Underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) plays key role in the underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs), which have been widely employed for both scientific and commercial applications. UWOC offers high transmission data rates, high security, and low latency communication between nodes in UWSNs. However, significant absorption and scattering loss in underwater channels, due to ocean water conditions, can introduce highly non-linear distortion in the received signals, which can severely deteriorate communication quality. Consequently, addressing the challenge of processing UWOC signals with low optical signal-to-noise ratios (OSNRs) is critical for UWOC systems. Increasing the transmitting optical power and investigating more advanced signal processing technologies to recover transmitted symbols are two primary approaches to improve system tolerance in noisy UWOC signal channels. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate the application of deep echo state networks (DeepESNs) for channel equalization in high-speed UWOC systems to enhance system performance with both PAM and QPSK-OFDM modulations. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of DeepESNs in UWOC systems, achieving error-free underwater transmission over 40.5 m with data rates up to 167 Mbps. Moreover, we compare the performance of DeepESNs to conventional echo state networks and provide suggestions on the configuration of a DeepESN for UWOC signals.


Problems in the household are always related to children. Children are the most significant mandate from Allah SWT. They must be cared for and protected even if they get into legal problems. Marriage registration is a form of legal certainty for children's rights. Often children do not get the fulfillment of their rights due to the actions of their parents. The rise of unregistered marriages is one of the reasons why the legal certainty of children's rights is questioned. The legal consequences of unregistered marriages create new problems for children, incredibly fulfilling their rights. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the registration of this marriage for the future of the family, especially the children. Of course, optimizing marriage registration is inseparable from the participation of related parties. It requires synergy between the government, the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA), the Population and Civil Registration Service (DISDUKCAPIL), and the community. Marriage registration is essential, especially from the legal aspect, both in positive and Islamic law. Because basically, Islamic law does not oblige every marriage contract, but marriage registration is essential from the point of view of its benefits. This research belongs to empirical juridical research, using primary, secondary, and tertiary data collection techniques. This study uses a case approach and data analysis techniques used descriptively. The results of the discussion in this study found that marriage registration is beneficial for couples in terms of Islamic law and positive law; not just administration but providing legal certainty to wives, especially children born in terms of child status, education, and inheritance rights. Gorontalo Province marriage registration by the KUA and Disdukcapil has been running optimally even though the data found in unregistered marriages are pretty high, and this is because people do not understand the importance of marriage registration.
Keywords: optimization, marriage registration, legal certainty, Maqasid Shariah


AbstractOn one meaning of the term "historicism" to be a historicist is to be committed to the claim that the human sciences have a methodology of their own that is distinct in kind and not only in degree from that of the natural sciences. In this sense of the term Collingwood certainly was a historicist, for he defended the view that history is an autonomous discipline with a distinctive method and subject matter against the claim for methodological unity in the sciences. On another interpretation historicism is a relativist way of thinking which denies the possibility of universal and fundamental interpretations of historical or cultural phenomena. In the following I argue that at least in this second sense of "historicism" Collingwood was everything but a historicist. Quine, on the contrary, was nothing but a historicist. The goal of the comparison, however, is not to establish just who, on this definition, was or was not a historicist, but to draw a few conclusions about what a commitment to or rejection of historicism in this sense, tells us about the nature of understanding.


The behavioral (deficits in motor function in mice), neurochemical (affinity for mouse brain membrane dihydropyridine receptors, effects on neurotransmitter/metabolite levels in mice) and pharmacologic (effect on the contractile activity of guinea pig ileal longitudinal smooth muscle) properties of the calcium channel activators (+/-)-BAY K 8644, (+/-)-202-791 (and their corresponding channel activating and antagonist enantiomers) and CGP-28392 were investigated and compared. The calcium channel activating enantiomers (-)-S-BAY K 8644, (+)-S-202-791 and (+/-)-BAY K 8644, (+/-)-202-791 and CGP-28392 produced a dose-dependent impairment of rotarod ability and decreases in motor activity in mice with the following order of potency: (-)-S-BAY K 8644 greater than (+/-)-BAY K 8644 much greater than (+)-S-202-791 greater than (+/-)-202-791 = CGP-28392. The calcium channel antagonists (+)-R-BAY K 8644 and (-)-R-202-791 were behaviorally inactive but blocked the behavioral effects of (-)-S-BAY K 8644. The binding of dihydropyridine calcium channel activator and antagonist enantiomers to mouse brain membranes was described by both one and two site models. (-)-S-BAY K 8644, (+/-)-BAY K 8644, (+)-S-202-791 and CGP-28392 produced contractions in partially depolarized (15 mM K+) strips of guinea pig ileal longitudinal smooth muscle which differed in the degree of maximum contraction obtained. (+)-R-BAY K 8644 and (-)-R-202-791 inhibited potassium-induced contractions (80 mM K+) in guinea pig ileal longitudinal smooth muscle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Asynchronous transfer mode is widely recognized as the standard technology for the support of integrated services in high-speed networks both in the wide and in the local area. This paper proposes a scheme for handling high-speed computer communications, within the connection oriented ATM frame. Each traffic source is assumed to exploit a dynamic connection admission control policy to tune the amount of resources allocated within the ATM network according to the traffic needs. The objective is to investigate the effectiveness of dynamic connection admission control policies as a mean to tackle the burstiness of high-speed computer communications. The dependence of the performance of the proposed scheme on the characteristics of the dynamic connection admission control policy is evaluated, by analysis and simulation, taking into account both network delay and blocking probability.


The limited-memory quasi-Newton optimization method with simple bounds has been applied to develop a novel fully three-dimensional (3-D) magnetotelluric (MT) inversion technique. This nonlinear inversion is based on iterative minimization of a classical Tikhonov-type regularized penalty functional. But instead of the usual model space of log resistivities, the approach iterates in a model space with simple bounds imposed on the conductivities of the 3-D target. The method requires storage that is proportional to ncp×N , where the N is the number of conductivities to be recovered and ncp is the number of the correction pairs (practically, only a few). This is much less than requirements imposed by other Newton type methods (that usually require storage proportional to N×M , or N×N , where M is the number of data to be inverted). Using an adjoint method to calculate the gradients of the misfit drastically accelerates the inversion. The inversion also involves all four entries of the MT impedance matrix. The integral equation forward modelling code x3d by Avdeev et al. ([1, 2]) is employed as an engine for this inversion. Convergence, performance and accuracy of the inversion are demonstrated on a 3D MT synthetic, but realistic, example.


We present simulations of the interannual variability of martian global dust storms (GDSs) with a simplified low-order model (LOM) of the general circulation. The simplified model allows one to conduct computationally fast long-term simulations of the martian climate system. The LOM is constructed by Galerkin projection of a 2D (zonally averaged) general circulation model (GCM) onto a truncated set of basis functions. The resulting LOM consists of 12 coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations describing atmospheric dynamics and dust transport within the Hadley cell. The forcing of the model is described by simplified physics based on Newtonian cooling and Rayleigh friction. The atmosphere and surface are coupled: atmospheric heating depends on the dustiness of the atmosphere, and the surface dust source depends on the strength of the atmospheric winds. Parameters of the model are tuned to fit the output of the NASA AMES GCM and the fit is generally very good.
Interannual variability of GDSs is possible in the LOM, but only when stochastic forcing is added to the model. The stochastic forcing could be provided by transient weather systems or some surface process such as redistribution of the sand particles in storm generating zones on the surface. The results are sensitive to the value of the saltation threshold, which hints at a possible feedback between saltation threshold and dust storm activity. According to this hypothesis, erodable material builds up as a result of a local process, whose effect is to lower the saltation threshold until a GDS occurs. The saltation threshold adjusts its value so that dust storms are barely able to occur.


Changes in arterial blood pressure and in thermographic values were evaluated in two groups of 15 hypertensive patients, each of which was treated, on a random basis, with a combination of atenolol plus chlorthalidone or a combination of labetalol plus chlorthalidone. Both combinations produced a statistically significant reduction in blood pressure values (p less than 0.01) with no changes in heart rate. Telethermographic investigations revealed the presence of hypothermia of the hands before treatment in all the hypertensive patients examined, but not in the control group (10 normal subjects with no vascular and/or hyperthermic disease). After one month of treatment, no changes in peripheral vascularization were observed in the group treated with atenolol plus chlorthalidone, except for 4 cases showing mild improvement, probably due to a reduction in peripheral resistance as a result of the treatment and to a consequent increase in blood flow in the area investigated. In the group treated with labetalol plus chlorthalidone, on the other hand, a substantial recovery of vascular flow was observed in 12 patients as a result of the treatment, while the remaining 3 patients showed a fair degree of improvement (2 degrees C). Both preparations lent themselves to simplified administration regimens with good patient compliance and no adverse reactions.


An industrial model of conservation defines nature as a relative space with minimal human impacts. For Native communities, such as the Lakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, nature is part of an extended kinship system occupied by various relatives, both animate and inanimate, human and non-human. As a result, Lakota beliefs and values enhance positive environmental attitudes, but are embedded in religious perspectives rather than conservation of an abstracted nature. We conceptualize the interactions between individual ethics and actual conservation behavior as existing in three layers. At the grassroots layer, defined through individual and family relationships, spiritual ties to nature are generated through various Lakota philosophies, including equality across species. At the tribal or political layer, Lakota politicians often use Lakota 'traditions' strategically to reassert tribal sovereignty and control over natural resources and development policy, as well as to legitimize their quest for mainstream political spoils. At the structural layer of the federal government, individual beliefs are often violated by the dominant conservation paradigm, using scientific narratives and disembodied economic returns to replace spiritual values in natural resources.


Basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas are the most common human cancers and increasing in incidence. The development of novel, pathogenesis-based therapies requires a better knowledge of the molecular mechanisms leading to the development of these tumors. Basal cell carcinomas are characterized by aberrant activation of Sonic-Hedgehog (SHH) signaling due to mutations in the PTCH or SMOH genes. In addition, about 50% of the cases carry mutations in the TP53 tumor suppressor gene. Squamous cell carcinomas lack alterations of SHH signaling, while TP53 mutations are detectable in virtually all cases. Alterations in cell cycle regulatory genes, such as CDKN2A, are also common. Recently, specific inhibitors of the SHH-signaling pathway have been developed and shown promising results in preclinical studies on experimental basal cell carcinomas. However, the clinical significance of such targeted molecular therapy remains to be evaluated. Another successful pathogenesis-based therapy, which is already in clinical use, is the administration of topic immune response modifier imiquimod. This drug can eradicate non-melanoma skin cancers by different mechanisms, including cytokine-mediated stimulation of the anti-tumor immune response, as well as the induction of tumor cell apoptosis.


The objective of these 2 phase 1, open‐label, 2‐treatment, single‐sequence studies was to evaluate the effect of repeated oral doses of divalproex sodium extended‐release (ER) on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of a single dose of paliperidone ER in healthy participants (study 1), and the effect of multiple doses of paliperidone ER on the steady‐state PK of valproic acid (VPA) in patients with psychiatric disorders (study 2), respectively. In study 1 healthy participants received, in a fixed sequential order, treatment A, paliperidone ER 12 mg (day 1); treatment B, VPA 1000 mg (2 × 500 mg divalproex sodium ER) once daily (days 5 to 18) and paliperidone ER 12 mg (day 15). In study 2 patients received treatment A, VPA (days 1–7); treatment B, VPA + paliperidone ER 12 mg (days 8–12). Divalproex sodium ER doses (study 2) were individualized such that systemic therapeutic VPA exposure from prior treatment was maintained on entry into the study. PK assessments were performed at prespecified time points (paliperidone days 1 and 15 [study 1]; VPA days 7 and 12 [study 2]). The oral bioavailability of paliperidone was increased by an estimated 51% (Cmax) and 51%–52% (AUCs) when coadministered with divalproex sodium ER. No effect on the steady‐state plasma concentration of VPA was observed following repeated coadministration with paliperidone ER: the 90%CI around the VPA exposure ratios for the 2 treatments was within the 80%–125% bioequivalence criteria for Cmax,ss and AUCτ. Both VPA and paliperidone ER were well tolerated, and no new safety concerns were identified.


Geometric design is an essential and major component in the design development of
railway projects. Geometric alignments (horizontal and vertical) affect project cost
and safety significantly keeping other factors constant.
The effect of track alignment on cost of awash-weldiya railway project in particular to
Lot-11 stretch is evaluated in this thesis. Three different horizontal and vertical
alignments are designed and their respective costs computed and compared. In the
design process, topographic data is generated from 30m Resolution Digital Elevation
Model using Global Mapper software. Horizontal and vertical alignments are designed
using widely applicable Bentley Rail Track (BRT) software. In this thesis, Ethiopian
Railways Corporation manual is used as governing rail standard.
Basic techniques are applied for economical and safe design of the project. Generally,
a minimum curve radius of 2000m and a maximum gradient of 2% is applied but a
deviation from the standard is made in some parts due to topographic and other
constraints. Accordingly, horizontal curves as low as 500m and gradient as high as
2.5% have been used in some places where there is topography constraint.
The main parameters that are considered to evaluate the impact of track alignment on
cost of the project are: earth work quantity, length of project, tunnel length, length of
swampy section, total number of structures and total span of structures. Critical
sections are identified along potential corridor routes and then different sensitivity
analysis has been applied on these critical sections before final decision is made.
Prioritization of alternative routes has been made based on construction cost,
operational cost and safety comparisons to identify the most economical and low
risk alternative alignment.
According to the analysis, from the three alternatives alignments compared,
alternative II is economical but alternative III has low risk of construction while
alternative I fulfills the required design criteria of the standard better than the
other two alignments.


The issue of a published literature not representative of the population of research is most often discussed in terms of entire studies being suppressed. However, alternative sources of publication bias are questionable research practices (QRPs) that entail post hoc alterations of hypotheses to support data or post hoc alterations of data to support hypotheses. Using general strain theory as an explanatory framework, we outline the means, motives, and opportunities for researchers to better their chances of publication independent of rigor and relevance. We then assess the frequency of QRPs in management research by tracking differences between dissertations and their resulting journal publications. Our primary finding is that from dissertation to journal article, the ratio of supported to unsupported hypotheses more than doubled (0.82 to 1.00 versus 1.94 to 1.00). The rise in predictive accuracy resulted from the dropping of statistically nonsignificant hypotheses, the addition of statistically significant hypotheses, the reversing of predicted direction of hypotheses, and alterations to data. We conclude with recommendations to help mitigate the problem of an unrepresentative literature that we label the "Chrysalis Effect."


Biosignals are such signals that quantify the physiological processes of a living organism. Classification of biosignals aims at inferring the physiological condition of the organism based on the biosignals obtained from it. In this thesis, the classifications of two biosignals originating from the human body are studied in detail: the electroencephalogram (EEG) and acceleration signals recorded from body-worn sensors (body accelerometry). EEG quantifies the electrical activity of the brain. In this thesis, EEG recorded in hospital operating room and intensive care unit environments is classified to detect epileptiform brain activity which is a potentially brain-damaging phenomenon. Wavelet subband entropy of EEG is shown to be statistically associated with epileptiform activity both in operating room patients under sevoflurane-induced anesthesia and in intensive care unit patients resuscitated after cardiac arrest. The results support the hypothesis that epileptiform activity can be continuously monitored in both clinical settings. Body accelerometry quantifies the movements of the human body with bodyworn sensors. In this thesis, body accelerometry is classified for activity recognition purposes, i.e. the purpose is to detect the type of physical activity of the subject from the body acceleration signals. State-of-the-art offline classification results are obtained in two studies. In addition, conversion of the presented offline activity classification algorithms to an online version is demonstrated. The results confirm that multiple classes of daily physical activities and sports can be reliably recognized with body accelerometry.


Abstract. Several tools have been proposed to automatically create thematic maps. A common drawback of these tools is that they rarely provide means for users to explore their decision trees. Users may thus create maps or get some maps proposed, but not know why some suggestions of maps were made. To address this gap, this work introduces 3D4DT, an approach to explore decision trees as a three-dimensional interactive scene. The 3D4DT approach uses JSON as a machine-readable format to represent decision trees and maps JSON elements to user interface elements (e.g. radio buttons and cubes). A preliminary evaluation of 3D4DT has shown effectiveness gains in comparison to information displayed as text+picture, for a decision tree with a simple hierarchical structure. The contributions of this work are relevant to the design of more transparent software for automated thematic map creation.


Wildfire is a phenomenon that has affected pretty much every vegetated environment on Earth for millions of years. However, during the past few decades, the planet has been experiencing extraordinary wildfire activity, with widespread devastation in diverse places such as the Mediterranean, North and South America, Southeast Asia, Australia and even Siberia. The current year has already shown troubling signs of massive fires—for example, Europe's total burnt area for the 2022 fire season is four times greater than the 2006–2021 average, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).


These days, many researches on traditional architecture of South Kalimantan focus merely on traditional settlements and houses. Particularly, the research on places of worship has been conducted in small numbers, and it is sometimes never publicized, especially in scientific magazine or journal. Meanwhile, the construction of some new mosques in South Kalimantan has no longer concerned the local architecture. This research alone aims to attain architecture's entity as the place of worship for the people of South Kalimantan, especially for Banjarese Tribe as the majority in South Kalimantan. Traditional Banjarese Tribe is known as an islamic tribe. They used to be called Dayak Tribe since they had faith in traditional religions such as animism and dynamism. As Muslim people, they perform their prayers in a place of worship called mesigid (mosque). The research applies the method of case study. Based on the result of field and literature study, the architecture entity of Banjarese's place of worship has some specific features that are different from other mosques in other regions. From the analyses, it can be concluded that the traditional mosques of South Kalimantan have three kinds of room, which are palataran , praying area, and mihrab (a chamber indicating the direction of Mecca). Palataran is the porch or the terrace surrounding the mosque, while the praying area and mihrab are rectangular. Traditional mosques in South Kalimantan have their own entity which is formed by the plan of praying area and mihrab, as well as their three layered-roof. The roof in these mosques has a sharp angle (60 o ) and an acute angle (20 o ). Furthermore, the overall entity of the mosque symbolizes hayat tree (Dayak Tribe), and the ornaments ( pataka / patala ) found on the roof top is a symbol of hornbill. Both symbols are the symbols of identity and mythology of Dayak Tribe.


In this paper, we study the information contents of imbalances in trades and quotes emanated from an exchange resembling the one envisioned by Black (1971). We find dollar volume is more informative than number in measuring daily trading and quoting activities. Our measure of quote imbalance permits an investigation on the information asymmetry between market and limit orders. In case illegal insider trading does not occur regularly, we present a hypothesis of reverse liquidity as an alternative interpretation for our empirical findings. It could be that market-order traders charge an implicit liquidity premium for fulfilling the contrarian trading demand of limit-order traders. We suspect proprietary traders are filling the vacuum created by the absence of designated market makers and they provide reverse liquidity through their active trading. ∗Corresponding author. Tel: +65 6822 0364 Fax: +65 6822 0777. Email address: email@example.com. I would like to thank K. C. Tsui for helpful discussions and comments. A research grant from the Wharton-SMU Research Center is gratefully acknowledged.


