[Purpose] The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of robot-assisted gait training combined with functional electrical stimulation on locomotor recovery in patients with chronic stroke. [Subjects] The 20 subjects were randomly assigned into either an experimental group (n = 10) that received a combination of robot-assisted gait training and functional electrical stimulation on the ankle dorsiflexor of the affected side or a control group (n = 10) that received robot-assisted gait training only. [Methods] Both groups received the respective therapies for 30 min/day, 3 days/week for 5 weeks. The outcome was measured using the Modified Motor Assessment Scale (MMAS), Timed Up-and-Go Test (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and gait parameters through gait analysis (Vicon 370 motion analysis system, Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK). All the variables were measured before and after training. [Results] Step length and maximal knee extension were significantly greater than those before training in the experimental group only. Maximal Knee flexion showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups. The MMAS, BBS, and TUG scores improved significantly after training compared with before training in both groups. [Conclusion] We suggest that the combination of robot-assisted gait training and functional electrical stimulation encourages patients to actively participate in training because it facilitates locomotor recovery without the risk of adverse effects.


In Canada, recent immigrant households are more likely to be food insecure than non-immigrant households. This is important for Canada, which receives approximately 250,000 permanent residents each year, as food security is linked to how immigrants perceive membership, reconstruct identity, and integrate successfully. Literature on immigration and food insecurity exists; however, it has not been collected or analyzed through an in-depth, critical review. This paper comprises the findings of a review of Canadian and international literature on barriers to food security for immigrants and their children. It includes sources from the academic, interdisciplinary literature in addition to government and non-government primary data, and considers the experiences of immigrants in terms of availability, accessibility, adequacy, acceptability, and agency of food. This review provides an understanding of the research that exists on the causes of food insecurity for newcomers, as well as identifies gaps in the literature and recommendations for further research.


We report the four-year ( 2006–2009 ) measurements of the net ecosystem CO 2 exchange flux ( NEE ) over a deciduous needle-leaf plantation forest in the foothills of Japan's highest mountain, Mt. Fuji. We focus on the characteristics of temporal variations in NEE and their relationships to environmental factors and phenology in a forest stand. We evaluate year-to-year variations in the seasonal patterns of flux components and investigate factors controlling the NEE. During the growing season, light availability is likely to affect the photosynthetic uptake of CO 2 at the site. We found significant differences in the length of the growing season for the four years; these are due mainly to variations in the timing of the progress of the autumnal coloring of leaves. The timing for the start of the autumnal coloring of leaves is highly depend-ent on when the daily lowest air temperature drops below 10 ℃ . Secondly, we investigate the characteristics of short-term and long-term variations in the structure of CO 2 storage in the forest stand using a newly developed profiling system. We demonstrate the characteristics of temporal variations in the vertical distribution of CO 2 .


Although there has been an increase in research on sex offenders' modus operandi, geographic decision making, and hunting behavior, most studies still tend to emphasize criminal motivation while overlooking the role of situational and environmental factors. Studies of mixed samples of rapists and child molesters typically neglect to conduct comparative analyses. Consequently, the full nature of their distinction is not clear. This is particularly problematic for the understanding of crossover or polymorphous sex offenders, who target victims from various age groups. Using a sample of 216 incarcerated sexual offenders, hunting behavior patterns were identified and tested to establish which hunting behavior patterns were associated with each type of offender. Relationships between modus operandi, geographic decision making, and hunting behavior were also examined. Three types of offender were identified: (a) manipulative; (b) opportunist; and (c) coercive. The manipulative offender is typically a child molester. The coercive offender is typically a rapist. The opportunist offender includes both rapists and child molesters. These findings emphasize the relevance of polymorphous, crossover, or versatile sex offenders and suggest new ways of conceptualizing sex offenders and their study.


Conformal Predictors (CP) are wrappers around ML models, providing error guarantees under weak assumptions on the data distribution. They are suitable for a wide range of problems, from classification and regression to anomaly detection. Unfortunately, their very high computational complexity limits their applicability to large datasets. In this work, we show that it is possible to speed up a CP classifier considerably, by studying it in conjunction with the underlying ML method, and by exploiting incremental&decremental learning. For methods such as k-NN, KDE, and kernel LS-SVM, our approach reduces the running time by one order of magnitude, whilst producing exact solutions. With similar ideas, we also achieve a linear speed up for the harder case of bootstrapping. Finally, we extend these techniques to improve upon an optimization of k-NN CP for regression. We evaluate our findings empirically, and discuss when methods are suitable for CP optimization.


A number of motored auger holes have been drilled in 2002 and 2006 in four sand-clay deposits preserved in dissolution pockets within the Dinantian limestones of the watershed north of the Vesdre valley. These deposits of unknown age are currently classified as (Tertiary) SBL in the new geological map of Wallonia. We present detailed lithostratigraphic logs of the deposits and describe the results of sedimentological and mineralogical analyses. In particular, K-Ar dating of neoformed Mn oxides found at the base of one augerhole at Rechain yielded ages ranging from Cenomanian to Santonian, allowing us to place the Rechain and Andrimont deposits within the early Late Cretaceous. This is fully consistent with their topographic location very close beneath the trace of the pre-Cretaceous erosion surface and makes them the westernmost remains of the Hergenrath Member of the Late Cretaceous Aachen Formation. To the west, the Magnee deposit is more "typical SBL", probably corresponding to the Late Neogene filling of a dissolution pocket by reworked weathering products of the local Cretaceous cover.


The Rotan Ketak (local rattan) industry is an industry born as handicraft industry with strong local cultural capital. The strengths of this industrial value are; the involvement of women in the production process, environmentally friendly (zero waste), has a value-added network of raw materials, has a high local value from the design aspect, and has a strong network of markets both at domestic and abroad. This study uses a descriptive explanatory method by applying several approaches namely; canvas model business, industrial process analysis, and content analysis. Some important findings of this study describe the ability of the local industry to provide specific added value. Rotan Ketak Industry innovation system can be a source of local economic competitive advantage in facing the global market. The strong value proposition of the product could compete with another product. The industry is also capable to expose some strength of the human side that cannot be completely replaced by the function of sophisticated technology because it combines local values, humanity, art, and local economy. The capacity of this industry to build partnerships between artisans with the local trading system is also a major finding. In the medium-long term, this industry has a potential contribution to achieving local sustainable economic growth.


BACkGRouND: The impact of obesity on postoperative mortality and morbidity in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) operations is a widely studied but poorly defined topic.
oBjECTIVE: To investigate the effect of body mass index (BMI) on inhospital mortality and morbidity after isolated CABG surgery.
METhoDS: Prospectively collected data of a series of 1057 consecutive patients who underwent on-pump isolated CABG surgery were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into five groups according to WHO BMI categorization (defined as underweight [BMI <20 kg/m2]; normal weight [BMI ≥20 kg/m2 to <25 kg/m2]; overweight [BMI ≥25 kg/m2 to <30 kg/m2]; obese [BMI ≥30 kg/m2 to <35 kg/m2]; and morbidly obese [BMI ≥35 kg/m2]).
RESulTS: Of 1057 patients, 13 patients (1.2%) were underweight, 298 (28.2%) were normal weight, 462 (43.7%) were overweight, 218 (20.6%) were obese and 66 (6.2%) were morbidly obese. The mean age was significantly lower in underweight patients, who were also more likely to be male. In contrast, obese and morbidly obese patients were older, and more likely to have comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension. The incidence of postoperative bronchodilator use (P<0.001), leg wound infection (P=0.038), sternal dehiscence (P=0.039) and development of new-onset atrial fibrillation (P<0.001) was significantly higher in obese and morbidly obese groups. In contrast, postoperative prolonged ventilation (P<0.001), need for blood transfusions (P<0.001) and revision for bleeding (P=0.041), as well as gastrointestinal complications (P<0.001), were significantly higher in underweight patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that female sex, older age and diabetes mellitis, but not BMI, were independent risk factors for early mortality after CABG surgery.
CoNCluSIoN: No effect of BMI on early postoperative mortality after CABG surgery could be demonstrated. However, in terms of morbidity, postoperative bleeding and revision for bleeding were increased in underweight patients while sternal dehiscence, wound infections and occurrence of atrial fibrillation were increased in obese and morbidly obese patients.


