Interaction of the peptide antibiotic alamethicin with phospholipid vesicles has been monitored by changes in its circular dichroic and fluorescent properties. The data are consistent with an incorporation of the peptide in the lipid bilayer. Aggregation of alamethicin in the membrane phase is evident from a characteristic concentration dependence of the incorporation, reflecting the existence of a critical concentration. The data can be fully understood in terms of a theoretical approach that includes aggregation and thermodynamic nonideality. Thermodynamic parameters of the peptide-lipid interaction have been evaluated under a variety of conditions of temperature, ionic strength, and lipid type (saturated and unsaturated fatty acid chains). From the results obtained in this study, one can extrapolate to the incorporation behavior of alamethicin at low concentrations, as they are typical for measurements of conductance across planar lipid films. This leads to a simple explanation of the voltage-gating mechanism of alamethicin in a straightforward way.


The Julian and Tuvalian lithologic column in the Oslica area starts with dolomitic breccias with limonitic groundmass and with a bauxite giving evidence of areal expose on the boundary between Cordevolian and Julian. Afterwards, precepitation of carbonate rocks followed. In the lithological interval where the limestone breccias predominate, oncolitic horizons are most characteristic. The Carnian sedimentary succession in the Oslica is terminated by a dolomite with intercalations of marls, bedded micritic limestones and a dark grey dolomite with a roundish disintegration. The lithological composition and sedimentological characteristics of the succession indicate an origin in the littoral environment.


Two-dimensional arrays of optical waveguides, which feature dispersion, nonlinearity and discrete diffraction, support the propagation of spatiotemporal solitonic structures. Several structures with intrinsic vorticity S = 1 and 2 were studied by means of the variational analysis and numerical methods. Some vortices with S = 1 are stable. Numerical studies of interactions between them make it possible to identify four typical outcomes of the collisions, depending on the initial relative velocity of colliding solitons: rebound of slow solitons, fusion, splitting, and quasi-elastic interactions of fast solitons.


Sepsis is of major importance worldwide, placing economic burden on healthcare systems and often resulting in morbidity and mortality in affected patients. The use of rapid, effective prognostic laboratory tests will no doubt improve decision-making on the part of the physician. We describe prospective observational studies of two commonly used biomarkers when monitoring the clinical course of sepsis, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein, herein. Keywords: Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, sepsis


The conceptual genealogy of the Albanian so-called Renaissance is often linked to the influence of Western Romantic ideas on the nationalist movements of the Balkans. This paper analyzes the specificities of the Albanian cultural and political context and suggests, by contrast, that Enlightenment categories provide a better means of comprehension of this stage in Albanian intellectual history. It focuses on the ideological function played by the critique of religion as well as by a cultural project addressed to political struggle and emphasizes its roots in the Enlightenment tradition. It finally argues that Enlightenment concepts such as self-criticism and rational teleology might help to grasp some unique features of the Renaissance movement and to construct a more sophisticated account of the emergence of the Albanian modern state.


Authors compare in two different groups of treatment the results of varus derotation osteotomies in Perthes' patients treated on the Department of Orthopaedics of the Pécs University of Medicine in 1974-1984. In 30 cases running was allowed after the osteotomy whereas in 52 cases an apparatus to relieve of weight bearing was used. It is stated after the comparison of results, considering also the role of the "risk" factors, influencing the results that the relieve of weight bearing does not influence the end result.


This paper demonstrates a new phase noise canceling (PNC) circuit for use with an optically coherent analog frequency modulation (FM) link employing directly modulated distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. Direct frequency modulation of a semiconductor laser is a highly efficient optical-to-electrical conversion process, which can lead to very low noise figure (NF) and high dynamic range (DR). However, the large laser phase noise found in semiconductor lasers significantly degrades the FM link performance. The PNC circuit is a simple means for canceling the laser phase noise while extracting the modulated signal and taking advantage of the high FM conversion efficiency of semiconductor lasers. The theoretical performance of the PNC PM link is discussed in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), NF, and DR, and is compared to a Mach-Zehnder modulated link which uses high-power, solid-state lasers. Phase noise cancellation is demonstrated in an experimental PNC FM link. Comparison of a PNC FM link to an externally modulated AM (coherent) link shows a 31 dB improvement in the NF of the FM link, and a 10 dB improvement in DR. However at higher received optical powers phase-to-intensity noise limits the performance of both links to well below the theoretical calculations.


A mylase is an enzyme which is secreted from pancreas, and salivary glands (α-Amylase EC188.8.131.52), there is a small amount of this enzyme presents in the blood ranging between 100–300 I.U/L, when this percentage in the blood would increase,it means that the above organs are ill. The study included apartial purification of this enzyme from the blood of diabetic patients using gel, filtration, dialysis, and sephadex G100 gel, the single beak was obtained in the fourth part of purification and the degree of purification reached 16.1 with an enzymatic outcome of 108.2% and specific activity was 0.189ng/mg. The kinetic study of the purified enzyme appeared an optimum concentration of the substrate of 10 ng / mg,the Km was 5.55 ng , maximum acivity Vmax, was 0.98ng / ml,the optimum temp. was (37C°) and the opt. pH was 7.5.


Evoked otoacoustic emissions can be measured after a transient stimulus or as distortion products of two pure tones. Measurements of both emission types are being used more frequently as the techniques become easier to implement and the clinical benefits are realized. In addition, comparisons between the two types of emissions from the same ear provide information about cochlear mechanisms. We have measured transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) stimulated with clicks and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) from 166 ears of individuals with and without hearing impairment. The TEOAE and DPOAE amplitudes were compared with each other and with corresponding audiometric thresholds by frequency. Results revealed a high correspondence between the two emission types (r = .78) and between the distribution of the energy for each emission and audiometric threshold levels at corresponding frequencies (DPOAE, Spearman p = -.84; TEOAE, p = -.77). The DPOAEs were present more often than were TEOAEs when hearing levels across frequency were greater than 30-dB hearing level. The results suggest that both TEOAEs and DPOAEs are derived largely from similar mechanisms. The differences between the occurrence of the two emissions by audiometric threshold level would suggest that TEOAEs may be preferable for screening purposes, whereas DPOAEs may be more valuable for monitoring cochlear changes clinically.


OBJECTIVE
To assess participant perception of an integrated model of care for substance abuse in pregnancy.

DESIGN
Focus groups were employed for this qualitative study.

SETTING
Two Family Medicine Units, 1 in Toronto and 1 in Montreal, where integrated care for licit and illicit substance abuse in pregnancy is provided by a team of doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, and social workers.

PARTICIPANTS
Women who had received addiction and prenatal care at 1 of the 2 sites.

METHODS
Women were asked to discuss their experiences of care in focus groups.

RESULTS
Five central themes emerged: judgment, physician-patient communication, team communication, support groups, and self-responsibility.

CONCLUSION
Women felt more comfortable with provider teams that shared a consistent nonjudgmental attitude.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Tc-99m labeled antigranulocyte antibody immunoscintigrapy in the diagnosis of osteomyelitis and compare with the results of triphasic bone scan. Materials and Methods: The study population was 39 patients (22 male, 17 female) who had uncertain diagnoses of osteomyelitis. Fifteen patients had history of orthopedic surgery, and 5 had previous fracture. One milligram of monoclonal antibody against NCA-95 was labeled with 370 MBq of Tc-99m, injected intravenously, and 4 hour images were obtained. Triphasic bone scan images were obtained in 30 patients. The final diagnosis was confirmed by bacteriologic culture, biopsy or long term clinical follow up. Results: Twenty one patients were confirmed to have osteomyelitis (1 acute, 20 chronic). Eighteen patients were without osteomyelitis. Antigranulocyte antibody immunoscintigraphy had a sensitivity of 71% (15/21), and a specificity of 89% (16/18), while the sensitivity and specificity of triphasic bone scan was 93% (13/14) and 38% (6/16), respectively. Antigranulocyte antibody scan showed higher specificity of 100% (11/11) in comparison with 33% (3/9) of triphasic bone scan in patients with history of orthopedic surgery or fracture. Conclusion: Antigranulocyte antibody immunoscintigraphy is more specific than that of triphasic bone scan and may be helpful in patients with history of surgery or fracture. However, sensitivity is lower than triphasic bone scan in the detection of chronic osteomyelitis.


The mechanism of asthenozoospermia remains unclear. The knowledge of the metabolism of fatty acids in seminal plasma is important and meaningful for the pathological study of asthenozoospermia. We present an optimised assay of extraction and derivatisation followed by GC/MS to analyse metabolites, especially fatty acids, in seminal plasma from healthy and asthenozoospermic men. Eighty‐nine peaks including 17 kinds of fatty acids were analysed and identified in the chromatogram. The GC/MS data were analysed using t test, fold change and partial least squares discriminant analysis to explore the potential biomarkers of asthenozoospermia. Seven metabolites in asthenozoospermic group were found to be significantly different from those in the normal group (with p < .05, fold change >1.2 and variable importance for projection >1). Of which, high levels of oleic acid and palmitic acid in seminal plasma from asthenozoospermic men may indicate a membrane metabolism disorder in spermatozoa and the lack of valine in the asthenozoospermic group may contribute to poor sperm motility. The results may facilitate the understanding of the role of fatty acids and amino acids in asthenozoospermia and provide solid foundation for further pathological study of asthenozoospermia.


