A significant amount of the mammalian genome previously found to not code for proteins and considered 'junk', is actually pervasively transcribed and specifies a dynamic network of regulatory RNAs, the most abundant of which are long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). lncRNAs are critical players in many biological processes including epigenetic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional control as well as protein metabolism. Many exhibit cell-type or developmentally specific expression patterns and are associated with human disease. Interestingly, the majority of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified through genome wide association studies (GWAS) map to non-coding regions of the genome, which could potentially affect ncRNAs, given that ~80% of the human genome is transcribed.
Here, we show that the key cardiac transcriptional regulator, Nkx2-5, is, in humans and mouse, surrounded by two previously uncharacterised, long cardiac transcripts, which we named NkxDS and NkxUS. In humans, NKX2-5 mutations are commonly associated with congenital heart disease and a variety of specific cardiac malformations. Several lncRNAs have also been identified to be crucial for cardiac function as well as cardiac lineage commitment. At least 100 lncRNAs have been found to be cardiac specific, however, for most, their functional mechanisms, especially in vivo, remain unknown. This work aimed to characterise the two novel transcripts in order to explain whether NkxUS and NkxDS regulate Nkx2-5 itself or other processes important for heart function, development and/or disease.
This work shows that both mouse transcripts are nuclear and cardiac-enriched, expressed in the heart throughout development and are also expressed specifically in the human heart. NkxDS is a novel long isoform of Nkx2-5 as it contains the Nkx2-5 protein-coding sequence. Therefore, Nkx2-5 may have a protein-coding function as well as a non-coding role within the nucleus. In contrast, NkxUS is an independent transcript to Nkx2-5. Downregulation of mouse NkxUS expression in the HL-1 cardiac cell line displayed an upregulation of transcripts involved in cardiac contraction and conduction. Moreover, NkxUS interacting partners included proteins localising to the nucleus and mitochondria, which are involved in metabolism and in the regulation of transcription. Interestingly, a GWAS SNP associated with an increased resting heart rate lies within and disrupts a 600nt RNA structure conserved between mouse and human NkxUS. Analysis of mice harboring a partial deletion of this structure, generated by CRISPR/Cas9 technology, revealed no developmental defects, nor did the deleted structure have any effect on Nkx2-5 expression. However, remarkably, a similar phenotype as described for humans harboring the GWAS SNP was observed, with homozygous mice exhibiting an increased resting heart rate. The phenotype was shown to result from an elevated pacemaker activity, most likely due to enhanced signaling through the cAMP pathway caused possibly by an upregulation of ion channels.
In conclusion, this work has discovered NkxDS as a new isoform of the master cardiac transcription factor Nkx2-5 and has shown that a conserved RNA structure within NkxUS plays an important role in the regulation of resting heart rate. These results provide new insights into the functional importance of lncRNA secondary structures and their involvement in GWAS SNPs associated traits and diseases.


BACKGROUND
Increasing macular pigment optical density (MPOD) as a result of increased macular concentration of lutein and zeaxanthin may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

PURPOSE
The aim of present study was to determine the influence in which the consumption of eggs, a rich source of dietary lutein and zeaxanthin, influences MPOD and serum lutein.

METHODS
In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science up to July 2020, for relevant randomized clinical trials. Using a random-effects model, pooled weighted mean differences, and SDs for each outcome were obtained. Quality of eligible studies was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration's tool.

RESULTS
Meta-analysis of five trials (296 participants) revealed that egg consumption significantly increased MPOD (WMD: +0.037; 95% CI: 0.004, 0.069; P= 0.027) and serum lutein (WMD: +0.150 μmol L^-1; 95% CI: 0.037, 0.263; P= 0.009). Subgroup analyses showed that egg consumption: a) had a larger effect on MPOD in studies with a parallel design; and b) increased serum lutein to a greater extent in a healthy population. We did not detect any heterogeneity between studies.

CONCLUSION
Daily egg consumption has beneficial effects on MPOD and serum lutein is inversely associated with reduced AMD progression. To confirm the result of this study, further clinical trials are required. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Stripe rust of wheat, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, has been one of the most destructive diseases on wheat in the western USA since the late 1950s and has become increasingly important in the central and south-eastern USA since 2000. Stripe rust of barley, caused by P. striiformis f. sp. hordei, a relatively new disease, has established and caused severe damage in the south-central and western states since the pathogen was first reported in Texas in 1991. Stripe rusts of wheat and barley have been monitored by trap nurseries and by field surveys. Collections of stripe rust from wheat, barley, triticale, and grasses have been tested on a set of 20 wheat differential genotypes for identifying races of P. striiformis f. sp. tritici and a set of 12 barley differential genotypes for identifying races of P. striiformis f. sp. hordei. In total, 62 new races of P. striiformis f. sp. tritici and 22 new races of P. striiformis f. sp. hordei have been identified since 2000. Germplasm and breeding lines of wheat and barley have been tested every year under natural infection in the field and with selected races in the greenhouse. Combinations of durable high-temperature, adult-plant resistance with effective all-stage resistance should provide more effective stripe rust control and reduce the use of fungicides.


The HOX genes are transcription factors that are expressed in coordinated spatiotemporal patterns to ensure normal development. Ectopic expression may instead lead to the development and progression of tumors. Genetic polymorphisms in the regions of four HOX gene clusters were tested for association with lung cancer in 420 cases and 3,151 controls. The effect of these variants on lung gene expression (expression quantitative trait loci, eQTL) was tested in a discovery set of 409 non-tumor lung samples and validated in two lung eQTL replication sets (n = 287 and 342). The expression levels of HOXB2 were evaluated at the mRNA and protein levels by quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry in paired tumor and non-tumor lung tissue samples. The most significant SNP associated with lung cancer in the HOXB cluster was rs10853100 located upstream of the HOXB cluster. HOXB2 was the top eQTL-regulated gene with several polymorphisms associated with its mRNA expression levels in lung tissue. This includes the lung cancer SNP rs10853100 that was significantly associated with HOXB2 expression (P=3.39E-7). In the lung eQTL discovery and replication sets, the lung cancer risk allele (T) for rs10853100 was associated with lower HOXB2 expression levels. In paired normal-tumor samples, HOXB2 mRNA and protein levels were significantly reduced in tumors when compared to non-tumor lung tissues. Genetic variants in the HOXB cluster may confer susceptibility to lung cancer by modulating the expression of HOXB2 in the lung.


Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is a well-validated tool for determining the functional significance of a coronary artery stenosis, facilitating clinical decisions regarding the need for revascularization. FFR-guided revascularization improves clinical and economic outcomes. However, its application remains challenging in certain complex anatomic subsets, including left main coronary artery stenosis, bifurcation disease, and saphenous vein graft disease. This article reviews recent data supporting the use of FFR in these complex anatomic subsets.


The Bronze Age city-site of Gonur Depe in the Margiana has been excavated by V. I. Sarianidi and his team for many years. Since 2010 the Eurasia Department is taking part in the research. New work has been carried out in the eastern part of the city inside the surrounding wall, in an area just outside the northern gate of the city wall, where architecture and burials were discovered, as well as in outlying rural sites and by surveying the surroundings to around 10 km distance from the central city.


Background Cohesive visualization and interpretation of hyperdimensional, large-scale -omics data is an ongoing challenge, particularly for biologists and clinicians involved in current highly complex sequencing studies. Multivariate studies are often better suited towards non-linear network analysis than differential expression testing. Here, we present PRESTO, a 'PREdictive Stochastic neighbor embedding Tool for Omics', which allows unsupervised dimensionality reduction of multivariate data matrices with thousands of subjects or conditions. PRESTO is intuitively integrated into an interactive user interface that helps to visualize the multidimensional patterns in genome-wide transcriptomic data from basic science and clinical studies. Results PRESTO was tested with multiple input omics' platforms, including microarray and proteomics from both mouse and human clinical datasets. PRESTO can analyze up to tens of thousands of genes and shows no increase in processing time with a large number of samples or patients. In complex datasets, such as those with multiple time points, several patient groups, or diverse mouse strains, PRESTO outperformed conventional methods. Core co-expressed gene networks were intuitively grouped in clusters, or gates, after dimensionality reduction and remained consistent across users. Networks were identified and assigned to physiological and pathological functions that cannot be gleaned from conventional bioinformatics analyses. PRESTO detected gene networks from the natural variations among mouse macrophages and human blood leukocytes. We applied PRESTO to clinical transcriptomic and proteomic data from large patient cohorts and detected disease-defining signatures in antibody-mediated kidney transplant rejection, renal cell carcinoma, and relapsing acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In AML, PRESTO confirmed a previously described gene signature and found a new signature of 10 genes that is highly predictive of patient outcome. Conclusions PRESTO offers an important integration of powerful bioinformatics tools with an interactive user interface that increases data analysis accessibility beyond bioinformaticians and 'coders'. Here, we show that PRESTO out performs conventional methods, such as DE analysis, in multi-dimensional datasets and can identify biologically relevant co-expression gene networks. In paired samples or time points, co-expression networks could be compared for insight into longitudinal regulatory mechanisms. Additionally, PRESTO identified disease-specific signatures in clinical datasets with highly significant diagnostic and prognostic potential.


Abstract. In this paper, an automatic robotic inspector for tunnel assessment is presented. The proposed platform is able to autonomously navigate within the civil infrastructures, grab stereo images and process/analyse them, in order to identify defect types. At first, there is the crack detection via deep learning approaches. Then, a detailed 3D model of the cracked area is created, utilizing photogrammetric methods. Finally, a laser profiling of the tunnel's lining, for a narrow region close to detected crack is performed; allowing for the deduction of potential deformations. The robotic platform consists of an autonomous mobile vehicle; a crane arm, guided by the computer vision-based crack detector, carrying ultrasound sensors, the stereo cameras and the laser scanner. Visual inspection is based on convolutional neural networks, which support the creation of high-level discriminative features for complex non-linear pattern classification. Then, real-time 3D information is accurately calculated and the crack position and orientation is passed to the robotic platform. The entire system has been evaluated in railway and road tunnels, i.e. in Egnatia Highway and London underground infrastructure.


