PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) provided within the first 3 months of revascularization on reducing recurrent revascularization in patients with coronary heart disease in Taiwan. METHODS: In this population-based cohort study, we used the claims data of 1 million beneficiaries who were randomly selected from all beneficiaries enrolled in Taiwan's National Health Insurance program from 1996 to 2000. Between 2000 and 2007, 2838 patients underwent a first-event revascularization. Of these patients, 442 (15.6%) underwent CR within the first 3 months of admission for revascularization. The remaining 84.4% (n = 2396) served as the non-CR group. All the study patients were followed-up until the end of 2008 for any recurrent revascularization. A propensity score-adjusted Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the relative risk of recurrent revascularization associated with CR. RESULTS: During the 1- to 9-year follow-up, 69 patients (15.6%) in the CR group and 840 (35.1%) patients in the non-CR group experienced recurrent revascularization. The results of the propensity score-adjusted Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that CR was significantly associated with a reduced risk of recurrent revascularization with a hazard ratio of 0.48 (95% CI, 0.37 to −0.62). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac rehabilitation within the first 3 months of revascularization is significantly associated with a reduced risk of recurrent revascularization. This preventive effect was more pronounced in men compared with other subgroups of patients.


The traditional philosophical justifications for copyright policy fail to account for current expansionary trends. The proprietary logic of contemporary copyright policies is justified on neither utilitarian nor rights-based grounds. Instead, copyright developments are located within the broader framework of commodification and the logic of capital itself. Since copyright law has been outpaced by a technology that undermines both the legal framework and the underlying economic theory on which it is based, a critical theoretical framework rooted in political economy is needed to harmonize the use and dissemination of information with the developing productive forces in society. Central to this framework is the contradiction between use-value and exchange-value, which is inherent in every commodity. This tension, which is particularly acute in the case of the information commodity, becomes sharper with the use of new technologically enabled exclusion mechanisms, as well as with various policy initiatives that seek to expand the duration, scope, and intensity of the copyright monopoly. Reconceptualizing copyright theory through the lens of critical political economy will help raise issues that are often overlooked in the current policy environment, and should decrease the acceptance of traditional justifications without considering all of the policy alternatives.


Paleomagnetic data from Pliocene sedimentary strata in the south Wanganui basin, New Zealand, document clockwise tectonic rotation west of and increasing toward the main zone of deformation (axial tectonic belt) associated with the Australia-Pacific plate boundary zone in the North Island of New Zealand. Measured rotation with respect to the Australian plate increases from 1.4° ± 3.9° 80 km west of the axial tectonic belt to 6.5° ± 2.0° and 13.2° ± 3.1° at 45 km and 20 km west of the axial tectonic belt, respectively. These measurements indicate that (1) deformation associated with plate convergence occurs across a wide region up to 270 km west of the Hikurangi Trench, and (2) in the past 2.5 m.y. at least 30 km of transcurrent motion and 10 km of shortening at the plate boundary have been accommodated within the south Wanganui basin by distributed shear west of the plate boundary zone proper. The data support a model suggesting that the Wanganui basin is a lithospheric flexure basin driven by high friction at the plate interface. This strain in the south Wanganui basin and inferred high friction across the plate interface at the basin9s eastern margin have occurred since 2.5 Ma.


Background Cancer patients at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust receive the majority of their chemotherapy treatments as daycase patients. The clinical pharmacy service provision to patients receiving chemotherapy did not move with the patients from the inpatient to the daycase setting. The lack of clinical pharmacy provision to the day treatment unit (DTU) resulted in medicines wastage and an increase in nursing time to educate patients on their medication. Purpose The pharmacy service to the DTU was reconfigured to provide a clinical pharmacy and medicines management service, and to dispense medicines as pre-packs at the patients' bedside. Materials and Methods One pharmacist and half of a technician were funded from cost savings to implement the new service. Medication record cards were developed for each supportive regimen as a counselling aid to patients. A patient satisfaction survey was undertaken prior to initiating the new service, and two months after initiation. Drug expenditure and medicine wastage savings were recorded prior to and two months after implementation of the service. A satellite pharmacy was set up to dispense medicines next to the DTU. A trolley was used to dispense pre-packs at the bedside. Data was collected prior to and two months after initiation of the new service to assess patient satisfaction, impact on nursing time, medicines wastage and savings. Results It was anticipated that approximately £25,000 [€31,000] per month would be saved on medicines wastage. Patients were very satisfied with the new service. The service resulted in a reduction in nursing time of 37.5 hours/week. The results of the service impact after two months will be presented. Conclusions The DTU pharmacy service ensures medicines optimisation, reduces medicines expenditure, and improves the quality of patient care. Patients receiving chemotherapy as inpatients always benefited from a clinical pharmacy service, so it is appropriate to provide this service in the day case setting. No conflict of interest.


Received: September 14, 2019 Accepted: October 17, 2019 Published: November 30, 2019 Volume:2 Issue: 6 DOI: 10.32996/ijllt.2019.2.6.33 The study intends to investigate the reading problems encountered by Sudanese EFL secondary school learners in reading texts and comprehension. The researchers prepared a questionnaire for EFL teachers and a test for EFL students as tools for data collection. The sample includes 20 teachers and 20 students randomly selected from El Hasahisa secondary schools in Gezira State, Sudan. The researchers used an analytical-descriptive method to collect data, which were further calculated and analyzed with SPSS Program. The findings indicate that Sudanese secondary school students face problems in reading and answering reading comprehension questions. Students' lack of vocabulary, motivation, students' inadequate understanding of the relationship and functions of words within sentences, idioms and figurative meanings, insufficient study material, lack of teacher's training, traditional teaching methods contribute to the main barriers of reading and comprehending texts. The paper concludes with some concrete and constructive suggestions that would indubitably lessen these problems to get the desired performance. KEYWORDS


The effect of reaming velocity on the pressure distribution within the bone is investigated numerically by solving the full three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations together with the continuity equation using the finite element technique. Viscosity is also varied to obtain a pressure envelop. It was found that all the experimental data follow the same trends as the envelopes predicted by the finite element model. It was clear that an increase in either the implant insertion rate or the viscosity resulted in an increase in pressure in the intramedullary canal.


As a tool for mitigating the potential privacy risks of gathering and transmitting location information on the Web, we suggest in this paper a model for conveying location information together with privacy rules to govern the use of that information. Binding privacy rules to the conveyance of location information is one useful tool to help developers build location-based systems and services that comport with the concept of fair information practices (FIPs)---a set of widely accepted principles that create a basis for privacy-protective systems. We offer as a model one fully developed set of standards for binding location data conveyed across IP networks to privacy rules.


: In this article, the Commissioner of Social Security traces the legislative development and summarizes the final form of changes in the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Medicare programs incorporated in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-35). This legislation, signed into law by President Reagan on August 13, contains a major portion of his Program for Economic Recovery, announced to the Nation in February. The final section of the article shows that, although the Social Security and Medicare provisions in Public Law 97-35 will have a favorable effect on the overall financial status of the OASDI and Hospital Insurance Trust Funds, these changes will not be sufficient to restore the financial soundness of the programs in the near term or over the long range.


Porphyrin derivatives with hydroxyphenyl or dihydroxyphenyl moieties in the meso-position were able to dissolve in water by complexation with two trimethyl-β-cyclodextrins (TMe-β-CDxs) without further chemical modification of porphyrins or addition of dimethyl sulfoxide as a co-solvent. TMe-β-CDx-complexed tetra(hydroxyphenyl)porphyrins (THPPs) with phenols in meso-positions have a much higher photodynamic activity than TMe-β-CDx-complexed tetrakis(dihydroxyphenyl)porphyrins (TDHPPs) with dihydroxyphenyl in the meso-position. The main reason for the different photoactivity is due to the intracellular uptakes of these complexes. Thus phenols in meso-positions of porphyrin derivatives in the complexes were recognized by HeLa cell receptors. Furthermore, the photodynamic activity of TMe-β-CDx-complexed THPP was much higher than that of THPP injected as a dimethyl sulfoxide solution.


The first part of this paper establishes in a general kind of way that the domain or seascape that Lapita sailors operated in was more demanding than that of Wallacea and Near Oceania, but markedly less so than that negotiated later by East Polynesians. The second part takes a look at the form and performance of canoes, the possible nature of Lapita craft, and suggests ways to improve modern estimates of prehistoric performance by mechanical and mathematical modeling. The third part considers the practicalities of sailing in the Lapita domain; it argues that the dispersal of Lapita was in a selected direction rather than a random one, and o¤ers a glimpse of how these ambitious but relatively cautious sailors learned to navigate. The final aim of the paper is to summarize three theories of migration, which support each other in some respects, but which di¤er in others—especially in their views of prehistoric canoe performance.


This text's clear explanations and descriptions of the mechanisms of chemical reactions teach students how to apply principles in order to predict the outcomes of reactions. The Fifth Edition offers a focus on biological applications that renders the text accessible to the majority of organic chemistry students and consistent with the interdisciplinary nature of scientific research.One Small Step features apply familiar concepts to new reagents and reactions, encouraging students to analyze material rather than memorize the outcome to each new reaction.Visualizing the Reaction features help students recognize important reactions by demonstrating the complete mechanisms for each type of reaction. HM ClassPrep with HM Testing CD-ROM includes lecture outlines and line art from the textbook in PowerPoint, the Computerized Test Bank and the Word files of the Test Bank in a new, easy-to-use interface with complete cross-platform flexibility, electronic versions of materials from the Instructor's Resource Manual, and a transition guide that directs instructors through this new edition.


