity (r2 = .8186).

CONCLUSIONS
The CAT assay can be employed to measure the effects of dalteparin at different doses in healthy dogs, showing sensitivity to time- and dose-dependent changes in ETP and other TG variables. Further investigation of the CAT as a tool for monitoring low molecular weight heparin therapy in dogs is warranted.


The Earth ecological systems offer fundamental resources and services for human social and economic development. The assessment of ecological values and services, significant for ecological and environmental protection, is mainly based on ecology and economics principles and has emphasized on the use of remote sensing and GIS technology in recent years. This paper presents a case study in which the MODIS data were used to retrieve important variables such fractional vegetation cover, net primary productivity, and so on that were incorporated into the modelling of ecological capital (EC) in Shihezi area, Xinjiang. The model for ecological capital assessment was built using the MODIS retrievals, meteorological observation, and in-situ measurements, and used to estimate the spatial distribution of the values of EC in the south Junggar border in the years from 2000 to 2009. The results indicate that the EC values of the grasslands and water bodies account for a large portion of the total in the study area. The spatial distribution of the EC is uneven, exhibiting high values in the south and low in the north of the study area. The capital values in the last ten years have been totally reduced down in the area, and the components of the capital values have varied to some extent. This was mainly caused by two reasons: climate change and human activities. The fluctuation of precipitation and rising-up temperature are main natural factors that caused the reduction and variation of regional EC values. On the other hand, the Shihezi Oasis and the surrounding areas are characterized as strong human interference in the last 50 years or so such as agricultural and urban land development, and overgrazing. The findings show that the EC has been threatened in the south Junggar border since 2000 and more restrictive policy and measures for ecological protection is necessary.


Background People living and dying with non-malignant conditions, and those from minority communities face inequalities in both access to, and provision of, end of life care (Care Quality Commission, 2016; Tackling Inequalities in End of Life Care for Minority Groups VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance Project Group, 2018; Our commitment to you for end of life care. The government response to the review of choice in end of life care.Department of Health 2016). The length of time hospice care is given is shorter for those with non-malignant conditions (Allsop, Ziegler, Mulvey, Russell et al., 2018). This new two-year project role started in April 2019. Aims To improve access and equity of access to hospice services; increase understanding of the diverse needs of our community; be recognised as a valued community-based service and effectively communicate the hospice role to health professionals and the wider public; seek out and effectively manage partnerships. Methods First 12 months: April–August 2019; define and scope current situation; review current patient and local population data/demographics. Literature review. Map current partnerships and pathways. Survey staff to identify self-reported confidence and competence in providing care and support – identify training needs. Map existing available services in acute trusts and the community. Engage with external health and social care organisations. August 2019–March 2020: gap needs analysis of current service provision. Root cause analysis to identify barriers that minority groups might face accessing end of life care services. Continue with engagement with local partners. Results We anticipate a greater understanding of the hospice's role in meeting the palliative care needs of patients with non-malignant conditions. We seek to use these data and increased knowledge to assess and explore potential changes in service model delivery in response to identified unmet need. We aim to enable staff to provide personalised high quality end of life care regardless of diagnosis, age, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender identification, disability or social circumstances through the development of training. We anticipate stronger partnership working to provide high quality end of life care. Conclusions A proactive approach by the hospice in reviewing services and improving understanding/needs. An evaluation process of the role will occur.


Although various factors, such as myocardial infarction, pressure overload and volume overload, result in the development of congestive heart failure (CHF), the pathogenesis of contractile dysfunction in this situation is poorly understood. Loss of cardiac muscle due to myocardial infarction appears to activate several humoral and hormonal pathways, including the renin-angiotensin and sympathetic systems which serve as adaptive mechanisms to maintain cardiovascular performance at early stages of failure. However, under chronic conditions, an altered hormonal profile produces deleterious effects and permits transition from the compensated heart to the failing heart. Since several risk factors--such as hypertension, hypercholesteremia, stress, diabetes, smoking, ageing, obesity and lack of exercise--precipitate ischemic heart disease, it is possible that development of CHF due to myocardial infarction may vary according to the nature of these pathogenetic entities. While a great deal of research work remains in this area of investigation, it is becoming evident that cardiac dysfunction is intimately associated with calcium handling abnormalities of cardiac cells. In view of the role of sarcolemma, sarcoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria in regulating the intracellular concentration of Ca2+ and the importance of myofibrillar interaction with Ca2+, it appears that Ca2+ handling and Ca2+ interaction abnormalities in the failing heart are due to remodelling of different subcellular organelles. Such a remodelling of the subcellular organelles may be due to changes in gene expression for different protein components or the interactions of proteins with phospholipids. Accordingly, it is proposed that new interventions, which could prevent the remodelling of subcellular organelles, be developed for improving the therapy of CHF.