This survey of the literature on the ecological effects of roads and traffic revealed many articles published over many years in peer reviewed journals. There has also been a growing number of reports on the ecological effects of roads produced by government authorities. Whereas few reports have been published on assessing the ecological impacts, there has been a rapidly growing number of reports on methods for mitigation. Gaps in research include the effects of heavy metal accumulation and the processes and effects resulting from habitat fragmentation. There is a need to assess the effectiveness of underpasses and tunnels and the nature and functioning of buffer zones. A literature database has been assembled and is being updated.


The early history of dinosaurs in North America is obscured by an incomplete fossil record, taxonomic uncertainties and speculative correlations of tetrapod-bearing rocks, as well as poor calibration of the Late Triassic time scale. High-precision U-Pb geochronology provides a reliable means of correlating terrestrial rock formations independent of equivocal lithostratigraphy or vertebrate biostratigraphy, and hence the possibility of properly evaluating models for the early radiation and diversification of Dinosauria. Here we present new, high-precision, U-Pb ID-TIMS zircon geochronology from the presumed lowermost strata of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation of the Colorado Plateau in Southwest United States, including a mean 206Pb/238U date of 219.39 ± 0.16 Ma from the renowned Placerias Quarry Bone Bed in eastern Arizona. The new results prompt revisions to the chronostratigraphy of the lower Chinle and provide a new temporal context for its rich tetrapod fauna. The oldest documented dinosaurs of North America coexisted with their non-dinosaurian near-relatives for a minimum of 12 m.y., from ca. 223 Ma to ca. 211 Ma, in the Norian. This early dinosauromorph record follows a ca. 6 m.y. period from which no tetrapod fossils have been documented and which was itself preceded by a ca. 10 m.y. depositional hiatus spanning nearly the entire Ladinian and Carnian stages of the terrestrial North America. The supposed late appearance of dinosauromorphs in North America compared to those in South America thus appears to be an artifact of incomplete preservation, as well as unsubstantiated age interpretations. This, together with the conspicuous biogeographic distinctions among the Triassic dinosauromorph assemblages, invalidates a simple diachronous model for the transcontinental radiation of early dinosaurs.


Background:Daily self-monitored blood glucose testing is recommended for patients with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes. However, most patients do not test frequently enough for optimal glycemic control. Less frequent testing may be sufficient for assessing glycemic control among stable patients as well as improving patient compliance. The study objective was to evaluate the weekly contribution of glucose readings to hemoglobin (Hb)A1c during an 8-week period of intensified self-monitored blood glucose testing. Methods:The authors randomly selected stable, insulin-treated subjects with type 2 diabetes. Subjects monitored their blood glucose four times daily for 8 weeks; the authors then downloaded glucose meters and measured an HbA1c. Mean blood glucose values were calculated for each of the 8 weeks. Multiple linear regression analyses examined the contribution of these mean values to the HbA1c. Results:A total of 182 subjects completed the monitoring protocol; mean HbA1c was 7.63 ± 1.42%, mean glucose was 9.78 ± 2.27 mmol/L, the regression correlation was 0.77, P < 0.001. A fitted multiple linear model using all 8 weekly mean blood glucose values showed large variation in their independent contributions to the HbA1c. Mean blood glucose values from consecutive weeks were highly correlated and did not provide independent information about glycemic control. Stepwise regression showed that the mean blood glucose values from weeks 4, 6, and 8 significantly and equally influenced HbA1c. Conclusions:Glycemic control can be efficiently assessed by reviewing at least 5 weeks' worth of monitoring results, focusing on alternate weeks and giving less weight to more remote readings.


The Impact of Environmental Factor and Individual Characteristic on Leptospirosis Outbrreak in Jakarta, 2003-2005. Jakarta is one of the largest Cities in Indonesia where almost every year get flooding. Of course, flooding brings very bad impact for all human life aspect, which one is the incidence of various post-flood diseases. Environment changes caused by flood will increase the spreading of leptospirosis (rat urine disease). This is happen because of animal urine infected by leptospira germs are carryout by water pond and contaminate house environment. Leptospirosis problem in DKI Jakarta was always occurred in same area caused by bad environment factors, bad behavior, or individual characteristic influence. The research objective was to find out the impact of environment factor and individual characteristic on leptospirosis cases in Jakarta year 2003-2005. The study designed was case control study. Data are base on secondary data from Training and Education Division of Tarakan District Hospital, Jakarta and also with developed questioner for data collection. Subject cases were 190 people, whereas positive leptospirosis as cases group and negative leptospirosis respondent as control group, with 1:1 comparison. There ware significant relationship between environmental condition: house condition and settlement (OR=3,96), SPAL (OR=1,98), and characteristic individual: social economy condition (OR=1,93), knowledge (OR=17,6), and education (OR= 2,41). Multi variable analysis conclude that there are four dominant factors that affect leptospirosis which are environmental factors such as water supply (OR=4.5), house component and settlement (OR=8.2), individual characteristic: such as education (OR=3.7), knowledge (OR=33.1) related with leptospirosis cases in Jakarta year 2003-2005.


ABSTRACT
ObjectivesRheumatic heart disease remains a major public health concern in developing countries. Motivated by the lack of up-to-date epidemiologic data from endemic settings, we sought to quantity morbidity and mortality attributable the condition in Fiji, a middle-income country where a high prevalence has consistently been reported. Having resolved to undertake the analysis using the existing routine clinical and administrative data at our disposal, we first set out to develop a data linkage procedure robust to the inherent limitations of data from low resource settings.
ApproachRecords were available from four sources: an electronic patient information system, a database of death certificates, a disease control register, and echocardiography clinic registers. All referred to 2008-2012.
Throughout the design and calibration process we used 1,406 known duplications in the patient information system from which we calculated the sensitivity and specificity. After cleaning, standardisation and preliminary blocking, we categorised identifiers including names, dates and demographics into agreement, partial agreement, disagreement or missing, accounting for issues such as out of order or misspelt names. After concentrating true matches by further blocking, we estimated match and nonmatch probabilities using expectation maximisation under the Fellegi-Sunter model of record linkage. We then derived the posterior match probability taking into consideration the size of block and prior information about the probability a match be present given the demographics of the individual concerned. In its final configuration, with record pairs considered a match if they achieved a posterior probability of over 50%, our procedure identified the known duplications with sensitivity of 91.4% and specificity of 99.9%.
ResultsHaving identified 2,619 cases from the 1,773,999 records available, we used the linked data to make population-based estimates of prevalence using capture-recapture analyses and cause-specific mortality using relative survival methods, the first such estimates for a developing country. Moreover, in sensitivity analyses, we found that changing posterior probability threshold above which record pairs were considered a match had limited impact on the results.
ConclusionAlthough data linkage is widely used for epidemiologic research in high-income settings, its application to developing countries has been limited. We developed and validated a data linkage procedure that can be used to turn largely unstudied routine clinical and administrative data into robust estimates of disease burden. With the growing availability of computerized data, we propose our approach has strong potential to assist the production of disease burden statistics in developing countries where civil registration systems are weak.


This paper anticipated to identify the contribution of farmers research group (FRG) approaches in enhancing improved potato technology dissemination and adoption in western part Ethiopia Welemera district. Within the district two peasant administrative units namely Telecho and IlalaGojo were selected purposefully because of the presence of different FRGs operating in this two administrative units. A total of one hundred and thirty potato producers' farmers (54 from FRG members and 76 from non-members) were selected. In the selection, non-replaceable lottery method and proportional to size sampling techniques were used. The sampled respondents were interviewed by using structured interview schedule. To collect the qualitative data, group discussion was also undertaken with selected farmers, development agents and agricultural researchers. Statistical tests like chi-square, t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used to test the variation among the FRG and non-FRG. The statistical analysis for FRG members' respondents indicated that there is no significant difference of using improved potato technology packages. The adoption index score is 1 or 100% it means that all FRG members were adopted improved potato packages. The result of statistical analysis (ANOVA) indicated that there was significant variation (F= 34.47, P=0.000) among the adoption index score between the three categories at 1% level of significant, which indicates difference of adoption of potato technology packages among sampled non-FRG respondents. The overall finding of the study underlined that FRG approach has contributed to significant extent for adoption of improved potato production technologies. The most important thing point out by the respondents were non-FRG participant farmers have very great interest to be a member of FRG and also different stakeholders involvement is crucial to strengthen existing FRGs and in the establishment of new FRGs.


Big cats in zoos can face challenges associated with captive environments such as inadequate biological adaptation, increased occurrence abnormal behaviour and health-related problems. Conservation physiology is an emerging theme and a dynamic field of research, which aims to reduce these challenges of big cats captive management programmes through new scientific research integrating physiology and behaviour. This field of research applies cutting-edge physiological tools (e.g. non-invasive reproductive and stress hormone monitoring) in combination with traditional methods of behaviour and veterinary health assessments to provide a holistic account of how big cats respond to the captive environment. This book chapter discusses the applications of conservation physiology tools in the captive management of tigers in zoos. Our goal is to bolster tiger captive management in zoos by studying their stress physiology. Overall, the application of conservation physiology tools into captive management programmes for tigers and other big cat species can provide valuable information for evaluating and managing stress, thus improving tiger welfare.


