Interlocking assemblies have a long history in the design of puzzles, furniture, architecture, and other complex geometric structures. The key defining property of interlocking assemblies is that all component parts are immobilized by their geometric arrangement, preventing the assembly from falling apart. Computer graphics research has recently contributed design tools that allow creating new interlocking assemblies. However, these tools focus on specific kinds of assemblies and explore only a limited space of interlocking configurations, which restricts their applicability for design. In this paper, we propose a new general framework for designing interlocking assemblies. The core idea is to represent part relationships with a family of base Directional Blocking Graphs and leverage efficient graph analysis tools to compute an interlocking arrangement of parts. This avoids the exponential complexity of brute-force search. Our algorithm iteratively constructs the geometry of assembly components, taking advantage of all existing blocking relations for constructing successive parts. As a result, our approach supports a wider range of assembly forms compared to previous methods and provides significantly more design flexibility. We show that our framework facilitates efficient design of complex interlocking assemblies, including new solutions that cannot be achieved by state of the art approaches.


This paper identified blood relations (ashab al - arham ), the concepts blood relations, their how, and enmity among relatives (qati'at al arham) as a great sin. Future, the paper explains blood relations whose bond is a must. The paper also argued that such kinship must not be restricted to unmarriageable relatives on maternal side or to those who have the right to inherit. In addition the paper highlights the great reword Allah has promised to whose who respect Kinship, prolonging his/ her life in this world, a real rather than a metaphorical increase. In contrast, the paper highlighted the great punishment Allah has warned people if they don't respect it.Then the paper deferred into the reasons behind enmity among relatives in Islamic societies and the effects of that on the disintegration of society, the paper concludes by suggesting a number of recommendation to care with the phenomenon.


Author(s): Mathew, Paul; Farmer, Alision; Werner, Jacob | Abstract: Purpose and Audience A wide spectrum of laboratory owners, ranging from universities to federal agencies, have explicit goals for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions in their facilities. For example, new federal buildings and major renovations of existing buildings are to reduce fossil fuel-generated energy consumption by 90% in 2025, and 100% in 2030, compared with a 2003 baseline (FEMP n.d.). Minnesota SB2030 standard requires achieving an 80% reduction from the average building baseline for commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings (SB2030 n.d). A laboratory—new or existing—is much more likely to meet energy efficiency goals if quantitative metrics and targets are explicitly specified and tracked over the life cycle of the building, from design through construction, commissioning, operations, and renovations. If efficiency targets are not explicitly and properly defined, any additional capital costs or design time associated with attaining higher efficiencies can be difficult to justify relative to other priorities. The purpose of this guide is to provide guidance on how to specify and compute energy efficiency metrics and benchmarks for laboratories, at the whole-building as well as the system level. The information in this guide can be used to incorporate quantitative metrics and targets into new construction or retrofit of existing facilities. For information on strategies and technologies to achieve energy efficiency, the reader is referred to I2SL resources, including technology best practice guides and case studies.


Given a domain of related problem classes and a set of general decision-making procedures applicable to them, this paper describes AWL, an algorithm to filter out those procedures that prove irrelevant, selfcontradictory, or untrustworthy for a particular class. With an external model of expertise as its performance criterion, the algorithm uses a perceptron-like model to learn problem-classspecific weights for its decision-making procedures. Learning improves both the efficiency of the decision-making process and the performance of the system.


In this paper, we propose a new structure of 4H-SiC-based ESD(Electrostatic discharge) protection device with low on-resistance and excellent high-temperature characteristics while improving trigger technology by applying floating technology. By TLP measurement, the characteristics were analyzed compared to the conventional GGNMOS. In addition, a method to improve the snapback characteristics of the proposed device with design variables was introduced. As a result, a device with improved snapback characteristics and improved reliability in 70 V applications was proposed.


Abstract To explore the origin of the diversity observed in natural populations, many studies have investigated the relationship between genotype and phenotype. In yeast species, especially in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, these studies are mainly conducted using recombinant offspring derived from two genetically diverse isolates, allowing to define the phenotypic effect of genetic variants. However, large genomic variants such as interspecies introgressions are usually overlooked even if they are known to modify the genotype–phenotype relationship. To have a better insight into the overall phenotypic impact of introgressions, we took advantage of the presence of a 1-Mb introgressed region, which lacks recombination and contains the mating-type determinant in the Lachancea kluyveri budding yeast. By performing linkage mapping analyses in this species, we identified a total of 89 loci affecting growth fitness in a large number of conditions and 2,187 loci affecting gene expression mostly grouped into two major hotspots, one being the introgressed region carrying the mating-type locus. Because of the absence of recombination, our results highlight the presence of a sexual dimorphism in a budding yeast for the first time. Overall, by describing the phenotype–genotype relationship in the Lachancea kluyveri species, we expanded our knowledge on how genetic characteristics of large introgression events can affect the phenotypic landscape.


In addition to its proposed function in regulating serum IgG levels, the MHC class I‐related neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) is known to play a role in IgG transfer across rodent yolk sac and neonatal intestine. In contrast to humans, for which transplacental transfer of IgG appears to be the only mechanism of maternal IgG delivery, the transmission of IgG in mice occurs both antenatally (yolk sac) and neonatally (transport from mother's milk across intestinal epithelial cells). In the current study, a possible role for FcRn in regulating IgG transfer into milk has been investigated. FcRn has been shown to be present in functional form in the mammary gland of lactating mice, and is localized to the epithelial cells of the acini. Analysis of the transfer of Fc fragments and IgG which have different affinities for FcRn indicate that, unexpectedly, these proteins are transferred in inverse correlation with their binding affinity for FcRn. Thus, in the lactating mammary gland FcRn appears to play a role in recycling IgG in a mode that may have relevance to FcRn trafficking during the maintenance of constant serum IgG levels.


A detailed theoretical analysis has been carried out to probe the conformational characteristics of (2'-5') polynucleotide chains. Semi-empirical energy calculations are used to estimate the preferred torsional combinations of the monomeric repeating unit. The resulting morphology of adjacent bases and the tendency to form regular single-stranded structures are determined by standard computational procedures. The torsional preferences are in agreement with available nmr measurements on model compounds. The tendencies to adopt base stacked and intercalative geometries are markedly depressed compared to those in (3'-5') chains. Very limited families of regular monomerically repeating single-stranded (2'-5') helices are found. Base stacking, however, can be enhanced (but helix formation is at the same time depressed) in mixed puckered chains. Constrained (2'-5') duplex structures have been constructed from a search of all intervening glycosyl anid sugar conformiatioins that form geometrically feasible phosphodiester linkages. Both Aand B-type base stacking are found to generate non-standard backbone torsions and mixed glycosyl/sugar combinations. The 2'and 5'-residues are locked in totally different arrangements and are thereby prevented from generating long helical structures.


Research shows that those students from poor families are easy to produce such low selfesteem, depression, anxiety and other mental confusion; Targeted positive mental health education can effectively help them get rid of psychological distress and better adapt to college life, and to lay the foundation for future social adaptation. Objective: Explore the relationship between poor mental health and interpersonal sensitivity among college students and provide a theoretical basis for poor mental health education. Method: Extracting a certain number of poor students and non-poor students as an object, using the Symptom Checklist, Social Avoidance and Distress Scale and the feeling of inadequacy Scale for testing. Result: The positive detection rate and positive rate of social problems in poor students tested for their mental health on interpersonal sensitivity, social confidence and other factors are higher than the non-poor students. Conclusions: Mental Health poorer levels of poverty, strong interpersonal sensitivity; social confidence, learn selfconfidence and sense of self-worth because they have a significant impact


This article reports on a perception study that was carried out with Zulu-English bilinguals in order to investigate how suprasegmental aspects differ in Black South African English compared to White English-speaking South African English. Two prosodic phenomena were investigated: prosodic focus marking on noun phrases (NPs) and prosodic boundary marking. The results support existing claims in the literature that Black South African English falls into at least two distinct groups (van Rooy 2004): L2 English spoken by non-native speakers and "L1 speakers of English whose dialects have developed from non-native varieties" (Da Silva 2008: 96), the speech of the former showing L1 influence in not marking focus prosodically. In contrast, prosodic means are used for boundary marking by all speakers.


Liouville integrable systems, which have bi-Hamiltonian representation of the Gel'fand-Zakharevich type, are considered. Bi-presymplectic representation of one-Casimir bi-Hamiltonian chains and weakly bi-presymplectic representation of multi-Casimir bi-Hamiltonian chains are constructed. The reduction procedure for Poisson and presymplectic structures is presented.


Abstract A long-wave radiometer is described in considerable detail. Physical and transmission characteristics of the hemispherical "windows" are presented, and calibration and use of the instrument are discussed. The results of a series of nighttime and daytime measurements of the infrared emissions of the atmosphere are compared with theoretical values obtained from the Elsasser radiation diagram, and satisfactory agreement is found to exist.