The interpretation of brain images is a crucial task in the practitioners' diagnosis process. Segmentation is one of key operations to provide a decision support to physicians. There are several methods to perform segmentation. We use Hidden Markov Random Fields (HMRF) for modelling the segmentation problem. This elegant model leads to an optimization problem. Particles Swarm Optimization (PSO) method is used to achieve brain magnetic resonance image segmentation. Setting the parameters of the HMRF-PSO method is a task in itself. We conduct a study for the choice of parameters that give a good segmentation. The segmentation quality is evaluated on ground-truth images, using the Dice coefficient also called Kappa index. The results show a superiority of the HMRF-PSO method, compared to methods such as Classical Markov Random Fields (MRF) and MRF using variants of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO).


Corporations' contribution to tax revenues is increasingly under public scrutiny, and a large academic literature is devoted to understanding corporate income tax avoidance. I examine whether tax avoidance extends to non-income taxes - i.e., taxes for which the tax base is not income. Taxing authorities around the world rely on non-income taxes for revenue. Despite the importance of these taxes from a public finance perspective, we know little about the extent to which corporations remit these taxes. Using a sample of U.S.-based multinational corporations, I present descriptive data indicating significant variation - across industries, countries, and firms - in the magnitude of non-income-tax remittances. In multivariate tests, I find that the accounting effective tax rate, a proxy for the extent of income tax planning, is positively associated with non-income-tax remittances, suggesting tax avoidance is aimed at all taxes. I also find that industrial diversification, a proxy for tax compliance complexity, is positively associated with non-income-tax remittances, despite existing evidence that the coinsurance benefits of diversification reduces a firm's income tax liabilities.


This study explored the structural and dielectric features of Mg0.5Tm0.5Fe2O4 (Tm = Zn and Cu) that were synthesized by the Solid-state reaction (SSR) method. The X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that the prepared samples are single-phase cubic structure without any impurity. Rietveld-refined X-ray diffraction results reveal the formation of cubic structure and all the peaks of Mg0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 and Mg0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 are perfectly indexed in the cubic (Fd-3 m) structure. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss variation with frequency were also explored. Both decrease when the relevant alternating field is increasing and become constant at high frequencies which reflects the important role of interfacial polarization. Furthermore, the Mg0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 having the smallest crystallite size (~ 44.73 nm) has a high dielectric constant (~ 4.41 × 104) value as compare to Mg0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4.


Abstract Andrews (1984) has shown that any flow satisfying Arnol'd's (1965, 1966) sufficient conditions for stability must be zonally-symmetric if the boundary conditions on the flow are zonally-symmetric. This result appears to place very strong restrictions on the kinds of flows that can be proved to be stable by Arnol'd's theorems. In this paper, Andrews' theorem is re-examined, paying special attention to the case of an unbounded domain. It is shown that, in that case, Andrews' theorem generally fails to apply, and Arnol'd-stable flows do exist that are not zonally-symmetric. The example of a circular vortex with a monotonic vorticity profile is a case in point. A proof of the finite-amplitude version of the Rayleigh stability theorem for circular vortices is also established; despite its similarity to the Arnol'd theorems it seems not to have been put on record before.


The objective of this study was to estimate the frequency of heart failure (HF) readmissions that can be prevented through a quality improvement (QI) program. All HF patients at the University of Connecticut Health Center who had a readmission within 30 days of discharge in the year before (2008) and the year after (2011) a QI program were studied. Through chart review, the percentage of patients who had preventable readmissions in each year was estimated. Prior to the QI initiative, chart reviewers identified that 20% to 30% of readmissions were preventable. The decrease in readmissions after the QI program was similar at 28%. Fewer readmissions after the QI initiative were deemed preventable compared with before. In conclusion, this study found a percentage of preventable readmissions similar to the actual 28% reduction in readmissions after a QI program was launched. Preventable readmissions were less common after the QI program was in place.


The intensification of agricultural production systems demand power, supplied by agricultural machinery, besides more agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides and seeds. Agricultural mechanization provided increase in the global production of food, fiber and bioenergy; and it brought economic benefits to producers, but causing larger energy consumption. Energy embodiment in agricultural machinery has been approached, but data usually are from car industry. This study aimed to determine the energy demand in a plant that assembles five types of agricultural machinery from a multinational manufacturer located in Piracicaba municipality in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. That plant assembles two types of sugarcane harvester, coffee harvesters, sprayers and planters. Inputs taken into account were classified as direct (electricity, LPG, water etc.) and depreciated inputs (infrastructure, tools etc.), regarding how they are consumed over time. Data about the physical demand were determined, providing the material flows, which were used to estimate the energy and water flows by multiplying them by their respective energy embodiment and water footprint indices. Electricity accounts for the highest share (88.9%) in the total energy demand. From depreciated inputs, buildings accounted for almost the full embodied energy, but this category had a minute participation on the total energy (<2.5%). The industrial assembling requires on average 13.5 GJ of energy and 34.8 m³ of water per machine assembled. While labor accounts for two thirds of the average water footprint per machine produced, its embodied energy was very small, thus can simply be neglected from the energy analysis. The indirect water footprint related to depreciated inputs is very minor and can be neglected without affecting the final result. The direct water demand was from 5.6 to 15.7 m³ per machine compared to the average indirect water footprint of 23.7 m 3 . In terms of per unit mass of assembled machine, the embodied energy demand varied from 1.22 to 2.36 MJ kg -1 and the water footprint varied from 3.27 to 6.27 L kg -1 .


