The raw single-ion solvation free energies computed from atomistic (explicit-solvent) simulations are extremely sensitive to the boundary conditions and treatment of electrostatic interactions used during these simulations. However, as shown recently [M. A. Kastenholz and P. H. Hünenberger, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 224501 (2006); M. M. Reif and P. H. Hünenberger, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 144103 (2010)], the application of appropriate correction terms permits to obtain methodology-independent results. The corrected values are then exclusively characteristic of the underlying molecular model including in particular the ion-solvent van der Waals interaction parameters, determining the effective ion size and the magnitude of its dispersion interactions. In the present study, the comparison of calculated (corrected) hydration free energies with experimental data (along with the consideration of ionic polarizabilities) is used to calibrate new sets of ion-solvent van der Waals (Lennard-Jones) interaction parameters for the alkali (Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Rb(+), Cs(+)) and halide (F(-), Cl(-), Br(-), I(-)) ions along with either the SPC or the SPC/E water models. The experimental dataset is defined by conventional single-ion hydration free energies [Tissandier et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 102, 7787 (1998); Fawcett, J. Phys. Chem. B 103, 11181] along with three plausible choices for the (experimentally elusive) value of the absolute (intrinsic) hydration free energy of the proton, namely, ΔG(hyd)(⊖)[H(+)] = -1100, -1075 or -1050 kJ mol(-1), resulting in three sets L, M, and H for the SPC water model and three sets L(E), M(E), and H(E) for the SPC/E water model (alternative sets can easily be interpolated to intermediate ΔG(hyd)(⊖)[H(+)] values). The residual sensitivity of the calculated (corrected) hydration free energies on the volume-pressure boundary conditions and on the effective ionic radius entering into the calculation of the correction terms is also evaluated and found to be very limited. Ultimately, it is expected that comparison with other experimental ionic properties (e.g., derivative single-ion solvation properties, as well as data concerning ionic crystals, melts, solutions at finite concentrations, or nonaqueous solutions) will permit to validate one specific set and thus, the associated ΔG(hyd)(⊖)[H(+)] value (atomistic consistency assumption). Preliminary results (first-peak positions in the ion-water radial distribution functions, partial molar volumes of ionic salts in water, and structural properties of ionic crystals) support a value of ΔG(hyd)(⊖)[H(+)] close to -1100 kJ·mol(-1).


ABSTRACT Accelerated discharge through marine-terminating outlet glaciers has been a key component of the rapid mass loss from Arctic glaciers since the 1990s. However, glacier retreat and its climatic controls have not been assessed at the pan-Arctic scale. Consequently, the spatial and temporal variability in the magnitude of retreat, and the possible drivers are uncertain. Here we use remotely sensed data acquired over 273 outlet glaciers, located across the entire Atlantic Arctic (i.e. areas potentially influenced by North Atlantic climate and/or ocean conditions, specifically: Greenland, Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land and Svalbard), to demonstrate high-magnitude, accelerating and near-ubiquitous retreat between 1992 and 2010. Overall, mean retreat rates increased by a factor of 3.5 between 1992 and 2000 (−30.5 m a−1) and 2000–10 (−105.8 m a−1), with 97% of the study glaciers retreating during the latter period. The Retreat was greatest in northern, western and south-eastern Greenland and also increased substantially on the Barents Sea coast of Novaya Zemlya. Glacier retreat showed no significant or consistent relationship with summer air temperatures at decadal timescales. The rate of frontal position change showed a significant, but weak, correlation with changes in sea-ice concentrations. We highlight large variations in retreat rates within regions and suggest that fjord topography plays an important role. We conclude that marine-terminating Arctic outlet glaciers show a common response of rapid and accelerating retreat at decadal timescales.


Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) although a widespread phenomenon among animals, is both enigmatic as to its proximate and ultimate causes and the scaling relationships between SSD and body size (Rensch's rule). We analyzed SSD at the intra- and interspecific levels in a number of representative species and genera of the major orthopteroid orders: Orthoptera, Phasmatodea, Mantodea, Blattodea, Dermaptera, Isoptera, and Mantophasmatodea. The vast majority of the species showed female biased SSD but numerous exceptions occur in cockroaches and earwigs. Rensch's rule and its converse are not common patterns at both, intraand cross-species level, most species and genera showing an isometric relationship between male and female body sizes. In some but not all cases, the demonstrated allometric patterns could be related to geographic body size variation. We also showed that not all body size estimators produce the same degree of SSD and that dimorphism can be strongly influenced by a number of living conditions and the patterns of nymphal development. Finally, we discuss our results in relation to current models of the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in animals.


The PTH/PTH-related peptide (PTHrP) receptor (PTHR) is required for normal skeletal development, and a wide array of physiological responses mediated by PTH and PTHrP. We have previously identified three promoters, P1-P3, which control human PTHR gene transcription. P2 and P3 are (G+C)-rich, function in a number of tissues, lie within the same CpG island, and display many hallmarks of housekeeping promoters. However, they are differentially regulated during development as P2, but not P3, functions in fetal tissues. Here, we have used both stably and transiently transfected human osteoblast-like cells to delineate regions of P2 and P3 required for promoter activity. Deletion analyses performed in stably transfected cells indicated that sequences extending from -91 to -12 relative to the transcription start site were required for function of the P2 promoter. No negative regulatory elements were detected in P2. In contrast, deletion of an A-rich region of P3 extending from -147 to -115 was required for optimal basal activity, suggesting that this sequence acts as a repressor of P3. Strikingly, however, whereas the A-rich region also functioned as a negative element when inserted upstream of the (G+C)-rich P2 promoter, it enhanced expression from the thymidine kinase promoter, suggesting that its function depends on other transcription factors bound to promoter sequences. Fine deletion of P3 sequences proximal to -115 implicated Spl motifs and downstream initiation sites in P3 function. These studies indicate that function of P2 and P3 is controlled by ubiquitously expressed transcription factors and raise the possibility that P3 activity is repressed during fetal development.


Objective To assess the efficacy of gatifloxacin versus cefixime in the treatment of uncomplicated culture positive enteric fever. Design A randomized, open-label, active control trial with two parallel arms. Setting Emergency Room and Outpatient Clinics in Patan Hospital, Lagankhel, Lalitpur, Nepal. Participants Patients with clinically diagnosed uncomplicated enteric fever meeting the inclusion criteria. Interventions Patients were allocated to receive one of two drugs, Gatifloxacin or Cefixime. The dosages used were Gatifloxacin 10 mg/kg, given once daily for 7 days, or Cefixime 20 mg/kg/day given in two divided doses for 7 days. Outcome Measures The primary outcome measure was fever clearance time. The secondary outcome measure was overall treatment failure (acute treatment failure and relapse). Results Randomization was carried out in 390 patients before enrollment was suspended on the advice of the independent data safety monitoring board due to significant differences in both primary and secondary outcome measures in the two arms and the attainment of a priori defined endpoints. Median (95% confidence interval) fever clearance times were 92 hours (84–114 hours) for gatifloxacin recipients and 138 hours (105–164 hours) for cefixime-treated patients (Hazard Ratio[95%CI] = 2.171 [1.545–3.051], p<0.0001). 19 out of 70 (27%) patients who completed the 7 day trial had acute clinical failure in the cefixime group as compared to 1 out of 88 patients (1%) in gatifloxacin group(Odds Ratio [95%CI] = 0.031 [0.004 – 0.237], p<0.001). Overall treatment failure patients (relapsed patients plus acute treatment failure patients plus death) numbered 29. They were determined to be (95% confidence interval) 37.6 % (27.14%–50.2%) in the cefixime group and 3.5% (2.2%–11.5%) in the gatifloxacin group (HR[95%CI] = 0.084 [0.025–0.280], p<0.0001). There was one death in the cefixime group. Conclusions Based on this study, gatifloxacin is a better treatment for uncomplicated enteric fever as compared to cefixime. Trial Registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN75784880


In this paper, a flexible spacecraft attitude control scheme that guarantees vibration suppression and prescribed performance on transient-state behavior is proposed. Here, parametric uncertainty, external disturbance, unmeasured elastic vibration, actuator saturation, and even configuration misalignment are considered. To guarantee prescribed performance bounds on the transientand steady-state control errors, a performance constrained control law is formulated with an error transformed function. An elastic modal observer is employed to estimate the unmeasured flexible modal variables, and a command filter is adopted to avoid the tedious analytical computations of time derivatives of virtual control inherent in the control design. Subsequently, a novel auxiliary system is developed to compensate the adverse effects of the actuator saturation constraints, and a compensation term is integrated into the control law to tackle the configuration misalignment. A comparative simulation study is carried out to illustrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed approach.


Objective The objective of this study was to elucidate factors that affect prognosis in patients with stage I endometrial cancer. Methods The study group comprised 265 patients with stage I endometrial cancer treated surgically at either of our facilities between January 1998 and December 2010 (238 patients with negative peritoneal cytology and 27 patients with positive peritoneal cytology). Progression-free survivals were evaluated between the 2 groups, and multivariate analysis was conducted with correlation factors including positive peritoneal cytology, vessel permeation, lymph node dissection, histologic diagnosis, age at diagnosis, adjuvant chemotherapy, and the depth of myometrial invasion. Results Disease-free survival was significantly poorer for patients with positive peritoneal cytology than those with negative peritoneal cytology on stage I disease (P = 0.000). The stratified log-rank test with vessel permeation shows the similar results. By univariate Cox model, positive peritoneal cytology, vessel permeation, and systemic lymph node dissection at surgery are significant factors on stage I endometrial cancer. Conclusions Although this is a small-scale preliminary study with adjustment of other factors, positive peritoneal cytology can contribute to the risk of progression-free survival in patients with stage I endometrial cancer.