This paper presents an approach to reduce the size of low-frequency square-wave (LFSW) ballasts by using a single stage for resonant ignition and LFSW operation together with soft-saturation magnetic material and digital control techniques. Inductor design constraints are developed to leverage the nonlinear inductor behavior and achieve both size reduction and desirable performance in lamp ignition, warm-up, and normal operation modes. The digital controller provides multiple functions, including 1) a phase-controlled resonant sweep to achieve reliable lamp ignition and device protection with zero-voltage switching despite the nonlinear tank inductance, 2) lamp ignition detection and rapid transition to LFSW mode for lamp warm-up, 3) fast LFSW polarity transitions with optimal timing control for acoustic resonance free operation, and 4) two-loop feedback control. A fast current control loop limits and stabilizes the lamp current and rejects large ripple from the power factor correction (PFC) stage in order to reduce the size of the PFC output capacitor. A slow power control loop rejects variations in the lamp characteristics during warm-up and lamp aging. Experimental results are presented showing successful ignition and operation of a 150-W high-intensity discharge lamp.


The rising prevalence of overweight and obesity in the world has been described as a global pandemic, with marked variations across countries in the levels and trends in overweight and obesity with distinct regional patterns. Concern about the health risks associated with rising obesity has become nearly universal. In this chapter, a systematic review that was conducted in four databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL), using the MeSH terms [obesity, inflammation, disease management, C-reactive protein (CRP)] is presented. Based on the above, the aims of this work are to provide information on the relationship between obesity and circulating levels of CRP, to describe the basic chemical structure and functions, and to analyze its clinical usefulness in obese patients. The available scientific evidence justifies the need to include determining the values of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) among clinical screening tests on obese subjects to evaluate the cardiovascular risk, among other risks.


Information and communication technology (ICT) is flourishing in the Arab world at a rapid pace. However, the ICT implementation is not going smoothly or without major problems that hinder and slow down the progress in many countries in the area. The major problems negatively affecting the flourishing of ICT in most Arab countries can be categorized in two sections: Problems related to basic infrastructure and economy and problems related to governments' policies and regulations. Wireless solutions from multi-access radio to cellular to fixed-wireless have advantages over wired solutions because of lower cost and the speed and ease of deployment. Most of the proposed solutions lie in the hands of governments' officials because of the lack of privatization in most Arab countries. Governments' officials have to make drastic changes and take important measures in regulating the ICT development in the area, and allow more freedom, democracy, and protection of intellectual properties among other things to solve most of the problems facing the flourishing of ICT in their respective countries.


In the 1450s, the court of Pope Nicholas V was a centre of humanist learning, including humanist biblical scholarship. This is where Lorenzo Valla (1407–57) wrote his Annotationes in Novum Testamentum, a work that influenced later biblical scholarship through Erasmus' edition. However, Valla was not the only humanist to revise the Vulgate: around the same time, the Florentine humanist Giannozzo Manetti (1396–1459) produced a new Latin translation of the New Testament from the Greek, also at the Vatican court. This is the only Latin translation between Jerome's Vulgate and Erasmus' version, and it was probably commissioned by the pope himself. Although Valla's work is well known, Manetti's text remains in manuscript, and has hardly been studied. This article presents new insights in the writing process of Manetti's translation and its relation to Valla's biblical scholarship. It shows that Valla's project was not an isolated case, and that Manetti, though influenced by his more famous contemporary, was an independent scholar who developed his own method over time.


We consider the finitely generated groups acting on a regular tree with almost prescribed local action. We show that these groups embed as cocompact irreducible lattices in some locally compact wreath products. This provides examples of finitely generated simple groups quasi-isometric to a wreath product $C\wr F$ , where $C$ is a finite group and $F$ a non-abelian free group.


In this issue of Liver Transplantation, Hempel et al. report on the use of a specific serum biomarker, methanol, which is also present in alcoholic beverages, to detect recent alcohol consumption by patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who were beginning the evaluation process for liver transplantation (LT). In a sideby-side comparison, they found that 35% of patients were positive for methanol, whereas only 3% were identified by standard serum blood alcohol levels (BALs) or verbal reports. Although their study demonstrates that there are potentially better biomarkers than serum alcohol for detecting recent alcohol consumption, the need for improved methods of detecting covert alcohol use raises important issues for monitoring transplant candidates. Even after patients are selected and entered onto LT wait lists, the rates of identified alcohol consumption are high. Up to 25% of wait-listed candidates use alcohol, with the majority of these discoveries made through the use of alcohol testing. Clearly, monitoring is required both during the evaluation phase and during the wait-list phase, but what is the best method? Although we found that our transplant clinical interviews after LT revealed the most episodes of alcohol use in comparison with other monitoring methods (including research assessments similar to the self-report measure used by Hempel et al.), we surmised that this was due to the therapeutic relationship that we had established with the patients over the course of their transplantation. Our recent meta-analysis has also demonstrated that studies relying on self-reports of alcohol use after transplantation are equally as likely to identify alcohol use as studies using other methods. In contrast, in LT candidates, the discovery of such high rates of alcohol use by a biological marker when alcohol use has been denied during self-report assessments points to the very complex nature of these clinical interactions.


In this study, we used an ultrafast laser with a wavelength of 1026 nm with the aim of analyzing the ablation threshold and morphologies of the irradiated surfaces of cemented carbide by varying the pulse duration and number of laser pulses. Specifically, we used pulse durations of 0.2, 2, and 10 ps and performed both gentle and strong ablations. For the same wavelength, laser pulse energy, and number of laser pulses, the lowest ablation threshold was 0.2 ps. When we performed a gentle ablation, we observed LIPSSs on the entire irradiated surface for all pulse durations. Thus, the pulse duration did not appear to affect the formation of LIPSSs. Strong ablation caused ridges to form at irradiated area outside. When the pulse duration increased, larger ridges were formed, whereas when the pulse duration decreased, coarser ridges were formed. The results obtained by using the ultrafast laser is expected to be helpful in the machining of cemented carbide.


Information about where units of interest are located is very important in military operations. Clearly, whenever such information is available it can be used to simplify the routing in multi-hop ad hoc networks. In recent years, many distributed protocols have been proposed for routing in mobile ad hoc networks, especially so-called on demand (or reactive) protocols. In reactive routing, a route from the source to the destination is searched when needed. Many of the reactive protocols use a route searching mechanism where a route request is flooded in the network. This paper investigates this search procedure and tries to reduce it to a limited region with the aid of location information. Different search regions, applied both in a static and an adaptive way, are investigated. In particular, the aim of our investigation is to see how the terrain effects the efficiency of location information aided routing. The simulations show that there is a lot to gain by using location information, if this is available and reliable, in order to limit the route search. In the tested networks we reduced the route search overhead by up to 70%, compared with flooding. In these cases, the increase in number of hops it takes to find the route is less then 20%.


Kyphoplasty, the newest of the tools treating vertebral osteoporotic compression fractures (VOCF) is the evolution of vertebroplasty, allowing not only pain control and strengthening of the fractured vertebra, but also offering the possibility to restore vertebral height with a lower risk of complications. We present our series of 41 consecutive VOCF treated by kyphoplasty in 30 patients between October 2003 and March 2006. Systematic spinal X rays and CT scan have be performed, occasionally followed by bone scintigraphy or spinal MRI. The mean preoperative duration of symptoms before surgery was 52 days. Pain control after the operation was considered excellent in all cases and all patients were mobilized the day after surgery. Kyphoplasty allowed a 50% restoration of vertebral height in 66% of the treated vertebras. The results were better when surgery was performed within the first three months after the fracture. The mean vertebral deformity correction by comparison of the pre- and postoperative Cobb angles was 9.7 degrees. One patient showed cement leakage in the spinal canal without neurological deterioration. The mean postoperative stay was 2.5 days. We found kyphoplasty to be a safe technique allowing immediate pain control after VOCF, with minimal risks of cement leakage or pulmonary embolism. Vertebral height and deformity correction are best achieved with early surgery, but pain control is always excellent even with a delayed procedure.


In the last few decades,fisheries and in particular aquaculture have witnessed an unprecedented growth in Nigeria. However, the full benefits are far from being fetched due to inadequate knowledge of the market for fisheries product and the risk factors surrounding the business. The recent concept of commercial agriculture in Nigeria has changed the perception of Nigerian fishermen and fish farmers in understanding marketing not only as an integral part but also as a major component that occupies a critical position in the overall fish production process. Therefore, to be on-course, our fish farmers and marketers need to be adequately equipped with technical information on critical issues and problems surrounding fish marketing and provided with marketing strategies in its simplified form that can easily be adopted and practiced in order to excel in their businesses; the core areas addressed by this book. Essentially, the book aims at taking fish farmers and marketers in Nigeria to the height of modern fish marketing in order for them to compete favorably with their counterparts in other parts of the world.