This study identify the leadership style is adopt for nurses which frequent Post-Graduation Courses offer by Schools of Nursing of Metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The data collection used an instrument proposed by David R. Frew was used in a sample of 184 nurses. The instrument classify the leadership in five styles: very autocratic, autocratic moderate mixed, democratic moderate and very democratic. The results shows the predominant utilization of the mixed style (83.15%) followed by autocratic moderate (4.89%). The styles very autocratic and very democratic were less expressive (1.63%) and (0.54%) of the sample.


As the author enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, governments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), philanthropic organizations, and civil society groups worldwide are actively focusing on evidence-based policy and increased accountability to stakeholders (results agenda).The widespread implementation of the Results Agenda has generated a plethora of books, guides, academic papers, trainings, and case studies, which has enabled an ongoing maturation process in the field. Consequently, specialists are now better equipped to understand what works under which circumstances. Broadly speaking there are two interrelated questions which must be answered when assessing the sustainability of a government results agenda. First, is the institutional design and practice of government conducive to evidence-based policy making? Second, are the overarching monitoring and evaluation (M&E) methods and specific tools used appropriate for garnering the evidence demanded by government? These series of notes aim to make a small contribution to the latter question by summarizing and highlighting a selection of PM&E methods and the tools that governments and international organizations around the world have developed to put these into practice in their own contexts. The central goal of this initiative is to prompt a process of learning, reflection and action by providing practical information to those whose leadership role requires them to understand PM&E methods and their potential for enhancing evidence-based policy making.


Abstract Between 1990 and 1995, 9 French cities provided data on daily air pollution, total mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and respiratory mortality. Personnel in individual cities performed Poisson regressions, controlling for trends in seasons, calendar effects, influenza epidemics, temperature, and humidity, to assess the short-term effects of air pollution. The authors describe results obtained from the quantitative pooling of these local analyses. When no heterogeneity could be detected, a fixed-effect model was used; otherwise, a random-effect model was used. Significant and positive associations were found between total daily deaths in these cities and the 4 air pollution indicators studied: (1) Black Smoke, (2) sulfur dioxide, (3) nitrogen dioxide, and (4) ozone. A 50-μg/m3 increase in Black Smoke (24 hr), sulfur dioxide (24 hr), nitrogen dioxide (24 hr), or ozone (8 hr) was associated with increases in total mortality of 2.9% (95% confidence interval [Cl]) = 1.3, 4.4), 3.6% (95% Cl = 2.1, 5.2), 3.8% (95% Cl = 2.0, 5.5), and 2.7% (95% Cl = 1.3,4.1), respectively. Similar results were obtained for cardiovascular mortality. Except for sulfur dioxide, positive—but not significant—associations were found with respiratory mortality. The internal consistency among the cities studied, as well as consistency with previously published results, favors a causal interpretation of these associations.


Objective: To verify if stabilizing the scapulothoracic joint without arthrodesis could lead to functional improvement of shoulder range of motion and clinical improvement of winged scapula, we incorporated four additional patients into our previous analysis to determine if the results obtained were long lasting, and to compare this fixation with the other techniques described in the literature, balancing the benefits with the complications. Design: A retrospective study. Participants: Thirteen patients with bilateral winged scapula affected by facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. Nine of these patients had been analyzed in our previous study. Methods: Patients were operated on by bilateral fixing of the scapula to the rib cage using metal wires without arthrodesis (scapulopexy). Results: All patients experienced improvement in active range of motion of the shoulder and all of them had clinical improvement with complete resolution of the winged scapula. In all twenty-six surgical interventions of scapulopexy, a stable and long-lasting fixation of the scapula to the rib cage was achieved.The complications strictly associated to the surgical technique encountered were one pneumothorax, which was resolved spontaneously, and one wire breakage without trauma. Average follow-up was 10 years (range, 3 to 18 years). Conclusion: The scapulopexy used in this extended series of patients consisted of repositioning the scapula and fixing it to four ribs by using metal wires without performing arthrodesis.This technique has a low rate of complications, is reproducible, safe and effective, resulting in clinical and functional improvement.


A new modeling formalism to compute the time-dependent behavior of combined electromagnetic (EM) and quantum mechanical (QM) systems is proposed. The method is geared towards highly multiscale geometries, which is vital for the future design of nanoelectronic devices. The advocated multiphysics modeling formalism leverages the alternating-direction hybrid implicit-explicit (ADHIE) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for the EM fields and is combined with a novel ADHIE method for the EM potentials. Additionally, we tackle the QM problem using a new split real and imaginary part formulation that includes higher-order spatial differences and arbitrary time-dependent EM potentials. The validity of the proposed formalism is theoretically discussed by deriving its stability condition and calculating the numerical dispersion relation. Furthermore, the applicability of our modeling approach is proven through several numerical experiments, including a single-particle Maxwell-Schrödinger (MS) system as well as a many-particle Maxwell-Kohn-Sham (MKS) system within the time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) framework. These experiments confirm that the novel ADHIE method drastically decreases the computation time while retaining the accuracy, leading to efficient and accurate simulations of light-matter interactions in multiscale nanoelectronic devices.


Africa has often been described as the 'forgotten continent' but dramatic changes have occurred in African agribusiness over the last ten years. On the one hand, the greatest transfer of land ownership since the colonial era continues apace. These deals are sometimes seen as a land grab, or new form of colonialism. On the other hand this new investment and the involvement of large scale agribusiness also offers the potential of bringing new technologies and techniques to the region. Could this technology transfer help Africa to replicate the Brazilian 'miracle'? The wider agricultural community, more familiar with tales of feuds and famine in Africa, has largely overlooked many of these changes, but this paper argues that it behoves the Agribusiness community to understand what is happening, and to ask: is it time for Agribusinesses to invest in Africa?


BACKGROUND
Treatment management for congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) on the face (FCMN) is highly variable and requires a thorough assessment of multiple factors. To date, a systematic review of FCMN treatment is lacking. The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the frequency, variety, and outcomes of treatment modalities for FCMN with different levels of complexity.

METHODS
A comprehensive review of Pubmed, Embase, and Google Scholar databases from 1950 to 2022 was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Articles reporting on FCMN treatment approaches, outcomes, and associated complications were screened and data were extracted according to inclusion criteria. Data were tabulated for thematic analysis of FCMN treatment types, anatomic locations, outcomes, and complications.

RESULTS
Of the 561 studies retrieved, 34 met inclusion criteria including 19 surgical treatments, 14 nonsurgical treatments, and one combined surgical and nonsurgical treatment study, totaling 356 patients. The majority of treated FCMN were small-to-medium-sized (56%). Facial CMN treated conservatively were mostly located on the cheek (27%) and/or perinasal region (21%), whereas FCMN treated with surgery were primarily located in the periorbital region (44%) and/or the cheek (17%). Across all treatment cohorts, 22% of patients experienced at least one complication, with 12% of complications experienced by patients treated by surgery.

CONCLUSIONS
There is a greater need for standardized FCMN nomenclature that encompasses nevi pattern, dimensions, anatomical coverage, and quantitative measurements of treatment outcome. Future studies should focus on identifying anatomic locations of FCMN that are more prone to complications and determine which treatment approach optimizes outcomes.


A rate equation model capable of describing the reaction kinetics of the N2+ laser has been developed in order to investigate the possibility of long pulse or CW operation in this system. The difference in temporal behaviour of laser pulses on the 3914 AA transition compared to those of the 4278 and 4709 AA transitions (previously reported using short pulse excitation) can be interpreted as being due to the effects of a collisional process responsible for transferring population from the nu =1,2 into the nu =0 vibrational levels of the N2+ electronic ground state. It is suggested that this collisional process be identified with the symmetric charge transfer reaction of nitrogen on nitrogen. The model further suggests that even with longer excitation pulses the laser pulse duration will be limited by second-kind collisions of excited molecular nitrogen ions with plasma electrons. A discharge-excited nitrogen ion laser, in which the excitation pulse can be varied up to a maximum of 75 ns, has been constructed in order to test the predictions of the rate equation model. The experimental results support the conclusion that the laser pulse length at all wavelengths of the nitrogen ion system is limited by fundamental molecular kinetic processes.