Increasing evidence suggests a role for the vermiform appendix in onset and relapse of ulcerative colitis (UC). Consequently, appendectomy is increasingly being seen as a potential alternative treatment. As a recent study suggests that patients with histological appendiceal inflammation are most likely to respond, pre-operative identification of ulcerative appendicitis could be beneficial1. Intestinal ultrasound (IUS) is increasingly utilized in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with UC. The objective of this study was to characterize the appendix by IUS in UC patients with active and quiescent disease and healthy controls.

 In this cross-sectional prospective observational cohort study, we performed appendiceal IUS on UC patients with active (A) disease (FCP>250 and SCCAI>5) and quiescent (Q) disease (FCP<150 and SCCAI<5), followed by age-, body mass index- and gender- matched healthy (H) controls. During IUS, the appendix was identified as a bowel structure with cecal origin and a blind-ending tip. IUS still images and cineloops were centrally and blindly read by an IUS expert (>1000 examinations). Primary outcomes were signs of appendicitis on IUS, defined as a <6 mm transverse appendiceal diameter3 (average of a cross-sectional and longitudinal measurement), hyperaemia (using the modified Limberg score2), presence of peri-appendiceal fat and fluid, and compressibility.

 Out of 95 (A n=35, Q n=30, H n=30) included patients, the majority (n=58, 61.1%) had a visible appendix on IUS, which was similar among cohorts (p=0.56). The appendiceal diameter measured >6.0mm in a significantly higher proportion of active UC patients (A: 45.5%, Q: 5.6%, H: 0.0%, p=0.01). An increased diameter occurred irrespective of disease extent (42.9% of E1/E2 endoscopic active patients). Although the appendiceal diameter was higher for UC patients (Q-H p= 0.02, A-H p< 0.01), no significant difference between A and Q patients was found (p=0.15, Fig. 1). A higher proportion of UC patients had incompressibility when compared to healthy controls (Fig. 2a, p= 0.02). Hypervascularity was present in 54.5% of active UC (Fig. 2b, p= 0.02).
 Fig 1. Box plot of appendiceal diameter (mm) among cohorts

 Fig 2 (a, b). Bar charts of incompressibility (a) and hypervascularity (b) among cohorts
 a

 b

 Appendiceal IUS was feasible in UC patients. Characteristics of appendiceal inflammation of IUS were reported for UC patients, as both the transverse appendiceal diameter and incompressibility rates were significantly higher in UC patients when compared to healthy controls. Correlating appendiceal IUS findings to histological inflammation could contribute to identifying UC patients most likely to benefit from appendectomy.


Communication is a major component of agricultural extension and extension agents utilize various methods to deliver messages to their clienteles. The paper focused on the effectiveness of communication outreach strategies of extension agents in Imo State, Nigeria. Data for the study was collected with the aid of structured questionnaire from 60 randomly selected Extension Agents in the study area. Data analysis was by the use of percentages and mean scores. Findings revealed that extension agents used several communication outreach strategies, however, result demonstration, farm and home visit, method demonstration, radio listening group, field day, agricultural shows, field trip, model farmer, office calls and inquires were the effective strategies utilized by extension agents in the study area. The important factors that influenced the use and effectiveness of the identified strategies include professional training, working condition, technical knowledge, job satisfaction, incentives, farmers' disposition, proficiency. Based on these findings it is recommended that more efforts should be geared towards putting in place adequate structure to enhance the proper use of extension communication outreach strategies. Opportunity for professional training should be made available to extension agents so that professionalism can be upheld. Also, the working conditions of extension agents should be greatly improved to motivate serious work Keywords : effectiveness of communication outreach strategies, extension agents Global Approaches to Extension Practice Vol. 3 (2) 2007: pp. 152-155


from their intended target poses several possible problems. Besides the economic damage to nearby susceptible crops, possible problems include less effective weed control, airborne contamination of streams and lakes, and the social and financial costs resulting from the accidental damage that drift can cause to a neighbor's ornamental or commercial plants. Minimizing drift is a moral responsibility to neighbors and it is in one's own ethical and financial interests to protect neighbors from the potential for damage to their crops, landscape plants, gardens, lawns, and other vegetation. Drift damage to neighboring vegetation can be a serious problem depending on how that vegetation is valued and whether the damage is permanent or temporary. Crop protection materials are also poorly understood by the public, which causes anxiety and sometimes overreaction to a problem. Drift can lead to litigation, financially damaging court costs and appeals to restrict or ban the use of crop protection materials.


ABSTRACT Group and individual informal reading inventories have brought about considerable improvement over standardized reading tests in the placement of students at their proper reading levels. Parents and school administrators want more individualization, however, so a comparatively effective, but quicker, test is needed. A combination of ',doze,' sentences and a basic sight vocabulary list was used to construct just such a test. Exact readability levels were established for each grade level, and the sentence length and number of higher grade level words were also carefully controlled for each selection. Correlation with a graded informal reading inventory was quite high, while comparison with several well-known oral reading placement tests points up the test's usefulness in effecting a more careful placement of the pupils at a level where they can function in independent comprehension work; and the testing of 20 to 25 students consumes about one and one-half hours, compared with 10 to 20 hours normally required in testing a class. (Author/RB)


The problem addressed in this thesis concerns the accuracy of Māori language vocabulary counts, e.g Boyce (2006), where Māori was found to use a very small vocabulary in comparison with e.g. English. As Boyce (2006, ii) acknowledges, this is partly explained by the degree of homonymy in Māori, which undermines the accuracy of the count. Homonymy is the phenomenon of the same string of letters (word-form) having two or more unrelated meanings (e.g. kī 'say', 'be full'). Automated word-form counts of Maori language texts count the form kī as the same word, regardless of its meaning. Unless different meanings of the same word-form are counted as different words, such counts will underestimate the vocabulary of the Māori language. (Homonymy is not the only explanation for the low count; further explanations have been suggested by Bauer (2009) and Nation (2011).)  The thesis explores whether there are consistent clues in the linguistic environment that signal the correct interpretation of homonyms in texts, and if so, how such clues could be used for tagging corpora so that counting would be more accurate. The Boyce corpus of modern broadcast Māori (Boyce, 2006, ii) provided the data. Case studies were made of three high-frequency homonyms in this corpus, kī 'say', 'full', mea 'say', 'thing' and tau 'settle', 'year'. Lyons' (1968) criterion of distinction was applied to establish the lexemes realised by each of these word-forms on the basis of dictionary and etymological information. The tokens of each word-form were then extracted from Boyce's (2006) corpus using the concordance program 'WordSmith Tools'. WordSmith Tools is a computer program that helps to look at how words behave in a text. Concord which is part of WordSmith Tools enables the user to see any word or phrase in context. Phrase peripheries (the words before and after each word-form in the same phrase) were analysed and the wider syntactic environment was also examined in order to find clues which signalled the appropriate lexeme for each token. The results showed that the lexemes from all three case studies could be identified in the corpus on the basis of consistent clues that occur in its linguistic environment. If the phrasal periphery of the word-form is examined, and the grammatical information supplied by the wider linguistic environment is taken into account, it is possible to determine the appropriate lexemic tag for a word-form in a corpus in Māori.


An 8-week study was conducted to determine the impact of dietary ground flaxseed (FS) or defatted flaxseed meal (FLM) on plasma lipids, minerals, hematological parameters and vitamin E status of weanling female Sprague-Dawley rats. These rats were fed isocaloric modified AIN-76 diets supplemented with 0.0, 5.0, 10.0% (w/w) FS or 6.2% (w/w) FLM for 56 days. Total and HDL cholesterol were not influenced by any of the dietary treatments. Plasma triglyceride was significantly increased by FLM, but not affected by FS. Total RBC counts and hematocrit were significantly higher in FS groups than in the control group; however, hemoglobin was not affected by FS. Dietary FLM had no effect on any of the above hematological parameters. Plasma alkaline phosphatase, an indicator of Zn status and a marker of bone formation, was significantly lower in the FS and FLM groups than in the control group. Plasma vitamin E content was not influenced by dietary treatment. Liver vitamin E was significantly higher in groups fed 10% FS and 6.2% FLM. In summary, moderate amounts of dietary FS may have the potential to increase liver vitamin E level and improve iron status. However, FS/FLM consumption may have a negative effect on zinc status, as indicated by decreased alkaline phosphatase levels.


In this paper, we consider fixed edgelength n-step random walks in R. We give an explicit construction for the closest closed equilateral random walk to almost any open equilateral random walk based on the geometric median, providing a natural map from open polygons to closed polygons of the same edgelength. Using this, we first prove that a natural reconfiguration distance to closure converges in distribution to a Nakagami(d/2, d/d−1) random variable as n→∞. We then strengthen this to an explicit probabilistic bound on the distance to closure for a random n-gon in any dimension with any collection of fixed edgelengthswi. Numerical evidence supports the conjecture that our closure map pushes forward the natural probability measure on open polygons to something very close to the natural probability measure on closed polygons; if this is so, we can draw some conclusions about the frequency of local knots in closed polygons of fixed edgelength.


Scholars and church leaders have recognized Cardinal James Gibbons (1834−1921), archbishop of Baltimore, as a prominent voice for American Catholics. However, few are aware that early sex educators claimed Gibbons as one of their own. Starting in 1912, several national organizations dedicated to sex education elected him as honorary vice president. He was a symbol for the sex education movement, a symbol that gained momentum over time and transformed him posthumously into a founder of sex education. Reasons why are not immediately apparent. To make sense of these representations, it is necessary to understand the historical role of religion in sex education. The embrace of Gibbons grew out of the movement's liberal Protestant roots and its search for moral legitimacy in a culture that deemed sexual discourse obscene. Gibbons' reputation grew stronger among sex educators as they sought wider religious support for public campaigns, moving in the direction of ecumenical and interfaith cooperation. His association with these organizations sheds light on the diversity of American Catholic views on sex education—especially in its early days when the mainstream movement did not endorse birth control.