Data obtained from 130 questionnaires distributed to immigrant Japanese housewives were analyzed to determine if family factors were associated with poor adjustment, and in particular with depressive symptoms. It was possible to identify women who had no major adjustment problems in adapting to life in Canada (n = 70), transitional adjustment problems (n = 30), late onset adjustment problems (n = 7) and chronic adjustment problems (n = 23). These categories were determined by self-report and validated by symptom identification. Style of marriage, communication with spouse and mother-child interactions were hypothesized to be related to adjustment problems. A 16 item questionnaire was developed to assess the degree to which these factors affected adjustment. The only factor which affected degree of adjustment was communication with the spouse. These results are discussed within the context of traditional hypotheses concerning adaptation to a new culture and the implication for treatment.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

APL is characterized by the fusion protein promyelocytic leukemia-retinoic acid receptor alpha (PML-RARA) which blocks myeloid differentiation. Pharmacological doses of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) relieve transcriptional repression inducing terminal differentiation of the leukemic blasts. DAPK2 mRNA levels are much lower in acute myeloid leukemia cells than in normal granulocytes, particularly so in APL cells, and are up-regulated during ATRA-induced neutrophil differentiation of APL cells. To extend our data from primary APL patients, we differentiated two APL cell lines, namely NB4 and HT93 as well as an ATRA-resistant NB4 subline, NB4-R2, towards neutrophils using ATRA. DAPK2 mRNA levels were increased 210- and 280-fold upon ATRA-treatment in NB4 and HT93 cells, respectively, and were paralleled by marked induction of protein expression. No significant increase was measured in NB4-R2 suggesting that upregulation of DAPK2 is clearly associated with neutrophil differentiation. Next, MatInspector software analysis allowed the identification of two putative retinoic acid responsive elements (RAREs) in the DAPK2 promoter region. To verify PML-RARA binding to these sites we performed PML and RARA chromatin immunoprecipitations (ChIP) in NB4 cells. We showed in vivo binding of PML-RARA to the RARE at position −739 of the DAPK2 promoter. A repressive function of PML-RARA on DAPK2 expression was further shown by overexpression of PML-RARA in U937 AML cells. Exogenous expression of PML-RARA reduced DAPK2 expression levels by 20%. RAREs often coexist with PU.1 (SPI1) binding motifs. Indeed, we also identified three putative PU.1 binding sites in the DAPK2 promoter. The PU.1 transcription factor is a master regulator of myeloid differentiation and PU.1-mediated transactivation of myeloid genes is repressed by PML-RARA. We confirmed in vivo binding of PU.1 to two binding sites in the DAPK2 promoter using ChIP analysis. In addition, a DAPK2 promoter reporter plasmid was significantly (p<0.05) induced 1.6-fold in the presence of PU.1. Moreover, knocking down PU.1 in NB4 cells using two different shRNA constructs resulted in a 4-fold reduction of DAPK2 mRNA (p<0.05) and protein expression during ATRA-induced neutrophil differentiation as compared to control transduced cells. To show that DAPK2 is a relevant PU.1 target during myeloid differentiation, we used lentiviral vectors to re-express DAPK2 in NB4 PU.1 knockdown cells (DAPK2 rescue). CD11b and CEBPE, two neutrophil differentiation markers, were significantly increased in DAPK2 restored PU.1 knockdown NB4 cells upon neutrophil differentiation. In summary, we found that transcription of DAPK2 in APL cells is repressed by PML-RARA. We further identified DAPK2 as novel PU.1 transcriptional target during neutrophil differentiation of APL cells.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2199. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2199


In ophthalmologic practice one uses eyepads merely to protect the eyes and eye pads and bandages to apply pressure to the eyelids and to the eyeballs. Although the textbooks and the journals describe various types of eye pads and bandages, nowhere were we able to find any record of a study of the movements of the eyes while they are padded or bandaged. From a priori reasoning, we may assume that if one eye only is covered the covered eye continues to move in the directions of the movements of the uncovered eye, and from the same reasoning we may assume that if both eyes are covered tightly with bandages, no movement, or very little, takes place. In sleep it has been observed that the eyes move up. The following investigation was undertaken to study roentgenographically the movements of the eyes under cover. We were fortunate to have an


Quantification of long-term wind-speed variability is a critical component in wind resource assessment, and effective wind-farm operations require proper assessment of this variability. Yet, wind-speed variations differ across averaging temporal scales because hourly mean wind speeds fluctuate more than yearly averages. In this study, we quantify the influence of averaging timescale to the resultant variability. We assess three spread metrics (standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and robust coefficient of variation) and two distribution measures (skewness and kurtosis) based on 38 years of wind speeds from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's MERRA-2 reanalysis data set over the contiguous United States. The spatial distributions of wind-speed variability differ with metrics and timescales: wind speeds of fine temporal resolution generate strong variabilities that dilute spatial contrasts; small sample size becomes a constraint in calculating interannual variabilities via annual means and leads to inaccurate results. Overall, we find that metrics based on monthly data portray the largest spatial differences of wind-speed variability. Although standard deviation yields consistent geographical projections, none of the wind-speed data of any time frame are perfectly Gaussian. Therefore, the robust coefficient of variation, a statistically robust and resistant approach, appears to be the ideal metric for quantifying wind-speed variabilities based on monthly mean data.


Although the mechanism of the phasic myotatic (or "stretch") reflex is well-known, the role of this reflex in adult gait remains speculative. The acquisition and development of locomotor skills with respect to the development of the myotatic reflex require further study in both healthy and neurologically impaired children. In this article, the well-documented properties of the healthy adult's myotatic reflex are compared with recent findings of the myotatic reflex in healthy infants and children and contrasted with reflex properties in patients with cerebral palsy. These data allow us to begin to characterize the emerging features of the stretch reflex in normal and pathological early development. From these data, we can begin to speculate about the relationship between changes in stretch reflexes and the acquisition of skillful movement and gait in early childhood.


In the sheet forming process, tight QC requirements and strict economic objectives make it necessary for factory to quickly identify sheet defects and take corrective actions. A framework of sensor-based intelligent monitoring system is suggested to perform online monitoring and control of cold rolled strip forming. For successful implementation, a backpropagation neural monitor is employed to recognize the defects of the cold rolled strip and generate appropriate control strategy. The monitoring system first deals with a large amount of raw process data detected by stress sensors. From such real-time data, interesting and important features, stress series are extracted and normalized. The stress series are then trained by the neural monitor for identifying the defects, such as left slope, right slope, central buckle, edge wave, quarter-wave and compound wave et al. The output of the neural monitor will activate corresponding feedback control actions such as CVC shift, screws, adjustment of bending pressure and selection of cooling sprays. To improve the performance of the neural networks, optimal learning parameters are employed to train the neural networks. The results of a case study have shown that the output of the defect recognition is well matched to the practical situation, and have given encouragement to further improvements of the intelligent monitoring system.


Nipple reconstruction is performed as a last stage in breast reconstruction following mastectomy. Various methods of nipple reconstruction have been described, most of them utilizing either free composite grafts or local flaps. The main problem encountered using either method is the gradual absorption and flattening of the nipple. The technique we used in reconstructing 22 nipples, in preference over the various methods accepted in breast reconstruction, achieves a long-standing, protruding nipple constructed from two large local flaps raised from an S-shape design. The technique is simple and permits freedom in choosing the height of the nipple, even in the presence of a mastectomy scar. The size of the nipple thereby constructed is in excess of what was expected. Shrinkage occurs during the first 2 months, and the resulting size is more than adequate. The areola is reconstructed by a full-thickness skin graft harvested from a nonhairy area of the upper inner thigh. The local flaps lack the necessary color, which is achieved by tattooing.


AbstractA new nanostructure which is surface-modified cobalt aluminate nanoparticles with silica is used for the separation of cadmium and lead prior to its determination by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry was described. For this purpose, at first, ex-situ modification of cobalt aluminate nanoparticles was made, then lead and cadmium were collected on new sorbent by syringe technique. The effects of experimental conditions on sorption of cadmium and lead were investigated. After the optimization of experimental parameters, a successful separation and determination were obtained with high quantitative recovery (>95%) and precision (<10% RSD). Using the proposed technique, the cadmium and lead concentrations in tap water and drinking water could be practically and rapidly determined in the range of 95% confidence level. The detection limit of the described method for cadmium and lead using sample-matching blanks were 0.053 and 0.117 μg L−1 (3σ, N = 10), respectively. The proposed technique was ...


On January 6th 2004, the IBAS burst alert system triggered the 8th gamma-ray burst (GRB) to be detected by the INTEGRAL satellite. The position was determined and publicly distributed within 12s, enabling ESA's XMM-Newton to take advantage of a ToO observation just 5 hours later during which the x-ray afterglow was detected. Observations at optical wavelengths also revealed the existence of a fading optical source. The GRB is ~52s long with 2 distinct peaks separated by ~24s. At gamma-ray energies the burst was the weakest detected by INTEGRAL up to that time with a flux in the 20-200 keV band of 0.57 photons/cm^2/s. Nevertheless, it was possible to determine its position and extract spectra and fluxes. Here we present light curves and the results of imaging, spectral and temporal analyses of the prompt emission and the onset of the afterglow from INTEGRAL data.


Recent studies have found the earth's peculiar velocity to be significant in microwave-background-based tests for compact cosmic topology, and modifications to these tests have been proposed. Tests of non-Gaussianity, weak-lensing analysis, and new tests using improved cosmic microwave background (CMB) data will also be sensitive to peculiar velocity. We propose here to simplify matters by showing how to construct a deaberrated CMB map to which any test requiring a Hubble flow view point can be applied without further complication. In a similar manner, deaberration can also be applied to object surveys used, for example, in topological searches and matter distribution analysis. In particular, we have produced a revised list of objects with z > 1.0 using the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database.


Can knowledge provide its own justification? This sceptical challenge - known as the problem of the criterion - is one of the major issues in the history of epistemology, and this volume provides its first comprehensive study, in a span of time that goes from Sextus Empiricus to Quine. After an essential introduction to the notions of knowledge and of philosophy of knowledge, the book provides a detailed reconstruction of the history of the problem. There follows a conceptual analysis of its logical features, and a comparative examination of a phenomenology of solutions that have been suggested in the course of the history of philosophy in order to overcome it, from Descartes to Popper. In this context, an indirect approach to the problem of the criterion is defended as the most successful strategy against the sceptical challenge.