The presence of fallback disks around young neutron stars (NSs) has been invoked over the years to explain a large variety of phenomena. Here we perform a numerical investigation of the formation of such disks during a supernova (SN) explosion, considering both NS and black hole (BH) remnants. Using the public code MESA, we compute the angular momentum distribution of the pre-SN material, for stars with initial masses M in the range 13–40 M☉, initial surface rotational velocities vsurf between 25% and 75% of the critical velocity, and for metallicities Z of 1%, 10%, and 100% of the solar value. These pre-SN models are exploded with energies E varying between 1050–3 × 1052 erg, and the amount of fallback material is computed. We find that, if magnetic torques play an important role in angular momentum transport, then fallback disks around NSs, even for low-metallicity main-sequence stars, are not an outcome of SN explosions. Formation of such disks around young NSs can only happen under the condition of negligible magnetic torques and a fine-tuned explosion energy. For those stars that leave behind BH remnants, disk formation is ubiquitous if magnetic fields do not play a strong role; however, unlike the NS case, even with strong magnetic coupling in the interior, a disk can form in a large region of the Z, M, vsurf, E parameter space. Together with the compact, hyperaccreting fallback disks widely discussed in the literature, we identify regions in the above parameter space that lead to extended, long-lived disks around BHs. We find that the physical conditions in these disks may be conducive to planet formation, hence leading to the possible existence of planets orbiting BHs.


A new resist system composed of an SEPR chemically amplified (CA) positive resist and an N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) organic base has been developed for KrF excimer laser lithography. Using 0.30-μm l&s patterns formed with KrF stepper, we studied the effect of contamination from substrate films of plasma chemical vapor deposited silicon dioxide (P-CVD SiO2), low pressure CVD silicon nitride (LP-CVD Si3N4) and reactive sputtered titanium nitride (TiN), and of airborne contamination under the condition of 8ppb of ammonia. The results clarify the new resist system reducesthe effect of substrate film as well as airborne contamination. The new resist system enables us to form fine patterns on any substrate and attains more than one hour post-exposure delay without overcoat and undercoat films.


In this paper, an intelligent controller applied to renewable energy system has been discussed. The attractiveness of the photovoltaic generators (PV arrays), as a renewable power source is that they produce a clean energy without running costs. This fact in addition to the continuous reduction in the PV arrays initial cost and the increase in their efficiency imply the promising future of the PV generation systems. The PI-controller gains are accurately identified and hence it proved its ability in driving the PV module to its maximum power point in terms of majority of the performance measures. This leads to a significant increase in the delivered power, especially when the direct coupling operating point is far from the maximum power one.


'The Monarch is there for the common; the common not for the Monarch.' Governmental reflections in three Dutch revenge tragedies (1638-1645)

 Although early modern Dutch revenge tragedies have for a long time been studied in the light of the idea that passions need to be restrained, there is an inseparable political dimension connected to such plays. In the three revenge tragedies discussed in this contribution (1638-1645), the royal sovereignty of the political rulers degenerates into tyranny. The sovereign paradigm, however, rouses dismay among several dramatis personae. Frequently, we hear critical and dissenting voices, which explicitly oppose the conception of sovereignty as it is advocated by the potentates. In this article, I consider the question whether in the criticism of the old, sovereign conception of power (souveraineté) an apology for a new, alternative policy is articulated, which Foucault termed gouvernementalité. Moreover, I argue that the revenge plays participate in the discursive context of Frederick Henry's potential expansion of power in the period around 1640.


Helicobacter pylori seroprevalence levels in US adults participating in the continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2000) increased with age in all racial/ethnic groups, with significantly higher age-standardized levels in Mexican Americans (64.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 58.8, 69.2) and non-Hispanic blacks (52.0%, 95% CI: 48.3, 55.7) compared with non-Hispanic whites (21.2%, 95% CI: 19.1, 23.2). Although seroprevalence levels remained similar to those found in National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1988 to 1991 among non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans, they were significantly lower in non-Hispanic whites, especially at older ages. The factors driving the decline in H. pylori seroprevalence appear to be acting preferentially on the non-Hispanic white population.


In this project, we proposed an energy efficient outdoor light monitoring and control system that can monitor and handle outdoor lights more efficiently as compared to the conventional systems. The proposed system uses the GSM wireless devices which allow more efficient lamps management. The Energy Consumption of outdoor or a specific area can be recorded and account on Energy Saving Lighting System with integrated sensors and controllers. Moreover, errors which occur due to manual operation can also be eliminated. Also the outdoor lights can be switch ON/OFF through computer from central control station or can be automatic using light sensors embedded in the outdoor light pole circuit of the application. With these facilities the performance and life of the lamps will be increases.


Joseph de Maistre (1753B1821) was an extraordinarily gifted and insightful commentator on foundational developments that have shaped our modern world. His reaction to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, though hostile, was remarkably open and included innovative and still-valuable theorizing about such human phenomena as violence and unreason. The political and theoretical issues he addressed continue to challenge us today. In Joseph de Maistre's Life, Thought, and Influence leading Maistre scholars offer interpretations of his thought and make available in English recent French scholarship on his life and work. They provide a portrait of Maistre as a significant thinker in numerous fields, upsetting the image of him as a backward-looking "reactionary," a reinterpretation furthered by contemporary interest in Counter-Enlightenment thought in general. Joseph de Maistre's Life, Thought, and Influence is a valuable resource, providing not only a cross-section of current Maistre scholarship but also notes and biographical suggestions for further study. Contributors include Owen Bradley (University of Tennessee), Jean-Louis Darcel (Universite de Savoie), Jean Dinezet (former OECD director-general), Graeme Garrard (University of Wales), Richard A. Lebrun, Vera Miltchyna (Writer's Union, Moscow), Jean-Yves Pranchere (independent scholar), W. Jay Reedy (Bryant College), and Benjamin Thurston (D.Phil. candidate, Oxford).


The study by Nadine Arnold and Birthe Soppe aims at thoroughly understanding the creation and institutionalization of what are called 'moral markets'. Arnold and Soppe examine the development of mundane commodities into morally value-laden products, which are culturally supported and demanded in the domain of mass markets. By analyzing a rich set of archival data on the history of fair trade in Switzerland over three decades, they trace the early beginnings, development, and mainstreaming of products that are imported from developing countries and sold at a price premium to guarantee the producers a decent remuneration. In their analysis, they show that the institutionalization of fair trade is the outcome of a valuation process, which is characterized by changes in product-level valuation practices and also by an increase in the blending of moral and economic values. Their contribution provides important implications with regard to the role of values and valuation in institutionalization processes.


Background: Event-related potentials (ERPs) are currently utilized to study information processing under the influence of neuropsychiatric disorders and are candidate endophenotypes of schizophrenia. However, the traditional ERP approach discards most oscillatory information in the EEG through grand averaging process. This study tried to focus on ERP component of mismatch negativity (MMN) between control and schizophrenia groups in Taiwan. In addition to traditional (grand average) ERP approach, we also compared the time-frequency analysis results of the mismatch negativity. Methods: MMN values were recorded in 55 schizophrenia patients and 42 controls using an auditory oddball paradigm for the duration of the MMN. Besides the traditional grand average approach, the continuous data files were also used for time-frequency analysis via ERP wavelab. Six parameters were explored: event-related spectral perturbation, WTav, avWT, induced activity, intertrial phase coherence and intertrial linear coherence. Results: Traditional ERP approach discovered that group difference occurred in MMN mean amplitude which was compatible with the previous literature. In time-frequency analysis, schizophrenia subjects have lower intertrial phase coherence than controls. Conclusion: Deficit in preattentive sensory information processing, such as MMN, is prominent in Taiwanese schizophrenia subjects. It may also play a role in the basic integrated neural network activity, which could be further explored by time-frequency approach.


Constraints from precision electroweak measurements reveal no evidence for new physics up to 5–7 TeV, whereas naturalness requires new particles at around 1 TeV to address the stability of the electroweak scale. We show that this ``little hierarchy problem'' can be cured by introducing a symmetry for new particles at the TeV scale. As an example, we construct a little Higgs model with this new symmetry, dubbed T-parity, which naturally solves the little hierarchy problem and, at the same time, stabilize the electroweak scale up to 10 TeV. The model has many important phenomenological consequences, including consistency with the precision data without any fine-tuning, a stable weakly-interacting particle as the dark matter candidate, as well as collider signals completely different from existing little Higgs models, but rather similar to the supersymmetric theories with conserved R-parity.


More than three years have passed since the December 1998 announcement that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) had formally divested itself from commercial operations. The intervening period has witnessed the expected "mop-up" campaigns on the part of the central leadership and significant resistance and foot-dragging on the part of local military officials, repeating the pattern of rectifications in the system since the late 1980s. Given Hu Jintao's role as official head of the central leading group overseeing divestiture and his widely expected ascension to the central leadership core at the Sixteenth Party Congress, the time seems ripe for a re-examination of the civil-military features of divestiture and their implications for the future party-army relationship.


In 114 patients with systemic malignant gammopathies followed during a 10-year period in the hematology clinic of the Rambam Medical Center, 23 episodes of CNS involvement were recorded. 19 cases with spinal cord compression and 4 cases of intracranial plasmacytomas. Early diagnosis followed by prompt laminectomy and subsequent radiotherapy resulted in complete recovery in 50% and partial improvement in 30% of the patients with spinal cord involvement. In good responders. overall survival was not affected by the neurological complication. In the 4 patients with intracranial involvement, external plasmacytomas of the skull preceded the neurological symptoms. 3 of them were diagnosed late, which led to delay and failure of accurate treatment. Only 1 patient was immediately operated and continued to be well for the past 2 years.


