SUMMARY Canine transmissible venereal tumor (TVT) is a round cell neoplasm occurring on the external genital mucosa of male and female dogs. Transmission is by cell implantation during coitus, licking, or other interaction between an affected dog and a susceptible host. Metastasis of the tumor rarely occurs. This report describes an unusual presentation of TVT with intraocular involvement and inguinal lymph nodes metastasis. The subject was a six-year-old, intact, male, Brazilian Terrier dog with a history of abnormal masses in the right eye, penis and several subcutaneous nodules in the inguinal area. Histopathological examination of the eye specimens as well as cytologic examination of penile mass and subcutaneous nodules revealed similar findings. The examination revealed round cells containing a large nuclei with prominent, central located nucleoli and a pale cytoplasm containing few small, clear round vacuoles. Histologically, the subcutaneous nodules in the inguinal area were lymph nodes. The diagnosis of TVT with intraocular involvement and lymph nodes metastasis was based on clinical, cytologic and histopathologic findings.


Global warming is one of the major environmental issues that currently concern to the various parties. Because of global warming, increasing in average temperature of earth's sea and land caused by industrial activity and reduction of forest cover due to deforestation, especially lately. Based on these evolving issues and considering the importance of the role of forests in absorbing carbon from the air and store it in forest biomass, it is necessary a lot of research that could encourage the continued development of carbon in biomass. One important aspect of research is to know the potential of carbon stored in the stands of pine. The experiment was conducted in KPH Cianjur, Perum Perhutani Unit III West Java and Banten in April 2010 to May 2010. Materials used in this research were planting stands of pine in 1994 on square 27A RPH West Hanjawar BKPH South Sukanagara and planted stands of Pine year 1995 on square 48I RPH East Hanjawar BKPH North Sukanagara in KPH Cianjur, Perum Perhutani Unit III West Java and Banten. The tools used in this study include scales, digital scales, ovens, machete, newsprint, chalk, plastic bags, plastic rope, stationery, tally sheets, calculator, tape measure, camera, and software SAS. In the area of stands are made each 5 plots with a size of 20 m x 20 m to measure the trees and also made small plots measuring 2 m x 2 m by 4 pieces located at each corner for analysis and retrieval of vegetation and litter. Results obtained from these data are processed through the approach of biomass which is then converted to carbon savings in ton/ha. To know the factors that influence the use of carbon deposits by using ANOVA analysis and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT). The results showed that the potential of carbon storage on plots planted in 1995 is 77,1580 ton/ha greater than the potential carbon storage on plots planted in 1994 which only amounted to 64,6372 ton/ha. The test results using ANOVA statistical analysis showed the value of R-Sq = 96,01% and significant level 5%, there is a difference between the carbon potential on one of the object variabel (tree, manure, below plant) which is found on the stands of pine planted in 1994 and stands pine planting in 1995, where the variable is a tree. There needs to be further research on the estimation of carbon stock potential using a different method of harvesting method with the same kind of pine stands.


This paper argues that a key reason for Britain's economic decline was the management culture of British industry, in particular the unwillingness of British entrepreneurs to decentralize decision-making within their firms, in comparison to their foreign counterparts. A theory of delegation is developed, and its importance to economic growth established. While it is difficult to directly measure how much authority is delegated within a firm, the paper describes how using this hypothesis, many observed characteristics of British industrial development can then be explained, most importantly the lesser ability of large British firms to generate innovations and maintain growth in all aspects of the firm. In support the paper analyzes the development of a number of industries, particularly the chemical and electrical engineering industries, and examines descriptions of British management practices by contemporaries and recent historians. Thus vigorous entrepreneurship is observed early in the life of many British industries, but as the industries matured and larger firms became appropriate and are developed in the US and Germany, British firms fell behind their counterparts in productivity and their ability to grow.


better company than academics, and his book is part of the current vogue for participant observation, complete with excerpts from his diaries and some writings by the boys themselves. But somehow the book fails, and its failure is perhaps symptomatic of the problem of this type of ethnographic (ornithological?) sociology. For the best medium for unaerstanding experience is fiction or at least (auto) biograpny; I kept comparing this book with John Rechy's brilliant novel, City of Night, amazingly enough, nowhere mentioned by Harris, which in its evocation of the world of the male hustler, completely overshadows The Dilly Boys. If sociologists wish merely to describe perceptions of the world, they are likely to go unread in favour of novelists who do it far better.


In Time Warp parallel simulation, the state of each process must be saved (checkpointed) regularly in case a rollback is necessary. Although most existing Time Warp implementations checkpoint after every state transition, this is not necessary, and the checkpoint interval is in reality a tuning parameter of the simulation.
Lin and Lazowska[6] proposed a model to derive the optimal checkpoint interval by assuming that the rollback behavior of Time Warp is not affected by the frequency of checkpointing. An experimental study conducted by Preiss et al.[10] indicates that the behavior of rollback is affected by the frequency of checkpointing in general, and that the Lin-Lazowska model may not reflect the real situations in general.
This paper extends the Lin-Lazowska model to include the effect of the checkpoint interval on the rollback behavior. The relationship among the checkpoint interval, the rollback behavior, and the overhead associated with state saving and restoration is described. A checkpoint interval selection algorithm which quickly determines the optimal checkpoint interval during the execution of Time Warp simulation is proposed. Empirical results indicate that the algorithm converges quickly and always selects the optimal checkpoint interval.


Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a recently identified auto-immune disorder characterised by severe memory deficit, a decreased level of consciousness, seizures, autonomic dysfunction and movement disorders. Three girls with the disorder are reported; they were aged 4 years, 5 years and 10 months. The 10-month-old infant who is one of the youngest patients reported with anti-NMDAR encephalitis worldwide, had MRI features suggestive of herpes simplex encephalitis (known to trigger anti-NMDAR encephalitis), but CSF PCR for herpes simplex was negative. All the patients presented with seizures, behavioural change, regression of speech, dystonia and choreo-athetosis. Anti-NMDAR antibodies were detected in all patients' sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Intravenous immunoglobulin, corticosteroids and rituximab were administered at different intervals. Cases 1 and 2 made a full recovery, but case 3 has mild motor and speech delay. Patients who present with encephalopathy, seizures and movement disorders should be tested for anti-NMDAR antibodies in serum and CSF in addition to being screened for herpes simplex encephalitis.


Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Brucella abortus is an essential component for developing the subunit vaccine against brucellosis. B. abortus LPS was extracted by n-butanol, purified by ultracentrifugation and detoxified by alkaline treatment. Pyrogenicity and toxicity of B. abortus LPS and detoxified–LPS (D-LPS) were analyzed and compared with LPS of E. coli. Different groups of mice were immunized intraperitoneally with purified B. abortus LPS, D-LPS, a combination of LPS with human serum albumin (LPS-HSA) and B. abortus S19 bacteria; besides, control mice were inoculated with sterile saline. Two doses of vaccine were given 4 weeks apart. Mice were challenged intraperitoneally with virulent B. abortus 544 strain 4 weeks after the second dose of vaccine. Sera and spleens of mice were harvested 4 weeks after challenge. LPS-B. abortus was 10,000-fold less potent in LAL test and 100-fold less potent in eliciting fever in rabbits than in E. coli LPS. And D-LPS was very less potent in LAL test and eliciting fever in rabbits ordinary LPS. The antibody titer of anti-LPS immunoglobulin G (IgG) was higher than D-LPS. However, mice immunized with either LPS, D-LPS or LPS-HSA vaccines showed a significant protection against infection of the spleen (p<0.01). There was no significant difference between mice immunized with LPS and D-LPS in terms of protection (p<0.99). Therefore, it was concluded that D-LPS and LPS-HSA for B. abortus can be used as safer and more potent vaccines than ordinary LPS-B. abortus vaccine.


In this study, the effectiveness of acrylic pin external fixation (APEF) system was investigated in healing of newborn calves' metacarpal fractures. Six newborn calves with closed metacarpal fracture were used. Fracture healing was monitored by scoring "walking-weight bearing" "radiographic healing" and "pin tract infections" in postoperative days 10, 20, 40 and 80. Calves were able to walk without support at postoperative day 1 and able to walk normally at day 40. In all cases, radiological fracture healing was observed on day 40 and APEF system was removed. After day 10 controls, no pin track infection was observed in any case.


In this study we examined the neuronal responses of single units to different sound durations in the inferior colliculus (IC) of the mouse. One hundred and one recorded units were classified into onset (58%), sustained (9%), on-sustained (22%), pauser (9%) and chopper (2%) response patterns. Thirty-four percent of the recorded units showing stronger responses to long stimulus durations were defined as long-duration-selective neurons. Twenty-five percent of the units preferred a narrow range of sound durations and were classified as band-pass neurons. Ten percent of the units responded preferentially to short stimulus durations and thus displayed short-duration selectivity. Twelve percent of the units that responded with nearly constant spike counts to stimuli of varying duration were classified as all-pass neurons. In contrast to the result of no short-duration-selective neurons found in chinchilla IC, we observed that some of the onset units in the IC of the mouse displayed a short duration preference. The best duration range of the duration-selective neurons in the present study corresponds to the duration range of mouse calls. We suggest that an inhibitory mechanism contributes to the duration selectivity observed in the present study.


