Abstract Background We aimed to describe the characteristics of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) in Korea with assessment for time trends. Methods We performed a multicenter retrospective observational cohort study including biopsy-confirmed native IgAN cases from four tertiary hospitals in Korea. Time eras of diagnosis were stratified into 1979–2003, 2004–9 and 2010–17. The prognostic variable was progression to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) analyzed by multivariable Cox regression analysis. Results We included 1366 (from 1979 to 2003), 1636 (from 2004 to 2009) and 1442 (from 2010 to 2017) IgAN patients in this study. In the recent periods, IgAN had relatively better clinical characteristics, as patients had higher estimated glomerular filtration rates and lower baseline blood pressures than before. The use of renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers increased from 57.7% in 1979–2003 to 80.0% in 2010–17. During a median follow-up duration of 11.3 years, 722 patients progressed to ESKD with an incidence rate of 12.5 per 1000 person-years. The 10-year risk of progression to ESKD was lower in 2010–17 compared with that of 1979–2003 [adjusted hazard ratio 0.692 (95% confidence interval 0.523–0.915)], even after adjustment for multiple clinicopathologic characteristics. The use of RAAS blockers was a significant mediator (P < 0.001) for the association between time trends and lower 10-year ESKD risk. Conclusions Clinicopathologic characteristics of IgAN in Korea have changed over time. Although the limitation of a retrospective observational study remains, the result showed that the prognosis of IgAN has improved over the study period, possibly related to increased prescription of RAAS blockers.


Abstract Study of the shell features of Givetian and Frasnian spiriferid brachiopods attributed to the genus Cyrtospirifer shows that the type species C. verneuili has micro-ornament consisting of fine concentric growth lines, radial capillae, with microspines arising from some capillae, spine bases appear to extend into the primary shell layer. Its dorsal interior features a pseudoseptum supporting the cardinalia. Micro-ornament of Cyrtospirifer varies widely and is a useful criterion for characterization of species of the genus. Most Frasnian species retained in the genus have micropustulate shells. Two late Givetian and Frasnian phylogenetic species groups of Cyrtospirifer are recognized based on similarities of shell form and external and internal shell features. Species of the verneuili-syringothyriformis group have transverse alate shells, and are the most abundant and widespread group in Frasnian deposits worldwide. The verneuiliformis group includes the oldest known species of Cyrtospirifer with narrow hinges and more inflated ventral valves where shell width is close to or equal to length. The oldest Cyrtospirifer originated in western Europe during the late Givetian, and subsequently migrated at different times during the Frasnian into other shelf areas of Eurasia, North America and China. The initial migration of Cyrtospirifer into tropical and subtropical shelf settings in North America coincided with the middle Frasnian eustatic sea level rise of Devonian Transgressive-Regressive (T-R) cycle IIc of Johnson and others. A second late Frasnian dispersal from western Canada to subtropical carbonate and clastic shelves in the southwestern and central U.S. coincided with the initial sea level rise of T-R cycle IId of Johnson and others. The Frasnian species Cyrtospirifer glaucus Crickmay, 1952a (middle Frasnian of western Canada) is the type species for Regelia Crickmay, 1952b, and is considered a valid genus, and is not a synonym of C. chemungensis (Conrad, 1842) as previously interpreted by some authors. Regelia differs from Cyrtospirifer in the absence of a delthyrial plate, complete in-filling of the delthyrial cavity by secondary shell material, its simpler rod-like teeth, and its fewer medial sinal shell plications. Species of Regelia are restricted to the middle to late Frasnian of North America.


Agencification is not a new phenomenon in the public sector. However, since 1980s in developing societies, not only the number of new agencies has gone up but, the existing agencies have also been revitalized under the rubric of New Public Management capsulated in World Bank/IMF's guided governance and administrative reforms. These agencies have been created in an administrative system which has weak political institutions but well entrenched bureaucracy with strong colonial bureaucratic traditions such as centralization of power exercised by a class of senior bureaucrats occupying top positions in federal ministries. The article examines agencification in developing countries with particular reference to Pakistan and Tanzania agency model. It noted that agencification in developing countries was rarely, if ever, pursued within a systemic conceptual and legal framework, but agencies are often seen as an alternative to already existing state-owned companies which are plagued with corruption. The article therefore draws some observations and remedial actions for improvement in the performance of public sector organisations in developing countries in general and Africa in particular. It concludes that while most government ministries in developing societies cannot trigger public sector transformation due to a lack of performance improvement, agencies are unlikely to do so because of the particular autonomy of the administrative systems in which they are embedded.


In 1972 a North Vietnamese offensive of more than 30,000 men and 100 tanks smashed into South Vietnam and raced to capture Saigon. All that stood in their way was a small band of 6,800 South Vietnamese (ARVN) soldiers and militiamen, and a handful of American advisors with U.S. air support, guarding An Loc, a town sixty miles north of Saigon and on the main highway to it. This depleted army, outnumbered and outgunned, stood its ground and fought to the end and succeeded. Against all expectations, the ARVN beat back furious assaults from three North Vietnamese divisions, supported by artillery and armored regiments, during three months of savage fighting. This victory was largely unreported in the U.S. media, which had effectively lost interest in the war after the disengagement of most U.S. forces. Thi believes that it is time to set the record straight. Without denying the tremendous contribution of the U.S. advisors and pilots, this book is written primarily to tell the South Vietnamese side of the story and, more importantly, to render justice to the South Vietnamese soldier.


The aim of this study was to delineate the mode of action of 20-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) in airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells. ASM metabolizes arachidonic acid by various enzymatic pathways, including the cytochrome P-450 (CYP-450) omega-hydroxylase, which leads to the production of 20-HETE, a bronchoconstrictive eicosanoid. The present study demonstrated that 20-HETE induced concentration-dependent tonic responses in ASM, whereas transient responses were recorded in Ca2+-free solution, suggesting an intracellular Ca2+ release process. 20-HETE inotropic responses were abolished by 36 microM 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate or 1 microM thapsigargin but were insensitive to 10 microM ryanodine, indicating that inositol triphosphate receptors likely control the release of intracellular Ca2+. Sustained tension, which required Ca2+ entry, was partially blocked by 1 microM nifedipine (an L-type) and 100 microM Gd3+ (a nonselective cationic channel blocker). Moreover, in the absence of selective 20-HETE receptor antagonists, 20-HETE tonic responses were inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner (0.1-10 microM) by capsazepine, a well-characterized vanilloid receptor antagonist. Capsazepine was also observed to reverse cumulative responses to 20-HETE and capsaicin, a TRPV1 agonist. In addition, capsazepine pretreatment largely modified the sustained inotropic responses to 20-HETE, suggesting that 20-HETE cross-reacted with TRPV1 receptors with a low affinity (microM) or that its specific receptor was inhibited by the vanilloid antagonist. Data obtained using RHC-80267, ONO-RS-082, and eicosatetraynoic acid, respective inhibitors of diacylglycerol-lipase, phospholipase A2, and CYP-450 omega-hydroxylase, reveal that intracellular arachidonic acid production and its 20-HETE metabolite may be responsible for the activation of nonselective cationic channels and tonic responses.


Objective measurements of forefoot plantar pressures were taken on 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The Harris mat footprint test and the Brand slipper sock test were used to assess both compressive shearing forces. The Harris mat footprint test is a static used when the patient is unshod. The Brand slipper sock test is a dynamic test used while the shoe is worn. An experimental sandal was designed and used for the treatment of symptomatic forefoot callosities. The Harris mat footprint test results improved dramatically after the patients had worn an experimental sandal for six months. The Brand slipper sock test results showed marked diminution in the pressure profile while the patients wore the experimental sandal. All of the patients improved in their functional abilities while wearing the experimental sandal.


Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have emerged as a fundamental technology for machine learning. High performance and extreme energy efficiency are critical for deployments of CNNs, especially in mobile platforms such as autonomous vehicles, cameras, and electronic personal assistants. This paper introduces the Sparse CNN (SCNN) accelerator architecture, which improves performance and energy efficiency by exploiting the zero-valued weights that stem from network pruning during training and zero-valued activations that arise from the common ReLU operator. Specifically, SCNN employs a novel dataflow that enables maintaining the sparse weights and activations in a compressed encoding, which eliminates unnecessary data transfers and reduces storage requirements. Furthermore, the SCNN dataflow facilitates efficient delivery of those weights and activations to a multiplier array, where they are extensively reused; product accumulation is performed in a novel accumulator array. On contemporary neural networks, SCNN can improve both performance and energy by a factor of 2.7× and 2.3×, respectively, over a comparably provisioned dense CNN accelerator.


Abstract The spectral characteristics (absorption, fluorescence and lifetimes of fluorescence) of methine dyes in different solvents are presented. The results show that the methine dyes in polar solvents emit a dual fluorescence. From the dependence of the fluorescence spectrum on the dye con-centration it is suggested that excimer formation is responsible for the second band of fluorescence.


Osteosarcoma is an uncommon tumor. Family occurrence of osteosarcoma is even rarer. Four cases of osteosarcoma in two siblings and in a father and son treated at our Institute with surgery and chemotherapy are reported. These patients had no other tumors in their family history, and had negative p53 mutations in exons 5-9 by SSCP analysis. RB, CDK4, MDM2, c-myc, c-fos, and p53 gene expression, which are the major genes involved in osteosarcoma susceptibility, were studied. Our results revealed an inactive form of p53 sporadically seen in the samples, a total loss of Rb protein expression, an increased expression of Cdk4, MDM2, c-fos, and c-myc proteins which literature currently reports being the principal alterations found in osteosarcoma. These findings confirm that specific genetic alterations occur in osteosarcoma pathogenesis.