If disentangled properly, patterns distilled from evolutionarily related sequences of a given protein family can inform their traits - such as their structure and function. Recent years have seen an increase in the complexity of generative models towards capturing these patterns; from sitewise to pairwise to deep and variational. In this study we evaluate the degree of structure and fitness patterns learned by a suite of progressively complex models. We introduce pairwise saliency, a novel method for evaluating the degree of captured structural information. We also quantify the fitness information learned by these models by using them to predict the fitness of mutant sequences and then correlate these predictions against their measured fitness values. We observe that models that inform structure do not necessarily inform fitness and vice versa, contrasting recent claims in this field. Our work highlights a dearth of consistency across fitness assays as well as divergently provides a general approach for understanding the pairwise decomposable relations learned by a given generative sequence model.


deviation) Results: At baseline 11 eyes were vitrectomized, 21 pseudophakic, 16% treated with anti-glaucoma drugs and 1 with previous trabeculectomy. Mean HbA1c was 7.8% and, except for 1 patient, diabetic control was poor even with endocrinology help. Before Iluvien implantation, 100% of patients performed laser, 4% bevacizumab, 83.3% ranibizumab, 12.5% aflibercept, 45.8% triamcinolone and 62.5% dexamethasone. At last observation, CRT was significantly lower than baseline (p = 0.001). MV was significantly lower than baseline at 6th month (p = 0.012). Mean change from baseline to last observation visit of VA and IOP was 3.74 letters and 0.1 mmHg. IOP emergent medications were used in 13.2%. 3-out-of-4 patients were submitted to cataract surgery. Conclusions: This cohort shows that one-single intravitreal Iluvien could improve VA and CRT in non-responsive patients to previous therapies. IOP was manageable with no safety concerns. Due to corticosteroids properties in reducing inflammation and in neuroprotection, we suggest an early use of the implant.


Flannery O'Connor read widely in contemporary literature, but there were a good many current authors whom she did not read at all. In her unpublished letters which I have seen, she usually stated briefly her opinion of the books she read, often in no more than a sentence or two. (1) Despite their brevity, the opinions are carefully phrased. They are important both for what they say concerning the writers she discusses and for what they say about Miss O'Connor's own taste and judgment. In one letter she mentioned that she had read nearly everything by Bloy, Bernanos, (2) and Mauriac. These three writers and Graham Greene, she said, had written virtually all of the powerful Catholic fiction of this age. She had found, however, that she had reached a point at which reading Catholic writers was less useful to her than non-Catholic ones. She mentioned Ernest Hemingway and said of him that he had a longing for the sense of wholeness which the Catholic faith could give. She also mentioned James Joyce of whom she said that he could not rid himself of his Catholic inheritance no matter how he might try. In reading such writers, she went on to say, one might come to recognize the Holy Ghost who took these means of disguising himself. (3) Miss O'Connor received a request from a Catholic reader who asked that she list modern Catholic writers and comment upon their importance. She said she was not really good at such an enterprise even when she was well and at the time she was full of germs. (4) If a reader wanted to know about Catholic writers, she went on to say, he would have to read them for himself because the significance of none of them could be indicated in a paragraph. She suggested that he begin his reading with the French Catholics, Francois Mauriac and Georges Bernanos. The most important English Catholic writers, she said, were Graham Greene and Muriel Spark. American Catholic writers were J. F. Powers, Wilfred Sheed, and perhaps Edwin O'Connor. Some people would include the last writer, she said, but she was not sure since she had not read him. (5) She did not include Caroline Gordon in the above list, possibly because most of her fiction was written before she became a Catholic. Miss O'Connor did greatly admire Miss Gordon's novel The Malefactors and once presented it as a gift to a friend. In an accompanying letter, she said that Miss Gordon was a very fine novelist--had been one, in fact, for many years and that more Catholics should become familiar with her work. She related how several years before both Miss Gordon and her husband, Allen Tate, had come into the Church. She mentioned their connection with the Nashville "Agrarian" group of the 1920's and said that they were the only two members of the movement who had ended up in the Catholic Church, though the Church would have seemed to have been the logical end for the writers who shared the ideas and principles of the Agrarians. The movement was a part, she said, of what was now ostentatiously called the Southern Literary Renascence. (6) In another letter, Miss O'Connor said that she had learned a great deal about writing from Miss Gordon. (7) Earlier, however, she complained about an article which Miss Gordon had written about her, one entitled "Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood." (8) Miss O'Connor said that this article was all mixed up but that she could not afford to say so publicly. (9) She does not specify which opinions of Miss Gordon she objected to. In March of 1958, Miss Katherine Anne Porter came to Wesleyan College in Macon, where I taught, to read some of her stories and to lecture. While she was in Georgia, my wife and I took her to lunch with Miss O'Connor at her home at Andalusia Farm near Milledgeville. When Miss Porter stepped from the car, one of Miss O'Connor's many peacocks spread his tail in front of her. It seemed a tribute to a beautiful woman. Both Miss Porter and Miss O'Connor had great charm but it was of totally different kinds. …


The electrochemical properties of the room temperature ionic liquids 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIM+BF4−), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIM+PF6−) and 1-methyl-3-[2,6-(S)-dimethylocten-2-yl]imidazolium
 tetrafluoroborate (MDIM+BF4−) as solvents have been studied using micro-samples, with a volume of 10 μL, of the ionic liquids under vacuum conditions and under conditions with controlled gas and moisture supplies. The impact of water—absorbed into the ionic liquid in a controlled manner from the gas phase—on
 the voltammetry of dissolved redox systems and on the accessible potential window of the ionic liquids was investigated. The diffusion coefficients for three representative redox systems, the oxidation of neutral N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine
 (TMPD), the reduction of cationic methyl viologen (MV2+) and reduction of anionic hexacyanoferrate(III), Fe(CN)63−, have been determined as a function of the water content of the ionic liquids. Water
 is shown to have a much more dramatic acceleration effect on the diffusion of the ionic compounds compared to its effect on neutral species in ionic liquids. A model based on nanoscale structural features of wet ionic liquid materials
 is proposed. The novel methodology, which employs redox-active compounds dissolved or partitioned in microdroplets of ionic liquid, uses conditions suitable for the study of ionic liquids for applications in electrochemical gas phase reactors and gas sensor
 systems.


ABSTRACT Aim: An in-patient unit for supportive care in oncology (USSO) was created in 2011 in the Georges Pompidou European Hospital. Its primary objective is to improve patient care and manage the complications of cancer as well as their specific treatment. Patients are previously screened by a cross disciplinary team at an early stage before complication. Methods: A prospective observational study was performed through a yearly evaluation of the unit's activity from January 1st 2011 to December 31st 2013. Results: 594 patients were admitted in the unit during the three years period of study. Most of them (64.3%) came directly from home, with an increase of this rate along this period (59.4% to 67.6%). The early screening thereby rendered emergency admission from 17.7% (2011) to 6.5% (2013). The predominant diseases observed were head and neck cancer (42.4%) and lung cancer (23%), followed by breast (7.2%) and ovarian cancer (7.2%). The main grounds for hospitalization were state of health impairment 32%, pain 12.8%, and invasive procedures 11.8%, increasing from 2011 to 2013. Therefore, an interdisciplinary approach is the cornerstone of the unit with the daily collaboration of dieticians (for 90% of inpatients), social workers, psychologists, physiotherapists and pain specialists (34%, 46%, 56% and 50% of inpatients respectively). The average length of stay decreased from 2011 (10.2 days) to 2013 (8.3 days) and 58.4% of the patients were home discharged. With the help of a social worker, 12% of the patients were transferred to a recovery unit and 9.7% to a palliative care unit while 9% died in the unit. Conclusions: With the opening of the in-patient USSO, and the development of its interdisciplinary strategy, most of the patients recover faster and regain better health. Preventive care can accommodate a majority of patients coming from home and allows for ambulatory secured discharge. These positive results conducted to enhance the USSO's beds capacity and supportive care development in order to improve cancer care rganization in the hospital as well as patient's quality of life. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


Background : The aims of this study were to explore the antihyperglycemic effect of curry leaves, Murraya koenigii "MK" aqueous extract, and to examine its possible protective effects on the islets of Langerhans and kidneys of streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats. Methods : Thirty healthy adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomized into five groups (n=6); normal control, normal treated with "MK" control, diabetic control (non-treated with "MK"), diabetic treated with 200 mg/kg MK aqueous leaf extract and diabetic treated with 400 mg/kg MK aqueous leaf extract. Blood glucose levels and body weight were monitored gravimetrically. The animals were sacrificed on the 30th day; the kidney and pancreatic tissues were processed for histological studies. Results : The diabetic group showed considerable loss of body weight and increase in blood glucose levels and degeneration of the glomeruli and renal convoluted tubules and atrophied islets with disintegration of β-cells. Treatment of diabetic rats with MK extract showed significant ( p < 0.001) improvement in blood glucose levels and body weight gain. The MK extract also caused an improvement in tissue injury induced by STZ injection in the kidney and islets of Langerhans. Conclusion s : These findings highlighted the beneficial effects of MK aqueous extract against cellular oxidative damage in STZ-induced diabetic rats.