[156] ABSTRACT Jean Baudrillard and Pierre Bourdieu are two well known French social philosophers that have at least couple of things in common. They were born in the same social conditions, they grew up as rebels, and they participated in Revolution of 1968. They also participated in the very same formal problems of the research work. The problem is, what happens when one introduces same difficulties in one's ideas as those, that he was searching to neutralize. Bourdieu criticizes the system of education, art, culture in general, because it contributes to reproduction and conservation of social hierarchy. However, he's doing it using quite similar kind of high developed concepts, that he had criticized before. Baudrillard also detests modern social habits. Most of all, so called hyperreality, that manifests itself as a lack of real connection between things and concepts or ideas related to them. Nonetheless Baudrillard seems to adore hyperreality also, as a dimension of game, seduction. Bourdieu, as well as Baudrillard, appears as an adept of pataphysics — according to the definition given to this notion by Baudrillard, based on novels of Alfred Jarry.


The impact of a gaseous ozone-oxygen mixture (OOM) on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) and opportunistic microorganisms was studied. It was demonstrated that on 15- and 30-min exposure, OOM caused a significant decrease in the number of colonies of the grown microorganisms as compared with the control. The OOM mixture produced the highest effect of the MBT suspension, which is likely to be related to a greater surface of ozone contact with a cell than with a dense medium, and higher concentration of ozone and its highly active radicals that arise from a treatment process. After treatment with a gaseous mixture, 80-90% of the microbial cells lost their reproductive ability. The strains grown after OOM action retain drug sensitivity of the original strain. The results suggest that the use of a gaseous OOM mixture is promising in the treatment of tuberculosis to cleanse the destruction cavities and pleural empyemas, including those of nonspecific etiology.


Foaming can hinder gas-liquid separation, therefore, it is desirable to break the foam upstream of separation facilities. There are different methods to breakup foam, including chemical (utilizing defoaming agent), mechanical (such as cyclones), and thermal (by increasing temperature).
 Foam stability and breakup are studied in a standalone Churn Flow Coalescer (CFC) and in a Churn Flow Coalescer/Gas-Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone© (CFC/GLCC©) system. The goal is to investigate the possible improvement of the foam breakup efficiency in the GLCC© by installing a CFC upstream of the GLCC©. Testing the standalone CFC, it was found that the CFC generates more, but less stable, foam that can be broken more easily.
 Three different CFC's are tested with diameters of 1″, 2″ and 3″. For the same inlet conditions, the 3″ CFC with tangential inlet was found to be the most efficient for generating less stable foam. The optimal operating conditions for this CFC are at low superficial gas velocities, namely, vsg(CFC) between 0.1 to 0.3 m/s. Higher flow rates generate smaller bubbles and more stable foam. From testing the CFC/GLCC© system, it is found that foam breakup in this system is more efficient than that of the standalone GLCC©, under the same flow conditions.
 The operational envelope of the CFC is predicted based on the transition boundary to churn flow developed by Taitel et al. (1980), as a function of the CFC aspect ratio (LE/D). The analysis of transition boundary between slug and churn confirm that less stable foam occurs at the left of churn flow transition boundary.


Phytoextraction in the UAE desert soil (sandy, calcareous, less than 0.5% humus, and pH 7.9) has been studied. Twelve suspected polluted sites were investigated for contamination with eight heavy metals and sixteen local plants from the UAE desert were evaluated for their ability to accumulate heavy metals. The soil of Ajman industrial zone demonstrated high amounts of total chromium (1800 mg/kg) and of hexavalent chromium (97 mg/kg) which is a significant environmental threat. Portulaca oleracea (Purslane) has been shown to be the best candidate for Cr(VI) accumulation.

Total chromium concentration exceeded 4600 mg/kg in roots and 1400 mg/kg in stems confirming the role of P. oleracea as a Cr(VI) accumulator. More than 95% of the accumulated Cr(VI) was reduced to the less toxic Cr(III) within the plant.

The uptake of Cr(VI) by this plant has been investigated. The uptake of Cr(VI) increased as its concentration in soil increased between 50 and 400 mg/kg. The highest Cr(VI) uptake was observed at the high pH and low organic matter content of soil confirming the phytoextraction efficiency of P. oleracea in soils found in the UAE. The uptake of Cr(VI) increased in the presence of sulfate anion (suggesting that chromate uses the same carriers of sulfate in root cells) while nitrate and phosphate retarded the uptake. Potassium and ammonium ions, but not sodium ions, enhanced the uptake of Cr(VI) confirming the effect of accompanying cations. EDTA enhanced the translocation factor of chromium from roots to shoots in plants irrigated with either Cr(III) or Cr(VI). HPLC-MS analysis showed that ascorbic acid is the main antioxidant that reduced Cr(VI) to Cr(III) which is then mostly translocated to shoots after chelation with organic acids such as oxalate since glutathione and phytochelatins were not observed at significant levels in the tissues of plants exposed to Cr(VI).


Professors Zirath and Kildal's groups at Chalmers have started a cooperation on developing a spatial quasioptical grid amplifier. Initially most work is done by guest researcher and Master students. The waveguide components are studied in Kildal's group, whereas the active grid is being studied in cooperation between Zirath's group and Dr Weikle's group in Virginia. The present paper describes the initial study of the waveguide components, involving the development of a hard horn transition from a standard waveguide to a quadratic quasi-TEM hard waveguide.


A postal census of vaginal prolapse in sheep flocks in the Borders region of Scotland yielded 540 replies from 963 owners (56 per cent). There were 262,250 ewes in 976 flocks and 2573 vaginal prolapses were reported. Analysis of the data revealed that 390 (40 per cent) of the flocks had no vaginal prolapses and in 237 (24.3 per cent) the reported prevalence was between 0.1 per cent and 1.0 per cent. Only 63 (6.5 per cent) of flocks had a greater than 5 per cent prevalence of vaginal prolapses. The greatest number of prolapses occurred in an upland flock of greyface ewes mated with Suffolk tups with 50 cases among 700 ewes (7.1 per cent) and the highest prevalence was in an upland Scottish blackface flock of ewes bred with Suffolk tups with 15.2 per cent (35 cases among 230 ewes). There were marked breed differences; very few hill breeds were affected and most cases occurred in greyface ewes mated with Suffolk tups.


In the present work further modifications are implemented to an existing test setup for the evaluation of the wear of cemented carbide drill buttons in rock drilling applications. The test setup has been evaluated in previous diploma works, which has shown that the test successfully mimics the wear seen in rock drilling applications. The new modifications include friction and normal force measurements together with the collection of rock debris. This has been made possible by redesigning the sample holder and by manufacturing equipment making rock debris collection possible. The new modifications to the test setup were evaluated by comparing the wear of three different cemented carbide grades tested against sandstone and granite with two different loads.The data collected from the new modifications were found to be robust with lower than expected spread of data. The coefficient of friction when testing against sandstone was higher than when testing against granite. More adhered material was observed on the wear surface when testing against granite than against sandstone. Load dependence on the wear of the cemented carbide buttons is only seen for the softer cemented carbide grades when testing against sandstone. The wear of the buttons indicates a high dependence on the hardness of the different grades as shouldbe expected. This diploma work has been performed for Sandvik Mining, Rock Tools,a world leading supplier of rock drill equipment.


ABSTRACT Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may lead to a severe inflammatory response referred to as a cytokine storm. We describe a case of severe COVID-19 infection in a recently diagnosed pediatric Crohn's disease patient successfully treated with Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α) blockade. The patient presented with five days of fever, an erythematous maculopapular facial rash, and abdominal pain without respiratory symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 PCR was positive. Despite inpatient treatment for COVID-19 and a perianal abscess, the patient acutely decompensated, with worsening fever, tachycardia, fluid-refractory hypotension, elevation of liver enzymes, and transformation of the rash into purpura extending from the face to the trunk, upper and lower extremities, including the palmar and plantar surfaces of the hands and feet. Cytokine profile revealed rising levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and TNF-α, higher than those described in either inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or severe COVID-19 alone. The patient was treated with infliximab for TNF-α blockade to address both moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) temporally related to COVID-19. Within hours of infliximab treatment, fever, tachycardia and hypotension resolved. Cytokine profile improved with normalization of TNF-α, a decrease in IL-6, and IL-8 concentrations. This case supports a role for blockade of TNF-α in the treatment of COVID-19 inflammatory cascade. The role of anti-TNF agents in patients with MIS-C temporally related to COVID-19 requires further investigation.


In this paper, control-moment gyroscopes (CMGs) are proposed as actuators for a spacecraft-mounted robotic arm to reduce reaction forces and torques on the spacecraft base. With the established kinematics and dynamics for a CMG robotic system, numerical simulations are performed for a general CMG system with an added payload. The analysis of an added payload's effects on otherwise reactionless CMG systems motivates the examination of possible operations concepts to reduce base reactions and power consumption. Simulation results for an example closed-loop maneuver show that base reactions can be significantly reduced, or even eliminated, with CMG actuation while using the same amount of power as a robotic system driven by conventional joint motors.


The quality of vegetables can be assessed by numbers of viewpoints. One of them is the monitoring of the content of hazardous substances included nitrates. High nitrate levels cause methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome; a condition found especially including in infants under six months. Most of the nitrates we consume are from either raw or cooked vegetables. Healthy adults may consume fairly large amount of nitrates with few known negative health effects. However, a long-term intake of high amount of nitrates may result into various gastric problems because of the rapid reduction of nitrates to nitrites. Subsequently, the nitrites react with further secondary amines in the stomach which leads to a production of carcinogenic nitrosamines. This work deals with determination of nitrates in vegetables by capillary isotachophoresis. Samples of organic-labeled ("bio") vegetables as well as undistinguished vegetables were purchased in supermarkets and in farmer markets in Brno, Czech Republic. The amount of nitrates contained in the samples differed widely. The lowest content of nitrates was found bellow the limit of quantification. On the other hand only one of the samples exceeded the maximum amount of nitrates allowed by European Union legislation.