Sexual violence against men in conflict and post-conflict settings is under-researched. Men's reluctance to talk about their experiences in conflict and post-conflict settings has contributed to the subject being a difficult area of inquiry. This article describes the research design and the strategies employed by the first author, who conducted qualitative research with South Sudanese male refugees who were survivors of sexual violence and have resettled in two communities in Uganda since the onset of the 2013 South Sudan conflict. The qualitative research is a part of a mixed-method program of research for the first author's doctoral research that focused on sexual violence perpetrated against men in conflict and post-conflict settings. Based on the learnings during the fieldwork in this complex research setting and by drawing on best practices in qualitative research, this article proposes guidelines that can assist researchers who conduct qualitative research with vulnerable populations (across multiple disciplines) on sensitive topics such as sexual violence. The guidelines include five key steps: spending time in the community before participant recruitment and data collection, fostering a trust relationship with stakeholders, using appropriate gatekeepers, making participants feel at ease throughout the research, and using the snowballing sampling technique. The key steps are interdependent and can be adapted to suit the research context. These guidelines can be useful across multiple disciplines and subject areas.


A concrete column has a significant influence on constructions because the component withstands the major weight of the whole structure. However, the ordinary concrete column has limited capacity to resist to multiaxial loadings. Since steel plate is one of the most common materials used in construction, concrete reinforced with steel plates based on prestressing reinforcement technology would be a directly applicable solution to the enhancement of mechanical property. In this study, a new reinforcement method upon concrete cylinder column used a two-way prestressed semicircular steel plate, which has already been patented. The study firstly analyzed the stress-bearing situation of the short concrete column reinforced by a two-way prestressed semicircular steel plate. The considerable substitution effect of vertical prestressing force on the concrete column was explored. The multiple restriction effects of horizontal prestressing force, semicircular steel plate, and stirrup were examined. Thereby, the calculation model was derived for the prestressed structure. Secondly, the formula was verified by experiments with close agreements. The result indicated that a unified strength theory was applicable to the theoretical calculation for short concrete column reinforced with a prestressed semicircular steel plate under axial compression, providing the foundation for analytical computation of prestressed semicircular steel plate-reinforced concrete column structures.


The history of solar radiometry since the first pyrheliometer of Pouillet is presented. After the invention of the Ångström and the Smithsonian pyrheliometers around the turn of this century two different "scales" were in use. Comparisons with absolute cavity radiometers developed in America and Europe have been performed since about 1910 which show remarkably accurate measurements in terms of the SI units. However, these results have never been accepted and several rules have been established to reference radiation measurements in the meteorological community and to remedy the unsatisfactory fact of having different "scales". Unfortunately none of these rules led to a reference close to the SI units of irradiance, confusing the issue even more. With the advent of modern absolute radiometers in the late 1960s the situation improved and led to the definition of the World Radiometric Reference in use by the meteorological community since 1981. This reference has an estimated accuracy of 0,3% and guarantees the worldwide homogeneity of radiation measurements within 0,1% precision.


In the present paper a formula appropiate to stroke volume estimation in the experimental animal is presented. Based in the indicator concentration difference during the two diastoles which follows the indicator injection on the ventricle chamber, the electric conductivity through impedance recording indicates these concentration. Appropiate procedures and a calibrating scale are used in order to obtain these two concentrations. From the stroke volume which appears as changes in impedance measured between a pair of electrodes located at the apex and base of the ventricle and the data obtained through the formula, the cardiac output and ventricular volume can be calculated.


Shenfu Dongsheng (SD) coal liquefaction is a critical part for the energy diversification strategy in China. However, because of the unique behavior of Chinese western coal macerals during the liquefaction process, no theory exists that explains the difference between Shenfu Dongsheng inertinite (SDI) and vitrinite (SDV) and Chinese eastern coal macerals. The different thermochemistry of inertinite and vitrinite cannot be explained by only considering the structure of these coals. To investigate the unique behavior of SDI and SDV in the liquefaction process a qualitative analysis of the characteristics and transformation of covalent bonds during pyrolysis of the'average'molecular structure of a SD coal was performed using quantum chemistry, molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics. The formation of residual coal, pyrolyzed gases and tar during pyrolysis was simulated. Results showed that the activity of SDI was higher than that of SDV during cracking and initially CO2 was released without destroying the macromolecular structure. From a statistical analysis of bond order in the molecular model, the amount of broken covalent bonds in SDV was found to be far more than that found in SDI after pyrolysis. When SDI cracked further during pyrolysis, theextent of inertinite decomposition eventually reached the same level as that for vitrinite. There was a difference in pyrolysates from SDI and SDV and there were mainly aliphatic hydrocarbons and single-ring aromatic hydrocarbons for SDV while dual-ring aromatic hydrocarbons were dominant after SDI pyrolysis. Molecular fragments obtained from quantum chemical calculations were compared to thermal gravimetric analyzer-mass spectrometry (TG-MS) data and found to agree well.


In this paper, we propose the modified SECAM video encoder and decoder system. The SECAM broadcasting standard uses frequency modulation (FM) to transmit the Db and Dr color difference information with each component having its own sub-carrier. The SECAM encoder system requires an anti-cloche filter recommended by ITU-R BT.470. However, the design of the filter is difficult, because the frequency response of the filter is very sharp. So, we convert standard filter into digital filter which could be designed more easily than analog standard filter. The proposed SECAM decoder uses two differentiators, trigonometric functions and an error-free square root to demodulate color information in chrominance processing. The BPF in decoder is used for removing color noise in chrominance and dividing CVBS into chrominance and luminance. The proposed system is experimentally demonstrated with ALTERA FPGA and TV set.


The acid-catalysed esterification of butan-1-ol by acetic acid
was monitored and quantified using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
Partial least-squares regression (PLSR) was used to construct calibration
models based on synthetic mixtures of the esterification components
(viz. butan-1-ol, acetic acid, n-butyl acetate and water)
with a view to determining all of them simultaneously. The constructed
models were used to monitor a set of esterification reactions based on a
factorial design using initial composition and temperature as factors; the
results thus obtained were consistent with those provided by the GC
reference method, even for reactions performed at higher temperatures than
those used for calibration, with relative standard error of prediction
(RSEP) values less than 3.5% in all cases. The kinetics of the reaction
were calculated and it was shown that the reaction follows theoretical
second-order kinetics, which is expected for this esterification. The
proposed method allows one to determine quantitatively rate constants,
end-points, yields and equilibrium constants, and also the influence of
initial water on the performance of the reaction. A statistical study of
these variables, based on the characteristics of the used experimental
design, proved that the studied factors and their interaction were
significant, and that higher temperatures and an excess of acetic acid were
the best conditions. The proposed NIR method is thus an effective
alternative to traditional methods and is suitable for the on-line
quantitative control of batch processes.


Feline lower urinary tract disease affects 1% worldwide population of cats. This disease may be predisposed by uroliths formation. Incidence of urolithiasis is related to feeding, mainly to macromineral composition. Balance of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, and urinary pH are the main factors related to urolithiasis. The present work aims to study the metabolism of those minerals in growing cats, evaluating their plasma and urinary levels. There were used 10 cats of both sexes, 3 month-old, feeding a commercial ration until 1 year-old. Every 30 days, there were collected samples of blood and urine, to determine mineral concentrations and pH and creatinine levels of urine. At same intervals, there were determined the mineral content of the ration. Weekly feed consumption and body weight were registered. Mean levels of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium in plasma were, respectively, 8.77 ± 1.9mg/dL, 7.55 ± 1.8mg/dL and 2.66 ± 0.67mg/dL. Variation along the year is showed. Less variation was that of calcium, followed by magnesium and higher variation was that of phosphorus. Mean values of the minerals in urine, in relation to creatinine, were 1.29 ± 1.0 x10 -2 for Ca, 1.46 ± 1.1 for P and 7.87 ± 7.7 x10 -2 for Mg. Ca/P relation in the feed was 2.87 ± 1.2, considered high. Mg content in feed was higher than nutritional requirements. Mean value of urinary pH was 6.25 ± 0.54, considered adequate to prevent urolithiasis by struvite but not to prevent crystal formation of calcium oxalate.


Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of brominated flame retardants that are recognized as global environmental contaminants and a potential health risk. They have been shown to elicit neurodevelopmental toxicity through disruption of the cholinergic neurotransmitter system in rodent models, but the effects of environmentally relevant exposures in wildlife species are unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of the commercial pentabrominated diphenyl ether mixture DE-71 on cholinergic parameters in ranch mink (Mustela vison) following dietary exposure of adult females and in utero, lactational, and dietary exposure of their offspring. Adult females were fed diets containing 0, 0.1, 0.5, or 2.5 microg DE-71/g feed from four weeks prior to breeding through weaning of their kits at six weeks of age. A portion of the weaned kits were maintained on their respective diets through 27 weeks of age. Cholinergic parameters, including muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) binding, cholinesterase (ChE) activity, and acetylcholine (ACh) concentration, were assayed in the cerebral cortex, and ChE activity was measured in the plasma. In the cerebral cortex, results indicated a significant exposure-dependent increase in PBDE concentrations, but no significant effects of DE-71 on cholinergic parameters. There was a threefold increase in ChE activity in the plasma of adult females in the 2.5 microg DE-71/g feed group, but was likely due to effects on liver function. This study demonstrated that environmentally relevant exposures to DE-71 did not affect key parameters of the cholinergic neurotransmitter system in the brain of ranch mink.