The thesis is concerned with the conception and design of a FLEXIBLE
MANUFACTURING SYSTEM (FMS) for the automation of the manufacture of
lawnmower cutting cylinders at Suffolk Lawnmowers Ltd. A review of FMS
definitions, planning methods and current systems is carried out for the
development of a suitable FMS configuration for the final stages of
manufacture of grass cutting cylinders having 21 different design
specifications. This involves examination of the capabilities of
robotics and microcontrollers to automate the technologies used in
cylinder production.
The company's current manual batch production system is analysed to
determine the suitable form and requirements of the FMS. This includes
analyses of annual volumes, throughputs, batch sizes, product and process
mixes. Long term objectives to automate the system are identified from
which short term objectives are derived. The FMS recommended for
immediate development encompasses the short term objectives for the
welding, hardening, grinding and transfer processes of 8 cutting cylinder
specifications.
It is shown that the MIG (Argon/C02) are welding, progressive flame
hardening and wide-face cylindrical grinding processes can be developed
successfully to automate cylinder production. The recommended system
integrates these processes into an FMS through the'automatic handling
of cylinders (through three process routes) by a robotic manipulator
utilising a double gripper. 'A robotic welding station, manually loaded,
is also recommended. ' The system is controlled overall by a 32K microcontroller
with the process machines individually controlled by programmahle
logic controllers with up to 6K of memory each.
The economic appraisal of the FMS indicates a 4.4 year payback based on
direct labour and material cost savings. The company's application for
grant aid to implement the FMS design has led to an offer of a Department
of Industry grant to cover 50% of all capital and revenue costs. The
grant of £166,943 reduces the payback period to 2.3 years.


Abstract Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is a common opportunistic respiratory infection among children with human immunodeficiency virus and a weakened immune system. The primary infection in immunocompetent patients may be asymptomatic, whereas fever, shortness of breath, night sweats, nonproductive (dry) cough, pneumonia, progressive respiratory distress and apnea are cardinal symptoms of full-blown pneumocystis pneumonia. The diagnosis can be confirmed by histochemical staining of biological specimens or, recently, by polymerase chain reaction. International recommendations indicate that the drug of choice is the intravenously administered trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole combination. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment reduce the mortality of the disease. This article briefly highlights the epidemiology of Pneumocystis pneumonia, its diagnosis and therapeutic options in the pediatric population.


Authenticity is a prevalent attribute in tourism experiences. It is anticipated to lead the future of tourism systems as part of an expected effective tourism transformation. In this research, the resilience of tourism enterprises is tested based on the identity of the tourism product being sold. The paper explores the role of authenticity in the promotion of the tourism experience in New Zealand. The paper argues that the understanding of authenticity in tourism futures is going to be critical in a digital environment to attract targeted clients through digital marketing. Drawing from a website content analysis of five local experiences in New Zealand, the results discuss 'how' and 'why' a local community in New Zealand develops pure storytelling attached to its culture and nature. The paper argues that post-pandemic tourism recovery is only possible through authentic regenerative tourism where authentic experiences do not only claim to be authentic, but they are authentic in relation to the originality and symbolism of tourist activities. Keywords: authenticity, regenerative tourism, post-covid tourism recovery, marketing, visitor experience.


Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important. Thus, sound knowledge about the principles of AI will be a crucial factor for future careers of young people as well as for the development of novel, innovative products. Addressing this challenge, we present an ambitious 3-year project focusing on developing and implementing a professional, internationally accepted, standardized training and certification system for AI which will also be recognized by the industry and educational institutions. The approach is based on already implemented and evaluated pilot projects in the area of AI education. The project's main goal is to train and certify teachers and mentors as well as students and young people in basic and advanced AI topics, fostering AI literacy among this target audience.


This article explores the design of a new wheel profile which can be used in a tram-train vehicle. A tram-train is a dual-mode vehicle that operates on two very different railway infrastructures: as a tram on light rail infrastructure and as a conventional train on heavy rail infrastructure. The challenges of wheel–rail interface have been highlighted and discussed, and the analysis and design process required to develop an optimised wheel profile for dual-operation running have been presented. One of the key issues in developing a dual-operation wheel profile was managing the contact conditions within the wheel–rail interface. The interface is critical not only to the safe running of the vehicle but also to maximise asset life and to minimise wheel–rail damage. A combination of vehicle dynamic simulations and bespoke software was used to allow the development of a new wheel profile for tram-train operations.


The proposed paper gauges the extent of social mobility in Egypt via measuring intergenerational educational achievements of youth aged 13 to 25 using cross-section household data from Egypt Labour Market Panel Survey 2012. According to the sample, youth account for approximately 22per cent of the population, roughly 13 million individuals. We assume the schooling-gap is a good proxy for individuals' future prospects across social classes, thus rendering educational achievement a measure of social mobility. The schooling-gap is used to compute a social mobility index (SMI) for all Egypt and selected sub-regions across alternative age groups and gender. Regression analysis is employed to relate the schooling gap to different socioeconomic regressors and household characteristics including household income and education. Fields decomposition is used to estimate the SMI and identify the percentage contribution of each regressor in explaining variance in social mobility. Differences in SMIs for various social classes are evaluated using bootstrapping methods. Educational mobility estimates for all Egypt suggest high social mobility within a closing gender gap with minor inclinations in favour of females. Diminishing intrafamilial discrimination appears towards educational attainment across all age groups. High mobility indexes are in alliance with the Egyptian government's extensive educational expansion schemes. In response to such efforts, and in anticipation for thriving future prospects via labour market returns to education, youth have achieved world class quasi-convergence rates for schooling enrollment, quality notwithstanding. High social mobility succeeded in transforming urban but primarily rural labour force into a base of educated human capital. Most potential workers have become university graduates demanding higher returns to their invested education in dense urban cities, albeit unsuccessfully in the light of stagnant labour markets, pressing wages and work conditions downwards, thereby raising social tension. Policy implications of high social mobility accompanied by rising unemployment entails expanding rural and peripheral labour markets to absorb educated labour force at urban level returns. Ideally, no level of mobility could spur growth without social inclusion


Affect and interest are made manifest in the movements of the limbs and body from well before birth, indicating an innate sensorimotor intentionality present within the activities of the foetus. After birth, making connection through movements of the voice and body with others becomes critical for health and development, and a motive force exists that drives one to engage with and to come to understand another. These early communicative engagements can form narrative patterns where the initial exchange is built upon through cycles of expression in turn-taking and rhythm. The energy in expression and intensity between the partners typically increases to give a climactic moment of shared joy, before receding again to quiescence. We propose these early narrative patterns establish cultures of expectation with regular patterns of arousal, affect, and interest. Using examples from mother-infant engagements and engagements with non-verbal autistic children, I will demonstrate how affective sensorimotor attunement is necessary for making connection in shared narratives, and that by this connection self-regulation and further development become more possible.


Current approaches to detecting bad smells in code are mainly based on software metrics. We suggest that these methods lack precision in detecting bad smells, and we propose a code pattern-based approach to detecting bad smells. However before such a pattern-based approach can be implemented, Fowler's original definitions of bad smells need to be made more precise. Currently Fowler's definitions are too informal to implement in a pattern-searching tool. In this paper we use an expert panel to evaluate our enhanced definitions for five of Fowler's bad smells. We use a questionnaire to survey four experts' opinions of our bad smell definitions. Our results show that the experts basically agree with our enhanced definitions of the message chains, middle man and speculative generality bad smells. However, there are strong disagreements on our definitions of the data clumps and switch statements bad smells. We present enhanced definitions on the basis of these expert opinions.


Interconnect Metallization System (IMS) degradation of photovoltaic (PV) modules is one among the major degradation modes in the field caused by higher operating temperatures and daily/seasonal/cloud cyclic temperatures. Usually, the acceleration factor (AF) and activation energy (Ea) of IMS degradation are determined based on power degradation data. Using power degradation data may not be fully representative of a specific mechanism since the power drop could be caused by multiple degradation mechanisms. In this paper, we have used the series resistance (Rs) increase, instead of power degradation, to obtain the AF and Ea for IMS degradation mechanism in the damp heat test (85°C/85% RH). The degradation data were sourced from our qualification damp heat test database with 94 crystalline silicon modules, and two field databases of Arizona and New York climates with 615 and 236 crystalline silicon modules, respectively. A 3-step approach was implemented to determine the AF for the damp heat testing. First, the AF for the field-to-field degradation was determined based on Rs degradation rates of the modules in Arizona and New York. Second, the Ea was determined based on the AF, and hourly differences in field-to-field module temperature and relative humidity. Third, the AF was determined based on Rs increase in the damp heat test and the Ea determined using the field data in the second step. A model based on modified Peck's equation was used to determine a generic AF for the Rs increase in qualification damp heat testing. This approach is useful to predict the service lifetime and reliability of PV modules for specific climatic regions.


The band structures of in-plane elastic waves propagating in two-dimensional phononic crystals with one-dimensional aperiodicity are analyzed in this paper. The localization of wave propagation is discussed by introducing the concept of the localization factor that is calculated by the plane-wave-based transfer-matrix method. By treating the aperiodicity as the deviation from the periodicity in a special way, two kinds of aperiodic phononic crystals that have Thue-Morse and Rudin-Shapiro sequence in one direction and translational symmetry in the other direction are considered. The transmission coefficients based on eigenmode match theory are also calculated and the results show the same behaviors as the localization factor does. In the case of Thue-Morse and Rudin-Shapiro structures, the band structures of Thue-Morse sequence exhibit similarities with quasi-periodic sequence not present in the results of Rudin-Shapiro sequence.