ABSTRACT Accretionary lapilli have been identified in claystones (tonsteins) associated with coal beds of Late Cretaceous age in Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico. The presence of accretionary lapilli in these tonstein partings confirms their volcanic origin. Similar concentric structures in other claystones not in coal, such as some flint clays, may also be accretionary lapilli, indicating a volcanic origin for these deposits. The lapilli are spherical aggregates of volcanic ash that form in eruption columns, where water vapor and turbulence promote accretion of layers of fine ash about coarse-grained aggregates of ash acting as nuclei. The very fine particle size of the crystalline components of the claystones containing accretionary lapilli, coupled with the relatively small size of the lapilli themselves (2-7.5 mm), suggests that the lapilli formed far downwind from the volcano through interaction with moisture from the atmosphere, rather than with magmatic or phreatic moisture near the source vent.


SEVERAL years ago it became necessary to revise the primary distribution system in a large chemical plant. This plant was approximately 25 years old and had undergone a rapid expansion during this entire period. The type of electric distribution system which had developed is typical of many other large chemical plants which have expanded over comparable periods of time. The original plant electric system consisted of 2,300-volt generation and primary distribution. Load increases associated with later plant expansions resulted in the introduction of 11,000-volt generation and primary distribution and the installation of an 11,000-volt interconnection with the local public utility. Bus tie reactors had been installed to keep the generator bus fault levels down as additional power capacity was added to the system.


Aquaponics is an integrated production system of aquaculture and hydroponics. Beneficial bacteria convert the ammonia and solid wastes produced by fish in the aquaculture component into essential nutrients for plant growth in hydroponics. The objective of the present study was to identify the bacteria community in the aquaponics system. This study was set by using barb fish and basils as organisms of cultivation. The fish tank (aquaculture) water was pumped into the treatment tank containing bio-ring functions as nitrifying bacteria by converting ammonia to nitrates. The nutrient-rich water from the treatment tank was then pumped into the hydroponics containing lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) and plants. Water samples from the treatment tank and hydroponics were pipetted and transferred onto different agar plates for colony growth. Another set of soil growth plant was used for comparison in bacteria community between aquaponics and conventional land agriculture. RapID system and 16S rRNA gene were used to identify gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria respectively. The identified bacteria species from the hydroponics (LECA) and treatment tank (Bio-ring) were Moellerella wisconsensis, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Bacillus cereus, Burkholderia pseudomallei and Bacillus sp. respectively whereas the bacteria species isolated from soil were Bacillus sp. and Bacillus pumilus.


The rise of the "new economy", one principally driven by information and knowledge, is attributed to the increased prominence of intellectual capital (IC) as a business and research topic. Intellectual capital is implicated in recent economic, managerial, technological, and sociological developments in a manner previously unknown and largely unforeseen. Whether these developments are viewed through the filter of the information society, the knowledge‐based economy, the network society, or innovation, there is much to support the assertion that IC is instrumental in the determination of enterprise value and national economic performance. First, we seek to review some of the most significant extant literature on intellectual capital and its developed path. The emphasis is on important theoretical and empirical contributions relating to the measurement and reporting of intellectual capital. The second part of this paper identifies possible future research issues into the nature, impact and value of intellectual management and reporting.


On July 13, 1994, at the "Cliniques universities St. Luc", a wearable left ventricular assist device was successfully implanted, for the first time in Belgium, in a 44-year-old male. He had been readmitted with end-stage congestive heart failure 7 years after a first cardiac transplantation. In the absence of a suitable donor heart, the Novacor system was installed: the prosthetic ventricle is buried in the left flank and connected to the apex of the left ventricle and to the ascending aorta by means of valved conduits. The Novacor has allowed the patient to be optimally revalidated while waiting for a "ideal" donor heart. On Oct.-16, 1994, after 95 days of assistance, re-transplantation was uneventful and the patient has resumed a full-ranged activity as from January 1995.


OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of knowledge of primary school teachers in the public school network of Northeastern Brazil with respect to management of dental trauma and its relationship with prognosis. METHODS: A questionnaire was applied to 195 school teachers of public schools in Northeastern Brazil. The questionnaire comprised 12 objective questions about dental trauma and methods for its prevention and management. Data were submitted to chi-square test and Poisson regression test (P > 0.05). RESULTS: Out of the 141 teachers who responded the questionnaires, the majority were women (70.2%) and most of them had experienced previous dental accidents involving a child (53.2%). The majority (84.4%) had incomplete college education and few were given some training on how to deal with emergency situations during their undergraduate course (13.5%) or after it (38.3%). Their level of knowledge about dental trauma and emergency protocols showed that unsatisfactory knowledge level was associated with the male sex: 46% higher for men in comparison to women (P = 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of teachers evaluated had unsatisfactory knowledge about dental trauma and emergency protocols, with female teachers showing more knowledge than men.


The outsourcing literature has offered a plethora of perspectives and models for understanding decision determinants and outcomes of outsourcing of business processes. While past studies have contributed significantly to scholarly research in this area, there are an insufficient number of studies that explore how information systems can be used to facilitate service provisioning. Consequently, there is a need to understand how vendors develop IS enabled capabilities that allow them to address a core challenge: to achieve scalable growth by developing standardized offerings that can be sufficiently customized to meet the unique demands of individual customers. This in-depth case study leverages an organizational sensemaking framework to explore IS enabled capability development in one of the largest business process outsourcing (BPO) vendors in the world.


This study analyzes interregional migration decision-making in terms of utility maximization. Given that indirect utility consists of real income and migration costs, migration decisions depend on whether additional benefits of real income by migration at least offset the costs of migration. To quantify migration costs from interregional migration flow data, this study constructs a structural model of migration decision by incorporating different migration costs based on different age ranges. This study further discusses whether current migration policy is effective based on the counterfactual results since the Japanese government currently promotes urban-to-rural migration policy measures for regional revitalization in order to correct monopolar concentration in Tokyo.


Objective: Eagle syndrome is a rare pain syndrome caused by an elongated styloid apophysis or an ossified styloid ligament. It is characterized by a complex range of symptoms in head and neck region. The most effective treatment is surgical shortening of the styloid apophysis. The authors report of a follow-up examination of 4 patients after surgical treatment via cervical approach. Methods: Retrospectively reviewed hospital records of 5 patients (4 females and 1 male), aged from 26 to 59 years old (mean age = 45.5 years) who underwent surgical shortening of the styloid process via cervical approach. Further, a paper-based survey of 4 patients was conducted, including a clinical questionnaire and 4 visual analogue scales, consisting of questions regarding postoperative pain. Results: Period of follow-up ranged from 16 to 79 months (mean 53.75 months). All patients were asymptomatic at follow-up. None of the patients reported a visible scar or hypoesthesia in the affected area. The patients demonstrated low mean visual analogue scales for each item (facial pain: 0.6 ± 1.2, foreign body sensation: 0.725 ± 1.45, pain of throat and neck 1.35 ± 1.58 and limitation of dietary habits: 0.75 ± 1.5). None of the patients reported a resurgence of pain in the head and neck region so far. Conclusions: Surgical treatment via cervical approach appears to be an effective and safe option with low morbidity and mortality in the treatment of symptomatic Eagle syndrome of adults.


Internet operation has typically required no public mechanism for
announcing restriction or permission of particular hosts to operate
clients or servers for particular services on behalf of particular
domains. What is missing is an open, interoperable means by which a
trusted agency can announce authorization for a host to operate a
service. The current specification supports this capability for
sending SMTP clients. Specifically, is a sending SMTP client permitted
to act as a client MTA? Has a separate authority given it permission
to perform this service? Client SMTP Authorization (CSA) specifies a
DNS-based record that states whether an associated host has permission
to operate as a client MTA.


Abstract Kenney, M.A., G.B. Arhonditsis, L.C. Reiter, M. Barkley, and K.H. Reckhow. 2009. Using structural equation modeling and expert elicitation to select nutrient criteria variables for south-central Florida lakes. To protect the nation's waterbodies from excessive impairments from pollution leading to eutrophication, the Clean Water Act requires states to establish water quality standards. These water quality standards are designed to protect the designated use, or water quality goal; however, they are indirectly measured and assessed using a water quality criterion. An alternative approach to develop nutrient criteria is the predictive approach (Reckhow et al. 2005), which determines the predictive variables by combining water quality data with assessments from multiple experts on the probability of designated use attainment using structural equation modeling (SEM). Our objective was to expand the predictive approach to include a region of waterbodies and to use multiple experts. To demonstrate these extensions, the approach was applied to lakes in south-central Florida using four experts to quantify attainment of a fish and wildlife designated use. Multiple models were built that related eutrophication processes to the designated use. Of the two plausible models, total phosphorus was the most predictive of the designated use followed by chlorophyll a. Using the model results, the risk of nonattainment of the designated use for these two predictive variables was calculated; to achieve high attainment (90% or more), total phosphorus should be < 0.015 mg/L and chlorophyll a < 5 μ g/L. This study provides vital extensions to the previous approach through its use of multiple experts and a region of lakes, making the approach applicable to other regions of waterbodies and conclusions useful to inform policy.