Pending cuts in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) fiscal year budget combined with deep funding cuts in public assistance will have a profound effect on low-income households, in turn affecting the social work profession. Low-income consumers of social work services will find that housing and employment are interrelated issues of central concern. These substantive areas will wedge their way prominently into social policy, social work methods and fields of practice, and research. Cross-Cutting Implications Housing The proposed cuts in the HUD budget will reduce the supply of and access to affordable rental units. These cuts, in combination with reduced appropriations for income maintenance programs at federal and state levels for individuals and families (such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, general assistance, and Supplemental Security Income), will make it more difficult for low-income consumers to find rental housing they can afford. Housing has unique economic, psychological, and symbolic significance. It has a pervasive impact on quality of life beyond just the provision of shelter. Safe, affordable, nontransient housing is the key that opens the door to meeting other basic needs. Its location determines personal safety and access to commercial facilities, public and social services, transportation networks, recreational and cultural resources, quality schools, and employment opportunities (Mulroy, 1995a; Smizik & Stone, 1988). Housing Supply. Affordable units for low-income renters have been substantially lost through the demolition of distressed public housing projects, the conversion of apartment buildings and single-room occupancy hotels to condominiums, and recently what is called "expiring use restrictions" on many private for-profit housing developments. In the 1960s, federal assistance shifted from constructing public housing to providing subsidies to private developers to construct housing for low-income people at affordable rents. Developers were allowed to opt out of these rent restrictions after 20 years. Beginning in the 1980s, in areas where market rents had increased substantially, "the owners opted out and raised rents to market levels, displacing thousands of poor tenants. When conditions had declined, owners simply undermaintained their property for additional, final profits and then allowed HUD to foreclose on deteriorated buildings" (Barton, 1996, p. 109). Housing Affordability. Housing affordability is the ratio of a household's housing costs to its income. HUD generally considers housing to be affordable when it is 30 percent of a household's income. However, more than half of all poor renters spend at least 50 percent of their income on housing (Dreier & Applebaum, 1992). Although public housing and housing allowances have existed for several decades to ease the rent burden on poor households, their effectiveness has been limited (Mulroy, 1995b). The majority of low-income renter households do not receive any kind of federal, state, or local rent subsidy, nor do they live in public housing (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990). Low-income residents in the private rental market are being squeezed by higher rents. Cuts in public assistance benefit levels and changes in eligibility requirements will further reduce the incomes of already low-income households, leaving them less money to spend on rent. Long-term unemployed workers laid off from low-wage work will be especially vulnerable. Affordability problems can lead to housing displacement, which occurs when a household is required to move because of circumstances beyond its control. People will be displaced from their residences because of eviction or the threat of eviction caused by rent increases that are beyond their ability to pay. Section 8 certificates are subsidies that allow families who meet low-income eligibility requirements to pay 30 percent of their income for rent, and HUD subsidizes the balance of rent directly to the landlord. …


Microwave heating was used to prepare eta5-rhenium carborane complexes in aqueous reaction media. For carboranes bearing sterically demanding substituents, isomerization of the cage from 3,1,2 to 2,1,8 derivatives occurred concomitantly with complexation. Microwave heating was equally effective at the tracer level using technetium-99m, affording access to a new class of synthons for designing novel molecular imaging agents.


Raising the maintenance dose of clopidogrel to 150 mg enhances platelet inhibition (PI) in patients with elevated platelet reactivity (EPR); however, large differences were observed between individuals in the extent of this benefit. We aimed to find clinical and platelet function variables that might predict the response to 150 mg clopidogrel in patients with EPR. ADP 5 µM-stimulated peak aggregation (Aggmax), 6-minute late aggregation (Agglate) and 6-minute disaggregation (disAgg) were measured with light transmission aggregometry (LTA) in a consecutive cohort of 202 patients admitted for emergent or elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after receiving a 600-mg loading dose of clopidogrel. PI was assessed 12 to 18 hours after loading dose and 30 days after the intervention. EPR was defined as a Aggmax value greater than 34%. From the first day of PCI, 85 patients with EPR received 150 mg clopidogrel for 30 days, while others with normal platelet reactivity (NPR) took 75 mg clopidogrel. Baseline clinical and LTA variables were analyzed in multivariable regression models. Administration of 150 mg clopidogrel enhanced PI and decreased the prevalence of EPR at 30 days compared to the peri-interventional period (Aggmax: 46.9 ± 8.3 vs. 37.3 ± 11.5; EPR: 100% vs. 62.4%; p < 0.001 in both cases); however, the achieved level of platelet reactivity was higher than patients with NPR (Aggmax: 20.6 ± 8.1 vs. 25.3 ± 10.8, p < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression revealed low platelet disaggregation (odds ratio (OR): 12.49; 95% CI: 2.52–62.00; P = 0.002) and acute coronary syndrome (OR: 4.83; 95% CI: 1.54–15.09; P = 0.008) as independent predictors of EPR. The area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve was 0.72 ± 0.06 for disaggregation to predict NPR after 150 mg clopidogrel. The optimal disaggregation cut-off was 16.5% with a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 43%. Administering 150 mg maintenance dose of clopidogrel enhanced antiplatelet potency; however, more than half of the patients persisted with EPR. Acute coronary syndrome and low (<16.5%) platelet disaggregation are independent predictors of poor benefit from dose shift.


The obese gene product leptin, originally characterised as an adipocyte hormone coordinating the behavioural and neuroendocrine responses to starvation, is expressed in fetal adipocytes and placental trophoblast cells and is present in the fetal circulation. Concentrations of leptin in fetal blood correlate with fetal bodyweight and fat mass. In post-natal life, leptin conveys information about calorie intake and the state of adipose tissue energy stores, and plasma leptin levels are generally inversely correlated with hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA) activity. Late fetal life is characterised by increasing HPA activity that prepares the fetus for extrauterine life and initiates the endocrine cascade leading to parturition. We have investigated the hypothesis that leptin in the fetal circulation can inhibit the fetal HPA axis, thereby providing a mechanism by which the fetus can determine the fine timing of parturition as long as it is adequately nourished and growing appropriately. Here we show that a 5-day intracerebroventricular infusion of leptin to the sheep fetus in late gestation inhibits the pre-parturient rise in ACTH and cortisol concentrations, and that this seems to be a centrally mediated effect.


Service recommender system is most common in recent year and useful in variety of applications. It is provide appropriate recommendation to the user. In the last year the amount of user, services and online data has grown rapidly , the big data analysis the problem for service recommender system. Traditional recommender system was suffer from scalability and inefficiency problem when analysing large amount of data. Existing recommender system provide same rating and ranking of the services for different user but they does not consider users preferences and therefore they are fail to meet users specific requirement. In this paper, we propose the process of developing travel recommender system for address the above challenges. The aim of Keyword Aware Service Recommender System (KASR) is provide service recommendation list and give appropriate services recommendation to the user. It gives appropriate recommendation by collaborative filtering algorithm and keyword are used for indicating users preferences. To increase scalability and inefficiency, KASR is implemented on Hadoop by using Big Data and for parallel processing MapReduce paradigm is use. Finally, large experiment is conducted by using Real-World dataset , that produce result for KASR significantly improve accuracy and scalability of service recommender system over existing recommender system. Keywords—Personalized Recommendation, Hadoop, Keyword, MapReduce, Preferences, Bigdata, Domain Thesaurus


In the article the peculiarities of the gastrointestinal tract in children with autism. Presents the algorithm for evaluation of children with autism in KhSMGC, the statistical data about the frequency of lesions of the gastrointestinal tract. The main directions of correction of digestive disorders and its results.


Using DAPI, rabbit antitubulin antibody, FITC-labeled goat anti-rabbit IgG, and TRITC-phalloidin to stain individual cells, the microspectrophotometric analysis showed that three markers that represent the nucleus, microtubules (MT), and microfilaments (MF), respectively, could be recognized in individual cells without interference. The phase of the cell cycle was determined by DNA content. We found that in Indian muntjac (IM) cells, the amount of tubulin in G2 and M phases was about twice as much as that in G1 phase. In G2 cells, the cytoplasmic microtubule complex (CMTC) became denser than in G1 cells. The cytoplasmic MT extent in basically the same orientation as MF bundles in interphase. The regions where the MT is denser also have a denser MF distribution.


Coarse-grain reconfigurable arrays (CGRAs) are emerging accelerators that promise low-power acceleration of compute-intensive loops in applications. The acceleration achieved by CGRA relies on the efficient mapping of the compute-intensive loops by the CGRA compiler, onto the CGRA architecture. The CGRA mapping problem, being NP-complete, is performed in a two-step process, namely, scheduling and mapping. The scheduling algorithm allocates timeslots to the nodes of the data flow graph, and the mapping algorithm maps the scheduled nodes onto the processing elements of the CGRA. On a mapping failure, the initiation interval (II) is increased and a new schedule is obtained for the increased II. Most previous mapping techniques use the iterative modulo scheduling (IMS) algorithm to find a schedule for a given II. Since IMS generates a resource-constrained as-soon-as-possible (ASAP) scheduling, even with increased II, it tends to generate a similar schedule that is not mappable. Therefore, IMS does not explore the schedule space effectively. To address these issues, this article proposes CRIMSON, compute-intensive loop acceleration by randomized IMS and optimized mapping technique that generates random modulo schedules by exploring the schedule space, thereby creating different modulo schedules at a given and increased II. CRIMSON also employs a novel conservative test after scheduling to prune valid schedules that are not mappable. From our study conducted on the top 24 performance-critical loops (run for more than 7% of application time) from MiBench, Rodinia, and Parboil, we found that previous state-of-the-art approaches that use IMS, such as RAMP and GraphMinor could not map five and seven loops, respectively, on a $4\times 4$ CGRA, whereas CRIMSON was able to map them all. For loops mapped by the previous approaches, CRIMSON achieved a comparable II.