The objective of this work was to investigate the efficacy and safety of natural oils (castor oil and olive oil) based phase transition microemulsion systems for ocular delivery with reference to ethyl oleate systems. Tropicamide was used as model drug and was incorporated in the formulation at a concentration of 0.5% w/w. The phase transition systems comprised the oil, surfactant and water with the phase behavior depending on the concentration of water. The tested systems included microemulsion (ME), liquid crystalline system (LC) and coarse emulsion (EM). The efficacy of these systems was evaluated by monitoring the mydriatic response in comparison to drug solution containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Ocular irritation was monitored by visual inspection and tear flow estimation. Drug release depended on the formulation type and viscosity. Thus LC systems produced the slowest release rates followed by the ME with the EM producing the largest release rate. The mydriatic response versus time plots showed biphasic effect with two maxima (MRmax) which verified the systemic absorption of the drug. Both ethyl oleate and olive oil based systems were more effective than the control with respect to the area under the mydriatic response profile. However, castor oil based systems were comparable to the control. With respect to ocular irritation castor oil based system were the least irritant followed by olive oil systems with ethyl oleate systems being the most irritant. The study thus introduced olive oil based phase transition systems for ocular drug delivery with lower irritation compared to the synthetic oil systems.


This OHE Research Paper provides an overview of the current dementia R&D landscape. The research was undertaken by OHE for Imperial College and the UK Department of Health. The research is intended to provide a factual report of the current R&D landscape. A discussion of the reasons behind, and the implications of, the difficulties that are highlighted in this report will be published elsewhere*. The report begins with a brief overview of the current thinking on the reasons for successes and failures of dementia treatments, based on a selective literature review. Key observations include - - R&D costs are higher for neurology and Alzheimer's disease (AD) (as well as respiratory and oncology) than other therapy areas - Higher costs are likely due to lower success rates and longer development times - Recruitment of trial participants is a key challenge in the area of dementia. The pipeline analysis identified approximately 900 different products for dementia indications, 197 of which were in "active" development, and 17 of which were marketed. The majority of the products in active development were classified as disease modifying (66%) rather than symptom modifying (31%), but only one of the marketed treatments is classified as disease modifying. Of 217 products that had been discontinued or suspended, the most commonly reported reason for termination was due to negative trial results, insufficient efficacy gains (including projects deemed unsuccessful) or adverse effects. The comparison with other therapy areas demonstrated that dementia indications have lower success rates than other therapy areas (likelihood of being marketed from phase 1 = 7.27% for dementia, and 15.3% for all therapy areas). This report has also been published on the World Dementia Council site. Click [here]( https://worlddementiacouncil.wordpress.com/2015/10/22/office-of-health-economics-report-published-dementia-the-rd-landscape/) to access the accompanying press release. *OHE is collaborating with CTEG to produce a discussion of the implied knowledge gaps and exploration of the difficulties that are highlighted in this report.


Strontium bismuth titanate (SBTi) matrix composites containing Ag particles were synthesized by the conventional solid-state reaction method. The SBTi/Ag composites have been characterized by various techniques: x-ray diffraction, optical metallurgical microscope, scanning electron microscope and dielectric measurement. It is found that Ag doping significantly affect the physical properties of composites. By adding Ag particles to the SBTi matrix, the single-phase layered perovskite structure of the matrix is preserved and the sintering temperature of the system decrease from 1120°C of the single-phase SBTi to 950°C of the SBTi/Ag composites. With the increase of sintering temperature, the size of silver particles increase, but the SBTi grains have no significant growth. The SBTi/Ag composites show a significant change of the dielectric constant. By increasing Ag content, a gradual increase of the dielectric constant is observed and the dielectric loss of the SBTi/Ag composites remain unchanged when the temperature rangers from room temperature to 200°C, however, the Curie peak of dielectric constant is repressed, which has been interpreted based on the effective dielectric fields developed around conducting phases and the inhibition effect of nonferroelectric secondary phase to electro-strain.


Nicol, J. F., Doré, C., Weiner, J. S., Lee, D. E., Prestidge, S. P., and Andrews, M. J. (1973).British Journal of Industrial Medicine,30, 325-334. Comfort studies of rail passengers. A short series of trials is described in which a specimen car of the new High Density Rolling Stock was laden with passengers at different densities and under different environmental constraints, designed to simulate `shut-down' conditions. The results suggest that the limit for comfort, 21·8°C corrected effective temperature (CET), proposed by Bell and Watts (1971) is reasonable but that temperatures some 3 or 4°C higher can be tolerated without undue discomfort. The physiological limit for safety recommended by Bell and Watts is a CET of 30·6°C. This will be reached in less than 20 minutes if there is a power failure in warm conditions in crowded trains. An undesirable, possibly dangerous, level of discomfort will be experienced by passengers in ventilated but crowded trains after 30 minutes. In any case it is recommended that the globe temperature in a carriage should not exceed 30°C.


Although the MODIS Collection 5.1 Land Cover Type (MODIS v5.1 LCT) product is one of the most recent global land cover datasets and has the shortest updating cycle, evaluations regarding this collection have not been reported. Given the importance of evaluating global land cover data for producers and potential users, the 2010 MODIS v5.1 LCT product IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) layer was evaluated based on two grid maps at scales of 100-m and 500-m,which were derived by rasterizing the 2010 data from the national land use/cover database of China (NLUD-C). This comparison was conducted based on a new legend consisting of nine classes constructed based on the definitions of classes in the IGBP and NLUD-C legends. The overall accuracies of the aggregated classification data were 64.62% and 66.42% at the sub-pixel and pixel scales, respectively. These accuracies differed significantly in different regions. Specifically, high-quality data were obtained more easily for regions with a single land cover type, such as Xinjiang province and the northeast plain of China. The lowest accuracies were obtained for the middle of China, including Ningxia, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Yunnan and Guizhou. At the sub-pixel scale, relatively high producer and user accuracies were obtained for cropland, grass and barren regions; the highest producer accuracy was obtained for forests, and the highest user accuracy was obtained for water bodies. Shrublands and wetlands were associated with low producer and user accuracies at the sub-pixel and pixel scales, of less than 10%. Based on dominant-type reference data, the errors were classified as mixed-pixel errors and labeling errors. Labeling errors primarily originated from misclassification between grassland and barren lands. Mixed pixel errors increased as the pixel diversity increased and as the percentage of dominant-type sub-pixels decreased. Overall, mixed pixels were sources of error for most land cover types other than grassland and barren lands; whereas labeling errors were more prevalent than mixed pixel errors when considering all of the land cover data over China, due to the large amount of misclassification between the pure pixels of grassland and barren lands. Next, the accuracy of cropland/natural vegetation mosaics was assessed based on the qualitative (a mosaic of croplands, forests, shrublands, and grasslands) and quantitative (no single component composes more than 60% of the landscape) parts in the definition, which resulted in accuracies of 91.43% and less than 19.26%, respectively. These results are summarized with their implications for the development of the next generation of MCD12Q1 data and with suggestions for potential users of MCD12Q1 v5.1.


Population viability of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is threatened by small population sizes in scattered isolated habitat areas. Designing a conservation plan for protecting and connecting the fragmented habitat will improve the chances for survival of this endangered species. For such a plan, this study assessed the overall habitat suitability for the species in the Qionglai mountain range (Sichuan, China) using Landsat TM imagery acquired in 2001, geographical data, field surveys, and information acquired in previous researches. Results show that the habitat is separated by roads and rivers, as well as by human settlements and cropland areas, into four main habitat blocks. Overlapping these four habitat blocks with the current nature reserve network reveals that only 36% of the total habitat is protected within nature reserves. Thus, the current nature reserve network is failing to preserve essential habitat for dispersal and genetic exchange. In this study, five key areas and four linkage areas were identified and suggested as nature reserves and/or corridors. These areas, together with the six currently established nature reserves in the mountain range, will form a conservation unit for facilitating the exchange of giant panda individuals among previously isolated habitat blocks. Policies recently implemented by the Chinese government, including the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP) and the Grain‐to‐Green Program (GTGP), could aid in the formation of such a conservation unit.


Laser range scanners provide rapid and accurate non-contact methods for acquiring 3D surface data, offering many advntages over other techniques currently available during surgery. The range scanner was incorporated into our image-guided surgery system to augment registration and deformation compensation. A rigid body, embedded with IR diodes, was attached to the scanner for tracking in physical space with an optical localization system. The relationship between the scanner's coordinate system and the tracked rigid body was determined using a calibration phantom. Tracking of the scanner using the calibration phantom resulted in an error of 1.4±0.8 mm. Once tracked, data acquired intraoperatively from the range scanner data is registered with preoperative tomographic volumes using the Iterative Closest Point algorithm. Sensitivity studies were performed to ensure that this algorithm effectively reached a global minimum. In cases where tissue deformation is significant, rigid registrations can lead to inaccuracy during surgical navigation. Methods of non-rigid compensation may be necessary, and an initial study using a linearly elastic finite element model is presented. Differences between intraoperative and preoperative surfaces after rigid registration are used to formulate boundary conditions, and the resulting displacement field deforms the preoperative image volume. To test this protocol, a phantom was built, consisting of fiducial points and a silicone liver model. Range scan and CT data were captured both before and after deforming the organ. The pre-deformed images, after registration and modeling, were compared to post-deformation, although there is a noticeable improvement by implementing the finite element model. To improve accuracy, more elaborate surface registration and deformation compensation strategies will be investigated. To improve accuracy, more elaborate surface registration and deformation compensation strategies will be investigated. The ragne scanner is an innovative, uncumbersome, and relatively inexpensive method of collecting intraoperative data. It has been integrated into our image-guided surgical system and software with virtually no overhead.