It is a vital ability of humans to flexibly adapt their behavior to different environmental situations. Constantly, the rules for our sensory-to-motor mappings need to be adapted to the current task demands. For example, the same sensory input might require two different motor responses depending on the actual situation. How does the brain prepare for such different responses? It has been suggested that the functional connections within cortex are biased according to the present rule to guide the flow of information in accordance with the required sensory-to-motor mapping. Here, we investigated with fMRI whether task settings might indeed change the functional connectivity structure in a large-scale brain network. Subjects performed a visuomotor response task that required an interaction between visual and motor cortex: either within each hemisphere or across the two hemispheres of the brain depending on the task condition. A multivariate analysis on the functional connectivity graph of a cortical visuomotor network revealed that the functional integration, i.e., the connectivity structure, is altered according to the task condition already during a preparatory period before the visual cue and the actual movement. Our results show that the topology of connection weights within a single network changes according to and thus predicts the upcoming task. This suggests that the human brain prepares to respond in different conditions by altering its large scale functional connectivity structure even before an action is required.


A spatial, intertemporal equilibrium model of the North American dry onion economy is constructed to analyze the impact of liberalized U.S.-Mexico trade. In a free-trade environment, exports of Mexi- can onions to the U.S. are projected to increase about 509Z0,while Mexico's share of the U.S. market increases from 8.7 to 12.8'%. Farm-level prices in the U.S. are projected to decline 8.!)~o, while production declines 2.4%. The effect of free trade on U.S. producers is disproportional across re- gions. Northwest storage onion producers experience the greatest decline in production; however, analysis suggests that improved storage methods may offset a portion of the unfavorable impacts of liberalized trade on these producers. In spite of the unfavorable impact of free trade on U.S. dry onion producers, the industry would not be economically devastated.


It is important to develop a new special material to meet the requirement of advanced industry. The BST (Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3) ceramics doped La2O3 and Sm2O3 was fabricated by the conventional method, and was tested by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Complex Impedance Testing Instrument, LCR Tester with temperature controlling systems. The results indicate that dielectric property of BST-based ceramics doped 0.05 mol% La2O3 and 0.2 mol% Sm2O3 simultaneously is the best, and Sm2O3 had applications of removing Tc of matrix material to a low temperature and making peak wider. The calcining temperature of samples was 1280 °C.


Background and Aim: Acute appendicitis is a common cause of abdominal pain and it can be difficult to diagnose, especially during the early stages. The role of inflammatory markers in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis has not been clearly defined. The aims of this prospective audit were to define the role of C-reactive protein and the other serum markers of inflammation, total white cell and neutrophil count in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in adult. Patients and Methods: In a prospective analytic setting, 100 patients with the probable diagnosis of acute appendicitis (Alvarado score ≤5) that had referred to Tabriz Pediatric Hospital during 2007-08 were studied. The CRP, WBC count and neutrophil percentage were checked on admission in all patients and were compared between the patients with and without definite diagnosis of acute appendicitis according to the result of histopathologic study or follow up (as the gold standard methods) via Student t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-Square test and Fisher's Exact test. Results: A total of 52 males and 48 females with the mean age of 20.6±4.1 years were recruited. Fifty four (54%) patients revealed to have definite acute appendicitis. Patients with final diagnosis of acute appendicitis had significantly greater values of inflammatory markers. Elevated CRP had sensitivity (62.7%), specificity (68.3%), positive predictive value (74%) and negative predictive value (56%) which are not enough for diagnosis. Only 2 patients with normal markers had acute appendicitis. Conclusion: This study showed that despite the elevation of these inflammatory markers in patients with acute appendicitis, mere reliance on laboratory findings in managing the patients with equivocal appendicitis would not make sense. Combination of the clinical suspicion with these laboratory data is recommended. Normal values of all of these markers are very unlikely in pathologically confirmed appendicitis in adult.


Five contracts from the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T) in Boston, Massachusetts were reviewed to document issues related to the design and construction of driven pile foundations. Given the soft and compressible marine clays in the Boston area, driven pile foun dations were selected to support specific structures including retaining walls, abutments, roadway slabs, transition structures, and ramps. This paper presents the results of a study to assess the lessons learned from pile driving on the CA/T. This study focused on an evaluation of static and dynamic load test data and a case study of significant movements of an adjacent building during pile driving. The load test results showed that the piles have more capacity than what they were designed for. At the site of significant movement of an adjacent building, installation of wick drains and preaugering to mitigate additional movements proved ineffective. Detailed settlement, inclinometer, and piezometer data are presented.


The efficient development of current products requires the integration of methods for shape and functional design in early stages of the product development process. Due to the increasing complexity of innovative product design, the methods represented in this paper have been accepted as tools for rapid design of product prototypes. In their contribution, the authors expand the current use of virtual reality (VR) technologies to support the embodiment design.


We present a formal multiagent framework for coordinating a class of collaborative industrial practices called "Industrial Symbiotic Networks (ISNs)" as cooperative games. The game-theoretic formulation of ISNs enables systematic reasoning about what we call the ISN implementation problem. Specifically, the characteristics of ISNs may lead to the inapplicability of standard fair and stable benefit allocation methods. Inspired by realistic ISN scenarios and following the literature on normative multiagent systems, we consider regulations and normative socio-economic policies as coordination instruments that in combination with ISN games resolve the situation. In this multiagent system, employing Marginal Contribution Nets (MC-Nets) as rule-based cooperative game representations foster the combination of regulations and ISN games with no loss in expressiveness. We develop algorithmic methods for generating regulations that ensure the implementability of ISNs and as a policy support, present the policy requirements that guarantee the implementability of desired ISNs in a balanced-budget way.


Clinical studies of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) enroll patients with a very wide spectrum of disease, in part, related to the patient and/or host, the causative pathogen, and the severity of the pulmonary disease, severity of illness, and other comorbidities. Studies have identified the presence of some baseline variables (eg, Acute Physiologic Assessment and Chronic Health Evaluation II score <or= 20 or absence of comorbidities) as independent predictors of survival. Incorporation of severity scoring and risk adjustment in clinical trials of HAP and VAP may be a significant advancement because it has been noted that all-cause mortality varies widely on the basis of a number of these factors. In this article, we review the use of severity scoring and risk stratification factors, including time of onset, severity of disease, scoring systems, underlying disease and comorbidities, and effects of prior antibiotic therapy (including impact on treatment effect) in clinical trials of HAP and/or VAP.


Abstract Foraging decisions and movement strategies by animals often involve a trade-off between meeting nutritional demands and minimizing risk of predation. We evaluated the influence of space use and movement patterns of maternal female grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) on cub (defined as first year of life) survival in eastern Interior Alaska, USA, during 2008–2012. We monitored 9 GPS radiocollared females that produced 28 cubs in 12 litters (x¯ litter size  =  2.3, range  =  2–3). The estimated annual cub survival rate was 0.39 (95% CI  =  0.20–0.57). In all cases the entire litter survived or died prior to den entrance. All cubs in a litter died either concurrently or within 14 days in 5 of 7 litters lost. Sixty-nine percent of cub mortality occurred between 31 May and 16 June. We did not document cub mortality before 31 May. Females with surviving cubs remained within 1 km of the den for a longer period following emergence than those that lost cubs. Between den emergence and the onset of vegetation green-up, females with surviving cubs used fewer habitat patches and remained in individual habitat patches longer than females that lost their cubs later in the summer. Females with surviving cubs exhibited different activity patterns compared with females that lost their cubs, particularly by moving less between midnight and mid-morning during 15 May–16 June. Once vegetation green-up occurred, movement rates of all maternal females were similar except that females with surviving cubs continued to move less during the morning hours (0000–1200 hr). We did not find evidence that the body size of the mother was a factor explaining cub survival nor was there evidence that cub survival was directly influenced by human causes. The most successful behavioral strategies used by maternal females to maximize cub survival appeared to be a combination of limiting movements to a few habitat patches between den emergence and vegetation green-up and limiting activity between midnight and mid-morning. We suggest that the ability to find and exploit suitable habitat patches during this period of limited resources may have allowed females to alter movements temporally and spatially and provision themselves and their cubs more effectively. This strategy was likely effective for both minimizing exposure to infanticidal adult bears and allowing cubs to maximize energy efficiency.


As nonholonomic mobile robots have constraints imposed on motions that are not integrable, i.e. the constraints cannot be written as time derivatives of some function of the generalized coordinates, advanced techniques are needed for the tracking control. In the paper a robust control law is proposed for trajectory tracking of nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots. The state variables of the mobile robot are represented in polar coordinates, and the dynamic equation of the system is feedback-linearized by a computed-torque method. A novel sliding mode control law is derived for asymptotically stabilizing the mobile robot to a desired trajectory. It is shown that the proposed scheme is robust to bounded system disturbances. Simulation examples and experimental results are provided to show the effectiveness of the accurate tracking capability and the robust performance of the proposed controller.


The flexibility of packet-switching technologies, coupled with the economic benefits of sending voice over IP networks, is accelerating the convergence of data and voice. It remains unclear, however, which voice-over-IP (VoIP) architecture will best meet user needs, which services will be most successful, and where in the network these services should reside. The question of where to place services in IP telephone networks depends on many variables, including the end systems' capabilities, the amount of interaction the service requires with the end user, and the network infrastructure's architecture. The limited ability of dumb end devices, such as the telephones in the public switched telephone network (PSTN), force service providers to implement services within the network. Smart end systems allow providers more choice in where to locate services. This article describes the main architectural options for VOW and discusses their associated economic effects. By focusing on the relationship between architecture and market uncertainty, the author demonstrates how high uncertainty enhances the value of architectures that allow distributed network services.