White blood cell counts and the percentages and absolute numbers of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of active lepromatous (BT, BB, BL) leprosy patients, patients with borderline leprosy, and normal controls were determined. Lepromatous patients showed decreased leukocyte counts and elevated percentages of lymphocytes, resulting in normal absolute lymphocyte counts. The proportion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells forming "active" rosettes, standard (4 degrees C overnight) rosettes, and "high affinity" (29 degrees C for 1 hr) rosettes with sheep erythrocytes, and rosettes with EAC were determined. Lepromatous patients, compared with normal controls, had decreased "active" rosettes, standard rosettes, and "high affinity" rosettes with sheep erythrocytes with an increase in the nonrosetting proportion. Both lepromatous and borderline leprosy patients showed increased percentages of EAC rosettes compared with normal controls.


The study deals with theoretical questions of the Hungarian privatization law. It clarifies the differences between the economic and legal concept of privatization, the various interpretations of privatization. The Hungarian privatization was the earliest and at the same time-after the German-the quickest completed privatization in the former socialist countries. It reviews the so-called spontaneous privatization between 1988–1990, and the privatization legislature of 1992 and 1995 as well. As a conclusion the study deals with the evaluation of the privatization law, and with the consequences of privatization with regards to social politics.


Abstract Since 1967, the temperate, shallow, pond-type Lake Warniak has been subjected to different biomanipulation methods including the introduction of common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Val.), silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Val.), and bighead carp, Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (Richardson) and then their removal in an effort to control macrophytes and phytoplankton. Recently, pilot stocking with predatory fish, particularly pike, Esox lucius L., has also been conducted. Hence, an examination of the long-term response patterns of phytoplankton to multiple fish-induced stressors was undertaken. In recent years, Chara domination (2000-2004) has helped to stabilize a clear-water state, high/good ecological status, and meso-eutrophic conditions. After the disappearance of Charales in 2004, the rapid, unstable changes in phytoplankton biomass, structure, and biodiversity suggested a shift toward a turbid-water state. As a result, the phytoplankton assemblages changed from those dominated by cryptophytes Y+X2+X1+LO (2000-2004) through those dominated by cyanobacteria K (2005-2008), dinoflagellates LO+Y (2009-2011), and cryptophytes Y+LO+F+X2 (2012), to those dominated by diatoms D+K+P+A (2013-2014) with representative taxa that occur in nutrient-rich and/or nutrient-poor water bodies. The 1967-2014 changes indicated that four periods, two with clear-water state and two with turbid-water state, alternately, one after the other, resulted from different fish pressure. Higher autochthonous fish biomass was usually accompanied by lower phytoplankton biomass. In contrast, the introduction of Cyprinidae fish had a stimulating effect on summer phytoplankton dominated by cyanobateria. Among the nutrients, only phosphorus played an important role.


Many firms have started disclosing information on intellectual capital. Financial analysts, however, ask for more disclosure related to strategy and often find intellectual capital statement less relevant. Drawing on results from a study of disclosure of information on intellectual capital in Danish initial public offering (IPO) prospectuses, this commentary argues that the perceived irrelevance of intellectual capital is somewhat paradoxical since intellectual capital reports and recent prospectuses share remarkable similarities with respect to the intellectual capital indicators disclosed. Further, the commentary argues that, for intellectual capital disclosure to be perceived as relevant from a capital market perspective, the information should be disclosed as an integral part of a framework illuminating the value creation processes of the firm. The emerging practice with respect to intellectual capital offers such a framework for disclosing the business model of the knowledge‐based company.


The Sitcum Waterway is a heavily trafficked industrial and commercial waterway located in the Port of Tacoma off Commencement Bay, Washington. Vessel traffic within the waterway, which is a cornerstone of Port of Tacoma operations, consists of large cargo ships and associated tug, barge, and service boat traffic. The waterway is about 3,000 feet long and about 700 feet wide. Large pier structures exist on both sides of the waterway.

The waterway's bottom sediments have become contaminated with metals and organic compounds (primarily polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). The source of these contaminants is believed to be related to historical ore unloading activity and various industrial wastewater and stormwater outfalls.

The Commencement Bay Nearshore/Tideflats (CB/NT) area is a Superfund site. Within the Superfund site, the Sitcum Waterway is considered one of several problem areas. The EPA has identified various options for sediment remedial action in their overall Record of Decision for the entire CB/NT Superfund site. The available options include dredging of contaminated sediment and subsequent confinement in either a capped aquatic, nearshore, or upland disposal facility. Ultimately, hydraulic dredging and confined nearshore disposal were selected as the preferred remedial option.

As part of the technical support studies required for formal selection of a remedial option, we performed tests to predict water quality during dredging and disposal operations associated with nearshore filling of the contaminated sediment.

Modified elutriate tests were performed on two composite sediment samples. Each sediment composite was used to perform triplicate elutriate tests. The test procedure employed was based on the modified elutriate test as described by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Four metals (antimony, arsenic, lead, and zinc) were detected. Ammonia and cyanide also were detected.

Receiving water composite results had similar concentrations as the seawater composite samples except for lower concentrations of cyanide, lead, and zinc.

These results were used in the water quality computer models EFQUAL and PLUMES to aid in remedial design activities. EFQUAL computed dilution requirements using the total effluent discharge concentrations for two discharge locations; within the Sitcum Waterway and at the mouth of the Sitcum Waterway. The only chemical that required dilution, as determined by EFQUAL, was cyanide. Because the ambient concentration for total cyanide exceeds the marine water quality criteria, the receiving water quality standard was adjusted to 10, 20, and 30 percent above ambient concentration to evaluate the required dilution factors at each of these levels.

PLUMES, developed to predict plume dilution from effluent discharge to marine and fresh water bodies, incorporated ambient water body characteristics, physical properties of the effluent, and the hydrodynamics of the outfall pipe or diffuser. PLUMES computed both volumetric dilutions and chemical concentrations as a function of distance from the diffuser port. EFQUAL was used in conjunction with PLUMES to predict the required dilution zone distances. Dilution zone distances for discharge at the mouth of Sitcum Waterway ranged from 330 to 130 feet and in the Sitcum Waterway from 27 to 4.3 feet.

These results indicate dredging and nearshore confined disposal of Sitcum Waterway sediments can be accomplished without significant water quality impact.


Capital structure and financing decisions have been surveyed for years and, since Modigliani-Milleris proposition, much corporate finance literature has investigated this issue across different countries, industries and business cycles. Unlike previous studies that addressed capital structure decisions, this work focuses solely on the real estate sector in the United States in order to find out the main determinants that affect capital structures and financing decisions in this industry. The primary goal is to determine whether capital structure choices for property companies are related to factors similar to those appearing to affect capital structure decisions of public non real estate firms in other sectors. Using an approach similar to Rajan and Zingales (1995) who investigated the determinants of capital structures of public firms belonging to the G-7 countries, this work explores the financing choices of a sample of 112 listed Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), with different investment strategies and belonging to different property sectors, during the period 2002 to 2005. The evidence suggests that more profitable REITs tend to use less debt as predicted by the pecking order theory, specific intra-industry features, such as high collateral value of asset and law requirements of a large shareholdersi base or to pay out most of before tax income, are important determinants of financing decisions. REITs investing in residential real estate assets show unique characteristics that differentiate them from all the other property companies.


The appearance of the sixth edition of Current Pediatric Therapy could raise one of two questions in the potential buyer's mind. The first question would be, "Should I own a book of this type?" The second and more commonly asked question is, "I already have the fifth edition, do I really need the sixth edition?" This book, edited by Sydney Gellis, professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and Benjamin Kagan, professor of pediatrics at the University of California at Los Angeles, contains 335 individual articles prepared by 272 contributors. It contains a generally thorough discussion of most of the usual and some of the unusual disorders that any pediatrician may expect to encounter. Although it has its failings, it is a book that should both be owned and, more importantly, be used by pediatricians and others caring for children. Its strength


The development of an improved method for calibrating AFM cantilevers is presented, based on the Cleveland method. A masking technique is used to deposit gold on the very end of the cantilever, and the shift in resonant frequency with added mass is used to calculate the spring constant. A novel and unique application of scanning Raman microscopy was developed to measure the thickness distribution of the deposited gold film over the cantilever. The uncertainty in the spring constant of cantilevers calibrated using this method was determined to be ∼10%, and in good agreement with established calibration methods in literature.


