The hallmarks of myxedema coma are decreased mental status and hypothermia; but hypotension, bradycardia, hyponatremia, hypoglycemia, and hypoventilation may also be present. This case involves a 74-year-old female, with arthritis and dementia, who presented with weakness and failure to thrive. Physical exam was significant for altered level of consciousness, lethargy, pretibial pitting edema and hypotension. Since friends and family were absent, history was obtained per chart review. Initial labs showed severe hypokalemia of 2.0 mmol/L and associated changes of prolonged QT interval and T wave flattening on electrocardiogram (ECG). The family later revealed additional history of thyroidectomy and clarification that the patient had been noncompliant with her medications for at least 6 months. Hypothyroidism was confirmed with a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level of 82.2 U/mL and a free thyroxine (T4) level below normal threshold. Endocrinology was consulted and care was taken when reinstituting her thyroid supplementation after checking cortisol level as well as reviewing her ECGs. This case report illustrates the importance of checking for thyroid dysfunction especially in the elderly who present with altered mental status and unclear history as most symptoms of myxedema coma may be reversible. Furthermore, myxedema coma occurring in the setting of decompensated hypothyroidism is a medical emergency. In this case, despite timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment, her cognitive function failed to improve, and as a result, palliative care was consulted. Ultimately, the family elected for hospice care due to severe dementia, bed-bound status, and failure to thrive. J Endocrinol Metab. 2019;9(3):71-76 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem574


This paper presents the performances of machine learning algorithms on aerial images object detection for high precision agriculture. The dataset used focuses on geotagged pictures of vineyards. We demonstrate that advanced machine learning methodologies like Decision Tree Ensemble, outperform state-of-the-art image recognition algorithms generally used within the agriculture field. The innovative approach described here improve object detection and obtain an accuracy of 94.27% which is an increase of more than 4% compared to the state-of-the-art. Finally, methodology and possible developments for high precision agriculture is discussed in this study.


A description is given of the software life cycle support environment (SLCSE), a VAX-based software development environment. The project was 80% Ada, subject to DOD-STD-2167 reviews and documentation. SLCSE adopted an incremental-build/rapid-prototyping methodology similar to Boehm's spiral model. Eight prototype builds (and the final product) were delivered during the course of the development effort. At the heart of the system is an integrated database implemented via a commercial relational database management system overlaid with an entity-relationship layer that models the entire information content of DOD-STD-2167A. The lessons learned from this project are discussed. Among these lessons are the findings that incremental builds help to prove the viability of critical design approaches and that the use of a spiral-type model requires a new mindset.<<ETX>>


The problem of detecting the direction of time in vector Autoregressive (VAR) processes using statistical techniques is considered. By analogy to causal AR(1) processes with non-Gaussian noise, we conjecture that the distribution of the time reversed residuals of a linear VAR model is closer to a Gaussian than the distribution of actual residuals in the forward direction. Experiments with simulated data illustrate the validity of the conjecture. Based on these results, we design a decision rule for detecting the direction of VAR processes. The correct direction in time (forward) is the one in which the residuals of the time series are less Gaussian. A series of experiments illustrate the superior results of the proposed rule when compared with other methods based on independence tests.


Asphalt oxidative ageing and excessive hardening are known causes of premature pavement cracking. Asphalt ageing occurs mainly due to the oxidation of certain functional groups in asphalt as well as the loss of the maltene phase disturbing colloidal stability and increasing micellisation concentration. This in turn can cause large non-soluble asphaltene aggregates which are typically suspended in the maltene solution and are stabilised by resin molecules to flocculate. Flocculation can cause the asphalt to become stiffer and more brittle. It should be noted that excessive hardening and brittleness of asphalt caused by oxidation during pavement production and service life increase the susceptibility of asphalt pavements to cracking. Therefore, reducing the extent of asphalt oxidation could increase pavement service life. Therefore, it is imperative to reduce/delay asphalt oxidation in asphalt binder. There have been several studies on delaying asphalt oxidation by introducing modifiers and anti-ageing additives. Furfural, an organic compound derived from a variety of agricultural by-products, has been shown to be a promising modifier for petroleum asphalt binders used in asphalt pavement. Accordingly, this paper investigates the effect of introducing furfural as an antioxidant for asphalt by evaluating the extent of oxidation ageing in asphalt specimens modified by 1%, 2% and 5% furfural. To do so, furfural was introduced to asphalt and the level of change in physiochemical and rheological properties of asphalt after specimens were exposed to short- and long-term ageing was examined. Accordingly, performance characteristics of the base asphalt were compared with those of furfural-modified asphalts using a rotational viscometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and a dynamic shear rheometer to evaluate the rheological properties of asphalt modified with furfural at different percentages. The study results showed that the addition of furfural helped reduce the extent of oxidative ageing while enhancing high-temperature performance of asphalt binder. Specifically, it was found that the 2% furfural modification had the lowest ageing index after ageing, indicating an improvement in binder oxidative ageing.


This study aims to investigate the relationships between the serum concentrations of High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) protein and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), coronary artery lesions, and cardiac function in patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). We prospectively followed healthy controls (n=30) and patients with ACS (n=60) who underwent coronary angiography. Serum HMGB1 and TNF-α concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum concentrations of HMGB1 (33.22 ± 16.59 ng/ml in Acute Myocardial Infarction Group (AMIG) and 23.40 ± 12.17 ng/ml in Unstable Angina Pectoris Group (UAPG)) and TNF-α (10.68 ± 4.94 pg/ml in AMIG and 6.37 ± 3.53 pg/ml in UAPG) in patients with ACS prior to standard hospitalization were significantly higher than those of the control group (HMGB1: 12.23 ± 2.74 ng/ml; TNF-α: 2.13 ± 1.26 pg/ml) (p<0.01). The concentrations of HMGB1 (21.67 ± 13.00 ng/ml in AMIG and 18.71 ± 6.92 ng/ml in UAPG) and TNF-α (5.28 ± 3.09 pg/ml in AMIG and 3.71 ± 2.34 pg/ml in UAPG) in patients with ACS post-standardized hospitalization were lower than those prior to hospitalization (p<0.05). Correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between the serum concentration of HMGB1 and coronary artery lesion counts and severity as evaluated using the Gensini integral (r=0.525, p<0.01 and r=0.588, p<0.01, respectively), and a negative correlation with left ventricular ejection fraction (r=-0.488, p<0.01) in patients with ACS. Moreover, the serum concentration of TNF-α was positively correlated with that of HMGB1 (r=0.415, p<0.01). The serum concentrations of HMGB1 and TNF-α may be useful indicators to estimate the severity of coronary artery lesions in patients with ACS.


An examination of current trends in conference programming reflects the recent changes in education that have transformed instruction and learning. The 239 sessions of the Twenty-third International Conference on Learning were categorized in this study according to categorical purpose: educational, round table, general, business meeting, and social/reception sessions. Data were classified according to 10 subject areas including administration, research, instruction, diversity, inclusion, and advocacy sessions. Data revealed both changing and several new trends. The largest proportionate subject areas were teaching instruction (36%) and research presentation sessions (25%); followed by instructional technology (11%), teacher preparation (9%), and administration sessions (8%) within educational, general, and round table session categories. The largest proportion of sessions by focus within the subject area was pedagogy (53%), followed by sessions involving teaching post-secondary level students, and assessment of student learning. A sizeable proportion of sessions (8%) comprised the "other topics" content, and these new trends were STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), creative thinking, and social intelligence session themes. Inclusion and special education comprised 4% of all sessions, which is consistent with reports from the literature.


The pyrolysis of a sol–gel film dip-coated on a substrate is a convenient and inexpensive way of preparing optical waveguides with a wide range of refractive indices. Such waveguides are, however, microporous. For many uses, in particular sensing applications such as the chemical analysis of solutions, the porosity is one of the key parameters determining the response of the waveguide to its environment. In this paper, the porosity of a planar waveguide is accurately determined by measuring the mode indices for two modes with the pores filled alternately with liquid H2O and D2O.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the mercury removal from aqueous solutions by using L-Cysteine functionalized Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes. The effect of pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and mercury concentration in removal efficiency was evaluated. Multi -walled carbon nanotubes were functionalized with L-cysteine. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to find the optimum process parameters. The results showed that an increase in contact time, pH and adsorbent dosage resulted in an increase of the adsorption rate. However, removal efficiency decreases by increasing mercury concentration. The highest and lowest removal efficiencies of mercury were 89% and 17%, respectively. The maximum adsorption rate was occurring at 120 min. It is concluded that L-Cysteine functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes is an effective adsorbent for removal from aqueous solutions.


In 2002 Jurdzinski and Lorys settled a long-standing conjecture that palindromes are not a Church-Rosser language. Their proof required a sophisticated theory about computation graphs of 2-stack automata. We present their proof in terms of 1-tape Turing machines.We also provide an alternative proof of Buntrock and Otto's result that the set of non-square bitstrings, which is context-free, is not Church-Rosser.