: This paper develops and validates parametric error models for a GPS-aided dead reckoning navigator for ground vehicle guidance and control. The dead reckoning navigator fuses information from a rate gyro and a Doppler radar to provide a two-dimensional navigation solution during momentary GPS outages. When available, GPS is used to calibrate the dead reckoning sensor errors. The error models developed provide a quick and accurate method for predicting the navigator's performance during these momentary GPS outages. The models parameterize the navigation performance as a function of sensor quality, sensor sampling rate and GPS outage length. The error models are validated in a series of tests using a farm tractor. The models predict and the tests show that this dead reckoning system can provide a 61 deg heading and 0.3 m position accuracy during a 20–40 s GPS outage.


Tourists traveling internationally lower their inhibitions and take greater risks than they would typically in their home cultures. Loneliness boredom and a sense of freedom contribute to this behavioral change. Some tourists travel internationally in search of sexual gratification. This motivation may be actively conscious or subconscious to the traveler. Billed as romantic with great natural beauty Thailand the Philippines Brazil the Dominican Republic and Kenya are popular destinations of tourists seeking sex. The Netherlands and countries in eastern Europe are also popular. With most initial cases of HIV infection in Europe having histories of international travel mass tourism is a major factor in the international transmission of AIDS. While abroad tourists have sex with casual partners sex workers and/or other tourists. Far from all tourists however carry and consistently use condoms with these partners. One study found female and non white travelers to be less likely than Whites and males to carry condoms. The risk of HIV infection increases in circumstances where condoms are not readily available in the host country and/or are of poor quality. Regarding actual condom use a study found only 34% of sex tourists from Switzerland to consistently use condoms while abroad. 28% of men in an STD clinic in Melbourne Australia reported consistent condom use in sexual relations while traveling in Asia; STDs were identified in 73% of men examined. The few studies of tourists suggest that a significant proportion engage in risky behavior while traveling. HIV prevalence is rapidly increasing in countries known as destinations for sex tourism. High infection rates are especially evident among teenage sex workers in Thailand. Simply documenting the prevalence of risky behavior among sex tourists will not suffice. More research is needed on travelers and AIDS with particular attention upon the motivating factors supporting persistent high-risk behavior.


PURPOSE
The potential effects of statins on clinical and histopathologic variables, prostate size, or PSA density (PSAD) and resulting influences on active surveillance eligibility have not been adequately explored. This study examines the effect of statins on prostate specimens following prostatectomy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Patients that received robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) (n = 2,632) were dichotomized according to preoperative statin use. Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between statin use and patient clinical and pathological characteristics.

RESULTS
Men using statins at the time of prostatectomy were older (61.6 ± 6.4 versus 58.8 ± 7.2 years, P < .001), and had poorer health status (P < .001). Biopsy Gleason grade, clinical stage and prostate size were similar among the two groups, although statin users had lower diagnostic PSA levels (5.5 ± 3.6 versus 6.3 ± 4.9 ng/mL, P < .001) and PSAD (.12 versus .13, P = .001).

CONCLUSION
Men taking statins at the time of prostatectomy had similar histopathologic characteristics to non-users, despite having significantly lower serum PSA, being older and having similar sized prostates. This supports prior studies suggesting a PSA reduction effect of statins may warrant consideration of statin usage in decisionalgorithms for active surveillance.


Traditionally, cardiac image analysis is done manually. Automatic image processing can help with the repetitive tasks, and also deal with huge amounts of data, a task which would be humanly tedious. This study aims to develop a spectrum-based computer-aided tool to locate the left ventricle using images obtained via cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Discrete Fourier Transform was conducted pixelwise on the image sequence. Harmonic images of all frequencies were analyzed visually and quantitatively to determine different patterns of the left and right ventricles on spectrum. The first and fifth harmonic images were selected to perform an anisotropic weighted circle Hough detection. This tool was then tested in ten volunteers. Our tool was able to locate the left ventricle in all cases and had a significantly higher cropping ratio of 0.165 than did earlier studies. In conclusion, a new spectrum-based computer aided tool has been proposed and developed for automatic left ventricle localization. The development of this technique, which will enable the automatic location and further segmentation of the left ventricle, will have a significant impact in research and in diagnostic settings. We envisage that this automated method could be used by radiographers and cardiologists to diagnose and assess ventricular function in patients with diverse heart diseases.


This paper presents the design and analysis of a novel 2.4 GHz Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), with amplitude control and Q enhancement circuit, for wireless communication applications. The variable capacitors and the inductors were designed using ANSYS and imported through DAC components in ADS (Advanced Design software). Accurate simulation of the VCO was performed in the software environments and the results are provided. To enhance the quality factor and to control the oscillation amplitude, additional CMOS circuits have been implemented. This VCO operates at 2.4 GHz, achieves a phase noise of -119dBc/Hz, 3MHz far from the carrier frequency. The VCO produces frequency tuning from 1.82 to 2.60 GHz (32.5%) with an ultra low power consumption of 73 µW. The output power level of the VCO is -9 dBm, with an improved predicted quality factor of 77.

 Key words: Variable capacitor, nano inductor, voltage controlled oscillator, phase noise, Q enhancement.


The Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge teaches students from a wide range of countries predominantly using problem based learning methods. The methods include short term industrial assignments and classroom activities that require a high level of engagement and active participation. While there are many benefits to this system there was also a concern that the methods might disadvantage students from countries where the teaching and learning were based on more traditional lecture based techniques. To investigate this a study was carried out to compare the preferred learning styles and culture of British and Yemeni students. These cultures were chosen both as being of interest to the authors and being thought to represent a significant cultural divide. A range of instruments were evaluated and it was decided to use the Felder-Silverman ILS to investigate learning styles and Hofstede?s cultural dimensions to examine culture. Since the Felder- Silverman ILS has been publish for a number of countries this enabled the authors to pose the following questions: 1. What are the learning style profiles of British and Yemeni engineering students 2. How do the learning styles of British and Yemeni students compare against each other 3. How do the learning styles of British and Yemeni students compare against those of other nation states 4. Can a relationship between specific cultures and specific learning styles be determined? The results suggest that engineering students possess Active, Sensing, Visual and Sequential learning styles across all the nations investigated. This supports the idea that there exists a typical learning style profile for engineering students. These finding suggest that it may be possible to develop a standardised pedagogy for engineering education. There was however significant differences in how strongly the three of the preferences were held. The visual preference was similar across all nations possibly because of the normalising effect of teaching though PowerPoint slides and standard computer packages.


Introduction:  The appropriateness of Palliative Care development can be assessed by comparative benchmarking of some relevant indicators on the issue. Recently published, the  EAPC Atlas of Palliative Care in Europe 2019  permits the possibility of benchmarking Georgia's current status against other European countries as well as against itself based on the previous ATLAS (2013). Objectives: To describe the country´s situation with regard to that of 2013 and to identify areas of improvement based on benchmarking countries´ data. Methods:  Secondary comparative analysis of data collected in the EAPC Atlas 2013 and 2019. We reviewed the total number of specialized Palliative Care services, the existence of National Palliative Care policies (Strategies and laws), the recognition of Palliative Medicine as a specialization, the extent to which medical schools teach Palliative Medicine to future physicians, and the consumption of pain medicines. All these data were compared with previous Atlas 2013, and with four benchmarking countries: two surrounding ones (Armenia and Azerbaijan), and two referent states from Eastern Europe (Hungary and Poland). Results:  Georgia has a total of 26 specialized PC services for adults (0.6 per 100,000 inhabitants) and five for children. Political will seems inexistent as the National Strategy was not renewed in 2016 and there is not any specific law governing Palliative Care. Although there is a designated person in the Ministry of Health with political/technical responsibility for Palliative Care, dedication is yet unknown. Integration of the palliative medicine into undergraduate education has been established in eight out of 13 medical schools. Low consumption of pain medicines still is one of the main obstacles to good Palliative Care. Compared with 2013 indicators generally show a timid improvement. Georgia reports more services and greater education than surrounding states, but remains far away from other Eastern European countries like Poland, where a wider provision of services, appropriate policies, number of accredited Palliative Care professionals and use of pain medicines are reported.  Conclusion:  Georgia has lately improved and ranks better than neighboring countries. However, coverage is still insufficient for the detected needs. These data support a need to focus on developing accessibility to medicines, on setting specialized services, and on advancing policies to draw near Poland.


A three-shot multiuser detector is proposed for the reverse link of asynchronous DS/CDMA systems. By taking advantage of the preceding (already reconstructed) bit and the matched filter output for the following two bits, the coupling between temporally adjacent bits (TABs, which always exists for asynchronous systems) is cancelled in a three step fashion. The obtained detector has several useful advantages over existing schemes.


1alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1alpha,25(OH)2D3] has been shown to exert both its nuclear vitamin D receptor (nVDR)-mediated genomic actions and membrane vitamin D receptor (mVDR)-mediated nongenomic actions. In this study, the effects of 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 and its analogues on transmembrane Ca2+ influx were examined in the growth phase of rat osteosarcoma ROS17/2.8 cells. Like BAYK8644 (2 x 10(-5)M), a well-known L-type Ca2+ channel agonist, 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 (10(-8)M) increased transmembrane influx of Ca2+ through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels and increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration within 2 min of addition to the medium. The 1alpha,25(OH)2D3-induced Ca2+ influx was completely blocked by pre-treatment with nifedipine (2 x 10(-5)M), an L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist. Two vitamin D analogues, 22-oxa-1alpha,25(OH)2D3 (OCT, 10(-8) M) and 20-epi-22-oxa-24a, 26a,27a-trihomo-1alpha,25(OH)2D3 (KH1060, 10(-8)M), which were 3.8 and 3600-fold more active than 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 in stimulating differentiation on human promyelocytic leukemic HL-60 cells, respectively, also increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration, while their Ca2+ channeling activities were similar to or significantly weaker than that of 1alpha,25(OH)2D3. Furthermore, the enhanced transmembrane Ca2+ influx induced by 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 (10(-8)M) or OCT (10(-8)M) was completely blocked by pre-treatment with the respective 1beta epimer [1beta,25(OH)2D3 and 1beta-OCT] at equal concentration. These findings suggest that 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 and its analogues modulate transmembrane Ca2+ influx in osteoblast-like cells by opening L-type Ca2+ channels which can recognize 1alpha-hydroxy analogues as agonists and 1beta-hydroxy analogues as antagonists.