Resolving a build failure consumes developer time both in finding a suitable resolution and in rerunning the build. Our goal is to develop automated repair tools that can automatically resolve build errors and therefore improve developer productivity. We collected data on the resolution of Java build failures to discover how long developers spend resolving different kinds of diagnostics at Google. We found that the diagnostic reporting an unresolved symbol consumes 47% of the total time spent resolving broken builds. We found that choice of tool has a significant impact: 26% of command line builds fail whereas only 3% of IDE builds fail. However, the set of most costly diagnostic kinds remains the same for both. We trained a Neural Machine Translation model on the Abstract Syntax Tree changes made when resolving an unresolved symbol failure. This generates a correct fix with a true positive rate of 50%.


This study was aimed to examine the safety management activity of nurses which nursing students perceived during clinical practice, provide basic data for arranging for the systematic curriculum which could enhance the awareness on the patient safety of nursing students and to provide data useful for the safety management activity of nurses and the quality of nursing. As a survey research of correlation, data was collected from Sep, 2014 to Oct, 2014. The survey was implemented for 187 nursing students in the junior and senior classes who had an experience of clinical practice among the students in the department of nursing science in a university in M city. The collected data was analyzed with Frequency, Percentage, Average and Standard Deviation, t-test and ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficient by using SPSS 20.00. The results of this study showed that the safety management activity of nurses which nursing students perceived during clinical practice was 4.32 points in average out of 5 perfect points. Examining it by realms, they were as follows: fall prevention (4.38) which was highest, followed by patient identification (4.36), communication (4.19), medication management (4.34), procedure identification (4.33), and infection prevention (4.34), all of which appeared more than 4 points. As a result of the study above, it is considered that the curriculum by realms of safety management which can inspire the awareness on the patient safety of nursing students and establish the confidence in conducting the safety management activity for patients should be arranged.


Abstract. In the second half of the 19th and early 20th century, sheep shepherds have built dry-stone shelters all over the Slovene Kras (or Karst) region. Despite being made out of stones that are interlocked without the use of any binding material, many of these vernacular constructions survived – even though sometimes only partially – the ravages of time. The fact that over one hundred fifty shepherd shelters are currently known is mainly due to the craftsmanship of their builders and thanks to (and even despite) their present location. A majority of these stone constructions can be found in areas that are nowadays forested, thus shielding them from weather-related or anthropogenic damage (because they are difficult to spot). This paper reports on the geometric documentation of those shelters using a photogrammetric computer vision pipeline, thereby mainly focussing on the difficulties that were encountered during this process. However, such image-based modelling approaches merely yield digital three-dimensional (3D) approximations of the shelters' surface geometry (along with some sub-optimal colour data). Although these 3D surface models might be suitable to digitally preserve vulnerable vernacular buildings to some extent, they do not magically advance our understanding of them. The second part of this article focuses, therefore, on the extraction of archaeological information from these digital 3D constructions. More specifically, the total amount of stones, the total building time and the building cost regarding caloric energy expenditure are estimated for each of the digitised shelters. Although this assessment of architectural energetics provided useful insight into the building efforts and nutrient uptake of the shepherds, it also revealed many assumptions and shortcomings that often characterise archaeological information extraction from digital 3D models of buildings.


This paper problematises the recent participatory turn in nature conservation policy and practices through an ethnographic investigation of the experiences of the marginalised Sonaha (indigenous people of the region of Bardia where the national park is located) in relation to the conservation discourses, policies and practices of the Bardia National Park authorities in the Nepalese lowland. Since the mid-1990s, the country's conservation thinking and policy paradigms have shifted away from an earlier protectionist and fortress conservation focus towards more participatory approaches. However, for the Sonaha who are historically and culturally embedded in and derive their livelihoods from the riverscape in and around the Park, the pre-existing discourses and practices of strict nature conservation still impact adversely on their everyday lives. The paper argues that participatory reform, despite its strengths, has nevertheless reinforced the old conservation paradigm and hegemonic conservation discourses that normalised conservation violence and the marginalisation of the Sonaha. Based on critical ethnographic work with the Sonaha, we present a political ecology critique of conservation approaches. A case for rethinking contestations between indigenous peoples and national park managements is postulated.


. Two of the newest features of Wikidata are support for lexi-cographic data (lexemes), and support for Shape Expressions (ShEx). We demonstrate the first application of ShEx for validation of entity data for Wikidata lexemes. Validation of entity data in Wikidata against ShEx schemas allows editors to discover missing or incorrect information. It may also form a basis for discussion of the data models implicitly used in Wikidata. We present a use case and benchmark for ShEx and discuss its current limitations


Mitochondria are the most efficient producers of energy in the form of ATP. Energy demands of axons, placed at relatively great distances from the neuronal cell body, are met by mitochondria, which when functionally compromised, produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in excess. Axons are made metabolically efficient by myelination, which enables saltatory conduction. The importance of mitochondria for maintaining the structural integrity of myelinated axons is illustrated by neuroaxonal degeneration in primary mitochondrial disorders. When demyelinated, the compartmentalisation of ion channels along axons is disrupted. The redistribution of electrogenic machinery is thought to increase the energy demand of demyelinated axons. We review related studies that focus on mitochondria within unmyelinated, demyelinated and dysmyelinated axons in the central nervous system. Based on neuropathological observations we propose the increase in mitochondrial presence within demyelinated axons as an adaptive process to the increased energy need. An increased presence of mitochondria would also increase the capacity to produce deleterious agents such as ROS when functionally compromised. Given the lack of direct evidence of a beneficial or harmful effect of mitochondrial changes, the precise role of increased mitochondrial presence within axons due to demyelination needs to be further explored in experimental demyelination in-vivo and in-vitro.


Efforts to alleviate the productivity of marginal uplands necessitate the use of participatory approaches to identify development needs of the community. However, despite the popularity of participatory methods for assessing community resources and needs, the literature lacks information on how it works, especially in the Philippine setting. This study aimed to determine the needs of a marginal upland community and demonstrate the use of the participatory tools. Data were gathered in a marginal upland community in Samar, Philippines whose primary source of livelihood of the residents is farming. Rice is the staple food. The people's livelihood activities are beset by some threats, including scarcity of water in the area, declining soil fertility of their farms, extreme weather events, and the occurrence of pests and diseases. To augment their livelihood, the people identified livelihood projects, including food processing, vegetable farming, and animal raising. However, results of the resources vulnerability analysis indicate that the assistance needed by the community should go beyond training workshops on crop production, food processing, and animal raising. The assistance should also consider the rehabilitation of the environment, which is now highly degraded. The implementation of a Rainforestation project may be considered to raise food crops and rehabilitate the watershed of the community to address its serious problem of water scarcity. There may also be a need to identify other crops that would survive in the area given its current condition so that the people will have food sources aside from rice. This study has demonstrated that use of participatory tools allows for the collection of in-depth information on community needs and promotes active participation among the participants.


Unstable Be-7 (half-life 53.28 days) is expected to be present in the ejecta of classical novae. If the frequency of novae in the central Galaxy is high enough, a nearly steady state abundance of Be-7 will be present there. Data accumulated during transits of the Galactic center across the aperture of the Solar Maximum Mission Gamma Ray Spectrometer have been searched for evidence of the 478 keV gamma-ray line resulting from Be-7 decay. A 3-sigma upper limit of 0.00016 gamma/sq cm s has been placed on the emission in this line from the central radian of the Galactic plane. Less stringent limits have been set on the production of Be-7 in Nova Aquilae 1982, Nova Vulpeculae 1984 No. 2, and Nova Centauri 1986 from observations with the same instrument. 22 refs.


Facilities are very central to meaningful sports participation whether in School sports, amateur, recreational or competitive status. They are as important to the athletes as the laboratories are to the scientists. Without facilities sports cannot take place. This does not however imply that sports facility is the only variable that is necessary for sports participation; others such as equipment, supplies, finance to mention a few are indispensable complements to sports facilities. Having said this, the availability, adequacy, standard, funding, maintenance, supervision, safety, location and accessibility of sports facilities deserve adequate attention for sports facilities to contribute to excellence in sports participation. The thrust of this paper therefore is to discuss the problems sports facilities pose to school sports in Nigeria with the aim of drawing attention of the government to finding solutions to the identified lapses of sports facilities in school sports. International Journal of Emotional Psychology and Sport Ethics Vol. 6, 2004: 19-23


We previously identified the diversity of antimicrobial activity in nasal microbiomes that correlates with presence and absence of Staphylococcus aureus. The major competitor of skin surfaces is Staphylococcus epidermidis that can express diverse antimicrobial activities. Ten-fold less frequently found in skin and nasal microbiomes, Staphylococcus hominis is relatively unstudied. The aims of the research were to develop insights into the factors of S. hominis that contribute to the dynamics of competition with these major skin colonising staphylococci. One prominent inhibitory strain, S. hominis was selected to culture with both S. aureus SH1000 and S. epidermidis with aim to use genome sequencing to reveal loci contributing to competition. S. aureus evolved during the competition of S. epidermidis and inhibitor-producing S. hominis to reveal two discrete phenotypes. Non-pigmented clone expressed less alpha-haemolysin and had a SNP in agr Cencoding the receptor of the Agr quorum-sensing system. More Pigmented clone had a SNP in sig Bencoding the accessory sigma factor required for expression of the staphyloxanthin. Distinctively, competition of S. aureus SH1000 with S. epidermidis revealed evolution of S. aureus that corresponded with a SNP in the lytSgene of the LytSR two-component system controlling murein hydrolase activity and autolysis. Pacbio genome sequencing followed by use of AntiSMASH revealed the S. epidermidis inhibitory strain, which enabled persistence of S. hominis, encoded the lantibiotic gallidermin biosynthesis operon on a 39 kb plasmid. Gallidermin decreased S. aureus survival to competitor S. epidermidis, and an increased ability of S. hominis to maintain its population size during evolution experiments, which supported the dynamic relationship of the three staphylococci. Future studies will unravel explanations for the contributions the identified loci make to multi-species competition.