Gaucher disease is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by a deficiency in the glucocerebrosidase enzyme. Glucocerebroside then accumulates in macrophages (Gaucher cells), causing anemia, thrombocytopenia, organomegaly and major bone problems. Discovery of the enzyme deficiency by Brady in 1964, and subsequent extraction and partial deglycosylation of the native enzyme led to a treatment. 1,600 people out of 5,000 possible worldwide patients benefit from this drug. The 70 French treated patients (out of an estimated 200) show remarkable improvement.


West Nile virus (WNV)—a mosquito-borne arbovirus— entered the USA through New York City in 1999 and spread to the contiguous USA within three years while transitioning from epidemic outbreaks to endemic transmission. The virus is transmitted by vector competent mosquitoes and maintained in the avian populations. WNV spatial distribution is mainly determined by the movement of residential and migratory avian populations. We developed an individual-level heterogeneous network framework across the USA with the goal of understanding the long-range spatial distribution of WNV. To this end, we proposed three distance dispersal kernels model: 1) exponential—short-range dispersal, 2) power-law—long-range dispersal in all directions, and 3) power-law biased by flyway direction—long-range dispersal only along established migratory routes. To select the appropriate dispersal kernel we used the human case data and adopted a model selection framework based on approximate Bayesian computation with sequential Monte Carlo sampling (ABC-SMC). From estimated parameters, we find that the power-law biased by flyway direction kernel is the best kernel to fit WNV human case data, supporting the hypothesis of long-range WNV transmission is mainly along the migratory bird flyways. Through extensive simulation from 2014 to 2016, we proposed and tested hypothetical mitigation strategies and found that mosquito population reduction in the infected states and neighboring states is potentially cost-effective. Author summary The underlying pattern of West Nile virus (WNV) geographic spread across the United States is not completely clear, which is a necessary step for continental or state level mitigation strategies to reduce WNV transmission. We report a network model that explains the geographic spread of WNV in the United States. West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne pathogen that infects many avian species with different movement ranges. From our research, we found that migration patterns and routes play an essential role in the WNV spatial distribution. The virus spreads in all directions at short distances because of local birds and short-distance migratory birds. However, the virus also disperses long distances along the avian migratory routes. Our model is designed to be flexible and therefore can be used to explore spreading patterns of other infectious diseases in other geographic locations.


The author traces the development of Ireland's parallel, and contrasting, alcohol-policy processes. National Alcohol Policy Ireland (1996) contained no realistic strategy for the implementation of its proposals to control consumption. The first piece of licensing legislation, the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2000, enacted after publication of the national alcohol policy document made hardly any reference to this policy. It considerably extended the opening hours of pubs. The four reports of the Liquor Licensing Commission, which was set up by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform immediately after the new legislation was passed, saw alcohol primarily as a commodity to be distributed according to market principles. The Interim Report of the Strategic Task-force on Alcohol (2002) detailed the rapid increase in alcohol consumption on the years between 1989 and 1999 and the consequent increase in alcohol-related harm. The Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 can be seen as a compromise between the contrasting strands of alcohol policy. It allowed for a slight reduction in opening hours. However, the emphasis in the effort to reduce alcohol-related harm is on combating drunkenness rather than the use of consumption control measures.


This paper examines specific features relating to the process of changing the method of assessment and grading in higher education within the European Union, namely:
• that strains on the academic staff are inevitable, given the growing pressures for European integration within a wider (25 nations plus) community;
• that irrespective as to whatever or wherever change takes place in higher education, (be it in curricula design and delivery, assessment and grading, etc.) it has to be undertaken by people who may be resistant to change, and who hence may find the process painful. Consequently, addressing the human dimension (through inclusive involvement) in securing successful change is paramount.
• that changes to the national higher educational systems, by their very nature, create large and complex problems, which hence necessitates very carefully considered policy responses, and sophisticated and sustained implementation strategies (brains).
• that the gains associated with a successful implementation may be greater than those initially sought


Assessing Eligibility for Anticoagulation After Diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation To the Editor Some points in the review by Drs Lip and Lane1 about stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation deserve further discussion. We disagree with the suggestion of using the score for sex, age, medical history, treatment, tobacco, and race (SAMe-TT2R2) as a tool for assessing patients' eligibility for treatment with a non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC). Use of the SAMe-TT2R2 score in everyday clinical practice would require great caution and further evaluation, especially considering that it has been validated as a tool for predicting poor international normalized ratio (INR) control rather than the effect of anticoagulation strategies on clinical outcomes in real-world practice.2 We agree with the guideline from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the management of atrial fibrillation3 that suggests such validation would require a randomized trial of patients in whom poor anticoagulant control is predicted (using the SAMe-TT2R2 score), who would receive either warfarin or a NOAC, to assess efficacy on hard end points, such as stroke and other thromboembolic complications, major hemorrhage, and death. A pragmatic design mimicking real-world practice conditions would be preferable because the degree of benefit with warfarin depends on the time in therapeutic range (TTR). If the TTR is low due to low patient adherence, it is uncertain whether adherence (and outcomes) would improve with a NOAC. We agree with the authors that stroke prevention is a compelling priority for patients with atrial fibrillation and that aspirin does not offer adequate protection to patients carrying a substantial risk of stroke, as confirmed by a recent clinical trial.4 However, in the absence of properly designed trials, choice of anticoagulant drug should rely on clinical grounds and on inclusion and exclusion criteria in trials.


This essay will be part of a forthcoming special issue of the Connecticut Law Review dedicated to the work of my UConn colleague Richard Kay. This contribution offers reflections on Rick's theoretical and historical scholarship on processes of institutional (and, by extension, constitutional) change. Despite the intense focus on law in this work, Rick's approach suggests a surprising ambivalence about law's role in these processes. Part I of this essay discusses this ambivalence in relation to Rick's 2014 legal-historical monograph, The Glorious Revolution and the Continuity of Law. Rick's analysis draws theoretical inspiration primarily (though hardly exclusively) from an Anglo-American tradition, based particularly on the work of H.L.A. Hart. I argue that Rick's Hartian approach ultimately depends on a somewhat strained distinction between law and non-law in processes of change that does not map well onto the historical record that Rick otherwise cogently analyzes. Thus, as a supplement to his Hartian framework, Rick introduces the distinction between the "axiological" underpinnings of a revolution (be they social, political, or cultural) and its "legal" manifestation, i.e., the replacement of an old rule of recognition with a new one. In doing so, Rick's analysis begins to point us toward more complex dynamics in processes of change that I would argue are more robustly captured by an alternative framework, one drawn from a more French tradition. I am referring to the institutional theory of Maurice Hauriou, who was among the greatest administrative law scholars of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Hauriou's theory emphasized how law is in fact intimately bound up with processes of institutional foundation and change rather than being external to them. Part II of this essay explores how Hauriou's approach could reinforce Rick's work in this area, using the example of Rick's seminal 2011 article, Constituent Authority, to demonstrate the potential connections. The key point of contact between Rick's position and that of Hauriou, I argue, is a shared rejection of a position, ultimately championed by Carl Schmitt, which viewed law primarily as a question of existential power (or, as Hauriou put it, as "an attack that has succeeded"). Part III of this essay then returns to Rick's analysis of the Glorious Revolution, arguing that the effort of its protagonists to retain the language of law and to operate within its forms was a key factor in differentiating their ultimately successful and durable process of revolutionary change from other historical examples that proved more fragile. This, I would suggest, is a vindication of Hauriou's central insight about the crucial role of law in allowing such change to achieve legitimacy and durable institutionalization over time.


In the clinical situation, the analyst fails to hear more than he or she hears and spends much time working in the dark. The author raises questions about how we can take cognizance of that state of affairs in our thinking about analytic work. A clinical example illustrates how, in an analytic atmosphere, a patient will correct an analyst's failure to hear. Some ideas are offered about how to maximize the patient's participation in that effort. The author suggests that the problem may not fall precisely under the heading of technique so much as reflecting the analyst's attitude.


A persistent issue with ruminant production during the dry season in the tropics is scarcity of forages. Producers are faced with the search for alternative feed supplements to address this issue without compromising productivity. Acceptability of Piliostigma thonningii as dry season feed supplement to West African dwarf (WAD) goat was investigated in this study. The WAD goats (n=15) were divided into three treatments of five goats each in a completely randomized design. The animals were fed with Panicum maximum without supplementation at 100% (T1), 90% Panicum maximum+10% Piliostigma thonningii (T2) and 80% Panicum  maximum+20% Piliostigma thonningii (T3). Fresh water was also made available throughout the trial that lasted six weeks. Chemical analysis of the forages was observed while feed intake, weight gain and nutrient digestibility were monitored. Results showed that Piliostigma thonningii had a higher (15.25%) crude protein and lower (57.38%) neutral detergent fibre contents than the grass. Both had comparable energy values. Piliostigma thonningii had relatively high mineral contents while the anti-nutrient contents of phytate and oxalate were relatively low. Although the crude protein intake increased with increasing levels of supplementation, the total dry matter intake was not favoured beyond 10% level of Piliostigma thonningii level. It can be concluded that there was no advantage in feeding West African dwarf goat Piliostigma thonningii beyond 10% level.


Abstract A novel synthesis of 1-(β-D-pentopyranosyl)pyridinethione nucleosides utilizing pyridine-2(1H)-thiones and α-bromoxylose or β-bromoarabinose triacetate as starting components is described. The free nucleosides were tested for their potential activity against HIV and different types of tumor virus.