This study was to analyze the oral health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women and to provide basic data as the basis for improving quality of life measures. The subjects included 163 postmenopausal women aged 40 to 65 years, living in Busan and Gyeongnam from July 20 to September 30, 2014. Menopausal symptoms, depressive symptoms, dry mouth, monthly income, presence of systemic oral disease, use of dentures, and academic level appeared to affect the overall and oral health-related quality of life for postmenopausal women. Thus, menopausal women were to provide a basis for improving the quality of oral health-related life.


The double lumen endotracheal tube is a familiar device that has recently acquired a new application. This article describes how double-lumen endotracheal tubes are used for independent lung ventilation in the treatment of unilateral lung disease, and how the critical care nurse can prevent complications during their use.


In December 2015, the International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) E14 guideline generated guidance on
 how exposure-response modelling can be used to characterise the potential for a drug to affect cardiac repolarisation
 and to modulate the QTc interval. The released Q&A document describes how data from Phase I ascending dose
 SAD and MAD studies can be used in the right circumstances to be accepted by regulatory bodies as an alternative
 approach to TQT to demonstrate cardiac safety. While this strategy is now being expanded to all new drugs, this
 alternative analysis has been extensively used in the past. This commentary discusses the results of a retrospective
 analysis where a concentration-effect analysis validated by meal effects on the ECG was applied to a Phase I study
 to investigate the PK, PD and safety of escalating single doses of a highly selective sigma1 receptor antagonist.


In this paper, we introduce the status of concentration photovoltaic system. Currently, crystalline silicon solar has 90% of total solar market. But in a few years, the concentration solar system is expected to be main one because cost increasement of silicon material is not stabilized unit now. At 2012, it will take 5% of the whole solar market. Less expensive, material requirement and high system efficiency give high driving force for intensive research on concentration system. It is time for us to initiate the basic study and evaluate the long term stability compared to crystalline silicon system. The detail discussion will be shown in the following paper.


Today, all conditions for effective functioning and development of production systems, with the exception of effective mathematicalmodels for the new production management problems are provided. Based on the analysis of the state of theory and practice, requirements to models of production systems: absence of restrictions on the type of production functions, except for non-strict monotony and non-strict positivity; eliminating the dimensionality problem for optimization problems; isomorphic mapping of the structure of the production system in the decomposition structure of the optimization problem were formulated. To solve the problem of optimal control, methodology of optimal aggregation of production systems was used. The key point of this methodology is the decomposition of multidimensional nonlinear programming problem in the system of one-dimensional optimization problems. The structure of this system corresponds to the structure of the resource connections in the production system. Solutions for optimal aggregation of typical structures of production systems with parametric connections: "production development", "production warehouse", "production with recycling" that satisfy the set requirements were first obtained. The properties of this class of models for production systems are insufficiently investigated. Concrete results of modeling for these tasks were presented in the paper. Models are open for modifications and customization to specific segments of the production.


The periodic permanent magnet electromagnetic acoustic transducer (PPM EMAT) is a sensor that can generate and receive shear horizontal (SH) waves without direct contact with the inspected medium using the Lorentz mechanism. However, the PPM EMAT experiences high signal variance on ferromagnetic steel under specific conditions, such as a change in signal amplitude when the sensor is moved in the direction of SH wave propagation. Magnetostriction effects are hypothesized to be the cause of these anomalous behaviors; the objective of this paper is to determine the relative strengths of the magnetostriction and Lorentz wave generation mechanisms for this type of EMAT on steel. This goal is accomplished through the use of a second EMAT, which induces only magnetostriction (MS-EMAT), to calibrate a novel semi-empirical magnetostriction model. It is found that magnetostriction effects reduce the amplitude of the SH wave generated by this particular PPM EMAT transmitter by an average of 29% over a range of input currents. It is also determined that magnetostriction is significant only in the investigated PPM EMAT transmitter, not the receiver. In terms of practical application, it is shown that the MS-EMAT is less sensitive to changes in the static and dynamic fields than PPM EMATs at specific operating points; this makes the MS-EMAT a viable alternative for nondestructive evaluation despite lower amplitudes.


Background: Only three not concordant surveys have been published on skin conditions associated with Down syndrome. Objective: A sample ranging from infancy to adulthood, using acknowledged criteria for diagnosis, may highlight the skin involvement in Down syndrome. Methods: We report the skin conditions observed in 203 people with Down syndrome, separated according to five different age ranges. We have set up two main groups of skin features: the phenotype and the dermatological diseases. Results: The single palmar crease and xerosis are strongly represented within the phenotype. Among the dermatological diseases, folliculitis and syringomas have been observed mainly in adolescence and adulthood. Atopic dermatitis has been recognized in 10 subjects. Alopecia areata and milia-like idiopathic calcinosis cutis appeared in 6 subjects. Conclusion: People with Down syndrome suffer from peculiar dermatoses (syringomas, milia-like calcinosis, elastosis perforans serpiginosa). Other conditions (folliculitis, alopecia areata) are frequently observed.


Genes in linear proximity often share regulatory inputs, expression and evolutionary patterns, even in complex eukaryote genomes with extensive intergenic sequences. Gene regulation, on the other hand, is effected through the co-ordinated activation (or suppression) of genes participating in common biological pathways, which are often transcribed from distant loci. Existing approaches for the study of gene expression focus on the functional aspect, taking positional constraints into account only marginally. In this work we propose a novel concept for the study of gene expression, through the combination of topological and functional information into bipartite networks. Starting from genome-wide expression profiles, we define extended chromosomal regions with consistent patterns of differential gene expression and then associate these domains with enriched functional pathways. By analyzing the resulting networks in terms of size, connectivity and modularity we can draw conclusions on the way genome organization may underlie the gene regulation program. We implement our approach in a detailed RNASeq profiling of sustained TNF stimulation of mouse synovial fibroblasts. Bipartite network analysis suggests that the cytokine response set by TNF, progresses through two distinct transitions. An early generalization of the inflammatory response, marked by an increase in related functions and high connectivity of corresponding genomic loci, that is followed by a late shutdown of immune functions and the redistribution of expression to developmental and cell adhesion pathways and distinct chromosomal regions. Our results suggest that the incorporation of topological information may provide additional insights in the underlying topological constraints that are shaping gene expression.


is healthy and there are no vitamin or hormone deficiencies there is no treatment indicated at present. Absence of teeth is not infrequently hereditary. It is of interest in this particular case that the mother had no lower incisors. Unfortunately if the condition is hereditary there are no known precautions that can be taken to prevent a similar condition in the next child, though of course such absence may not necessarily be an inherited character with every child.


Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) cannot be distinguished from the other southern pines based on wood anatomy alone. A method that involves measuring pith and second annual ring diameters, reported by Arthur Koehler in 1932 (The Southern Lumberman, 145: 36–37), was revisited as an option for identifying longleaf pine timbers and stumps. Cross-section disks of longleaf, loblolly (Pinus taeda L.), and shortleaf (Pinus echinata Mill.) pines were measured and the diameters of their piths and second annual rings plotted against each other. From this plot, longleaf pine could be differentiated from the other two southern pine species, demonstrating that a method established with trees harvested more than 70 years ago is still applicable to standing timber of today. No evidence was found to suggest that different growth rates impact method applicability. In those situations where the second annual ring is intact, but not the pith, very large second annual ring diameters (>40 mm) may identify timbers with a l...


As few-shot object detectors are often trained with abundant base samples and fine-tuned on few-shot novel examples, the learned models are usually biased to base classes and sensitive to the variance of novel examples. To address this issue, we propose a meta-learning framework with two novel feature aggregation schemes. More precisely, we first present a Class-Agnostic Aggregation (CAA) method, where the query and support features can be aggregated regardless of their categories. The interactions between different classes encourage class-agnostic representations and reduce confusion between base and novel classes.
Based on the CAA, we then propose a Variational Feature Aggregation (VFA) method, which encodes support examples into class-level support features for robust feature aggregation. We use a variational autoencoder to estimate class distributions and sample variational features from distributions that are more robust to the variance of support examples. Besides, we decouple classification and regression tasks so that VFA is performed on the classification branch without affecting object localization. Extensive experiments on PASCAL VOC and COCO demonstrate that our method significantly outperforms a strong baseline (up to 16%) and previous state-of-the-art methods (4% in average).


Although clinical evaluation of moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) relies on conventional neuroimaging modalities, evaluation of mild TBI (mTBI) relies primarily on functional assessment modalities. Functional assessment refers to the evaluation of skills and behaviors that are purported to be linked to the functions of particular cerebral areas, neural pathways, or cortical networks and relate to human functioning in everyday life. In practice, these assessment measures include neuropsychological testing, self-report measures of symptoms and functioning, and neurobehavioral testing. Performance on assessment measures in the acute stage of recovery from mTBI can be useful in prognosis and in predicting recovery. However, pre-injury risk factors also influence recovery course following mTBI, including patient characteristics and pre-injury conditions. In conjunction with biomarkers and imaging modalities, current research is focused on the development of more sophisticated neurobehavioral testing by advancing tools to evaluate oculomotor and vestibular dysfunction following mTBI.