We calculate the coherent radiation in an undulator/wiggler with a vacuum chamber of arbitrary cross section. The backward radiation is a coherent and it has wavelengths about twice the period of the undulator/wiggler. Mostly of coherent radiation is going with the wavelengths approximately the bunch length at small angles however.


Abstract Evidence of the extent to which school leaders and teachers embrace core professional values may, through dialogue, open up new avenues for school improvement. With this in mind, the focus of this article is the piloting of an online survey tool designed to identify how widely four such values are held in New Zealand schools. The pilot was commissioned by the Te Ariki Trust with the support of the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), the New Zealand Principals' Federation (NZPF) and the University of Canterbury. The tool is based on items which together, define four values underpinning the mission of the Te Ariki Trust, namely "Professional Discretion", "Collegial Obligation", "Reflective Inquiry and Discourse" and "Evidencebased Professional Practice". An analysis of one school's responses to such a survey tool is one way to gauge evidence of collective commitment, the strength of collegial relationships and trust, with the realisation that knowing how to collect and reflect on data matters if important decisions are to be well informed. The article draws upon research and scholarly writing to explain the four values, describe the development of the tool and its pilot study and suggest what the results might offer for dialogue using the findings from a sample school whose staff members completed the instrument. Suggested changes to the instrument and its use conclude the article.


Introduction: Adjuvant therapy is usually recommended for patients with intermediate-risk cervical cancer (deep stromal invasion [DSI], lymphovascular space invasion [LVSI], and bulky tumor) after radical hysterectomy. However, we previously reported that DSI, LVSI, and bulky squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were not correlated with prognosis in multivariate analysis; therefore, the indications we use for adjuvant therapy include complete stromal invasion, not DSI or LVSI or bulky SCC. The objective of this study was to evaluate the adequacy of our therapeutic strategy for cervical cancer after radical hysterectomy. Methods: We performed 321 type III open radical hysterectomies for cervical cancer between 2001 and 2013. Eighty-two patients with DSI, LVSI, or bulky SCC did not receive adjuvant therapy after radical hysterectomy under informed consent. We retrospectively evaluated the prognosis of these 82 patients. Results: Forty-two patients had >2/3 DSI and 35 patients had 1/3–2/3 DSI. Five patients had LVSI alone. The mean patient age was 43 years (range, 27–72). Six patients (7%) experienced recurrence during a median follow-up period of 84 months (range, 1–206). Two of the 6 patients with recurrence suffered cervical cancer-related deaths, but the remaining 4 cases are alive without evidence of disease after treatment during a follow-up period of 87–165 months. The 5-year disease-free survival rate was 92.6%, and the 5-year overall survival rate was 96.3%. Conclusions: Adjuvant therapy for DSI, LVSI, or bulky SCC after open radical hysterectomy might not be necessary. Further data collection is warranted to determine the standard of care for patients with intermediate-risk cervical cancer.


A procedure based on polymerase chain reaction was developed for the study of rotaviruses. A full-length cDNA copy of the gene coding for major neutralizing glycoprotein VP7 of a human rotavirus isolate 1407 with the "long" electrophoretype (classified as the first electrophoretype) was cloned and sequenced. The primary structure of glycoprotein VP7 of isolate 1407 in A and C antigenic regions was found to be similar to that of serotype 1 virus.


Student academic help-seeking has been identified as an important behaviour of selfregulated learners. Following a series of policy changes, the Indonesian educational system is now shifting from a traditional teacher-centred approach to a student-centred approach, in which students are encouraged to take more responsibility for their own learning. This study is focused on understanding student academic help-seeking behaviour in primary schools located in Jakarta, Indonesia. In doing so, it used a mixed methods approach to investigate factors that influence these behaviours. It explores perceptions of academic help-seeking reported by students (N = 337) and teachers (N = 21) from eight primary schools in Jakarta. Results indicate that students find it difficult to ask for academic help even though they believe they should in order to improve academic success and despite quantitative data revealing student intentions to ask for help as high (M = 3.19; SD = 0.46; N = 331). This study confirms that teacher behaviours are a significant influence on student academic help-seeking; most teachers hold the belief that student academic help-seeking is an important behaviour that they are obliged to promote. Both teachers and students identified factors that may support or inhibit help-seeking behaviour, and overwhelming identify the teacher as the main factor. The traditional teacher-centred approach to education is thus found in this study to undermine student academic help-seeking. The implications of this study are that if a real paradigm shift in moving towards student-centred learning is to be achieved, teachers will need to find strategies that promote student academic help-seeking. Teachers will also need to give guidance to students on how to develop the required skills; however, findings indicate that for this to be achieved professional development programs will be required for teachers to develop their skills to properly support this new policy paradigm. The key question to emerge from this thesis is how the disconnection between government policy and practices in the classroom might best be addressed.


Type 2 Diabetes is associated with severe health outcomes, the effects of which are responsible for approximately 1/4 of total U.S. healthcare spending. Current treatment guidelines endorse a massive number of potential anti-hyperglycemic treatment options in various permutations and combinations. Personalized strategies for optimizing treatment selection are lacking. We analyzed real-world data from a nationwide population of over one million diabetics to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of more than 80 different treatment strategies ranging from monotherapy up to combinations of five concomitant classes of drugs across each of 10 clinical subgroups defined by age, insulin dependence, and number of other chronic conditions. Our causal deep learning approach developed on such data allows for more personalized recommendations of treatment selection. We observe significant differences in blood sugar reduction between patients receiving high vs low ranked treatment options and that less than 2% of the population is on a highly ranked treatment. This method can be extended to explore treatment optimization of other chronic conditions.


The integration of science into policing functions continues to be a subject of considerable official concern. Sociological study of forensic science has demonstrated great promise in illuminating the dynamics of the law-science relationship, but has yet to be fully extended to issues relating to policing. This paper seeks to address the importance of extending research activity in this area by addressing the effects of broader political and economic trends on the development of forensic science and its use in criminal investigations. It focuses on the influence of 'liberalizing' policies on policing functions, which have extended to the provision of scientific support to the police. Forensic scientific services in England and Wales are now procured via a market-led system, and an economic imperative can be seen to have permeated strongly into this domain. With recourse to examples of a series of initiatives, I show how the application of liberalizing processes has permeated into the science-police relationship in various ways, leading to the emergence of assemblages which serve to differentially reconstruct the relationship between forensic scientists and their chief 'customers', the police. I argue that these differences in reconstruction reflect ongoing tensions between two different interpretations of scientific integration - one which is science-led and another which is police-led. Drawing upon these examples, I demonstrate how these tensions manifest themselves, but also show how these two interpretations co-exist. I show how an exploration of these initiatives aids understanding of how science, policing, and liberal modes of governance co-evolve.


: Unplanned and premature discharge from in-patient alcohol or drug detoxification is a common and severe problem in the treatment of substance abuse. So far, most of the relevant studies focused on drug detoxification, whereas only few studies also investigated alcohol detoxification. The aim of the present study was to comparatively identify and analyse determinants of unplanned discharge during in-patient treatment in both diagnostic groups which simultaneously underwent detoxification under the same treatment setting. Subjects were 239 consecutive admissions (alcohol: n = 90; illegal drugs: n = 149) to a specialised qualified detoxification unit at the Psychiatric University Hospital of Heidelberg during the year 2000. Data on sociodemographical and psychosocial variables, medical history, psychopathological findings on admission and presence of psychiatric and/or somatic comorbidity as well as intensity level of withdrawal symptoms were collected retrospectively and analysed with respect to the prediction of planned/unplanned discharge. The high overall rates of unplanned discharge (alcohol: 43.3 % and drugs 62.4 %) confirm the previously reported figures. Treatment success of drug patients was rather affected by sociodemographical and psychosocial factors such as level of education, delinquency, unemployment and hepatitis C diagnosis. Relating to alcohol patients psychopathological findings on admission including orientation, affective state and cognition were most relevant for planned discharge. Furthermore, the results of this study underline the central role of motivation during in-patient treatment as well as the importance of a planned treatment continuation after discharge from the detoxification program.


Comprehensive knowledge of the effects of disturbances on biodiversity is crucial for conservation and management, not least because ecosystems with low biodiversity may be the most vulnerable. In rivers, the role of disturbance in shaping aquatic biodiversity has mainly focused on floods. Perennial rivers (PRs) often flood, whereas intermittent rivers (IRs) flood, stop flowing and dry. Despite the recent and significant increase in research on IRs, controversy remains about whether they are more or less biodiverse than PRs. Our aim was to determine (Q1) if PRs and IRs differ in biodiversity and (Q2) if the direction and magnitude of the differences (effect sizes) are related to environmental (climate, season, habitat, longitudinal zonation and anthropogenic disturbance) and/or biological factors (taxonomic group). We conducted a meta-analysis on 44 published studies of PR and IR biodiversity that had replicated data. We applied random effects models to the data to obtain weighted mean effect sizes for differences between PRs and IRs, and their confidence intervals, by first considering all studies and then by splitting studies into groups on the basis of the above factors. We found that biodiversity was significantly higher in PRs than in IRs (Q1). We also detected significant differences (PRs> IRs) in studies of macroinvertebrates, in those conducted within arid and temperate climates, dry and wet sampling seasons, headwaters, and regions subject to different levels of anthropogenic disturbance (Q2). Our meta-analysis suggests that the expected increase in the prevalence of IRs in certain regions of the world due to global change could result in a decrease in freshwater biodiversity. To better manage and preserve aquatic biodiversity under future global change scenarios and to avoid potential ecosystem consequences of biodiversity loss, conservation efforts should be targeted towards those environmental conditions or taxonomic groups with significant differences (PRs > IRs).