Objective To determine the long-term use of and adherence to urate-lowering therapy (ULT), serum urate (SU) control, and self-reported flares in participants from a randomized controlled trial of allopurinol dose escalation, in order to achieve target SU concentration (< 0.36 mmol/L) in people with gout. Methods For surviving study participants, ULT dispensing and SU testing within the preceding 12 months was obtained by medical record review. A phone interview was conducted to determine self-reported flares and adherence. Results Over a mean follow-up of 6.5 (SD 2.5) years since enrollment, 60 out of 183 (33%) participants had died. Review of the 119 surviving participants showed that 98 (82%) were receiving allopurinol, 5 (4%) were receiving febuxostat, and 10 (8%) were not receiving ULT; for the remaining 6 (5.0%), ULT use could not be determined. In those receiving allopurinol, the mean dose was 28.1 (range −600 to 500) mg/day lower than at the last study visit; 49% were receiving the same dose, 18% were on a higher dose, and 33% were on a lower dose than at the last study visit. SU values were available for 86 of the 119 (72%) participants; 50 out of 86 (58%) participants had an SU concentration of < 0.36 mmol/L. Of the 89 participants who participated in the phone interview, 19 (21%) reported a gout flare in the preceding 12 months and 79 (89%) were receiving allopurinol; 71 (90%) of those receiving allopurinol reported 90% or greater adherence. Conclusion Most of the surviving participants in the allopurinol dose escalation study had good real-world persistence with allopurinol, remained at target SU, and had a low number of self-reported flares.


Text visualization techniques often make use of automatic text classification methods. One of such methods is stance analysis, which is concerned with detecting various aspects of the writer's attitude towards utterances expressed in the text. Existing text visualization approaches for stance classification results are usually adapted to textual data consisting of individual utterances or short messages, and they are often designed for social media or debate monitoring tasks. In this paper, we propose a visualization approach called DoSVis (Document Stance Visualization) that focuses instead on individual text documents of a larger length. DoSVis provides an overview of multiple stance categories detected by our classifier at the utterance level as well as a detailed text view annotated with classification results, thus supporting both distant and close reading tasks. We describe our approach by discussing several application scenarios involving business reports and works of literature. (Less)


BACKGROUND
The current recommended antiretroviral treatment is a highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Although HAART has been associated with improved clinical response to treatment, issues of adherence and viral resistance are major challenges limiting its success. There is a need for an effective and safe first-line regimen, to cope with the ever-increasing incidence of non-adherence and primary resistance. A more recent first-line treatment regimen consists of Tenofovir (TDF, 300 mg) + Emtricitabine (FTC, 200 mg) + Efavirenz (EFV, 600 mg).

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the effects and safety of TDF + FTC + EFV as first-line treatment for patients with HIV.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, GATEWAY, LILACS, PubMed, AEGIS, and the WHO prospective clinical trials registry in November 2011.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of TDF + FTC + EFV compared with other HAART regimens.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two reviewers independently assessed trial eligibility and risk of bias, and extracted data from the included study.

MAIN RESULTS
Only one study involving 517 antiretroviral-naive HIV infected adults was included in this review. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a regimen of TDF (300 mg), FTC (200mg), and EFV (600mg ) once daily; or a regimen of fixed-dose zidovudine (AZT) (300 mg) and lamivudine (3TC) (150 mg) twice daily plus EFV (600mg) once daily. Significantly more patients in the TDF-FTC group reached and maintained HIV RNA levels of less than 50 copies per milliliter compared to the AZT- 3TC group (RR 1.13; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.25). Also, more participants in the TDF-FTC group had greater increase from baseline CD4 cell counts compared to the AZT-3TC group (190 vs. 158 cells per mm(3)). More patients in the AZT-3TC group than in the TDF-FTC group had adverse events resulting in discontinuation of the study drugs (9% vs. 4%, respectively; P = 0.02). There was no statistically significant difference in all cause mortality (RR 0.50; 95% CI 0.05 to 5.46).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Only one trial has shown beneficial effects and safety of TDF+ FTC + EFV as first-line treatment for patients with HIV. The effects and safety of TDF + FTC + EFV as first-line treatment for patients with HIV cannot be assessed on the basis of only one trial. Further studies evaluating the effects and safety of TDF + FTC + EFV as first-line treatment for patients with HIV are needed.


These essays systematically review those individuals perceived as representing the highest ideals of progress and service in higher education. The majority are former presidents, administrators and faculty in college and universities who have left an indelible mark on their communities and institutions. Three chapters cover political figures who have been committed to expanding, improving, and including ever larger groups of the population (ethnic, gender, cultural diversity) in higher education. Two chapters examine issues in higher education. All underline the contributions of those who left a legacy of caring to future generations.


This paper presents the design of a novel and engaging collaborative learning activity for handwriting where a group of participants simultaneously tutor a Nao robot. This activity was intended to take advantage of both collaborative learning and the learning by teaching paradigm to improve children's meta-cognition (perception of their own skills). Multiple engagement probes were integrated into the activity as a first step towards fostering long term interactions. As a lot of research targets social interactions, the goal here was to determine whether an engagement strategy focused on the task could be as, or more efficient than one focused on social interactions and participants' introspection. To that effect, two engagement strategies were implemented. They differed in content but used the same multi-modal design in order to increase participants' meta-cognitive reflection, once on the task and performances, and once on participants' enjoyment and emotions. Both strategies were compared to a baseline by probing and assessing engagement at the individual and group level, along the behavioural, emotional and cognitive dimensions, in a between subject experiment with 12 groups of children. The experiments showed that the collaborative task pushed the children to adapt their manner of writing to the group, even though the adopted solution was not always correct. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between the strategies in terms of behaviour on task (behavioural engagement), satisfaction (emotional engagement) or performance (cognitive engagement) as the group dynamics had a stronger impact on the outcome of the collaborative teaching task. Therefore, the task and social engagement strategies can be considered as efficient in the context of collaboration.


We have measured the temperature dependence of the resistance of Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8+x (Tl-2212) thin film at various magnetic fields parallel and normal to the c-axis. Then the U(H) relationship and irreversibility line were obtained. An important parameter n in the material equation of the Tl-2212 thin film is obtained from the U(H) relationship. The V–I characteristic curves at different applied magnetic fields and temperatures were also measured. To testify the equivalence of the two measurements, we calculated V–I curves of the same thin film by solving the flux creep equation with the obtained material equation. A comparison between the independently measured and calculated V–I curves shows a satisfactory agreement. It is, therefore, concluded that we can combine the resistive broadening R–T measurement, which is conducted at a low current density and high temperature and the V–I curve, which can be carried out at a much lower temperature, expanding the range of temperature and current density in exploring the dynamics.


We propose to exhibit a live demonstration of a CMOS multi-modality cellular biosensor array chip that can facilitate drug screening and cell-based assays. The multi-modality sensing functionality enables real-time measurements of multiple physiological parameters of biological cells and cell clusters, such as their electric potential, impedance, optical opacity, and bioluminescent imaging. Compared with existing single-modality sensors, our multi-modality sensor captures multi-physics cellular responses with a high spatiotemporal resolution, substantially expanding our capabilities of monitoring cellular states and understanding complex drug mechanistic effects. For our live demonstration, we will operate our CMOS sensor chip with testing samples to present its multi-modality sensing capability and clinical relevance.


Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia leading to a high rate of stroke. The underlying mechanisms of initiation and maintenance of AF are not fully understood. Several findings suggest a multitude of factors to leave the atria vulnerable to AF. In this work, a rule-based approach is taken to simulate the initiation of AF in a computer model for the purpose of generating a model with which the influence of anatomical structures, electrophysiological properties of the atria and arrhythmogenic activity can be evaluated. Pulmonary vein firing has been simulated leading to AF in 65,7 % of all simulations. The excitation pattern generated resemble chaotic excitation behavior, which is characteristic for AF as well as stable reentrant circuits responsible for atrial flutter. The findings compare well with literature. In future, the presented computer model of AF can be used in therapy planning such as ablation therapy or overdrive pacing


Animal implants experiments are obligatory when developing human artificial hard tissues, such as bio-ceramics. Optical microscope is often used to inspect implant slices but may destroy original status when slicing up. We tried 3D high resolution CT to nondestructively study biocompatibility and degradation of bio-ceramics implants. 3D CT provides 3D structure information. Typical pixel size of 3D high resolution CT is 50 microns. Generally, implants differs with tissues in density and structure, on basis of which we can identify details with CT slice. Experiments of bio-ceramic implanted into rabbit hip are also showed. Interaction could be identified at interface between implant and tissue.


Renal denervation (RDN) has been shown to be an effective and safe treatment for human resistant hypertension and is considered one of the most promising advances in the field of hypertension. However, the mechanisms mediating the sustained decrease in arterial pressure in response to RDN in humans are unknown. This issue is particularly perplexing, given reports that the depressor effect of RDN in animal models is short lived. The current dogma in the literature is that overtime the efferent sympathetic nerves regrow and so the longevity of the depressor effect of RDN in humans cannot be ascribed to the absence of efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity. We hypothesize that the renal sympathetic nerves regenerate following RDN, and arrive at the target tissues, but the functional response is not fully restored and this contributes to the long-term depressor effect of RDN. Our aim was to examine mean arterial pressure (MAP) and vascular function in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) following RDN. In 10 week old male SHR radiotelemetry probes were implanted to measure MAP. At 12 weeks of age, following 3 days basal MAP recording, sham (n=5) or bilateral RDN (n=5) surgery was performed. MAP was recorded until 24 weeks of age (12 weeks post-RDN). Renal lobar arteries were mounted on a myograph and membrane potential and tension responses to perivascular nerve stimulation assessed. Perivascular nerve stimulation with single pulses at increasing voltage evoked excitatory junction potentials (Ejps) of increasing amplitude in SHR-sham. Ejp amplitude was markedly reduced in arteries from SHR-RDN (P<0.01). Repetitive stimulation (1-8Hz, 5s) evoked slow depolarisation and contraction. At 5Hz 5s, slow depolarisation was 12±2 mV in SHR-shams and 7±2 mV in SHR-RDN (P<0.01), and contractions were smaller than SHR-sham (10 ± 3% vs 22 ± 2% HiK; P<0.01). In conclusion, smaller Ejps suggest that close contacting neuroeffector junctions are not reformed and blunted vasoconstrictor responses indicate neuro-vascular function has only partially returned 12 weeks post-RDN (Fig. 2). Our finding of continued 'functional' denervation is compatible with our data that RDN causes a sustained decrease in arterial pressure in SHR.