In recent years, demographic analysis in public places such as shopping malls and stations is attracting a great deal of attention. Such demographic information is useful for various purposes, e.g., designing effective marketing strategies and targeted advertisement based on customers' gender and age. For this reason, a number of approaches have been explored for age estimation from face images (Fu et al., 2007; Geng et al., 2006; Guo et al., 2009), and several databases became publicly available recently (FG-Net Aging Database, n.d.; Phillips et al., 2005; Ricanek & Tesafaye, 2006). It has been reported that age can be accurately estimated under controlled environment such as frontal faces, no expression, and static lighting conditions. However, it is not straightforward to achieve the same accuracy level in a real-world environment due to considerable variations in camera settings, facial poses, and illumination conditions. The recognition performance of age prediction systems is significantly influenced by such factors as the type of camera, camera calibration, and lighting variations. On the other hand, the publicly available databases were mainly collected in semi-controlled environments. For this reason, existing age prediction systems built upon such databases tend to perform poorly in a real-world environment. In this chapter, we address the problem of perceived age estimation from face images, and describe our new approaches proposed in Ueki et al. (2010) and Ueki et al. (2011), which involve three novel aspects. The first novelty of our proposed approaches is to take the heterogeneous characteristics of human age perception into account. It is rare to misjudge the age of a 5-year-old child as 15 years old, but the age of a 35-year-old person is often misjudged as 45 years old. Thus, magnitude of the error is different depending on subjects' age. We carried out a large-scale questionnaire survey for quantifying human age perception characteristics, and propose to utilize the quantified characteristics in the framework of weighted regression. The second is an efficient active learning strategy for reducing the cost of labeling face samples. Given a large number of unlabeled face samples, we reveal the cluster structure of the data and propose to label cluster-representative samples for covering as many clusters as possible. This simple sampling strategy allows us to boost the performance of a manifold-based semi-supervised learning method only with a relatively small number of labeled samples. The third contribution is to apply a recently proposed machine learning technique called covariate shift adaptation (Shimodaira, 2000; Sugiyama & Kawanabe, 2011; Sugiyama et al., 16


Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical, laboratory, imaging, and pathology findings associated with emergency department presentations of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) after solid organ transplant (SOT). Methods Fifteen patients presenting to a single tertiary care center between 2004 and 2019 with PTLD after SOT were identified from a pathology database. Twelve patients presenting through the emergency department were included in the study. Demographic, clinical, imaging, pathology, treatment, and outcome data were reviewed. Results Among this 12 patient cohort (7 men; mean age, 44.2 years), transplant history included 4 combined kidney/pancreas, 4 kidney, 2 liver, 1 cardiac, and 1 lung. Mean time from transplant to diagnosis was 7.6 years. Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder was identified on initial computed tomography scans in 10 of 12 patients. The most common sites for PTLD development were the gastrointestinal tract (4/12) and liver (3/12). Outcomes included resolution of PTLD in 9 of 12 patients, with 3 patients dying within 6 months of diagnosis. Conclusions Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder is a serious consequence of solid organ transplantation that can present in various locations and with varied symptomatology in the emergency setting. Other posttransplant complications may present similarly including chronic rejection and infection. Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder should be considered in SOT patients presenting with worsening abdominal pain or constitutional symptoms, even with normal laboratory workup.


Many significant parameters of the superconducting alternator vary considerably from that of a conventional generator because of the rotating shields and very long field time constants. The effects of these parameter values on the dynamic performance of superconducting alternators could be obtained using parameter sensitivity analysis results. Here, results from a companion paper by A.H.M.S. Ula, J.M. Stephenson, and P.J. Lawrenson (see ibid., vol.3, no.1, p.179-86, 1988) are used to predict the dynamic performance of a 2000 MVA superconducting alternator, first with a single rotor screen and then with double rotor screens. It is shown how the parameter survey results can be used for design modifications resulting in significantly improved dynamic performance. Finally, a novel design which further improves the dynamic performance of the alternator is presented. >


Abstract

The study's main objective was to examine the relationship between board diversity and earnings quality of non-financial firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and how ownership concentration acted as a moderator. As of December 31, 2020, the NSE had 39 non-financial firms listed. The secondary data was collected over a 13-year period (2008-2020). The study used a quantitative research design and positivist research philosophy. The data were analyzed using panel regression. It was put through diagnostic and specification tests. The study found that board diversity had a significant impact on non-financial firms' earnings quality, both with and without ownership concentration as a moderator. The moderator model outperformed the one without (ownership concentration). The study concludes that board diversity has a significant impact on non-financial firms traded on the NSE. The findings suggest that non-financial companies listed on the NSE should carefully examine the criteria used to define board diversity and its characteristics. Thus, boards will be more accountable to shareholders, reducing earnings manipulation.

Keywords: Board diversity, Earnings quality, Non-financial firms.


Optically transparent single crystals of 2-amino-5-chloropyridinium-4-amino benzoate (2A5CP4AB) were grown at room temperature using solution growth technique. The structure was solved with a support of single crystal XRD, which revealed that the title compound belongs to the monoclinic crystal system having centrosymmetric space group P21/n. The UV-Vis spectrum and photoluminescence properties of the title compound showed the optical transmittance and emission behavior of the compound. The optical band gap was evaluated using the Tauc plot and it was found to be about 3.53 eV. The third order nonlinear optical behavior of the crystal was determined using Z-scan technique. Mechanical properties of the title compound were studied using Vickers microhardness study.


Globally there is recognition of a health workforce crisis characterised by critical shortages, migration, and an uneven geographical distribution of health professionals. The Nursing Strategy for South Africa records that for many decades nursing has been a career of choice for South Africans from all sectors of society (Department of Health 2008: 11). That has changed as nursing has become less appealing to learners. This raises questions as to the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of learners towards the nursing profession. Aim of the study : The aim of the study was to determine factors influencing high school learners towards nursing as a career. Methodology : A descriptive cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative design was used to guide the study. The study was conducted in two high schools that were purposely sampled; the population comprised of high school learners from the two schools. Questionnaires were used to collect data from Grades 10 and 11. Life Orientation subject teachers were interviewed during data collection. Quantitative data was analysed by using SPSS. Qualitative data was analysed by using thematic analysis. Results : The findings of this study revealed that learners had inadequate knowledge of nursing. Interviews with teachers showed that this inadequate knowledge by learners could be associated with a lack of active involvement of the Department of Health in promoting nursing as a career.


This research aims at finding out whether: (1) Visual Novel is more effective than Picture Slides in teaching writing to the seventh grade students of SMP Al-Islam I Surakarta; (2) the seventh grade students of SMP Al-Islam I Surakarta having high creativity have better writing skill than those having low creativity; and (3) there is interaction between teaching media and students' creativity to teach writing.
The method applied in this research was experimental research. The research was conducted at SMP Al-Islam I Surakarta in the academic year of 2013/2014. The population of the research is the seventh grade students from regular classes of SMP Al-Islam I Surakarta. Two samples were taken by using cluster random sampling. The class VIIC was used as the experimental class and class VIIG
as the control class. Each of classes consists of 36 students. In collecting the data, several steps were applied: (1) giving creativity test to know student's level of creativity; (2) conducting teaching media to the students; (3) carrying out post-test; and (4) analysing the students' writing skills. The data were obtained from creativity test and writing test. Furthermore, to analyse the data, the researcher applied descriptive and inferential statistics using ANOVA and Tukey test.
The result of the research finding leads to the conclusions that: (1) the students who are taught using Visual Novel have same writing skills with those who are taught using Picture Slides. In other word, the use of Visual Novel is as effective as Picture Slides; (2) the students who have high creativity have better writing skill than those who have low creativity; and (3) there is an interaction between teaching media and students' creativity in teaching writing for the seventh grade of SMP Al-Islam I Surakarta.
Finally, the results of this research imply that in teaching writing, the teacher should make the students accustom to writing. The right decisions of teacher in teaching writing are important. The teacher must be wise to select effective media and the material itself. Visual Novel and Picture Slides have been proven to be an effective media in improving students' writing skill. An effective media can be used to help the students to focus on the lesson. It's because teaching media also influences the students' creativity in teaching writing. Thus, it is recommended that in order to get maximum result and effect on students'writing skills, teacher are suggested to be more innovative in using various teaching media. For other researchers, it is hoped that these research findings can be used as a reference for future researches. Moreover other researchers mayconduct researchers viewed from other psychological aspects.
Keywords: writing, Visual Novel, Picture Slides, creativity, experimental study


A new method of performing Oriental diagnosis using Meridian Imbalance Diagram which, consisting of 23 different ratios, has a highly discriminatory significance. Using this method, Oriental and Western diagnosis in the same patients were compared. To do this we compared the Meridian Imbalance Diagrams of 22 patients entering our hospital for surgical operations with those 19 in a healthy control group. Four significantly different ratios became evident. The postoperative reports showed that 10 of the patients were suffering from stomach cancer. The Oriental diagnosis data of this new group were then compared to the data of the control group. This time, 10 ratios were found to be significantly different. This shows the existence of a pattern of Oriental diagnosis corresponding to a specific Western diagnosis.