Three constraints affect the growth of crops in the Rabi (dry) season in southern Bangladesh: these are the clay nature of the soils which decreases the infiltration of water, the conserving of soil moisture with the increasingly dry conditions and the accumulation of salts on the soil surface through capillary from saline groundwater. Field experiments were conducted in the salt-affected areas of southern Bangladesh. The objectives of the study were to: (i) evaluate the effect of straw and irrigation frequency on crop growth and yield in maize and sunflower, and (ii) determine the combined effect of straw and irrigation frequency on the salinity, osmotic potential and moisture of soils. The experiment was carried out in farmers' fields with eight treatments and was replicated three times during the dry (rabi) season of 2018–2019. There were two rice straw treatments (with or without straw), and 4 irrigation frequencies (at intervals of 5–7,10–12,15–17 or 20–25 days). Maize and sunflower seeds were sown by dibbling in no-tilled systems. The results showed that rice straw significantly affected the crop growth and yield, increasing the yield of maize and sunflower by 22% and 4.3% compared to treatments of without residue. The irrigation treatments also significantly affected crop yields. There was no interaction between straw levels and irrigation. The causes of these effects appeared to be improved water relations: rice straw and more frequent irrigations both reduced the salinity and osmotic potential of soils compared with treatments without straw while the soil moisture was greater in rice straw treatments and increased with the increased soil layers. We conclude that straw mulching and irrigation management practice could be used in coastal saline of heavy soils to reduce soil salinity, osmotic potentials thereby increasing crop yields in no-tilled systems.


A constrained binuclear palladium catalyst system affords selective thioetherification of a wide range of functionalized arenethiols with chloroheteroaromatic partners with the highest turnover numbers (TONs) reported to date and tolerates a large variety of reactive functions. The scope of this system includes the coupling of thiophenols with six- and five-membered 2-chloroheteroarenes (i.e., functionalized pyridine, pyrazine, quinoline, pyrimidine, furane, and thiazole) and 3-bromoheteroarenes (i.e., pyridine and furane). Electron-rich congested thiophenols and fluorinated thiophenols are also suitable partners. The coupling of unprotected amino-2-chloropyridines with thiophenol and the successful employment of synthetically valuable chlorothiophenols are described with the same catalyst system. DFT studies attribute the high performance of this binuclear palladium catalyst to the decreased stability of thiolate-containing resting states. Palladium loading was as low as 0.2 mol %, which is important for industrial application and is a step forward in solving catalyst activation/deactivation problems.


In the nanophotonics community, there is an active discussion regarding the origin of the selective absorption/scattering of light by the resonances with nanorod arrays. Here we report a study of the resonances in ordered indium-tin-oxide (ITO) nanorod arrays resulted from the waveguide modes. We discover that with only 2.4% geometrical coverage, the micron-length nanorod arrays strongly interact with light across an extra-wide band from visible to mid-infrared resulting in less than 10% transmission. Simulations show excellent agreement with our experimental observation. Near-field profile obtained from simulation reveals the electric field is mainly localized on the surfaces of the nanorods at all the resonances. Theoretical analysis is then applied to explain the resonances and it was found that the resonances in the visible are different from those in the infrared. When the light arrives at the array, part of the light wave propagates through the free space in between the nanorods and part of the wave is guided inside the nanorods and the phase difference at the ends of the rod interactions forms the basis of the resonances in the visible region; while the resonances in the infrared are Fabry-Perot resonances of the surface guided waves between the two ends of the nanorods. The simple analytical formulae developed predict the spectral positions of these resonances well. This information can be used to design devices like wavelength-selective photodetector, modulators, and nanorod-based solar cells.