There has been no commercially available pheromone lure in the UK for monitoring biscuit beetle for many years. The Royal Horticultural Society's herbarium at Wisley has trialled a new lure to attract male Stegobium paniceum (Linnaeus, 1758). The RHS herbarium, although annually frozen, still suffers from an infestation of Stegobium. A seven-week trial using Stegobinone lure traps was undertaken across the herbarium collection area. Control traps, without lures, were placed close to lured traps. Many more Stegobium were attracted to the traps containing the lures than the control, with beetles continuing to be caught long after the manufacturer's recommended replacement period. The lure has proved highly effective, and the trial at the RHS has identified the epicentre of the infestation, enabling targeted treatment.


Electronic products may be subjected to shock and vibration during shipping, normal usage, and accidental drop. High strain rate transient bending produced by such loads may result in failure of fine pitch electronic interconnects. Current experimental techniques rely on electrical resistance for determination of failure. Significant advantage can be gained by prior knowledge of impending failure for applications where the consequences of system failure may be catastrophic. This research effort focuses on an alternate approach to damage quantification in electronic assemblies subjected to shock and vibration, without testing for electrical continuity. The proposed approach can be extended to monitor product level damage. In this paper, statistical pattern recognition and leading indicators of shock damage have been used to study the damage initiation and progression in shock and drop of electronic assemblies. Statistical pattern recognition is currently being employed in a variety of engineering and scientific disciplines such as biology, psychology, medicine, marketing, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and remote sensing . The application quantification of shock damage in electronic assemblies is new. Previously, free vibration of rectangular plates has been studied by various researchers for development of analytical closed form models. In this paper, closed form models have been developed for the eigen frequencies and mode shapes of electronic assemblies with various boundary conditions and component placement configurations. Model predictions have been validated with experimental data from modal analysis. Pristine configurations have been perturbed to quantify the degradation in confidence values with progression of damage. Sensitivity of leading indicators of shock damage to subtle changes in boundary conditions, effective flexural rigidity, and transient strain response has been quantified. A damage index for experimental damage monitoring has been developed using the failure indicators. The above damage monitoring approach is not based on electrical continuity and hence can be applied to any electronic assembly structure irrespective of the interconnections. The damage index developed provides parametric damage progression data, thus removing the limitation of current failure testing, where the damage progression cannot be monitored. Hence the proposed method does not require the assumption that the failure occurs abruptly after some number of drops and can be extended to product level drops.


We demonstrate a fast-tuning Brillouin/erbium fiber laser (BEFL) using 4 m erbium-doped fiber (EDF) as both the Brillouin and erbium gain media. The BEFL frequency is fast tuned via modulating a piezoelectric transducer on which the EDF is coiled. Over 60 MHz frequency-tuning range is obtained at less than 5 V voltage amplitude and the tuning rates can achieve 48 kHz. This fast-tuning BEFL presents a low phase noise of -124 dB/Hz(1/2) at 1 kHz (normalized to 1 m interferometer optical path difference) with 32 kHz modulating frequency. It presents potential applications in fiber sensors and optical communications.


Wind caused the much sediment fluxes leading to both erosion and deposits in the sandy desertification area, and the much kind of beautiful sandy desert morphologies are formed. This is really crucial to the development of the dynamic behaviour of aeolian transport of sand particles. The sand desert morphologies are representing significant information archives for understanding the desertification problem. Dynamics and numerical modeling provides an essential tool for studying the aeolian transport of sand particle and morphology of sand desert such as ripple and dune. In this study, the mathematical models based on the dynamics are analyzed by considering the several keys as saltation, creep, suspension, avalanche and its threshold condition etc. for sand morphology forming processes. Then due to sand flow field real characteristics, the establishing process of stream flow field are analyzed, and the implication relationships as well as the coupling process between uniform stream flow field and the sand flow field are analyzed. Finally, the sand flow field models is discretized, and different kinds of sandy desert morphology are simulated by considering the sand particle size and mass in fixed, semi-fixed and free sand flow field area.


Albright hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO), a disorder characterized by skeletal abnormalities and obesity, is associated with heterozygous inactivating mutations in the gene for Gsα. A novel Gsα mutation encoding the substitution of tryptophan for a nonconserved arginine within the switch 3 region (Gsα R258W) was identified in an AHO patient. Although reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction studies demonstrated that mRNA expression from wild type and mutant alleles was similar, Gsα expression in erythrocyte membranes from the affected patient was reduced by 50%. A Gsα R258W cDNA, as well as one with arginine replaced by alanine (Gsα R258A), was generated, and the biochemical properties of in vitrotranscription/translation products were examined. When reconstituted with cyc− membranes, both mutant proteins were able to stimulate adenylyl cyclase normally in the presence of guanosine- 5′-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPγS) but had decreased ability in the presence of isoproterenol or AlF4 − (a mixture of 10 μmAlCl3 and 10 mm NaF). The ability of each mutant to bind and be activated by GTPγS or AlF4 − was assessed by trypsin protection assays. Both mutants were protected normally by GTPγS but showed reduced protection in the presence of AlF4 −. The addition of excess GDP (2 mm) was able to rescue the ability of AlF4 − to protect the mutants, suggesting that they might have reduced affinity for GDP. A Gsα R258A mutant purified from Escherichia coli had decreased affinity for GDP and an apparent rate of GDP release that was 10-fold greater than that of wild type Gsα. Sucrose density gradient analysis demonstrated that both Gsα R258W and Gsα R258A were thermolabile at higher temperatures and that denaturation of both mutants was prevented by the presence of 0.1 mm GTPγS or 2 mm GDP. The crystal structure of Gsα demonstrates that Arg258 interacts with a conserved residue in the helical domain (Gln170). Arg258 substitutions would be predicted to open the cleft between the GTPase and helical domains, allowing for increased GDP release in the inactive state, resulting in enhanced thermolability and reduced AlF4 −-induced adenylyl cyclase stimulation and trypsin protection, since activation by AlF4 − requires bound GDP.


BACKGROUND
 Chronic alcohol consumption increases ischemic stroke and exacerbates ischemic brain injury. We determined the role of NAD(P)H oxidase in exacerbated ischemic brain injury during chronic alcohol consumption.

METHODS
 Sprague Dawley rats were fed a liquid diet with or without alcohol (6.4% v/v) for 8 weeks. We measured the effect of apocynin on 2-hour middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)/24-hour reperfusion-induced brain injury. In addition, superoxide production and expression of NAD(P)H oxidase subunit, gp91phox, in the peri-infarct area were assessed.

RESULTS
Chronic alcohol consumption produced a larger infarct volume, worse neurological score, and higher superoxide production. Acute (5 mg/kg, ip, 30 minutes before MCAO) and chronic treatment with apocynin (7.5 mg/kg/d in the diet, 4 weeks prior to MCAO) reduced infarct volume, improved neurological outcome, and attenuated superoxide production in alcohol-fed rats. Expression of gp91phox at basal conditions and following ischemia/reperfusion was greater in alcohol-fed rats compared to non-alcohol-fed rats. In addition, neurons are partially responsible for upregulated gp91phox during alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that NAD(P)H oxidase may play an important role in exacerbated ischemic brain injury during chronic alcohol consumption.


The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the largest federal program focused on increasing the supply of affordable housing. The credit is designed as a collaboration among the federal government, states, localities, developers, and investors. But it is not meeting its goals. Budget hawks have noted that costs have increased while units have fallen and that there is waste and fraud. Civil rights and equity advocates focus on how LIHTC exacerbates segregation and traps children in poverty. But the solutions proposed are atomized and disparate.

This Article seeks the root cause of these disparate problems. It draws on the concept of collaborative governance from public administration and administrative law as a framework for analysis. This analysis reveals that there are divergent preferences between the parties and the federal government. These divergent preferences are poorly managed and ineffectively monitored as-is, and the incentives indeed exacerbate these different preferences.

The Article then proposes a series of reforms based on these insights. It first suggests some internal reforms to the program, mainly directed at better aligning party incentives with federal goals and at having IRS improve its financial monitoring of the projects. But, most importantly, the proposal seeks to draw in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist IRS in the management and administration of LIHTC. It provides a detailed framework as to how to achieve an effective interagency effort that can improve monitoring on other dimensions where IRS lacks expertise. This use of interagency efforts and the collaborative governance framework in LIHTC also serves as a case study of how to analyze and manage other social policy related tax expenditures.


The evaluation of design quality using prescribed instruments, as now mandated by the UK National Health Service (NHS), provides a research opportunity to acquire understanding of the social interaction of the project stakeholder groups when they are engaged in design evaluation activities. This paper argues that there is a pressing need for such a study, as without it, such evaluations may be unnecessarily limited. This paper argues for a fresh and pluralistic approach to be applied to the evaluation of the design quality of NHS healthcare facilities which complements the methods currently used which are enshrined within prescribed instruments. The new approach uses an interpretative research paradigm to understand the social interactions of the project stakeholders whilst they use the prescribed instruments. The decision to adopt such a pluralistic approach is discussed. The users of this work may include those who seek to improve the design quality of NHS healthcare buildings.