The purpose of this paper is to underscore the importance of environmental policy implementation for sustainable development among the Samburu pastoralist community of Kenya. The need to manage environment in order to reduce loss of biodiversity and the adverse effects of climate variability is the preoccupation of many governments. Adaptation strategies have been suggested by global institutions to protect the rural vulnerable communities, to adapt to climate variability, resourced based conflicts and environmental degradation. Kenyan National Government enacted The National Environmental Policy 2013 to address the management of the ecosystem and sustainable use of natural resources to foster sustainability of especially the vulnerable pastoral and nomadic communities like the Samburu. Existing literature on the implementation of the Government environmental policy 2013 suggests that little has been achieved to find out traditional knowledge of the Samburu people on adaptation strategies on the administration of environment and natural resources for their own sustainability. The study was guided by the following questions: What are the adaptation strategies to loss of bio-diversity among the Samburu pastoral community in Samburu Central Sub-County? How do the Samburu pastoral community manage pasture and water resources for their sustainability? What are the strategies the Samburu people use to enhance food security? The study employed hermeneutic phenomenology qualitative research design. Ecosystem theory was used to guide the study. Both primary and secondary data were used by the study. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionares, in-depth interviews, written field notes, Focused Group Discussions and recording of the interviews to collect invaluable information from 20 participants composed of Samburu elders (lpayani), morans (Lmuran), women (ntomonok) in Samburu Central Sub-County, Samburu County. Secondary data was collected by reviewing literature from google scholar, jystor, mendeley desktop, online libraries, National and County Government websites to access academic journal articles, books and reports. Purposive sampling technique was used to identify key informers from the Samburu community who participated and have valuable knowledge in the environmental administration and sustainable use of natural resources among the Samburu pastoral community. Ethical consideration was adhered to while conducting research at every stage. Data collected from the field was filtered into themes, coded, interpreted and reported as the main findings. The study found out that the success of the adaptation strategies advocated by the Environmental policy 2013 for sustainability of the Samburu pastoralist community of Kenya depends on how the National and County Government is able to incorporate traditional knowledge of the Samburu people on environmental administration and sustainable use of pasture and water. The fact that the Samburu people have been able to adopt to adverse of loss of bio-diversity, harsh climatic conditions that complicated the management of pasture and water, and diversification of livelihoods to address food insecurity points to the need to integrate traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge. Keywords: Environmental management, National Environmental Policy 2013, Adaptation Strategies, Samburu pastoralist, Sustainability


Students often make mistakes on their introductory programming assignments as part of their learning process. Unfortunately, providing custom repairs for these mistakes can require a substantial amount of time and effort from class instructors. Automated program repair (APR) techniques can be used to synthesize such fixes. Prior work has explored the use of symbolic and neural techniques for APR in the education domain. Both types of approaches require either substantial engineering efforts or large amounts of data and training. We propose to use a large language model trained on code, such as Codex, to build an APR system -- MMAPR -- for introductory Python programming assignments. Our system can fix both syntactic and semantic mistakes by combining multi-modal prompts, iterative querying, test-case-based selection of few-shots, and program chunking. We evaluate MMAPR on 286 real student programs and compare to a baseline built by combining a state-of-the-art Python syntax repair engine, BIFI, and state-of-the-art Python semantic repair engine for student assignments, Refactory. We find that MMAPR can fix more programs and produce smaller patches on average.


HOW DOES an 82-bed community hospital respond to the official White House designation of "primary hospital" for emergency services during a presidential visit? The Clinton Hospital was faced with this dilemma when President Carter decided to visit Clinton, an industrialized but relatively isolated town of 13,900 population located in north central Massachusetts. His visit was part of a campaign promise to keep in touch with the people. His advisors chose Clinton as a typical American town. The President accepted invitations to participate in its town meeting held March 16, 1977, and to remain overnight in the home of a private citizen. During his participation at the town meeting, President Carter was greeted by 15,000 people outside and 850 people inside the town hall. This was reported recently in a supplement entitled The Visit in the Clinton Daily Item Press , April 21, 1977. In the absence of formal guidelines, our hospital's


It is widely expected that automated vehicles (AVs) will revolutionise travel experience by better facilitating various on-board activities. While these activities could make travel more pleasant, as is often supposed, they could also affect daily schedules, the related travel choices, and finally, the aggregate travel patterns – possible influences that are still insufficiently studied. For example, a morning commuter deciding to perform some home or work activities during travel, instead of at home or work, could also reconsider his departure time to work. More such travellers together could reshape traffic congestion. This paper models exactly this scenario. It formulates new scheduling preferences, which account for home and/or work activities during morning commute, and uses these (1) to analyse the optimal departure times when there is no congestion, and (2) to obtain the equilibrium congestion patterns in a bottleneck setting. If there is no congestion, it is predicted that AV users would depart earlier (later), if the on-board environment supports their home (work) activities. If there is congestion, AV users that perform home (work) activities during travel skew the congestion to earlier (later) times, and AV users that perform both activities increase both early and late congestion. Engaging in any activity during travel worsens congestion, at least when assuming that AVs do not increase bottleneck capacity. If future AVs would be specialised to support only home, only work, or both home and work activities, and would do so to a similar extent, then 'Work AVs' would increase the congestion the least.


While letter-naming ability is a well-known preschool predictor of the later acquisition of literacy, little is known about an appropriate benchmark (i.e., how many letter names children must know at a given age) and how it may vary among different writing systems. The present study aimed to establish a letter-naming benchmark in Japanese Hiragana for pre-elementary children (age 5 to 6 years) and examined whether this benchmark predicts risk or success in later reading development via a one-year longitudinal survey. Children (N = 291) were assessed once in their pre-elementary year for Hiragana-naming accuracy and once in their first-grade year for oral reading fluency. As a result, the ability to name 40 of 45 letters was determined to be an optimal cut-off, and failure to meet it strongly predicted a risk of deficient reading fluency in first grade. These findings support the notion that Japanese children without near-perfect mastery of Hiragana-naming in their pre-elementary year are at great risk of reading difficulty in first grade. In addition, possible contrasts between Hiragana- and alphabet-naming indicated a need for further research in different languages and scripts to establish appropriate goals and policies for this foundational skill of reading in early education.


Whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) are polyphagous invasive hemipteran insects that cause serious losses of important crops by directly feeding on phloem sap and transmitting pathogenic viruses. These insects have emerged as a major threat to global agriculture and food security. Chemically synthesized insecticides are currently the only option to control whiteflies, but the ability of whiteflies to evolve resistance against insecticides has made the management of these insects very difficult. Natural host‐plant resistance against whiteflies identified in some crop plants has not been exploited to a great extent. Genetic engineering approaches, such as transgenics and RNA interference (RNAi), are potentially useful for the control of whiteflies. Transgenic plants harboring insecticidal toxins/lectins developed via nuclear or chloroplast transformation are a promising vehicle for whitefly control. Double‐stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) of several insect genes, delivered either through microinjection into the insect body cavity or orally via an artificial diet and transiently or stably expressed in transgenic plants, have controlled whiteflies in model plants and in some crops at the laboratory level, but not at the field level. In this review, we highlight the merits and demerits of each delivery method along with strategies for sustained delivery of dsRNAs via fungal entomopathogen/endosymbiont or nontransgenic RNAi approaches, foliar sprays, root absorption or nanocarriers as well as the factors affecting efficient RNAi and their biosafety issues. Genome sequencing and transcriptome studies of whitefly species are facilitating the selection of appropriate genes for RNAi and gene‐editing technology for the efficient and resilient management of whiteflies and their transmitted viruses.


In contrast to the initiation of treatment for neonatal jaundice, specific guidelines for discontinuation of phototherapy and subsequent management of the infants are lacking. The current study aims at documenting the current practice and examining if babies can be discharged from phototherapy without routine evaluation for rebound hyperbilirubinaemia. Between January and May 1998 inclusively, all neonates aged under two weeks with a birth weight ≥2,200 grams admitted for phototherapy were recruited for the study. Babies were excluded if they required intensive care, received parenteral nutrition, or were receiving antibiotics at the time of discontinuation of phototherapy. 154 infants were enrolled. Seven (4.5%) babies required a second course of phototherapy because their SB rebounded into the treatment range. When compared with those babies not requiring treatment again, they had a higher mean SB (234.3 vs 204.1, p<0.001) and were more likely to be younger than five days of life (3/7 vs 16/147, p=0.041) when phototherapy was first stopped. Other factors like sex, cephalhaematoma, glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, blood groups, Coombs' test, onset of jaundice, and haemoglobin level were not found to be significant. If a threshold of SB ≤216 µmol/L (or 234 µmol/L less 2 standard deviations) were used for discontinuation of phototherapy without routine evaluation for rebound hyperbilirubinaemia, 61% of the "well" babies in this study would have had an earlier discharge. Thus, a more structured guideline on the management of discontinuation of phototherapy is indicated for evaluation of our current practice.


This research is an attempt to apply a text-based approach of translation criticism proposed by Reiss (1971) to examine Clarke's (1891) English translation of Ghazal 167 of Hafez. What is under the focus in the present study is evaluation of linguistic elements which itself consists of four parts. Comparing the Original Persian poem with its translation, the researcher came up with the conclusion that at linguistic level, there are a number of cases in which the translator's misreading of the original poem has led to the mistranslation and due to his literal rendering some idioms have been translated unintelligibly. Moreover, it is concluded that Clarke considers different referents (the Beloved (God), Prophet Mohammad, the beloved) for metaphors throughout the poem. However, he does not mention Shah Shoja as one of the referents and consequently misses one of the most significant layers of meaning in this poem. Shah Shoja was a particular favorite of Hafez and according to Ghani (1944), Homayoun Farokh (1976), Zo-alnur (1984) and Khoramshahi (1989), this Ghazal is a panegyric in explicit praise of him.


Jet pump is a type of mechanical device where the extra energy is provide by jet in mixing chamber. This jet is the fluid again circulate from diffuser exit to mixing chamber for better performance. This is also known as motive fluid. So the effects of change in geometrical parameter (Diffuser angle) on its performance were investigated. The set of experiment were carried out to study the effect of diffuser angle on the performance of jet pump. The performance of the jet pump is described by three sets of curves, Discharge vs. Head, Input power vs. Head, and Efficiency vs. Head. Changing the diffuser angle will affect jet pump behavior. Venturi diffuser angle was found to be an important geometrical parameter to characterize the maximum suction lift of the jet pump.