Auditory cues, when coupled with visual objects, have lead to reduced response times in visual search tasks, suggesting that adding auditory information can potentially aid Air Force operators in complex scenarios. These benefits are substantial when the spatial transformations that one has to make are relatively simple i.e., mapping a 3-D auditory space to a 3-D visual scene. The current study focused on listeners' abilities to map sound surrounding a listener to a 2-D visual space, by measuring performance in localization tasks that required the following responses: 1) Head pointing: turn and face a loudspeaker from where a sound emanated, 2) Tablet: point to an icon representing a loudspeaker displayed in an array on a 2-D GUI or, 3) Hybrid: turn and face the loudspeaker from where a sound emanated and them indicate that location on a 2-D GUI. Results indicated that listeners' localization errors were small when the response modality was head-pointing, and localization errors roughly doubled when they were asked to make a complex transformation of auditory-visual space (i.e., while using a hybrid response); surprisingly, the hybrid response technique reduced errors compared to the tablet response conditions. These results have large implications for the design of auditory displays that require listeners to make complex, non-intuitive transformations of auditory-visual space.


To design the flow field of inner-spraying ball-end cathode in NC-ECM, the numerical model was bulit according to the physical model of the cathode flow channal, and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method was applied to slove the numerical model. The velocity and pressure distributations were obtained. The influences of the cathode internal structure and the outlet shape on the velocity of electrolyte were analyzed on the basis of the numerical simulation. The relatively good simulation results were obtained by means of the optimization design of the cathode. Based on the experiment results, the accuracy of simulation was verified, and the correction number of the design of the flow field was reduced in NC-ECM. It is indicated that the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method can be applied to simulate the flow field, and the optimization design of the cathode can be guided according to the results of simulation.


This paper proposed a scenario for using a CBIR (Content-Based Image Retrieval) system in tourism application. Several CBIR algorithms are studied and applied for the proposed scenario. An image database specialized for this application is made to be used for the study purpose. The performance of applied methods were evaluated and compared based on known measures. Among the studied CBIR methods, two algorithms perform better for this application.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of customer satisfaction on firm performance. We argue that a firm's financial performance will be positively affected by its ability to satisfy its customers. By satisfying its customers, a firm increases its ability to acquire new customers, retain existing customers, and increase customer profitability. Based on sample of firms listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange, we hypothesize and find that customer satisfaction is positively and significantly related to firm performance in terms of return on assets and market value of equity. These findings are consistent with the view that customer satisfaction is a leading indicator of financial performance.


This study examines the effects of environmental factors on the surface phosphatase activities of the lichens Peltigera canina (L.) Willd., P. praetextata (Flōrke. ex Sommerf) Vain, and Cladonia arbuscula (Wallr.) Rabenh. Four plants of each species were collected in the U. K. from low (Middleton Common, Windy Nook) and high (Nenthead) Zn environments. The mean tissue (soil) Zn concentrations in P. canina, P. praetextata and C. arbuscula (high Zn) were 4.3 (18.9), 5.4 (25.4) and 4.1 (8.3) times higher respectively than the same species (low Zn).Phosphomonoesterase (PMEase) activity was measurable at all pH values in the range 3.0 - (10.3) 11.0 with 250 µM p-nitrophenyl phosphate (pNPP) and 250 µM 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate (4-MUP) Both pNPP and 4-MUP showed maximum PMEase at pH: 10.3 in P. canina (low Zn), P. praetextata (low and high Zn); 6.0 in P. canina (high Zn), C. arbuscula (low Zn); 6.0-7.0 in C. arbuscula (high Zn). Maximum PMEase in P. canina and P. praetextata (high Zn) exceeded maximum PMEase in the same species (low Zn), while the converse was true for C. arbuscula. Fluorometric determination of PMEase with 4-MUP yielded lower maximum rates of activity in all species from low and high Zn environments than spectrophotometric methods (pNPP).PMEase activity in all species from low and high Zn environments exceeded phosphodiesterase (PDEase) activity between 1.5 and 5.1 times. P. canina and P. praetextata displayed a greater tolerance to Zn than C. arbuscula, with inhibitory effects on PMEase activity noticeable at 1 mM in P. canina, and P. praetextata (high Zn) and 10 µM Zn in all other plants. Storage for six weeks, rhizinal cellular damage and light all resulted in an increase in PMEase activity with 250 µM pNPP in P. canina (high Zn) of less than 4 %. The lower layer (rhizines and veins) of P. canina was shown to have greater PMEase activity at all pH values, with 1 µM 4-MUP, 250 µM 4-MUP and 250 µM pNPP. Staining techniques undertaken on P. canina (high Zn) suggest that phosphatase activity is probably due to the fungus, especially the rhizines and veins, and not the cyanobacterium or contaminant bacteria. PMEase and PDEase were associated with the cell wall, cytoplasm and most noticeably at hyphal junctions. All plants displayed maximum PMEase activities at pH values which did not correspond with any of the presumed soil pH values.


Background. Patients with advanced colorectal cancer commonly demonstrate high frequency of sarcopenia (skeletal muscle depletion) and nutritional deficiency while being in need of complex surgical interventions. This led to the development of «multimodal prehabilitation» concept including physical training, nutritional and psychological support. Aim. We aim to summarize recent literature regarding the impact of prehabilitation on the surgical treatment of patients with colorectal cancer. Methods. PubMed, Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched for relevant original studies published between January 2011 to December 2021. Results. Eight studies comprising 732 patients were included. The duration of prehabilitation ranged from 2 to 6 weeks,adherence – from 78% to 98%. All studies had functional tests as the primary end-point. Six studies used a 6-minute walk test to measure physical performance. Five studies showed an increase in functional walking capacity in the prehabilitation group, 1 study revealed a significant decrease in the level of anxiety and depression (according to the HADS scale) after prehabilitation. All studies did not demonstrate the impact of prehabilitation on postoperative complications and mortality as well as nutrition status of colorectal cancer patients. Conclusions. Heterogeneity of prehabilitation programs as well as the absence of randomized trials preclude wide adoption of multimodal prehabilitation. Standardized prehabilitation programs are needed to further understand the influence of prehabilitation on the clinical trajectory of patients with colorectal cancer. Also, the preliminary selection of high-risk patients is required to evaluate the clinical importance of prehabilitation.


Fish biodiversity patterns within littoral habitats of major tidal river systems of coastal Mississippi were examined. The biodiversity of littoral tidal river fishes varied meaningfully on several spatial scales in the Gulf Coastal Plain region of Mississippi. Fish diversity typically appeared higher in littoral channel habitats than in side-pond habitats of tidal river systems. Faunal representation by three core groups of littoral fishes ( cyprinids, centrarchids, and fundulids) generally differed between side-pond and channel habitats, as well as among different tidal river systems. Some of the faunal variation among systems reflected biogeographic (east/west) trends, but most of the variation reflected system size-related patterns. Among-site similarity in fish assemblage composition reflected both site proximity and system size. Moreover, the degree of variability in assemblage composition increased with system size. Thus, regional assemblage patterns were generally most discernible on the landscape scale, rather than through historical congru ence. This limited regional study of tidal river fish biodiversity improved our biogeographic understanding by revealing the importance of landscape-scale fac tors such as tidal river size and associated variation in the available species pool. Understanding landscape-scale environmental variation is key to explaining re gional fish diversity patterns.


Graph Contrastive Learning (GCL) has emerged as a popular unsupervised graph representation learning method. However, it has been shown that GCL is vulnerable to adversarial attacks on both the graph structure and node attributes. Although empirical approaches have been proposed to enhance the robustness of GCL, the certifiable robustness of GCL is still remain unexplored. In this paper, we develop the first certifiably robust framework in GCL. Specifically, we first propose a unified criteria to evaluate and certify the robustness of GCL. We then introduce a novel technique, RES (Randomized Edgedrop Smoothing), to ensure certifiable robustness for any GCL model, and this certified robustness can be provably preserved in downstream tasks. Furthermore, an effective training method is proposed for robust GCL. Extensive experiments on real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method in providing effective certifiable robustness and enhancing the robustness of any GCL model. The source code of RES is available at https://github.com/ventr1c/RES-GCL.


This study was designed to evaluate the effect of different conditions of collection, transport and storage on the quality of blood samples from normal individuals in terms of the activity of the enzymes ss-glucuronidase, total hexosaminidase, hexosaminidase A, arylsulfatase A and ss-galactosidase. The enzyme activities were not affected by the different materials used for collection (plastic syringes or vacuum glass tubes). In the evaluation of different heparin concentrations (10% heparin, 5% heparin, and heparinized syringe) in the syringes, it was observed that higher doses resulted in an increase of at least 1-fold in the activities of ss-galactosidase, total hexosaminidase and hexosaminidase A in leukocytes, and ss-glucuronidase in plasma. When the effects of time and means of transportation were studied, samples that had been kept at room temperature showed higher deterioration with time (72 and 96 h) before processing, and in this case it was impossible to isolate leukocytes from most samples. Comparison of heparin and acid citrate-dextrose (ACD) as anticoagulants revealed that ss-glucuronidase and hexosaminidase activities in plasma reached levels near the lower normal limits when ACD was used. In conclusion, we observed that heparin should be used as the preferable anticoagulant when measuring these lysosomal enzyme activities, and we recommend that, when transport time is more than 24 h, samples should be shipped by air in a styrofoam box containing wet ice.