In this thesis I examine in detail the role hair plays in Welsh medieval literature, predominantly in the work of the poets of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries known as the Cywyddwyr, but also in the Mabinogion. While the messages are sometimes ambiguous, the exercise of examining them can nevertheless deepen our understanding of the cultural and social context in which the men and women of Wales played out their lives. In a short Part One, we see how in recent decades many studies have considered the semiotics of the body, but how in medieval scholarship, opportunities have been missed by taking for granted some of the social constructs such as the traditional link between a woman's hair and her beauty, and the dominance of the male figure, omissions which this thesis will seek to redress. To help interpret the signs transmitted by different hairstyles in the period, this first part also outlines some relevant aspects of the value systems of medieval society, in particular the division between men and women, and the conflicting expectations imposed on women by contemporary notions of virtues and ideals. The main body of the thesis focuses on the texts themselves, and for the first time draws together the plethora of references to the hair of both men and women, offering translations into English of all the extracts examined. Part Two looks in detail at women's hair, considering briefly how a close analysis of the poems to hair might pose a challenge to the traditional distinctions between the Canu Serch and Canu Mawl categorisation. Part Three considers men's hair, including, of course, their beards. This side-by-side approach is important as it goes part of the way towards bucking the trend of treating men and women in isolation, appreciating that to understand either sex fully, they need to be discussed in the same arena.


Electromechanical interaction of cells and extracellular matrix are ubiquitous in biological systems. Understanding the fundamentals of this interaction and feedback is critical to design next‐generation electroactive tissue engineering scaffold. Herein, based on elaborately modulating the dynamic mechanical forces in cell microenvironment, the design of a smart piezoelectric scaffold with suitable stiffness analogous to that of collagen for on‐demand electrical stimulation is reported. Specifically, it generated a piezoelectric potential, namely a piezopotential, to stimulate stem cell differentiation with cell traction as a loop feedback signal, thereby avoiding the unfavorable effect of early electrical stimulation on cell spreading and adhesion. This is the first time to adapt to the dynamic microenvironment of cells and meet the electrical stimulation of cells in different states by a constant scaffold, diminishing the cumbersomeness of inducing material transformation or trigging by an external stimulus. This in situ on‐demand electrical stimulation based on cell‐traction‐mediated piezopotential paves the way for smart scaffolds design and future bioelectronic therapies.


BACKGROUND
The incidence of recurrent trauma in the elderly is unknown. This study evaluated the risk of readmission for injury among elderly trauma patients compared with an uninjured geriatric cohort. The effects of age, sex, race, preexisting illness, and ISS on trauma recidivism were determined.

METHODS
Population based retrospective cohort analysis of the elderly using administrative data from the Health Care Financing Administration was performed. The measured outcome was trauma admission within 5 years. The injured were identified using hospital discharge data and the Injury Severity Score generated by ICD-Map. The uninjured were identified from Medicare eligibility files. Comorbid illness was assessed using ICD-9CM codes from outpatient and inpatient data files.

RESULTS
The injured members of the cohort had increased risk of subsequent new trauma admission (p < 0.001). Increasing Injury Severity Score, age, and comorbid illness are associated with trauma recidivism.

CONCLUSION
Trauma in the elderly is recurrent. Further study is required to develop age and injury specific interventions to prevent recurrent injury.


From the results of the safety construction management carried out to steel arch bridges, the new erection design method based on fail safe concepts and the monitoring system to observe factors having influence on bridge behavior and conditions for safety were confirmed possible to be indispensable elements of technology in order to perform the safety construction management, but, they were not still shown to be rational and effective. Therefore, in this paper, through the application of risk-based engineering to the steel bridge constructions, the concepts and procedures of fail-safe design and monitoring were arranged, and it was examined whichever they were more rational and so on. As a result, the risk-based construction and management was verified to insure safety under erection and to be no problem in practical use. キーワード: 安全施工管理,リスクベース工学,フェールセーフ設計,モニタリング


This work proposes a simple method to enhance amplitude stability in Pierce crystal oscillator. The method is based on a modification of the conventional Pierce oscillator. The pro- posed topology is all-analog, yet it does not use an amplifier-based feedback loop for amplitude control, hence, it saves power, reduces complexity, and layout area. The proposed method does not adversely impact oscillator's phase noise, and gives good amplitude control results against process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations. An example design for a 40 MHz Pierce crystal oscillator is implemented in a standard 0.13 μm CMOS technology and compared to conventional Pierce oscillator results. The current consumption of the oscillator core is 500 μA off 1.2 V supply. The proposed method is extensible to other CMOS VCOs, including Giga-Hertz ones, to reduce design margins on VCO gain.


This paper discusses a frequency domain method for blind identification of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) convolutive channels driven by white quasistationary sources. The sources can assume arbitrary probability distributions, and in some cases, they can even be all Gaussian distributed. We also show that under slightly more restrictive assumptions, the algorithm can be applied to the case when the sources are colored, nonstationary signals. We demonstrate that by using the second-order statistics of the channel outputs, under mild conditions on the nonstationarity of sources, and under the condition that channel is column-wise coprime, the impulse response of the MIMO channel can be identified up to an inherent scaling and permutation ambiguity. We prove that by using the new algorithm, under the stated assumptions, a uniform permutation across all frequency bins is guaranteed, and the inherent frequency-dependent scaling ambiguities can be resolved. Hence, no post processing is required, as is the case with previous frequency domain algorithms. We further present an efficient, two-step frequency domain algorithm for identifying the channel. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the performance of the new algorithm.