Abstract. In animals with a complex life cycle, changes in biotic and abiotic conditions during development can alter growth and maturation rates, causing carry-over effects in postmetamorphic phenotypes. In anurans, this developmental plasticity can result in a trade-off between length of larval period and body size at metamorphosis in stressful environments. Secondary salinisation has been identified as a substantial stressor to amphibians; however, little is known about how salinity-induced developmental plasticity differs between anuran populations. We examined differences in survival, time to metamorphosis, size at metamorphosis (mass and snout–vent length) and body condition at metamorphosis in response to elevated salinity in three populations of the brown tree frog (Litoria ewingii). Significant differences in size at metamorphosis between salinity treatments were observed in tadpoles sourced from freshwater wetlands and ephemeral wetlands, with tadpoles showing a reduced mass and snout–vent length at metamorphosis in the higher-salinity treatment. There were no significant differences in metamorphic traits between salinity treatments in tadpoles sourced from a consistently brackish wetland, suggesting either an erosion of developmental plasticity in response to elevated salinity, or the magnitude of salinity required to alter developmental traits is higher in this population. Our results indicate that environmental conditions of source populations need to be considered when studying life-history adaptations in response to environmental change.


"Ancient Perspectives" encompasses a vast arc of space and time - Western Asia to North Africa and Europe from the third millennium BCE to the fifth century CE - to explore mapmaking and worldviews in the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In each society, maps served as critical economic, political, and personal tools, but there was little consistency in how and why they were made. Much like today, maps in antiquity meant very different things to different people. "Ancient Perspectives" presents an ambitious, fresh overview of cartography and its uses. The seven chapters range from broad-based analyses of mapping in Mesopotamia and Egypt to a close focus on Ptolemy's ideas for drawing a world map based on the theories of his Greek predecessors at Alexandria. The remarkable accuracy of Mesopotamian city plans is revealed, as is the creation of maps by Romans to support the proud claim that their emperor's rule was global in its reach. By probing the instruments and techniques of both Greek and Roman surveyors, one chapter seeks to uncover how their extraordinary planning of roads, aqueducts, and tunnels was achieved. Even though none of these civilizations devised the means to measure time or distance with precision, they still conceptualized their surroundings, natural and man-made, near and far, and felt the urge to record them by inventive means that this absorbing volume reinterprets and compares.


This paper examines the debate regarding efforts by the South African government to control the spread of HIV infections, with particular reference to events surrounding the 13th International AIDS conference. We posit that the reaction of the medical, pharmaceutical, and media sectors to the stance by the President Mbeki on HIV control amounts to an over-simplification of a very complex issue. Empathy and sincere partnership are required to address South Africa's worsening AIDS situation.


InGaAs devices are candidates to replace Si devices in future technology nodes due to their promising transport properties. Recently, CMOS-compatiple replacement metal gate (RMG) InGaAs-on-insulator (InGaAs-OI) FinFETs with record performance have been reported [1]. Further optimization and identification of limiting factors by TCAD simulation requires calibration and validation of the underlying device models to measurements of fundamental quantities in devices which are fabricated under similar process conditions as applied in the target technology. Key quantities are trap profiles leading to Fermi-level pinning as well as bulk and long-channel effective mobility. While such investigations have already been done for sample devices [2, 3], we report in this work corresponding measurements for RMG InGaAs-OI technology, calibrate and validate device simulation to these measurements and compare the results with previous literature.


Abstract Current French political discourses contain numerous references to food. The phenomenon began in the late 1990s with the issue of food safety and references to 'la malbouffe', as the population became increasingly anxious about the consequences of globalisation. In the 2010s the phenomenon gained momentum, particularly during the 2012 presidential elections as the debate focused on French identity and the place of Islam in France. Today, both the far right and the mainstream right include the issue of food in their discourses. Careful analysis suggests that the Identitaires, an electorally weak but ideologically influential political movement, were ahead of the tide before being followed by the Front National, which focused on the issue of halal meat, and finally other key figures from the former Union pour un Mouvement Populaire. This study highlights how the parties on the right appropriated the theme of food at different times and underscores similarities with regards to their frequent recourse to discursive strategies based on a dichotomy between 'us' and 'them'. The topic of food therefore represents a new strand in the right's and far right's traditional discourses on immigration and identity and can be viewed as a new rhetorical tool to mark otherness.


This paper examines two methodological proposals presented in the 17th century as a way to enface the socalled knowledge problem. Comenius as well as Descartes, both pay attention to educational problems in a different way; and, most importantly, it must be remembered that theoretical and methodological discussions are not strictly separate from practical ones. In other words, education problems are intrinsically related to epistemological questions and vice versa. For example, there is no methodological or epistemological proposal in Comenius and Descartes which is not related to a way of educating an individual human being. Whatever philosophical construction is presented, it also involves an anthropological construction which is fulfilled in some kind of educational Proposal.


In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a ring of myosin II forms in a septin-dependent manner at the budding site in late G1. This ring remains at the bud neck until the onset of cytokinesis, when actin is recruited to it. The actomyosin ring then contracts, septum formation occurs concurrently, and cytokinesis is soon completed. Deletion of MYO1 (the only myosin II gene) is lethal on rich medium in the W303 strain background and causes slow-growth and delayed-cell-separation phenotypes in the S288C strain background. These phenotypes can be suppressed by deletions of genes encoding nonessential components of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C). This suppression does not seem to result simply from a delay in mitotic exit, because overexpression of a nondegradable mitotic cyclin does not suppress the same phenotypes. Overexpression of either IQG1 or CYK3 also suppresses the myo1Delta phenotypes, and Iqg1p (an IQGAP protein) is increased in abundance and abnormally persistent after cytokinesis in APC/C mutants. In vitro assays showed that Iqg1p is ubiquitinated directly by APC/C(Cdh1) via a novel recognition sequence. A nondegradable Iqg1p (lacking this recognition sequence) can suppress the myo1Delta phenotypes even when expressed at relatively low levels. Together, the data suggest that compromise of APC/C function allows the accumulation of Iqg1p, which then promotes actomyosin-ring-independent cytokinesis at least in part by activation of Cyk3p.


Neural stem cell numbers fall rapidly in the hippocampus of juvenile mice but stabilise during adulthood, ensuring lifelong hippocampal neurogenesis. We show that this reduction in stem cell depletion rate is the result of multiple coordinated changes in stem cell behaviour. In particular, while active neural stem cells divide only once or twice before differentiating rapidly in juveniles, they increasingly return to a resting state of shallow quiescence and progress through additional self-renewing divisions in adulthood. Single-cell transcriptomic, mathematical modelling and label-retention analyses indicate that resting cells have a higher activation rate and greater contribution to neurogenesis than dormant cells, which have not left quiescence. These progressive changes in stem cell behaviour result from reduced expression of the pro-activation protein ASCL1 due to increased post-translational degradation. These mechanisms help reconcile current contradictory models of hippocampal NSC dynamics and may contribute to the different rates of decline of hippocampal neurogenesis in mammalian species including humans.


: In the review of literature on stress phenomenology and mechanisms stress is defined as a holistic adaptive psychophysiological reaction in response to a physical or emotiogenic stimulus. Physiological and psychological approaches to stress analysis are demonstrated. Stress is regarded as a nonspecific reaction to stimuli characterized by particular changes in responses of organism. Stress is a part of physiological and personality adaptation. Stress-reaction may produce equally a negative and positive effect on human health and performance.


In wireless ad hoc networks, the over-fast growth rate of TCP congestion window is one of the main factors that lead to frequent link contention and routing failure. Based on recent research, this paper proposes a cross-layer design protocol that adaptively adjusts routing failure verifying policy and TCP congestion window growth rate based on link contention state sensing. Simulation results show that this cross-layer design protocol notability improves the system throughput and decreases the network delay, on the other hand, it is fit for different traffic load over different topology networks.


Although wound contraction appears to be organised by fibroblast cells within granulation tissue, the interaction between fibroblasts and the extracellular matrix is not fully understood. There are two dichotomous theories: the cell contraction theory and the fibroblast (cell traction) theory. This article discusses each theory and suggests that both may be correct but may occur at different times along the healing pathway. Further investigation into the mechanism of foetal scarless healing may uncover a way of manipulating wound contraction leading to faster healing, reduced scarring and elimination of fibrotic diseases.


In the current study, a series of novel, high efficiency photocatalysts of In,V-codoped TiO2 were developed. The TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by sol–gel and hydrothermal methods and different molar percentages (0.1–1%) of vanadium (V) and Indium (In) nanoclusters were deposited over the TiO2 nanoparticles via photochemical reduction. XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, XPS and UV-vis DRS analyses were carried out to characterize the prepared In,V-codoped TiO2 nanocatalysts, and methyl orange (MO) was used as the probe environmental pollutant to test the photocatalytic performance of the prepared catalysts under UV and visible light irradiation. Our study demonstrated that In and V nanoclusters were successfully deposited over TiO2 particles via a photochemical deposition technique and the metal doping slightly suppressed TiO2 crystal growth. The optical analysis showed a red shift in the light absorption spectrum and decrease in the band gap of In,V-codoped TiO2 catalysts compared to that of parent TiO2. XPS study revealed that the doped elements In and V are in oxidation state of 3 (InIII), 4 (VIV) and 5 (VV). The photo-oxidative decomposition of MO showed that doping of In and V can considerably improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. Thus, for the first time, we demonstrated that TiO2 codoped with binary metals of In and V can serve as a high efficiency visible-light-active photocatalyst.