Abstract. Three-dimensional (3D) geological models are important representations of the results of regional geological surveys. However, the process of constructing 3D geological models from two-dimensional (2D) geological elements remains difficult and time-consuming. This paper proposes a method of migrating from 2D elements to 3D models. First, the geological interfaces were constructed using the Hermite Radial Basis Function (HRBF) to interpolate the boundaries and attitude data. Then, the subsurface geological bodies were extracted from the spatial map area using the Boolean method between the HRBF surface and the fundamental body. Finally, the top surfaces of the geological bodies were constructed by coupling the geological boundaries to digital elevation models. Based on this workflow, a prototype system was developed, and typical geological structures (e.g., folds, faults, and strata) were simulated. Geological modes were constructed through this workflow based on realistic regional geological survey data. For extended applications in 3D modelling of other kinds of geo-objects, mining ore body models and urban geotechnical engineering stratum models were constructed by this method from drill-hole data. The model construction process was rapid, and the resulting models accorded with the constraints of the original data.


World trade in services has recently been a little under $US2 trillion, about a quarter of world trade in goods. That ratio does not appear to have changed much in the last 50 years. For the US, exports of services have recently been over 40% and imports about 20% of exports and imports of goods, a return, for exports to the ratios of the early 1800s. Imports of services are now increasing more rapidly than exports, but not faster than goods imports. Because measures of service trade are not anchored in any observation of physical movement, they are dependent on definitions of residence. An example of that dependence and the ambiguities it creates is exports of educational services, a domestic activity that becomes an export because students are defined as foreign residents. Since many students later become US residents, the supposedly exported service never leaves the US, or returns to the US unobserved and uncounted. A particularly serious problem of measurement is the growing transfer of intangible US corporate assets to foreign affiliates of US firms, some of which use virtually no foreign factors of production. These transfers, mainly for tax saving purposes, give rise to phantom flows of services from the foreign affiliates to the US and to other countries and remove the exports from the U.S. balance of payments. They make the meaning of measures of the current balances and GDP ambiguous. One possible solution to the measurement problems would be to use measures assigning at least intangible assets to countries of ownership, rather than nominal residence.


June 4, 2010 Xiaofeng Shao and Xianyang Zhang University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Abstract: This article considers the CUSUM-based (cumulative sum) test for a change point in a time series. In the case of testing for a mean shift, the traditional KolmogorovSmirnov test statistic involves a consistent long run variance estimator, which is needed to make the limiting null distribution free of nuisance parameters. The commonly used lagwindow type long run variance estimator requires to choose a bandwidth parameter and its selection is a difficult task in practice. The bandwidth that is a fixed function of the sample size (e.g., n, where n is sample size) is not adaptive to the magnitude of the dependence in the series, whereas the data-dependent bandwidth could lead to nonmonotonic power as shown in previous studies. In this article, we propose a self-normalization (SN) based Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, where the formation of the self-normalizer takes the change point alternative into account. The resulting test statistic is asymptotically distribution free and its power is monotonic. Furthermore, we extend the SN-based test to test for a change in other parameters associated with a time series, such as marginal median, autocorrelation at lag one, and spectrum at certain frequency bands. The use of the SN idea thus allows a unified treatment and offers a new perspective to the large literature of change point detection in the time series setting. Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to compare the finite sample performance of the new SN-based test with the traditional Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Illustrations using real data examples are presented.


Introduction: Nutritional risk in the Critically Ill (NUTRIC) score is a predictor of adverse outcomes in the critically ill, and its utility in a specific population of critically ill has been recommended. We aimed to study the utility of modified NUTRIC (mNUTRIC) score as a mortality predictor in acute febrile illness (AFI)-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and all-cause ARDS patients. Methods: We recorded data from two prospective observational ARDS studies conducted at a single-center tertiary care hospital to evaluate the utility of the mNUTRIC score as an independent mortality predictor in all-cause ARDS and AFI-ARDS. A total of 216 all-cause ARDS patients were included, of which 73 were AFI-ARDS and 143 were non-AFI ARDS. Results: Mortality of AFI-ARDS was 16/73 (21.9%) compared to 62/143 (43.35%) in non-AFI ARDS (P = 0.002). There were no significant differences in severity of ARDS in AFI-ARDS and non-AFI ARDS groups (P = 0.504). The mNUTRIC score was found to be an independent predictor of mortality in all-cause ARDS patients (n = 216) and AFI-ARDS patients (n = 73) after Cox regression multivariable analysis. In all-cause ARDS, the mNUTRIC score had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.778, cutoff ≥4, 82.1% sensitivity, and 65.9% specificity as a predictor of mortality. In AFI-ARDS, the mNUTRIC score had an AUC of 0.769, cutoff ≥4, 81.3% sensitivity, 66.67% specificity, and P = 0.001 as a predictor of mortality. Conclusion: The mNUTRIC score is an independent mortality predictor for all-cause ARDS and AFI-ARDS patients. AFI-ARDS has significantly lesser mortality than non-AFI ARDS.


The purpose of this study was to fundamental develop a Moodle-based learning media and know how to influence the use of instructional media on physics course. This research includes the development of research conducted through three stages that is: preliminary studies, design development, and testing media. Subjects of the study were students at the FPMIPA IKIP Mataram which was following the fundamental Physics course. Moodle-based learning media development in fundamental physics courses have been designed and have done the settings on the story board and page navigation, profile settings, administration settings, and management course settings. Devices and media that have been developed and then validated and tested on a limited scale.


Purpose Medication patterns include all medications in an individual's clinical profile. We aimed to identify chronic co-morbidity treatment patterns through medication use among COPDGene participants and determine whether these patterns were associated with mortality, acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) and quality of life. Materials and Methods Participants analyzed here completed Phase 1 (P1) and/or Phase 2 (P2) of COPDGene. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify medication patterns and assign individuals into unobserved LCA classes. Mortality, AECOPD, and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) health status were compared in different LCA classes through survival analysis, logistic regression, and Kruskal–Wallis test, respectively. Results LCA identified 8 medication patterns from 32 classes of chronic comorbid medications. A total of 8110 out of 10,127 participants with complete covariate information were included. Survival analysis adjusted for covariates showed, compared to a low medication use class, mortality was highest in participants with hypertension+diabetes+statin+antiplatelet medication group. Participants in hypertension+SSRI+statin medication group had the highest odds of AECOPD and the highest SGRQ score at both P1 and P2. Conclusion Medication pattern can serve as a good indicator of an individual's comorbidities profile and improves models predicting clinical outcomes.


A Variable Node Processing Unit (VNPU) and a Check Node Processing Unit (CNPU) are designed in order to be used in Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) decoding by the Min-Sum Algorithm (MSA). The designed blocks are fully parallel and flexible to be used for different block length when a regular (3, 6) LDPC codes are required. The proposed VNPU and CNPU have been first designed and implemented in software using Simulink tool following a modular design approach. In a second step, these blocks were described and simulated using Very High Speed integrated circuits Hardware Description Language (VHDL). Comparison between these two implementations shows that the proposed high level methodology is efficient to test and validate digital circuits before being implemented on desired Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device.


Developing new products and processes is increasingly a focal point of competition and often requires the development and successful implementation of novel process technologies. The process development and production of a new biological entity are significantly more complex than those for small molecule drugs. Conventional new product development models in the literature on firm level innovation fail to explain the nature of development projects for biopharmaceuticals. This paper makes the case that a new perspective is required to understand the management of product and process development in biopharmaceuticals. An explanatory model is proposed for this purpose.


Traditional markets provide a daily market platform for the majority of Taiwanese consumers. Food safety issues occurring in recent years have challenged traditional markets and eroded consumers' trust. This study investigates three types of meat product information: growth hormone, traceability, and nutrition labels, in a study designed to elicit how likely consumers at traditional markets are willing to pay for additional product information. Results show that younger females with higher education have a positive willingness to pay (WTP) for food safety related information, i.e., traceability and growth hormone. Implications from this study suggest that providing related information to ease the concerns of food-safety issues is a necessary strategy for traditional markets.