The academic study of forms of employee participation in workplace decision-making possesses a number of unusual (and unenviable) distinctions. There are few topics in the study of organisations and the workplace whose dominant scope has become so circumscribed and focus has changed so much over the past thirty years. In the UK, the discussions of the nineteen seventies about the prospects and potential of what was then normally termed 'industrial democracy' were framed in the context of the seeming economic success of continental models of corporate governance. However, the AngloAmerican managerialist ideological revolution of the nineteen eighties and thereafter rapidly swept this away and, under the influence of human resource management, the locus of debate shifted towards much more task-specific notions of 'worker participation' or even 'employee involvement'. The principal terminology of the subject has been peculiarly prone to confused or interchangeable use, but this cannot disguise an overall dilution of meaning. The idea that participation should consist of joint negotiation and agreement between workers or their representatives and management has diminished to the notion that managers consulting with, or providing information to, the workforce about the business is sufficient. 'Democracy' in the workplace became distorted to mean the limited voice of the suggestion scheme, the team briefing or the quality circle, devalued in much the same way as the political choices available to Western electorates have degraded to little more than a form of consumer democracy. B. Harley, J. Hyman and P. Thompson (eds.) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (PB: pp. xiv + 257, £25.99, ISBN 1403900043


Negotiating Diaspora: Jewish Strategies in the Roman Empire, edited by John M. G. Barclay. Library of Second Temple Studies, 45. London: T & T Clark International, 2004. 161 pp. $49.95. This is a collection of six essays originally presented at a conference at the University of Glasglow in 2001. They are built around three themes: local and translocal identities, clarity and ambiguity in cultural expression, and power and the politics of representation as seen in Josephus' essay Against Apion. As Barclay points out in his insightful introduction, these essays serve as a background for numerous global diasporas in our own day, and, in particular, dual identities of peoples removed from their original homeland. Margaret Williams, "Being a Jew in Rome: Sabbath Fasting as an Expression of Romano-Jewish Identity," boldly argues that the references in Augustus, Pompeius Trogus, Petronius, and Martial to fasting on the Sabbath reflect the actual practice of Jews in Rome in contrast to the practice of Jews elsewhere. Inasmuch as, however, rabbis from Palestine frequently visited Rome during the first century, we may object that it seems unlikely that they would not have noted and commented upon such a deviation from the rabbinic insistence that fasting on the Sabbath is prohibited. Moreover, nowhere in rabbinicliterature do we hear that the Roman Jews or Jews in any other area had this or any other peculiar practice. Furthermore, Ovid (Ars Amatoria 1.416) and Plutarch (Quaestiones Convivales 188.8.131.521D-672A) describe the Sabbath as a day of feasting. We may suggest that the origin of the view that the Sabbath is a fast day may be due to the fact that the Sabbath is viewed, quite correctly, as a day of abstention from work; and the word nesteia (which means both "fasting" and "abstention"), as used by Strabo (126.96.36.1993), who was not a Roman, in reference to the Jews' abstention from work on the day that Jerusalem was captured by Pompey in 63 B.C.E., came to be understood as a day of abstention in general. Sarah Pearce, "Jerusalem as 'Mother-City' in the Writings of Philo of Alexandria," insists that there is no tension between the notion of Jerusalem as mother-city and Alexandria as home. The fact that Apion accused the Alexandrian Jews of having a dual allegiance, that a bitter pogrom that broke out when the Jewish king Agrippa I visited Alexandria in 38, and that, as Pearce notes, Philo himself (In Flaccum, 46) says that the Alexandrian Jews regard Jerusalem as their mother-city would seem to argue otherwise. Alexander Panayotov, "The Jews in the Balkan Provinces of the Roman Empire: The Evidence from the Territory of Bulgaria," commenting on new evidence of Jewish inscriptions from Bulgaria dating from a period between the third and sixth centuries, notes the acculturation of the Jews, in that while drawing on biblical tradition in the depiction of the menorah, rhe Jews often had dual names, biblical and Greek, and used inscriptional formulae reminiscent of the non-Jewish environment. …


There is a well-documented gender gap in mosque use in the Islamic World, with men attending Friday prayer more frequently than women. However, we know little about whether a gender gap exists among those that use the mosque for non-religious purposes. Using orginial survey data from Tunisia, we find that men are generally more likely than women to use mosques for non-religious reasons. However, in areas further from the coast—where communities face considerably more social and economic disparities—the gender gap dissipates. In areas above the 60th percentile in terms of distance from the coast there is no gender gap in citizen preferences for mosque-based services. Our findings build upon existing work in two notable ways. First, our results suggest that individual and community-level factors jointly shape preferences for mosque-based services. Second, they suggest that mosques may be particularly important places for women in marginalized areas to address personal and community problems.


BACKGROUND
Little has been reported regarding the utility or outcomes of femoral venous vascular closure using arterial suture closure devices. We describe results using a pre-closure approach with a 6 French (Fr) Perclose Closer S device in patients who underwent antegrade aortic valvuloplasty using 14 Fr percutaneous femoral venous access catheters.

METHODS
Forty-five patients underwent antegrade aortic valvuloplasty and suture-mediated closure with a 6 Fr Perclose device. A 6 Fr Closer S suture device was preloaded into the femoral vein after 6 Fr sheath access, prior to insertion of a 14 Fr venous sheath. Upon completion of the procedure, the 14 Fr femoral venous sheath was removed through the existing sutures.

RESULTS
Of 45 patients (mean age 82.4 years; 17 males), immediate hemostasis was achieved with percutaneous suture closure in 43 (95.6%). Only 2 failures occurred which were subsequently successfully treated with manual compression. No late access site bleeding occurred from sutured sites. In all other patients, hemostasis using a 6 Fr Perclose suture-mediated device was successful and immediate. There was no need for transfusion, no clinical venous thrombosis, and no infections occurred at the access site. Two hospital deaths were documented from causes unrelated to suture-mediated closure.

CONCLUSIONS
In conjunction with 14-Fr size percutaneous sheaths during antegrade aortic valvuloplasty, percutaneous suturemediated closure is a highly effective method for achieving hemostasis. This has simplified postprocedural management in terms of early mobilization and diminished late access site bleeding.


In this work, we present the extensive analysis of a new class of current-mode shaping amplifiers that can be realized in CMOS or BiCMOS technology. They are suitable for high-resolution spectroscopy, as we have demonstrated in previous works. The proposed topology is suitable to design shaping amplifiers with a wide range of time constants (/spl sim/0.1-10 /spl mu/s) in a very compact scheme. In particular, we show the results of two fourth-order shapers characterized by 500- and 167-ns shaping time, respectively, realized in 0.8-/spl mu/m BiCMOS technology. The two prototypes were designed in view of the use with Silicon Drift Detectors for X-ray spectroscopy applications. The measured integral nonlinearity is below /spl plusmn/0.1% and the achieved energy resolution at the Mn K/spl alpha/ line (measured with the proposed spectroscopy amplifier with a 5 mm/sup 2/ Peltier-cooled Silicon Drift Detector) is 160 eV full width at half maximum (FWHM) with 500-ns shaping time, comparable to the one obtained with a commercial shaping amplifier with the same time constant.


The reaction of the hydroformylation catalyst precursor [Rh(acac)(CO)(PPh3)](acac = acetylacetonate) with dioxygen and salicylic acid led to the formation of the rhodium(III) complexes [Rh(acac)(HOC6H4CO2)2(PPh3)(H2O)] and [Rh(acac)2(HOC6H4CO2)(PPh3)]. The structures of the latter complexes were characterized spectroscopically (1H and 31P NMR) as well as by X-ray crystallography. Dioxygen activation by Rh1 proceeds through peroxo [Rh(O2)(HOC6H4CO2)(CO)(PPh3)] and hydrogen dioxide [Rh(O2H)(acac)(HOC6H4CO2)(CO)(PPh3)] complexes identified by IR UV/VIS and 31P NMR methods. Oxidation of CO to CO2 occurs in the inner co-ordination sphere of rhodium.


E-hailing services have a pivotal role in mitigating traffic congestion and decreasing the volume of private vehicles on the streets, thereby amplifying the effectiveness of the road transportation network. It provides income opportunities for drivers who can work flexible hours and utilize their own vehicles to earn money. Nevertheless, various obstacles stand in the way of the growth of e-hailing services, with customer acceptance being a prominent concern. Consequently, the primary objective of this research is to assess the extent to which the community embraces e-hailing applications, specifically focusing on Grabcar. By employing a systematic random sampling technique, a total of 345 individuals participated in this comprehensive study. The outcomes, analyzed through the lens of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, reveal that the relative advantages, ease of use, trialability, social influence, and physical security significantly shape individuals' acceptance to adopt the Grabcar application. The findings of this study carry substantial implications for academic scholars and policymakers alike, guiding the creation of innovative strategies to optimize the potential of digital application services. As future research evolves, it may diverge from these findings to delve into qualitative aspects within this research realm, encompassing vital economic, social, and governance components. Such exploration would align with the ambitious pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals, reflecting a broader commitment to holistic societal advancement and responsible technological integration. Focusing solely on a specific region or demographic, this study's limitation could restrict its findings' broader applicability to a diverse population.


Studies have demonstrated that in verbal fluency tests, monolinguals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) show greater difficulties retrieving words based on semantic rather than phonemic rules. The present study aimed to determine whether this difficulty was reproduced in both languages of Spanish/English bilinguals with mild to moderate AD whose primary language was Spanish. Performance on semantic and phonemic verbal fluency of 11 bilingual AD patients was compared to the performance of 11 cognitively normal, elderly bilingual individuals matched for gender, age, level of education, and degree of bilingualism. Cognitively normal subjects retrieved significantly more items under the semantic condition compared to the phonemic, whereas the performance of AD patients was similar under both conditions, suggesting greater decline in semantic verbal fluency tests. This pattern was produced in both languages, implying a related semantic decline in both languages. Results from this study should be considered preliminary because of the small sample size.