Organ transplantation is a medical practice dates back to the 1920s and has led to tens of thousands of lives being saved. Currently, there is a massive shortage of organs suitable for donation in the United States with more than 114,000 men, women, and children on the organ waiting list, with less than 20,000 registered donors (Department of Health and Human Services, 2019). This paper covers the history of organ donation, where the issue of the lack of organs currently stands, and the role communication plays in carrying out one's choice to donate. Understanding these factors has led to a health campaign plan based on a template created by George Washington University. The goal of the plan is to aid in increasing formal conversation between young adults and their next of kin about organ donation choices and the decision making process, so that the next of kin will be more likely to make the choice consistent with the young adults' decisions concerning their organs


Many of the students in Nigerian higher institutions are adolescents and some of them engage in various risky behaviours such as smoking, reckless driving, premarital and indiscriminate sexual activities, alcohol abuse. The study examined the influence of some factor on alcohol use and abuse among Education students of Osun State University. Data were obtained through the administration of questionnaire to one hundred and thirty-eight students. Data obtained were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential tools. The multiple regression analysis (MRA) result indicated that 34.8 per cent of the students' alcohol use and abuse are explained by parental lifestyle and peer influence. The ANOVA result further revealed that parental lifestyle and peer influence impact significantly on the frequency of alcohol use (F-ratio of 4.778, p<0.05); it also revealed that parental attachment and commitment to conventional activities influence students' frequency of alcohol use and abuse (Fratio of 5.528, p<0.05). The study also revealed that parents and peer exercise enormous influence on students' alcohol use because they are seen as models, while students with strong commitments to conventional activities such as reading books, sports and religious activities will not want to jeopardize them by engaging in deviant behaviour. To reduce this phenomenon, conventional activities that would engage students from risky behaviour are suggested to be put in place on Nigerian University campuses. The study also suggested that parents should develop strong bond with their children to enable them have confidence and see them as friends to share problems with.


Magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) is a non-invasive geophysical method that can be used to discriminate between the geophysical signals of pore water of the surrounding rock. This method is thus particularly attractive for hydrogeological applications. In order to investigate MRS for the benefit of applied hydrogeology, a comprehensive interdisciplinary study was carried out. The aim of this project was to develop an optimal methodology which could be easily adopted by hydrogeologists. This paper summarizes the main results obtained, with the objective of translating the MRS parameters into parameters that can be directly used by hydrogeologists. It was found that MRS is well adapted to the working scales of the hydrogeologist (i.e. fieldscale, well scale). It is able to provide significant information for the hydrogeologist, including: Reliable detection of the presence of water in the subsurface. This is the basic and most significant advantage of the method, which proved to be useful, particularly in arid to semi-arid environments. Locating water-saturated formations (top and bottom), situated at depths between 0 and 100 m approximately. Estimation of the hydrodynamic parameters of detected aquifers: Through a rigorous inversion and calibration process, the MRS method enables the quantification of the specific yield (effective porosity) of aquifers and of the storage coefficient, the latter in unconfined aquifers only. In the present state-of-the-art, MRS is able to estimate the hydraulic conductivity (or transmissivity) of aquifers in localized favourable configurations, when calibration is available; otherwise, aquifers can be compared qualitatively. Thus the MRS method provides data that cannot be obtained with other non-invasive geophysical tools, and is already a valuable tool for applied hydrogeological projects.


We propose a highly structured neural network architecture for semantic segmentation with an extremely small model size, suitable for low-power embedded and mobile platforms. Specifically, our architecture combines i) a Haar wavelet-based tree-like convolutional neural network (CNN), ii) a random layer realizing a radial basis function kernel approximation, and iii) a linear classifier. While stages i) and ii) are completely pre-specified, only the linear classifier is learned from data. We apply the proposed architecture to outdoor scene and aerial image semantic segmentation and show that the accuracy of our architecture is competitive with conventional pixel classification CNNs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the proposed architecture is data efficient in the sense of matching the accuracy of pixel classification CNNs when trained on a much smaller data set.


sustainable solutions to transition their subscription portfolios to open access. For self-publishing societies with niche portfolios and low publication volumes, traditional transition options such as article processing charge models or transformative agreements are limited or out of reach and often involve significant financial risk. In this article, we focus on one society publisher's implementation of Subscribe to Open (S2O): an emerging open access model that moves away from article-level charges, instead leveraging existing subscription revenues and infrastructure to achieve seamless and sustainable open access. We outline the advantages of this model for society publishers, the parameters to consider when implementing the model, the initial community response to a successful implementation and some early data highlighting the effect of the S2O model on our journals. Open access through Subscribe to Open: a society publisher's implementation


The present study deals with August Strindberg as a francophone writer. Our aim is to investigate how his French reviser handled the peculiarities of his French and how they were rendered in translation. The analysis is conducted on three excerpts from four different versions of the novel Le Plaidoyer d'un fou: Strindberg's original French manuscript, the first French edition from 1895, the latest Swedish translation from 1976 and the latest Italian translation from 1991. The study reveals a great deal of deviations from the source text that are not dictated by target-language norms, particularly in the first revised French edition, but also in the latest Swedish and Italian translations. Moreover, close textual analyses indicate that not only Strindberg's original manuscript, but also earlier translations in the respective language have inspired the translators. The observations suggest that there is potential for retranslating the Plaidoyer into a more experimental language.


This paper introduces both RAC and FLC and strategy of shunt active power filters (SAPF) for power quality improvement. The proposed control schemes are implemented without load harmonic detection. The compensation constraints are obtained by regulating indirectly the currents of the power mains. The reference currents of SAPF are generated by the dc-link voltage controller based on the active power balance of system. In RAC the current control strategy is implemented by an adaptive pole-placement control strategy integrated to a variable structure control scheme . In FLC is based on defined linguistic rules and does not require any mathematical model of the system unlike the other traditional controller.


Using an experimental approach, this study examined the relative effectiveness of varying the use of songs (lyrics and music) on vocabulary acquisition, language usage, and meaning for adult ESL students in the People's Republic of China. While the use of songs is generally enthusiastically endorsed by ESL teachers, few empirical studies have formally assessed music's actual effectiveness on language learning. Results of this study showed that varying the degree of use of songs produced differential English language achievement. Specifically, the subjects who were exposed to the most music obtained higher achievement and attitude posttest scores immediately following treatment, as well as on the delayed post-test three weeks following treatment. Given the equivocal results found in previous research, and the fact that previous studies did not examine music's effectiveness for Chinese ESL students, this study makes a contribution by systematically examining the efficacy of song use in the ESL classroom with Chinese students. Music is used in many diverse ways in language teaching. Teachers of English as a second language (ESL) from around the globe enthusiastically report about their successful use of music and associated song lyrics with ESL students. Huy Le (2007), a Vietnamese ESL teacher, observed that music is highly valued by both students of English and (ESL) teachers in the teaching of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Other reports by teachers from the United States (Baez, 1993), Taiwan (Katchen, 1988), Canada (Magahay-Johnson, 1984), Japan (Moriya, 1988), Mexico (Domoney and Harris, 1993), and South Africa (Puhl, 1989) support the importance and usefulness of music and music activities in the teaching of ESL learners. Indeed, ESL teachers recognize that music animates their teaching and enlivens their classroom. Since most of the reported enthusiasm for using music in teaching ESL students comes from individual teacher's experiences, classroom anecdotes, and action research, it is also important to carefully examine the results of empirical research studies concerning music's effectiveness in ESL settings. Brand (2007) concluded that there is theoretical and physiological support for the inclusion of music in the teaching of spoken English. Not only are language and musical processing located in the same area of the brain, but neurologists (Maess & Koelsh, 2001) have discovered that both musical and linguistic syntax are similarly processed. Music and language are, of course, two dramatically different forms of communication. However as Ayotte (2004) observed, both music and language share the "same auditory, perceptive, and cognitive mechanisms that impose a structure on auditory information received by the senses" (p. 10). There are a plethora of educational literature and web-based materials discussing the use of songs in the ESL classroom (Kramer, 2001). Brand (2007) explained how song lyrics are used in sensitizing Chinese ESL learners to the importance of effective intercultural communication. He notes that the goal of English study is not just limited to being able to speak the language. Rather, English study should also assist the ESL learner in successfully interacting with people from other cultural backgrounds. Particularly in China, ESL students generally only use English in communicating with foreigners. Brand advocated using song lyrics in helping to create a natural speaking environment that more closely adheres to the intercultural communication skills necessary for ESL students to understand English and to be understood by others. Song lyrics are embedded within a culture, its values, symbols, and beliefs. Thus, exposure to song lyrics, according to Brand, not only teaches vocabulary, grammar, rhythmic speech, phrases, and meanings, but a song, as a sort of ambassador of a culture, offers ESL students lessons in grasping the nature and style of a particular culture. …


The effects of nitrogen ligands as pyridine, methylpyridine, 2, 2'-bipyridine and ethylenediamine on the activity and stability of the CBAC supported copper catalyst were investigated. The catalytic activities prepared by nitrogen ligand pretreatment descended compared with the unpretreated support catalysts. This probably related to the disfavored effect of the coordination on the catalysts at the gas-solid reaction manner. The catalysts made by pyridine pretreatment and pore modified supports were superior to the catalysts of unmodified CBAC. Methanol conversion, DMC selectivity and the space-time-yield of DMC of the catalysts by HCl, pyridine pretreatment and pore modification were 28.3%, 97.3% and 165.3 g/(kg•h), respectively. Activity test of 30h showed that pyridine pretreatment can prevent the loss of the active component and enhance the stability of the catalysts.