Fixed WiMAX (IEEE 802.16d) is positioned as a wireless broadband alternative to the traditional cable and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technologies. Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) has been chosen as the 3G/4G technology by major mobile/cellular service providers around the globe. Many Government organizations are also interested in the WiMAX technologies. We have built a WiMAX RF Planner, a WiMAX cell planning tool. The WiMAX RF Planner incorporates all the standard features of commercial RF planning tools with additional features tailored for government requirements including: support of base station mobility as well as interfacing to WiMAX radios, OPNET and Google Earth. In this paper, we present its features, the architectures and sample simulation scenarios.


Arcand, M. M., Knight, J. D. and Farrell, R. E. 2013. Temporal dynamics of nitrogen rhizodeposition in field pea as determined by 15 N labeling. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 941-950. Assessing the contribution of symbiotically fixed N2 to soil from pulse crops necessitates a full accounting of the total crop residue N remaining in the field after seed harvest. Below-ground N, including root and rhizodeposit N, comprises an important component of this total plant N balance - without it the N input to soil is underestimated. Under controlled conditions in a greenhouse, N in intact roots and N rhizodeposition were quantified in field pea (Pisum sativum L.) using the cotton-wick 15N labeling technique. Plants were supplied with 15N on a continuous basis and harvested at the vegetative stage (nine leaves unfolded), flowering, and maturity. As the plants aged, the 15N enrichment in the rhizosphere soil decreased, whereas that in the bulk soil increased, suggesting that N released as root exudates comprised a more important proportion of N rhizodeposition in plants at the early vegetative stage compared with mature plants. In mature plants, N rhizodeposition was comprised predominantly of N associated with root turnover. The contribution of N rhizodeposition recovered in soil to the total plant N balance decreased from 17.8% at the vegetative stage harvest, to 12.3% at flowering, and finally to 7.5% at maturity. However, the total amount of root-derived N released to soil by pea increased with plant development. Below-ground N, including N rhizodeposition and N in intact roots contributed 11.3% to the total plant N balance of mature pea.


Aims: The study aimed to determine the specific features responsible for the recognition of gestures, to design a computational model for the process and to implement the model and evaluate its performance. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Computer Engineering, Federal Polytechnic, Ede, between August 2017 and February 2018. Methodology: Samples of hand gesture were collected from the deaf school. In total, 40 samples containing 4 gestures for each numeral were collected and processed. The collected samples were pre-processed and rescaled from 340 × 512 pixels to 256 × 256 pixels. The samples were examined for the specific characteristics responsible for the recognition of gestures using edge detection and histogram of the oriented gradient as feature extraction techniques. The model was implemented in MATLAB using Support Vector Machine (SVM) as its classifier. The performance of the system was evaluated using precision, recall and accuracy as metrics. Original Research Article Jimoh et al.; AJRCOS, 1(4): 1-11, 2018; Article no.AJRCOS.43523 2 Results: It was observed that the system showed a high classification rate for the considered hand gestures. For numerals 1, 3, 5 and 7, 100% accuracy were recorded, numerals 2 and 9 had 90% accuracy, numeral 4 had 85.67% accuracy, numeral 6 had 93.56%, numeral 8 had 88% while numeral 10 recorded 90.72% accuracy. An average recognition rate of 95% on tested data was recorded over a dataset of 40 hand gestures. Conclusion: The study has successfully classified hand gesture for Yorùbá Sign Language (YSL). Thus, confirming that YSL could be incorporated into the deaf educational system. The developed system will enhance the communication skills between hearing and hearing impaired people.


The high-temperature crystal growth of intermetallics often asks for sealing of the materials in a protective atmosphere. Here, we report on the development of a convenient sealing method for alkali-containing melts, with high vapor pressure and reactivity. Our newly designed container made of high-temperature resistant steel can be sealed manually and reliably without any air exposure of the containing material. The closed container may be heated in air up to at least 1150 °C. The containers were applied for the development and optimization of a high-temperature self-flux growth of KFe1−xAg1+yCh2 (Ch = Se, Te) single crystals. Their crystal structure and the low-temperature electrical resistance are presented. The successful growths of these air-sensitive materials out of a reactive self-flux confirm the reliability of the container.


Wasp stings occur commonly and uncomplicated cases are generally managed at local health centers. Complicated cases are referred to tertiary hospitals for multi-specialty care. We report a case of a 30-year old gentleman from a remote center in Nepal who had multiple wasp stings and developed oligo-anuric acute kidney injury, liver failure, and rhabdomyolysis. He was promptly referred to our hospital after initial resuscitation. At our hospital, he was treated with intensive conventional supportive care and specific organ-supportive care including N-Acetylcysteine infusion and hemodialysis. With the treatment given, the general condition of the patient as well as liver function improved within the first week. However, the recovery of kidney function and urine output lagged behind. The patient showed signs of improvement in kidney function at the end of the third week and completely recovered by the 40th day of treatment.


Water is an essential element for life. However, the industrial development and the urban growing havecaused the concentration of considerable amounts of garbage causing the degradation of rivers and their springs. This predatory process of urbanization is even more concentrated in Latin America. Whathappens, in fact, is the consolidation of illegal occupations in areas of environmental protection due the cost of their removal is impracticable. Actions must be taken to become more efficient the programs ofurbanization and the quality desired by the population, within recognized standards of sustainability.Should be integrated the processes of planning, deployment and conservation in the urbanization projects taking into consideration the conflicts and interests of the stakeholders, targeting the sustainability of watersheds. In this first phase of this research we have been done a survey of the processes of design, planning and implementing of urbanization projects, considering the actions, tools, symbols and conflicts within the watersheds. This work intends to propose actions and tools that will lead the process of urbanization of the land so that the conflicts within the watersheds can be managed aiming at the sustainable use of water resources.


Context. Atomic gas in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) is organized in filamentary structures. These structures usually host cold and dense molecular clumps. The Galactic magnetic field is considered to play an important role in the formation of these clumps. Aims. Our goal is to explore the role of the magnetic field in the H I -H 2 transition process. Methods. We targeted a diffuse ISM filamentary cloud toward the Ursa Major cirrus where gas transitions from atomic to molecular. We probed the magnetic field properties of the cloud with optical polarization observations. We performed multiwavelength spectro- scopic observations of different species in order to probe the gas phase properties of the cloud. We observed the CO ( J = 1–0) and ( J = 2–1) lines in order to probe the molecular content of the cloud. We also obtained observations of the [C II ] 157.6 µ m emission line in order to trace the CO-dark H 2 gas and estimate the mean volume density of the cloud. Results. We identified two distinct subregions within the cloud. One of the regions is mostly atomic, while the other is dominated by molecular gas, although most of it is CO-dark. The estimated plane-of-the-sky magnetic field strength between the two regions remains constant within uncertainties and lies in the range 13 − 30 µ G. The total magnetic field strength does not scale with density. This implies that gas is compressed along the field lines. We also found that turbulence is trans-Alfvénic, with M A ≈ 1. In the molecular region, we detected an asymmetric CO clump whose minor axis is closer, with a 24 ◦ deviation, to the mean magnetic field orientation than the angle of its major axis. The H I velocity gradients are in general perpendicular to the mean magnetic field orientation except for the region close to the CO clump, where they tend to become parallel. This phenomenon is likely related to gas undergoing gravitational infall. The magnetic field morphology of the target cloud is parallel to the H I column density structure of the cloud in the atomic region, while it tends to become perpendicular to the H I structure in the molecular region. On the other hand, the magnetic field morphology seems to form a smaller offset angle with the total column density shape (including both atomic and molecular gas) of this transition cloud. Conclusions. In the target cloud where the H I –H 2 transition takes place, turbulence is trans-Alfvénic, and hence the magnetic field plays an important role in the cloud dynamics. Atomic gas probably accumulates preferentially along the magnetic field lines and creates overdensities where molecular gas can form. The magnetic field morphology is probed better by the total column density shape of the cloud, and not its H I column density shape.


Induced seismicity as a result of natural gas production is a major challenge from both an industrial and a societal perspective. The compaction caused by gas production leads to changes of the effective pressure fields in the reservoir and stress redistributions occur particularly in the surrounding faults. In addition, the strong coupling between fluid flow and solid rock deformations and the role of fluid flow regarding the frictional properties of the faults necessitate a coupled and comprehensive modeling framework. A general and fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical finite difference formulation is developed herein and the results are verified against numerical benchmarks. A visco-elasto-plastic rheological behavior is assumed for the bulk material and a return-mapping algorithm is implemented for accurate simulation of the stress evolution. The geometrical features of the faults are incorporated into a regularized continuum framework, while the response of the fault zone is governed by a rate-and-state-dependent friction model. Numerical simulations are provided for large-scale problems and their efficiency is assured through the evaluation of the consistently linearized systems of equations along with the use of advanced numerical solvers and parallel computing. Although the proposed framework is a step towards the modeling of earthquake sequences for induced seismicity applications, the features of the numerical model are highlighted for other applications, including seismic events in subduction settings where the role of fluid flow inside the faults is considerable. Another application of the present, fully coupled hydro-thermo-mechanical formulation is the prediction of the fluid pressurization phenomena, where the frictional heating increases the magnitude of the pore fluid pressure inside the faults, and the resultant degradation of dynamic frictional strength is naturally captured.