It is well known that the optimal convergence rate for stochastic optimization of smooth functions is $O(1/\sqrt{T})$, which is same as stochastic optimization of Lipschitz continuous convex functions. This is in contrast to optimizing smooth functions using full gradients, which yields a convergence rate of $O(1/T^2)$. In this work, we consider a new setup for optimizing smooth functions, termed as {\bf Mixed Optimization}, which allows to access both a stochastic oracle and a full gradient oracle. Our goal is to significantly improve the convergence rate of stochastic optimization of smooth functions by having an additional small number of accesses to the full gradient oracle. We show that, with an $O(\ln T)$ calls to the full gradient oracle and an $O(T)$ calls to the stochastic oracle, the proposed mixed optimization algorithm is able to achieve an optimization error of $O(1/T)$.


In this study, phosphate solubilising microorganisms were used to increase the solubility of rock phosphates, a slow release phosphorus (P) fertiliser. A consortium that consists of Serratia marcens , Klebsiella sp. and Aspergillus sp. was mixed with rock phosphate to evaluate the efficiency of rock phosphate solubilisation in soils sampled from various locations with different soil properties and agronomic practices. Total P and soluble P in soils treated with phosphate solubilising microorganisms were significantly higher compared with soils solely applied with rock phosphate. Approximately 70 – 98 % of P was released from rock phosphates in soils. Available P within the range of 13 – 1289 ppm and 832 – 1441 ppm were observed in soils exclusively treated with rock phosphates and soils treated with both rock phosphate and phosphate solubilising microorganisms respectively. Thus, the application of rock phosphates with phosphate solubilising microorganisms should be recommended for a sustainable agriculture practice as it is safe for environment and reduces pollution caused by chemical fertilisers


Risk factors for steroid mood effects are unclear, and few studies have examined drugs used concurrently with steroids (e.g., stimulants) or emotion regulation deficits that may have unique mood effects. The authors examined effects of steroid use, stimulant use, and history of mood, trauma, or anxiety disorders on mood in 130 men via online survey. Steroid and stimulant use had few unique effects on mood. However, stimulant use was associated with increased negative affect and decreased automatic positive thoughts among individuals with a history of mood, trauma, or anxiety disorders. Results highlight the importance of patient differences in steroid effects.


Background The internet is a well-known source of information that patients use to better inform their opinions and to guide their conversations with physicians during clinic visits. The novelty of the recent COVID-19 outbreak has led patients to turn more frequently to the internet to gather more information and to alleviate their concerns about the virus. Objective The aims of the study were to (1) determine the most commonly searched phrases related to COVID-19 in the United States and (2) identify the sources of information for these web searches. Methods Search terms related to COVID-19 were entered into Google. Questions and websites from Google web search were extracted to a database using customized software. Each question was categorized into one of 6 topics: clinical signs and symptoms, treatment, transmission, cleaning methods, activity modification, and policy. Additionally, the websites were categorized according to source: World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), non-CDC government, academic, news, and other media. Results In total, 200 questions and websites were extracted. The most common question topic was transmission (n=63, 31.5%), followed by clinical signs and symptoms (n=54, 27.0%) and activity modification (n=31, 15.5%). Notably, the clinical signs and symptoms category captured questions about myths associated with the disease, such as whether consuming alcohol stops the coronavirus. The most common websites provided were maintained by the CDC, the WHO, and academic medical organizations. Collectively, these three sources accounted for 84.0% (n=168) of the websites in our sample. Conclusions In the United States, the most commonly searched topics related to COVID-19 were transmission, clinical signs and symptoms, and activity modification. Reassuringly, a sizable majority of internet sources provided were from major health organizations or from academic medical institutions.


We consider personal rapid transit (PRT) as a sustainable transit system for Canberra. We discuss the advantages of PRT and show that is has all of the advantages and features of both car ownership and public transport, with added attractions of its own. The most appealing feature of PRT is its cost. Previous studies have shown PRT to be cheaper than most other public transport systems. We show that PRT would be remarkably cost effective for a city planned like Canberra, particularly if there were sufficient incentives to significantly cut car ownership, including enhancement of the current excellent bicycle network.


In Norway, distribution companies experience that the grid regulatory regime, has not developed in line with the pressure stemming from the growth of distributed generation (DG). This paper presents two major nontechnical challenges for the distribution companies. Firstly, the lack of incentives to ensure a holistic planning of the grid, and secondly, the communication challenge between the DG owner and the Distribution System Operator (DSO) in terms of information flow and dialogue through the process. Several initiatives have been taken to meet these challenges. However, the problems are still present. The paper seeks to address the existing plans in Norway for DG integration of small scale hydro power and grid development and assesses whether better use and coordination of regional and local plans can reduce the uncertainty faced by the DSOs through providing a more predictable picture of the DG development process for the actors involved. (4 pages)


Background: Older adults with intellectual disability often take multiple medicines with anticholinergic activity and sedative properties to manage multi-morbidity; the use of medication with anticholinergic activity has been found to be associated with various cognitive and physical impairments. However, there are limited studies that have examined the long-term impact of anticholinergic use among older adults. Therefore, this protocol is designed to conduct a scoping review to examine the available data on the long-term impact of anticholinergic use in older adults with intellectual disability. Aim and objectives:  The aim of this scoping review is to a) map and b) examine the existing research literature to answer the research question: What is the impact on cognitive and physical outcomes of long-term exposure to medications with anticholinergic activity among older adults with intellectual disabilities? Methods and analysis: This scoping review will follow the methodology framework of Arksey and O'Malley and its developed version by Levac. The framework consists of a six-stage process to be conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) reporting guidelines. The search strategy will include the following electronic data bases: Pubmed, Cochrane library, EMBASE, Medline, Science Direct, CINAHL Complete and PsycINFO. The search will include terms related to 'Anticholinergic burden', 'Intellectual disability', 'Adverse drug reaction' and 'long-term impact' with Boolean operator 'and'. The scoping review will include studies with at least 3 months exposure to anticholinergics. The collected data will be mapped as a tabular presentation of the various physical and cognitive adverse effects associated with long-term use of anticholinergics in this group of population.


: Although carcinoma of the lung metastatic to the pancreas is not unusual in autopsy series, it is rare as a cause of extra-hepatic bile duct obstruction among the living. We have reported two cases of oat cell carcinoma of the lung in which the first sign of metastatic disease was extrahepatic bile duct obstruction. Ultrasonography provides a quick, direct, and noninvasive means of evaluating such obstruction, allowing early diagnosis and surgical palliation.


January 2007Psoriasis is a common skin disease that affects 1–3% of the general population. Systemic lupus erythematosus is much less common than psoriasis. Its overall prevalence in the United States ranges be-tween 14.6 and 50.8 cases/100,000 adults. Although SLE has been described in as-sociation with other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, mixed connective tissue disease, autoim-mune thyroid diseases, pernicious anemia and others [1], the coexistence of these two diseases is very rare [2-4]. A PubMed search of the English-language medical literature showed no previously published cases of psoriatic arthritis associated with SLE. We report the first two cases of patients suffering from both psoriatic arthritis and SLE.


bicarbonate-treated group in whom sodium estimations were repeated, and a third case who died with almost certainly some degree of hypernatraemia, extreme caution in the use of the treatment should surely have been advised. While rightly pointing out that the extent of the hazard can only be assessed in a larger series, the authors are prepared to recommend their regimen for use in centres in which detailed laboratory control is unavailable, and even recommend increasing the quantity of sodium bicarbonate for prematures and neonates, a group particularly susceptible to hypernatraemia. Finally the scheme suggested for the treatment of very severe cases could be calculated to result in the administration, for the first half hour of treatment, of about 27 ml./kg. of a solution containing approximately 200 mEq/l. of sodium, which might well have startling consequences in a patient whose initial sodium level was high. I do not wish to detract from the value of the study as a preliminary report on a line of research which should prove rewarding, but feel that the above warnings should be sounded for the benefit of centres where it might be tempting to copy the suggested methods of treatment although the laboratory control available could not approach that of the authors.-I am, etc., Mpilo Hospital, R. GLYN JONES. Bulhwavo, Rhodesia.


Background: Ozone is a highly oxidative pollutant, associated with respiratory morbidity and mortality. All else being equal, ground-level ozone will increase as temperatures increase with climate change. Aim: As a part of the Climate-TRAP project we used emission scenarios, models and epidemiological data to assess ozone-related health impacts under a changing climate. Methods: European ozone concentrations were modelled at a grid size of 50x50 km using MATCH-RCA3. Projections from two climate models, ECHAM4 and HADLEY, were used, assuming greenhouse gas emission scenarios A2 and A1B. Four periods were compared: the baseline period was defined as 1961–1990, the current situation as 1990–2009, nearer future as 2021–2050 and further future as 2041–2060. The impact on mortality (short-term effect) was calculated for exposures above a daily maximum 8-hour concentrations of 70 μgm-3. We use a European-wide exposure-response function with country-specific baseline mortality. Results: Comparing the current situation with the baseline period, the largest increase in ozone-associated mortality due to climate change (∼4%) occurred in Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands and UK. Comparing the baseline period and the further future, the increase is projected to be biggest in Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal (10–14%) and the effect will be stronger for the A2 scenario. However, in Nordic and Baltic countries there will be a decrease in ozone-related mortality of the same magnitude. Discussion: The current study suggests that projected effects of climate change on ozone levels could differentially influence mortality and morbidity across Europe.