Thermodynamic modeling of the interaction of a heat-resistant nickel alloy containing refractory rare metals with hydrochloric, sulfuric and nitric acids with a temperature change in the range of 20-100 ∘ C and a concentration of 50 to 150 g / dm3 at a pressure of 1 atm was carried out. The thermodynamic assessment data were confirmed in experiments on the anodic dissolution of the alloy in sulfate solutions. According to the results of x-ray phase analysis of the sludge, it was revealed that tungsten in the form of a solid solution in nickel passes to this product. Also, tantalum and niobium pass into the slurry in the form of oxides. Mostly, Re, Co, Cr passed into the electrolyte solution. The results of the study can serve as a scientific basis for the development of promising technologies for processing metal waste from heat-resistant alloys.


Lean Combustion: Technology and Control, Second Edition outlines and explains the latest advances in lean combustion technology and systems. Combustion under sufficiently fuel-lean conditions can have the desirable attributes of high efficiency and low emissions. The book offers readers both the fundamentals and latest developments in how lean burn (broadly defined) can increase fuel economy and decrease emissions, while still achieving desired power output and performance. This volume brings together research and design of lean combustion systems across the technology spectrum in order to explore the state-of-the-art in lean combustion. Readers will learn about advances in the understanding of ultra-lean fuel mixtures and how new types of burners and approaches to managing heat flow can reduce problems often found with lean combustion (such as slow, difficult ignition and frequent flame extinction). This book offers abundant references and examples of real-world applications. New to this edition are significantly revised chapters on IC engines and stability/oscillations, and new case studies and examples. Written by a team of experts, this contributed reference book aims to teach its reader to maximize efficiency and minimize both economic and environmental costs.Presents a comprehensive collection of lean burn technology across potential applications, allowing readers to compare and contrast similarities and differencesProvides an extensive update on IC engines including compression ignition (diesel), spark ignition, and homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI)Includes an extensive revision to the Stability/Oscillations chapterIncludes use of alternative fuels such as biogas and hydrogen for relevant technologiesCovers new developments in lean combustion using high levels of pre-heat and heat recirculating burners, as well as the active control of lean combustion instabilities


REPLY,-Both the study that is commented on' and the update of the Steno studies 1 and 22 suggest that in normotensive patients with microalbuminuria those with the highest baseline urinary albumin excretion (100-300 mg/24 h) benefit most from the treatment. In addition, the spontaneous progression of urinary albumin excretion in patients with initial values between 30 and 100 mg/24 h was slow, at only 3% a year. The progression of microalbuminuria is also determined by the level of metabolic control and arterial blood pressure. Therefore, the arterial blood pressure, haemoglobin Al, concentration, and urinary albumin excretion must be taken into account when the possible treatment for an individual patient with persistent microalbuminuria is evaluated. We are still, however, unable to discriminate exactly between patients with persistent microalbuminuria who have a high as against a low risk of progression to nephropathy. Before this can be done longitudinal studies of the spontaneous course of the renal disease in insulin dependent diabetic patients with persistent microalbuminuria are needed, analysing the relative importance for progression to nephropathy of metabolic control, systemic blood pressure, baseline urinary albumin excretion, glomerular hyperfiltration, protein intake, serum lipid concentrations, etc. In reply to Neil A Solomon, we have shown previously shown that a short term reduction in systemic blood pressure of 15 mm Hg leads to a significant reduction in urinary albumin excretion in normotensive patients with microalbuminuria.' The goal of the present study' was to prevent the expected rise in arterial blood pressure and, if possible, to reduce the diastolic blood pressure by 5 mm Hg in the treatment group. The mean diastolic blood pressure in the two groups was evaluated at six, 12, and 24 months. If the desired effect was not achieved the dose of captopril was subsequently doubled for every patient in the treatment group. At a given time all treated patients received the same dose of captopril and during the last 18 months also bendrofluazide. The change in the blood pressure and urinary albumin excretion in relation to the dose of captopril can be evaluated from figure 1. Neither at the start of the treatment nor when the dose was increased could any significant acute change in systemic blood pressure and urinary albumin excretion be detected. In the control group the increase in urinary albumin excretion was not dependent on the baseline systemic blood pressure. When all values measured during the four year observation period were included in the calculations, however, a significant correlation between the changes in systemic blood pressure and in urinary albumin excretion was seen in the control group. No such correlation between the changes in systemic blood pressure and in urinary albumin excretion could be shown in the captopril group. The increase in systemic blood pressure may be secondary to the increase in urinary albumin excretion in patients with microalbuminuria, as previously suggested.4 In seven of the 23 control patients and in 10 of the 21 treated patients a fall in diastolic blood pressure of at least 5 mm Hg was seen (not significant). Consequently, I do not find it reasonable to divide the patients into those who did and those who did not respond to treatment based on the blood pressure response as suggested. Klavs Wurgler Hansen has focused on the individual systemic blood pressure measured at baseline and at four year follow up (table II).' Unfortunately, he has missed table II, where we gave the annual change in blood pressure in the two groups. The precision of the figures was improved by including in the calculations all values measured during the four year observation period. The mean (95% confidence interval) change in blood pressure was -0-4 (-1 to 1)/-I (-1 to 0) mm Hg a year in the captopril treated group and -0 3 (-1 to 1)/ -0 7 (2 to 0) mm Hg a year in the control group. These figures clearly showed that there was no significant difference in the annual change in blood pressure between the two groups. In the present study it seems reasonable to conclude that the effect of captopril on the progression of the renal disease seemed to be independent ofchanges in systemic blood pressure. The gradual improvement in the urinary albumin excretion rate during treatment with captopril leads to the suggestion that a gradual improved selectivity of the glomerular barrier was the most important pathophysiological factor. I suggest that the effective dose of captopril is in the range 50-100 mgl24 h.


Objective Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of death among gynecological tumors and usually diagnosed at advanced stage. We aimed to identify the clinical and prognostic relevance of coagulation tests and their correlation with serum CA-125 levels in advanced EOC. Materials and Methods A total of 33 advanced-stage (stages III and IV) EOC patients were enrolled in the study. Of these patients, 17 had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 16 patients received chemotherapy after optimal debulking surgery. Several clinicopathologic factors, coagulation assays, routine biochemistry tests, and serum CA-125 levels were evaluated before treatment and compared with healthy subjects. Results All coagulation tests including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time, international normalized ratio, fibrinogen, D-dimer, and platelet revealed statistically significant difference between patients and control subjects (P ⩽ 0.001). Elevated CA-125 levels were correlated with higher D-dimer values (P = 0.03). Prolonged PT was associated with poorer both overall (P = 0.03) and progression-free survival rates (P = 0.04). Conclusions Correlation of CA-125 with D-dimer is supposed to reflect hyperactivation of fibrinolytic pathway in the presence of a higher tumor load. Alterations in coagulation pathway reflected by prolonged PT support prognostic effects on survival of advanced-stage EOC patients.


Background: The main component of mung bean protein, accounting for more than 80%, is 8Sα globulin. Its structure closely resembles that of soybean β-conglycinin. Thereby, the mung bean protein is expected to have similar physiological effects to those of β-conglycinin, but there is no clinical evidence for these effects. Purpose of this study: The aim of this study was to confirm the positive effects of mung bean protein (GLUCODIATM) on glucose metabolism in clinical trials. Method : This clinical study was conducted using a double-blind placebo-controlled design with 45 prediabetes patients. Results: Many of the subjects were pre-diabetes with blood glucose levels exceeding 140 mg/dL by 2-hour plasma glucose level. However, the initial mean fasting plasma glucose level was less than 100 mg/dL. Therefore, mung bean protein did not lower fasting plasma glucose levels. The test period extended from summer to autumn, and increased fasting plasma glucose levels in the placebo group were observed due to seasonal factors. However, this increase was suppressed in the test group. Similarly, the mean insulin level increased in the placebo group, but the increase was also suppressed in the test group. Among obese subjects with a high body mass index, significant increases in fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels in the placebo group were observed. In the comparison between the test and the placebo groups with the average elevation value, there was a significant difference in fasting blood glucose level and significant tendencies in insulin level and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance value between the two groups. Conclusion: Mung bean protein suppresses fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels. Consequently, it may have an inhibitory effect on insulin resistance, a trigger of metabolic syndrome. Key words : mung bean protein, insulin, obesity, body mass index, randomized clinical trial, seasonal variation.


This paper will focus on one element of the pushback against the massive influx of immigrants taken in for humanitarian purposes, namely, an identity-based chauvinism which uses identity as the point of resistance to the perceived dilution of that identity, brought about by the transformation of culture induced by the incorporation of a foreign other. The solution to this perceived dilution is a simultaneous defence of that culture and a demand for a conformity to it. While those in the critical tradition have encouraged a counter-position of revolutionary transformation by the other through ethics, dialogue, or the multitude, such a transformation is arguably impeded by what is ultimately a repetition of the metaphysics of conformity. Drawing on the personalism of Emmanuel Mounier and the Eucharistic theology of Creston Davis and Aaron Riches, this paper submits an alternative identity politics position that completes the revolutionary impulse. Identity here is not the flashpoint of a self-serving conflict, but the launch-point of politics of self-emptying, whose hallmarks include, on the one hand, a never-ending reception of transformation by the other, and on the other hand, an anchoring in the Body of Christ that is at once ever-changing and never-changing.