ABSTRACT LY303366 is a semisynthetic analog of the antifungal lipopeptide echinocandin B that inhibits (1,3)-β-d-glucan synthase and exhibits efficacy in animal models of human fungal infections. In this study, we utilized flow cytometric analysis of propidium iodide uptake, single-cell sorting, and standard microbiological plating methods to study the antifungal effect of LY303366 on Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans. Our data indicate that an initial 5-min pulse treatment with LY303366 caused yeasts to take up propidium iodide and lose their ability to grow. Amphotericin B and cilofungin required longer exposure periods (30 and 180 min, respectively) and higher concentrations to elicit these fungicidal effects. These two measurements of fungicidal activity by LY303366 were highly correlated (r > 0.99) in concentration response and time course experiments. As further validation, LY303366-treated yeasts that stained with propidium iodide were unable to grow in single-cell-sorted cultures. Our data indicate that LY303366 is potent and rapidly fungicidal for actively growing yeasts. The potency and rapid action of this new fungicidal compound suggest that LY303366 may be useful for antifungal therapy.


The development of Nb3Sn quadrupole magnets for the High-Luminosity LHC upgrade is a joint venture between the US LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP)* and CERN with the goal of fabricating large aperture quadrupoles for the LHC interaction regions (IR). The inner triplet (low-β) NbTi quadrupoles in the IR will be replaced by the stronger Nb3Sn magnets boosting the LHC program of having 10-fold increase in integrated luminosity after the foreseen upgrades. Previously, LARP conducted successful tests of short and long models with up to 120 mm aperture. The first short 150 mm aperture quadrupole model MQXFS1 was assembled with coils fabricated by both CERN and LARP. The magnet demonstrated a strong performance at Fermilab's vertical magnet test facility reaching the LHC operating limits. This paper reports the latest results from MQXFS1 tests with changed prestress levels. The overall magnet performance, including quench training and memory, ramp rate, and temperature dependence, is also summarized.


Continuing the process of improvements made to TCP through the addition of new algorithms in Tahoe and Reno, TCP SACK aims to provide robustness to TCP in the presence of multiple losses from the same window. In this paper we present analytic models to estimate the latency and steady-state throughput of TCP Tahoe, Reno, and SACK and validate our models using both simulations and TCP traces collected from the Internet. In addition to being the first models for the latency of finite Tahoe and SACK flows, our model for the latency of TCP Reno gives a more accurate estimation of the transfer times than existing models. The improved accuracy is partly due to a more accurate modeling of the timeouts, evolution of cwnd during slow start and the delayed ACK timer. Our models also show that, under the losses introduced by the droptail queues which dominate most routers in the Internet, current implementations of SACK can fail to provide adequate protection against timeouts and a loss of roughly more than half the packets in a round will lead to timeouts. We also show that with independent losses SACK performs better than Tahoe and Reno and, as losses become correlated, Tahoe can outperform both Reno and SACK.


This essay outlines how to incorporate morphological rules within the exigencies of our technological age. We propose using the current evolution of GIS (Geographical Information Systems) technologies beyond their original representational domain, towards predictive and dynamic spatial models that help in constructing the new discipline of "urban seeding". We condemn the high-rise tower block as an unsuitable typology for a living city, and propose to re-establish human-scale urban fabric that resembles the traditional city. Pedestrian presence, density, and movement all reveal that open space between modernist buildings is not urban at all, but neither is the open space found in today's sprawling suburbs. True urban space contains and encourages pedestrian interactions, and has to be designed and built according to specific rules. The opposition between traditional self-organized versus modernist planned cities challenges the very core of the urban planning discipline. Planning has to be re-framed from being a tool creating a fixed future to become a visionary adaptive tool of dynamic states in evolution.


Correctly repairing DNA damage is crucial to the survival and genomic integrity of cells. Double strand breaks (DSBs) are particularly problematic DNA damage; failure to properly repair DSBs can precede genomic instability leading to cancer. Because of the high proliferative index of cancer cells, replication toxins are successfully used to treat cancer. The two major DNA DSB repair pathways are homologous recombination and nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ). DNA ligase IV is a central component of NHEJ, performing the final ligation step to reseal the broken DNA ends, in concert with XRCC4. We determined cells lacking the early acting NHEJ protein, and DNA damage response signaling kinase, DNA-PK, restarted DNA replication forks quicker than wild-type following replication stress. The role of other NHEJ proteins in replication fork restart is unclear. Our goal was to investigate whether ligase IV, a protein that appears to function exclusively in NHEJ, is involved in the replication stress response. We tested the hypothesis that ligase IV delays replication restart following exposure to replication toxins. Ligase IV knockdown was confirmed by qPCR and western blotting. siRNA knockdown of ligase IV alone reduced cell viability and it reduced EdU incorporation after replication stress. The opposite effects of DNA-PK and ligase IV on the speed of replication fork restart suggests that NHEJ, per se, does not directly affect replication fork restart. We previously demonstrated that DNA-PK regulates replication fork restart, at least in part, by phosphorylating RPA32, which in turn regulates ATR activation and downstream checkpoint functions. Ligase IV deficiency may influence replication fork restart indirectly, for example, by causing spontaneous DSBs to persist longer, limiting availability of repair factors needed for fork restart (saturation effect). A not mutually exclusive possibility is that fork restart is hindered by persistent DSBs due to checkpoint activation. Understanding how NHEJ proteins impact the replication stress response may provide opportunities for developing more effective cancer treatments. Citation Format: Grace Hooks, Yasmin Anchondo, Neelam Sharma, Jac Nickoloff, Amanda Ashley. DNA ligase IV modulates the cellular response to DNA replication stress. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-164.


A growing amount of e-commerce businesses are using cookies to decide which price should be asked to consumers. This technique of following online consumers to boost revenue and profit is called dynamic pricing. With the help of newspapers and social media, (online) consumers are becoming more aware that dynamic pricing is used, although the effects of dynamic pricing on consumers thoughts or behaviour are not known yet. This study focuses on the effects of dynamic pricing, including the different price margins, on the emotions and thoughts people have, and to which brand evaluations that leads. What if consumers found out they have been ''priced'' because of their personal interests, search histories, or other personalized data?

With the help of an experimental study (N=163), results indicated that valences of dynamic pricing do have an effect on the way how people feel, think and evaluate platforms and brands. Whereas higher prices enhanced a negative affect, and lower prices a positive affect. Increasing margins of price differences did not lead to different responses. The degree of brand loyalty did not moderate the effects on how people perceive the price to be fair, and how people evaluate brands. Furthermore, evidence was found that people also blame themselves for online price changes.

This study is relevant for marketers to increase insights in the effects of applying dynamic pricing strategies. E-business industry can make use of this ''who to blame'' thought, and can try to remove their responsibility by, for example, adapting their communications, before more information about dynamic pricing strategies reaches the big crowd. For scientific research, this study offers insights in the way how people respond when personalized data is used for price setting.

Keywords: dynamic pricing, cookies, emotions, price fairness, and brand evaluations.


A decision feedback equalization (DFE) technique suitable for high data-rate I/O link receivers is presented. The technique leverages quarter-rate data slicing to implement a fully speculative 3-tap DFE and uses clock forwarding to reach a speed of 50Gb/s. It corresponds to 20ps timing closure of the most critical path, which is the feedback of the first DFE tap. The RX data-path is implemented in 14nm FinFET CMOS SOI technology. At 0.9V supply the energy-efficiency is 1.6pJ/b when PRBS15 data transmitted at 50Gb/s across a channel with 32.5dB insertion loss are recovered with >30% horizontal margin (BER<10−12).


The quality of service of an exclusive bicycle facility is a function of the number of passing and meeting maneuvers, according to the Highway Capacity Manual, 2000. As microscopic simulations are increasingly used for design and operational analysis, there is a growing need to represent other modes of transport such as bicycles in these models. This paper presents models to represent passing maneuvers of bicycles on both exclusive and on-street bicycle facilities. A passing maneuver is represented as a sequence of models that evaluates a bicyclist's decision to pass/overtake or follow a lead bicycle, estimates the critical distance headway as a passing maneuver is initiated, the passing speed and lateral spacing it maintains during passing, and lateral spacing from passed bicycle, adjacent vehicle, and from the right curb during passing. These models may be used to represent passing maneuvers in a microscopic simulation model. The models developed show that the decision to pass a slow moving lead bicycle, modeled as a binary logit model, depends on the lead bicycles speed and the relative speed of the lead and following bicycles. The headway a following bicyclist maintains prior to initiating a passing, and the maximum lateral spacing between a passed and passing bicycle also depends on the relative speeds of the bicycles. The models were developed based on data collected at a bicycle path and at two signalized arterials with bicycle lanes.


Within the context of both national and EU policy, sustainable development (SD) emerges in the Nordic countries as a horizontal perspective to be systematically integrated into regional development programming. Research on this type of integration has, however, been somewhat scarce. This paper deals with the question of how the relation between environmental and economic sustainability – as part of the overall SD framework – is played out in the context of regional development programming at both the national and regional levels. Three issues are raised in the analysis, pointing to challenges of achieving environmental policy-integration. First, working with cross-sectoral interconnectedness or ending up in sectoral traps, where partnership learning processes are hampered by both a lack of responsibility for, and ownership of, the overall SD-perspective and interactions dominated by sectoral struggles where the different roles, mandates and perspectives of various keyactors are strong. Second, achieving 'win-win' or getting stuck in environment-economy conflicts, where the policy-rhetoric picturing the existence of possible 'win-win'-opportunities in which environmental and economic sustainability benefit each other show some empirical support at the same time as troublesome conflicts and tough regional development priorities raise questions of where principled priority lies in practical decisionmaking. Third, rhetorical declarations, pockets of good practice or systematic policyintegration, where the paper highlights a focus on environmental sustainability in rhetorical declarations and through flagship win-win examples though the study does not provide evidence of any overall transformation of regional development practices taking place. Indeed, policy-integration in terms of rhetorical declarations is more common than evidence of systematic integration. Despite indications of changing patterns of interaction and learning in respect of partnerships between actors from different sectors, the conflict perspective remains more representative of the practical realities and day-to-day concerns expressed in the interviews with both national and regional representatives.