In the United States, title to land is protected by a system of public records that would‐be buyers must consult in order to ensure that they are dealing with the true owner. Search is a costly process, however, especially as one goes back in time and the records deteriorate. This paper uses a sequential search model to determine how far back in time buyers should search. We find that, in general, search of the entire record is not optimal, which implies that optimal search does not establish title with certainty. We test the model using state statutes and search guidelines that limit the required length of title search. Our results show that the search limits vary across states according to the predictions of the model.


Populations of alveolar macrophages recovered from the lower respiratory tract secrete fibronectin, a multi-functional glycoprotein capable of influencing cell migration, attachment, differentiation, and proliferation. Using in situ hybridization of 35S-labeled antisense and sense RNA fibronectin probes, the present study demonstrates that most, but not all, normal alveolar macrophages contain fibronectin mRNA transcripts, and that among those macrophages expressing this gene, the relative amount of fibronectin mRNA transcripts varies from cell to cell. Interestingly, while 66 +/- 3% of normal alveolar macrophages contain fibronectin mRNA transcripts, this is increased to 82 +/- 2% (P less than 0.01) of alveolar macrophages recovered from the lungs of individuals with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic inflammatory disorder associated with exaggerated amounts of fibronectin in the lower respiratory tract. Furthermore, of the macrophages expressing the fibronectin gene, those from IPF patients contain more fibronectin mRNA transcripts than those from normals. Consistent with this observation, evaluation of tissue samples from IPF patients demonstrated that of all cells present, alveolar macrophages showed the greatest numbers of fibronectin mRNA transcripts per cell. These observations demonstrate that there can be marked cell-to-cell variation in the expression of the gene for a macrophage product such as fibronectin, suggesting that there are processes that modulate similar cells in the same anatomic compartment to vary their expression of the same gene.


Background As high-income countries experience over-diagnosis of cancer diseases, the low-income countries are characterized by under-diagnosis or no diagnosis of even the most prevalent cancers. The Comprehensive Community Cancer Program (CCCP) is a community health unit of the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) that coordinates and implements primary prevention of cancer and early detection in Uganda. CCCP provides cancer information and screening services at UCI, in rural communities through mobile outreaches, mass media cancer awareness and training health workers on cancer prevention and early detection. We explored the feasibility and benefit of conducting outreaches in partnership with local communities.Methods We analyzed the quarterly UCI-CCCP cancer health education and screening output report data form July 2016 to June 2019 to compare UCI-hospital-based and community outreach cancer awareness and screening services.Results From July 2016 to June 2019, we worked with 107 local partners and conducted 151 outreaches. Out of the total number of people who attended cancer health education sessions, 77.9% were reached through outreaches. Ninety-two (95%) cancer awareness TVs and radio talk-shows conducted were sponsored by local partners. Out of the total people screened; 63.0% cervical, 64.4% breast and 38.7% prostate screening clients were screened through outreaches. The screen-positive rates were higher in hospital-based screening except for Prostate screening; cervical, 8.8%, breast, 8.4% prostate, 7.1 than in outreaches; cervical, 3.2%, breast, 2.2%, prostate, 8.2%). Out of the screened positive clients who were eligible for pre-cancer treatment like cryotherapy for treatment of pre-cervical cancer lesions, thousands-folds monetary value and productive life saved relative to the market cost of cancer treatment and survival rate in Uganda. When the total number of clients screened for cervical, breast and prostate cancer are subjected to the incremental cost of specific screening, a greater portion (98.7%) of the outreach cost was absorbed through community partnership.Conclusions Outreaching and working in collaboration with communities as partners help in cost-sharing and leverage for scarce resources to promote primary prevention and early detection of cancer. This contributes to bridging cancer health disparity in the population.


Although the computer and telecommunications industries have traditionally represented two very different cultures, recent advances in circuit and system technology have blurred many of their past distinctions. A digital system test bed environment has been implemented that not only supports but encourages the use of terminal, switching, and processing capabilities for both computing and communicating. One of our major goals was to provide a test bed environment for conducting telecommunications terminal (teleterminal) experiments in the context of work, school, home, and play. Model scenarios for each environment are briefly described. Physically, the experimental environment is a blend of model shop and commercial systems and components. Adaptability and versatility have been given higher priority than manufacturability. The testing of concepts is deemed more relevant than the testing of components. The resulting environment does not model all of the application areas but has provided a wealth of illustrative data and insights that are described in companion papers.


Since French society has entered the knowledge economy, the migration of young people, especially higher education graduates, is of great interest. Although it could improve our understanding of the territorial dynamics related to the university system and the labour market, there has never been a survey of migration of university students and graduates seeking their first job. Using results on the migration of young people between regions, this paper highlights the predominant role of the Ile-de-France region (greater Paris), as well as similarities and differences in migration behaviour between secondary-school leavers, university students and graduates seeking their first job.


Aims: to design reference percentile curves of waist circumference (WC) in children aged 6–10 from municipalities of developed (Portugal) and developing (Brazil) countries and to compare these results with other international references. Methods: this cross-sectional study enrolled a 6–10-year-old probability sampling. Univariate analysis of covariance adjusted by height was carried out to test the main effects of age, sex, countries, and interactions. WC percentile curves were performed with the LMS Chart Maker. Results: The sample comprised 6,475 children. Portuguese children presented a curvilinear increase in WC curves and Brazilian WC curves have shown a linear increase with age both for boys and girls. Overweight and obesity prevalence was 15.9 % and 4.7 % for Portuguese children and 12.9 % 4.5% for Brazilian children, respectively. There was a main effect (p<0.0001) for age and countries, and an interaction effect for sex*age (p=0.001) and countries*age (p<0.0001). Portuguese boys and girls have shown higher values for the 50th, 75th, and 95th percentiles than Brazilian boys and girls. Conclusions: WC reference percentile curves were drawn for 6–10-year-old Portuguese and Brazilian children. Portuguese children have higher WC values than Brazilian children and other children from developed countries.


Abstract:"I listened to them [children], really, at their height. What they had to tell me seemed much more interesting than anything anyone could. Luminous, powerful, touching, stirring. It's this force of childhood that I try to show in my novels."


We report a MEMS device for continuously monitoring glucose levels in diabetics. The device features a micro-cantilever and a semi-permeable membrane, which are integrated with micro-channels forming a miniature device chamber with a volume of 0.4 /spl mu/l. The sensor is based on affinity binding principles using the Dextran/Con-A system. The glucose concentration is determined by detecting viscosity changes induced by binding of glucose with Con-A through measurement of the cantilever's vibration parameters. The device is capable of measuring physiologically relevant glucose concentrations from 0 to 25 mM with a resolution better than 0.02 mM. The time for the system to reach binding equilibrium is less than 5 minutes in response to changes in glucose concentration.


AbstractThe presence of reversible lesions that involve the splenium of the corpus callosum (SCC) has been reported in patients with a broad spectrum of diseases and conditions and is referred to as reversible splenial lesion syndrome (RESLES).To describe the clinicoradiological features and establish a clinical position for this disease, we retrospectively examined the clinicoradiological features of adult RESLES patients, as well as discuss the potential pathophysiological mechanisms of this disease.The clinical and MRI findings of patients who presented with RESLES accompanied by symptoms of neurological disorders were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were classified into 2 subgroups (favorable and poor outcome subgroups), which corresponded to the severity of the disability using the Modified Oxford Handicap Scale. In addition, we compared the clinical and neuroimaging features between the 2 outcome subgroups.Eight patients with RESLES associated with various diseases and conditions were included. The clinical presentation was nonspecific; however, MRI exhibited consistent lesions in the SCC with a hypointensity on apparent diffusion coefficient maps and a hyperintensity via diffusion-weighted imaging, which disappeared after a variable lapse. The number of patients with a severe disturbance of consciousness, extracallosal lesions, or diffuse slow waves in the poor outcome subgroup was significantly increased compared with the favorable outcome subgroup (P < 0.05). Thus, the clinicoradiological spectrum of RESLES could be classified into 2 principal categories according to differential outcomes.RESLES is a rare entity with a broad clinicoradiological spectrum because of the various diseases and conditions. Although the overall symptoms of RESLES patients tend to be alleviated, the prognosis of patients with a severe disturbance of consciousness, extracallosal lesions, or diffuse slow waves is likely unfavorable.


Spontaneous granulomas developed frequently in the bone marrow of Slc: Wistar female rats over 19 weeks of age, whereas none did in JCL: SD and Slc: SD rats of either sex. These granulomas were composed histologically of epithelioid cells and macrophages clustered mostly in the center and lymphocytes and plasma cells located in the periphery, and they contained neither microorganisms nor foreign bodies. Ovariectomy of Slc: Wistar rats at 6 weeks of age resulted in a significant decrease in the incidence and size of bone marrow granulomas at 20 and 24 weeks of age. It is concluded that two factors, the strain of rats and female sex hormone, contribute to the pathogenesis of bone marrow granulomas--the former as a hereditary disposition and the latter as a promoter.