We report the electrochemical synthesis and characterization of hybrid structures composed by hollow nanotubes of polypyrrole and core-shell composites of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) coated by polypyrrole (PPy). The synthesis of these systems is critically dependent on relative concentration of carbon nanotubes (introduced as a template for polymerization) and affects the level of conductivity of media, the diameter and relative roughness of synthesized nanotubes. The competition induced by polymerization on the surface of different templates (aggregates of methyl orange and MWCNT) allows that smooth structures can be obtained, minimizing the synthesis of granules of polypyrrole, in a process that affects the morphology, thermal and electrical properties of synthesized materials. As a result, the impedance of mixed composite is lower than the other obtained for each system (MWCNT and hollow nanotubes of PPy), in an indication that synergistic interaction is favored during the synthesis.


As for intention of this research is to know Body performance of counterneasures Disaster and fire company of Area Sub-Province of Pelalawan ( Case Study Disaster Forest Fire and Farm) Year 2014 and to know factor - factor resistor of performance ( Good study of Case Disaster Forest Fire and Farm) Year 2014. This research is done/conducted by in Body of counterneasures Disaster and Fire Company Of Area Sub-Province of Pelalawan, taken by officer of body of counterneasures Disaster and Fire Company Of Area Sub-Province of Pelalawan made by informan by method of snowball sampling. In line with research which have been mentioned by above, hence needed data, for example primary data and data of sekunder. For the technique of data collecting done/conducted] with interview technique, bibliography study and observation. Method analyse data which is used in this research is descriptive analysis method qualitative. Result of research indicate that performance officer of Body of counterneasures Disaster and Fire Company Of Sub-Province of Pelalawan in winning case kebakaran of farm and forest in Sub-Province of Pelalawan done/conducted by is officer have been put accross.. In doing/conducting attainment of performance officer of Body of counterneasures Disaster and Fire Company Of Sub-Province of Pelalawan in handling forest fire and farm there are some factor influencing it for example : ( a). Inexistence standard measuring instrument of[is make-up of performance, ( b). inexistence record-keeping of result assessment of and performance ( c). Still there are less owning officer of ability of job/activity.


AIM
The aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of three-dimensional transvaginal ultrasound subjective assessment (3D-TVS) in the preoperative detection of deep myometrial invasion (MI) in patients with endometrial cancer, using definitive frozen section diagnosis after surgery as the reference standard.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A search for studies evaluating the role of 3D-TVS for assessing myometrial invasion in endometrial cancer from January 1990 to Novem-ber 2020 was performed in PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 evaluated the quality of the studies (QUADAS-2). All analyses were performed using MIDAS and METANDI commands.

RESULTS
Nine studies comprising 581 women were included. The mean prevalence of deep MI was 39.8%. QUADAS as-sessment showed that most studies had a high risk for the patient selection domain. Overall, the pooled estimated sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood and negative likelihood ratio of 3D-TVS for detecting deep MI were 84% (95% CI, 73-90%), 82% (95% CI, 75-88%), 5 (95% CI, 3.1-7.1) and 0.20 95% CI, 0.11-0.35). respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
3D-TVS has an accept-able diagnostic performance for detecting MI in women with endometrial cancer.


Background: The importance of postural stabilization and cervical mobilization in subjects with pain from the anterior head posture is drawing more attention. However, studies on head and neck stabilizing intervention after mobilization are lacking. Objective: To examine the effects of Kinesiotaping and posture setting exercise on forward head posture (FHP). Design: Crossover Study Design Methods: The subjects were 17 male and female college students in their 20s with FHP. They were randomized into the Kinesiology taping group (KTG) with 9 subjects and posture stabilizing exercise group (PSEG) with 8 subjects. The intervention was conducted for 4 weeks, and changes in pain, craniovertebral angle (CVA), and proprioception were observed before and after intervention. Results: Pain was significantly reduced in the KTG and PSEG both before and after intervention. CVA and proprioception were significantly increased only in the PSEG. The differences in CVA and proprioception between the two groups were significant. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the application of posture setting exercise could decrease pain, proprioceptive error and increase CVA on FHP


This paper aims to present a new approach of business intelligence technologies in the context of sustainable development of the railways. The concept of business intelligence is increasingly used in the developed companies and considering that the current economic market is more dynamic from year to year, business intelligence solutions plays an important role for companies to be able to develop efficient plans for both short-term and medium and long term developing. This paper will focus on two technologies: data-warehouse and data-mining and how are they use in the railway business. The subject adapts to the current development trend of European countries to direct the transport of freight and passengers to the railway for support environment.


The annexins are a major, novel class of calcium/phospholipid-binding proteins, the functions of which are unknown. To date, there are thirteen members of this family cloned from species diverse as humans to Dictyostelium. The canonical annexin structure comprises four internal repeats- each of approximately 70 amino acids, with the exception of annexin VI, a 68 kDa protein comprised of eight repeats. Annexins I and II are known to be in vivo substrates for cellular protein kinases. To date, of all the other annexins, only annexin VI has been shown to be phosphorylated in whole cells. Since phosphorylation is known to play a major role in signal transduction and cell transformation, the aim of this project was to characterize the phosphorylation of annexin VI. In studies using murine Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts, it became apparent that annexin VI is phosphorylated in a growth-dependent manner on both serine and threonine. However, an unexpected result was that the majority of phosphorus (when cells were 32Pi-labelled over a 24h period) was incorporated into two novel phospho-entities (which I call phospho-X and phospho-Z) that were not known phosphoamino-acids. Many proteins are post-translationally modified, and in many instances the identification of these modifications can provide insight into the proteins' function. There are several post-translational modifications in which phosphorus forms part of the structure, including ADP-ribosylation and the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. However, these possibilities were eliminated on the basis of metabolic labelling experiments. Mass spectroscopy suggested that phospho-X was a low molecular weight entity. Due to either the chemical nature of the post-translational modification or the peptide to which it was attached, conventional site-mapping techniques were ineffective in identifying the modified residues in annexin VI. However, limited chemical cleavage with N-chlorosuccinimide clearly indicated that annexin VI is modified at more than one site, one lying close to the N-terminus and the other in the C-terminal half of the protein. To facilitate the site-mapping studies, annexin VI was expressed in the heterologous cell-line A431 by stable transfection. Annexin VI in the transfected cells was shown to incorporate phospho-X and phospho-Z. In conclusion, these data describe both a potentially novel post-translational modification of annexin VI and a model system for its further study.


Second-harmonic generation of the relativistic self-focused chirped laser pulse in plasma has been studied with the exponential plasma density ramp profile in the presence of a planar magnetostatic wiggler. It is evident that the exponential plasma density ramp is helpful in enhancing second-harmonic generation as, with the introduction of the exponential plasma density ramp, self-focusing becomes stronger and hence, it leads to enhance the harmonic generation of the second order in the plasma. Also, it is observed that the efficiency of second-harmonic generation enhances significantly with an increase in the value of the chirp parameter. Further, the magnetostatic wiggler helps in enhancing the harmonic generation of the second order. This is due to the fact that dynamics of the oscillating electrons is altered due to the Lorentz force which, in turn, modifies the plasma wave and, hence, results in the efficient second-harmonic generation.


The authors have performed a coincidence analysis of two-electron excitation in the Li+-He collision system at low energies (1 keV<or=Ep<or=3 keV). They measured the emitted autoionisation electrons in coincidence with the scattered projectiles. The results show that excitation takes place via two mechanisms: the (1s sigma 22p sigma 2) 1 Sigma -(1s sigma 22p pi 2)1 Sigma , 1 Delta and (1s sigma 22p sigma 2)1 Sigma -(1s sigma 22s sigma 2p pi )1 Pi rotational coupling. Because two excitation mechanisms participate in this system one cannot use the simple MO model to derive predictions for the transition amplitudes for this case, in contrast with the cases of one- and two-electron excitation in the He+-He system. The authors confine themselves to a discussion of the important points that an elaborate theoretical description should take into account. The results show that the primary population of the Sigma , Pi and Delta states is shared at large internuclear distance between the M=0, M=1 and M=2 levels of the He(2p2)1D and He(2s2p)1P states.


Nano-diamond/Ni and Ni coatings were prepared by brush plating. SEM and XRD methods were applied to investigate the morphology, nano-crystalline structure and grain size of the coatings. The results show that the grain size of the brush coatings all is in nanometer scale. The surface morphology of the composite brush coatings is a finer and denser cauliflower-like structure. Meanwhile the reasons of formation nano-crystalline structure are the high over-potential, the discontinuous grain growth resulted from the reciprocating motion and friction between the plating pen and the work piece, the heterogeneous nucleation of the nano-diamond, and the point discharge effect. The nano-diamond as the second phases decreases the grain size of the coating and consequently increase the strength of the composite coatings largely.


The Mg, Ca and immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (PTH) serum levels were determined in 22 uremic patients on chronic hemodialysis with different Mg concentrations in the dialysate. Baseline levels of PTH, Ca and Mg were obtained over a 4-month-period whilst on Mg dialysis of 1.5 mEq/l. Patients were then divided into three groups: 10 patients were dialyzed for 6 months with 0.5 mEq/l of Mg, 7 patients with 1.5 mEq/l, and 5 patients wih 2.5 mEq/l Mg. At the end of the 6-month period with differentiated Mg dialysis the three groups were characterized by significantly different Mg serum levels. On the contrary, no significant changes were observed in the PTH or the Ca serum levels. The results of this study indicate that PTH secretion in uremic patients on regular hemodialysis is not appreciably influenced by the Mg serum levels.