Background: Helicopacter pylori play an important role in the pathogenesis of gastroduodenal disease. Appropriate diagnosis of H.pylori infection in the laboratory results in relief of the symptoms and many also be cured without surgical intervention.
Method: 76 males and 24 females who underwent diagnostic endoscopy formed the study group. Microscopic examination, culturing, rapid urease test and ELISA test were carried out.
Results: Among 100 cases (study group) suffering from gastroduodenal diseases, H. pylori isolated from 18 cases, identified in 54 grams stained smears, rapid urease test was positive in 62 cases, IgG immunoglobulins against H. pylori was detected in 62 cases.
Conclusion: No single test can be considered sensitive or specific to detect or rule out H. pylori infection and it is necessary to use a combination of tests.


When Uber launched in San Francisco in 2010, it took the city by storm. Here was a high-tech transportation service that seemingly did everything better than taxicabs: it was more convenient, more accessible, more comfortable, and even cheaper in many instances. Uber's initial success inspired a number of lower-cost, non-professional "ridesharing" options, which have flourished. Some skeptics, including taxicab operators, have decried the arrival of these peer-to-peer ridesharing services, now classified by regulators as Transportation Network Companies (TNCs). While such complaints could be easily dismissed as the dying groans of a "disrupted" industry, a string of passenger safety incidents has raised doubts about whether these services are ready to safely replace traditional transportation services. One critical gray area for consumers is whether injured parties can recover from TNCs rather than their drivers alone. This Note argues that TNCs should be liable for acts of their drivers, and it provides a novel approach — the nondelegable duty rule — that has yet to be argued by plaintiffs in existing cases. Such an approach will place responsibility where it should be: on the companies profiting from the drivers and passengers. More importantly, preventing TNCs from exploiting regulatory loopholes has broader implications for the rapidly growing "sharing economy."


[1] We present the results of a combined U-series isotope and numerical modeling study of the 1912 Katmai-Novarupta eruption in Alaska. A stratigraphically constrained set of samples have compositions that range from basalt through basaltic andesite, andesite, dacite, and rhyolite. The major and trace element range can be modeled by 80–90% closed-system crystal fractionation over a temperature interval from 1279°C to 719°C at 100 MPa, with an implied volume of parental basalt of ∼65 km3. Numerical models suggest, for wall rock temperatures appropriate to this depth, that 90% of this volume of magma would cool and crystallize over this temperature interval within a few tens of kiloyears. However, the range in 87Sr/86Sr, (230Th/238U), and (226Ra/230Th) requires open-system processes. Assimilation of the host sediments can replicate the range of Sr isotopes. The variation of (226Ra/230Th) ratios in the basalt to andesite compositional range requires that these were generated less than several thousand years before eruption. Residence times for dacites are close to 8000 years, whereas the rhyolites appear to be 50–200 kyr old. Thus, the magmas that erupted within only 60 h had a wide range of crustal residence times. Nevertheless, they were emplaced in the same thermal regime and evolved along similar liquid lines of descent from parental magmas with similar compositions. The system was built progressively with multiple inputs providing both mass and heat, some of which led to thawing of older silicic material that provided much of the rhyolite.


The third volume of North American Exploration, covering 1784 to 1914, charts a dramatic shift in the purpose, priorities, and results of the exploration of North America. As the nineteenth century opened, exploration was still fostered by the growth of empire, but by the 1830s commercial interests came to drive most exploratory ventures, particularly through the fur trade. By midcentury, however, as imperial rivalries lessened and the fur trade declined, exploration was driven by the growing scientific spirit of the age although the science was often conducted in the service of a search for railroad routes or natural resources linked to military concerns. A clear transition took place as the spirit of the Enlightenment gave way to economic imperatives and to the science of the post-Darwinian age and exploration passed beyond discovery and geographical definition. This volume explores the resultant beginnings of an understanding of the continent and its native peoples.


The superconducting material Y Ba2Cu3O7−x was prepared by microwave heating of an oxide mixture (Y2O3, BaO, CuO). The time required for the synthesis is reduced to about 3.5 h compared to 1–2 days if conventional heating is used. If during the microwave heating the boat containing the starting powders is surrounded by SiC, the Y2BaCuO5 insulating phase does not appear.


Laguna de Bay is one of the most vital inland bodies of water in the Philippines. It is surrounded by 24 sub-watersheds with an aggregate area of 2920 km. The Laguna de Bay watershed is considered a priority watershed for environmental sustainability. It was originally covered by dense tropical forest but was estimated in 2010 to have less than 5% forest cover. The area is characterised by grasslands, brush and abandoned agricultural areas that have less than 10% tree cover, thus, considered a priority for rehabilitation The Laguna Lake Development Authority's carbon-forestry project, called the Laguna de Bay Community Watershed Rehabilitation Project, consists of two components: 1) Project 1, which covers an aggregate of 140 ha over 10 barangays within the Caliraya-Lumot Watershed. This is further subdivided into two sites (site 1 = 40 ha and site 2 = 100 ha); and 2) Project 2, which covers an aggregate of 217 ha located in four sites in Laguna province. Each site is equivalent to a small-scale forest-carbon project bundled into one project The project aims to develop an enabling environment for a carbon market for small-scale environmental interventions in the Laguna de Bay watershed. The key activities of the project are designed to: a) build the capacity of the Authority as an intermediary; b) pilot the implementation of carbon emissions reduction projects; and c) prepare set environmental projects for emission reduction credits. The project has the participation of local government units (Municipality of Tanay and Siniloan), an academic institution (University of Philippines Los Baños), a governmentcontrolled corporation (National Power Corporation) and private companies (CBK Power Company and San Pablo Water District), which have jurisdiction at each site to facilitate the project. As intermediary, the Authority was able to receive funding through a grant from the Japan Climate Change Initiative, which the World Bank implements for purchasing offsets for greenhouse gas emission reductions from small-scale Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. Carbon financing is already mainstreamed in the project, which enabled the Authority to prepare a project design document following the CDM standard template. However, when submitted for validation, of the sites proposed for the forest-carbon development project, only one site—5 ha located in the municipality of Siniloan—satisfied the eligibility criteria under the CDM afforestation/reforestation framework. While continuing their reforestation activities, the Authority is currently looking for additional sites. The project design document is being revised and other market mechanisms are being explored.


This study evaluated the clinical efficacy of three different closure techniques on postoperative pain and surgical complications in cats. It was a randomized, clinical trial conducted at different veterinary clinics in Lahore, Pakistan. Forty-eight (n = 48) cats underwent midline incision for ovariohysterectomy and were assigned to one of three Groups representing different closure methods. In Group A, continuous subcutaneous apposition was carried out with buried knots and intermittent tacking to the rectus fascia (Group A, n=16) in a quilting fashion to obliterate dead space using Polyglactin 910 (VicrylTM) USP 3-0 suture, superimposed by horizontal mattress pattern employing Polypropylene (ProleneTM) USP 2-0. Individuals of Group B were subjected to continuous subcutaneous apposition with buried knots without incorporating any fascia (Group B, n=16) by means of Polyglactin 910 (VicrylTM) USP 3-0 suture overlaid with horizontal mattress sutures pattern via Polypropylene (ProleneTM) USP 2-0. While in Group C, no subcutaneous closure was performed and edges of skin were sutured in a horizontal mattress pattern (Group C, n=16). Incidence of postoperative complications such as seroma, erythema, dehiscence and exudative discharge were rare in Group A due to subcutaneous attachment with muscle sheet. Moreover, mechanical threshold to peri-incisional stimulation was significantly improved in Group A as well. However, pain and discomfort scores according to feline composite pain scale were comparable across all cases at 2nd ,8th and 14th day after surgery. In conclusion, suturing subcutaneous tissues in a quilting fashion reduced seroma formation and mechanical pain threshold in cats undergoing abdominal closure during ovariohysterectomy.


PD 39/98 Rev.2 (M) is a globally important and pioneering project* whose objectives are to make an assessment of China's tropical forest resources and to develop a theory and methodology by which they may be valued and incorporated into the country's national accounts. There is a presumption that these values are currently set at zero or at least below their true level, as part of one specific objective is to "renovate tropical forest values". Recent policy directions, both in China and globally, underpin the relevance of this project. China Agenda 21 forestry proposals had already addressed the issue of forestry accounting in 1994, a practical need for, inter alia , implementation of a policy to retire certain categories of farmland and plant them with forest trees, a policy requiring a fair means of assessing compensation to the farmers affected. Furthermore, by 1998, the Government had banned logging in natural tropical forests, adding urgency to the task of valuing the contributions to national welfare of the non-timber and intangible benefits originating in these forests. The project builds on earlier work undertaken on natural resource accounting in China by Li Jinchang, an external adviser to the current project and also upon the study conducted by the present Project Director and his team in 1995 which computed a value of 13,000 billion yuan for China's total forest asset, mostly environmental value. International research also provided some pointers through the UNSTAT "System of Integrated Environment and National Economic Accounting" (SEEA) in 1994 and work by international organizations such as the OECD and the EU, besides a number of studies at the national level in Europe, Canada and Japan. It is now over a decade since the UNCED Conference had urged nations to incorporate environmental values into the national accounts.