This study aims to determine the effect of the application of Problem Based Learning method on the scientific attitude and learning results of 7th grade students in MTs NW 01 Kembang Kerang towards the study materials in biology. This research is a Quasi Experiment (Pseudo-experiment) that was designed to use both Pre-test and Post-test control groups. The study samples were taken randomly from two different classes i.e. VII C as the experimental group and VII D as the control. The output of this study was presented in a scientific attitude of the students, analysed by descriptive test as well as the learning results of the students which were observed by unpaired T-test. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the scientific attitude of the students in the experimental class compared to the control one where the conventional method was applied. This was shown by the difference in the variance of students' attitude (86.6% in the experimental group; 47.2% in the control). There was also a significant difference in the learning results of these students. The T-test was performed and it has been shown that the significance value was 0.019 < 0.05. To summarize this study, Problem Based Learning method had a significance impact in the scientific attitude and learning results of the students, this suggested that this method can be used as an alternative technique to teach biology in school.


The late Hans Penner critiqued the Phenomenology of Religion 25 years ago for confusing the subject and its object. His critique remains relevant to contemporary methods that accept participant statements uncritically. Beginning with a detailed analysis of one lived religion article and expanding to a broader critique, this essay illustrates the contradictions that remain in lived religion methodologies and similar approaches to the study of religion. While reflecting respect for practitioners and expanding the concept of religion, these methods ignore the agency of participants to represent themselves strategically and reinforce common discourse on religion, only expanding the category at its safe margins. The agendas that drive various studies work at cross purposes because of the inherent contradictions, and the dichotomy between scholars (and people like scholars) and practitioners that often results contradicts the rhetoric of respect and treating everyone equally.


OBJECTIVE
To know the satisfaction degree manifested by outpatients presenting in the hospital pharmacy department pharmaceutical care clinic, and to identify organizational improvement items.

METHOD
A survey with 8 close-ended questions and 1 open-ended question was designed where patients recorded their suggestions or comments on the service provided. A sample size of 591 surveys was estimated, which allowed to estimate parameters of interest with a 95% confidence interval and a +/- 5% accuracy, adjusting by a 40% potential losses percentage.

RESULTS
Overall response rate was 70%; 23.6% of patients considered that finding the PD was difficult or very difficult. Waiting time was normal for 51.8%, but long or excessive for 18.4% of patients. Fifty-six percent of individuals considered the information received useful or very useful, and 81.1% considered that staff friendliness was good or very good. Care timetable was inadequate for 18.1%; 47.7% pointed out that the attending pharmacist did not identify him or herself. Overall satisfaction extent was 7.51 (of 10). A plan for improvement activities was designed and implemented regarding: care timetable, pharmacy department signaling, and general information on clinic matters.

CONCLUSIONS
The survey allowed to identify organizational weaknesses. Overall score was very satisfactory, yet improvable. Future surveys are required for result comparisons and continual improvement assessment.


In this study, we imaged the effect of repeated amphetamine injections over >24h using simultaneous PET/fMRI in non-human primates and demonstrate that both internalization and recycling of receptors take place during this timeframe. We provide novel insight into D1 vs. D2 receptor contributions by using a D1 blocking agent in combination with amphetamine injections. These results shed a new light into the timelines of dopamine receptor subtype adaptations and not only provide a link to existing in vitro results but also a foundation for linking receptor-specific mechanisms to initial stages of psychostimulant drug use and abuse.


: Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab is an approved adjuvant treatment, in combination with oral corticosteroids, for patients with pemphigus vulgaris, a severe and potentially life-threatening autoimmune blistering skin disorder. Updated approaches to the management of pemphigus vulgaris support rituximab as a first-line adjuvant treatment to induce remission early in the course of disease; however, its feasibility in the clinical setting is often reduced by a series of limitations, including high cost of this biological drug, physician and patient concern for the risk of adverse reactions, and uncertainty regarding the optimum dosing and schedule of administration. The standard approved rituximab dosages, which are derived from lymphoma protocols, have been recognized to exceed the effective dose required for inducing B cell depletion, since the B cell burden in pemphigus vulgaris is much lower than in lymphoproliferative disorders. To overcome these limitations, recent research has investigated alternative regimens of rituximab, using lower doses of the drug. Moreover, differences in patient and disease characteristics that are highlighted in the literature strongly suggest that therapy should be tailored individually on a case-by-case basis: personalized treatment schedules may be necessary to optimize response to treatment and tolerability in different subjects, with the possibility of repeated infusions for severe forms and in case of relapse. Finally, low-dose regimens of rituximab were suggested to be favorable during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing a lesser degree of immune cell depletion while retaining a sufficient response. In conclusion, the current literature suggests that lower-dose regimens of rituximab are not only tolerable and cost-effective but may also be associated with a positive response in pemphigus vulgaris, comparable to that achieved with higher doses especially in early disease. Further evidence from rigorous clinical trials will be required to optimize lower-dose regimens of RTX and establish their position within the treatment scenario of pemphigus vulgaris. thyroid diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, Sjogren's syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel diseases, and alopecia areata. These autoimmune disorders have been additionally observed with higher frequencies in first-degree relatives of patients with pemphigus compared to unrelated controls. 8,13 Future studies are needed to elucidate whether these are sporadic associations or the expression of a predisposition to autoimmunity, which might potentially be relevant to the response to B cell depleting therapies in pemphigus.