Aircraft, containers, and storage tanks contain plate-like structures that are safety critical. The structures often undergo non-destructive inspections. The inspection frequency tends to be over-conservatively high, and it may be possible to reduce the intervals between inspections to realize cost savings. This goal can possibly be realized by automated structural health monitoring (SHM) of structures using sparse active guided wave sensor arrays. Guided waves are sensitive to small defects and can propagate long distances across feature dense plates. Thus, a guided wave SHM system that enables reliable detection of critical defects or monitoring of their growth can potentially be used to reduce the frequency of inspections for real structures. Industrial guided wave SHM systems must be reliable throughout prolonged exposure to temperature, humidity, and loading changes encountered in operation. Research at Imperial College shows that temperature compensation and subtraction between monitored guided wave signals and baselines acquired from healthy plates enables detection of 1.5% reflection change over areas ∼1 m2 in the presence of thermal swings and uniform liquid layers. These results and findings from scattering studies indicate it may be possible to detect reflections from hole type defects and notches affecting structures during their operation. An issue is that demonstrations of SHM system capabilities have only been shown in controlled laboratory tests within short periods following baseline acquisition. There is concern whether sustained exposure to service conditions will subject transducer elements to irreversible changes and introduce variability in baseline subtraction results that would mask signals due to slowly growing damage. This thesis studies the reliability of guided wave SHM for monitoring plate-like structures over longer time periods. The theoretical characteristics of the fundamental Lamb waves and their use to monitor and detect damage are reviewed. Strategies for sensing and signal processing are described alongside experimental validation of their performance. The effectiveness of the SHM system is tested in experiments where damage-free plates are exposed to British weather as well as thermal variations in an environmental chamber. The monitoring capabilities of bonded piezoelectric sensors are quantified and compared to the performance achieved using electromagnetic acoustic transducers. Experimental results and findings from simulations of bonded piezoelectric transduction establish that performances achieved with bonded sensors degrade due to variations in the properties of adhesives used to attach sensors to plates. EMATs are relatively stable and capable of enabling detection of 1.5% reflection change at points away from the edges of plates after sustained exposure to thermal cycling loads.


This paper examines the effect of financial institutions management information system migration to blockchain technology on systemic risk. Our study examines a sample of 40 financial institutions around the world. The aim is to identify to what extent the migration of financial company management information system to blockchain system contribute to minimize systemic risk measures through regressions on panel data. We have reached the empirical evidence which indicates that the change we mentioned earlier affect immediately the systemic risk level. Companies that have adopted the blockchain technology recorded a significant reduction in systemic risk level. In addition, financial institutions that have adopted this latter system recorded a significant decrease in long-run marginal expected shortfall and systemic risk index.


The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed patients and healthcare givers alike and challenged our practice of antenatal care, including fetal diagnosis and therapy. This document aims to review relevant recent information to allow us to optimize prenatal care delivery. We discuss potential modifications to obstetric management and fetal procedures in SARS-CoV2-negative and SARS-CoV2-positive patients with fetal anomalies or disorders. Most fetal therapies are time sensitive and cannot be delayed. If personnel and resources are available, we should continue to offer procedures of proven benefit, acknowledging any fetal and maternal risks, including those to health care workers. There is, to date, minimal, unconfirmed evidence of spontaneous vertical transmission, though it may theoretically be increased with some procedures. Knowing a mother's preoperative SARS-CoV-2 status would enable us to avoid or defer certain procedures while she is contagious and to protect health care workers appropriately. Some fetal conditions may alternatively be managed neonatally. Counseling regarding fetal interventions which have a possibility of additional intra- or postoperative morbidity must be performed in the context of local resource availability. Procedures of unproven benefit should not be offered. We encourage participation in registries and trials that may help us to understand the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women, their fetuses, and neonates.


Since microwaves do not penetrate water, RADAR, the principal tool for remote sensing of the earth and atmosphere, cannot be used directly for the detection of underwater objects. Currently, aerial light detecting and ranging (LIDAR) systems are therefore preferred for the detection and ranging of objects submerged in the sea. LIDAR provides for large area coverage at high speed, but it lacks coherent detection capability, a shortcoming that severely limits system sensitivity and underwater target contrast. In response to this problem, this paper details the merging of RADAR and LIDAR technologies in the constitution of a hybrid LIDAR-RADAR detection scheme. This new sensor configuration has reduced incoherent backscatter clutter by 17 dB in laboratory experiments and related computer simulations. >


In a group of adult Seneca Indians living in Western New York, 14 per cent were discovered to have previously diagnosed diabetes, and 20 per cent of the remainder had a plasma glucose of 200 mg. per 100 ml. or greater one hour after oral carbohydrate. This report describes the glucose and insulin responses to oral carbohydrate in fifty of these subjects who were not previously known to have diabetes during initial testing. On the basis of the results of a two-hour oral glucose tolerance test, forty-six subjects were classified into "diabetic" or "normal" categories. Four persons formed an intermediate group. The diabetics differed from the normals in that (1) they were older and more obese, though even the normal population was significantly obese, and (2) the mean fasting plasma insulin level was three times greater and the insulin response to oral glucose two and one-half times greater than in normals. When diabetics were subdivided on the basis of obesity or degree of glucose intolerance, no significant differences in insulin secretion could be detected. A group of diabetic subjects with a degree of obesity comparable to that of normal subjects still demonstrated two-fold increases in both fasting and postglucose insulin levels. The elevated insulin levels of diabetics can be explained only in part by co-existent obesity and suggest the presence of insulin resistance associated with diabetes in these Indians.


This paper examines the role of consumer finance, a high growth segment of the Indian financial sector in promoting financial inclusion. Consumer finance involves granting credit to consumers to enable them to possess goods for everyday use. While the Indian financial sector is changing rapidly, a large number of households still rely on informal sources for unforeseen expenditure. The paper presents results of a survey of consumer perception on the role of consumer credit to financial inclusion. Financial inclusion or access to financial services is a major development goal for all nations across the globe. The concept has a multitude of dimensions from payments and savings accounts, credit, insurance and pensions and securities market. Ensuring quality access to formal financial services has always been a challenging task. Despite being a prime policy agenda for decades, the goal of universal financial inclusion is yet to be achieved in India. The Indian financial inclusion story so far was led by commercial banks and MFIs. While acknowledging the importance of access to credit for productive purposes, a total integration with financial market also means access to services like insurance and consumption loans.


Here we report on chelating ligands for Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange (SABRE) catalysts that permit hyperpolarisation on otherwise sterically hindered substrates. We demonstrate 1H enhancements of ∼100-fold over 8.5 T thermal for 2-substituted pyridines, and smaller, yet significant enhancements for provitamin B6 and caffeine. We also show 15N-enhancements of ∼1000-fold and 19F-enhancements of 30-fold.


This paper offers a conceptual framework to help contextualize end of life planning and expand its temporal dimensions. Traditional orientations to plan for end of life are focused on advance directives, primarily dealing with removal of invasive life sustaining interventions during the weeks, days or hours prior to death. Such planning has not been successful in achieving its intended goals. The ascendance of the palliative care movement in many regions of the world allows for recognizing the importance of maximizing comfort, offering social support and respecting spiritual and existential needs for meaningfulness close to the end of life. Our framework of 'Planful Self-Advocacy' is focused on the value and promotion of proactive patient self-advocacy for eliciting responsive health care long before the patient reaches the end of life. Consideration of options for planful action as people reach old age, or as they are diagnosed with life limiting chronic illness, are presented. These options include organizing informal supports for times of need, planning environmental modifications, establishing long term relationships with health care professionals who are willing to serve as patient advocates, learning about desirable long term care options and using technology to help counteract shrinking life space near the end of life. Data from our ongoing study of elders nearing the final years of life will be used to explore the relationships between model elements.


Abstract Mitochondrial disorders typically present with widespread, clinical features in all age groups and ethnicities and are often progressive and degenerative in nature. Because their clinical presentation is so variable and typically leads to widespread multisystem problems, diagnosis based on history and physical findings alone is often difficult, particularly for physicians unfamiliar with this group of diseases. Traditional diagnostic tools, which include invasive muscle biopsies for a variety of histological studies, functional assays, and enzymology, are costly, typically require a surgical procedure, are not definitively diagnostic in all cases and generate data that for the non-mitochondrial specialist is often difficult to interpret. Recent advances with expanded gene testing, in some cases utilizing easily obtainable urine samples, and noninvasive enzymatic testing are proving to increase patient accessibility to testing modalities and will likely lead to more rapid and accurate diagnosis, and ultimately improve management and treatment of affected individuals.