The aim of this present study was to investigate the quality of canine epididymal spermatozoa during storage at 4°C. Spermatozoa was collected by flushing technique with physiological saline (NaCl 0.9% w/v) and diluted in modified Tris based extender containing 20% (v/v) of egg yolk for three days. The result showed that mean concentration of spermatozoa from cauda epididymal was 95.29.10 6 spz/ml. The percentage of progressive motility and membrane integrity of spermatozoa on time of collection was 70.71% and 72.85%, respectively. Quality of epididymal spermatozoa was decreased significantly (P<0,05) during storage at 4°C. The percentage of progressive motility during storage were 70.71% on day 0 (H-0, after diluted), 60.71% (H-1), 45.71% (H-2), and 33.57% (H-3). The percentage of membrane integrity during storage were 72.85, 68.88, 61.06 and 47.47% on H-0, H-1, H-2 and H-3, respectivelly. In conclusion, quality of canine epididymal spermatozoa was decreased during three days of storage at 4°C. Key Words : Epididymal Sperm, Storage, Canine


An accelerator-driven subcritical system (ADS) project was launched in China in 2011, aiming to design and build an ADS demonstration facility with the capability of more than 1000 MW thermal power. The driver linac is defined to be a 10 mA current of high energy protons at 1.5 GeV in continuous wave operation mode. To meet the extremely high power and intense beam accelerator requirements, non-interceptive monitors for the beam transverse profile are required for this proton linac. Taking advantage of the residual gas as active material, the Beam Induced Fluorescence (BIF) monitor exploits gas-excited fluorescence in the visible spectrum region for transverse profile measurements. The advantages of this non-intercepting method are that nothing is installed in the vacuum pipe, component design is compact and there is no need for expensive signal processing electronics. Beam experiments have been performed under constant beam conditions. The helium spectrum has been verified with different optical filters, showing that a proper optical band-pass filter covering 400–500 nm is necessary for fluorescence experiments with helium. By changing gas pressure, it is shown that gas pressure is proportional to the signal amplitude but has no influence on detected profile width. Finally, a comparison experiment between the BIF monitor and a wire scanner shows that the detected profile width results of both methods agree well.


In this study a procedure for online measurement of a coronary segment length during primary stenting is presented. The spatial segmental axis is calculated from a biplane angiogram and the corresponding projection data by simple delineation of the proximal and distal segment sites in each image. In a clinical evaluation the length error, projectional foreshortening and time frame during measurement of 222 stents or carrier balloons were calculated. The overall percentage length error was 3.3(+)-2.4%. The device length imaged with a mean projectional foreshortening of 18(+)-20% was measured within 18(+)-4 s. The procedure yields the accurate length of coronary segments within a short computation time taking projectional foreshortening into account.


Background and aim: We describe two cases of pseudoxanthomatous salpingitis (PXS), an uncommon entity, often unknown for clinicians and pathologists. We review the literature on this topic and perform immunohistochemistry in order to study its pathogenesis. Methods: Both cases are studied by histochemical and immnunohistochemical methods with a wide panel of antibodies. Results: One case showed bilateral PXS, ovarian endometriosis and an adenomatoid tumor in the right tube. The second case showed a unilateral focus of tubal endometriosis. The first case displayed pigmented histiocytes, positive with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), PAS with diastase digestion and focally with Fontana-Masson stains. Abundant hemosiderin granules were present in stromal subepithelial cells but no in histiocytes. In the second case Fontana-Masson and Ziehl-Neelsen methods stained diffusely the histiocytes. Perls stain was positive in some stromal cells and in numerous granular macrophages. The lymphocytic infiltrates presented mainly T cells with different proportions of CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes in each case. The tubal stroma was positive for CD10 in both cases. Conclusions: PXS is a rare condition usually associated with ovarian endometriosis. The physiopathologic way of pseudoxanthomatous histiocytes to accumulate inside the plicae of the tubes is not clear and can be diverse in different cases.


Narratology has been conceived from its earliest days as a project that transcends disciplines and media. The essays gathered here address the question of how narrative migrates, mutates, and creates meaning as it is expressed across various media. Dividing the inquiry into five areas: face-to-face narrative, still pictures, moving pictures, music, and digital media, Narrative across Media investigates how the intrinsic properties of the supporting medium shape the form of narrative and affect the narrative experience. Unlike other interdisciplinary approaches to narrative studies, all of which have tended to concentrate on narrative across language-supported fields, this unique collection provides a much-needed analysis of how narrative operates when expressed through visual, gestural, electronic, and musical means. In doing so, the collection redefines the act of storytelling. Although the fields of media and narrative studies have been invigorated by a variety of theoretical approaches, this volume seeks to avoid a dominant theoretical bias by providing instead a collection of concrete studies that inspire a direct look at texts rather than relying on a particular theory of interpretation. A contribution to both narrative and media studies, Narrative across Media is the first attempt to bridge the two disciplines.


ABSTRACT For decades, feminists have intervened in a sexually violent culture. Many public health professionals, educators, and activists who design these interventions have called for complex conceptualizations of communication, yet communication studies scholars have not written extensively on consent. Moreover, researchers outside the field rarely rely on insights from the discipline. Accordingly, I offer a critical review of consent activism and research, and I highlight disciplinary assumptions that could enhance existing knowledge. I argue that many feminist academic/activist interventions use false ideas about communication, what I call communication myths: discourse merely reflects reality, and local discourse is disconnected from larger social Discourse. I show how these communication myths resonate with rape-supportive arguments. By suggesting communication should be unambiguous during consent, anti-violence educators/activists lower the standard for communicative competence, disconnect it from historical-cultural context, and miss opportunities to politicize consent. I argue feminists can challenge communication myths to build on existing interventions while more fully dismantling rape culture.


The chitosan was degraded by hydrochloric acid and the effects of concentration of chitosan, amount of hydrochloric acid, reaction temperature and reaction time on the viscosity of chitosan were investigated. The results showed that the degraded chitosan with low viscosity could be prepared when chitosan (wt 6%) was dissolved in acetic acid solution and hydrochloric acid (wt 3%) at 90°C for 6 h to decrease the viscosity from 7.52 mPa·s to 2.48 mPa·s. Then, a graft copolymer was synthesized by copolymerization of degraded chitosan with methacrylic acid (MAA) and acrylamide (AAM) by using horseradish peroxidase (HRP)/H2O2/acetylacetone (ACAC) as initiator. The structures of original chitosan, degraded chitosan and the copolymer were characterized by FTIR. The copolymer was applied to the leather industry as an amphoteric retanning agent. The applied results showed that the retanned leather had the merits of good uniformity fullness softness, strong selecting filling properties, good dyeing ability and antimicrobial activity.


The fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO), an RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) demethylase, is an important regulator of central nervous system development, neuronal signalling and disease. We present here the target-tailored development and biological characterization of small-molecule inhibitors of FTO. The active compounds were identified using high-throughput molecular docking and molecular dynamics screening of the ZINC compound library. In FTO binding and activity-inhibition assays the two best inhibitors demonstrated Kd = 185 nM; IC50 = 1.46 μM (compound 2) and Kd = 337 nM; IC50 = 28.9 μM (compound 3). Importantly, the treatment of mouse midbrain dopamine neurons with the compounds promoted cellular survival and rescued them from growth factor deprivation induced apoptosis already at nanomolar concentrations. Moreover, these inhibitors demonstrated good blood-brain-barrier penetration in the model system, 31.7% and 30.8%, respectively. The compounds 2 and 3 protected dopamine neurons with greater potency than our recently developed alkylation repair homolog protein 5 (AlkBH5) m6A demethylase inhibitors. Inhibition of m6A RNA demethylation by small-molecule drugs, as presented here, has therapeutic potential and provides tools for the identification of disease-modifying m6A RNAs in neurogenesis and neuroregeneration. Further refinement of the lead compounds identified in this study, can also lead to unprecedented breakthroughs in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.


The growth-promoting bacteria in plants (BGPB) are a group of different species of bacteria can increase plant growth and productivity. Which can benefit plants through their own bacterial metabolism (phosphate solubilizing, producing hormones or fixing nitrogen). At present, desertification is a growing phenomenon worldwide, afforestation is one of the common solutions to combat this problem. Trees for reforestation are initially grown in greenhouses or nurseries. Among numerous reforestation practices, there is an alternative that inoculation with PGPB. Is a forest species that is endemic Olneya tesota Sonoran Desert, which is in danger of extinction. The objective was to evaluate the effect of bacteria growth promoter in plants with Rhodococcuis fascians and Azospirillum halopraeferens on germination and emergence of Ironwood under four salt concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 M NaCl) under greenhouse conditions. Were obtained ironwood seeds in the region of Santa Ana, Sonora. Under greenhouse conditions was evaluated emergence percentage, germination rate, height, plant root length, fresh and dry weight of plant, number of bacterial cells attached to the root system, fresh and dry weight of the root. The results indicate that the germination percentage and other variables evaluated decreased as salinity increases. However, these changed positively to inoculation with bacteria R. fascians and A. halopraeferens.