Endophytic fungi isolated from medicinal ferns serve as significant natural resources for drug precursors or bioactive metabolites. During our survey on the diversity of endophytic fungi from Dicranopteris species (a genus of medicinal ferns) in Guizhou, Apoiospora was observed as a dominant fungal group. In this study, seven Apiospora strains, representing four new species, were obtained from the healthy plant tissues of three Dicranopteris species—D. ampla, D. linearis, and D. pedata. The four new species, namely Apiospora aseptata, A. dematiacea, A. dicranopteridis, and A. globosa, were described in detail with color photographs and subjected to phylogenetic analyses using combined LSU, ITS, TEF1-α, and TUB2 sequence data. This study also documented three new hosts for Apiospora species.


This paper presents a new model which incorporates features of developing country agriculture that may be critical in shaping the welfare outcomes of alternative agricultural policies. The model features heterogeneous households linked through markets in a rural economy-wide structure, with endogenous market participation for farmers facing transactions costs. The model is used for policy simulations, including market price support, production subsidies, input subsidies, transaction cost removal, and unconditional cash transfers. Applications for six countries highlight the diversity of potential impacts of such policies. The simulation results suggest that there are circumstances under which some market interventions, such as input subsidies, may be only slightly less efficient at transferring incomes than direct payments.


The unlicensed ISM spectrum is getting crowded by wireless local area network (WLAN) and wireless personal area network (WPAN) users and devices. Spectrum sharing within the same network of devices can be arbitrated by existing MAC protocols, but the coexistence between WPAN and WLAN (e.g., ZigBee and WiFi) remains a challenging problem. The traditional MAC protocols are ineffective in dealing with the disparate transmit-power levels, asynchronous time-slots, and incompatible PHY layers of such heterogeneous networks. Recent measurement studies have shown moderate-to-high WiFi traffic to severely impair the performance of coexisting ZigBee. We propose a novel mechanism, called cooperative carrier signaling (CCS), that exploits the inherent cooperation among ZigBee nodes to harmonize their coexistence with WiFi WLANs. CCS employs a separate ZigBee node to emit a carrier signal (busy tone) concurrently with the desired ZigBee's data transmission, thereby enhancing the ZigBee's visibility to WiFi. It employs an innovative way to concurrently schedule a busy tone and a data transmission without causing interference between them. We have implemented and evaluated CCS on the TinyOS/MICAz and GNURadio/USRP platforms. Our extensive experimental evaluation has shown that CCS reduces collision between ZigBee and WiFi by 50% for most cases, and by up to 90% in the presence of a high-level interference, all at negligible WiFi performance loss.


*Corresponding author E mail: firstname.lastname@example.com J. Pharm. BioSci. 2(2015) 30 -35 Abstract: Inhibition of intestinal α glucosidase for preventing rise in postprandial glucose level in diabetics forms an integral part of the management of diabetes. Parsley leaves extract (PLE) in the present study was explored for the same. The chemical analysis of extract revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, sterols and triterpenes. In this preliminary study PLE showed promising effects in in vitro test using isolated α glucosidase enzyme from rat intestine and in vivo study using different doses of PLE were carried against a sucrose load of 2.5 g/kg body weight in rats. The maximum inhibition of αglucosidase produced by the extract was upto 80%. The extract exhibited a dose dependent reduction in glucose level with a maximum response being observed was shown by 400 and 800 doses of PLE at intervals of 120 and 180 mins. This effect of PLE indicates that it has a potential in preventing postprandial hyperglycemia. In conclusion the extract of parsley leaves possesses the excellent antihyperglycemic effect and this may be mediated by α glucosidase inhibition. These results suggest that PL extract can provide an effective remedy for managing postprandial hyperglycemia in a more safe and cost effective manner.