The article is devoted to the problem of modern youth lifestyle constructing which is actual and deals with active transformations taking place in the socio-cultural space of Ukraine. The main construct which is the theoretical basis of the study is "lifestyle" as an integral characteristic of individuality which is considered in A. Adler's approach. Lifestyle is understood as a multidimensional phenomenon that unites different levels and aspects of personality development: early personality's experience, level of personality's maturity, features of personality's emotional traits, stable interpretations of the world, features of social interaction and relationships' maintaining. The aim of the work was to find out typical patterns of lifestyle constructing by modern student youth. The empirical research was carried out on a student sample (21-27 years old) of both sexes; the total number of the studied people was 195. The method of early memories' analysis and its quantitative assessment by the parameters of social interest, life position questionnaire, self-assessment of personality's maturity, method of diagnosis of personality's maturity, world assumptions scale, diagnosing of interpersonal relationships' style, differential emotions scale were used in the investigation. Result in six typical models lifestyles constructing were identified: "Avoidance of contact", "Superiority Complex", "Assertiveness", "Mimetism", "Maturity", "Interpersonal dependence". The revealed styles can be presented as a model with three dimensions: "orientation from people – to people" ("Avoidance of contact" and "Interpersonal dependence"); " external orientation – internal orientation "("Mimetism" and "Maturity"); "Self-grandiosity – healthy self-esteem" ("Superiority Complex" and "Assertiveness"). The article reveals the content of each style, provides data on gender differences and the main trends in the life structuring at modern youth space. It has been shown that young women are characterized by a greater tendency to imitate external norms and behavior patterns, which makes them vulnerable to social influences, especially in crisis periods during their life. Modern young men experience difficulties in assimilating masculinity, which leads to models of codependency assimilation in relations with a close social environment and fixes the personality in an immature life position. The revealed patterns do not cover all possible diversity, but determine the main trends in the life structuring in the modern youth space.


In this paper we propose efficient buffer prefetching and replacement policies for continuous-media servers that support content-based search and retrieval. The new policies are based on the knowledge collected from the content-based search manager and the streaming manager. We show that by integrating the knowledge from the search and streaming components, we can achieve better caching of media streams, thus minimizing initial latency and reducing disk I/O. We test the search-based policies on a prototype video database system developed at Purdue University. The results show that initial latency is reduced on the average by 20%, compared to the traditional policies.


The term frailty is increasingly used in gerontological literature and in practice. However, indicators differentiating frail from nonfrail are not well delineated. Identifying factors discriminating between frail and nonfrail older community-residing adults may lead to more comprehensive clinical assessments and targeted interventions to minimize or prevent frailty. Eighty-four adults, ages 60 to 88 (mean = 74) living independently in the community completed a functional performance questionnaire and a perceived health questionnaire that were combined as measures of frailty. Predictor variables of frailty included four measures of balance and three measures of lower leg strength. Discriminant analysis revealed that one balance score and dorsiflexion correctly classified 65% of group membership, with better prediction of the nonfrail than frail group. This study clarifies that the predictors of frailty include the combination of dorsiflexion strength and balance, specifically the contribution of vision to balance when the support surface is compliant. Recommendations are proposed for conceptualizing and operationalizing frailty and adding variables to enhance discrimination between frailty and nonfrailty. Nursing implications include adding clinical assessments of specific components of balance and ankle strength to develop a more comprehensive evaluation of frailty.


The aim of this study has been to establish the influence of quality initiatives on the operations of a selected metal recycling company in KwaZulu-Natal. The rationale for this study was based on the information that the financial turmoil has led to a significantly reduced demand for scrap metals and that there is a shortage of information on quality initiatives in the secondary metal industry in this province. Little research, if any, has been done on this particular topic. Hence, there was a need to conduct research of this magnitude. A review of literature provided the basis for the investigation. A multi-method approach was followed as the project required both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research required interdepartmental inputs. The theme of study focused on what could be seen as a topic of research in the department of quality, while the actual research was conducted within the ambit of business administration as a field of study. The data collected through the questionnaires and the operations" know-how observed in the yard were subject to scrutiny to enhance relevance in the field of study. As the target population of 70 people was small, it became appropriate to do a census study. A total of 68 people returned filled-in questionnaires administered to operations workers and their management. The response rate was 97%. The study evaluated the importance of training on quality and safety as an integrated domain and the impact thereof in the secondary metal products industry. It further identified a number of drawbacks that hamper the effectiveness of metal operations. The results revealed that excellent quality initiatives have a positive impact on the value-adding operations.


The modification of the external surface area and the two types of microporosity of palygorskite (structural and interfiber porosity) were examined as a function of the temperature of a vacuum thermal treatment to 500°C. The methods used included: controlled-transformation-rate thermal analysis, N2 and Ar low-temperature adsorption microcalorimetry, conventional and continuous gas-adsorption volumetry (for N2 and Ar) at 77 K and CO2 at 273 and 293 K, water vapor adsorption gravimetry, and immersion microcalorimetry in water. At temperatures < 100°C only 18% of the structural microporosity was available to N2, 13% to Ar, and 100% to CO2 at 273 K. In both experiments the channels filled at very low relative pressures. At temperatures between 70° and 130°C the structure folded, and the mineral transformed to anhydrous palygorskite, which showed no structural microporosity. The interfiber microporosity was found to be independent of the temperature treatment, and the external surface area decreased slightly from 65 to 54 m2/g. The water adsorption isotherms showed that the folding of the structure was reversible up to final outgassing temperatures >225°C.


Trials have often been written about as narrative events: the standard claim being that at trial one narrative is pitted against another with the verdict proclaiming the winner. This is a connection which privileges a certain view of narrative that is defined by the coherence and closure produced by its plot and which is embodied, in literature, by realist fiction. While admitting the validity of this position, this chapter is intent upon extending it by examining the connection between trials and a different understanding and example of narrative fiction. Taking the Literary Impressionism of Joseph Conrad as a cue (and through an analysis of materials such as Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent (1987) and the 2014 podcast Serial) the chapter claims that narrative's capacity to contain non-sequential secrets, to convey latent messages, and to produce meaning from its seemingly peripheral constituents have, to date, been underanalyzed in the context of a narrative understanding of trials. In conclusion, the chapter argues that the impossibility of divorcing narrative from its instantiation in language has far-reaching consequences for how we might understand the narrative battle between prosecution and defense.


In order to understand molecular basis of heterosis, the patterns of differential gene expression of multigene families between wheat hybrids and their parents in seedling leaves were analyzed by using mRNA differential display. Relationships between differential gene expression patterns, heterosis and F1 hybrid performance were determined. Four patterns of differential gene expression were observed, which include: (1) bands observed in both parents but not in the F1; (2) bands occurring in only one parent but not in the F1 or the other parent; (3) bands detected in only the F1 but neither of the parents; (4) bands present in one parent and F1 but absent in the other parent. The analysis showed that patterns of differential gene expression were not correlated with the F1 hybrid performance for all the eight agronomic traits. However, differentially expressed fragments that occurred only in the F1 but neither of the parents were found to be positively correlated with heterosis. On the contrary, fragments observed in both parents but not in the F1 were negatively correlated with heterosis. It is concluded that the differential expression of regulatory genes plays an important role in heterosis.


Intermetallic alloys are often doped with boron to suppress their intrinsic room-temperature intergranular brittleness. The commonly admitted mechanism of this effect, i.e. an intergranular segregation of boron, seems not to be the only important feature. In this work, boron interactions with numerous kinds of crystal defects (point defects, dislocations, grain boundaries) are studied in B-doped FeAl (B2) alloys containing 40 at. % Al. The intergranular segregation of boron is first characterized. Both an equilibrium and a non-equilibrium (due to a solute atom / thermal vacancy interaction) segregation mechanisms are identified. Strong tendency of boron to segregate to the dislocations lines is shown by direct measurements by atom probe field ion microscopy (AP FIM). This segregation is shown to induce a local depletion in Al in the vicinity of defects.


Vulcanized rubber products contain polymer backbones crosslinked with sulfur to improve mechanical strength. Burning of waste rubber products emits toxic gases, and recycling of rubber by breaking the C–S bond with costly reagents and heat is also haunted by environmental concerns. The crosslinked polymers can be extracted chemically at room temperature and, by a simple solution-drop method, used to prepare a bifunctional cathode layer on the cathode current collector of a Li–S battery. The C–S bond of the crosslinking sulfur can be broken reversibly in a discharge/recharge cycle to provide a sulfur source, and the broken carbon bond can capture a lithium polysulfide soluble in a liquid organic electrolyte by forming a C–Li–S bond during discharge. During charge, the Li is extracted and the C–S bond is reformed. However, added sulfur powder is also needed in the cathode of a Li–S battery. The data also provide a low-cost way to recycle waste rubber electrochemically.


The aim of this paper is to show how the Roman territorial planning patterns in the Ebro valley were always at the service of the strategic and economic importance given to this waterway by Rome, in the context of a policy of conquest and of economic exploitation. Firstly, the literary and archaeological documentation will be exposed to prove that the Ebro River was navigable upstream as far as Vareia (Varea-Logrono). Secondly, attention will be paid to the territorial limits of the Conventus Caesaraugustanus and to the circumstances which surrounded the origin and promotion of the most important towns in this conventus . It will be shown that this territory was structured and organized based on the Ebro and its tributaries.


Much has been said about the use of technology to increase agricultural production practices. Numerous aids in the form of livestock handling equipment are available to lighten the farmer's workload. As in the case of any new technology that is being implemented, these tools must be handled with care.