The channel of the lower Tordera River (Catalan Coastal Ranges) was intensively mined between 1956 and 1987, at an extraction rate 14 times higher than the replenishment rates. Mining caused incision of up to 2 m over the whole reach, leading to damage of infrastructures and affecting the groundwater system. In this paper we analyse the response of the river sediment budget by means of sediment transport measurements (both in suspension and as bedload) and topographic surveys. Historical data on mining activities was used to verify current values of sediment transport and to locate the main extraction areas in the long profile of the river. This has led to an integrated methodology that can be useful for assessing and managing current and future sediment deficits in heavily mined rivers. In the lower Tordera, a minimum of 3 million cubic metres of sand and gravel were extracted, especially from two gravel pits still visible as concavities in the river's longitudinal profile. Nowadays, 15 yr after mining ceased, the river shows during dry periods a general tendency towards aggradation (3.6 mm yr−1 on average and up to 12 mm yr−1 in central sections where mining took place), but a slight long‐term tendency to erode the riverbed. Sediment yield at the entrance of the study reach attains 552 000 t yr−1, while net sediment deposition reaches 16 400 t yr−1 (78% as bedload), mostly during small floods in dry periods. Estimated time for the river to recover pre‐extraction bed‐level is of the order of 420 yr. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Combining secondary data from the National Center for Education Statistics National Teacher Principal Survey (NTPS) and Common Core of Data (CCD), this exploratory study examined the distribution of teacher race/ethnicity across the race/ethnicity of the schools in which they work and the extent that teacher and school race/ethnicity was associated with occupational stress. Findings indicate that teachers are more likely to work in schools with higher concentrations of students who match their own race/ethnicity. Both teacher and school race/ethnicity were unique predictors of a teacher being classified as at-risk for stress. Additional analyses suggested that teachers' reported race/ethnicity significantly moderated the school effect association with stress risk. These findings have policy implications for how school workplace surveys are used as well as staffing and professional development considerations.


Alicia Sevilla and Kay Somers, Quantitative Reasoning: Tools for Today's Informed Citizen. (Emeryville CA: Key College Publishing, 2007). 626 pp. Softcover with Student CD. $79.95 (USA) ISBN 1-931914-90-1. http://www.keycollege.com/catalog/titles/quantitative_reasoning.html From charts and graphs (Topic 1) to decision making (Topic 21), Quantitative Reasoning offers a good selection of topics that students in a general education mathematics course and other individuals in our society should understand. Organizing the 21 chapters (topics) under the headings of numerical reasoning, logical reasoning, and statistical reasoning, Sevilla and Somers focus their chapters on examples and devote the last 224 pages to 21 Excel activities. Parallel graphic-calculator activities are on the Student CD, together with the data bank for the Excel activities. The strong orientation toward exercises and activities will assist instructors in making their course an engaging numeracy experience for their students; however, it also likely means that some instructors will find that some explanations are not as fully developed as they would like. With the selection, structure, exercises and activities provided by Sevilla and Somers, instructors can easily add supplemental material according to their own interests and priorities.


The classic secretary problem concerns the problem of an employer facing a random sequence of candidates and making online hiring decisions to try to hire the best candidate. In this paper, we study a game-theoretic generalization of the secretary problem where a set of employers compete with each other to hire the best candidate. Different from previous secretary market models, our model assumes that the sequence of candidates arriving at each employer is uniformly random but independent from other sequences. We consider two versions of this secretary game where employers can have adaptive or non-adaptive strategies, and provide characterizations of the best response and Nash equilibrium of each game.


This paper introduces a linear operator for the purposes of quantifying the spectral properties of transport within resistive trees, such as airflow in lung airway networks. The operator, which we call the Maury matrix, acts only on the terminal nodes of the tree and is equivalent to the adjacency matrix of a complete graph summarising the relationships between all pairs of terminal nodes. We show that the eigenmodes of the Maury operator have a direct physical interpretation as the relaxation, or resistive, modes of the network. We apply these findings to both idealised and image-based models of ventilation in lung airway trees and show that the spectral properties of the Maury matrix characterise the flow asymmetry in these networks more concisely than the Laplacian modes, and that eigenvector centrality in the Maury spectrum is closely related to the phenomenon of ventilation heterogeneity caused by airway narrowing or obstruction. This method has applications in dimensionality reduction in simulations of lung mechanics, as well as for characterisation of models of the airway tree derived from medical images.


The implementation of sustainable development principles as well as the prioritization of the circular economy as a healthy alternative to economic growth will cause producers to change their vision of production by incorporating concrete and effective environmental protection measures. The European Union, through Directive 2004/35/EC, on the prevention and repair of the damages produced to natural resources, has introduced, since its implementation for the first time on 30 April 2004, the obligation to respect the 'polluter pays' principle, with clear rules for them. The transposition of the Directive became mandatory three years later in 2007 for all member states and European producers were therefore responsible for both the pollution prevention action and the repair of potential environmental damage, as well as for bearing the associated costs of the two types of measures from the financial point of view. Within this research we find the concrete results of the implementation of the Directive, following the evaluations carried out by the European Commission, through the two official reports drawn up in 2010 and 2016, and also the difficulties faced by all Member States, in fact by European producers, in complying with environmental standards regarding waste. At the same time, these issues will be exemplified by reference to Romania's concrete example, as a case study.


The Central Highlands is a tourism region rich in natural tourism resources and unique cultural characteristics, forming Vietnam's special tourist hubs such as Da Lat and Buon Ma Thuot. In addition to these key hubs, there is another locality with great potential for the resources that are capable of creating a new tourism space associated with the typical natural landscape and unique ethnic cultural values: Dak Nong Province. With the advantages of available resources and the geographical location with accessibility to Ho Chi Minh City and the vicinity of the Central Highlands and South Central regions, Dak Nong is eligible to develop into a new tourism destination, creating a counterbalance, stimulating production and diversifying tourism services for the Central Highlands in general and Vietnam in particular. Based on the results of field research in July 2018 and January 2019, the paper proposes directions for designing Dak Nong's overall tourism products in the perspectives of regional linkage. The viewpoint of the paper is that building tourism products is essential for tourism development and must be oriented towards establishing regional links. Designing Dak Nong's tourism products in the perspectives of regional linkage needs to be based on the competitive advantages of each locality's advantages. Unlike economic regional links in which the state plays an important role, the key role in these tourism value chains must be played by tourism enterprises; the State plays a leading role in creating an environment for these chains to work.


In this paper, a bivariate generalization of a general sequence of MeyerKönig and Zeller (MKZ) operators based on q-integers is constructed. Approximation properties of these operators are obtained by using either Korovkin-type statistical approximation theorem or Heping-type convergence theorem for bivariate functions. Rates of statistical convergence by means of modulus of continuity and the elements of Lipschitz class functionals are also established. Mathematics Subject Classification 2010: 41A36, 41A25.


Sixteen high performance concrete overlays were placed on two 28-span bridges on Route 60 over Lynnhaven Inlet, Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the spring of 1996. The construction was funded with 20% Virginia Department of Transportation maintenance funds and 80% special ISTEA Section 6005 federal funds specifically allocated to demonstrate overlay technologies. ISTEA funds were also used to evaluate the installation and condition of the overlays and to prepare an interim report and this final report. The installation included 13 different concrete mixtures, an overlay with a thickness of only 19 mm (0.75 in.), and spans with and without topical treatments of two corrosion inhibitors, for a total of 16 different overlays. The overlay types are 7% silica fume (SF), 5% SF and 35% slag (S), 5% SF and 15% class F fly ash (FA), 15% latex-modified concrete (LMC), 13% SF and 15% FA, 13% SF and 15% FA placed 19 mm thick, 7% SF and Rheocrete corrosion inhibiting admixture (CIA) (RCI), 7% SF and Armatec CIA (ACI) and ACI topical treatment (A), 7% SF and ACI, 7% SF and Darex CIA (DCI) and Postrite (P) topical treatment, 7% SF and DCI, 40% S, 7% SF and shrinkage reducing admixture (CQI), 7% SF and polyolefin fibers (POF), 7% SF and steel fibers (STF), and 7% SF and polypropylene fibers (PPF). With the exception of system F, overlays were required to have a minimum thickness of 32 mm (1.25 in.). Also, system E had a variable thickness that ranged from 32 mm (1.25 in.) to 19 mm (0.75 in.) to provide good ride quality. Overlays have performed well with the exception of the areas adjacent to most joints. Many of these areas were replaced by the original contractor and have been replaced again by the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia.


We prove that for any nondegenerate dendrite D there exist topologically mixing maps F : D → D and f : [0, 1]→ [0, 1], such that the natural extensions (aka shift homeomorphisms) σF and σf are conjugate, and consequently the corresponding inverse limits are homeomorphic. Moreover, the map f does not depend on the dendrite D, and can be selected so that the inverse limit lim ←− (D,F ) is homeomorphic to the pseudo-arc. The result extends to any finite number of dendrites. Our work is motivated by, but independent of, the recent result of the first and third author on conjugation of Lozi and Hénon maps to natural extensions of dendrite maps.


SUMMARY Dormancy in seeds of Sesbania sesban is caused by a water-impermeable seed coat (hard seeds or hardseededness). A two-phase pretreatment technique was developed for breaking seed dormancy and was validated using different accessions and seed lots. Seeds were first soaked in water at 80 °C for 8 min and prepared for the germination test. Ungerminated hard seeds at the first count (after four days incubation) during the germination test were then subjected to a second treatment by mechanically scarifying the seed coat. The effects of water temperature and variation in initial hardseededness and viability among and within accessions were also investigated. The optimum water temperature, allowing maximum seed germination without increasing the percentage of abnormal seedling/dead seeds was 80 °C. The mean percentage of hard seeds across 30 seed lots of six accessions was reduced to 26% after phase 1 and to 0% after phase 2. In addition, full germination occurred within only 10 days for treated seeds while germination in untreated seeds had reached only 48% after 14 days. Significant differences existed among the seed lots within the accessions (p > 0.05) for the percentage of initial hard seed and for the effects of treatments on breaking seed dormancy. The two-phase technique developed was validated using over 1000 seed lots of S. sesban, and it was found to be a rapid and cost-effective method for breaking hard seed dormancy with potential for wider use for hard-seeded legumes.