Oxidative deterioration is a major issue limiting the utilisation of linseed oil. This study investigated the effect of electrospun guar gum (GG) fibrous mats with addition of natural antioxidants on the oxidative stability of linseed oil. As a new technology, electrospinning was chosen to prepare nanofibrous mats. Besides, tannic acid (TA) was used as natural antioxidants and water was used as a solvent. The synthesised fibrous were smooth under the electron microscope, which had no defect structure and relatively uniform diameter. Electrospun GG fibrous mats containing TA were added to the linseed oil and the same amount of TA powder was used for comparison, then stored at 60 °C for 30 days to monitor the oxidation of oil. Conjugated dienes, peroxide value, p-anisidine value, thiobarbituric acid and fatty acid composition were used as indicators of oxidative stability. It was shown that TA can delay primary and secondary oxidation and improve oxidation stability. In conclusion, electrospun TA fibrous mats can play a more effective role than adding TA alone in antioxidation of linseed oil, which had potential applications in oil preservation.


In January 2015, three terrorists killed 17 people in Paris. In a time in which fears of immigrants and Muslims are spread in Europe and right wing movements are gaining support, this event built a foundation for actors of centre right and right wing parties to use the attacks in their favor. The aim of this study was to investigate how French and German media reported on the attacks, which measures were suggested in response to the attacks by political actors and how media facilitated possible securitization moves. By conducting this case study for which French and German newspaper articles were collected through the database Lexis Nexis and analyzed through content and discourse analysis, a contribution to security studies was made. The analytical framework used, Securitization Theory with an integration of Framing Theory, proved valuable as it indicated that media, by framing the issues connected to the Paris Attacks in favor of securitizing actors, facilitated securitization moves. Securitizing actors were mainly centre right politicians in Germany and the French right wing party National Front. Furthermore, German newspaper articles on the attacks outnumbered French newspaper articles, indicating the high level of media attention to the key event. However, the role of Islam was mentioned in more French newspaper articles than it was the case in German newspapers. Overall, terrorism and Islam were portrayed as a threat to the referent objects of the West, its citizens and values, fostering an essentialist and dichotomist understanding of the West and Islam.


Religious intolerance seems to have had its root in the creation of the Crusaders by Christians in reaction to the destruction of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem by a Fatimid Caliph named Al-Hakim. In its early days when Islam was growing like wild fire the Crusaders killed and maimed Muslims in Europe. History indicates that Islam in its first forty years drew more converts to it than had been attracted to Christianity in the previous four hundred years. Today, violence is being perpetrated by different groups claiming to be Muslims all over the world and the Quran says, "For you is your way and for me is mine". This paper examines the effort of a Christian trying to resolve this issue through his paintings.


The reference-center of monitoring of agents of glanders and melioidosis carried out testing of reagents kits for diagnostic of agent of melioidosis and other close-related species ofBurkholderiae in vitro. At the stage of specific identification ofpathogenic Burkholderiae the diagnostic possibilities of commercial and experimental kits of reagents for expressand rapid analysis were evaluated. The criteria of evaluation of diagnostic value of kits of reagents were sensitivity, specificity and time of implementation of studies. The analysis with application of monoand multi-locus amplification systems, including real-time polymerase chain reaction permitted during 5-6 hours to implement identification and differentiation of Burkholderiapseufomallei, B. thailandensis and B. cepacia.


Like the newspaper, the journal has a complex history shaped by the cultures in which it developed. The journals that play an important role in the formation of the basic dynamics of the life of thought help us in taking the thought perspective of the years that they had been published. Idea journals had provided detailed information for us on the development of the life of thought in Turkey. The political, economic and the social changes that had been experienced in Turkey had defined the publication policy of the Idea


Biomedical technology now plays a critical role in the detection and treatment of a wide range of diseases, from minor to life-threatening. One of the most life-threatening disorders is brain tumour, which is defined as a mass development of abnormal cells in the brain. By avoiding the spread of aberrant cells, early discovery and treatment can save a person's life. In the medical field, it is vital to find a certain image categorization strategy based on tumor cell regions. The tumor region is then selected to perform the segmentation process and then classification is performed. The identificationbased method helps to limit the image area and to identify the border area in a reduced time period. Automatic brain tumor classification is a difficult undertaking due to the enormous geographical and structural heterogeneity of the brain tumor's surrounding environment. The use of Deep Neural Networks classification for automatic brain tumor detection is proposed. The proposed a Relatable Pixel Extraction with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Image Segmentation for Brain Tumor Cell Detection (RPEIS-BTCD) using Deep Learning Model. The proposed model is compared with the existing models and the results indicate that the proposed model performance the


We propose a novel paradigm for solving Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) problems via deep recurrent neural networks. This proposed ILP solver is designed based on differentiable implementation of the deduction via forward chaining. In contrast to the majority of past methods, instead of searching through the space of possible first-order logic rules by using some restrictive rule templates, we directly learn the symbolic logical predicate rules by introducing a novel differentiable Neural Logic (dNL) network. The proposed dNL network is able to learn and represent Boolean functions efficiently and in an explicit manner. We show that the proposed dNL-ILP solver supports desirable features such as recursion and predicate invention. Further, we investigate the performance of the proposed ILP solver in classification tasks involving benchmark relational datasets. In particular, we show that our proposed method outperforms the state of the art ILP solvers in classification tasks for Mutagenesis, Cora and IMDB datasets.


STUDY DESIGN
This study evaluated the biomechanical responses evoked by the use of a gravity-dependent, self-operated traction device. These responses were determined by radiographs and were correlated with the body weight of the patient who was supported by a seat strap.

OBJECTIVES
To examine the biomechanical effectiveness of the LTX 3000 Lumbar Rehabilitation System.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
The LTX 3000 Lumbar Rehabilitation System (Spinal Designs International, Minneapolis, MN) was used to administer the lumbar fraction. No previous study has been conducted on this device.

METHODS
For each of the 14 healthy male patients (age range, 19-69 years), lumbar lengthening, alterations in spinal curvature, and thoracic spine movement were assessed using radiographs taken: 1) before traction; 2) at 2, 10, and 15 minutes after the onset of traction; and 3) 2 minutes after traction was completed. Strain on the buttocks-supporting seat strap was recorded continuously during study sessions.

RESULTS
The entire patient pool displayed an average maximal lumbar lengthening of 6.39 +/- 4.21 mm. The amount of lumbar lengthening was influenced by the degree of thoracic immobilization and by the amount of prior LTX 3000 (Spinal Designs International) use. Significant curvature reduction was observed during and after traction for the entire patient pool. Strain measurements correlated well with the measured response in the radiographs.

CONCLUSIONS
Proper use of the LTX 3000 (Spinal Designs International) induces significant lumbar lengthening and curvature reduction in healthy patients. Measurements of body weight supported by the seat strap could help determine if thoracic immobilization has been achieved and if the patient is responding to the lumbar unloading.


Abstract Aims In clinical trials, disability progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) is measured by the Kurtzke expanded disability status scale (EDSS), which is not captured in routine clinical care in the U.S. This study developed a claims-based disability score (CDS) based on the EDSS for assigning MS disability level in a U.S. claims database. Methods This retrospective cohort study of patients with MS in the U.S., utilized adjudicated health plan claims data linked to electronic medical records (EMRs) data. Patients were identified between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2016 and indexed on the first date of MS diagnosis. The CDS was developed to assign disability level at baseline using claims and ambulatory EMR records observed over the 1-year baseline period. All-cause healthcare costs were assessed by baseline disability level to validate the CDS. Results In total, 45,687 patients were identified in claims (full sample) and 1,599 linked to EMR (core sample). Over half of patients in both samples were classified with mild disability at baseline. Adjusted healthcare costs in patients with moderate and severe disability were 15% (p<.0001) and 20% higher, respectively, than in patients with mild disability at baseline in the full sample. Disease-modifying therapy (DMT) costs accounted for 89%, 82%, and 78% of outpatient pharmacy costs in patients with mild, moderate, and severe disability, respectively. Conclusions The CDS is the first claims-based measure of MS disability utilizing data from EMR. This novel measure advances the opportunity to examine outcomes by disability accumulation in the absence of standard markers of disease progression. Although formal validation of the CDS was not possible due to lack of available EDSS in the EMR, the economic burden results align with prior publications and show that healthcare costs increase with increasing disability. Future validation studies of the CDS are warranted.


To avoid difficulties facing intention-based accounts of indexicals, Cohen (2013) recently defends a conventionalist account that focuses on the context of tokening. On this view, a token of 'here' or 'now' refers to the place or time at which it tokens. However, although promising, such an account faces a serious problem: in many speech acts, multiple apparent tokens are produced. If I call Alaska from Paris and say 'I'm here now', an apparent token of my utterance will be produced in both Paris and Alaska. The token-contextual account seems to imply that in such cases I will refer to both places and contradict myself. Here I argue that to resolve this and similar puzzles we must realize that not all apparent semantic tokens really are semantic tokens, and that to decide which ones count we must appeal to speaker intentions. However, because this appeal is made at the level of the metaphysics of semantic tokens rather than to determine their meaning, it does not raise the problems associated with intentionalism that the conventionalist hopes to avoid. The metaphysics of semantic tokens uncovered is surprisingly complex, showing that shapes and sounds can transition in and out of being utterances.