Between 1959 and 1971 there were 91 patients with clinically diagnosed prostatic carcinoma who were autopsied at Roswell Park Memorial Institute. In four of these 91 (4.4%) intracerebral metastasis were found at autopsy, but only in one of these four was the diagnosis arrived at pre‐mortem. This report describes the diagnosis and management of intracerebral metastasis from prostate carcinoma. It appears, on the basis of our initial experience, that the clinical diagnosis of this entity deserves more frequent consideration.


Background The USA 2004 influenza virus outbreak H3N8 in dogs heralded the emergence of a new disease in this species. A new inactivated H3N8 vaccine was developed to control the spread of the disease but, as in humans and swine, it is anticipated that the virus will mutate shift and drift in the dog population. Therefore, there is a need for a vaccine that can trigger a broad protection to prevent the spread of the virus and the emergence of new strains. Methodology and Principal Findings The universal M2e peptide is identical in almost all the H3N8 influenza strains sequenced to date and known to infect dogs. This epitope is therefore a good choice for development of a vaccine to provide broad protection. Malva mosaic virus (MaMV) nanoparticles were chosen as a vaccine platform to improve the stability of the M2e peptide and increase its immunogenicity in animals. The addition of an adjuvant (OmpC) purified from Salmonella typhi membrane in the vaccine formulation increased the immune response directed to the M2e peptide significantly and enlarged the protection to include the heterosubtypic strain of influenza in a mouse model. An optimal vaccine formulation was also shown to be immunogenic in dogs. Conclusions and Significance The MaMV vaccine platform triggered an improved immune response directed towards the universal M2e peptide. The adjuvant OmpC increased the immune response to the M2e peptide and protection to a heterosubtypic influenza strain that harbors a different M2e peptide in a mouse model. Antibodies generated by the vaccine formulation showed cross-reactivity with M2e peptides derived from influenza strains H9N2, H5N1 and H1N1. The vaccine formulation shows a potential for commercialization of a new M2e based vaccine in dogs.


This chapter adopts an integrative literature review to describe and analyze theories and empirical research on visual development, impairment, screening, and intervention. The purpose is to inform teachers on how to influence students' education and social growth through understanding vision. Vision is especially essential for reading, accessing classroom materials, and learning. Yet, in many countries, vision problems in children are not assessed and thus not treated. The negative consequences for individuals and society are often significant. Though there is an abundance of eye health specialists in developed countries, not all visual problems that influence learning and reading are screened or treated effectively. This is worse in developing countries where eye health infrastructure often is lacking. Even screening and treatment given through the eye healthcare system is not always sustainable, since regular follow-up is lacking. The literature review shows that vision is a developing sense important for learning and that teachers can screen children's vision and support visual development. It can be concluded that every child in the twenty-first century school should have teachers with knowledge in vision. An example of a higher education initiative is presented to illustrate possible further education for teachers in the area of vision.


Participatory Design with children strives to broaden the perspective of and increase empathy in design for the needs and desires of children by giving children a voice in the design process. The exact nature of the role played by children in the design process (e.g. user, informant, co-designer) and how much voice they are actually given has been the subject of a long and heated debate in the IDC community. The emerging field of Animal Computer Interaction, which seeks to empower animals through the participatory design of user-centered technology, offers an interesting opportunity for a comparative analysis. Indeed, working with animals poses many of the challenges also posed by working with children, due to similarities with regards to cognitive capabilities or attention span at particular developmental stages, and with regards to the designer's ability to communicate with them. This workshop aims to bring together researchers from the fields of animal and child computer interaction to explore similarities and difference in the challenges they face, the methods they use and the lessons they have learnt, to date, with the objective of gaining a better understanding of these important aspects and setting an agenda for further collaboration and study between the two communities.


Abstract HIV testing with rapid antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation are life-saving interventions for adolescents living with HIV. However, in Zambia, HIV diagnosis and immediate ART initiation among adolescents living with HIV is lagging. In collaboration with the Zambian Ministry of Health, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Zambia, and ICAP at Columbia University designed and implemented a quality improvement collaborative (QIC) to improve adolescent immediate ART initiation at 25 health facilities in Lusaka. Over the 12-month implementation period, quality improvement teams tested and identified targeted intervention, that significantly improved ART initiation within 14 days of receiving positive test results, from 24% at baseline to more than 93% for the final 6 months of implementation. The quality improvement collaborative approach empowered health care workers to innovate addressing the root causes of suboptimal performance and produced a package of successful interventions that will be shared throughout Zambia.


Metastasis is a complex pathophysiological process. As the main cause of cancer mortality in humans it represents a serious challenge to both basic researchers and clinicians. Here we report the design and construction of a multi-organ microfluidic chip that closely mimics the in vivo microenvironment of lung cancer metastasis. This multi-organs-on-a-chip includes an upstream "lung" and three downstream "distant organs", with three polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layers and two thin PDMS microporous membranes bonded to form three parallel microchannels. Bronchial epithelial, lung cancer, microvascular endothelial, mononuclear, and fibroblast cells were grown separated by the biomembrane in upstream "lung", while astrocytes, osteocytes, and hepatocytes were grown in distant chambers, to mimic lung cancer cell metastasis to the brain, bone, and liver. After culture in this system, lung cancer cells formed a "tumor mass", showed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (with altered expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Snail1, and Snail2) and invasive capacity. A549 cells co-cultured with astrocytes overexpressed CXCR4 protein, indicating damage of astrocytes after cancer cell metastasis to the brain. Osteocytes overexpressed RANKL protein indicates damage of osteocytes after cancer cell metastasis to the bone, and hepatocytes overexpressed AFP protein indicates damage to hepatocytes after cancer cell metastasis to the liver. Finally, in vivo imaging of cancer growth and metastasis in a nude mice model validated the performance of metastasis in the organs-on-chip system. This system provides a useful tool to mimic the in vivo microenvironment of cancer metastasis and to investigate cell-cell interactions during metastasis.


Sporadic gastric cancer usually arises against a background of sequential mucosal changes. H. pylori superficial gastritis progresses to atrophy and intestinal metaplasia and then to dysplasia and cancer. A variety of environmental and host genetic factors influence this process and act at different stages in the pathway. Many different combinations of these risk factors may lead to cancer. Interactions also occur between environmental and genetic factors to increase or decrease their ability to influence the precancerous process. Sporadic gastric cancer is thus the consequence of complex combinations and interactions between many environmental and genetic factors.


Whenever I mention that I grew up in Goa, those who have heard of it react with wonder and curiosity, both of which are almost always laced with a twinge of envy. India's smallest state is synonymous with beaches, hippies, trance music, vindalhoo, and, to my enormous displeasure, drugs. To me, however, Goa signifies lush paddy fields in a shade of green I still cannot define, coconut palms framing soothing sunsets, and whitewashed churches in perfect harmony alongside colourful temples. As a child, I of course took these landscapes for granted. As a fresh-faced architecture graduate, I came to better appreciate the state's well-kept public gardens, pastel-coloured facades and bustling marketplaces. As an expat who has now been away for more than a decade, my heart breaks a little for the Goa that awaits me each time I return, with streets choked by rule-flouting cars, off-shore casinos that are killing the capital's main river, and my favourite beach littered with plastic and beer bottles. This viewpoint is both a form of protest against the growing apathy evident in my hometown and also a plea to better cherish our public spaces.


Post rigor scallop meats were frozen individually with characteristic freezing time of 19, 49, 89, 235, 555 and 1000 min (time to cool the thermal centre of the meats from -1 to -7°C). After freezing, the meats were thawed and their quality was evaluated with tests related to muscle integrity (-hydroxy-acylcoenzyme –A dehydrogenase activities in muscle extracts), freezing and thawing losses, expressible fluids and myofibrillar protein denaturation (Ca2+-ATPase activities in actomyosin extracts). Instrumental texture measurements and triangular sensory evaluations were also performed. Fresh post-rigor meats were analyzed as controls. The muscle integrity test showed that the freezing process itself clearly affected the integrity of intra-cellular organelles (mitochondria). The characteristic freezing time of 89 and 49 min caused more damage to cell structure than the shorter and longer characteristic freezing time tested. Ca2+- ATPase activities of actomyosin extracts suggested that the freezing process itself, but not the freezing time, caused structural damage to myofibrillar proteins and were associated with the changes in water holding capacity (sum of thawing and expressible fluids). Peak shear forces of fresh and frozen scallop meats, as measured by the Warner-Bratzler shear knife, showed that only the freezing process itself caused softening of scallop meats. Triangle sensory comparisons between fresh and frozen scallop muscles suggested that characteristic freezing times up to 555 min may not influence the sensory quality of frozen scallop meats. Freezing of meats at the short freezing time of 19 min reduced freezing and thawing weight losses compared to longer time tested.


The aim of this article is to investigate the meanings constructed around the death of a university center's founder. For this purpose, the culture theory and the social constructionism approach formed the theoreticalmethodological basis. In this qualitative descriptive research, the triangulation of various data collection techniques was utilized and an analysis of the discursive practices was conducted. The reflections presented in this article could serve as a starting point for other researchers who are interested in investigating and constructing new theoretical and methodological reflections on this subject, which is absent from the theory of organizations. If this is the case, the researchers should bear in mind that the death of the founder of any organization takes on meanings that lie on the frontiers between the subjectivity of people and the organizational culture. The death of the founder, in any organization, cannot and should not be studied as something natural to those who have lost their historical reference, incorporating the figure of the hero, embellished with all his symbolism.