The investigation reported in this article is the second of two studies examining the way physician executives use persuasion strategies. Despite the research on physician executives and the importance attributed to physicians' being in management, there is still much to learn about how physicians actually manage, particularly in influence situations. The goal of this study is to examine physician executives' choices of persuasion strategies to influence subordinates who communicate with them in attractive and unattractive styles. In the November-December 1990 issue of Physician Executive, the author reported on a study of strategies used to persuade superiors.


We present PTIME language-preserving techniques for the reduction of nondeterministic tree automata, both for the case of finite trees and for infinite trees. Our techniques are based on new transition removing and state merging results, which rely on binary relations that compare the downward and upward behaviours of states in the automaton. We use downward/upward simulation preorders and the more general but EXPTIME-complete trace inclusion relations, for which we introduce good under-approximations computable in polynomial time. We provide a complete picture of combinations of downward and upward simulation/trace inclusions which can be used in our reduction techniques. We define an algorithm that puts together all the reduction results found for finite trees, and implemented it under the name minotaut, a tool built on top of the wellknown tree automata library libvata. We tested minotaut on large collections of automata from program verification provenience, as well as on different classes of randomly generated automata. Our algorithm yields substantially smaller and sparser automata than all previously known reduction techniques, and it is still fast enough to handle large instances. Taking reduction of automata on finite trees one step further, we then introduce saturation, a technique that consists of adding new transitions to an automaton while preserving its language. We implemented this technique on minotaut and we show how it can make subsequent state-merge and transition-removal operations more effective. Thus we obtain a PTIME algorithm that reduces the number of states of tree automata even more than before. Additionally, we explore how minotaut alone can play an important role when performing hard operations like complementation, allowing to obtain smaller complement automata and at lower computation times overall. We then show how saturation can extend this contribution even further. An overview of the tool, highlighting some of its implementation features, is presented as well.


A novel methodology is presented for determining the velocity and location of multiple moving targets using a single strip-map synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor. The so-called azimuth position uncertainty problem is therefore solved. The method exploits the structure of the amplitude and phase modulations of the returned echo from a moving target in the Fourier domain. A crucial step in the whole processing scheme is a matched filtering, depending on the moving target parameters, that simultaneously accounts for range migration and compresses two-dimensional signatures into one-dimensional ones without losing moving target information. A generalized likelihood ratio test approach is adopted to detect moving targets and derive their trajectory parameters. The effectiveness of the method is illustrated with synthetic and real data covering a wide range of targets velocities and signal-to-clutter ratios (SCRs). Even in the case of parallel to platform moving target motion, the most unfavorable scenario, the proposed method yields good results for, roughly, SCR > 10 dB.


Corruption often thrives in contexts of prohibition. This chapter outlines the corrupt actors along the smuggling chain of the illegal wildlife trade, showing how various forms of corruption are employed to launder and hide wildlife whilst buying off and/or deceiving law enforcement agencies. As a multi-stage crime straddling national boundaries and seeking to bypass domestic laws, regulations and enforcement actions, the illegal trade in wildlife is highly dependent on corruption for its success. Emerging case evidence suggests a combination of approaches is required, including initiatives that seek to reduce consumer demand in countries that are major importers of wildlife products, and improved policing at global transit hubs. Keywords: Illegal wildlife trade, commodity laundering, smuggling, corruption, organized crime


To determine the incidence of peripheral intravenous therapy-related phlebitis in an adult population, 305 peripheral i.v. catheter sites were observed from the time of admission of the patient (or initiation of the first peripheral i.v. catheter) to the time of the participant's discharge from the facility (or 48 hours after the removal of the final catheter). Parameters monitored included patient demographics, diagnosis, i.v. fluids and medications, type of peripheral catheter, dwell time, and dressing integrity. Results showed that of the 10 cases of phlebitis found in nine study subjects, all were associated with catheters indwelling less than 72 hours. In three cases, although the catheter site was clear at the time of catheter removal, postinfusion phlebitis developed within 24 hours. Catheter site locations, diagnoses, medications, and i.v. fluids in these cases were varied.


Assessment is essential for certification, regulation and feedback within the education process. Our research effort focus on the last two features, and tries to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the students, in order to adapt assessment activities for better learning results. The approach consists in designing a technological artefact for formative assessment with visual feedback during the learning process, to meet students' demands for personalised tests in order to effectively assess the learning outcomes. While many of the assessment tools are oriented to quantitatively measure the student's knowledge acquisition, the idea behind this work is to use assessment as an analysis tool to measure, optimize the learning process, personalise assessment and involve students, through an adaptive approach, where each student can visualize the dynamic process of knowledge acquisition.


While many government programmes have been designed to alleviate poverty among the urban poor, scores of people have continued to languish in wretched poverty. This study sought to determine the impact of communication strategies in enhancing the livelihood of the urban poor in the Eastlands area of Nairobi. The study investigated the key socio-economic and communication determinants of awareness of poverty eradication policies, and assessed the effectiveness of government communication strategies in regard to programmes that target them. Both primary and secondary data were used to quantify the economic contribution of communication to the overall improvement in the standards of the living of the urban poor. The primary data were collected from the field through household surveys. The findings and conclusions of this study indicated that the deficiency of communication strategies in government programmes has complicated their implementation. The end result is that the urban poor have remained deprived even though there could be good intentions by the government to alleviate poverty among them. The recommendation is that in developing poverty alleviation programmes, policy makers should single out urban households as a key target group deserving intensified attention and communicate with them right from design through to the implementation of poverty programmes. It concludes that to be relevant for policy making, the concept of communication strategy should be embraced in government programmes for meaningful economic support and poverty alleviation, as well as for the attainment of the first of the eight Millennium Development Goals that of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.


The papers brought together in this supplement of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases constitute summaries of presentations at the XIIth International Symposium on Advances in Targeted Therapies, which was held from 14 to 18 April 2010. As such these presentations represent the state of the art on the biology of mechanisms of action and pathophysiology of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) as well as other important mediators of inflammation. Current knowledge on the means and consequences of blocking TNF or other molecules or cellular mechanisms is also presented.

We are grateful to Drs Crofford, Feldmann, Furst, …


Abstract: With the advent of technological marvels like global digitization, the prediction of the stock market has entered a technologically advanced era, revamping the old model of trading. With the ceaseless increase in market capitalization, stock trading has become a center of investment for many financial investors.Many analysts and researchers have developed tools and techniques that predict stock price movements and help investors in proper decision-making. Advanced trading models enable researchers to predict the market using non-traditional textual data from social platforms. The application of advanced machine learning approaches such as text data analytics and ensemble methods have greatly increased the prediction accuracies. Meanwhile, the analysis and prediction of stock markets continue to be one of the most challenging research areas due to dynamic, erratic, and chaotic data. This study explains the systematics of machine learning-based approaches for stock market prediction based on the deployment of a generic framework. Findings from the last decade (2011–2021) were critically analyzed, having been retrieved from online digital libraries and databases like ACM digital library and Scopus. Furthermore, an extensive comparative analysis was carried out to identify the direction of significance. The study would be helpful for emerging researchers to understand the basics and advancements of this emerging area, and thus carry-on further research in promising directions.


Fire is known to impact soil properties and hydrological flow paths. However, the impact of prescribed vegetation burning on blanket peatland hydrology is poorly understood. We studied 10 blanket peat headwater catchments. Five were subject to prescribed burning, while five were unburnt controls. Within the burnt catchments, we studied plots where the last burn occurred ∼2 (B2), 4 (B4), 7 (B7), or greater than 10 years (B10+) prior to the start of measurements. These were compared with plots at similar topographic wetness index locations in the control catchments. Plots subject to prescribed vegetation burning had significantly deeper water tables (difference in means = 5.3 cm) and greater water table variability than unburnt plots. Water table depths were significantly different between burn age classes (B2 > B4 > B7 > B10+) while B10+ water tables were not significantly different to the unburnt controls. Overland flow was less common on burnt peat than on unburnt peat, recorded in 9% and 17% of all runoff trap visits, respectively. Storm lag times and hydrograph recession limb periods were significantly greater (by ∼1 and 13 h on average, respectively) in the burnt catchments overall, but for the largest 20% of storms sampled, there was no significant difference in storm lag times between burnt and unburnt catchments. For the largest 20% of storms, the hydrograph intensity of burnt catchments was significantly greater than those of unburnt catchments (means of 4.2 × 10−5 and 3.4 × 10−5 s−1, respectively), thereby indicating a nonlinear streamflow response to prescribed burning. Together, these results from plots to whole river catchments indicate that prescribed vegetation burning has important effects on blanket peatland hydrology at a range of spatial scales.


SUMMARY: Diaminopimelic acid decarboxylase was found to be widely distributed among 58 coli-aerogenes organisms. Different strains grown and tested under standard conditions showed great variations in enzyme activity although the amount of diaminopimelic acid in the cell hydrolysates was similar. Except for a higher average activity in Aerobacter aerogenes, there was no correlation between the activity of diaminopimelic acid decarboxylase and the biochemical type of coliform organism. No strain was found that contained diaminopimelic acid decarboxylase in the absence of lysine decarboxylase. The enzyme was also found in a strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa but not in Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus faecalis or Bacillus subtilis.


We have investigated a family with an autosomal dominant form of spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SED) characterised by short stature and severe premature degenerative arthropathy. Previous studies have excluded linkage between this condition and the locus for the type II collagen gene. Here we report the identification of linkage between this disorder and a locus on the long arm of chromosome 15 between markers D15S979 and D15S1004. According to current linkage maps and sequence data, this locus includes that of the aggrecan gene (AGC1). Our linkage data from the SED family show, however, that AGC1 maps to a locus that is proximal to D15S979. This proximal location for AGC1 is further supported by linkage data from a second family with an autosomal recessive form of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia that also maps to the SED locus. In both families AGC1 is therefore excluded as a candidate gene.