The interviewing of witnesses, victims and suspects normally forms an essential part of a police investigation into criminal activities. There are various factors that affect accuracy in the eyewitness testimonies, one of which are suggestive interviewing techniques (Williamson, 2007).
Suggestibility is a personality trait which is often referred to as a type of psychological vulnerability. Suggestibility can challenge the interviewee's abilities to cope with the demands of the interview as well as the demands of following court procedures. It is due to these characteristics that suggestibility has an important impact on the outcome of the interview (Gudjonsson, 2010).
As shown through the work of Ridley and Gudjonsson (2013), there are several varieties of suggestibility and the effects of suggestive influence should be taken extremely seriously during investigations.
Our memories can be influenced and distorted in various ways because they are vulnerable and susceptible to decay, inner biases, social demands and expectations, leading questions, misleading information, conformity and mental disability. To support this, Bruck and Melnyk (2004) indicate that individual differences in the susceptibility to suggestibility make it harder to identify exactly where and when the effects of suggestibility are likely to manifest themselves. Reliable information about the types of people who are most likely to be tainted by suggestive interviewing has not been established yet and remains a subject for further research.


This concise, well written book is timely. There have been many new developments in the field of ocular physiology in recent years, and a survey of the field has been a difficult task, since this necessitated the reading of many scattered articles. This book presents an up-to-date, short, but in many places critical, summary of the biochemistry, physiology and optics of the eye. It is comprehensive and includes five sections: intraocular dynamics and the transparent tissues; the mechanism of vision; the muscular mechanisms; visual perception, and optics. The author's style is lucid, somewhat discursive but yet compact. The exposition generally is simple and adequate. The book is intended primarily for students of ophthalmology and should be a distinct aid to the candidate qualifying for the examinations of the American Board of Ophthalmology. But it should be considered only as an introduction to the subject, and as a foundation for more


AIM
We aimed to assess autoantibodies to M2-cholinoceptors (M2-CR) in patients with paroxysmal lone atrial fibrillation (AF) and in patients with AF and arterial hypertension (AH).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
100 patients with lone AF and 84 patients with AF and AH were included. Patients underwent clinical blood and urinalysis, assessment of biochemistry blood panel, 12-lead ECG, 24-hour Holter monitoring, echocardiography and stress - testing (treadmill or stress - echocardiography). Assessment of IgM and IgG autoantibodies to M2-CR was performed by indirect immunoenzyme assay. The following peptide molecules were used as epitopes for detection of autoantibodies: M1 - amino acid sequence YTVIGYWPLGVVCDL (83-98) of the first extracellular loop of M2-CR; M2 - sequence VRTVEDGECYIQFFSNAAVTFGTAI (168-192) of the second extracellular loop of M2-CR; M3 - sequence NTFCAPCIPNTV (410-421) of the third extracellular loop of M2-CR; M4 - short sequence VEDGECYIQFFS (171-182) of the second extracellular loop of M2-CR; M1+M4 - chimeric molecule formed by sequences of the first and the second extracellular loops of M2-CR connected by disulfide bound YTVIGYWPLGVVCDL + VEDGECYIQFFS (83-98 + 171-182).

RESULTS
Autoantibodies to M2-CR were found in 45% patients with lone AF and in 35% patients with AF and AH. In patients with lone AF prevalence of increased IgG to M2-CR were greater than in patients with AF and AH (32% vs 20%; p.


In contrast to one-to-one unicast transmission, multicast provides a one-to-many transmission paradigm. The overlay multicast has drawn a lot of attention as an alternative to IP multicast. In this paper, we compare four typical implementations of overlay multicast: Scattercast, Narada, overcast and ALMI. Several metrics are compared which are applicable to these projects, including relative delay penalty, normalized resource usage and stress. We evaluate those projects in a uniform network environment and discuss how the design approach and structure affects the performance.


The double-channel centrifugal pumps are widely used to transport the two-phase flow including big solid particles in industry and agriculture. However, the related design theory and the design method are immature by far. In practice, the revised design method based on the pure water medium is still the main method for the solid-liquid two- phase double-channel pump. Therefore, it is very necessary to deeply study the flow characteristics on the condition of the pure water medium. In this paper, in order to study the flow characteristics inside a prototype double-channel centrifugal pump in the case that the delivered medium is the pure water, the SIMPLE algorithm, RNG κ-e turbulence model, and frozen rotor method are employed to calculate the incompressible, viscous, three-dimensional internal flow. The calculation results display the variation characteristics of the internal flow field and the external performance. The results show that the predicted pump head drops with the increasing flow rate, which manifest that the pump model is of good operation stability at the whole range of working. At the design point, a strong and large vortex remain appears at the middle section of the double-channel impeller. The computational fluids dynamic technology is competent to assess the internal viscous flow inside a double-channel centrifugal pump.


Wet biomass comprises diverse organic wastes, which are discarded in large amount from our society. Energy production from them, therefore, poses great challenges both in quality and in quantity. However, anaerobic digestion is practically the only method currently available and due to its limited applicability, the alternative technologies are desired. In this paper, an energy-efficient dryer called the VRC (vapor recompression) dehydrator that the author have developed for years, is proposed to be applied to wet biomass. The dried biomass would be used as a fuel for thermochemical energy conversions. The VRC dehydrator compresses evaporated steam and recovers its latent heat, which is used for the subsequent evaporation. Test results on a prototype dehydrator showed that the compression energy is as little as one tenth of the latent heat of water evaporation. Based on the experience, generated electricity from the hypothetical wet biomass was estimated in two processes: VRC dehydration followed by the thermochemical generation; and anaerobic digestion followed by the biogas generation. It was found that the VRC dehydration process would obtain more electricity than the anaerobic digestion process, even after the dehydrator's consumption was subtracted from the generator output. Additional advantages and future possibilities of the VRC dehydration system are also mentioned.


Riverbed and seafloor sediment classification using acoustic remote sensing techniques is of high interest due to their high coverage capabilities at limited cost. This contribution presents the results of riverbed sediment classification using multi-beam echo-sounder data based on an empirical method. Two data sets are considered, both taken at the Waal River, namely Sint Andries and Nijmegen. This work is a follow-up to the work carried out by Amiri-Simkooei et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 126(4), 1724-1738 (2009)]. The empirical method bases the classification on features of the backscatter strength and depth residuals. A principal component analysis is used to identify the most appropriate and informative features. Clustering is then applied to the principal components resulting from this set of features to assign a sediment class to each measurement. The results show that the backscatter strength features discriminate between different classes based on the sediment properties, whereas the depth residual features discriminate classes based on riverbed forms such as the "fixed layer" (stone having riprap structure) and riverbed ripples. Combination of these two sets of features is highly recommended because they provide complementary information on both the composition and the structure of the riverbed.


We studied sex differences lymphocytes subpopulations of peripheral blood in adult C57Bl/6 mice during acute and chronic colitis, induced with 1% DSS. We measured subpopulations of lymphocytes with flow cytometry. We showed that in the control group the female mice had statistically significantly higher values of the relative number of regulatory and cytotoxic T lymphocytes comparing to the males. During acute colitis the females showed an increase in the relative number of Thelpers and a decrease of cytotoxic Tlymphocytes, which reflects the activation of immune response. The males had a decrease in the absolute number of leukocytes, lymphocytes and cytotoxic and regulatory T lymphocytes, probably because of an increase in migration of these cells to the inflammation locus and local lymph nodes. In chronic colitis the females had a decrease in the absolute number of leukocytes, lymphocytes, T helpers, cytotoxic T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes when comparing with acute colitis. During chronic colitis the males had a decrease in the absolute number of T helpers and B lymphocytes but an increase of regulatory T cells in comparison with the control group; in comparison with acute colitis the males with chronic colitis had higher relative and absolute number of regulatory T cells. The increase of T regulatory lymphocytes is due to an increase in their proliferation rate in the thymus and increase of their migration to the inflammatory locus – the colon. Future clinical studies may be based on these results, which show that the treatment of colitis, especially with immunotropic agents, must take sex differences into account.


Wolbachia sp. has colonized over 70% of insect species, successfully manipulating host fertility, protein expression, lifespan, and metabolism. Understanding and engineering the biochemistry and physiology of Wolbachia holds great promise for insect vector‐borne disease eradication. Wolbachia is cultured in cell lines, which have long duplication times and are difficult to manipulate and study. The yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303 was used successfully as an artificial host for Wolbachia wAlbB. As compared to controls, infected yeast lost viability early, probably as a result of an abnormally high mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation activity observed at late stages of growth. No respiratory chain proteins from Wolbachia were detected, while several Wolbachia F1F0‐ATPase subunits were revealed. After 5 days outside the cell, Wolbachia remained fully infective against insect cells.


In this work, we present a visualisation tool that is able to process Coq proof scripts and generate a table representation of the contained proofs as $\LaTeX$ or PDF files. This tool has the aim to support both education and review processes as all proof steps can be visualised. Thus, there is no need to use Coq in order to review proofs or use them as examples in teaching. In contrast to the usual approach of visualising proofs as hypertext or markdown documents, the generated files can be easily printed.


The polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polyclorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyles (PCBs) residues in beef and chicken samples obtained from the different cities of Turkey were investigated. For this purpose, 120 beef and 120 chicken samples collected from different regions of Turkey between February 2006 and May 2008 and analyzed for dioxin and dioxin like compounds. The results showed that the mean levels of PCDD/Fs in lower bound of toxic equivalent concentrations (TEQ) were 2.83 and 3.17 pg TEQ/g fat for beef and chicken, respectively and in upper bound were 3.45 and 4.21 pg TEQ/g fat for beef and chicken, respectively. PCDDs were more dominant congeners according to PCDFs in both beef and chicken. Furthermore, the concentration of PCB congeners in lower bound were found 0.0108 and 0.0085 pg TEQ/g fat in order of beef and chicken, respectively and in upper bound were determined 0.0572 and 0.0595 pg TEQ/ g fat in beef and chicken, respectively. According to the obtained findings, on a lipid basis, levels of dioxins in beef and chicken were slightly higher than other countries and World Health Organization (WHO) limits. However, mean values of PCBs were lower than the other countries at all samples. In conclusion, the findings of this study showed that the TEQ levels of PCDD/Fs are slightly higher in beef and chicken samples consumed in Turkey and long-term consumption of these foods may cause health risk for human and animals.


Most aquatic habitats are temporally dynamic, and selection has favored diverse strategies to persist in the face of fluctuating environmental conditions. Isolated wetlands in the southeastern United States harbor high diversities of aquatic and semi-aquatic organisms. However, drought may render these wetlands temporarily unsuitable for many species, sometimes for years at a time. We studied the movement patterns and demography of seven species of semi-aquatic snakes at Ellenton Bay, an isolated 10-ha freshwater wetland in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina, following complete drying of the bay during a drought from 2000 to 2003. Behavioral and population responses varied markedly among species. Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) migrated to and from the wetland annually, fared well, and reproduced during the drought. Banded watersnakes (Nerodia fasciata) suffered a dramatic population decline and apparently did not reproduce, while eastern green watersnakes (N. floridand) were locally extirpated. Black swamp snakes (Seminatrix pygaea) aestivated within the wetland and were less affected by the drought than Nerodia. Interspecific differences in response to drought demonstrate that conservation measures may affect species differently and highlight the importance of terrestrial habitat around wetlands for semi-aquatic reptiles.


The occasional poetry of the Antonine period relating to the wealthy sophist and important second century AD political personality in Athens, Herodes Atticus, is studied. Some of the functions of poetry are illustrated, as it is used by one of the leading personalities of the Second Sophistic. This study differs from previous research in focusing totally on verse inscriptions connected with Herodes Atticus found in two different regions of the Roman Empire. Earlier studies treated these inscriptions almost exclusively as sources for Herodes? biography. In this study, the texts are also regarded as illustrations of the applications of occasional poetry in the contemporary society and of the manner in which Herodes exploited the poetic medium in order to enhance his own person, family and endeavours. All the compositions discussed are poetic creations indited on particular occasions and carved on stone for public display; they have common characteristics, especially of style and language. Diverse aspects of Herodes? character are identified, as are various roles he adopted during his life: patron, husband and father. The authorship of the poems remains unresolved; however, it is argued that Herodes was deeply involved in their creation, whether as the sole originator, or as the commissioner in full control of the details. Herodes aim was to glorify his own position in Athenian society, to honour loved ones, or to express mourning. All the works convey the image Herodes had of himself, together with that he wished to portray to others.


Calibration of hydrological models in ungauged basins is now a hot research topic in the field of hydrology. In addition to the traditional method of parameter regionalization, using discontinuous flow observations to calibrate hydrological models has gradually become popular in recent years. In this study, the possibility of using a limited number of river discharge data to calibrate a distributed hydrological model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), was explored. The influence of the quantity of discharge measurements on model calibration in the upper Heihe Basin was analysed. Calibration using only one year of daily discharge measurements was compared with calibration using three years of discharge data. The results showed that the parameter values derived from calibration using one year's data could achieve similar model performance with calibration using three years' data, indicating that there is a possibility of using limited numbers of discharge data to calibrate the SWAT model effectively in poorly gauged basins.


In this paper we study the problem of key phrase extraction from short texts written in Russian. As texts we consider messages posted on Internet car forums related to the purchase or repair of cars. The main assumption made is: the construction of lists of stop words for key phrase extraction can be effective if performed on the basis of a small, expert-marked collection. The results show that even a small number of texts marked by an expert can be enough to build an extended list of stop words. Extracted stop words allow to improve the quality of the key phrase extraction algorithm. Prior, we used a similar approach for key phrase extraction from scientific abstracts in the English language. In this paper we work with Russian texts. The obtained results show that the proposed approach works not only for texts that are appropriate in terms of structure and literacy, such as abstracts, but also for short texts, such as forum messages, in which many words may be misspelled and the text itself is poorly structured. Moreover, the results show that proposed approach works well not only with English texts, but also with texts in the Russian language.


A case-control study was conducted to determine risk factors for fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (ECO) in dairy calves. Three herds previously found to lack calves that shed ECO in their feces were selected for each herd previously found to have calves that shed ECO. Fecal samples from 965 calves on 64 farms were tested for ECO by microbial culture. Sample prevalence of ECO in calves less than 8 weeks old was 1.4% and in calves 8 weeks or older was 4.8%. Calves were 3 times more likely to shed ECO after weaning than before weaning. Shedding of ECO was associated with grouping calves before weaning; feeding whole cottonseed was negatively associated with ECO shedding. The change in results between testing periods illustrated that an individual herd's status cannot be defined by a single testing of a small sample of cattle.


The specific heat of SrTiO3 shows an anomaly at 105 K due to a structural transition from the tetragonal to cubic phase. The shape of the anomalous specific heat, ΔCp(T), measured previously using quasi-static conduction calorimetry is confirmed and compared with results from rapid AC calorimetry (scanning rate ~30 K h-1). The close agreement of both data sets proves that slow relaxational processes (e.g. the rearrangement of dense domain patterns) do not influence ΔCp(T) significantly in SrTiO3. Measurements at low temperatures do not reveal any further anomaly. The freezing temperature reported around 30 K due to quantum saturation of the order parameter does not produce any anomalous effect in the heat capacity.


Intramuscular triacylglycerol (IMTG) represents an energy store that can be used during exercise, when it may contribute up to 20% of total energy turnover depending on diet, gender, and exercise type. It is important to consider how measurements of IMTG have been performed. Hormone-sensitive lipase is thought to regulate breakdown of IMTG during exercise.


Background As the climate warms, many species of reptiles are at risk of habitat loss and ultimately extinction. Locations of suitable habitat in the past, present, and future were modeled for several lizard species using MaxEnt, incorporating climatic variables related to temperature and precipitation. In this study, we predict where there is currently suitable habitat for the genus Pogona and potential shifts in habitat suitability in the past and future. Methods Georeferenced occurrence records were obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, climate variables (describing temperature and precipitation) were obtained from WorldClim, and a vegetation index was obtained from AVHRR satellite data. Matching climate variables were downloaded for three different past time periods (mid-Holocene, Last Glacial Maximum, and Last Interglacial) and two different future projections representative concentration pathways (RCPs 2.6 and 8.5). MaxEnt produced accuracy metrics, response curves, and probability surfaces. For each species, parameters were adjusted for the best possible output that was biologically informative. Results Model results predicted that in the past, there was little suitable habitat for P. henrylawsoni and P. microlepidota within the areas of their current range. Past areas of suitable habitat for P. barbata were predicted to be similar to the current prediction. Pogona minor and P. nullarbor were predicted to have had a more expansive range of suitable habitat in the past, which has reduced over time. P. vitticeps was predicted to have less suitable habitat in the past when examining the region of their known occurrence; however, there was predicted growth in suitable habitat in Western Australia. Both 2070 models predict a similar distribution of habitat; however, the model produced using the 2070 RCP 8.5 climate change projection showed a larger change, both in areas of suitable habitat gain and loss. In the future, P. henrylawsoni and P. microlepidota might gain suitable habitat, while the other four species could possibly suffer habitat loss. Discussion Based on the model results, P. henrylawsoni and P. microlepidota had minimal areas of suitable habitat during the Last Glacial Maximum, possibly due to changes in tolerance or data/model limitations, especially since genetic analyses for these species suggest a much earlier emergence. The predicted late Quaternary habitat results for all species of Pogona are conservative and should be compared to the fossil record which is not possible at the moment due to the current inability to identify fossil Pogona to the species level. P. nullarbor and P. vitticeps future models predict substantial habitat loss. P. nullarbor could potentially be considered vulnerable in the present since it already has a restricted range, and a conservation plan may need to be considered.


PurposeAnchored on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examines the direct impact of psychological capital (PsyCap) on the level of burnout experienced by Chinese expatriates working in Thailand. The social support offered by host country national (HCN) coworkers is postulated as the mediator that might transfer the impact of PsyCap on burnout. In addition, this study taps whether Chinese expatriates' personal factors, including gender and host language proficiency, might intensify or attenuate the role of PsyCap on HCN coworker support.Design/methodology/approachFrom the Chinese expatriates who are working for 15 Chinese subsidiaries in Thailand, 413 valid questionnaires were collected. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for data analysis.FindingsThe result confirms a negative linkage between PsyCap and burnout, with HCN coworker support as the partial mediator. Furthermore, the moderation estimation reports that the positive role of PsyCap on HCN coworker support is particularly attenuated for the Chinese expatriates who are female and who have a high level of host language proficiency.Originality/valueThe finding of this study offers additional knowledge to the literature by utilizing the COR theory to elucidate the mechanism under which PsyCap can protect the expatriates from burnout through the mediator of HCN coworker support. The study also reveals that the beneficial role of PsyCap in facilitating the availability of HCN coworker support could be contingent on some personal factors relating to the Chinese expatriates.