Sulfadiazine (2-[paraaminobenzenesulfonamido]-pyrimidine), the pyrimidine analog of sulfapyridine, has been shown by Feinstone and his associates1in their experiments with mice to be less toxic than either sulfapyridine or sulfathiazole. They found the drug to be readily absorbed into the blood and rapidly excreted in the urine. Higher concentrations were obtained with sulfadiazine than with equivalent doses of sulfapyridine or sulfathiazole. Long and his co-workers2reported that sulfadiazine was less effective at equivalent concentrations than sulfathiazole in the treatment of experimental pneumococcic infections in mice. Osgood and Bullowa,3using tissue cultures, found sulfadiazine to be only one-quarter as effective against pneumococci as sulfapyridine and sulfathiazole in equivalent concentrations. Studies on the action of sulfadiazine in human beings have been reported by various investigators.4With an associate we5have previously reported on the pharmacodynamics of the drug in man. It is well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract.


ABSTRACT In this study we investigated Ralfsia-like crusts (i.e. excluding Ralfsia sensu stricto, Stragularia spp. and/or Scytosiphonaceae crustose phases) with an emphasis on the North Atlantic Ocean using molecular data (COI-5P, ITS and rbcL-3P) combined with morpho-anatomical comparisons of type material and contemporary specimens. Of the four species of Ralfsia previously reported in Europe, only R. fungiformis is presently recognized as belonging to Ralfsia sensu stricto, Ralfsiaceae, with the remaining species, R. lucida, R. ovata and R. verrucosa, of uncertain taxonomic status. Our study revealed 11 independent genetic lineages of Ralfsia-like taxa, which were not assignable to any of the recognized families of the Ralfsiales. To accommodate this diversity, we propose Pseudoralfsiaceae Parente, Fletcher & G.W.Saunders fam. nov., including two new genera Pseudoralfsia Parente, Fletcher & G.W.Saunders gen. nov. and Nuchella Parente, Fletcher & G.W.Saunders gen. nov. The first genus includes Pseudoralfsia verrucosa (Areschoug) Parente, Fletcher & G.W.Saunders comb. nov. as the generitype (the only species of the three remaining European species of uncertain taxonomic status assigned to Ralfsia that was reassessed here), P. azorica Parente, Fletcher & G.W.Saunders sp. nov. and seven undescribed genetic groups, which require additional vouchers for description. The second genus has as generitype Nuchella vesicularis Parente, Fletcher & G.W.Saunders sp. nov., and also includes N. sp._1MP, which was represented by a single sterile specimen from Swanage, UK and consequently not characterized. Three characteristics differentiate Nuchella from Pseudoralfsia – the former typically with numerous vesicles, non-synchronous development of the plurangia and hair pits arising from both middle and lower cells of the erect filaments. Species of Pseudoralfsiaceae can be distinguished from Ralfsia sensu stricto (Ralfsiaceae) mainly by DNA sequences and by consistently having frequent hair pits, and typically unsymmetrical thalli.


Intact mandibular processes and the enzymatically separated mesenchymal and epithelial components of the mandible from embryonic chicks of 2.5‐ to 5‐day incubation (Hamburger and Hamilton, '51: stages 16‐25) were grown individually, either in organ culture or as grafts to the chorioallantoic membranes of host embryos. The differentiation of cultured and grafted intact mandibular processes was histologically normal, but the time of histodifferentiation differed from that in vivo. The histodifferentiation of cultured and grafted mandibular mesenchyme grown isolated from its epithelium depended upon the age of the embryo from which the mesenchyme had been obtained. Intramembranous ossification producing membrane bones of the mandible occurred in mesenchyme isolated from 4.5‐ to 5‐day embryos (HH 24–25), but did not occur in mesenchyme isolated from younger embryos. Cartilage (Meckel's) and subperichondrial bone in the articular process of Meckel's cartilage differentiated in mesenchyme isolated from embryos of all age groups tested (HH 16–25). Mandibular mesenchyme, therefore, requires the presence of epithelium until 4.5 days of incubation if the membrane bones of the mandible are to differentiate; if epithelial influences are required for Meckel's cartilage and subperichondrial bone formation, they are not required beyond 2.5 days of incubation. Mandibular epithelium isolated from its mesenchyme became layers of squamous cells in culture; but when grafted onto the chorioallantoic membrane, the epithelium became underlain by host fibroblasts and differentiated into a stratified squamous epithelium. Mandibular epithelium, therefore, is capable of differentiation in the presence of foreign fibroblasts derived from the chorioallantoic membrane.


Nuclear transfer technology allows for the reprogramming of somatic cells, and the production of embryonic stem cells and animals that are genetically identical in terms of nuclear DNA to the parental somatic cell. It is assumed that these products of nuclear transfer technology will be immunologically compatible to each other in spite of the fact that there are data that show differences in the expression patterns and phenotypes between animals produced by nuclear transfer. We have produced a series of cloned pigs from embryonic fibroblasts. Microsatellite analysis was used to confirm that the clones were genetically identical. Skin transplants were performed to assess immunological reactivity. Skin transplants between genetically identical cloned pigs were accepted, whereas third party grafts were rejected. Histological analysis of the grafts showed edema and mononuclear cell infiltrates in the recipient's skin in rejected grafts and not in grafts that were accepted. Our data supports the notion that genetically identical cloned pigs are immunologically compatible.


Gasoline emissions contain high levels of pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), which are associated with several health outcomes. Moreover, due to the depletion of fossil fuels, biofuels represent an attractive alternative, particularly second-generation biofuels (B2G) derived from lignocellulosic biomass. Unfortunately, compared to the abundant literature on diesel and gasoline emissions, relatively few studies are devoted to alternative fuels and their health effects. This study aimed to compare the adverse effects of gasoline and B2G emissions on human bronchial epithelial cells. We characterized the emissions generated by propane combustion (CAST1), gasoline Surrogate, and B2G consisting of Surrogate blended with anisole (10%) (S+10A) or ethanol (10%) (S+10E). To study the cellular effects, BEAS-2B cells were cultured at air-liquid interface for seven days and exposed to different emissions. Cell viability, oxidative stress, inflammation, and xenobiotic metabolism were measured. mRNA expression analysis was significantly modified by the Surrogate S+10A and S+10E emissions, especially CYP1A1 and CYP1B1. Inflammation markers, IL-6 and IL-8, were mainly downregulated doubtless due to the PAHs content on PM. Overall, these results demonstrated that ultrafine particles generated from biofuels Surrogates had a toxic effect at least similar to that observed with a gasoline substitute (Surrogate), involving probably different toxicity pathways.


One learning strategy that, at present, has not been widely used in graduate Physical Therapy education is "video based cases". The use of visually unfolding case-based experience provides students a unique opportunity to experience real patient scenarios in their classroom environment. The purpose of this paper is to provide data on student perceptions of usefulness of the video based case experience in promoting their ability to organize, prioritize, and integrate content knowledge for the development of effective critical thinking skills.


Atomistic molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study hydrated Nafion systems large enough (approximately 2 million atoms, approximately 30 nm box length) to directly observe several hydrophilic domains at the molecular level. These systems consisted of six of the most significant and relevant morphological models of Nafion to-date: (1) the cluster-channel model, (2) the parallel cylinder model, (3) the local order model, (4) the lamellar model, (5) the rod network model, and (6) a "random" model that does not directly assume any particular geometry, distribution, or morphology. Each system was initially built to closely approximate the proposed hydrophilic cluster structure in a given model. Molecular dynamics simulations were then used to observe resulting changes from and behavior of the assumed initial configurations. These simulations revealed fast intercluster "bridge" formation and network percolation in all models. Sulfonate groups were found inside these bridges and played a significant role in percolation. Sulfonates also strongly aggregated around and inside clusters. Cluster surfaces were analyzed to study the hydrophilic-hydrophobic interface. Interfacial area and cluster volume significantly increased during the simulations, and radial distribution functions and structure factors were also calculated. All nonrandom models clearly exhibited the characteristic experimental scattering peak, underscoring the insensitivity of this measurement to hydrophilic domain structure and highlighting the need for future work to clearly distinguish morphological models of Nafion.


Aim: The present descriptive study was conducted in order to evaluate the knowledge, application and the degree of willingness of nurses to care for overweight and obese people who experience surgical intervention. Method: The study was carried out with the application of questioner form prepared by the researcher with literature to nurses and non-nurses who are working in nurse statute cause of the lack of employees (health officer, midwife, emergency medical technician-EMT, community health technician) in a university surgical clinics. Percentage, frequency, chi-square, Fisher chi-square statistics tests have been used on the evaluation of the data. Results: It is found out that 55% of the research participants are license graduate, 73% of them are department of nursing graduate and 57% of them are in normal weight, 69% of them stated there isn't enough equipment for the care of overweight and obese patient in their department, 52% of them are reluctant to care for overweight and obese patient. Conclusion: It is found out that knowledge and application of special care to overweight and obese patient is variable to education and department of graduation, men are more reluctant than women, slim medical staff are more reluctant than normal and overweight/obese ones to care for overweight and obese patient. Key Words: Obesity, nursing, care, surgery.


This paper assesses the effects of monetary policy shocks on the macroeconomy and the euro area banking sector after the global financial crisis. Financial risk-return indicators of the banking sector based on a compound option-based structural credit risk model are embedded in a large macro-financial quarterly database covering the period 2008Q4-2019Q4. A SFAVAR identifies and estimates the shocks' responses relating them to the endogenous build-up of banks' vulnerabilities. The study finds that unconventional monetary policy, in particular the Asset Purchase Program of the European Central Bank, seems to have been more successful than conventional monetary policy in raising output and inflation. The desired boost to bank lending has been muted and loan cyclicality has varied across countries and loan types. The performance of the banking sector following monetary policy shocks can be characterized by a drop in expected ROE and ROA, a relaxation of lending conditions and increased correlation between banks' assets return and the market return, a mechanism pointing to enhanced risk-taking. While banks' probabilities of default fall following monetary policy shocks, financial leverage and the price of risk increase. Banks' net worth rises via higher market capitalization and implied assets value together with lower volatility, albeit often incurring more debt. Risk-taking in the banking sector, such as the one observed in the run-up to the global financial crisis, may pose a risk to financial stability, especially if its effects on banks' vulnerability spread to systemic risk. The endogenous build-up of macro-financial vulnerabilities may need to become part of monetary policymaking.