Studies have revealed that wood ash cement concrete just like other pozzolanic cement concrete has lower early strength compared to plain cement concrete. Nanoparticles have been found to improve the early strength of concrete due to its small size and large surface area. This paper reports the findings on influence of nanosilica on the workability and compressive strength of wood ash cement concrete. Wood ash was obtained as a waste product from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) bread bakery, Ogbomoso. Biological synthesis of nanosilica using kola pod extract and silica precursor (1:5) was conducted at Nanotechnology research group laboratory at LAUTECH. The chemical composition, specific gravity and grading of wood ash, fine and coarse aggregate used were determined. Concrete with 10% wood ash replacement for cement was produced using 1:2:4 mix proportion and water to binder ratio of 0.5. Nanosilica was added at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% levels. Concrete with no wood ash and nanosilica served as the control. Workability and compressive strength of the plain and composite concrete were determined. The results showed that concrete workability was enhanced with introduction of nanosilica. The compressive strength also increased with the addition of nanosilica. Maximum compressive strength of 27.53MPa was achieved at 90 days with 1.5% nanosilica addition. It was concluded that nanosilica enhanced workability and improved both early and later strength development in wood ash concrete with 1.5% as the optimum addition.


The relevance of metal interactions with azides has led us to the study of the complexation of some transition metals, nickel and cobalt, by azidoacetone by means of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Complexes were obtained from solutions of NiCl(2) and CoCl(2) , in methanol/water. Nickel was electrosprayed with other counter ion, bromide (Br), as well as other solvent (ethanol/water). For nickel and cobalt, the complexes detected were single positively charged, with various stoichiometries, some resulted from the fragmentation of the ligand, the loss of N(2) being quite common. The most abundant species were [Ni(II)Az(2)X](+) where X = Cl, Br and Az = azidoacetone. Some of the complexes showed solvation with the solvent components. Metal reduction was observed in complexes where a radical was lost, resulting from the homolytic cleavage of a metal coordination bond. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments followed by tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) analysis were not absolutely conclusive about the coordination site. However, terminal ions of the fragmentation routes were explained by a gas-phase mechanism proposed where a C-C bond was activated and the metal inserted subsequently. Density functional theory calculations provided structures for some complexes. In [Ni(II)Az(2)X](+) species, one azidoacetone ligand is monodentate and the dominant binding location is the alkylated nitrogen and not the carbonyl group. The other azidoacetone ligand is bidentate showing coordination through alkylated nitrogen and the carbonyl group. These are also the preferential binding sites for the most stable isomer of [Ni(II)AzX](+) species.


This paper studies the stability of the fractional order unified chaotic system with sliding mode control theory. The sliding manifold is constructed by the definition of fractional order derivative and integral for the fractional order unified chaotic system. By the existing proof of sliding manifold, the sliding mode controller is designed. To improve the convergence rate, the equivalent controller includes two parts: the continuous part and switching part. With Gronwall's inequality and the boundness of chaotic attractor, the finite stabilization of the fractional order unified chaotic system is proved, and the controlling parameters can be obtained. Simulation results are made to verify the effectiveness of this method.


COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM June 2003/Vol. 46, No. 6 5 The one sure thing about "E-service" is that it's anything but one thing. Seek out the phrase with your favorite search engine and the findings tell the story. The global proliferation of businesses, universities, and government offices adopting e-service technologies appears limitless. It's clearly a term that translates in any language, though its definition is unique to each application. The e-services explosion is what industry watchers view as the next wave of the Internet evolution; that is, working for the user. This month's special section brings together industry executives and scholars to examine the current phenomenon and predict the future course of service models that complete tasks, solve problems, or perform transactions online. Guest Editor Thomas Stafford called on some of the leading marketing and technology experts to introduce several perspectives of e-services as a digital business model, and to detail technologies already in service. The section concludes with a lively debate over two of the leading platform architectures on which to build distributed applications: Microsoft's .NET and Sun Microsystems' J2EE. Also in this issue, Walid Ben-Ameur and Hervé Kerivin tout the strengths of new economical virtual private networks for reducing network costs without compromising quality of service. E. Vance Wilson examines the promise of asynchronous health care communication for patients as well as their health care providers. Peter Hart and Ziming Liu contend an "institutional guarantee" would help garner user trust in the use of digital media for preserving confidential information. Fay Cobb Payton points out the digital divide involves far more than Internet access, suggesting policymakers seek to improve the social network that will help close that gap. And Kevin Desouza profiles innovative ways to foster knowledge exchange among employees. A trio of security scenarios is explored in our featured columns this month. In "Legally Speaking," Pamela Samuelson revisits the Andrew Bunner case (sued for publishing DeCSS software that decrypts DVDs), arguing freedom of speech should triumph over trade secrets. In "Security Watch," Rebecca Mercuri ponders the merits of quantification tools for measuring the cost of IT security. And Diomidis Spinellis is skeptical of the potential of trusted computing platforms in "Inside Risks."