Semantic access to the content of a video is highly desirable for multimedia content retrieval. Automatic extraction of semantics requires content analysis algorithms. Our MoCA (Movie Content Analysis) project provides an interactive workbench supporting the researcher in the development of new movie content analysis algorithms. The workbench offers data management facilities for large amounts of video/audio data and derived parameters. It also provides an easy-to-use interface for a free combination of basic operators into more sophisticated operators. We can combine results from video track and audio track analysis. The MoCA Workbench shields the researcher from technical details and provides advanced visualization capabilities, allowing attention to focus on the development of new algorithms. The paper presents the design and implementation of the MoCA Workbench and reports practical experience.


For two centuries, constitutional interpreters have relied on statements from the ratification debates—especially The Federalist—as persuasive authority in constitutional interpretation. This reliance, which has only increased with the rise of public-meaning originalism, mistakes Federalist campaign literature and oratory for objective and disinterested constitutional interpretation, and mistakenly dismisses the interpretations of Anti-Federalists as irrelevant. Focusing on the debate over enumerated powers, this article challenges the unfounded assumptions of Federalist objectivity and Anti-Federalist irrelevance and models the historical method necessary to interpret the ratification debates rigorously. More specifically, the article advances three central claims. First, the probable insincerity of much Federalist advocacy—including The Federalist—significantly undercuts its authority as evidence of a determinate original public meaning. Second, Anti-Federalist advocacy opposing ratification is much more probative evidence of original public meaning than has generally been recognized. Third, the most prominent arguments for privileging Federalist over Anti-Federalist advocacy are internally flawed and historically unfounded. More important, none of those arguments can be squared with the tenets of public-meaning originalism. All of this significantly undermines a principled originalist case for limiting federal power. It also calls into question the resolving power of originalism as a practical method for deciding controversial cases. Both of these implications would represent seismic shifts in U.S. constitutional law.


Networked distributed sensing systems (NDSSs) have been widely adopted in many real-world applications which can be either described as cyber-physical system (CPS) or indeed the Internet of Things (IoT). The security and trust in such systems are of paramount importance. In practice, sensor readings may be abnormal or faulty due to various unpredictable causes such as the harsh environments in which they are deployed, the sensors are inherently fault-prone, or they experience malicious attacks. However, although a large body of research has been looking at detecting such anomalies, we have yet seen a common solution that can effectively detect all general anomalies in NDSSs. Many current solutions are either simple but limited by rigid assumptions, or powerful but complex and therefore not suited to resource scarce and large-scale NDSSs. To overcome this problem, we have investigated the causes and patterns of anomaly behaviours in NDSS, and propose a lightweight general solution that can identify most general anomalies in resource-limited NDSSs. This solution consists of three different components: feature extraction, sensor grouping, and anomaly classification. In feature extraction, we propose two multi-feature dimensionality reduction algorithms, MFDR and MFDR-N. These algorithms extract distinctive time-series features from raw sensor measurements and provide their dimensionality-reduced (DR) representations. In comparison to traditional time-series approaches, MFDR and MFDR-N can provide multiple types of time-series features which can better approximate the original data with smaller error. In addition, to ensure our solution can scale to different sizes of NDSSs while being able to perform sophisticated detection schemes, we propose a distributed matching-based grouping algorithm, DMGA, which clusters sensors into correlation groups where a strong spatiotemporal correlation exists among all sensors. To the best of our knowledge, this grouping algorithm is the first one to provide performance guarantees in terms of correlation strength. Ultimately, we propose two general anomaly detection classifiers, GAD and FGAD, to capture rapid and gradual pattern changes in sensor measurements, respectively. Both of these are lightweight in terms of computation complexity and can adapt fast to changes in nonstationary environments. Our experimental results show that both GAD and FGAD are very effective against various types of anomalies in real-world NDSS.


Mantle plume theory has been widely, but not universally, accepted in the geosciences for several decades, but recent critical evaluation has led to an intense debate regarding the existence of mantle plumes. I provide an overview of mantle plume theory and the current skepticism. The results of a poll taken after the 2005 AGU Chapman Conference, "The Great Plume Debate" are presented to give general readers a sense for which arguments specialists consider to be strongest in favor of, or opposing, mantle plume theory. Mantle plume theory first appeared in introductory textbooks in the late 1970s, and the theory was presented in most introductory textbooks by the end of the 1980s. In light of the current debate most recent editions have introduced language indicting debate and uncertainty about mantle plume theory. However, none of these textbooks offers any alternative hypotheses; advanced textbooks also give little attention to alternative hypotheses. I assert that, without the presentation of alternative theories, students will simply accept the one presented as fact. The current debate should be seen as a teaching opportunity. It should be conveyed to students that this debate reflects the fact that geology is a very dynamic science and that first-order problems remain in the geosciences to be addressed by current and future generations.


Background It was identified that the hospice in- patient unit records were not as robust as they could be. Despite the patients receiving an excellent level of holistic care, this was not always evidenced clearly in the documentation. Aim and Implementation To modify existing documentation to clearly evidence the excellent care being received by our in-patients and families, whilst being patient- centred and personalised. The time frame was set for compliance to be complete by the end of January 2017. Weekly audit to ensure the new documentation is fit for purpose and to identify any areas which need further development. Following the guidelines of the NMC code for nurses and midwives specifically sections: 10 – Keep clear and accurate records relevant to your practice … 3 – Make sure that people's physical, social and psychological needs are assessed and responded to. Outcomes Success to date has been extremely positive with outcome measures exceeding expectation across all areas. Application into Hospice Practice An action plan was developed and implementation commenced of the recommended actions. The new documentation was rolled out on the 30 November and is now being used for all patients who are admitted to the in-patient unit. Care plans were redesigned to encourage planning and documentation of personalised care. Records audit was then done every week, all patients records are audited without exception. Feedback from issues found through audit is given directly to the staff member involved as soon as possible either face to face or by email and clinical supervision documentation is completed for evidence of feedback. Compliance of feedback is checked the following week whilst doing the weekly audit. The nurse co-ordinators' role defined to include monitoring of documentation following admission to ensure compliance sustaining improvements. There remained a need to continue weekly audits until staff have adapted and familiarised themselves with the documentation, by March 2017 following evidence of sustained compliance to the audit requirements, the audit was conducted fortnightly for three months and if remains stable will then be downscaled to monthly. Documentation is clearer and evidences patient and family engagement and consent in personalised care planning. Documentation compliance has improved.


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
Horses housed in conventional stable environments are exposed to high dust loads. Long-term exposure to inhaled dust may lead to subclinical airway disease.

HYPOTHESES
Airway inflammation and mucus accumulation are 1) common in asymptomatic well-performing sport horses, 2) increased in older compared to younger individuals and 3) correlated.

METHODS
Mucus quantity and quality (endoscopic scoring) and BALF differential cytology were assessed in 13 younger horses (mean age 5 years) and 13 older horses (mean age 15 years), which had no historical or clinical evidence of lower airway disease, were performing well and were housed permanently in a conventional stable environment.

RESULTS
1) Airway inflammation and/or mucus accumulation were very common. All sport horses showed evidence of subclinical inflammatory airway disease (IAD). 2) Older horses, having been exposed for 10 more years to a conventional stable environment, did not show increased subclinical airway inflammation or mucus accumulation. The only differences between the age groups were increased BALF total and lymphocyte cell counts in the younger horses. 3) Mucus quantity and quality scores were not significantly correlated with each other or with BALF neutrophil percentages and absolute numbers.

CONCLUSIONS
Although clinically healthy and performing well, all of the examined horses housed in a conventional stable environment showed evidence of IAD. The degree of IAD was not increased in older horses that had not developed clinical signs.

POTENTIAL RELEVANCE
The effect of subclinical degrees of IAD on performance in dressage and show jumping should be investigated further to better understand the clinical significance of IAD in sport horses.


Abstract Mutations in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene can result in a reduced ability to utilize folic acid. The MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism in particular has been linked to both birth defects and pregnancy-associated diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of the MTHFR 677C>T mutation among pregnant women in Yunnan Province so as to collect baseline data that may be utilized to guide folic acid supplementation efforts and to support related disease prevention programs. We retrospectively reviewed 3387 pregnant women from Yunnan Province. The MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism was identified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing. In total, 1350 (39.9%) subjects were homozygous for the C allele (CC), 1540 (45.4%) subjects were heterozygous (CT), and 497 (14.7%) subjects were homozygous for the T allele (TT). The MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism was found to be present within the studied population, with ∼60% of these patients being either heterozygous or homozygous for the mutant allele and with an overall T allele frequency of 0.37. The frequency of the T allele was significantly higher among pregnant women with complications relative to women with healthy pregnancies, particularly among women <30 years old. As such, the maternal MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism may be a genetic risk factor associated with pregnancy complications and may help identify pregnant women at a high risk of such complications.


The possibility is considered that the intrinsic luminosity function of gamma ray bursters has sufficient scatter that the ln N‐ln S relation of observed bursts not be dominated by geometric effects favoring large volumes, but rather be dominated by nearby, intrinsically faint bursts. It is shown that the distribution of bursts on the sky would be very granular, with a significant fraction of them coming from the two or three nearest sources. Possible solutions and alternatives are briefly discussed.