In an evaluation of the API 20NE for the identification of Burkholderia spp., 792/800 (99%) Burkholderia pseudomallei and 17/19 (89%) B. cepacia isolates were correctly identified but 10 B. mallei and 98 B. thailandensis isolates were not correctly identified. A latex agglutination test was positive for 796/800 (99.5%) B. pseudomallei isolates and negative for 120 other oxidase-positive gram-negative bacilli. The gram-negative bacillus Burkholderia


This paper is focused on the procedure of the development of a micro air vehicle which has vertical take-off and landing capability for indoor reconnaissance mission. Trade studies on mission feasibility led to the proposal of a coaxial rotorcraft configuration as the platform. The survey to provide a guide for preliminary design were conducted based on commercial off-theshelf platform, and the rotor performance was estimated by the simple momentum theory. To determine the initial size of the micro air vehicle, the modified conventional fuel balance method was applied to adopt for electric powered vehicle, and the sizing problem was optimized with the sequential quadratic programming method using MATLAB. The designed rotor blades were fabricated with high strength carbon composite material and integrated with the platform. The developed coaxial rotorcraft micro air vehicle shows stable handling quality with manual flight test in indoor situation.


The study evaluates the utility of Real Time PCR (RT-PCR) in quantitative and qualitative analysis of alleles in sorghum populations and the spontaneous occurrence of Sorghum bicolor alleles in wild populations of sorghum. Leaf and seed material from wild sorghum accesions were sampled in Homabay, Siaya and Busia counties to represent Western Kenya sorghum producing regions. A second sampling was done on S 2 populations of S. bicolor , Sorghum halepense and Sorghum sudanense maintained in the greenhouse. Crop loci were evaluated in all materials using a LightCycler® 2.0 system. Real Time PCR was effective in qualitative and quantitative determination of crop alleles in both crop and weedy backgrounds of S. sudanense , S. halepense and S. verticilliflorum. Crossing point values ranged between 19.7 from 30 ng template to 35.9 from 0.015 pg of template on locus SB1764. Melting peaks analysis ranged between 83.29 to 88°C on locus SB1764 and between 86.01 to 80.88°C on locus SB3420 effectively differentiating the 4 species. RealTime-PCR was successful in quantitative and qualitative analysis of specific crop alleles from loci SB1764 and SB3420 from seed and leaf DNA. Spontaneous occurrence of crop and rare alleles in wild sorghum populations growing in sympatry with crop cultivars showed the presence of crop and rare alleles in wild sorghum populations. Means of wild populations from lower midland 1 (LM 1 ), LM 2 , LM 3 and LM 4 AEZs were not significantly different. It is therefore vital to test S. bicolor seeds and other plant materials in transit, at entry points and populations of growing plants for foreign genes including transgenes using RT-PCR.  Keywords: Real time polymerase chain reaction ( PCR ), Sorghum bicolor , Sorghum halepense , Sorghum sudanense.


The architecture of sedimentary basins reflects the relationship between accommodation space and sediment supply, their rates and localization being variable during basin evolution. The mechanisms driving the interplay between tectonics and sedimentation in extensional back‐arc basins overlying rheological weak zones inherited from an earlier orogenic evolution are less understood. A typical example is the Pannonian back‐arc basin of Central Europe. It is floored by continental lithosphere and was affected by large amounts of extension driven by the subduction rollback that took place in the Carpathians and/or Dinarides. A novel kinematic and seismic sequence stratigraphic interpretation calibrated by wells allows the quantification of the link between the formation of half grabens and coeval sedimentation in the Great Hungarian Plain part of the basin. While the lower order tectonic‐induced cycles characterize the main phases of extension in various subbasins, the higher‐order cyclicity and associated unconformities define individual moments of fault (re)activation. Our novel interpretation of a temporal and spatial migration of extension during Miocene times explains the contrasting present‐day strike of various subbasins as a result of their gradual clockwise rotation. Incorporating the observed asymmetry, in particular the associated footwall exhumation, infers that the amount of extension is much larger than previously thought. The quantitative link between tectonics and sedimentation has allowed the definition of a novel model of sedimentation in asymmetric basins that can be ported to other natural scenarios of similarly hyperextended back‐arc basins observed elsewhere.


A novel restoration scheme for multi-failures based on dynamic weight protection ring (DWPR) is proposed in this paper, which resolves the simultaneous multi-failures and the conflicts by restoration between services effectively in Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing (WDM) optical mesh networks. DWPR use dijkstra algorithm to calculate route and protection ring. The protection ring is used to partition multi-failures, which can shorten the delay time by recovering link failures. Dynamic weight is introduced as load balancing, which reduces the conflict caused by restoring on common resource. Simulation results show that, compared with other scheme, DWPR has lower blocking rate, higher resource utilization and better multi-failures restoration rate.


Purpose The clinical suspicion of idiopathic adhesive capsulitis of the hip (IACH) involves restricted range of motion and normal hip radiographs. The purpose of this study was to delineate the characteristic findings observed on magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA) by identifying the anatomical structures involved and their significance on clinical presentation of restricted range of motion. Materials and Methods We retrospectively evaluated MRA's of 46 hips (44 patients) who suffered hip pain from September 2006 to August 2012 in our hospital. Of those, 10 cases (8 patients) with clinical suspicion of IACH were compared to 20 normal hip cases (control group). To identify anatomical evidence of adhesive capsulitis in the MRA's of the IACH group, capsular thickness was measured superiorly, inferiorly, anteriorly and posteriorly, and compared to that of the randomly selected control group. Results Comparison of the MRA findings of the control group to that of the IACH group showed that there was a statistically significant increase in the mean thickness of the joint capsule superiorly and posteriorly (P<0.01), while comparison of examination findings revealed a statistically significant decrease in the mean range of motion (flexion 122.5°±5.5°/abduction 28.0°±2.8°/adduction 26.5°±2.4°/external rotation 30.5°±3.8°/internal rotation 25.5°±2.4°) in the IACH group. Conclusion A change in the capsular thickness on MRA is a common finding in IACH patients with the increase more evident in the posterior and superior capsules than the anterior and inferior capsules.


Ideas on characteristic behavior of correlation functions underlie all models of turbulent diffusion. This paper sets forth a consistent analysis of these correlation ideas, beginning with Taylor's work of 1921, which pioneered the use of the autocorrelation function, and ending with works on the percolation theory of turbulent diffusion. Despite the fact that specific physical problems are significantly different, the commonality of the theoretical notions involved is emphasized. It is shown how the ideas of 'long-range' correlations and fractality enter into the percolation method. The 'universality' of the percolation approach to the description of turbulent diffusion is discussed at some length.


Information and communication technology development has produced a public service model through Egovernment. The government issued a policy, namely the formation of Village Fund Allocations (ADD), to manifest financial decentralization towards independent villages. The village has a very strategic role as a government organizational unit that deals directly with the community with all backgrounds, interests, and needs. The purpose of writing this thesis is to find out the E-government-Based Village Fund Allocation Management System in the Village Finance Application (Siskeudes) in Padakkalawa Village, Pinrang Regency. This study used descriptive qualitative research. Data collection techniques are carried out by direct observation, interviews, and documentation. The theory used in this study is the theory of Arifiyanto and Kurrohman based on four indicators, including planning, implementation, supervision, and reporting/responsibility. The results showed the Egovernment-Based Village Fund Allocation Management (Study Siskeudes in Padakkalawa Village, Pinrang Regency). In the planning process, Siskeudes obtain data information about the Village Strategic Plan, village RPJM and establish a village development work plan (RKPDes). At the implementation stage, Siskeudes is used for the APBDesa preparation process. For the supervision stage, Siskeudes is used to provide information to supervisors. Moreover, the Siskeudes accountability reporting stage is used to apply the principle of transparency or information disclosed to the public with evidence of the implementation of financial reporting displayed through information boards or accessed through the website. Keyword e-budgeting; budgeting system; development of technology


Bevel-tip needles are commonly utilized in percutaneous medical interventions where a curved insertion trajectory is required. To avoid deviation from the intended trajectory, needle shape sensing and tip localization is crucial in providing the operator with feedback. There is an abundance of previous work that investigate the medical application of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, but most works select only one specific type of fiber among the many available sensor options to integrate into their hardware designs. In this work, we compare two different types of FBG sensors under identical conditions and application, namely, acting as the sensor for needle insertion shape reconstruction. We built a three-channel single core needle and a seven-channel multicore fiber (MCF) needle and discuss the pros and cons of both constructions for shape sensing experiments into constant curvature jigs. The overall needle tip error is 1.23 mm for the single core needle and 2.08 mm for the multicore needle.


ESR, NMR and static magnetic susceptibility measurements of heavily irradiated NaCl-K and NaCl-KBF 4 are reported. Up to 10% of the NaCl-molecules are transformed into metallic Na nanoparticles and Cl 2 precipitates. In addition, there are paramagnetic F- and F-aggregates, which are coupled by exchange interactions to the conduction electrons in the nanoparticles. Above 160 v K the NMR and ESR signals of NaCl-K and NaCl-KBF 4 show Pauli paramagnetism and the properties of the Na nanoparticles are similar to bulk sodium. A single ESR line is observed revealing exchange interaction between conduction electrons in the nano-particles and F-aggregates. The observed decrease of the ESR susceptibility with decreasing temperature is due to a metal-insulator transition. The conduction electrons are localized below 40 v K and the above mentioned F-aggregate centers contribute significantly to the overall ESR signal. For NaCl-KBF 4 we observed that with decreasing temperature the ESR line shifts towards lower fields due to antiferromagnetic ordering and internal magnetic fields.