The nucleon-like member N(1685) of the speculative baryon antidecuplet denotes one possible explanation for the narrow peak-structure around W = 1.68 GeV observed in the total cross section of ηphotoproduction off the neutron. If this baryon existed, it would likely to be seen in other reactions as well. While the aforementioned peak, whatever its nature is, was confirmed by several experiments, claims for signatures of the N(1685) in other reactions and observables are mainly made by V. Kuznetsov et al. using GRAAL data. Their latest work suggests signals of both N(1685) charge states in all isospin channels of ηπphotoproduction off the proton and neutron. This contribution reports on challenging these claims with data from the A2 at MAMI experiment employing photon beam energies from Eγ=1.43–1.58 GeV. The ηπ0 p and ηπn final states produced from a hydrogen target were studied and new analysis cuts were tested in order to enhance a possible signal.


This article presents a numerical implementation of the activation process for gigabit and 10 gigabit next generation and Ethernet passive optical networks. The specifications are completely different because GPON, XG-PON and NG-PON2 were developed by the International Telecommunication Union, whereas Ethernet PON was developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The speed of an activation process is the most important in a blackout scenario because end optical units have a timer after expiration transmission parameters are discarded. Proper implementation of an activation process is crucial for eliminating inadvisable delay. An OLT chassis is dedicated to several GPON (or other standard) cards. Each card has up to eight or 16 GPON ports. Furthermore, one GPON port can operate with up to 64/128 ONUs. Our results indicate a shorter duration activation process (due to a shorter frame duration) in Ethernet-based PON, but the maximum split ratio is only 1:32 instead of up to 1:64/128 for gigabit PON and newer standards. An optimization improves the reduction time for the GPON activation process with current PLOAM messages and with no changes in the transmission convergence layer. We reduced the activation time from 215 ms to 145 ms for 64 ONUs.


Non Radiation Hardened Microprocessors in Spaced Based Remote Sensing Systems The CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) mission is a comprehensive suite of active and passive sensors including a 20Hz 230mj Nd:YAG lidar, a visible wavelength Earth-looking camera and an imaging infrared radiometer. CALIPSO flies in formation with the Earth Observing System Post-Meridian (EOS PM) train, provides continuous, near-simultaneous measurements and is a planned 3 year mission. CALIPSO was launched into a 98 degree sun synchronous Earth orbit in April of 2006 to study clouds and aerosols and acquires over 5 gigabytes of data every 24 hours. Figure 1 shows the ground track of one CALIPSO orbit as well as high and low intensity South Atlantic Anomaly outlines. CALIPSO passes through the SAA several times each day. Spaced based remote sensing systems that include multiple instruments and/or instruments such as lidar generate large volumes of data and require robust real-time hardware and software mechanisms and high throughput processors. Due to onboard storage restrictions and telemetry downlink limitations these systems must pre-process and reduce the data before sending it to the ground. This onboard processing and real-time requirement load may mean that newer more powerful processors are needed even though acceptable radiation-hardened versions have not yet been released. CALIPSO's single board computer payload controller processor is actually a set of four (4) voting non-radiation hardened COTS Power PC 603r's built on a single width VME card by General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS). Significant radiation concerns for CALIPSO and other Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites include the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), the north and south poles and strong solar events. Over much of South America and extending into the South Atlantic Ocean (see figure 1) the Van Allen radiation belts dip to just 200-800km and spacecraft entering this area are subjected to high energy protons and experience higher than normal Single Event Upset (SEU) and Single Event Latch-up (SEL) rates. Although less significant, spacecraft flying in the area around the poles experience similar upsets. Finally, powerful solar proton events in the range of 10MeV/10pfu to 100MeV/1pfu as are forecasted and tracked by NOAA's Space Environment Center in Colorado can result in Single Event Upset (SEU), Single Event Latch-up (SEL) and permanent failures such as Single Event Gate Rupture (SEGR) in some technologies. (Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) are another source, especially for gate rupture) CALIPSO mitigates common radiation concerns in its data handling through the use of redundant processors, radiation-hardened Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), hardware-based Error Detection and Correction (EDAC), processor and memory scrubbing, redundant boot code and mirrored files. After presenting a system overview this paper will expand on each of these strategies. Where applicable, related on-orbit data collected since the CALIPSO initial boot on May 4, 2006 will be noted.


Abstract The goal of this work is to develop a smart light-emitting diode lighting system for industrial and domestic use with several advantages over conventional systems, namely energy saving, high reliability, and visual comfort of interior lighting. This is achieved by integrating a smart control module and a fault diagnosis and prognosis module within a conventional lighting system. The first module controls the lighting level in an energy-efficient way, keeping a desired light level where it is needed while regulating it to a minimum where not required; this is achieved by fully exploiting fuzzy logic and proportional-integrative-derivative controllers. The second module performs fault diagnosis on the light-emitting diode system and predicts when light-emitting diode maintenance should be performed; this is achieved by employing both hardware redundancy and signal-based approaches. Interaction between the two modules permits maintenance of a desired level of light even in the case of failures on one or more light-emitting diodes. The overall system has been experimentally validated in three different scenarios.


Universities and medical education have been allied since the Middle Ages. In the United States, proprietary medical schools began to unite with universities at the turn of the century. At the end of the century, this traditional alliance is being questioned, even threatened, by marketplace demands, and medical schools and their universities continue to deal with internal struggles regarding teaching and research goals, and funding. In this paper, the author defines and discusses the origins of university-medical school tensions, provides a brief review of the history of university-based medical education in the United States, and describes some of the advantages and disadvantages of the alliance. Finally, he makes a case for why medical education must continue to be grounded in universities.


Background: Adolescents use substances for various reasons such as for pleasure, stress and anger management. Many factors have been reported to influence adolescent substance use. However, there is paucity of reports from this part of Nigeria. Aim/Objectives: To identify the socio-demographic factors associated with substance use among secondary school adolescents in Gwagwalada Area Council. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, questionnaire-based, study was carried out in secondary schools among adolescents aged 10 years to 18 years who met the inclusion criteria and after appropriate ethical approval had been obtained. Results: One thousand, one hundred and ninety-six student-filled questionnaires were analysed. The mean age of the students was 14.54 years ± SD 2.28. The students' religion, family structure, residence and type of school were associated with licit substance use while their religion, family structure and residence were associated with illicit substance use (P =<0.05). There was also statistically significant relationships between frequency in participation in religious activities and tobacco use (P = <0.01) and birth order and cocaine and hallucinogen use at P = 0.014 and P = 0.018, respectively. Conclusion and recommendation: Several factors were associated with adolescent substance use in this study. It is recommended that more in-depth studies be done to determine causality. Kewords: Factors, substance use, adolescent, Abuja


Numerical predictions and experiment of a hydrodynamic and thermally developed turbulent flow through square channels with one or two ribbed walls were performed to determine the pressure drop and heat transfer. The CFX (Version 5.7) software package was used for the computations. The rough wall had 45-inclined square ribs. All four walls in the channel were heated, and a uniform heat flux was maintained on the entire inner heat transfer channel area. Experimental data were also obtained for four Reynolds numbers ranging from 7,600 to 24,900, a pitch-to-rib-height ratio of 8.0, and a rib-height-to-channel hydraulic diameter ratio of 0.0667. The numerical results were in agreement with the experimental data and showed that the values of the local heat transfer coefficient and friction factor in a square channel with two ribbed walls were greater than those with one ribbed wall.


This paper presents a novel approach to extracting features from motif content and protein composition for protein sequence classification. First, we formulate a protein sequence as a fixed-dimensional vector using the motif content and protein composition. Then, we further project the vectors into a low-dimensional space by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) so that they can be represented by a combination of the eigenvectors of the covariance matrix of these vectors. Subsequently, the Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to extract a subset of biological and functional sequence features from the eigen-space and to optimize the regularization parameter of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) simultaneously. Finally, we utilize the SVM classifiers to classify protein sequences into corresponding families based on the selected feature subsets. In comparison with the existing PSI-BLAST and SVM-pairwise methods, the experiments show the promising results of our approach.


Potassium-argon dating of five basalts from the three main islands of the Juan Fern�ndez (or Robinson Crusoe) Islands of Chile in the southeastern Pacific gives ages of 1.01 � 0.12 and 2.44 � 0.14 million years for Masafuera, 3.79 � 0.20 and 4.23 � 0.16 for Masatierra, and 5.8 � 2.1 for Santa Clara. These ages are much younger than that of the underlying oceanic plate and are consistent with the origin of the island-seamount chain from a mantle hot spot beneath the eastward moving Nazca plate. The young age for the archipelago suggests that speciation within endemic genera has occurred within the past 4 to 5 million years. Endemic genera of apparently more ancient origins, such as Lactoris and Thyrsopteris, have apparently dispersed to the islands and survive refugially.