In vitro testing of spinal needles is intended to identify a best buy, but such tests are not necessarily good indicators of clinical performance and some bench tests appear to conflict with mock clinical assessments. Discrepancies can be explained by examining the role of the hub. The Visual Probability Test, which assesses the needle as a complete unit, would appear to be more useful than the more complex measurements of shaft flow. Not all needle manufacturers use the same gauge, creating confusion when comparisons are made. Packaging frequently fails to give adequate information. Changes in hub design could permit earlier identification of dural puncture.


The answer to the question of how to deal with the widening gap between the growing costs of health (care) and necessarily limited health (care) resources in a just fashion, heavily depends on what we take the term 'just', to signify. This article is meant to offer a perspective on the topic of just health (care) which takes the idea of justice as virtue seriously by embedding it in the context of its original explication, namely an onto-teleological philosophy which takes (social) justice to be about claim-rights (as well as their corresponding duties) and the common good. This article is, however, not meant to provide ready-made answers or a discussion of the arguments featuring in the contemporary debate about health (care) prioritisation and/or rationing. It rather takes up the cudgels on behalf of the concept of the common good and reminds us of the fact that if we want to talk about (social) justice and just health (care) we cannot do so without also talking about the common good.


Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic relapsing brain disorder characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol consumption despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. AUD affects nearly one-third of adults at some point during their lives, with an associated cost of approximately $249 billion annually in the U.S. alone. The effects of alcohol consumption are expected to increase significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, with alcohol sales increased by approximately 54%, potentially exacerbating health concerns and risk-taking behaviors. Unfortunately, existing pharmacological and behavioral therapies for AUD have historically been associated with poor success rates, with approximately 40% of individuals relapsing within three years of treatment. Pre-clinical studies have shown that chronic alcohol consumption leads to significant changes in synaptic function within the dorsal medial striatum (DMS), one of the brain regions associated with AUD and responsible for mediating goal-directed behavior. Specifically, chronic alcohol consumption has been associated with hyperactivity of dopamine receptor 1 (D1) medium spiny neurons (MSN) and hypoactivity of dopamine receptor 2 (D1) MSNs within the DMS. Optogenetic, chemogenetic, and transgenic approaches have demonstrated that reducing the D1/D2 MSN signaling imbalance decreases alcohol self-administration in rodent models of AUD. Here, we present an electrical stimulation approach that uses ultra-low (≤ 1Hz) frequency (ULF) spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) in mouse models of AUD to reduce DMS D1/D2 MSN signaling imbalances by stimulating D1-MSN afferents into the GPi and ACC glutamatergic projections to the DMS in a time-locked stimulation sequence. Our data suggest that GPi/ACC ULF-STDP selectively decreases DMS D1-MSN hyperactivity leading to reduced alcohol consumption without evoking undesired affective behaviors using electrical stimulation rather than approaches requiring genetic modification. This work represents a step towards fulfilling the unmet need for a reliable method of treating severe AUD through cell-type specific control with clinically available neuromodulation tools.


Ternary transition metal nitrides, Fe3 W3N, Co3 W3N, and Ni3 W3N, are studied by the use of interatomic potentials acquired from lattice inversion. The study indicates that Fe3 W3N would be more stable than the other compounds in the family of intermetallic tungsten nitrides. The investigation of phonon density of states indicates that the lower frequency modes are mostly excited by the metal atoms, and the higher frequency modes are mostly excited by the nitrogen atoms. A qualitative analysis is carried out with the relevant potentials for the phase stability and vibrational modes.


The solid-state transformer (SST) is an alternative for existing power transformer due to its advantage in low volume, bidirectional power flow, power factor control, and fault management capability. In this paper, a three-stage cascaded-type SST, which utilizes the cascaded seven-level rectifier as the interface with a 7.2 kV distribution system, is presented. In the described system, dc voltage balancing of the cascaded seven-level rectifier is a necessity for stable operation. Previous PI-based voltage balancing control has intrinsic disadvantage in compromise between fast regulation and PI saturation. Besides, the addition of a voltage balancing controller may also change the system loop and bring unexpected performance. This paper aims at giving an alternative view of voltage balancing mechanism in a cascaded multilevel converter. A novel 3-D space modulation technique with voltage balancing capability is proposed for a cascaded seven-level rectifier stage of SST. By choosing the most suitable switching pairs for dc voltage balance, this method has a very good voltage balancing capability that can realize fast regulation of dc voltages in all operation modes, including unity power factor operation, capacitive operation, and inductive operation. Simulation and experimental results in a scaled-down system are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.


We study the integrated WiFi/WiMAX networks, where users are equipped with dual-radio interfaces that can connect to either a WiFi or a WiMAX network. Previous research on integrated heterogeneous networks (e.g., WiFi/cellular) usually considers one network as the main and the other as the auxiliary. The performance of the integrated network is compared with the "main" network. The gain is apparently due to the additional resources from the auxiliary network. In this study, we are interested in integration gain that comes from the better utilization of the resource rather than the increase of the resource. The heterogeneity of the two networks is the fundamental reason for the integration gain. To quantify it, we design a generic framework that supports different performance objectives. We focus on the max-min throughput fairness in this work and also briefly cover the proportional fairness metric. We first prove that it is NP-hard to achieve integral max-min throughput fairness, then propose a heuristic algorithm, which provides two-approximation to the optimal fractional solution. Simulation results demonstrate significant integration gain from three sources, namely, spatial multiplexing, multinetwork diversity, and multiuser diversity. For the proportional fairness metric, we derive the formulation and propose a heuristic algorithm, which shows satisfactory performance when compared with the optimal solution.


The aim of this work is to develop numerical methods to model the effects that particle deposit collected by fibrous filters has upon the flow field within the filter and hence upon further deposition. A single fibre model has been developed with the deposit modelled as a porous layer on the fibre surface. Using mathematical techniques the flow field outside and within the porous layer are determined. Once the flow field for a particular deposit has been obtained the equations of motion of the particles are solved and the feedback effects of the deposit upon further deposition investigated. The mechanisms of interception and diffusion are considered. It is found that for the smaller particles the porosity of the deposit has an insignificant effect upon the flow field. However the porosity becomes increasingly important as the relative size of the particle to the fibre increases.


Abstract This article presents a theory of social protection expansion in late-developing open economies based on actors' perceptions of complementarity. Drawing on recent theories of institutional change and political economic theories of welfare regimes, the article explains why in late-developing open economies, processes of liberalization often result in social welfare expansion. The explanation is based on the existence of institutional complementarity between the production regime and the social welfare regime. The article offers an agent-based theory of change according to which actors – state or market actors – are likely to promote welfare expansion amid their expectations of higher payoffs and/or improved performance of the liberalized economy. This theory challenges the more conventional Power Resource Theory, according to which welfare regimes are shaped primarily by the balance of power between workers and employers. To test the theory, the article analyzes the enactment of the unemployment insurance law in Israel (1972).


Abstract Objective: Neuropsychological studies suggest that the ability to compensate for the presence of spatial neglect highly depends on the attentional resources a patient can rely on. The present research aimed to study neglect in situations where attentional resources are limited due to multitasking. Method: We examined two patients more than 3 years after a right-hemispheric stroke. Both had received neuropsychological rehabilitation for left neglect and did not show any impairment in standard tests. We used a dual-task paradigm combining a peripheral target detection task with a central shape recognition task. Peripheral targets could appear in left/right positions but also in lower/upper positions. Results: In patient #1, dual-task condition exacerbated left neglect and extinction. Patient #2 did not show any sign of neglect along the horizontal axis, but omitted half of the lower targets when they were presented simultaneously with upper targets under dual-task condition. This behavior reflects altitudinal extinction as the detection of single targets appearing either in upper or lower position was preserved. Conclusion: The present findings show that dual-tasking is a sensitive tool for the quantitative and qualitative assessment of spatial attention deficits, which are often overlooked by standard methods, especially in chronic stage. (JINS, 2019, 25, 644–653)


Objective To compare dental arch relationships up to age 17 in individuals with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) treated at five European centers. Design Longitudinal cohort study, where results were previously reported at 9 years and follow-up measurements were obtained for 12 and 17 years. Setting Multidisciplinary cleft services in Northern Europe. Subjects 127 consecutively treated individuals with repaired UCLP. Main outcome measure Panel rating of dental arch relationship. Results The results revealed that at 17 years of age three of the centers had better ratings in dental arch relationship (means scores: 1.7, 1.9, and 2.2, respectively) than the other two centers (3.3, 3.4) at statistically significant levels (p < .01 to p < .001). Conclusion The results confirm that systematic differences in dental arch relationships may occur between different cleft centers, but do not allow specific causal factors to be identified.


The authors have become interested in maternal mortality. This study has been carried out solely to look at the medico-legal aspect. Increasingly good health is seen as a right and the doctor the dispenser of this service. The rights of the mother (and of the infant) become of increasing importance. The improvement in obstetrical techniques, which are much better known to the public, have made families far more confident of the results of delivery. This is now seen as something without any danger. But delivering a baby still has lots of risks. Because of this, if an accident happens the obstetrician more than any other doctor perhaps can find himself in the courts. To avoid this he has to know very well the causes of maternal mortality in order to avoid them as far as possible. Furthermore, he must not undertake stupid emergency measures often initiated as measures of desperation caused by his emotional involvement for a patient who is approaching death. Finally, the expert should look for all the causes of death so that he does no wrongly blame the doctor for a maternal death.