The features of a computerized system for the management of an outpatient cardiology clinic are described. The local area network (LAN) is based on the ETHERNET standard, with a minicomputer Unisys 5000/95 as the central unit and several PCs and videoterminals as workstations. The operating systems are UNIX System V.3 and MS-DOS. The relational database management system (RDBMS) is ORACLE, and for data analysis and retrieval the SQL-Plus language is used. The PCs can act as independent workstations, using the MS-DOS operating system and standard software packages for office automation. The program manages appointments, patient records, and laboratory test reports.<<ETX>>


The need to predict the performance of a particular class of cavity-backed patch-fed antennas has motivated the development of combined body-of-revolution (BOR) and arbitrary surface analysis. The technique is general in the sense that it is useful for the radiation and scattering analysis of many objects which can be broken down into circularly symmetric portion and an arbitrary nonaxisymmetric portion. The use of special basis functions for the BOR part of the geometry results in substantial reductions in computation times as well as increased accuracy over using arbitrary surface models for the whole structure. Only the perfectly electrically conducting case is discussed. The cavity-backed antennas analyzed using the moment method are unique in that they are excited by large conducting patches in the plane of the aperture.<<ETX>>


– Reproductive activities of individually identified fluvial Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) were observed during a breeding season in a small stream. Males and females both established dominance hierarchies based on body size. Females spawned from late October to late November, with no apparent peak, and larger females spawned earlier than small ones. Males competed for access to females by adopting two types of mating tactics: pairing and sneaking. The tactic used depended on the male's position in the dominance hierarchy of the breeding group. Seasonal reproductive activity and mating success of males were positively correlated with body size, with only the largest male monopolizing most of the mating opportunities, and the small males were rarely successful in mating. Smaller males, however, lost as much weight as large males during the breeding season. Females preferred the largest male in the breeding group as a mate, while males courted females of any size. It is suggested that the polygynous mating pattern is a consequence of size-related differences in competitive ability among males, and the degree of monopolization is affected by both the temporal distribution and the spawning tactics of the females.


Time is a important factor for criminal sentencing. Most of the times, criminal released on the bail which may harmful to the society, even after they have furnished the judgment. This sort of threats cut down through the prediction analysis. The analysis can be done on the concerned person to analyse that she/ he is about to do the crime. So that, its benefit not only for law enforcement but also for country safety. Data Mining, a method which handles a massive datasets. Data mining also used to guess desired patterns. Police Officers are the best persons for crime prediction and also predict the criminal's upcoming activities. We are here implementing the use of Frequent Mining Pattern in addition to Association Rule Mining. The main aim of this paper is analysing several crimes by various criminals and to predict chance of crimes by same criminal. It will be helpful for Country Law Enforcement and safeguarding from criminals who were released on Bail. Aim can be achieved with the help of Apriori Algorithm.


This study analyzes the Netflix's original series, Stranger Things, as an emerging collective intelligence concept. For this purpose, we conducted a semiotic analysis through three inductive and interpretative stages: using the Transmedia Intertextual System, identifying pre-existing references, and analyzing reactions in the fandom universe. The research found the production as a transmedia intertextual masterpiece that points towards an emphasized canonization of the media-nostalgic content and a sequential performance of the collective cultural memory.


Background: This study was aimed to assess the knowledge regarding basic aspects of conduct of clinical trial and associated regulatory as well as ethical issues before and after and educational intervention in form of a workshop on Good Clinical Practice (GCP). Methods: One day workshop on "Good Clinical Practice" was planned which included important ethical and regulatory issues regarding clinical research. Various resource persons from industry and academia were chosen to address the workshop. Total 60 participants were enrolled for this one day workshop. Pre-workshop questionnaire of 15 questions were distributed before the actual topic started. Each participant had to fill the questionnaire form and return it within 15 minutes. Again at the end of workshop, post-workshop questionnaire containing the same questions were distributed and the participants were asked to fill the form. Sequence of questions was changed in post workshop questionnaire. Comparison between answers in pre and post workshop questionnaire was done. The primary outcome was knowledge, which was evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: In Pre workshop, out of 60, total 28 (46.66%) participants had answered all 15 questions, while 30 (50%) participants had skipped to answer one question "Define GCP." 2 out of 6 (3.33%) participants had not answered 4 and 5 questions out of 15, respectively. Total 45 out of 60 (75%) participants in post workshop answered all questions. All 15 (100%) questions were answered correctly in post workshop as compared to 11 (73.3%) questions in pre workshop. So, in post-workshop, there were significant (P <0.005) gains in knowledge regarding all good clinical practice questions. Conclusions: Good clinical practice knowledge improved markedly with a targeted education intervention in form of workshop. However, changes in behaviour and attitude were not studied by this questionnaire based study.


We present a call-by-need $\lambda$-calculus that enables strong reduction
(that is, reduction inside the body of abstractions) and guarantees that
arguments are only evaluated if needed and at most once. This calculus uses
explicit substitutions and subsumes the existing strong-call-by-need strategy,
but allows for more reduction sequences, and often shorter ones, while
preserving the neededness. The calculus is shown to be normalizing in a strong
sense: Whenever a $\lambda$-term t admits a normal form n in the
$\lambda$-calculus, then any reduction sequence from t in the calculus
eventually reaches a representative of the normal form n. We also exhibit a
restriction of this calculus that has the diamond property and that only
performs reduction sequences of minimal length, which makes it systematically
better than the existing strategy. We have used the Abella proof assistant to
formalize part of this calculus, and discuss how this experiment affected its
design. In particular, it led us to derive a new description of call-by-need
reduction based on inductive rules.


China's approach to the norms of appropriate behaviour among states is being scrutinised by academics and practitioners — and no more so than in the South China Sea dispute where China's response to the regional set of diplomatic norms, the ASEAN Way, is controversial. This essay asks three questions: Is China changing its diplomatic practices towards ASEAN Way diplomatic norms and, if so, how and why? Examining the issue through the lens of diplomatic tactics, the essay argues that yes China is changing its diplomacy, by adopting a range of diplomatic tactics: originally acknowledging ASEAN Way norms; later challenging and manipulating them; and, throughout, adopting tactics with ambiguous meanings. China's tactics change in response to its leaders' evolving perceptions of China's international and regional contexts and, in turn, China's tactics impact the contexts. China's diplomacy, in this case, is adaptive, multifaceted, context dependent and context-changing, reflecting diplomacy's longue durée.


ABSTRACT Hypertension is a major public health problem in the developing as well as in developed countries due to its high prevalence and its association with coronary heart disease, renal disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and related disorders. Essential hypertension (EH) is the most common diagnosis in this disease, suggesting that a monocausal etiology has not been identified. However, a number of risk factors associated with EH have also been identified such as age, sex, demographic, environmental, genetic, and vascular factors. Recent advances in molecular biological research had achieved clarifying the molecular basis of Mendelian hypertensive disorders. Molecular genetic studies have now identified mutations in several genes that cause Mendelian forms of hypertension in humans. However, none of the single genetic variants has emerged from linkage or association analyses as consistently related to the blood pressure level in every sample and in all populations. Besides, a number of polymorphisms in candidate genes have been associated with differences in blood pressure. The most prominent candidate has been the polymorphisms in the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system. In total, EH is likely to be a polygenic disorder that results from inheritance of a number of susceptibility genes and involves multiple environmental determinants. These determinants complicate the study of blood pressure variations in the general population. The complex nature of the hypertension phenotype makes large-scale studies indispensable, when screening of familial and genetic factors was intended. In this review, recent genetic studies exploring the molecular basis of EH, including different molecular pathways, are highlighted.


Introduction: Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemao (Anacardiaceae) is a plant from the Brazilian semiarid region with medicinal properties against various diseases. Objective : to screen the phytochemistry and determine the antimicrobial activity of the hydroalcoholic extract from the bark of this plant. Methods: the extract was obtained by maceration and subjected to qualitative phytochemical tests and in vitro antimicrobial activity assays against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Results: among the phytochemical compounds stood out tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids. The extract was effective against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis. Conclusions: Myracrodruon urundeuva presents compounds of high pharmacological interest such as tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids, being a plant with potential antibacterial activity.


In this paper we describe a smart way to apply dynamic wireless sensor networks (WSN) in logistics. Especially in the temperature controlled supply chain (cold chain), perishable goods like fruits and pharmaceuticals greatly benefit from real-time quality monitoring during storage and transport in order to avoid quality degradation and spoilage. In our system, wireless sensor nodes called SmartPoints monitor the environmental conditions and generate alarms when specific events are detected. Additionally, they calculate the remaining shelf life of the perishable goods they travel with. When there is an Internet-connected WSN available during travel, the shelf-life prediction and associated alarms are directly sent to a back-end server. Alternatively they are logged on the SmartPoints and flushed upon arrival, such that the remaining shelf-life and alarms are immediately clear and a full history will be available later. Our dynamic WSN supports a number of protocols that enable support for the dynamic processes in logistic processes. The Ambient middleware supports real-time monitoring and remote maintenance across the Internet via wired and mobile wireless network access technologies. Additionally, the middleware offers easy integration with third-party applications. Ambient Studio utilizes the middleware for remote WSN configuration and monitoring.


This paper follows from the preceding paper on the common quality framework for e-learning. It focuses upon the pedagogic aspects of the framework and articulates a set of ten core principles which express, in an economic and elegant fashion, the underpinning values that can apply to a range of expressions of e-learning (whether in the face-to-face classroom, or online, or both), and be meaningful in the point of view of a range of audiences – designers, teachers and learners. They relate directly to six of the elements in Becta's common framework for the quality of e-learning described above, namely: curriculum fit; content design; planning; learning; assessment and teaching.