ABSTRACT Success in a complex labour market requires astute planning, preparation and foresight, particularly within the context of the massification of higher education, increasing graduate competitiveness, and a discourse of employability which places the onus of employment on the individual. A cohort experiencing noticeably weaker graduate employment outcomes are students who are the first in their family to attend university, a group often representing a diversity of backgrounds and intersecting equity categories. Drawing on interviews and surveys of near completing Australian first in family (FiF) students, recent graduates and alumni, this article explores how employability was experienced and enacted by participants. Through the application of Pierre Bourdieu's work on capital theory, the article contributes valuable insights into the experience of FiF students' graduate employment seeking, specifically how their existing capitals, including those that are social, cultural and symbolic in nature, interacted with the job market to achieve (or otherwise) desirable graduate employment. Findings from this study point to a number of urgently needed strategies for the FiF cohort to achieve professional goals.


In the present work, different algorithms for contact detection in multibody systems based on smooth contact modelling approaches are presented. Beginning with the simplest ones, some difficult interactions are subsequently introduced. In addition, a brief overview on the different kinds of contact/impact modelling is provided and an underlining of the advantages and the drawbacks of each of them is determined. Finally, some practical examples of each interaction are presented and analyzed and an outline of the issues arisen during the design process and how they have been solved in order to obtain stable and accurate results is given. The main goal of this paper is to provide a resource for the early-stage researchers in the field that serves as an introduction to the modelling of simple contact/impact events in the context of multibody system dynamics.


This paper proposes a bilevel programming model for the planning of tidal current farms (TCFs). The micrositing strategy of tidal current turbines (TCTs) and the collector system planning scheme are coordinated to achieve a better balance of energy yields, TCF capital investment and power systems economic operation using the proposed method. The power output of the TCF is modeled considering the characteristics of tidal current velocity and wake effects. A coordinated planning model consisting of one upper level model and two lower level models is developed to maximize comprehensive profit. Not only the investment and maintenance costs of TCTs and submarine cables, but also the operation cost of the collector system and the impact of the TCF integration on the operation of power systems are all taken into account to ensure the long-term benefits of both TCF owners and power systems. An efficient solution for the proposed planning model is developed by combining a genetic algorithm with a mixed integer programming. The effectiveness and adaptability of the proposed method are demonstrated using the measured data of tidal current velocity with distinct characteristics and the IEEE 30- and 118-bus test systems.


Since both 'conflict and co-operation are at the heart of employment relations', unions need to strike a balance between mobilizing workers against employers and 'social dialogue' when communicating with members and the public. Drawing on a case study of unions and grassroots communication on Facebook during sector collective bargaining, this article develops a framework of politico-communicative logics that inform the social media strategies of unions and their grassroots: a logic of mobilization and a logic of settlement. These logics are reflected in how unions and grassroots engage with followers, their choice of words and the topics they address. These theoretical developments on politico-communicative logics on Facebook open up the door for further studies of intra-organizational union communication in an increasingly digitalized world.


Teacher education programmes seek to provide student teachers with the knowledge and expertise to provide qualtiy teaching and learning in a diverse and challenging school context. Learning to Teach in post-apartheid South Africa: Student Teachers' Encounters with Initial Teacher Education addresses the complexities of teacher education programmes in preparing students to teach. It adds to the knowledge about teacher education, contributing critical understanding of education and the schooling system. The book provides important insights to deepen researchers, academics, teacher education providers, policy-makers, and students' understanding of the importance to address equity, redress, and quality in South African educaiton in a post-apartheid era. This book further helps to build student teachers' capacities to work creatively and to become active and critical agents of transformation. It ultimately outlines the challenges face in designing and delivering successful Inital Teacher Education programmes, and the impact this has on delivering equitable and qualtiy education.


: Water is one of the essential need for the existence of life on earth. In spite of 70% water on earth majority of water is not suitable for drinking purpose. There is a huge demand of clean water as it is used for a variety of purpose such as drinking, bathing, cleaning, cooking etc. Impurities present in water can cause serious health issues that can damage the life of human beings. The chief function of the automatic drainage system is to collect, transport, as well as dispose the solid waste in the waste bucket by the help of claws. Solid waste in drainage water includes empty plastic bottles, polythene bags, papers etc. Impurities in drainage water can lead to blockage of the drainage system. In order to avoid such situation these impurities are needed to be taken out time to time for the continuous flow of drainage water. Drain can be cleaned continuously by the help of model using the drive system to remove the solid waste and threw it into waste bucket collector. The main objective of this project work is to initiate the efficient working of system. This project automatically cleans the water in the drainage system each time any impurity appears, and claws which are driven by chain sprocket grasp the solid waste and threw it into the waste bucket to avoid blockage. It even reduces the effort of manual labor as well as reduces the threat to human life from infection disease caused by sewage water.


In this study, dynamic mesh method is implemented on a real coded genetic algorithm to demonstrate gain in computational time as well as in higher performance for optimized parameters. Since the differences developed at each step in geometries of new members are not significant, therefore, it is possible to use dynamic mesh methods for new members. In this work, because the population members are obtained by modifying the pervious ones, each member is considered as one step of geometry‐change of a deforming body, for examples, a wing inflating, deflating or cambering.


Percutaneous angioscopy, using high resolution fiberoptic imaging, allows direct and two-dimensional visualization of the vascular interior, thereby enabling macroscopic pathological diagnosis. Percutaneous angioscopy has revealed that the vascular luminal surface exhibits various colors and morphologies characteristic of different vascular diseases. This imaging technique is used for evaluation of the severity of vascular diseases, staging of atherosclerosis, analysis of thrombus composition, evaluation of interventional and surgical therapies, and for guidance of intravascular interventions such as angioplasty, venous valvuloplasty and aortic stentgrafting. Recently, dye-image angioscopy has been used clinically for analyses of thrombus composition, endothelial damage and plaque composition. Intravascular microscopy was also developed for cellular imaging of vascular disease. Furthermore, fluorescent angioscopy was developed for molecular imaging of substances comprising atherosclerotic plaques. In this article, we describe the history of the development of angioscopy, angioscopic systems and techniques, angioscopic changes associated with vascular diseases, angioscope-guided intravascular therapies, and evaluation of intravascular and surgical therapies. Angioscopic pictures, except those of the coronary arteries, have rarely been published in the literature, so we have included many representative angioscopic pictures obtained by the authors in this article.


As the U.S. budget environment for science and technology (S&T) threatens to get worse, it is essential for the scientific community to go beyond just advocating for special consideration. There is a strong case for maintaining investments in S&T as a foundation for long-term economic growth and social well-being. But when resources are constrained, it is essential that they be used effectively and efficiently to avoid losing scientific momentum and to ensure that society will benefit maximally from S&T's potential. The scientific community cannot afford to simply adapt passively to reduced budgets. The impact of impending cuts can be at least partially mitigated by some fundamental rethinking of the ways in which S&T are both funded and conducted. Although the United States is used as the example here, the same issues will apply in many other parts of the world.


A case study of the temporal behavior of ionospheric scintillations and their frequency spectra in the cusp/cleft and polar cap regions is presented. These measurements were made at Sondrestrom and Thule, Greenland, using the 243-MHz transmissions from quasi-stationary satellites during a coupling energetic and dynamics of atmospheric regions (CEDAR) high-latitude plasma structure (HLPS)/solar terrestrial energy program (STEP) global aspects of plasma structures (GAPS) campaign. During this campaign, the incoherent scatter radar (ISR) observations were also performed at Sondrestrom, which defined the dynamic ionospheric environment in the cusp/cleft region. The availability of the radar results has enhanced this case study. It is found that scintillations at Sondrestrom are abruptly enhanced about an hour before magnetic noon when the propagation path to the satellite entered the cusp/cleft region. Subsequently, a series of enhanced and reduced scintillation activity was detected. The enhanced scintillation structures were found to be asymmetric, with sharp leading edges and diffuse trailing edges. Spaced-antenna scintillation measurements at Sondrestrom detected considerable velocity shear, and the frequency spectra showed flat low-frequency portions, implying the presence of turbulent plasma flows. A comparison with the ISR observations indicates that the temporal variation of scintillation was caused by the poleward convection of alternate regions with high- and low-ionization density, the density depletions being caused by channels of high zonal flows associated with velocity shear. The level of scintillation observed in the low-density regions imply the presence of small-scale irregularities with considerable irregularity amplitude. In contrast to the above behavior, the polar cap scintillations exhibit deep minima between the transit of successive "patches" of ionization, and their frequency spectra imply the absence of turbulent plasma flows. It is postulated that in the cusp/cleft and polar cap regions, the gradient-drift instability mechanism generates the observed small-scale irregularities associated with discrete density enhancements, whereas a shear-driven instability, such as the nonlinear collisional Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability mechanism, may generate the irregularities in the intervening low-density regions.