Usual trends in the world have changed direction in the 1990s. We do not yet fully know the consequences of these altered trends. As population continues to grow, basic agricultural and industrial production falls (e.g., 1%/year decline in grain production and 0.6%/year decline in oil production). Moreover, world economic growth has fallen .8% annually in the early 1990s. It is feared that these shifts are not short term as were the instabilities generated during the 1973 increase in oil prices. The shifts in the 1990s are not limited to several national political leaders (e.g., OPEC), but are a result of the collision between swelling human numbers and their needs and the limitations of the earth's natural systems on the other. These limitations include the capacity of seas to produce seafood, of grasslands to yield mutton and beef, of the hydrological cycle to generate fresh water, of crops to use fertilizer, of the atmosphere to absorb carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons, and of people to inhale polluted air, and of forests to resist acid rain. These constraints are forcing the realization that each nation must reduce consumption of the earth's natural resources and implement a population policy. The challenge is for social institutions to quickly check and stabilize population growth without infringing in human rights.


The term "canon" is a term in question over time because it is considered incapable of answering a certainty about the criteria used in classifying literary works. The question arose from reasons such the neglect of some literary works which containing unacceptable topics politically or have no commercial values in the time of its publication. Furthermore, there is a work of literature that is not recognized because the author is not derived from the origin state or origin culture raised in his work. Seeing this, this research has sought to reveal the acceptable criteria in classifying literary works into a canon. The concept of canon used are based on Smyth, Kolbas, Lise, and Benton. Their thoughts are different but complete each other. The objects of this research are notable literary works from three different authors and countries. They are Arundhati Roy, Pramoedya A. Toer, and George Orwell. Each them contain different issues which represented the most common issues appear in Asian countries. Throughout the three works, the face of Asian is seen and the acceptable criteria are found. There are four criteria suggested in this research.They are: first, the work may contain cultural and moral values of Asian ; second, the work may inform ideologies and social of the Asian; Third, it may inform the historical value of Asian countries; and the last, it is already criticized and reviewed by others, in this case, researcher or readers.


Operation The anus, anal canal, sphincter and perineum are incised and opened in the mid-line anteriorly, to create a deliberate 'third degree tear'. The anus and canal are reduced to normal size (or rather less) by excision of tissue and repair by suturing, and the sphincter is repaired and tightened by overlapping to the requisite size. The perineum is reconstituted in the traditional manner, the repair being identical with that of a complete perineal rupture. This operation is best combined with an extensive posterior colporrhaphy, with intent to fix the unsupported rectum. Resection of redundant bowel can be performed through the posterior vaginal wall prior to repair, a procedure preferable to Gabriel's rectosigmoidectomy through the anus. Pre-operatively, the patient is prepared by bowel washouts. Post-operatively, a low residue diet and deliberate avoidance of bowel action for 6 days are advised. Thereafter a little olive oil is run into the rectum through a rubber catheter and evacuation encouraged. Antibiotics are best given parenterally in order to avoid too much disturbance ofthe intestinal flora. To date this operation has been performed 8 times. The anus and perineum have healed by first intention on each occasion.


Field trials were conducted in 2009 and 2010 to evaluate herbicides and their combination for weed control in carrots production regions in the Republic of Macedonia. The weed population in the both years was consisted of annual spring and summer ones, and some perennial weeds. The weediness in the both years was relatively high (129.6 plants/m 2 in 2009 and 172.7 plants/m 2 in 2010, respectively). The most dominant weeds were Portulaca oleracea and Echinochloa crus-galli in 2009 and Polygonum lapathifolium, Portulaca oleracea and Echinochloa crus-galli in 2010. Efficacy of herbicides in control of weeds was ranged of 69.8% (metolachlor PRE + linuron POST) to 98.2% (metolachlor + prometryn applied PRE) in 2009, and 71.2% (metolachlor PRE + linuron POST) to 96.8% (metolachlor + linuron applied PRE) in 2010, respectively. Efficacy of herbi cides in the control of prevailing weeds during the 2-year field trial period was ranged from 54% to 100%. Particularly high efficacy showed both combinations metolachlor + prometryn and metolachlor + linuron applied PRE which provided nearly 100% control. All applied herbicides and their combinations showed high selectivity to carrots, no visual injured were determined by any rates in both year. Crop yields treated by herbicides reflected their efficiencies in weed control. The highest carrots yield in both years (34925 and 35395 kg/ha, and 32865 and 34254 kg/ha, respestively) were recorded in plots treated with metolachlor + linuron and metolachlor + prometryn applied PRE.


Base pair stacking free energy parameters in a low ionic strength solvent were determined from an analysis of DNA fragments using temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE). Transition midpoint temperatures (Tu) were determined for the first melting domain (52 +/- 4 bp) of 16, 339 bp DNAs that differed from each other by single base pair substitutions. The data were combined with previously obtained Tu data from 17 similar DNAs that had single base pair changes at different sites [Ke, S. H., and Wartell, R. M. (1995) Biochemistry 34, 4593-4599]. The Tu values were used to evaluate free energy differences (deltaDeltaG) between 31 pairs of DNAs. Linear equations relating the deltaDeltaG values to changes in base pair stacking were analyzed by singular value decomposition (SVD) to determine the 10 nearest neighbor free energy parameters. The order of stability of the parameters, TA < AT < AA < AG < GT approximately TC approximately TG < CC < GC approximately CG, was essentially the same as the hierarchy determined in 1 M Na+ [Allawi, H. T., and SantaLucia, J., Jr. (1997) Biochemistry 36, 10581-10594]. The experimental free energy differences were in good agreement with predictions made using nearest-neighbor parameters determined from several previous studies conducted in medium or high salt concentrations. Conversely the parameters determined in the current study produced good predictions of free energy differences previously determined from 59 DNA oligomers in 1 M Na+. The results indicate that differences between base pair stacking energies are conserved across a wide range of ionic conditions, and in both oligomer and polymer DNA contexts.


We simultaneously invert the strong-motion velocity records and the long- and intermediate-period teleseismic P waveforms of the 19 September 1985 Michoacan, Mexico, earthquake to recover the distribution of slip on the fault using a point-by-point constrained and stabilized, least-squares inversion method. A fault plane with strike fixed at 300° and dip fixed at 14° is placed in the region of the earthquake hypocenter and divided into 120 subfaults. Rupture is assumed to propagate at a velocity of 2.6 km/sec away from the hypocenter. Synthetic near-source ground motions and teleseismic P waveforms for pure strike-slip and dipslip dislocations are calculated for each subfault. The observed data are then inverted to obtain the amount of strike-slip and dip-slip displacement required of each subfault. We also invert the data sets using a time-window procedure where the subfaults are allowed to slip up to three times. This approach relaxes the constraint of fixed subfault rupture time imposed by a constant rupture velocity.

Inversion of the strong-motion data alone yields a slip model similar to the solution previously obtained using only teleseismic waveforms. This result supports the use of teleseismic waveform data for the derivation of fault dislocation models in the absence of strong-motion recordings. Our simultaneous inversion of both data sets suggests that rupture during the Michoacan earthquake was controlled largely by the failure of three major asperities located along the length and down the dip of a 150-km segment of the Cocos-North America plate boundary. The solution contains three major source regions including an 80 km by 55 km source near the hypocenter with a peak slip of 6.5 meters. Two additional sources are present on the southeast portion of the fault about 70 km away from the hypocenter. One of these sources, with a peak slip of 5 meters, covers a 45 km by 60 km area and extends downdip from a depth of about 10 km to 24 km. The third source region is somewhat smaller (30 km by 60 km area, 3.1-meters peak slip) and extends further downdip at depths between 27 km and 39 km. Aftershock activity following the earthquake was associated mainly with the two shallow sources. These two sources are separated by the aftershock zone of the 1981 Playa Azul earthquake.


This paper illustrates the origin and the main features of a Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) measure known as Forested Infiltration Area (FIA), conceived by Veneto Agricoltura in 2007 and currently implemented at 7 pilot sites over the Vicenza Upper Plain in the Veneto region, with the financial and technical support of several public and private partners. In particular the outputs of the first recharge season (2013-2014) of two demonstrative FIA are presented and discussed (plants realized in 2013 by Consorzio di Bonifica Brenta within the framework of the Life Project AQUOR). The main peculiarities of the FIA measures are the multifunctionality guaranteed by the integration of hydraulic and biologic aspects, the high environmental compatibility and the friendly design and management.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the incidence and causes of false-positive intracranial aneurysms on MR angiography (MRA). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 210 cases that were incidentally diagnosed as intracranial aneurysms on MRA. All the cases were confirmed by CT angiography (CTA) or digital subtraction angiography (DSA). We investigated the incidence, location, size, and causes of the false-positive aneurysms on MRA. Results: Of 210 cases, 28 cases were confirmed as false-positive aneurysms. Most of the lesions were located on the middle cerebral artery (n = 9, 7 lesions located in the bifurcation and 2 lesions located in the trunk) and the anterior communicating artery (n = 5). The diameters of most of the lesions (78.6%) were smaller than 3 mm. Causes were junctional dilatation (n = 14), vascular tortuosity (n = 6), normal variation (n = 3) and unknown causes (n = 3). Conclusion: Understanding the risks and pitfalls of false-positive intracranial aneurysms determined on MRA would be helpful for improving the diagnostic accuracy of screening MRA and for reducing the number of unnecessary invasive examinations.


Women entering the maternity arena in Australia and other Western regimes have suffered incidentally from what is known as the' silo effect'. This refers to a clash between the training regimes of the 'old' professionalism and the 'new' professionalism. Under the 'old' professionalism, hierarchies were erected between medicine and the so-called semi-professions such as nursing and social work (Tully and Mortlock 2004) resulting in what Degeling et al (1998; 2000) have documented as oppositional modes of decision-making, styles of working, roles and accountabilities. Within the last decade, a 'new professionalism' has emerged in many Western regimes, including Canada, NZ, the UK and The Netherlands. (Romanow Report 2002; Street, Gannon and Holt 1991; Victorian Department of Human Services, Australia 2004) depicted by a flatter more egalitarian structure of multidisciplinarity .. An example in Australia is the Future Directions in Maternity Care document released in mid 2004 by the Bracks Victorian Labor government. In Australia, the move towards the 'new professionalism' can be attributed to a confluence of macro economic factors including the swing away from hospital-based training and towards university-based training for nurses and midwives, the ripple effects of three decades of feminism, the professionalisation of midwifery, the attrition of midwives from the workforce, the rise of health consumerism from the late 1980s and the crippling costs of professional indemnity health insurance for obstetricians leading to a crisis in recruitment.