The existence of the Acehnese expression in the culture of the Indonesian speech community is a sociolinguistic study. This study was  aimed to describe the function of the Acehnese expression used by Indonesian speakers. Method of describing the existence of expression using qualitative approach of descriptive type. The Acehnese language expression data was collected from the informant using a note. The results of this study indicate that the Acehnese expression has a certain function in society so that the expression is used when communicating. The functions vary in order to establish loyalty, fairness, tranquility, and to maintain a balance of life. The Acehnese phrase exists in the Indonesian speaking community because it has a continuity between communication and its implementation in the life of society. The existence of this phrase is used as a social critique, guidance, and advice to strengthen unity and unity with in the framework of Indonesianc ulture. This expression exists for speakers of the Indonesian language because it contains the power of value that is a ble to educate speaker sunconsciously and thoroughly.


Interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary research is becoming more common and their importance is increasingly being recognized. However, in practice many of these efforts tend to end up in more or less isolated activities around a common theme. Successful forms of cross-domain interactions may be feasible as long as the stakeholders that team up around a certain research theme share a common vocabulary. However, the risk of fragmentation becomes greater when they have little in common and so cross-domain research that involves contributions from the hard sciences and the humanities are relatively rare.

Besides a willingness to be open for each other's contributions, one of the biggest challenges for the success of such efforts is to find a common vocabulary that can be recognized and shared by all the parties involved. Such a vocabulary could contribute to a lingua democratica, a consensual and cooperative means of sharing knowledge amongst domains. This paper aims to draw attention to the concept of patterns and pattern libraries as means to create such shared vocabularies. A number of patterns, based on the concept of feedback, will be introduced from the often very abstract research area of computational intelligence and related areas. These patterns aim to transform and condense some essential characteristics of feedback in such a way that, hopefully, they may become more or less accessible for other scientific disciplines. The resulting 'pattern-oriented approach to complexity' (PAC) aims to address the necessarily interdisciplinary nature of complexity, not by cross-domain criticism, but rather by attempting to achieve certain synthesis.


The Piedmont, a complex physiographic subregion of the U.S. South, encompasses parts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Anticipating the future and analyzing what the interaction of future changes might mean for the forests of the Piedmont and the services they provide can improve decisions by resource managers and policymakers that have long-term consequences. The authors extracted and analyzed detailed results from the Southern Forest Futures Project to provide a set of key findings and implications for the Piedmont. The general conclusion of this analysis is that Piedmont forests will likely decline over time in response to growing populations and urbanization. Over the next several decades the Piedmont will be faced with the effects of forest loss, including changes in water quality and water supply from forests, recreational opportunities, wildlife habitat, and increasing competition for traditional forest products industries.


The non-photosynthetic diatoms Nitzschia spp. are known to have evolved from photosynthetic species to heterotrophic species by the loss of photosynthesis. We investigated their ability to tolerate wide ranges of temperatures and salinities. Nitzschia spp. were capable of surviving or thriving even at 5°C and 35°C. In addition, these diatoms were also capable of surviving at salinities of 0.5 and 12.0, while thriving at those from 1.0 to 9.0. Such tolerance to a wide range of temperatures and salinities would allow these non-photosynthetic diatoms to thrive in mangrove estuaries, where environmental conditions often drastically fluctuate. Our experiments revealed that the growth rates of the non-photosynthetic diatoms were larger than those estimated based on cell volumes and temperature, suggesting that these non-photosynthetic diatoms may be an important group of organisms contributing to material circulation by growing heterotrophically in mangrove estuaries.


Background Metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) treatment depends on life expectancies. Data regarding palliative decompression outcomes is scarce. We demonstrate that surgical timing has a significant impact on survival in MSCC patients treated with palliative decompression. Methods Eighty-nine consecutive MSCC patients at a tertiary referral medical center were enrolled between January 2012 and February 2016. Wide laminectomy was performed for tumors invading the vertebral body. Debulking surgery was done for tumors damaging the posterior column of the spine. Patient records were retrospectively analyzed. Results Better survival was observed in patients with preoperative intact motor function (Group A, n = 37) than in those with motor deficit (Group B, n = 52, p = 0.0031). In Group B, survival was better in those who underwent surgery within 7 days of motor deficit onset than in those who underwent surgery 7 days after onset (p = 0.0444) and in postoperative ambulant patients than in nonambulant patients (p = 0.0120). In Group B, Frankel grade improved in patients who underwent surgery within 48 h than in those who underwent surgery after 48 h (p = 0.0992). Group A patients had a shorter hospital stay and higher revised Tokuhashi score than Group B patients. Overall survival was better in patients with a lower Tomita score (≤5, p = 0.0012), higher revised Tokuhashi score (≥9, p = 0.0009), better preoperative Frankel grade (p < 0.0001), and younger age (≤55 years, p = 0.0179). There were no significant differences in age, sex, tumor type, involved vertebrae level, Tomita score, intraoperative blood loss, operation time, incidence of infection, and postoperative complications between groups. Conclusion We can improve the survival of MSCC patients with palliative decompression before motor deficits occur. After motor deficit onset, survival can still be improved with surgery within 7 days. Overall survival was better in patients aged ≤55 years.


Information Centric Networking (ICN) has been regarded as an ideal architecture for the next-generation network to handle users' increasing demand for content delivery with in-network cache. While making better use of network resources and providing better delivery service, an effective access control mechanism is needed due to wide dissemination of contents. However, in the existing solutions, making cache-enabled routers or content providers authenticate users' requests causes high computation overhead and unnecessary delay. Also, straightforward utilization of advanced encryption algorithms increases the opportunities for DoS attacks. Besides, privacy protection and service accountability are rarely taken into account in this scenario. In this paper, we propose a secure, efficient, and accountable access control framework, called SEAF, for ICN, in which authentication is performed at the network edge to block unauthorized requests at the very beginning. We adopt group signature to achieve anonymous authentication, and use hash chain technique to greatly reduce the overhead when users make continuous requests for the same file. Furthermore, the content providers can affirm the service amount received from the network and extract feedback information from the signatures and hash chains. By formal security analysis and the comparison with related works, we show that SEAF achieves the expected security goals and possesses more useful features. The experimental results also demonstrate that our design is efficient for routers and content providers, and introduces only slight delay for users' content retrieval.


The gradient vector flow (GVF) algorithm has been used extensively as an efficient method for medical image segmentation. This algorithm suffers from poor robustness against noise as well as lack of convergence in small scale details and concavities. As a cure to this problem, in this paper the idea of multi scale is applied to the traditional GVF algorithm for segmentation of brain tumors in MRI images. Using this idea, the active contour is evolved with respect to scaled edge maps in a multi scale manner. The edge detection performance of the modified GVF algorithm is further enhanced by applying a threshold-based edge detector to improve the edge map. The Bspline snake is selected for representation of the active contour, due to its ability to capture corners and its local control. The results showed an improvement of 30% in the accuracy of tumor segmentation against traditional GVF and 10 % as compared to Bspline GVF in the presence of noise, besides the repeatability of the algorithm in contrast to traditional GVF. The clinical evaluation also proved the accuracy and sensitivity of the proposed method as 92.8% and 95.4%, respectively.


South Pars gas reservoir is considered one of the largest gas fields in the world. The present study in PSEEZ that surveyed the environmental groundwater aquifers and strategies to deal with, draw down of water and increasing impurities through mapping of isobaths, isosulfate, isochlorine, isosalt, hardness and electrical conductivity contours. Results indicate that the soil is contaminated with heavy elements, progressing serious growing problems that can strongly affect the aquifers of pars region in the near future. Furthermore, aquifer recharge in Assaluyeh Plain is approximately 4.5 million cube meters per a year in which currently more than 3 (million m3/year) is not essentially gathered. Specific storage of alluvial fan deposits of about 5%, one percent of the flood plain and in other regional is less than one percent, so the capability storage of aquifers is low and cannot save a considerable amount of water, or discharge from the aquifer. Future water resources requirements will be provided from outside of the region, but it will take a long time for implementation. In this period, water necessities must be supplied


The Industrial Revolution has been, and continues to be, the focus of massive historiographical as well as historical inquiry. This collection includes reappraisals by Phyllis Deane and by FranA§ois Crouzet of their classic accounts of industrialisation in Britain and in France, and more generally broaches the wider issue of 'new approaches' which have been emerging for the understanding of the industrialising process in nations where it came somewhat later. In addition to grappling with questions of technical skills, economic analysis and the process of industrialisation, the authors also tackle questions of national politics and international relations. In addition to the roster of authors who examine individual national experiences, a general essay by Sidney Pollard takes into account the relative contributions of the distinct national experiences in western and eastern Europe, the USA and Japan, and assesses them as special cases of a more general phenomenon.


This summary booklet summarizes the "Hanford Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2009." The Hanford Site environmental report, published annually since 1958, includes information and summary data that provide an overview of activities at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site. The Hanford Site environmental report provides an overview of activities at the site; demonstrates the status of the site's compliance with applicable federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations, executive orders, and DOE policies and directives; and summarizes environmental data that characterize Hanford Site environmental management performance. The report also highlights significant environmental and public protection programs and efforts. Some historical and early 2010 information is included where appropriate.