An immersed surface M in N × R is a helix if its tangent planes make constant angle with ∂t . We prove that a minimal helix surface M , of arbitrary codimension is flat. If the codimension is one, it is totally geodesic. If the sectional curvature of N is positive, a minimal helix surfaces in N × R is not necessarily totally geodesic. When the sectional curvature of N is nonpositive, then M is totally geodesic. In particular, minimal helix surfaces in Euclidean n-space are planes. We also investigate the case when M has parallel mean curvature vector: A complete helix surface with parallel mean curvature vector in Euclidean n-space is a plane or a cylinder of revolution. Finally, we use Eikonal f functions to construct locally any helix surface. In particular every minimal one can be constructed taking f with zero Hessian.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the influence of instrumentation technique on the early osseointegration histomorphometrics and biomechanical fixation of fully laser-etched microgrooves implant surfaces in a sheep model.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Six sheep were subjected to bilateral hip surgeries 3 and 6 weeks before euthanasia. A total of 48 implants (∅4.5 mm, 8 mm in length) were distributed among four sites (8 per animal) and placed in bone sites drilled to 4.6 mm (reamer), 4.1 mm (loose), 3.7 mm (medium) and 3.2 mm (tight) in diameter. After healing, the animals were euthanized and half of the implants were biomechanically tested, while the remainder was subjected to non-decalcified histologic processing. The histomorphometric parameters assessed were bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and bone area fraction occupancy (BAFO). Statistical analysis was performed using a mixed-model analysis of variance with significance level set at P < 0.05.

RESULTS
A general increasing trend is present from 3 to 6 weeks for most of the variables. The groups prepared to be press fit seemed to present higher values, which were maintained throughout the observation period. The reamer group presented the lowest BIC probably due to the drilling technique; however qualitatively, more new bone seemed to be in contact to the implant surface, at 3 weeks, whereas the implants placed in press-fit situations were mainly supported by cortical bone.

CONCLUSION
The laser-etched microgrooved implant presented osteoconductive and biocompatible properties for all surgical procedures tested. However, procedures providing increasingly higher press-fit scenarios presented the strongest histomorphometric and biomechanical responses at 3 and 6 weeks.


Since COVID-19 spread globally in early 2020 and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March, many countries are managing the local epidemics effectively through intervention measures that limit transmission. The challenges of immigration of new infections into regions and asymptomatic infections remain. Standard deterministic compartmental models are inappropriate for sub- or peri-critical epidemics (reproductive number close to or less than one), so individual-based models are often used by simulating transmission from an infected person to others. However, to be realistic, these models require a large number of parameters, each with its own set of uncertainties and lack of analytic tractability. Here, we apply stochastic age-structured Leslie theory with a long history in ecological research to provide some new insights to epidemic dynamics fuelled by external imports. We model the dynamics of an epidemic when R0 is below one, representing COVID-19 transmission following the successful application of intervention measures, and the transmission dynamics expected when infections migrate into a region. The model framework allows more rapid prediction of the shape and size of an epidemic to improve scaling of the response. During an epidemic when the numbers of infected individuals are rapidly changing, this will help clarify the situation of the pandemic and guide faster and more effective intervention.


. The industry has undergone various industrial revolutions leading to major upheavals in all activities of human life, particularly in the field of education. Technology has become ubiquitous in educational organizations seeking to respond effectively to the demand for improvement, optimization, and personalization of large-scale, technology-supported education. Possibilities for automatically tracking the progress of learners become possible, at least for assessing attendance, progress, and acquisition of knowledge or skills. Knowledge sources are increasingly heterogeneous and complex in learning environments. With continuous innovations in the way we teach and learn, there is a need to rethink and transform the model of integrating technology into teaching in order to achieve intelligent collaboration and coordination between technology and people for learning. In this article, we propose an approach to be taken into account in the natural evolution of educational institutions under the term of University 4.0. The University 4.0 concept is inspired by the Industry 4.0 paradigm and applies its concepts to higher education to provide better responses to the specific needs of each learner. This paper presents a state of the art on the Industry and Education revolutions and in particular the digital and pedagogical transformations in education from Education 3.0 to Education 4.0, as well as the challenges of University 4.0.


Background An association between rotavirus immunisation and intussusception (IS) has been suggested with present rotavirus vaccines in post-licensure studies. In Finland, rotavirus vaccination programme was implemented in September 2009 using a 2, 3, and 5 months schedule with the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine. By the end of 2013, it is estimated that 719 000 rotavirus vaccine doses have been given in the national programme of which 240 000 were first doses. Nationwide register allows us to evaluate the association between rotavirus vaccination and IS. Methods and Materials Cases of IS diagnosed during 1999–2013 were identified from National Hospital Discharge Register. All cases under 250 days of age diagnosed during 2009–2013 were confirmed by reviewing medical charts. Self-controlled case-series method was used to assess the risk of IS during 1–21 days compared to 22–42 days post vaccination. Findings In register data the relative incidence of IS at 2 months of age between the post and pre vaccination era was 9.1 (95%CI 2.0–84.3). We identified 22 verified cases with date of admission less than 43 days after any of the three rotavirus vaccine doses. The incidence of IS in the risk period after the 1st dose relative to the control period was 2.0 (95% CI 0.5–8.4; p = 0.34.) Number of excess IS cases per 100 000 first vaccine doses was therefore estimated to be 1.04 (95% CI 0.0–2.5), i.e. one additional IS case per 96 000 first doses of rotavirus vaccine (95% CI 54 600 to ∞). There was no risk detected after 2nd and 3rd doses. Conclusion The finding is in line with the recent published estimates. The benefits of rotavirus immunisation programme outweigh possible small risks of intussusception.


Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory condition associated with a high colon cancer risk. We have previously reported that American ginseng extract significantly reduced the inflammatory parameters of chemically induced colitis. The aim of this study was to further delineate the components of American ginseng that suppress colitis and prevent colon cancer. Among five different fractions of American ginseng (butanol, hexane, ethylacetate, dichloromethane, and water), a hexane fraction has particularly potent antioxidant and proapoptotic properties. The effects of this fraction were shown in a mouse macrophage cell line (ANA-1 cells), in a human lymphoblastoid cell line (TK6), and in an ex vivo model (CD4+/CD25− primary effector T cells). A key in vivo finding was that compared with the whole American ginseng extract, the hexane fraction of American ginseng was more potent in treating colitis in a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) mouse model, as well as suppressing azoxymethane/DSS-induced colon cancer. Furthermore, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) labeling of inflammatory cells within the colonic mesenteric lymph nodes was elevated in mice consuming DSS + the hexane fraction of American ginseng. Results are consistent with our in vitro data and with the hypothesis that the hexane fraction of American ginseng has anti-inflammatory properties and drives inflammatory cell apoptosis in vivo, providing a mechanism by which this fraction protects from colitis in this DSS mouse model. This study moves us closer to understanding the molecular components of American ginseng that suppress colitis and prevent colon cancer associated with colitis. Cancer Prev Res; 5(4); 685–96. ©2012 AACR.


Since 2001, the Scholarly Publishing Office (SPO), a division of the University of Michigan University Library, has published a broad range of scholarly literature in electronic and print form, extending the library's commitment to the distribution of scholarship by experimenting with innovative methods for publishing to serve the needs of scholars, both at the University of Michigan and around the world. In 2007, SPO's staff of approximately 7.5 FTEs published nearly 2,000 articles in journals, reviews, and conference proceedings, plus a handful of monographs, image collections, and other digital projects. Text content is stored in XML, with approximately half of the 2007 articles derived from unstructured electronic source documents. SPO's seven years of experience demonstrates how to build a scalable electronic publishing operation.


AIM
Totally extra-peritoneal (TEP) repair technique is one of the most used laparoscopic techniques for inguinal hernia repair. This study aimed to investigate the learning curve of technique and phases involved to help guiding novice learners.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Box-Jenkinson method for time series analysis and moving average method for standard deviation (SD) analysis and were employed for group determination and learning curve evaluation. Three individual groups were created based on the statistical analysis results and each group has been evaluated to determine the accuracy of the learning phases.

RESULTS
The learning phases of the technique were classified as: (1) Phase 1 (1st-28th case), (2) Phase 2 (29th-98th case), and Phase 3 (after 99th case). Operation time was statistically different between each phase. In addition, the number of intra-operative incidents was also found to be statistically different between phase-1 and other phases, with phase-1 being unfavorable.

CONCLUSION
To our knowledge, this is the first study that describes phases of learning the TEP hernia repair and compares these phases in terms of complication and operative time. We recommend that novice surgeons take extra care in terms of the selection of their patients during their first 28 cases and broaden their patient spectrum after the 63rd case. The learning curve of the TEP technique has three phases and each step must be carefully considered for patient selection so that milestones can be achieved as smoothly as possible without any complications.

KEY WORDS
Hernia, Laparoscopy, Learning curve, Moving average, TEP.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature with respect to traumatic stress in a firefighting context. The goal was to provide a clear and concise review intended for use by both researchers and practitioners. Firefighters are an under-researched group in the academic literature and updated review articles are necessary to advance this body of work.