Cortical granules are stimulus‐dependent secretory vesicles found in the egg cortex of most vertebrates and many invertebrates. Upon fertilization, an increase in intracellular calcium levels triggers cortical granules to exocytose enzymes and structural proteins that permanently modify the extracellular surface of the egg to prevent polyspermy. Synaptotagmin is postulated to be a calcium sensor important for stimulus‐dependent secretion and to test this hypothesis for cortical granule exocytosis, we identified the ortholog in two sea urchin species that is present selectively on cortical granules. Characterization by RT‐PCR, in‐situ RNA hybridization, Western blot and immunolocalization shows that synaptotagmin I is expressed in a manner consistent with it having a role during cortical granule secretion. We specifically tested synaptotagmin function during cortical granule exocytosis using a microinjected antibody raised against the entire cytoplasmic domain of sea urchin synaptotagmin I. The results show that synaptotagmin I is essential for normal cortical granule dynamics at fertilization in the sea urchin egg. Identification of this same protein in other developmental stages also shown here will be important for interpreting stimulus‐dependent secretory events for signaling throughout embryogenesis. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Led by local governments and driven by the participation of local people, Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) has been implemented in Thailand to lay the foundation for sustainable management of natural and environmental resources. Unfortunately, after over a decade, only 2.39% of the local governments nationwide have taken the effort seriously. This article aimed to analyze the critical success factors that affect the implementation of LA 21 in Thailand using quantitative research. A questionnaire, developed according to the Stufflebeam's CIPP model, was applied to systematically collect the data on the implementation of LA 21from every local government in Thailand that has implemented LA 21 to some degree (100%). The results were statistically analyzed by stepwise multiple regression. Three critical success factors in implementing LA 21 successfully in Thailand were found; namely the (1) number of private sectors joining the LA 21 operation team (NumPrivate), (2) implementation budget (ImpBudget) and (3) level of multilateral participation in implementation (ParImp). The relationship among the three factors fitted the equation , with a prediction reliability of 60.70 . The level of multilateral participation in implementation is the most critical factor in successfully implementing LA 21 in Thailand


"Bollywood" has finally made it to the Oxford English Dictionary. The 2005 edition defines it as: "a name for the Indian popular film industry, based in Bombay. Origin 1970s. Blend of Bombay and Hollywood." The incorporation of the word in the OED acknowledges the strength of a film industry which, with the coming of sound in 1931, has produced some 9,000 films. (This must not be confused with the output of Indian cinema generally, which would be four times more). What is less evident from the OED definition is the way in which the word has acquired its current meaning and has displaced its earlier descriptors (Bombay Cinema, Indian Popular Cinema, Hindi Cinema), functioning, perhaps even horrifyingly, as an "empty signifier" (Prasad) that may be variously used for a reading of popular Indian cinema. The triumph of the term (over the others) is nothing less than spectacular and indicates, furthermore, the growing global sweep of this cinema not just as cinema qua cinema but as cinema qua social effects and national cultural coding. Although Indian film producers in particular, and pockets of Indian spectators generally, continue to feel uneasy with it (the vernacular press came around to using "Bollywood" only reluctantly), its ascendancy has been such that Bombay Dreams (the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical) and the homegrown Merchants of Bollywood both become signifiers of a cultural logic which transcends cinema and is a global marker of Indian modernity. As the Melbourne (March 2006) closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games showed, Bollywood will be the cultural practice through which Indian national culture will be projected when the games are held in Delhi in 2010. International games (the Olympics, World Cup Soccer, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and so on) are often expressions of a nation's own emerging modernity. For India that modernity, in the realm of culture, is increasingly being interpellated by Bollywood.


Cruzipain is the major cysteine proteinase present in Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite causing the American Trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease. The enzyme is encoded by a high number of genes (up to 130 in the Tul 2 stock) placed in head-to-tail tandems, and located in two to four chromosomes. The simultaneous expression of several different genes results in the production of a complex mixture of isoforms. Those known as a group as "cruzipain 1" differ essentially at the level of the C-terminal domain, in their amino-acid sequence and in their type of N-glycosylation. The existence of a more distantly related cysteine proteinase, "cruzipain 2", has been demonstrated; it differs markedly, particularly at the level of the catalytic moiety.


The origin of the infrared activity of rock salt is discussed in terms of the free vibrations of the crystal. Experimental data on the Reststrahlen frequencies and on the frequency displacements of scattered radiation are used to explain the spectroscopic behavior of rock salt in the near infrared.


Ethernet TSN is an upcoming communication standard for industrial distributed embedded systems with high demands on bandwidth and traffic delay. In this paper, we present and prove an improved analysis to determine bandwidth reservations for credit based shapers in a single Ethernet TSN switch. We compare this new analysis, which is based on eligible intervals, to the state-of-the-art bandwidth reservation analysis based on busy periods through experiments. Despite its low complexity and the independence of the knowledge of the interfering traffic, the results show an improvement of efficiency, i.e., a decrease of the required bandwidth, for the new analysis.


: In a retrospective study of 1101 patients (302 men, 799 women; mean age 56,7 [19-88] years) with symptomatic cholelithiasis who had undergone elective cholecystectomy and intraoperative liver biopsy, histological examination revealed inflammatory changes in the gallbladder in 96.7%, chronic fibrotic cholecystitis in 94.5% and a severe form of cholecystitis in 8.8%. Clinically relevant changes in the liver parenchyma were present in 27.9%, most frequently intrahepatic cholangitis (21.8%). The latter was significantly more common in choledocholithiasis than in isolated cholecystolithiasis. 27 patients had signs of severe liver disease, namely viral hepatitis, cirrhosis or fatty liver. Since the gall-bladder in cholelithiasis is almost always inflamed, cholecystectomy is the treatment of choice. Not uncommonly liver biopsy will reveal clinically relevant changes in the liver parenchyma. This will be useful information, especially in the management of symptoms which persist postoperatively.


not Sllffieient respect for public sentiment .00 put,tlle' stamp of nppuront disapproval upon such practices indicates 1\ brazen shamelessness which must count upon l\!~ inert and conscienceless public opinion.'I'he Atlun tie. , has proved a total failure' in' Connecticut, and this iz~tion generally., It i~ bud enough when such ,is why thc gencml assembly, without a word of opmethods exist, und 'are not publicly known; it is inposition from any member, modified and improved finitely worse when they arc known, and arc not inthe lail'. 'l'his action was in the iutorests of the stautly stopped. "Hypocrisy is the respect which children, of ,'tcmpemnce" of morality, and of .rightvice pays to virtue"; and an ndminlstrution that has


IntroductionIn a large biobank of over half a million people, we have several pairs of participants who appear to share their genome. As more individuals are sequenced, more pairs are likely to be found. If these are twins then this is great news, but it isn't quite that simple.
Objectives and ApproachWhere 2 people share a genome we need to be able to confirm that these pairs are twins. However, there are a number of issues which could cause 2 people to appear to share a genome; for example being recruited twice, donating blood on another's behalf, etc. We already identify and exclude participant data based on these conditions. We developed our methodology by looking at the first identified pair in great detail, looking for evidence which specifically ruled out possible alternate explanations, and then applying and refining the method on later pairs.
ResultsWe were able to demonstrate the pair were almost certainly twins using their biochemistry and family questionnaire data as principal sources. We also identified a number of variables which were useful in indicating the likelihood of a twin, and now form part of a methodology which we are still developing. Even more usefully, we identified a number of variables that seemed like useful measures but proved extremely misleading. To date we have 26 pairs of possible twins, with 9 confirmed as twins and the remainder looking likely to be twins but falling short of a threshold for confidence. We also have 75 pairs which confirm duplicate participants we have already excluded.
Conclusion/ImplicationsWe formed two lessons: even very simply linkages come with pitfalls, and you should gather more administrative data than you think. We're proposing the collection of additional familial relationship data in our third resurvey. We are also looking into machine learning and statistical techniques to better identify twins and duplicates.


OBJECTIVE:
This study was to re-examine the usefulness of biomarker assays in all multiple tumors in the same breast, and to evaluate the genetic heterogeneity of unilateral multiple breast carcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:
All of the cases met the criteria for synchronous multicentric breast carcinomas. Tumors were either 5 cm apart or within the different breast quadrants, with no identifiable connection between lesions, and were diagnosed at the same time for an individual patient.

RESULTS:
In the present study, 32 tumors from 15 patients with synchronous unilateral breast cancer were immunostained for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER-2, and also underwent microsatellite analysis using 10 polymorphic markers. The ER and PR expression profile was similar in all tumors from the same patient. Discordant HER-2 immunoreactivity was found and confirmed by HER-2 FISH test in one case, and heterogeneity in the microsatellite pattern was observed in 6 patients.

CONCLUSION:
With the routinely-used biomarkers (ER, PR, and HER-2), heterogeneity was minimal, however, with more frequent differences noted at the genetic levels.