Longitudinal binary data often arise in clinical trials when repeated measurements, positive or negative to certain tests, are made on the same subject over time. To account for the serial correlation within subjects, we propose a marginal logistic model which is implemented using the Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) approach with working correlation matrices adopting some widely used forms. The aim of this paper is to seek some robust working correlation matrices that give consistently good it to the data. Model-it is assessed using the modified expected utility of Walker & Gutierrez-Pe□a (1999). To evaluate the effect of the length of time series and the strength of serial correlation on the robustness of various working correlation matrices, the models are demonstrated using three data sets containing respectively all short time series, all long time series and time series of varying length. We identify factors that affect the choice of robust working correlation matrices and give suggestions under different situations.


Multiview video coding (MVC) plays a critical role in 3D-TV systems. However, MVC require much more memory bandwidth and computational complexity relative to mono-view video coding. Therefore, an efficient prediction scheme is necessary for computation reduction. In this paper, a new fast prediction algorithm, computation-free motion estimation (ME) with inter-view mode decision, is proposed. By utilizing disparity estimation to find corresponding blocks between different views, the coding information, such as modes and motion vectors, can be effectively reused from the coded view channel. Therefore, the computation for ME can be almost totally neglected in most view channels. Besides, the proposed algorithm also provides the computation scalability. Experimental results show that compared with the full search block matching algorithm (FSBMA), the proposed algorithm not only save 61-72% computation with near-FSBMA quality, but save almost 100% computation with a little quality drop of 0.23-0.36 dB. Thus, computation-free ME is achieved.


For the corticotropin-releasing-hormone stimulation test the number of samplings and measurements are reduced to two - and the ratio between concentrations at 60 min and 0 min is calculated. The difference between the information given by absolute concentrations and ratio is negligible, but by using ratio, the influence of bias is eliminated. The test becomes simpler and the costs are reduced. The use of only two measurements factitiates the evaluation of quality specifications


In this paper we investigate whether matrices arising from linear or integer programming problems can be decomposed into so-called bordered block diagonal form. More precisely, given some matrix A, we try to assign as many rows as possible to some number $\beta$ of blocks of size $\kappa$ such that no two rows assigned to different blocks intersect in a common column. Bordered block diagonal form is desirable because it can guide and speed up the solution process for linear and integer programming problems. We show that various matrices from the linear programming and mixed integer programming libraries Netlib and Miplib can indeed be decomposed into this form by computing optimal decompositions or decompositions with proven quality. These computations are done with a branch-and-cut algorithm based on polyhedral investigations of the matrix decomposition problem. In practice, however, one would use heuristics to find a good decomposition. We present several heuristic ideas and test their performance. Finally, we investigate the usefulness of optimal matrix decompositions into bordered block diagonal form for integer programming by using such decompositions to guide the branching process in a branch-and-cut code for general mixed integer programs.


Students come into the classroom with prerequisite theories and conceptions as results from everyday experiences and commonsense beliefs. As they progress through their education, these conceptions will be reinforced and it will be extremely difficult to change. Physics is no exception as the subject matter deals more closely about concepts in everyday situations. In order to teach physics effectively, it is the utmost important to identify these ideas beforehand. This paper provides an overview of some literatures pertaining to misconceptions and difficulties in introductory physics among high school and university students. Misconceptions and difficulties in mechanics are listed and described based on past studies in science education. Consequently, this paper also presents the implications these misconceptions have on teaching and learning physics and its role in conceptual cheas.


Objective: The aim of this study was to perform a spatial analysis of the prevalence of adolescent maternity in different districts of Peru and determine the spatial correlation with socioeconomic and sociodemographic characteristics. Material and Method: An ecological study was carried out through a spatial analysis based on the prevalence of adolescent maternity, registered in the 2017 National Census, of different districts of Peru. The global and local Moran's Indexes were used to establish clustering patterns. A spatial lag model was performed to correlate district sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics with adolescent maternity. Results: Data from 1874 districts were analyzed. Of all the adolescents, 122.144 (10.1%) had been mothers. Some districts showed a prevalence of adolescent maternity above 40%. Ucayali, Loreto, and San Martin were the administrative regions with the highest proportion of districts with adolescent pregnancies, surrounded by districts with also a high prevalence of adolescent pregnancies. The spatial lag model analysis showed a significant and positive association for illiteracy, single marital status, rurality, and location in the Jungle natural region of the district with adolescent maternity; access to drinking water showed a negative association. Conclusion: One in ten adolescents between 15 and 19 in Peru has been a mother. The districts with the highest prevalence of adolescent maternity are located in the Peruvian jungle region. Sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors at the district level such as illiteracy, rurality, single marital status, and location in the Jungle natural region were positively associated with adolescent maternity. A higher prevalence of access to drinking water at the district level is associated with a lower prevalence of adolescent maternity at the district level.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)-based data improve bankruptcy prediction over Australian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (AGAAP)-based data. In doing so, this paper focuses on intangibles because conservative accounting rules for intangibles under IFRS required managers to write off substantial amounts of intangibles previously capitalized and revalued upwards under AGAAP. The focus on intangibles is also motivated by empirical evidence that financially distressed firms are more likely to voluntarily capitalize and make upward revaluations of intangibles compared with healthy firms. Design/methodology/approach - This paper analyses a sample of 46 bankrupt firms and 46 non-bankrupt (healthy) firms using a matched-pair design over the period 1991 to 2004. The authors match control firms on fiscal year, size (total assets), Global Industry Classification Standard-based industry membership and principal activities. Using Altman's (1968) model, this paper compares the bankruptcy prediction results between bankrupt and non-bankrupt firms for up to five years before bankruptcy. In the tests, the authors use financial statements as reported under AGAAP and two IFRS-based data sets. The IFRS-based datasets are created by considering the adjustments on the AGAAP data required to implement the requirements of IAS 38, IFRS 3 and IAS 36. Findings - This paper finds that, under IFRS, Altman's (1968) model consistently predicts bankruptcy for bankrupt firms more accurately than under AGAAP for all of the five years prior to bankruptcy. This greater prediction accuracy emanates from smaller values of the inputs to Altman's model due to conservative accounting rules for intangibles under IFRS. However, this greater accuracy in bankruptcy prediction comes with larger Type II errors for healthy firms. Overall, the results provide evidence that the switch from AGAAP to IFRS improves the quality of information contained in the financial statements for predicting bankruptcy. Research limitations/implications - Small sample size and having data available over the required period may limit generalizability of findings. Originality/value - Although bankruptcy prediction is one of the primary uses of accounting information, the burgeoning literature on the benefits of IFRS adoption has so far neglected the role of IFRS data in bankruptcy prediction. Thus, this paper documents a new benefit of IFRS adoption. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how the restrictions on the ability to capitalize and revalue intangibles enhance the quality of information used to predict bankruptcy. These results provide evidence to international standard setters of what they can expect if their efforts to remove non-restrictive accounting practices for intangibles are abandoned.


This paper describes an architecture for controlling non-player characters (NPC) in the First Person Shooter (FPS) game Unreal Tournament 2004. Specifically, the DRE-Bot architecture is made up of three reinforcement learners, Danger, Replenish and Explore, which use the tabular Sarsa(λ) algorithm. This algorithm enables the NPC to learn through trial and error building up experience over time in an approach inspired by human learning. Experimentation is carried to measure the performance of DRE-Bot when competing against fixed strategy bots that ship with the game. The discount parameter, γ, and the trace parameter, λ, are also varied to see if their values have an effect on the performance.


Abstract As of yet, Islamization by secular ruling parties has hardly been investigated in depth. To bridge this gap, the present article reviews the existing literature on Islamization, synthesizes the scattered existing theoretical insights on Islamization by secular actors and applies them to the case of Bangladesh. It argues that, especially when they act in conjunction, three main conditions can drive secular rulers to Islamize public policy: first, the rise of Islamist social movements; second, fierce political competition; and third, (semi-)authoritarian rule. Focusing on the current Awami League (AL) government, the article shows how these three factors have interacted to produce a top-down process of state-led Islamization in Bangladesh.


Free energy simulation methods are used to analyze the effects of the mutation Arg 96----His on the stability of T4 lysozyme. The calculated stability change and the lack of significant structural rearrangement in the folded state due to the mutation are in agreement with experimental studies [Kitamura, S., & Sturtevant, J. M. (1989) Biochemistry 28, 3788-3792; Weaver, L. H., et al. (1989) Biochemistry 28, 3793-3797]. By use of thermodynamic integration, the contributions of specific interactions to the free energy change are evaluated. It is shown that a number of contributions that stabilize the wild type or the mutant partially cancel in the overall free energy difference; some of these involve the unfolded state. Comparison of the results with conclusions based on structural and thermodynamic data leads to new insights into the origin of the stability difference between wild-type and mutant proteins. Of particular interest is the importance of the contributions of more distant residues, solvent water, and the covalent linkage of the mutated amino acid. Also, the analysis of the interactions of Arg/His 96 with the C-terminal end of a helix (residues 82-90) makes it clear that the nearby carbonyl groups (Tyr 88 and Asp 89) make the dominant contribution, that the amide groups do not contribute significantly, and that the helix-dipole model is inappropriate for this case.


Silver bond wires can be protected from damage during acid decapsulation by injecting a corrosion inhibitor into the acid stream. Recent experiments show that the injection of an iodic acid solution is effective over a wide range of process parameters, including etch time, etch temperature, and the amount of inhibitor injected. The results presented in the article are based on the use of a 0.3 M iodic acid solution and the decapsulation of parts containing silver alloy wire. However, similar results have been achieved on test samples with pure silver wire using a higher concentration inhibitor solution. Both solutions have very long shelf life and are relatively safe to handle.