Endah Tri Wisudaningsih Abstract : Controlling, whether in terms of supervision or control by most societies, is often interpreted as an attempt by a manager or supervisory agency as an activity to find fault. In fact, if carefully understood, the function of supervision or control is actually as one of the strengths to make improvements if the results or services that have been standardized is not in accordance with the expected results. Standardization is one of the initial actions of the planning process and that standard must be reliable and reliable as a basis for evaluating and comparing through surveillance activities. Standardization of the planning process is intended for the achievement of organizational goals or effectiveness, while supervision is more focused on the implementation process and the results of productivity, both in the form of goods or services. Monitoring efforts should be maximized so that the business results of an organization is more efficient. Keywords: Controlling, Organization, Qur'an, and Hadith


The secreted SLIT glycoproteins and their Roundabout (ROBO) receptors were originally identified as important axon guidance molecules. They function as a repulsive cue with an evolutionarily conserved role in preventing axons from migrating to inappropriate locations during the assembly of the nervous system. In addition the SLIT-ROBO interaction is involved in the regulation of cell migration, cell death and angiogenesis and, as such, has a pivotal role during the development of other tissues such as the lung, kidney, liver and breast. The cellular functions that the SLIT/ROBO pathway controls during tissue morphogenesis are processes that are dysregulated during cancer development. Therefore inactivation of certain SLITs and ROBOs is associated with advanced tumour formation and progression in disparate tissues. Recent research has indicated that the SLIT/ROBO pathway could also have important functions in the reproductive system. The fetal ovary expresses most members of the SLIT and ROBO families. The SLITs and ROBOs also appear to be regulated by steroid hormones and regulate physiological cell functions in adult reproductive tissues such as the ovary and endometrium. Furthermore several SLITs and ROBOs are aberrantly expressed during the development of ovarian, endometrial, cervical and prostate cancer. This review will examine the roles this pathway could have in the development, physiology and pathology of the reproductive system and highlight areas for future research that could further dissect the influence of the SLIT/ROBO pathway in reproduction.


Obesity is the most common metabolic disorder that has become a global problem. The serious clinical problems associated with obesity include an increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus,atherosclerosis and cancer.Understanding the origin and development of adipocyte and excess adipose tissue resulting from positive energy balance are critical to analysis and treatment of obesity. The calorie burning brown fat and inducible brown fat like adipocyte known as beige fat in adults might prove useful to play a role in fighting against obesity and reducing the metabolic diseases. Many genes, the transcriptional regulators and factors, that regulate brown and beige adipocyte biology have now been identified providing a variety of therapeutic targets for metabolic diseases.


This paper explores the factors that influence the implementation of m-learning and proposes a model for implementing mlearning in Tanzania. The study was conducted in ten secondary schools in the Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to determine students majoring in science subjects. Findings in dicate that majority of students own mobile phones and have access to the Internet connectivity. However, m-learning platforms that are currently in place are not viable solution in all contexts and not necessarily the best solution. Therefore, the design of m-learning content should focus on learning profile and personal needs such as location and affordability. A framework that considers four factors: user satisfaction, pedagogy, technology, and economy of use are proposed for Tanzanian context. It is concluded that education stakeholders should consider the opportunities of technology in education in order to boost knowledge sharing among students.


In this paper we explore the packet starvation effect (PSE) that occurs in Ethernet controllers due to the unfairness of the CSMA/CD algorithm. The PSE causes some packets to experience latencies up to 100 times the average or to completely starve out due to 16 collisions. The PSE causes some packets to experience high delays at realistic offered loads as low as 40% and causes complete starvation of some packets at offered loads as low as 60%. The PSE makes CSMA/CD LANs unsuitable for real-time traffic except at offered loads much less than 100%. It is the limiting factor in the usable bandwidth of the bus. As an alternative to CSMA/CD, we present the fair dual distributed queue (FDDQ) algorithm. Under high load, FDDQ uses a single reservation mini-dot per packet and a tree-based collision resolution algorithm (CRA) to maintain two distributed queues of waiting senders. This provides two priority FCFS access to the network. FDDQ provides utilizations and average latencies very similar to those of CSMA/CD but is fair even at extremely high offered loads. The protocol is stable for a constant number of senders, is simple enough to be practical, should be implementable in firmware, and completely eliminates the PSE.<<ETX>>


Diet-related immunometabolic-based diseases are associated with chronic inflammation in metabolic tissues, and infiltrated macrophages have been suggested as mediators for tissue- damaging inflammation. Growing evidence implicates Chenopodium quinoa and Salvia hispanica L. as important contributors to immunonutritional health. However, the functional roles of the immunonutritional protease inhibitors (PPIs) found in these crops on the macrophages' metabolic and phenotypic adaptation remain to be elucidated. The salt soluble fraction of proteins was extracted and analyzed confirming the presence of 11S and 2S albumin. The <30 kDa fraction of the extract from both crops was subjected to simulated gastrointestinal digestion, where (RP-LC-MS/MS analyses) polypeptides from 2S-type of proteins were found, along with the 2S albumin (13 kDa) for S. hispanica in the bioaccessible fraction (BAF). Using human-like macrophage cells to deepen our understanding of the modulatory effects of this BAF, FACS analyses revealed their potential as TLR4 agonists, favoring increased phenotypic CD68/CD206 ratios. The results of mitochondrial stress tests showed that cells increased oxygen consumption rates and non-mitochondrial respiration, confirming negligible deleterious effects on mitochondrial function. At molecular-level, adaptation responses shed light on changes showing biological correlation with TLR4 signaling. The resulting immunometabolic effects triggered by PPIs can be a part of a tailored nutritional intervention strategy in immunometabolic-based diseases.


Infections with Salmonella enterica belong to the most prominent causes of food poisoning and infected fruits and vegetables represent important vectors for salmonellosis. Recent evidence indicates that plants recognize S. enterica and raise defense responses. Nonetheless, the molecular mechanisms controlling the interaction of S. enterica with plants are still largely unclear. Here, we show that flagellin from S. enterica represents a prominent pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) in Arabidopsis thaliana, which induces PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) via the recognition of the flg22 domain by the receptor kinase FLS2. The Arabidopsis fls2 mutant shows reduced though not abolished PTI activation, indicating that plants rely also on recognition of other S. enterica PAMPs. Interestingly, the S. enterica type III secretion system (T3SS) mutant prgH- induced stronger defense gene expression than wild-type bacteria in Arabidopsis, suggesting that T3SS effectors are involved in defense suppression. Furthermore, we observe that S. enterica strains show variation in the flg22 epitope, which results in proteins with reduced PTI-inducing activity. Altogether, these results show that S. enterica activates PTI in Arabidopsis and suggest that, in order to accomplish plant colonization, S. enterica evolved strategies to avoid or suppress PTI.


The most expensive part of all electronic structure calculations based on density functional theory lies in the computation of an invariant subspace associated with some of the smallest eigenvalues of a discretized Hamiltonian operator. The dimension of this subspace typically depends on the total number of valence electrons in the system, and can easily reach hundreds or even thousands when large systems with many atoms are considered. At the same time, the discretization of Hamiltonians associated with large systems yields very large matrices, whether with planewave or real-space discretizations. The combination of these two factors results in one of the most significant bottlenecks in computational materials science. In this paper we show how to efficiently compute a large invariant subspace associated with the smallest eigenvalues of a symmetric/Hermitian matrix using polynomially filtered Lanczos iterations. The proposed method does not try to extract individual eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Instead, it constructs an orthogonal basis of the invariant subspace by combining two main ingredients. The first is a filtering technique to dampen the undesirable contribution of the largest eigenvalues at each matrix-vector product in the Lanczos algorithm. This technique employs a well-selected low pass filter polynomial, obtained via a conjugate residual-type algorithm in polynomial space. The second ingredient is the Lanczos algorithm with partial reorthogonalization. Experiments are reported to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed scheme compared to state-of-the-art implicitly restarted techniques.


Objective To assess the effectiveness of antibiotics in the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Data sources Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group controlled trials register, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, MEDLINE, LILACS, SCI Expanded, Embase and http://clinicaltrials.gov/ until January 2010; reference lists of relevant articles and authors were searched. Review methods The methodological approach outlined in the Cochrane Handbook was followed. Randomised trials comparing antibiotics with placebo, no intervention, non-absorbable disaccharides, another antibiotic or any other active treatment for HE were included. The primary outcome measures were no improvement of HE and all-cause mortality. Results Twenty-eight studies were included in this review; most had a small sample size and were methodologically of a low quality. Two studies (N=132) compared antibiotics with placebo or no intervention, reporting no differences in primary outcomes between groups. Twelve studies (N=708) compared antibiotics with non-absorbable disaccharides, reporting no difference in all-cause mortality (RR=1.11 (95% CI 0.60 to 2.07)) but a marginally significant reduction in the risk of "no improvement" (RR 0.83 (0.69 to 1.00)). In sensitivity analysis, this finding was significant in trials evaluating chronic encephalopathy (RR 0.50 (0.28 to 0.89)) and in trials with co-administration of cathartic agents (RR 0.82 (0.67 to 0.99)). Ten trials (N=336), compared different antibiotic regimens, most evaluating rifaximin and neomycin. Rifaximin reduced the risk of no improvement compared to neomycin, but not significantly so (RR 0.61 (0.34 to 1.09)). Conclusions Insufficient evidence exists to support or refute the use of antibiotics for HE. Antibiotics were slightly superior to non-absorbable disaccharides at improving HE, with borderline significance and possible effect modification.