The Rise and Fall of Belarus' Geopolitical Strategy By deploying a combination of foreign policy analysis tools at the system, state and, to a certain extent, individual level this article is undertaking to trace the trajectory and some critical junctions of Belarus' foreign policy strategy in the 21st century. Special focus is given to the implications of president Alexander Lukashenko's recent crackdown on domestic opposition for the mechanism of geopolitical balancing between Russia and the West that has been in place for more than a decade. The world financial and economic crisis has sharpened contradictions between Belarus and Russia and forced Minsk to seek ways for cooperation with Western partners. After the beginning of the normalization of relations with the European Union the Belarusian authorities have intensified its policy of balancing between the East and the West. For Minsk the EU's role in this arrangement has grown beyond its previous rhetorical importance. Belarus has actively tried to equalize its Eastern and Western policy poles and also to complement them with a new "Southern arc" by boosting relationships with Asian, Latin American, and the Arab states. Under the conditions of globalization Minsk started to use networking geopolitical technologies to promote cooperation with China, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Libya, Syria and other states, which are geographically distant, but whose political and economic interests are in various degrees compatible with those of Belarus. In this way Minsk has attempted to become a political and economic player outside its traditional geopolitical zone and to compensate for the costs of problematic dealings with its neighbors Russia and the EU. Meanwhile, because of a reluctant and forced adaptation to the external environment Belarus' foreign policy remains extremely contradictory and despite some correctives it retains many inadequate tenets. A brutal dispersal by the Belarusian authorities of a peaceful action of pro-democratic forces on the day of presidential elections (December 19, 2010) and the following massive political repressions became a watershed that marked the failure of the regime's preceding domestic and foreign policies, exposed its obsession with power and destroyed the balancing mechanism for its geopolitical 'avatars' designed individually for the East, West and 'South'.


Abstract Game-based learning (GBL) is an emerging field reaching new contexts. Research has reported about students' rich use of digital games and the learning potential of GBL in traditional school subjects. Digital games have been tested as educational tools in various subjects in Swedish schools during the last decade, in areas such as teaching and learning of history and foreign languages. However, there is a lack of detailed research on attitudes toward the use of GBL in history education. Main aim of the study was to examine and discuss attitudes toward an increased use of digital games in formal history education. Earlier studies have analysed students' opinions and preferences, but this study has a focus on the teacher perspective and on which design factors are important if digital games should be an alternative for self-learning in history education. The research approach has been qualitative cross-sectional study where secondary school teachers have answered questionnaires with open-ended questions on their view of didactics and the use of GBL in formal education. All selected respondents are registered as professional secondary school history teachers. Furthermore, teachers have described their own gaming habits and their game design preferences. Findings show that a majority of the informants have good knowledge about digital games with historical setting and also a positive attitude toward an increased use of GBL. Secondary school teachers also have a tradition of using various media in their teaching and learning activities and there are neither any regulations against an increased use of digital games. An important aspect of history education, where digital games might not the first choice, is in the description of the main changes and influence of a historical époque. Authors' recommendation is to use games that can enable tangential learning where the gaming sessions could be seen as appetisers for further and deeper learning.


The way of pulse discharge strengthening is introduced, and the electromagnetic heat pulse discharge method can increase the strength and toughness of welded joints. 16Mn low alloy steel welded joints are used in the ZL-2 super pulse current generator, and the test of pulse discharge strengthening is carried out. And the mechanical performance comparison test of welded joint is finished. On the universal tensile machine, tensile strength test before and after strengthening has been done. On the S-4800 scanning electron microscope, micro-fracture morphology is analyzed. The results show that electromagnetic heat strengthening test is carried out based on the appropriate discharge parameters. In the junction of weld and base metal near the heat affected zone of the fracture, there is a white layer organization. It appears to improve the mechanical performance of welded joint, and enhance strength and toughness of welded joints.


Most current wind turbine aeroelastic codes rely on the blade element momentum method with empirical corrections to compute aerodynamic forces on the wind turbine blades. While efficient, this method relies on experimental data and does not allow designers much flexibility for alternative blade designs. Unsteady solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations offer a significant improvement in aerodynamic modeling, but these are currently too computationally expensive to be useful in a design situation. However, steady-state solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations are possible with reasonable computation times. The harmonic balance method provides a way to represent unsteady, periodic flows through coupled a set of steady-state solutions. This method offers the possibility of unsteady flow solutions at a computational cost on the order of a few steady-state solutions. By coupling a harmonic balance driven aerodynamic model with a mode shape-based structural dynamics model, an efficient aeroelastic model for a wind turbine blade driven by the Navier-Stokes equations is developed in this dissertation.
For wind turbine flows, turbulence modeling is essential, especially in the transition of the boundary layer from laminar to turbulent. As part of this dissertation, the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and the gamma-Re\_theta-t transition model are included in the aerodynamic model. This marks the first time that this transition model, turbulence model, and the harmonic balance method have been coupled to study unsteady wind turbine aerodynamics. Results show that the transition model matches experimental data more closely than a fully turbulent model for the onset of both static and dynamic stall.
Flutter is of particular interest as turbines continue to increase in size, and longer and softer blades continue to enter the field. In this dissertation, flutter is investigated for the 1.5 MW WindPACT rotor blade. The aeroelastic model created, which incorporates the harmonic balance method and a fully turbulent aerodynamic model, is the first of its kind for wind turbine flutter analysis. Predictions match those of other aeroelastic models for the 1.5 MW WindPACT blade, and the first flapwise and edgewise modes are shown to dominate flutter for the rotor speeds considered.


Ratings of treatment satisfaction are a means for cognitive behavior therapy clients to provide their unique personal perspective on their therapy experience. Treatment satisfaction is a variable of growing importance as a predictor of outcome for various medical and psychological treatments including treatments for chronic pain (D. C. Turk et al., 2003). Our goal was to determine whether satisfaction with cognitive behavior therapy sessions varied as a function of patient personality characteristics in a sample of 43 older adults (average age=72.3 years, SD=8.0) participating in a psychosocial pain management therapy program with a cognitive behavioral orientation. Participants completed the NEO Five Factor Inventory (P. T. Costa, Jr. & R. R. McCrae, 1992) prior to the commencement of treatment and a psychometrically valid questionnaire, assessing satisfaction with psychological therapy, after each therapy session. The core personality dimensions of neuroticism, openness, and agreeableness were predictive of aspects of satisfaction with therapy. These findings have the potential of being useful to clinicians concerned with the prediction of response to therapy.


Exterior wall insulation technology is an effective way on saving energy. By using this technology, building envelope insulation performance can be improved, energy is saved and wall structure can also be improved which extends the life of building envelope. So it is worthy to further promoting the use of the emerging technology. This article discusses the advantages and types of insulation, and some problems need to be noted when constructing in order to ensure the quality of the wall insulation.


A simple measure is proposed that estimates the volume of trade distortion caused by the agricultural policies of trading countries. The index, called a TDS (Trade Distorted by support), would be useful for trade analysts to compare the trade impact of agricultural support policies across countries and commodities. The TDS index can be calculated largely from existing information on agricultural support. A TDS index might also be used to assess damages in trade dispute settlement cases.


Selection of salt spray tolerant plants with good physical appearance is of concern to ornamental growers in coastal communities. Commelina erecta subsp. maritima (C.V. Morton) C.V. Morton is a seashore plant that is widely distributed along the coast of West Africa. Therefore, the effect of salt spray was examined on the plant in a greenhouse experiment to determine its responses to various levels of air-borne salinity and to have an insight in the ecophysiological adaptations underlying these responses. It was also aimed to determine if varying levels of salt spray differentially damaged the plant. Filtered seawater was used to spray potted plants at: two sprays per week (2SS), four sprays per week (4SS) or six sprays per week (6SS) while in the control treatment (CSS), plants were sprayed with deionized water. Plants sprayed with seawater did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) in percentage necrotic leaf area compared to the control. All the plants survived but growth was inhibited by salt spray. Salt spray caused a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in leaf size and total chlorophyll content. Salt was accumulated in the shoot of salt-sprayed plants which led to ion toxicity. Salt sprays led to reduction in amount of essential nutrients in plant parts. C. erecta subsp. maritima adjusted osmotically to salt stress and increased stem succulence for ion dilution. The growth of the plant was negatively affected by salt sprays but it showed no significant necrotic damage, hence it is suitable for use as a landscaping plant in coastal beaches.


We present a new explanation for the origin of the steep power-law (SPL) state of X-ray binaries. The power-law component of X-ray emission is the synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons in highly magnetized compact spots orbiting near the inner stable circular orbit of a black hole. It has a hard spectrum that extends to above MeV energies, which is determined by the electron acceleration rate. These photons are then down-scattered by the surrounding plasma to form an observed steep spectrum. We discuss the relevance of the model to high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations and the extremely high luminosity of the SPL state.


This study has attempted to identify determinants of cattle price per kilogram live weight using a log-linear regression model. The estimated model explains about 48% of the variation in market prices of cattle. Price per kilogram live weight of cattle increases with animal characteristics such as age, live weight and grade. Type of sellers, buyers' purposes, festivals, time of transaction and a time trend are also important variables in affecting cattle prices. Farmers tend to sell their animals at price discounts as compared to trader sellers. Cattle sellers suffer from price discounts in selling to buyers with business purposes in comparison to selling to ultimate consumers. Sellers tend to benefit from animal sales during festivals, as they tend to receive price premium compared to selling during non-festival periods. Cattle price per kilogram live weight increases with the time of transaction suggesting that sellers tend to obtain higher prices by selling at later hours of a market day. The policy implications of these empirical results are that efforts to benefit cattle producers and/or sellers need to pay attention to animal characteristics, sellers' type, buyers' purposes and festivals in preparing animals for market and/or during actual transactions. It is vitally essential to train cattle keepers on the above issues. Provision of reliable livestock market (price) information to market participants, and investment in different livestock marketing facilities (like weighing scale) and services need to be given due attention in order to avoid unrewarding cattle-pricing practices.