In general, low-rank representation (LRR) aims to find the lowest rank representation with respect to a dictionary. In fact, the dictionary is a key aspect of low-rank representation. However, a lot of low-rank representation methods usually use the data itself as a dictionary (i.e., a fixed dictionary), which may degrade their performances due to the lack of clustering ability of a fixed dictionary. To this end, we propose learning a locality-preserving dictionary instead of the fixed dictionary for low-rank representation, where the locality-preserving dictionary is constructed by using a graph regularization technique to capture the intrinsic geometric structure of the dictionary and, hence, the locality-preserving dictionary has an underlying clustering ability. In this way, the obtained low-rank representation via the locality-preserving dictionary has a better grouping-effect representation. Inversely, a better grouping-effect representation can help to learn a good dictionary. The locality-preserving dictionary and the grouping-effect representation interact with each other, where dual pursuit is called. The proposed method, namely, Dual Pursuit for Subspace Learning, provides us with a robust method for clustering and classification simultaneously, and compares favorably with the other state-of-the-art methods.


Assistive robots are emerging to address a social need due to changing demographic trends such as an ageing population. The main emphasis is to offer independence to those in need and to fill a potential labour gap in response to the increasing demand for caregiving. This paper presents work undertaken as part of a dressing task using a compliant robotic arm on a mannequin. Several strategies are explored on how to undertake this task with minimal complexity and a mix of sensors. A Vicon tracking system is used to determine the arm position of the mannequin for trajectory planning by means of waypoints. Methods of failure detection were explored through torque feedback and sensor tag data. A fixed vocabulary of recognised speech commands was implemented allowing the user to successfully correct detected dressing errors. This work indicates that low cost sensors and simple HRI strategies, without complex learning algorithms, could be used successfully in a robot assisted dressing task.


In this response, I agree with much of what Schrag says about the principled limits of neuroscience to inform educators' decisions about approaches to learning. However, I also raise questions about the extent to which discoveries about 'deficits' in brain function could possibly help teachers. I dispute Schrag's view that externalism/internalism debates in the philosophy of mind are relatively arcane and lack implications for the importance or otherwise for education of discoveries about the brain.


Unwarranted clinical variation in healthcare impacts access, productivity, performance, and outcomes. A strategy proposed for reducing unwarranted clinical variation is to ensure that population-based data describing the current state of health care services are available to clinicians and healthcare decision-makers. The objective of this study was to measure variation in colorectal cancer surgical treatment patterns and surgical quality in Manitoba and identify areas for improvement. This descriptive study included individuals aged 20 years or older who were diagnosed with invasive cancer (adenocarcinoma) of the colon or rectum between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014. Laparoscopic surgery was higher in colon cancer (24.1%) compared to rectal cancer (13.6%). For colon cancer, the percentage of laparoscopic surgery ranged from 12.9% to 29.2%, with significant differences by regional health authority (RHA) of surgery. In 86.1% of colon cancers, ≥12 lymph nodes were removed. In Manitoba, the negative circumferential resection margin for rectal cancers was 96.9%, and ranged from 96.0% to 100.0% between RHAs. The median time between first colonoscopy and resection was 40 days for individuals with colon cancer. This study showed that high-quality colorectal cancer surgery is being conducted in Manitoba along with some variation and gaps in quality. As a result of this work, a formal structure for ongoing measuring and reporting surgical quality has been established in Manitoba. Quality improvement initiatives have been implemented based on these findings and periodic assessments of colorectal cancer surgery quality will continue.


To model the cryobiological responses of cells and tissues, permeability characteristics are often measured at suprazero temperatures and the measured values are used to predict the responses at subzero temperatures. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the rate of cooling from +25 to +4°C influenced the measured water transport response of ovarian tissue at subzero temperatures in the presence or absence of cryoprotective agents (CPAs). Sections of freshly collected equine ovarian tissue were first cooled either at 40°C/min or at 0.5°C/min from 25 to 4°C, and then cooled to subzero temperatures. A shape‐independent differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) technique was used to measure the volumetric shrinkage during freezing of equine ovarian tissue sections. After ice was induced to form in the extracellular fluid within the specimen, the sample was frozen from the phase change temperature to −50°C at 5°C/min. Replicate samples were frozen in isotonic medium alone or in medium containing 0.85 M glycerol or 0.85 M dimethylsulfoxide. The water transport response of ovarian tissue samples cooled at 40°C/min from 25 to 4°C was significantly different (confidence level >95%) from that of tissue samples cooled at 0.5°C/min, whether in the presence or absence of CPAs. We fitted a model of water transport to the experimentally‐derived volumetric shrinkage data and determined the best‐fit membrane permeability parameters (Lpg and ELp) of equine ovarian tissue during freezing. Subzero water transport parameters of ovarian tissue samples cooled at 0.5°C/min from 25 to 4°C ranged from: Lpg = 0.06 to 0.73 µm/min·atm and ELp = 6.1 to 20.5 kcal/mol. The corresponding parameters of samples cooled at 40°C/min from 25 to 4°C ranged from: Lpg = 0.04 to 0.61 µm/min·atm and ELp = 8.2 to 54.2 kcal/mol. Calculations made of the theoretical response of tissue at subzero temperatures suggest that the optimal cooling rates to cryopreserve ovarian tissue are significantly dependent upon suprazero cooling conditions. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.