The 1760's and 1770's saw the emergence of numerous clubs, orders and societies in Stockholm. One of the most extraordinary expressions of this phenomenon was Carl Michael Bellman's Bacchi Orden, a series of semi-public dramatic entertainments chronicling the exploits of the members of Bacchi Orden, a fictional society enrolling several of Stockholm's most notorious drunkards and dedicated to the celebration of Bacchus. Bellman's parodic perspective stands in marked contrast to the self-professed virtuous undertakings of Stockholm's contemporary clubs and orders, whose members were recruited from the social and economic elites and professional and artisanal classes. The main purpose of the dissertation was to study the ceremonial rhetorical practices of Bacchi Orden - speeches, processions and other features designed to enhance the members' loyalty to the society's chosen ideal - and compare them to similar rhetorical traits in several orders and societies of the era in Stockholm to understand what made Bellman's parody work as an entertainment.The dissertation consists of three chapters. The first chapter introduces Bacchi Orden as a parodic and dramatic work and the eighteenth-century associations as cultural and social institutions. The second chapter outlines the use of ceremonial rhetoric in a number of orders and societies in Stockholm contemporary with Bacchi Orden. Through a combined chronological and thematic approach, the third chapter examines recurring rhetorical patterns in Bellman's parody and the rhetorical implications these patterns might have signaled to his audicence.The ceremonial rhetorical practices of Bacchi Orden may be interpreted as parodying rhetorical commonplaces occuring in all the examined orders' pledges to uphold certain virtues for the benefit of the Swedish nation. This system of virtues - with moderation, patriotism and diligence as cornerstones - is put to parodic use in Bacchi Orden through the different breaches of decorum Bellman allows his characters to act out in their doomed endeavors to combine ceremonial protocol and severe intoxication. As a contrast, friendly and frank companionship among the selected few is the one positive virtue that Bellman's audience can infer from his mock-society. This particular tenet became central to subsequent social clubs, which used Bellman's fiction as a template for their ceremonies.


Abstract Infill walls provide durable and economical partitions that have relatively excellent thermal and sound insulation with high fire resistance. Monolithic infilled walls are provided within RC structures without being analyzed as a combination of concrete and brick elements, although in reality they act as a single unit during earthquakes. The performance of such structures during earthquakes has proved to be superior in comparison to bare frames in terms of stiffness, strength and energy dissipation. To know the dynamic characteristics of monolithic infill wall panels and masonry infill, modal, response spectrum and time history analyses have been carried out on a model and prototype of a 3D RC structure for a comparative study.


The Covid19 pandemic severely affected the growth and subnational distribution of income in low-income countries. To understand these effects, we produce monthly aggregates on gross national income (GNI) for 147 Pakistani districts through real-time data and machine learning between 2012 and 2021. Three findings emerge from our analysis. First, urban districts experienced a sizeable decline in income during the pandemic, as their monthly growth rate dropped by 0.21%. Second, districts with a higher Covid19 incidence experienced larger income drops. Third, Covid19 accelerated the within-country convergence, as districts with high pre-pandemic income experienced a stronger negative growth during the pandemic.


The research was aimed at determining whether Grade Nine teachers benefited from the training in Curriculum 2005 assessment techniques that was organised by the Department of Education and whether the training contributed to meeting the intellectual and professional challenges facing South Africans in the 21 century. For this purpose a predominantly rural midlands district of the Pietermaritzburg region of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education was selected. The study followed a qualitative approach. Data was collected from three Grade Nine teachers from three rural schools who were responsible for teaching the following: languages, social sciences and mathematics. The study found that the teachers felt that they had not been trained adequately in the above learning areas, and therefore did not understand the new procedures. The procedures could also not be implemented within the teaching time allocated to the respective learning areas. In addition, the teachers felt that the paper work involved in the implementation of the new procedures had increased their workload unnecessarily. The training failed to prepare them for Curriculum 2005 and the assessment guidelines provided by the Department. The cascading of information resulted in the misinterpretation of important information. Furthermore, trainers lacked confidence, knowledge and understanding of the management of the training process. District officials who conducted training did not understand the terminology and used teaching methods that were non-consistent with outcomes-based education (OBE) and Curriculum 2005. At the school level, there was considerable overlap in planning and no clear solutions to this problem. Finally, the teachers regarded one week as inadequate for training and the training materials as insufficient for the teacher learning. The study concludes with recommendations for the successful implementation of Curriculum 2005 and for further research. ii University of Pretoria etd – Conco, Z P (2005)


The addition of water to the mixer prior to pelleting is sometimes necessary to reach the target moisture content at the end of the conditioning process. However, there are limited data to demonstrate the impact of water addition in the mixer on phytase stability during the pelleting process. In addition, the variation of phytase analysis method may lead to incorrect or biased conclusions for research on industrial phytase stability. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of water added in the mixer, feed holding time, and phytase analysis method on phytase stability and pellet quality. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial with main effects of added water (0% or 1%), holding time (0 or 2 h), and phytase analysis method (ELISA or EN ISO), respectively. For the 0% added water treatment, a 210-lb basal feed and 0.03-lb phytase were mixed for 5 min. For the 1% added water treatments, a 208-lb basal feed and 0.03-lb phytase were mixed for 120 s followed by the addition of 2-lb water and then the mixture was mixed for 180 s wet mix time. The water was applied to dry feed in the mixer using a hand-held sprayer (Country Tuff model 26329, Sedalia, MO) with a flat spray tip nozzle (TeeJet model TP11006, Glendale Heights, IL). After the diets were mixed, treatments were immediately pelleted or held in a closed container for 2 h before pelleting. Treatments were steam conditioned at 185°F for approximately 30 s and pelleted using a pellet mill (California Pellet Mill Co. model Cl-5, Crawfordsville, IN). The pellet mill was equipped with a 0.16 × 0.87 in die. Samples were collected during discharge of the mixer, after conditioning and after pelleting. The conditioned mash and pelleted samples were cooled for 10 min using an experimental counterflow cooler. There were 3 replicates per treatment. Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS. The results demonstrated that there was no evidence of three-way or two-way interactions among added water, holding time, and analysis method on phytase stability for mash samples, conditioned mash samples, and pellets. The added water and holding time did not impact phytase stability for mash samples, conditioned mash samples, and pellets. The ELISA method had greater (P = 0.004) phytase activity than the EN ISO method for the pellet samples. The phytase activity was similar between the two analytical methods for mash samples and conditioned mash samples. For pellet quality, there was no evidence of interaction between added water and holding time. Added water and holding time did not impact pellet durability index. Therefore, the stability of phytase produced by a strain of Trichoderma reesei was not affected when feed was stored in a bin up to 2 h prior to pelleting. The added water in mash feed did not affect the degradation of Trichoderma reesei phytase when the feed moisture did not exceed 13%. Additionally, the ELISA or EN ISO method could be used in the laboratory to determine Trichoderma reesei phytase stability. Increasing moisture content of mash feed by 0.6% did not improve pellet quality.


This paper presents two modeling approaches for batching and scheduling jobs on parallel non-identical machines. For scheduling of jobs the due dates as a hard restriction and machine dependent processing times are considered. Between each of the jobs a setup may be necessary or not, depending on the predecessor. The setup of the machines is done by a single worker who needs to be scheduled as well, since only he can serve one machine at a time. The objective is to maximize the overall workload of the machines meeting the constraint of the due dates. While the first approach uses Mixed Integer Linear Programming to calculate an optimal schedule, the second one uses a simulation, based on colored Petri nets. Both methods are tested and evaluated using illustrative simulation examples.


The study of dogs' responses to an approaching human plays an important role for the development of human-dog relationship. The aim of the research was to develop a protocol for behavioral test in order to assess the behavioral responses of dogs to two different approaches performed by an unknown man. Twenty-five dogs of different breeds or mixed-breed, 17 females and 8 males, 56.4±26.2 months old, underwent a behavioural test in which a male stranger approached the subject using two different modalities, named indirect approach (IA) and direct approach (DA). Test were video recorded and dogs' responses to the approaching man were analyzed in order to attribute the following scores: aggressive (=1), active avoidant (=2), passive avoidant (=3), ambivalent (=4), neutral (=5), or friendly (=6). In addition, each videotaped session was analysed with the continuous sampling method registering the duration (s) of 11 behaviours: nose licking, paw lifting, yawning, blinking, and body shaking (their duration was summed and used as a measure of dog stress); orientation toward the stranger, barking, and growling (their duration was summed and used as a measure of the attitude toward the unknown man); orientation toward the owner, approach and contact with the owner (their duration was summed and used as a measure of the attitude toward the owner). Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon test (p<0.05) in order to compare responses to DA and IA and the duration of behaviours during DA and IA. Dogs responded more friendly to IA that to DA (Z=-2.049, p=0.021). For stress signals, the time was higher for DA, respect IA, although the differences did not reach statistical significance (Z=-1.280, p=0.201). Concerning the attitude toward the stranger, significant differences between DA and IA were found (Z=2.64, p=0.008), i.e. dogs looked to the stranger, barked an growled more during DA. As regards the behaviors towards the owner, no statistically significant difference between the two approaches was observed. These preliminary results seem to show that dogs behave in a more friendly way towards the stranger when approached in an indirect way. DA seems to be more stressful for dogs, likely because it is perceived as more threatening.


This study was aimed to determine the natural occurrence of ochratoxin A (OTA) and total aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, and G2) (AFs) of stored Yemeni green and roasted coffee beans. A total of 50 samples (25 samples each) were collected randomly from different markets in Sana'a city, Yemen during 2013, and quantitative assessment of these two types of mycotoxins was done using ELISA test kits. In addition, the influence of roasting on OTA and AFs contamination of green coffee beans was also investigated using the pan roasting method. Our results showed that all green and roasted coffee bean samples examined were contaminated with OTA, at concentrations ranging from 1.114 to 18.667 ppb and 1.646 to 31.077 ppb respectively. Also, all green and roasted coffee bean samples examined were contaminated with AFs, at concentrations ranging from 14.694 to 27.176 ppb and 14.255 to 23.231 ppb respectively. In addition, the roasting of contaminated green coffee bean samples with different concentrations of OTA and AFs reduced OTA and AFs levels to 86% and 20% from the initial concentration, respectively. These results indicate that there are risks of mycotoxin contamination of stored Yemeni green and roasted coffee beans.