Design/methodology/approach

Searches of the English language literature on firefighters and traumatic stress were completed and supplemented with a review of clinical information related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The search was comprehensive but was not guided by systematic review guidelines.

Findings

Research regarding firefighters and traumatic stress is limited and inconsistent in outcome. Much of the available literature supports a link between fire service work and increased post-traumatic symptomatology; however, some research has neglected to demonstrate a relationship for these factors. Some efforts such as the training of coping skills and team building may improve firefighters' resilience to PTSD, while therapeutic and psychopharmacological treatments may be effective in reducing PTSD progression.

Originality/value

To the authors' knowledge, no previous paper is available that has specifically intended to address firefighters and traumatic stress in a review format for researchers and practitioners. In the authors' experience, fire service members are eager for literature addressing their profession and presented in a manner accessible for both non-academic and academic audiences.


A method of calibrating a wave meter for short waves, three to five meters, using an ordinary amplifying tube and a B, battery. Resonance is indicated by means of a milliammeter or voltmeter in the plate circuit of the tube. Data is given showing that the accuracy of the method is better than one percent. The average deviation from the mean being about one tenth of a per cent. A simple wave meter is described.


This case study aimed to observe the standard operating procedures of Leslie's Restaurant in Tagaytay City in the areas of purchasing, receiving, and storage area as well as to determine the compliance of its employees who were tasked in such areas. The researchers observed the actual practices of the restaurant's compliance in the areas of purchasing, receiving, and storage to the standard procedures. An interview with the key informant was conducted and an observation checklist was used to gather data. The actual observations were then compared to the personnel's compliance through the interpreted mean values using descriptive statistics. The purchasing practices were rated very good which means that the purchasing officers abide with the standard operating procedures in using purchase order, checking the items all the time. In the receiving process, a very good rating was also given while a good rating was given in the storage procedures because it does not completely follow the standard procedures.


Very-high-energy (VHE, E>100 GeV) gamma-rays provide a unique view of the non-thermal universe, tracing the most violent and energetic phenomena at work inside our Galaxy and beyond. The latest results of the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey (HGPS) undertaken by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), an array of four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located in Namibia, are described here. The HGPS aims at the detection of cosmic accelerators with environments suitable for the production of photons at the highest energies and has led to the discovery of an unexpectedly large and diverse population of over 60 sources of TeV gamma rays within its current range of l = 250 to 65 degrees in longitude and |b|<3.5 degrees in latitude. The data set of the HGPS comprises 2800 hours of high-quality data, taken in the years 2004 to 2013. The sensitivity for the detection of point-like sources, assuming a power-law spectrum with a spectral index of 2.3 at a statistical significance of 5 sigma, is now at the level of 2% Crab or better in the core HGPS region. The latest maps of the inner Galaxy at TeV energies are shown alongside an introduction to the first H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey catalog. Finally, in addition to an overview of the H.E.S.S. Galactic source population a few remarkable, recently discovered sources will be highlighted.


In this study we consider a Dynamic Genetic Algorithm used to optimize the movement of a symmetric six-legged creature. The optimal movement is that which advances the creature in a straight line forward with the greatest average speed. The mutation rate and crossover rate are adjusted based on number of iterations the algorithm has completed. This dynamic element was added to improve convergence rate as well as reducing the chance that the algorithm is stuck in a local optimum. The chromosomes are represented by a 2-dimensional array, where the rows represent sequences of movement. Each row defines the change in the angle for all the joints. Angular rates are restricted per joint, as well as ranges of motion. The fitness of a chromosome is determined by the resultant average speed, calculated as total displacement of the center of gravity over total time of movements in the chromosome. The results of this study show the possibility to breed mathematically the creature by using the Dynamic Genetic Algorithm proposed. This learning process converged, for all the simulations carried out, to the natural motion of six-legged beings like the ants.


Our study is aimed to confirm the advantage of simultaneous operations during combined gynaecological and surgical pathologies. During the 3 years in medical practice of of Otar Gudushauri National Medical Center 71 operations were conducted on patients genitalia and their other organs simultaneously at its Perinatal Department. The age of patients ranged from 19 to 57. All the necessary clinical-laboratory examinations were carried out within the pre-surgical preparation period. The preference was given to the routine planned operations; however urgent surgical interventions were performed in cases of emergency. None of the operations were followed by complications due to the increased scope of procedures. High efficacy of these operations, prevention of possible complications in the post--operational period, due to combined pathologies, high economical effect, reduce of stress situations, provide us with the grounds to conduct operations of this nature in a multiprofile clinic by highly qualified personnel.


John Stuart-Glennie's concept of the Moral Revolution of the sixth century BCE is compared with Karl Jaspers' concept of the Axial Age lasting from 800 to 200 BCE. I praise Eugene Halton's revival of Stuart-Glennie's work, but hold Jaspers' treatment, built on the scholarship of Max Weber, to be the rightful source of much contemporary research on the development of world civilizations. Like Weber, Jaspers underscored differences among the developmental paths of the great civilizations of China, India, Classical Antiquity, Islam, and the Modern West; Stuart-Glennie treated them as basically being similar, deriving from a Moral Revolution that was fundamentally alike across civilizations.


Improvement of traffic safety by cooperative vehicular applications is one of the most promising benefits of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). However, to properly develop such applications, the influence of different driving parameters on the event of vehicle collision must be assessed at an early design stage. In this paper, we derive a stochastic model for the number of accidents in a platoon of vehicles equipped with a warning collision notification system, which is able to inform all the vehicles about an emergency event. In fact, the assumption of communications being used is key to simplify the derivation of a stochastic model. The model enables the computation of the average number of collisions that occur in the platoon, the probabilities of the different ways in which the collisions may take place, as well as other statistics of interest. Although an exponential distribution has been used for the traffic density, it is also valid for different probability distributions for traffic densities, as well as for other significant parameters of the model. Moreover, the actual communication system employed is independent of the model since it is abstracted by a message delay variable, which allows it to be used to evaluate different communication technologies. We validate the proposed model with Monte Carlo simulations. With this model, one can quickly evaluate numerically the influence of different model parameters (vehicle density, velocities, decelerations, and delays) on the collision process and draw conclusions that shed relevant guidelines for the design of vehicular communication systems, as well as chain collision avoidance applications. Illustrative examples of application are provided, although a systematic characterization and evaluation of different scenarios is left as future work.


Patients suffering from a lumbar herniated disc will typically present with signs and symptoms consistent with radiculopathy. They may also have low-back pain, however, and the source of this pain is less certain, as it may be from the degenerative process that led to the herniation. The surgical alternative of choice remains a lumbar discectomy, but fusions have been performed for both primary and recurrent disc herniations. In the original guidelines, the inclusion of a fusion for routine discectomies was not recommended. This recommendation continues to be supported by more recent evidence. Based on low-level evidence, the incorporation of a lumbar fusion may be considered an option when a herniation is associated with evidence of spinal instability, chronic low-back pain, and/or severe degenerative changes, or if the patient participates in heavy manual labor. For recurrent disc herniations, there is low-level evidence to support the inclusion of lumbar fusion for patients with evidence of instability or chronic low-back pain.


The aim of present study was to design and in-vitro characterization of Levobunolol HCl occuserts with special reference to glaucoma treatment. Levobunolol HCl ophthalmic solution has been shown to be effective in IOP and may be used in patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. The Levobunolol HCl occuserts were prepared using hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC, 3 & 4%), poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP, 1%), methyl cellulose (MC, 1 & 2%) as polymers by solvent casting technique with objectives of increasing contact time, achieving controlled release, reduction in frequency of administration and greater therapeutic efficacy. The prepared occuserts were then evaluated for there physical appearance and surface texture, weight variation, uniformity of thickness, tensile strength and % elongation at break, % moisture uptake, % moisture loss, folding endurance, drug content and in-vitro drug release. It is evident from these studies that, formed polymeric occuserts have appreciable strength and safety. Physiochemical characterization and in-vitro drug release studies reveals that, the prepared occusert formulations (F & F ) containing 4 % and 3 % HPMC had released their drug content, 83 % and 81 % respectively 2 1


This dissertation focuses on data communication over shallow, long-range underwater acoustic (UWA) channels, which are characterized by relatively long, time-varying impulse responses and acute sensitivity to Doppler effects. The latter is a result of the slow speed of sound in water, while the former is a consequence of the waveguide nature of shallow, long-range UWA channels. A succession of novel receiver algorithms are developed which recover digital information transmitted across such channels. The first considers the case of a single, fixed source transducer transmitting information to a single, fixed receive hydrophone. The second extends the first to allow nontrivial source motion, for instance, that of an autonomous undersea vehicle. The third extends the second to allow processing of data received on an array of hydrophones. The algorithms employ iterative detection. Iterative processing is creating a paradigm shift in digital communication, made possible by ever-increasing computational capabilities. There are two major components to the algorithms: an equalizer and a decoder. The main focus of this dissertation is the former which, because of the features of the UWA channel, and since the channel is not assumed known a priori at the receiver, entails adaptive resampling to correct for Doppler distortion, adaptive filtering to estimate the time-varying channel, and adaptive equalization to compensate for intersymbol interference produced by the long channel impulse responses. While decoding is performed using standard methods, its role is nonetheless crucial to the overall functioning of the algorithms. In fact, they rely on the iterative exchange of information between equalizer and decoder, and the improvement of that information with each iteration. Successful performance of the algorithms is demonstrated using data from at-sea experiments