We demonstrate the applicability of bandwidth and wavefront reduction algorithms to static variable ordering. In symbolic model checking event locality plays a major role in time and memory usage. For example, in Petri nets event locality can be captured by dependency matrices, where nonzero entries indicate whether a transition modifies a place. The quality of event locality has been expressed as a metric called (weighted) event span. The bandwidth of a matrix is a metric indicating the distance of nonzero elements to the diagonal. Wavefront is a metric indicating the degree of nonzeros on one end of the diagonal of the matrix. Bandwidth and wavefront are well studied metrics used in sparse matrix solvers.
In this work we prove that span is limited by twice the bandwidth of a matrix. This observation makes bandwidth reduction algorithms useful for obtaining good variable orders. One major issue we address is that the reduction algorithms can only be applied on symmetric matrices, while the dependency matrices are asymmetric. We show that the Sloan algorithm executed on the total graph of the adjacency graph gives the best variable orders. Practically, we demonstrate that our work allows to call standard sparse matrix operations in Boost and ViennaCL, computing very good static variable orders in milliseconds. Future work is promising, because a whole new spectrum of more off-the-shelf algorithms, including metaheuristic ones, become available for variable ordering.


Building functional models of the auditory system that incorporate neurophysiological, behavioral findings is essential to uncovering mechanisms underlying auditory perception. This paper presents results from modeling the echolocation ability of the FM bat, Myotis lucifugus, using MATLAB on a Sun Sparc-10 as a computational and modeling platform. It is shown that the adaptability and versatility of such computational software is ideal for modeling this complex biological system.


One of the great feats of human perception is the generation of quick impressions of both physical and social events based on sparse displays of motion trajectories. Here we aim to provide a unified theory that captures the interconnections between perception of physical and social events. A simulation-based approach is used to generate a variety of animations depicting rich behavioral patterns. Human experiments used these animations to reveal that perception of dynamic stimuli undergoes a gradual transition from physical to social events. A learning-based computational framework is proposed to account for human judgments. The model learns to identify latent forces by inferring a family of potential functions capturing physical laws, and value functions describing the goals of agents. The model projects new animations into a sociophysical space with two psychological dimensions: an intuitive sense of whether physical laws are violated, and an impression of whether an agent possesses intentions to perform goal-directed actions. This derived sociophysical space predicts a meaningful partition between physical and social events, as well as a gradual transition from physical to social perception. The space also predicts human judgments of whether individual objects are lifeless objects in motion, or human agents performing goal-directed actions. These results demonstrate that a theoretical unification based on physical potential functions and goal-related values can account for the human ability to form an immediate impression of physical and social events. This ability provides an important pathway from perception to higher cognition. Keywords— social perception; intuitive physics; intention; deep reinforcement learning; HeiderSimmel animations


This paper argues the issue of embodiment and gesture in games, the aesthetics of movement from the phenomenological point of view, and suggests a framework proposal for DAMA, a Dance and Media Art Network interdisciplinary network project, which integrates students and teachers from art schools and universities within the European Nordic and Baltic regions. This argument is supported by documentation of Shadow Dance installation that presents an interactive tool for corporal expressions, based on real-time movement capture, an open source and visual programming environment (Pure Data), all integrated within a web environment. The aim of this installation is to propose a different perspective based on corporal movement's aesthetics via subjective expressions. It is one of the action points for the game development process, during interdisciplinary workshops, proposing content based on traditions in dance and physical theatre and encouraging the notions of presence and creative use of whole body movements across digital space and especially within physical games.


The geared turbofan is a promising concept for civil aircraft jet engines. With the introduction of a gearbox between the low-pressure turbine and the fan, both components can rotate at their respective optimum speed. The geared turbofan enables a lower specific fuel consumption as well as jet engine noise reductions. A planetary gear train is usually chosen for the transmission with the sun gear connected to the low-pressure turbine. This high-speed reduction gear train needs to transmit high loads with a high efficiency in limited installation space. To ensure a safe operation of the gear train, the thermal behavior of the gears needs to be understood. The heat generated by the meshing processes is dissipated by oil impingement cooling. While the field of Elastohydrodynamic lubrication yields good results for the heat generation, no validated model for the impingement cooling process is available in literature. In this study, an analytical model is developed and validated against experimental data. First, the surface area of the oil film on the gear tooth flank formed by the impinging oil jet is calculated. Second, the heat transfer from the gear tooth flank to the oil film is determined. The fluid motion is modeled as an oil film that is flung off the gear tooth flank by centrifugal forces. In addition to the film flow, the presented model takes into account the temperature dependence of the viscosity of the oil and the initial oil film height. The effect of a lubrication oil film on the gear tooth flank before the oil jet impinges is included and its effect on the heat transfer is assessed. The analytical model agrees well with experimental results over the entire range of investigated operating conditions. Finally, a discussion on the effect of several assumptions in the derivation of the analytical model is presented. The validated analytical model can be used as an efficient tool for the design of gear trains with impingement cooled spur gears.


In the approximation methods of reliability analysis, nonnormal random variables are transformed into equivalent standard normal random variables. This transformation tends to increase the nonlinearity of a limit-state function and, hence, results in less accurate reliability approximation. The first-order saddlepoint approximation for reliability analysis is proposed to improve the accuracy of reliability analysis. By the approximation of a limit-state function at the most likelihood point in the original random space and employment of the accurate saddlepoint approximation, the proposed method reduces the chance of an increase in the nonlinearity of the limit-state function. This approach generates more accurate reliability approximation than the first-order reliability method without an increase in the computational effort. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated with two examples and is compared with the first- and second-order reliability methods.


The Influence of moisture content on the performance of desulfurization plasterboard is studied by a series of experiments in this paper, it investigates the law of absorption procedure and relationship between density and moisture content. At the same time, this paper studies on the fracture load, which is varying with different moisture content of the plasterboard. Finally, we do the research on the change of impact resistance performance of plasterboard with the increase of the moisture content, and get some conclusions about the plasterboard production and application for the future reference.


Introduction There is need for greater understanding of tests used in assessing all aspects of auditory processing disorder (APD). This is important so that specific deficits can be identified and later remediated with the smallest possible test battery. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) recommends five areas/domains for behavioral assessment: (a) temporal, (b) binaural (dichotic) separation/integration, (c) monaural low redundancy, (d) binaural interaction/localization/lateralization, and (e) auditory discrimination. Multiple-factor studies support the first three domains, which are most often used for APD assessment and which can be measured in a test battery normed within the United States (Multiple Auditory Processing Assessment-2 [MAPA-2]). This study was designed to determine if factored results from children would clarify whether a behavioral test (Listening in Spatialized Noise-Sentences Test [LiSN-S]) would factor within one of the first three domains or be separate, possibly within the fourth domain, binaural interaction. Method Fifty-one 8- and 9-year-olds with normal development and normal otoscopy and hearing responses bilaterally from 500 to 4000 Hz at 20 dB HL were recruited. Two sets of APD tests were administered: MAPA-2 and LiSN-S. Results Results verified the expected three-factor structure for MAPA-2. LiSN-S did not factor within one of those three, suggesting that some processes involved in the LiSN-S tasks require interactions between the two ears different from those involved in dichotic perception and thus better belong in the ASHA binaural interaction/lateralization domain. Conclusions Auditory processing abilities are sufficiently independent of each other that test batteries spanning the first three ASHA domains are not sensitive to at least some abilities in the fourth domain. This additional factor evidence is helpful. Future research should examine the utility of measuring additional factors within APD in order to achieve the most efficient and comprehensive test battery.


Islamic banking is a relatively new and rapidly growing phenomenon, particularly in the Muslim world. Islamic banking prohibits all kinds of financial transactions based on interest. Its primary approach to financing is the mudaraba profit-loss contract, where the financing partner, the bank, and the entrepreneurial partner, the individual seeking investment capital, share profit as mutually agreed upon. In the case of loss from the business venture, the loss is absorbed by the bank. Because there is no collateral or interest involved in the mudaraba contract and because loss is absorbed by the financing partner, the bank, the mudaraba contract is becoming increasingly popular among poor rural agriculturalists in Sudan who seek capital to finance their agricultural activities. Consequently, the mudaraba contract is more accessible than conventional loans and is not exploitive as loans originating from traditional village money lenders of Sudan who charge exorbitant amounts of interest. The Islamic banking movement in Sudan represents a revolution in banking methodology and a major departure from conventionally accepted banking. It represents the foundation for a potential transformation of Sudan to a healthy, agriculturally-based, Islamic economy.


The user's perception that the confidentiality of their data is endangered by internal and external attacks is limiting the diffusion of public cloud database services. In this context, the use of cryptography is complicated by high computational costs and restrictions on supported SQL operations over encrypted data. In this paper, we propose an architecture that takes advantage of adaptive encryption mechanisms to guarantee at runtime the best level of data confidentiality for any type of SQL operation. We demonstrate through a large set of experiments that these encryption schemes represent a feasible solution for achieving data confidentiality in public cloud databases, even from a performance point of view.


Since the military coup of July 2013, one of the characteristics of the Egyptian regime has been the lack of clarity on the boundaries of political activism and on what activities it would, or would not, tolerate. Red lines have been shifting frequently, as a plethora of presidential decrees has restricted the public sphere ever more. Furthermore, state institutions and investigating bodies have increasingly abused their powers against civil society representatives. Torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances have become recurrent phenomena. Embattled by State Security, a politicized judiciary and competing ministries, human rights activists are less and less able to fulfil their role as watchdogs. From being merely the witnesses of assaults and human rights violations by the security forces, they have moved on to being their primary targets. Against this backdrop, Germany and its European partners should pressure the Egyptian authorities for compliance with basic civil rights and the rule of law, while aligning their support more closely with the needs of Egyptian NGOs.