This Intuitionistic fuzzy sets theory which is the generalisation of fuzzy sets theory is more suitable tool for dealing with imprecise information. The information provided by the decision maker is imprecise in many situations. So, intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation is a suitable tool for such cases. The estimation of the priority vector of the intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation is an important part in decision making. In this paper, an intuitionistic fuzzy weighted integral operator is proposed. The defined operator is employed with score functions to develop a method for the priority of an intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation to estimate the ranking of the considered alternatives. Further an experiment example has been conducted to implementation of proposed approach.


The cattle mycoplasmas are widespread throughout the world (A.M. Parker et al., 2018; M. Abed Alhussen et al., 2020). This review presents data on the epidemiology and diagnosis of mycoplasmosis in cattle caused by M. bovis, M. bovigenitalium, and M. dispar. Mycoplasmas can cause economically important diseases in cattle, including mastitis, arthritis, keratoconjunctivitis, otitis media, pneumonia, and reproductive disorders (R.A.J. Nicholas et al., 2008; F.P. Maunsell et al., 2011). Mycoplasmas are characterized by a size of up to 150 μm, small genome (0.58-1.38 million base pairs) a low G-C composition (23-40 %) and the absence of a cell wall which determines their polymorphism and resistance to antibiotics, influencing the synthesis of the bacterial cell wall (R.A.J. Nicholas et al., 2008; P. Vos et al., 2011). Mycoplasma surface antigens are highly variable both in vitro and in vivo, which leads to significant variability of isolates (M.A. Rasheed et al., 2017). They also play an important role in overcoming the host's immune system. In addition, some of these antigens are involved in the adhesion of mycoplasmas to host cells (Y. Guo et al., 2017). After adhesion, many mycoplasmas produce a variety of products that damage host cells and enhance pathogenesis (L.A. Khan et al., 2005). They can also form biofilms that increase resistance to drying out and heat stress (L. McAuliffe et al., 2006; F. Gomes et al., 2016). Moreover, the invasion and intracellular survival of mycoplasmas in cattle cells contributes to the preservation and spread in the host organism (J. Van der Merwe et al., 2010). The incubation period for mycoplasma infection in cattle depends on many factors, i.e., the infectious dose, the presence of associated infections, the conditions of keeping the animals in the herd and the stress state of the animals (M.J. Calcutt et al., 2018). Sick animals are a source of infection, because they can shed the pathogen with nasal discharge and sperm for several months and sometimes for several years (K.A. Clothier et al., 2010; V. Punyapornwithaya et al., 2010). It should be noted that at low temperatures, mycoplasmas remain viable for a long time: in deeply frozen cattle semen, the pathogen can remain infectious for many years (A. Kumar et al., 2011). The high contagiousness of some species of Mycoplasma spp., their low sensitivity to treatment and the associated consequences of culling for the affected population make timely and accurate diagnosis important for disease control and prevention (A.M. Parker et al., 2018). The cultural methods can be applied for isolation and identification of the pathogen. However, these methods have limitations. Cultivation of mycoplasmas requires a complex medium, special equipment and technical skills (R.A.J. Nicholas et al., 2008; M.J. Calcutt et al., 2018; A.M. Andersson et al., 2019). Mycoplasmas require 7-10-day cultivation at a temperature of 37 С and 5-10 % CO2. The colony has the "Fried-egg" appearance characteristic of most mycoplasmas (P.J. Quinn et al., 2011). By contrast, PCR provides a rapid and accurate diagnosis of the disease by detecting mycoplasmal DNA (A.M. Andersson et al., 2019). Furthermore, many other methods of diagnostics of bovine mycoplasma are used, such as MALDI-TOF MS (Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-light mass spectrometry), latex agglutination, immunochromatographic assays etc., however, each method has its advantages and disadvantages, which should be considered before application (M.J. Calcutt et al., 2018; B. Pardon et al., 2020).


A demographic policy is an organic and integrated set of procedures designed to influence population growth and movement directly and indirectly in accordance with predetermined objectives. Such policy can affect age-sex distribution, marital patterns, health, and the geographical distribution of people within a country. Demographic policy must be an integral art of social welfare policy, of which socioeconomic development is 1 of the most important aspects. 2 points are considered to be most important in demographic research in Brazil; i.e., geographic distribution and population increase. Family size, both ideal and realized, and factors entering into decisions on family size are discussed as a primary component of population increase. Cost of children to poor and rich communities is contrasted. 6 stages of demographic research are discussed: 1) study of available material, 2) selection of goals, 3) preview of long- and short-term results, 4) comparison of results with the set goals, 5) establishment of corrective action, and 6) investigation of political action variables.


Background: African locust bean is a condiment believed to be for the people of low class. Its health importance has not been fully known especially to the so-called high class.
Aim: This study is aimed at investigating the effect of African locust bean on fasting blood sugar and lipid profile of albino rats.
Methods: African locust bean (ALB) was purchased from a local market at Orita-Challenge area of Ibadan, Nigeria. They were sun dried and milled into powder using an electronic blender. The powder was extracted with n-hexane (40–60°C) in a soxlet extractor for 18 hours. The defatted, dried marc was repacked and then extracted with methanol. The dried marc was extracted with methanol in the soxlet apparatus for 10 hours. The methanol solution was subsequently concentrated in a rotatory evaporator at 40°C. Ten adult male albino rats with body weight between 100 and 120 g were purchased from the Animal Holding Unit of the Department of Physiology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. They were allowed 7 days acclimatization period and were divided randomly into 2 groups of five rats each. Animals in group 1 were administered normal saline solution while those in group 2 were administered extract of African locust bean. The animals were exposed to the African Locust Bean and saline solution at a dose of 3 ml per 100 g body weight 12 hourly via oral route of administration. After fourteen days of administration, the animals were fasted overnight and anaesthetized using diethyl ether. Blood samples were collected by cardiac puncture.
Results: ALB was observed to significantly lower fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol and triglyceride but increased HDL-cholesterol significantly when compared to those of the control group at p<0.05. LDL-cholesterol was not significantly different when animals treated with ALB were compared with those of the control group.
Conclusion: Increased blood sugar and hyperlipidemia has been implicated in diabetes. Cholesterolgenesis is a major onset of atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, ALB can serve as prophylaxis and remedies for several diseases caused by hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia such as diabetes and coronary heart disease.


The discussion among participants is a good way to gain knowledge during learning. But versatile discussion contents from e-learning system can not be displayed correctly on ubiquitous devices, which are limited by their capabilities. Moreover, it is inconvenient to input text messages on mobile device. Learners would not spend a long time on these, and moreover, it is impossible to enter some complex information such as mathematical formulas. In order to engage learners to participate in collaborative discussion during ubiquitous environments, the paper proposes an adaptive framework to share ideas and experiences among them, which allows learners to send questions (including text message, photos and video/audio captured by cameras or recorders embedded in mobile device) by email to participate in the discussion by mobile device. Another, the accessed contents can be adapted to ubiquitous devices according to their capabilities. Through the system, learning experience can be improved.


Poverty has always been studied in a world of certainty. However, if the aim of studying poverty is not only improving the well-being of households who are currently poor, but also preventing people from becoming poor in the future, a new forward looking perspective must be adopted. For thinking about appropriate forward-looking anti-poverty interventions (i.e. interventions that aim to prevent or reduce future poverty rather than alleviate current poverty), the critical need then is to go beyond a cataloging of who is currently poor and who is not, to an assessment of households' vulnerability to poverty. This study analyses a panel dataset on a representative sample of 150 rural households interviewed in 2007 and 2008 in the Amathole District Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province to empirical assess the dynamics of poverty and estimate the determinants of households' vulnerability to poverty. The result of the study indicates that the number of vulnerable households is significantly larger than for the currently poor households; the vulnerability index was found to be 0,62 compared to 0,56 headcount index in 2008. This implies that while 56 percent of the sampled households are poor (ex post) in 2008, 62 percent are vulnerable to becoming poor (ex ante) in future. The result of the Probit model shows that the age, level of education and occupation of the household head, dependency ratio, exposure to idiosyncratic risks and access to credit are statistically significant in explaining a households' vulnerability to poverty.


Mineral grains from three depths within the Luna 24 drill core (ca. 90, 125 and 196 cm) have been examined for solar-flare tracks. Large proportions (55-100%) of grains from all three levels are found to be track-rich (with central track densities pe > 108 cm-2), and a substantial fraction (ca. 25-50%) of all grains display trackdensity gradients. These observations indicate that most of the mineral grains have been cycled through the top ca. 1 mm of the lunar surface at some time in their history. Some degree of submaturity is observed towards the bottom of the core. The most likely depositional model envisages rapid infall of highly irradiated material into a less mature local component with rather little subsequent reworking. Thermoluminescence (t.l.) studies indicate a lower natural radiation dose in samples from the 196 cm level compared with those from the two upper levels. This can result either from random variations in the local internal radioactivity or from mixing properties of the pre-irradiated material over time scales of less than ca. 100 ka. Radiation sensitization of samples suggests a possible use of t.l. sensitivity for the interpretation of lunar radiation history.


: Three forms of struma maligna (A-, B-, and C-cell) are determined histogenetically in the thyroid gland, each of them having its own cytometric parameters. Cytological studies measuring the areas of the cells and nuclei surface allow one to differentiate between malignancies of various histogenesis.