Recent severe droughts in U.S. western and Great Plains states have highlighted the challenges that socio-ecological disturbances can pose for governing groundwater resources, as well as the interconnections between groundwater and surface water and the need to manage the 2 in an integrated way. Conjunctive management recognizes these interconnections and can be used to mitigate disturbances and achieve a variety of water management goals. However, comparative studies of how and to what extent various states have implemented conjunctive management strategies are few. Here we compare and assess the use of conjunctive management practices in 4 western states—Arizona, California, Nebraska, and Texas—with a particular focus on groundwater. Special attention is paid to factors of geography and infrastructure, degree of administrative (de)centralization, and monitoring and modeling in relation to conjunctive management. Despite the commonality of bifurcated regimes for groundwater and surface water, all 4 states have responded to disturbances with conjunctive management strategies in various ways. Although it has groundwater management challenges similar to those in the other 3 states, Texas has overall been slower to adopt conjunctive management strategies.
Citation: Sugg ZP, Ziaga S, Schlager EC. 2016. Conjunctive groundwater management as a response to socio-ecological disturbances: a comparison of 4 western U.S. states. Texas Water Journal. 7(1):1-24. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v7i1.7019.


Sustainable archives and preservation education in a global digital society demand collaborative frameworks and multiple, geographically-diverse partnerships. This poses considerable challenges for educators. A consortium between archival education programmes at University College London, Mid Sweden University and Simmons College, Boston, is addressing these challenges within an innovative virtual learning environment developed, built and shared among the three institutions. Participants from each of the three programmes describe, analyse and demonstrate ongoing collaboration, research and curriculum development unified through the Digital Curriculum Laboratory (DCL). They also explore the implications of these types of learning resources and collaborative approaches for supporting archives education internationally.


Background Trichomonas vaginalis causes trichomoniasis and metronidazole is its chosen drug for treatment. Ferredoxin has role in electron transport and carbohydrate metabolism and the conversion of an inactive form of metronidazole (CO) to its active form (CPR). Ferredoxin gene mutations reduce gene expression and increase its resistance to metronidazole. In this study, the frequency of ferredoxin gene mutations in clinical isolates of T.vaginalis in Tehran has been studied. Methods Forty six clinical T. vaginalis isolates of vaginal secretions and urine sediment were collected from Tehran Province since 2011 till 2012. DNA was extracted and ferredoxin gene was amplified by PCR technique. The ferredoxin gene PCR products were sequenced to determine gene mutations. Results In four isolates (8.69%) point mutation at nucleotide position -239 (the translation start codon) of the ferredoxin gene were detected in which adenosine were converted to thymine. Conclusion Mutation at nucleotide -239 ferredoxin gene reduces translational regulatory protein's binding affinity which concludes reduction of ferredoxin expression. For this reduction, decrease in activity and decrease in metronidazole drug delivery into the cells occur. Mutations in these four isolates may lead to resistance of them to metronidazole.


We present a retrospective clinical study concerning our personal experience with the circular stapler in the treatment of hemorrhoids; the aim of this study was to evaluate the results of this surgical procedure, in terms of operative time, postoperative pain and rate of both short and long-term complications. Twenty-seven patients with grade 3 or 4 hemorrhoids, from January 1999 to June 2001, were included in the study. The main technical details of this procedure, requiring only a short learning period, are described and both short-term complications (such as severe postoperative pain, bleeding, urinary and fecal retention) and long-term ones (such as persistent or recurrent haemorrhoidal prolapse, anal stenosis) are analyzed. The reported results show that, in the presence of appropriate local anatomic conditions, this procedure is able to reduce the operative time, is almost painless and is characterized by low rate of complications.


In Sweden, the family centre is a meeting place for families in a neighbourhood. It is a place for families to meet and exchange experiences and is a confidence-filled place for preschool children to play and develop. The staff at the family centre collaborate on early prevention strategies to promote health. Since 2014, the Public Dental Health Service in Södra Ryd, Skövde, has been a collaborative partner with the family centre.

OBJECTIVES
To explore and describe the parents' experiences of participating in health-promoting activities at the family centre.

BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN
A qualitative design based on interviews, analysed using a phenomenograpic approach.

PARTICIPANTS
Six focus groups with two to six participants in each group.

RESULTS
Three themes, all describing parents' experiences of visiting the family centre, emerged in the analysis. The themes were as follows; "Social fellowship", "A secure place" and "A learning environment". Each theme contained three categories, which represent the parents' different conceptions.

CONCLUSIONS
The present study showed that the parents who visit the family centre found that the collaboration is perceived as positive and has many benefits. The participants found that the family centre is an institution that increases social interaction. Furthermore, meeting dental professionals in an arena outside the clinic creates confidence and makes people feel secure. Parents also learn both from the staff and from each other. According to these findings, the family centre is a suitable arena to work on health-promotion activities.


Rational design of long-period artificial lattices yields effects unavailable in simple solids. The moiré pattern in highly aligned graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) heterostructures is a lateral superlattice with high electron mobility and an unusual electronic dispersion whose miniband edges and saddle points can be reached by electrostatic gating. We investigated the dynamics of electrons in moiré minibands by measuring ballistic transport between adjacent local contacts in a magnetic field, known as the transverse electron focusing effect. At low temperatures, we observed caustics of skipping orbits extending over hundreds of superlattice periods, reversals of the cyclotron revolution for successive minibands, and breakdown of cyclotron motion near van Hove singularities. At high temperatures, electron-electron collisions suppress focusing. Probing such miniband conduction properties is a necessity for engineering novel transport behaviors in superlattice devices.


This article describes how disrupting the activities of suspected violent extremists has become an increasingly significant construct in the policy and practice of the Prevent strand of UK Counter-Terrorism. Informed by empirical data collected during semi-structured interviews with police officers involved in conducting disruptions and members of the communities where these occurred, blended with a limited amount of field observation, the analysis documents how and why a logic of disruption has assumed increasing prominence in counter terrorism work. In respect of police interventions in particular, implementing disruptions, rather than pursuing fully-fledged prosecutions, represents a pragmatic way of reconciling increasing demand with limited resources, as well as managing some of the difficulties of translating intelligence into legal evidence. Conceptualized in this way, the analysis positions disruption as a distinctive mode of crime prevention; one premised upon logics of near-event interdiction. As such, it is understood as rather different in its operations and functions to other forms of "early intervention" that are increasingly prominent in much contemporary crime prevention policy. By focusing upon how specific Prevent interventions are implemented and performed this analysis makes a particular contribution to our knowledge of counter terrorism work. This reflects the fact that most previous studies of Prevent and other countering violent extremism programs have provided analyses of community perceptions and reactions to policing and the policy frame, rather than the configuration of the interventions themselves.


To the Editor: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is responsible for ≈20% of all cases of community-acquired pneumonia. The most common form of the infection is tracheobronchitis, for which an etiologic diagnosis is seldom reached (1). Although tracheobronchitis is often mild, the infection is disruptive, with the cough lasting several weeks, and consumes substantial resources (2). M. pneumoniae infections occur endemically and epidemically worldwide, especially in children and young adults (1). In 2010, an increased incidence was reported from Denmark (3), England and Wales (4), and Israel (5). Several outbreaks have been reported in closed or semiclosed settings, as indicated on the basis of similar clinical symptoms, chest radiograph results, and detection of the bacteria (1).

Previous M. pneumoniae typing methods were based on the analysis of the gene encoding the cytadhesin P1 (MPN141) or the gene MPN528a (6). These methods only enabled the separation of isolates into 2 types and a few variants; therefore, clinical isolates were previously poorly differentiated. We recently developed a multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA), based on the study of the whole genome, that can differentiate >26 distinct variable-number tandem repeat types (7). We report the use of this MLVA typing method to show evidence of a clonal spread of a unique strain of M. pneumoniae among children in a French primary school and their household contacts.

In January 2011, 6 children (4–9 years of age), who attended the same primary public school in Bordeaux, France, reported fever, pharyngitis, rhinorrhea, and dry cough that later became mucoid. One of the children was admitted to the pediatric ward of the University Hospital of Bordeaux, and atypical pneumonia was confirmed by radiologic testing. A diagnosis of tracheobronchitis was confirmed by general practitioners for the 5 other children. Three of the children were administered β-lactam antimicrobial drugs that did not modify the course of the illness. An additional child (4 years of age), a first cousin of one of the 6 case-patients, also received a diagnosis of tracheobronchitis after repeated contact with his cousin.

Throat swab or blood samples were obtained from the 7 children, and throat swab samples were obtained from the household members of 4 of their families. DNA was extracted from throat specimens, and a TaqMan real-time PCR was performed to detect M. pneumoniae as described (8). MLVA typing was performed on the same DNA extracts, according to the method of Degrange et al. (7). M. pneumoniae–specific IgM and IgG in serum specimens were assessed by ELISA. PCR was used to detect Bordetella pertussis, B. parapertussis, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and viruses commonly responsible for respiratory tract infections. In France, 10% of M. pneumoniae isolates are resistant to macrolides (9); thus, we used real-time PCR and melting curve analysis to detect macrolide resistance–associated mutations in the 23S rRNA gene (9).

The 7 children were confirmed to be positive for M. pneumoniae infection by PCR or by the presence of M. pneumoniae–specific IgM (Figure). No other respiratory tract pathogens were found. In all cases, MLVA determined the strain type to be 34572, also called MLVA type J (7); this finding suggests clonal spread of a specific M. pneumoniae strain. No macrolide resistance–associated mutation was found in the 23S rRNA gene. All children were treated with roxithromycin or clarithromycin and rapidly recovered, although PCR results remained positive for up to 6 weeks in subsequent throat samples. This length of persistence is in accordance with a previous study showing that the median time for carriage of M. pneumoniae DNA was 7 weeks after disease onset and that adequate treatment did not shorten this period (10).