The Ridgecrest earthquake sequence began on 17 August 1995 with a M_L 5.4 earthquake. As of October 3, 1995, the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) had recorded over 4,500 events in the sequence, with eight events of M ≥ 4.0. These earthquakes are occurring along the eastern edge of the Indian Wells Valley along a small stretch of the thoroughgoing Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ). Previous large events within the ECSZ include the 1992 (M_w 7.3) Landers earthquake sequence and the 1872 (M 7.6) Owens Valley earthquake. The only large earthquake to occur near Indian Wells Valle, was the 1946 Walker Pass (M 6.0) earthquake on an unknown fault in the Sierra Nevada mountains to the west. The ECSZ transfers some of the relative motion between the North America and Pacific Plates away from the San Andreas fault to the western Great Basin of the Basin and Range province.


Widely used methods for analyzing missing data can be biased in small samples. To understand these biases, we evaluate in detail the situation where a small univariate normal sample, with values missing at random, is analyzed using either observed-data maximum likelihood (ML) or multiple imputation (MI). We evaluate two types of MI: the usual Bayesian approach, which we call posterior draw (PD) imputation, and a little used alternative, which we call ML imputation, in which values are imputed conditionally on an ML estimate. We find that observed-data ML is more efficient and has lower mean squared error than either type of MI. Between the two types of MI, ML imputation is more efficient than PD imputation, and ML imputation also has less potential for bias in small samples. The bias and efficiency of PD imputation can be improved by a change of prior.


Objective: To evaluate the significance of circulating tight-junction (TJ) proteins as predictors of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in ischemic stroke patients. Methods: We examined 458 consecutive ischemic stroke patients, 7.2% of whom had clinically evident HT. None of the patients was treated with thrombolytic drugs. Serum levels of standard markers of blood–brain barrier (BBB) breakdown (S100B, neuron-specific enolase), TJ proteins (occludin [OCLN], claudin 5 [CLDN5], zonula occludens 1 [ZO1]), and molecules involved in BBB disintegration (matrix metalloproteinase 9 and vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF]) were assessed upon admission to the emergency department. A clinical deterioration caused by HT (cdHT) was defined as an increase of ≥4 points in the NIH Stroke Scale score in combination with a visible HT on a CT scan performed immediately after the onset of new neurologic symptoms. Results: Patients with cdHT had higher concentrations of OCLN, S100B, and the CLDN5/ZO1 ratio, and a lower level of VEGF than those without cdHT. CLDN5 levels also correlated with cdHT occurrence when estimated within 3 hours of stroke onset. We also demonstrated correlations between the levels of circulating TJ molecules and the level of S100B, which is a previously established marker of BBB disruption. Conclusions: Analyzing serum levels of TJ proteins, like CLDN5, OCLN, and CLDN5/ZO1 ratio, as well as S100B and VEGF, is an effective way to screen for clinical deterioration caused by HT in ischemic stroke patients, both within and after the IV thrombolysis time window.


Summary
In this work the stability and the rheological behaviour of salad dressing containing 'Minas Frescal' whey cheese was studied. The salad dressing was stabilised by xanthan gum (XG), propylene glycol alginate (PGA) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). All samples were stable for a period of 4 months. The rheological model of Ostwald-de-Waelle (Power-Law) was used in order to fit the data and to obtain the rheological parameters of flow behaviour index (n), consistency coefficient and apparent viscosity (ηap). All formulations showed a pseudoplastic behaviour and the PGA contributed to increase the values of flow behaviour index. Consistency coefficient was similarly affected by XG and PGA fractions. Apparent viscosity was highly influenced by the hydrocolloid CMC, with higher values of apparent viscosity in the proportion of 0.25/0.25/0.5% (PGA/XG/CMC). Hydrocolloid association (ternary mixtures) was statistically significant, resulting in an increase of K and ηap parameters. The results show that salad dressing with whey as aqueous phase and stabilised by a ternary combination of XG, PGA and CMC can be a technological alternative to the food industry.


: Single-pixel imaging (SPI) is a novel optical imaging technique by replacing a two-dimensional pixelated sensor with a single-pixel detector and pattern illuminations. SPI have been extensively used for various tasks related to image acquisition and processing. In this work, a novel non-image-based task of playing Tic-Tac-Toe games interactively is merged into the framework of SPI. An optoelectronic artificial intelligent (AI) player with minimal digital computation can detect the game states, generate optimal moves and display output results mainly by pattern illumination and single-pixel detection. Simulated and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of proposed scheme and its unbeatable performance against human players.


Wood sedge (Carex sylvatica) is a well-known ancient woodland species with a long-term persistent seed bank and a caespitose growth habit. All thirteen isolated Carex sylvatica populations in the Dutch Rhine floodplain (including the river branches Waal and IJssel) were mapped in detail and analysed for genetic variation at a large number of AFLP loci and one microsatellite locus. Across all populations, only 40 % of the sampled individuals (n=216) represented a unique genotype. A high number of the studied patches (spatial clusters of tussocks, 2-10 m in diameter) within populations contained only one or a few genotypes. Identical plants (tussocks) were also found 20-500 m apart and in one case even 1000 m apart. Observed heterozygosity levels (H(O)=0.029) were low, indicating low levels of gene flow, which is in agreement with the selfing nature of other caespitose sedges. Although the number of genotypes in populations is low, these genotypes are genetically very distinct and variation within populations accounted for 55% of the total variation. The absence of a correlation between genetic and geographic distances among populations, and the scattered distribution of genotypes among patches within woodlands, support our hypothesis of rare establishments and subsequent local dispersal within woodlands in this forest floor species, which may benefit from and partly depend on human land use and forest management activities.


In this set of three lectures delivered at Poona in June 1985, Deshpande uses certain problems of sentence interpretation and their handling by the Sanskrit grammarians as a focus for the wider issue of the relevance of modern Western linguistics to Paninian studies, or more exactly their applicability as an interpretational tool. He disagrees in particular with the application by Paul Kiparsky and S. D. Joshi of transformational grammar to the specific issue involved, while acknowledging the stimulus of their ideas. But he is certainly not advocating any simplistic reversion to an interpretation purely from within the Paninian tradition, since one of his own main emphases is to discern, beneath the avowedly non-historical approach of the tradition itself, a change in attitudes produced by "the shift of Sanskrit from being a first language of the ancient Aryas to a learned second language of the Prakrit-speaking Brahmins of Aryavartta". Deshpande is concerned, therefore, to make a number of distinctions which he sees as necessary to a proper understanding of the question. Thus, he distinguishes even in his title between ellipsis, operating within a given syntactical unit, and syntactic overlapping, when an item occurs in both main and subordinate clauses but is expressed only in the main clause. He argues that the "natural ellipse" implicit in Panini's description is not at all the same as the deletion rules postulated in transformational grammar. More positively, and helpfully, he draws attention to the differences between Panini and Katyayana, characterising Panini's grammar as "representing the direction of encoding meaning into a surface-structure, and not that of decoding a given surface-structure to discover its meaning" (p. 76). Basically, that is, Panini's approach to language is to proceed from meaning to its grammatical expression, in accordance with his own position as a native speaker, whereas Katyayana and later grammarians, speaking Prakrit as their first language rather than Sanskrit, were seeking to establish the meaning of an already given expression, the extant texts. Essentially, in Deshpande's view, this serves to explain the much wider use by Katyayana of ellipse as an exegetical device. He draws an interesting parallel with the differing applications of structural linguistics to non-native languages and of generative grammar to one's own language. In this, as in his comparison with the shift of emphasis from the meaning of the Vedic texts to their surface-forms, their actual expression, he is drawing our attention to an important point and his view that the semantics of Sanskrit changed as it moved from being a first language to a learned second language is worth emphasising. To my mind, this point about "studying Sanskrit grammarians within the larger context of the evolution of Indo-Aryan languages" is in fact the most significant point developed within these lectures and merits further exploration. One blemish on the books presentation is the omission from the bibliography of the work referred to on p. 2 simply as Grinder and Elgin (1973); however, the production is generally satisfactory. All in all, this is a worthwhile and stimulating work within its inevitably small compass.


Digital transformation in healthcare impacts curricula preparation and work readiness of future health professionals. Informatics capabilities are essential practice attributes. Therefore, measurement of these competencies is important as students transition from education to practice. This rapid review, conducted according to Cochrane and World Health Organization guidelines, examined validity and reliability measurements of existing instruments used to self-assess nursing informatics competencies. MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and PubMed databases were searched. Empirical studies with the primary aim of measuring informatics competencies reporting psychometric assessment were included. Methodological quality appraisal involved predetermined criteria based on COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments taxonomy. Data extraction and critical appraisal of six studies from four countries identified five instruments. Study characteristics, constructs measured, population, instrument type, and psychometric properties of interest were examined. There were some similarities and differences with instrumentation. Two important measurement properties, content validity and reliability, were underreported. Gaps in key measurement properties were identified, which require further research. Selection of a practical evaluative instrument to implement should also consider the constructs measured, and practicality and feasibility of the instrument for its suitability in different settings. A larger investigation comparing more informatics competency assessment instruments is necessary for an exhaustive analysis.