Advancements in nanotechnology have made it possible to create multifunctional nanostructures that can be used simultaneously to image and treat cancers. For example, hollow gold nanospheres (HAuNS) have been shown to generate intense photoacoustic signals and induce efficient photothermal ablation (PTA) therapy. In this study, we used photoacoustic tomography, a hybrid imaging modality, to assess the intravenous delivery of HAuNS targeted to integrins that are overexpressed in both glioma and angiogenic blood vessels in a mouse model of glioma. Mice were then treated with near-infrared laser, which elevated tumor temperature by 20.7 C. We found that PTA treatment significantly prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice. Taken together, these results show the feasibility of using a single nanostructure for image-guided local tumor PTA therapy with photoacoustic molecular imaging. Cancer Res; 71(19); 6116–21. 2011 AACR.


The challenges in developing more efficient lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries as a power source has been the subject of tremendous research due to the increase in demand for high-power unplugged electronics. Unlike commercial anodes, hierarchically decorated ZnFe2O4 on N-doped graphene as an anode exhibits state-of-the-art electrochemical properties. Even after 100 cycles at a current rate of 0.1, 0.2 and 1C, the anode displays high specific capacities of 1859, 982, and 740 mA h g−1, respectively, with a capacity retention close to 100%. N-Doping on the graphene sheet enhances the electrical contact between the particles, which is expected to be the reason for the enhanced areal capacity and cyclic stability of the anode. In addition, the conductive graphene framework prevents surface migration of the nanoparticles and their agglomeration upon cycling, thus creating a buffer space for charge conduction and the transport of Li ions. The N-doped graphene/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite anode has superior performance than the routinely used pristine anode in Li-ion batteries.


Abstract: Public involvement has been considered a complex intervention which would benefit from a clearer evidence base of 'what works, for whom, in what circumstances and why' (Staniszewska et al 2011). Some of the key issues with current evidence include a focus on the process of public involvement over a clear and consistent measurement of outcomes, a tendency to evaluate public involvement from a user perspective neglecting the impacts to the researchers and the research projects, as well as an emphasis on short term outcomes with a paucity of long term impact data.

The poster will set out the research centre context, the approach taken including the employment of an involvement researcher and establishment of a young people's advisory group and the programme of work undertaken to increase public involvement. Furthermore it will outline a monitoring and evaluation framework developed by DECIPHer, that defines for researchers, what public involvement data is collected, when and how. It is hoped the data will contribute to the evidence base for public involvement particularly in the shortcoming areas noted.
It is hoped delegates will learn about and discuss the complex nature of measuring public involvement and the attempts of one research centre to do this.


Aerobic bacteria often live in thin fluid layers near solid-air-water contact lines, in which the biology of chemotaxis, metabolism, and cell-cell signaling is intimately connected to the physics of buoyancy, diffusion, and mixing. Using the geometry of a sessile drop, we demonstrate in suspensions of Bacillus subtilis the self-organized generation of a persistent hydrodynamic vortex that traps cells near the contact line. Arising from upward oxygentaxis and downward gravitational forcing, these dynamics are related to the Boycott effect in sedimentation and are explained quantitatively by a mathematical model consisting of oxygen diffusion and consumption, chemotaxis, and viscous fluid dynamics. The vortex is shown to advectively enhance uptake of oxygen into the suspension, and the wedge geometry leads to a singularity in the chemotactic dynamics near the contact line.


Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is commonly present in individuals with eating disorders (EDs) and is often employed as a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy to avoid or abate negative emotions. One of the most prevalent negative emotions experienced by self-injurers is anxiety; however, this emotion has not been extensively studied in this population. Thus, the aim of our study was to investigate the influence of anxiety on NSSI in patients with ED from two different dimensions: state anxiety and trait anxiety. Methods: The study comprised a total of 66 females: 12 ED patients with NSSI, 32 ED patients without a history of NSSI, and 22 healthy controls. State and trait anxiety were assessed by means of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S-T) and physiological data [i.e., heart rate variability (HRV)] were collected. Results: STAI-trait scores were significantly higher in ED patients with NSSI than ED patients without NSSI. Furthermore, when conducting logistic regression analyses higher STAI-trait scores were associated with NSSI in ED patients. However, no differences in STAI-state scores and HRV were found between ED patients with and without NSSI. Discussion: The present findings suggest that anxiety as a trait is associated with the use of maladaptive strategies (i.e., NSSI) in ED patients. These results uphold the need to target trait anxiety in ED treatment in order to prevent possible NSSI behaviors.


ABSTRACT Objective. To identify and assess the determinants of unhealthy dietary habits among a sample of survey participants in Jamaica. Methods. Because of resource constraints, this cross-sectional assessment is based on a three-stage non-probability sample of 374 survey respondents in Jamaica aged ≥18 years. Firstly, three administrative areas (parishes) were randomly selected. Secondly, the main commercial areas within the selected parishes were identified, from which a non-probability sample of establishments was drawn. A broad selection of establishments covering public, private, and nongovernmental organizations was chosen. This array of establishments was selected to capture a sample of respondents that was as representative as possible. Patrons and employees in the selected establishments were asked to complete a questionnaire. Results. Respondents' self-assessment of their general consumption revealed that 48.4% were unhealthy eaters. Among these, the top reasons for generally unhealthy dietary choices were greater accessibility of unhealthy foods (63.5%) and limited time to prepare healthy meals (61.3%). Additionally, 52.5% indicated "unhealthy foods cost less," and 47.0% identified affordability as the main factor in the food choice equation. Findings revealed that the determinants of eating unhealthily tended to vary across income, age, and gender. Female, younger, and lower-income respondents have a higher likelihood of being impacted by the factors. Conclusions. The largest proportions of the sample identified limited time to prepare healthy meals and the ease of access to unhealthy foods as the foremost determinants of unhealthy eating habits. These barriers to healthy eating are more likely to impact survey participants in the 18–34 age group.


Bonamia is a protozoan parasite of the haemocytes of oysters (Tiostrea chilensis), in which it has an annual developmental cycle between November and August each year. The parasite transmits directly, oyster to oyster, and therefore disease spread is related to host stock density. The Foveaux Strait oyster population experiences large mortalities every 20-30 years, and these may be attributable to Bonamia. The parasite appears to become less pathogenic at the end of, and probably between, mass mortalities, and some oysters appear more tolerant of infection than others. On the basis of these observations, and considering other protist pathogen:oyster models, the apparently reduced pathogenicity of Bonamia is discussed in terms of parasite kinetics. The population dynamics and selection of parasite tolerant host stocks, and kinetics of parasite transmission, may explain the cyclic nature of large-scale mortalities in Foveaux Strait, without change in parasite pathogenicity.


Placing heroes from a wide range of medieval traditions shoulder to shoulder, this title provides the opportunity to examine what is common across medieval mythic, legendary, and folkloric traditions, as well as what seems unique. Myths of gods, legends of battles, and folktales of magic abound in the heroic narratives of the Middle Ages. Mythology in the Middle Ages: Heroic Tales of Monsters, Magic, and Might describes how Medieval heroes were developed from a variety of source materials: Early pagan gods become euhemerized through a Christian lens, and an older epic heroic sensibility was exchanged for a Christian typological and figural representation of saints. Most startlingly, the faces of Christian martyrs were refracted through a heroic lens in the battles between Christian standard-bearers and their opponents, who were at times explicitly described in demonic terms. The book treats readers to a fantastic adventure as author Christopher R. Fee guides them on the trail of some of the greatest heroes of medieval literature. Discussing the meanings of medieval mythology, legend, and folklore through a wide variety of fantastic episodes, themes, and motifs, the journey takes readers across centuries and through the mythic, legendary, and folkloric imaginations of different peoples. Coverage ranges from the Atlantic and Baltic coasts of Europe, south into the Holy Roman Empire, west through the Iberian peninsula, and into North Africa. From there, it is east to Byzantium, Russia, and even the far reaches of Persia.


Abstract This paper examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure compliance on firm value in the context of the Indian firms by applying instrumental approach of the stakeholder theory and the P/B-ROE valuation model. The study hypothesizes that CSR expenditure compliance will positively affect the firm value. Price-to-book (P/B) ratio of the firm is used as a proxy of the firm value. The sample of firms is selected from NSE-500 Index companies for the period of five years from 2014-15 to 2018-19 and the method adopted is a portfolio grouping approach to form a cross-sectional portfolio regression model. The results reveal that CSR expenditure compliance negatively influences firm value. Thus, instrumental approach which hypothesizes that CSR initiatives improve firm performance is not supported. However, to form a cross-sectional portfolio regression model by using portfolio grouping approach is found to be more appropriate than the individual cross-sectional regression model.


Abstract : A combined experimental and analytical investigation was initiated for the purpose of developing design data and guidelines for steam lubrication of naval machinery. The report on experimental studies of the steam lubricated journal bearing, is one of three being issued to describe the results of the program. The experiments showed that steam-lubricated bearings can be operated satisfactorily with a saturated or high-quality steam supply. Moreover, they can be operated in a low-temperature environment and without need for external sources of heat, other than the steam itself. The most critical problem in the operation of these bearings is steam hammer instability which appears to be caused by evaporation of entrained moisture in the bearing film. The report describes bearing design features, steam supply system requirements and operating condition limitations which resulted in satisfactory, stable, operation with pressure ratios from 3 to 15 and for a wide range of steady-state loads and shaft speeds. (Author)