Figure

Timing and characteristics of patients and contacts in a study using the multilocus variable-number tandem repeat (MLVA) typing method to show evidence of clonal spread of a unique strain of Mycoplasma pneumoniae among children attending a French primary ...

M. pneumoniae DNA was also found in throat swab specimens of 3 household contacts (2 adults and a 1-year-old child) in 3 separate families (Figure). The MLVA type was determined in 1 contact; it also was MLVA type J, suggesting that carriage in this contact was related to spread of the same clone. Of interest, none of these 3 household members had respiratory symptoms. Nilsson et al. (10) also reported a high frequency of M. pneumoniae DNA carriage in household contacts; however, in contrast to contacts in our study, all of the household contacts in the study by Nilsson et al. had ongoing or recent respiratory tract symptoms.

In summary, we report an outbreak of M. pneumoniae infections confirmed by MLVA, a discriminatory typing method. MLVA typing revealed the clonal spread of a single M. pneumoniae type J strain in children attending the same primary school and in their household contacts. The cases we identified may represent only a small proportion of the actual cases, which were likely underestimated due to mild symptoms, poor knowledge of M. pneumoniae infections by general practitioners, and lack of PCR availability. We showed that MLVA typing of M. pneumoniae can be used to detect clonal spread and outbreaks. This approach might also be useful for studying the worldwide emergence of M. pneumoniae macrolide resistance and for finding resistant clones with the potential for spreading.


The results of a detailed SEM study of nutlet morphology in 156 species of tribe Nepeteae (Labiatae) are presented. Two main types, smooth and sculptured, are described; within them such subgroups as reticulate, cellular, verrucose and tuberculate are defined. The taxonomic significance of these characters is discussed. Pericarp structure was investigated in 34 species. Mucilaginous tubercles were found on the surface of the nutlets in Nepeta, Drepanocaryum and Lophanthus, and their structure is described. In the 10 genera of this widespread tribe, three informal generic groups are recognized, based on a combination of nutlet morphology, pericarp structure and vegetative and floral features.


Recently, a large number of In2O3-based oxide semiconductors (mainly Indium Zinc Oxide - IZO and Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide - IGZO) have been extensively investigated for use as the semiconducting channels in thin film transistors (TFTs). IZO has a large amount of deep defect states that can be attributed to oxygen deficiency states resulting in instability in such TFTs. To resolve this issue, the addition of gallium has been utilised to reduce the oxygen deficiency state density making a-IGZO a suitable semiconducting material for TFTs. There is some evidence however that gallium doping leads to an increased device photosensitivity to visible light, a rather undesirable effect when they are used in flat panel displays. In order to address the above-mentioned stability issues we have investigated TFTs employing solution processed tungsten-doped Indium Oxide (In2O3:W). The films were deposited by spray coating at 350 oC from InCl3 and WCl5 blends in methanol and characterised by X-ray diffraction, AFM, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and field effect measurements. TFTs that employed Al2O3 gate dielectrics, In2O3:W semiconducting channels (with various W content) and gold source and drain contacts underwent negative bias stress for 6000 s, and showed excellent stability characteristics such as a small decrease of the threshold voltage (from 2.3 V to 2.0 V) without significantly decreasing the electron mobility - decreased for 16 to 14 cm2/Vs.


Zika virus appeared in South America in 2015, generating alarm worldwide as it causes microcephaly and autoimmunity. This study aims to determine the serological footprint of the incoming epidemic in a student community and to characterize the memory functional cell response during post convalescence. In a cross-sectional study, Zika-specific IgG using LIA immunoassay was found in 328 university students (CI=95%), while in the second phase, the functional cellular memory response for IFN-γ and IL-2 was quantified using post-stimulus ELISpot with inactivated virus, starting with individuals seropositive for Zika and control individuals (seropositive only for Dengue and seronegative for Zika-Dengue). Depending on the antigen used, memory humoral response (IgG) against Zika Virus was observed in >60% of the population; seropositivity for NS1 was 21.1% higher than E antigen with high intensity. The analysis of cell functionality in 22 individuals seropositive for Zika virus revealed either IFN-γ+ or IL-2+ cells in 86.3% of cases (Th1 profile), presenting multifunctionality in 50% (11 individuals), 64% of which presented> 6 SFC/104 PBMCs (>600 SFC/106 PBMC), reflecting memory circulating cells. A good agreement (Kappa= 0.754) was observed between the coexistence of both cellular and humoral responses but not in their intensity.


Nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis has the potential to separate water-insoluble analytes. Previously, we reported the separation of water-insoluble and neutral synthetic polymers in nonaqueous capillary zone electrophoresis using tetrahydrofuran (THF)-based ternary nonaqueous solutions. In this paper, the effect of the composition of a THF-based ternary solution (THF, acetonitrile, and methanol) containing cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) on electrophoretic behavior is investigated using small organic compounds as prove analytes. In addition to general electrophoretic parameters such as electrophoretic mobility, analytical stability was also evaluated. The electric current, electrophoretic mobility of the benzyltriethylammonium cation (ion pair formation with chloride anion), and electrophoretic mobility of coronene (solvophobic interaction with the CTA cation) were dominated mainly by the THF content, and lower THF content resulted in higher values. In contrast, electroosmotic mobility was enhanced by an increase in THF content and was affected mainly by methanol content. Interestingly, in addition to stable electropherograms, we observed instable (fluctuation of baseline or zero current) electropherograms, which were obtained irregularly. Although a notable relation between the composition and the instable behavior was not observed, it is suggested that this "discontinuous instability" is related with the composition distribution (heterogeneous composition) of the ternary solvents in a capillary. Increasing the temperature effectively suppressed the composition distribution and has the potential to decrease the risk of instable behavior.


Abstract In everyday encounters, interactants have to keep track of a wide range of parameters which are relevant for a successful conversation: They have to 'address' the communicative genre that is (or is about to be) activated as well as the immediate and general situation the interactants are in. Furthermore, interactants have to tailor their utterances in such a way that they meet the supposed local needs of their partners-in-talk and make sure that their talk rests on the assumed shared knowledge of all interactants. On the basis of everyday spoken German conversations it will be shown that speakers have to design their utterances in such a way as to be adapted to their recipients' knowledge as well as to address situational and genre-related parameters. By analyzing utterance design it becomes possible to reveal the cognitive processes of the interactants.


Background/Aims: Treatment strategies for abnormal mineral metabolism in chronic kidney disease are largely based on achieving target ranges of biomarkers that vary considerably over time, yet determinants of their variability are poorly defined. Methods: Observational study including 162 patients of three dialysis cohorts (peritoneal dialysis, n = 78; hemodialysis, n = 49; hemodiafiltration, n = 35). Clinical and biochemical determinants of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) variability were analyzed in the peritoneal dialysis cohort. All cohorts were used for comparison of PTH and FGF23 intra-subject variability (intra-class correlation), and their intra-subject variability in different modes of dialysis was explored. Results: High PTH variability was independently associated with lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and factors of lipid and glucose metabolism, whereas high FGF23 variability was mainly associated with lower baseline serum phosphorous. These results were consistent in multivariate and sensitivity analyses. The intra-subject variability of FGF23 was lower than for PTH irrespective of dialysis mode. Conclusions: Baseline vitamin D status and serum phosphorous are independent determinants of the longitudinal variation in PTH and FGF23, respectively. The clinical utility of FGF23 measurement remains unknown, yet it appears favorable based on its greater temporal stability than PTH in dialysis patients.


Abstract Political entrepreneurs are identified by personal characteristics similar to economic entrepreneurs, i.e. intellectual ability, good knowledge of their domain, team building skills, reputation, extensive networks, strategic vision and tenacity. Political entrepreneurs differ from economic agents by having a different incentive structure in attempting to control or exercise political power. A complete model of actor interaction would entail structural constraints and agency attributes coupled with an account of actor relational data. These we can best conceptualize as network data. Networks provide the context within which these actors thrive. Furthermore, as all entrepreneurial activity bears risks, networks are employed to mitigate them. Furthermore, accepting the premise that political entrepreneurs are network-dependent implies that their ability for political action is network-contingent. Focusing on their network attributes, I attempt to identify those significant for the entrepreneurial behaviour of policy actors. A case study of agenda-setting among policy entrepreneurs provides the background for testing two alternative hypotheses on whether these actors exhibit incremental or opportunistic behaviour.


This study aims at identifying the suitable lands for urban development in Bandar Abbas city based on its real world use regarding specific criteria and sub-criteria. The city of Bandar Abbas is considered as the most important commercial and economic city of Iran. It is also considered as one of the major cities of Iran which has played a pivotal role in the country's development and progress in recent years especially after the end of Iran-Iraq war owing to its embracing the country's main commercial ports. This process has caused the immigration rate into the city to rise significantly over the past 20 years. Thus, the development of the city is meanwhile considered as a high priority. Bandar Abbas city does not have a rich capacity for growth and development due to its special geographical situation being located in coastal border. Among the limitations placed in the city's development way, natural limitations (heights and sea shore) in the northern and southern parts of the city and structural limitations (military centers) in the east and west sides of the city may be referred. Therefore, identifying the suitable lands for urban development within Bandar Abbas city limits is becoming an essential priority. Therefore, different quantitative and qualitative criteria have been studied in order to select and identify these lands. The structures of qualitative criteria for most parts involve ambiguities and vagueness. This leads us to use Fuzzy logic in this study as a natural method for determining the solutions for problems of Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM). In the current research, a combination of MCDM methods has been presented for analysis. To assignee weights of the criteria Fuzzy AHP (analytic hierarchy process) is used for land selection and Fuzzy TOPSIS (method for order priority by similarity to ideal solution) is utilized to choose the alternative that is the most appropriate through these criteria weights. The sensitivity analysis of the results is included in the research.


Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is one of the most ubiquitous chemical compounds in the history of the chemical sciences. The generation of alcohol via fermentation is also one of the oldest forms of chemical technology, with the production of fermented beverages predating the smelting of metals. By the 12th century, the ability to isolate alcohol from wine had moved this chemical species from a simple component of alcoholic beverages to both a new medicine and a powerful new solvent. The use of alcohol as a fuel, however, did not occur until significantly later periods, the history of which is generally presented as a separate narrative from its initial applications as intoxicating beverages, medicines, or chemical reagents. The current report aims to more firmly connect these two disparate historical accounts, presenting an overview of the history of ethanol from its initial isolation in the 12th century through its current application as a fuel additive for most automotive vehicles in the United States.


Dynamic ornamental signals that vary over minutes, hours or weeks can yield continuous information on individual condition (e.g., energy reserves or immune status), and may therefore be under strong social and/or sexual selection. In vertebrates, the coloration of the integument is often viewed as a dynamic ornament, which in birds can be apparent in the beak. King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) are monomorphic seabirds that possess conspicuous yellow–orange (YO) and ultraviolet (UV) beak spots that are used by both males and females in mate choice. We studied the dynamicity of beak spot sexual traits, and to what extent they reflected changes in individual condition in fasting king penguins and in penguins treated with an anti-parasitic drug. We also describe the maturation of this colorful ornament during the yearly catastrophic moult. On a time-scale of days to weeks, beak spot coloration changed in response to fasting and experimental changes in parasite load. Beak spot UV brightness decreased over a 10-day fast in breeding birds. For birds caught during courtship and held in captivity YO chroma decreased after a 24-day fast. Birds that were treated with an anti-parasitic solution showed an increase in UV coloration after parasite removal. Altogether, our results show that beak spot coloration is a dynamic ornament that reflects multiple dimensions of changes in individual condition in breeding-fasting penguins.


A very different - more indirect and factual than formal legal - contribution to the EU tax law-making process is that of the influence of external multi-disciplinary factors. They relate in particular to economic, political and social embedding, comparative better international law, morality and historical imprint. As they are by nature external factors - and by the same token non-legal acts - their impact on the making and evolution of EU tax law is limited to inspiring the official competent EU authorities, eventually serving as 'bottom-up' element in the hard or soft tax law-making process when recognized and legitimized by the 'top-down stamp' of the official competent EU authorities. Paraphrasing our opening citation: 'Some true, some light, but every one of you / Stamp'd with the image of the European Union'. What thus happens in the end is that we are looking, in this era of fiscal transparency, at new trends and patterns in the ongoing process of EU tax development related to the joint impacts of respectively external factors to the EU legal process (Chapter II) and of the 'reshuffling' of internal legal sources on the part of the competent EU tax authorities (and also, in different degrees and levels, of parallel international organizations as OECD) (Chapter I). Finally, in Chapter III, the discussions of Chapters I and II are related to the strategic EU development of 'ever closer union among the people of Europe'.


Background Good communication around cancer treatment is essential in helping patients cope with their disease and related care, especially when this information is tailored to one's needs. Despite its importance, communication is often complex, in particular in older patients (aged 65 years or older). In addition to the age-related deterioration in information and memory processing older patients experience, communication is also complicated by their required yet often unmet role of being an active, participatory patient. Older patients rarely express their informational needs and their contributions to consultations are often limited. Therefore, older patients with cancer need to be prepared to participate more actively in their care and treatment. Objective The objective of this paper was to report the development of PatientVOICE, an online, preparatory tool with audio facility aimed to enhance the participation of older patients during educational nursing encounters preceding chemotherapy and to improve their information recall. Methods PatientVOICE was developed by applying the following 6 steps of the intervention mapping framework that involved both patients and nurses: (1) needs assessment, (2) specifying determinants and change objectives, (3) reviewing and selecting theoretical methods and practical strategies, (4) developing intervention components, (5) designing adoption and implementation, and (6) making an evaluation plan. Results A careful execution of these consecutive steps resulted in the ready-to-use preparatory website. PatientVOICE provides pre-visit information about chemotherapy (ie, medical information, side effects, and recommendations of dealing with side effects), information about the educational nursing visit preceding chemotherapy (ie, aim, structure, and recommendations for preparation), techniques to improve patients' communication skills using a question prompt sheet (QPS) and video-modeling examples showing "best practices", and the opportunity to upload and listen back to an audio recording of a patient's own nursing visit. Conclusions The development process resulted in PatientVOICE, a multi-component online intervention targeted to older patients with cancer. PatientVOICE contains information about the treatment as well as information about the role of the patient during treatment. Using different methods (QPS and audio facility), we hope to support these patients during their treatment. In the future, the utility and usability of this complex intervention will be evaluated in a group of older patients who receive or have received chemotherapy.


Secretion of interleukin 8 (IL-8) and its regulation was investigated in myelomonocytic leukaemia cell lines. Quantification by ELISA revealed a constitutive production in the cell lines HL-60, ML-2, MONO-MAC-6 and MUTZ-3 ranging between 1500 and ca. 5000 pg/ml IL-8 per million cells. No measurable IL-8 was detected in the culture medium of MONO-MAC-1 and THP-1. Stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA) significantly increased the IL-8 level secreted by all cell lines; the best producers were TPA-treated MONO-MAC-6 and MUTZ-3 cultures, generating more than 50 000 pg/ml IL-8. Also the calcium ionophore A-23187, IL-13, macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), thapsigargin, an inhibitor of the Ca(2+)-ATPase, and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) strongly enhanced the IL-8 production in MONO-MAC-6 cells. The glucocorticoid dexamethasone and the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine distinctively inhibited the IL-8 production of MONO-MAC-6 cells. Thus, our results demonstrate a strong constitutive IL-8 secretion in human myelomonocytic leukaemia cell lines; the variety of different modulators affecting IL-8 production leads to the suggestion of a multiple regulation of IL-8 expression and secretion.


People perceive the consequences of their own actions differently to how they perceive other sensory events. A large body of psychology research has shown that people also consistently overrate their own performance relative to others, yet little is known about how these "illusions of superiority" are normally maintained. Here we examined the visual perception of the sensory consequences of self-generated and observed goal-directed actions. Across a series of visuomotor tasks, we found that the perception of the sensory consequences of one's own actions is more biased toward success relative to the perception of observed actions. Using Bayesian models, we show that this bias could be explained by priors that represent exaggerated predictions of success. The degree of exaggeration of priors was unaffected by learning, but was correlated with individual differences in trait optimism. In contrast, when observing these actions, priors represented more accurate predictions of the actual performance. The results suggest that the brain internally represents optimistic predictions for one's own actions. Such exaggerated predictions bind the sensory consequences of our own actions with our intended goal, explaining how it is that when acting we tend to see what we want to see.


The world is changing day by day and education sector is also catching up to provide sufficient education outcomes required by society in 21 st century. Teachers is one of key factors contributing to graduate quality. This study aims to explore the influence of soft skills in terms of critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, teamwork, and information management skills on teaching competency of lecturers at two faculties of two universities in Vietnam. The findings of quantitative and qualitative data indicated soft skills in terms of critical thinking, teamwork, and communication skills have influence on the teaching competency of lecturers within two faculties of two universities in this study. More importantly, the qualitative results also provided a deeper understanding of these soft skills on teaching competency of lecturers. Lecturers highlighted the important of communication skills regarding the presentation skills, public speaking, listening skill, problem-solving, and the method to inspire or motivate students to learn. Most lecturers preferred further opportunities to develop professional competency and doing more researches. They desired better working environments which offered more training sessions, workshop, or conference. Lastly, supports from universities or faculties particularly would be an incentive to promote them devote more in teaching path. An action plan was developed basing on the key findings of this study for a purpose to provide a road map so that lecturers can get more crucial 21 st century classroom teaching skills. Ina long term, it gradually contributes to develop the national competitiveness for its citizen as an education outcome.


In this paper, we propose a gold price index that enables market participants to separate the change in the 'intrinsic' value of gold from changes in global exchange rates. The index is a geometrically weighted average of the price of gold denominated in different currencies, with weights that are proportional to the market power of each country in the global gold market. Market power is defined as the impact that a change in a country's exchange rate has on the price of gold expressed in other currencies. We use principal components analysis to reduce the set of global exchange rates to four currency 'blocs' representing the U.S. dollar, the euro, the commodity currencies and the Asian currencies, respectively. We estimate the weight of each currency bloc in the index in an error correction framework using a broad set of variables to control for the unobserved intrinsic value. We show that the resulting index is less volatile than the USD price of gold and, in contrast with the USD price of gold, has a strong negative relationship with global equities and a strong positive relationship with the VIX index, both of which underline the role of gold as a safe haven asset.