Higher than acceptable aflatoxin levels in peanut kernels (Arachis hypogaea L.) and related products is a worldwide food safety concern. Strict regulatory standards by major importers of peanuts limit the marketability of peanuts for many developing tropical countries including Zambia. The incidence of pre-harvest aflatoxins is strongly linked to soil and weather conditions during pod-development. This study aimed to formulate statistical models to predict total aflatoxin content in peanut kernels using selected environmental factors during pod development. Field experiments were conducted for two years during which the peanut crop was exposed to 84 combinations of ambient temperature, soil temperature and soil moisture content measured during the last 30 days of pod development. These data were used to formulate regression models to predict total aflatoxin content in peanut kernels. Simple linear regression models had R2 values of 0.30 for maximum ambient temperature, 0.24 for soil temperature and 0.38 for soil moisture content. Combining soil moisture content and soil temperature in a multivariate regression model could explain 54% of the variation in total aflatoxin content while a combination of soil moisture content and maximum ambient temperature could only explain 46% of the variation in total aflatoxin content.

 Key words: Aflatoxin, groundnut, linear regression, statistical model, Zambia.


This article focuses on photographic self-portraiture and, in particular, it investigates what happens when the genre's proximity to conceptual borders is crossed (between the center and the margins, self and other, normal and deviant behaviour, consciousness and unconsciousness) are challenged. Drawing on psychoanalytic and semiotic theories, and the history of the genre, this article investigates the negativity ascribed to self-portraiture, its association with identity politics and social media, and problems of reference arising in contemporary work.
The objectification of one's body image is inherently linked to narcissism. This idea is useful for understanding the meaning of the photo-album/photo-diary, the therapeutic aspects of self-portraiture, and the rhetoric applied to images produced to bring visibility to marginalized and underrepresented groups, which also serve to challenge the art establishment. However, the prioritization of art as a context for photography, the popularity of the genre, and the changing ideas related to definitions of 'the center', demand a re-definition of representations of selfhoods.


Nonverbal cues, especially eye gaze, plays an important role in our daily communication, not just as an indicator of interest, but also as a method to convey information to another party. In this work, we propose a simulation of human eye gaze in Virtual Reality content to improve immersion of interaction between user and virtual agent. We developed an eye-tracking integrated interactive narrative content with a focus on player's interaction with gaze aware virtual agent, which is capable of reacting towards the player's gaze to simulate real human-to-human communication in VR environment and conducted an initial study to measure user's reaction.


Deal With It! offers a whole new approach for dealing with your life as a girl. It's a resource to help you learn about, laugh about, and figure out the stuff you go through on your way through life. It won't tell you what to do, because you'll need to decide that for yourself. But whether you're wondering about your body, your feelings or your changing relationships with the people around you, this book provides accurate information and outlines your options. Hilarious illustrations point out the humor in even the sorriest situations. And with hundreds of excerpts from real-girl conversations on the gURL.com website, you can see for real that whatever you're going through, you're not alone. This book is for anyone who needs to know what it means to be a girl -- from those on the edge of their teens to those who are way past them but still reeling from the trauma.


The obligate human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the sole aetiologic agent of the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhea. Required for gonococcal infection, Type IV pili (Tfp) mediate many functions including adherence, twitching motility, defense against neutrophil killing, and natural transformation. Critical for immune escape, the gonococcal Tfp undergoes antigenic variation, a recombination event at the pilE locus that varies the surface exposed residues of the major pilus subunit PilE (pilin) in the pilus fiber. This programmed recombination system has the potential to produce thousands of pilin variants and can produce strains with unproductive pilin molecules that are completely unable to form Tfp. Saturating mutagenesis of the 3' third of the pilE gene identified 68 unique single nucleotide mutations that each resulted in an underpiliated colony morphology. Notably, all isolates, including those with undetectable levels of pilin protein and no observable surface-exposed pili, retained an intermediate level of transformation competence not exhibited in ΔpilE strains. Site-directed, nonsense mutations revealed that only the first 38 amino acids of the mature pilin N-terminus (the N-terminal domain or Ntd) are required for transformation competence, and microscopy, ELISAs and pilus purification demonstrate that extended Tfp are not required for competence. Transformation in strains producing only the pilin Ntd has the same genetic determinants as wild-type transformation. The Ntd corresponds to the alternative product of S-pilin cleavage, a specific proteolysis unique to pathogenic Neisseria. Mutation of the S-pilin cleavage site demonstrated that S-pilin cleavage mediated release of the Ntd is required for competence when a strain produces unproductive pilin molecules that cannot assemble into a Tfp through mutation or antigenic variation. We conclude that S-pilin cleavage evolved as a mechanism to maintain competence in nonpiliated antigenic variants and suggest there are alternate forms of the Tfp assembly apparatus that mediate various functions including transformation.


The aim of the study was to predict loneliness with regard to parental acceptance-rejection and sibling relationship quality after controlling for gender, age, grade, school type, field of study, birth order, and number of siblings. The UCLA Loneliness Scale, Maternal and Paternal Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, and Sibling Relationship Questionnaire were administered to 1,451 high school students, and multiple hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. Results showed that 1.7% of variance was explained by model 1, including demographic variables, but model 1 was not significant. After adding mother and father acceptance to model 2, the explained variance increased to 18.1%. In model 3, sibling variables were added and the explained variance was 19.6%, which were both significant results. Mother acceptance was the best predictor of loneliness, followed by father acceptance. Parental variables explained loneliness better than sibling and demographic variables. Understanding the family predictors of loneliness may be seen as the first step for a subsequent intervention.


Abstract Samples of heart, esophagus and diaphragm of 200 camels (Camelus dromedarius) from Southern Somalia were examined for Sarcocystis by trypsin digestion and histological examination. The results showed a very high prevalence rate (82.5%). Histological findings suggested the presence of two different species in the camel.


A source signal will be subject to different amounts of time-delay as well as attenuation when it reaches a number of spatially separated sensors. Both time-delay and attenuation are dependent on the distance between the source and the receivers. This paper performs a fundamental investigation of whether the gain ratios of arrival (GROAs), defined here as the ratio of the received signal amplitudes at the referenced sensor to the other sensors, can be utilized in conjunction with the time differences of arrival (TDOAs) to improve the source localization accuracy. We begin with a Gaussian random signal model and derive the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) of a source location estimate based on both GROAs and TDOAs. Our conclusion is that the improvement from GROAs increases when the factor c/omegao increases, where c is the signal propagation speed and omegao is the signal bandwidth. The paper proceeds to develop an algebraic closed-form solution for the source location using GROAs and TDOAs. The algebraic solution is proved theoretically to reach the CRLB accuracy under the Gaussian data model. Numerical simulations are included to support and corroborate the theoretical developments.


The regulatory regime under which incumbent telephone companies are required to offer portions of their networks to competitors is a joint product of Federal and state authorities. While the regime is extremely complex, it can broadly be described as having two main substantive components: 1) Regulations setting out which elements of the incumbents' networks must be offered (or "unbundled"); and 2) Regulations that set the prices that must be charged for those elements. Under the Telecommunications Act ("the Act"), as implemented, authority for both components of the regulatory regime is shared between the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the states, generally acting through state Public Utility Commissions (PUCs).While the precise division of authority between the FCC and the PUCs is a source of substantial controversy and ongoing litigation, there is general agreement that the policy of mandated access to incumbent networks should be implemented on a nationally consistent basis--i.e., that, regardless of the level at which decisions are made, they should be made on the basis of, and comport with, a single analytical framework. Broadly speaking, it is the FCC's responsibility to establish the framework, and the PUCs' responsibility to implement it.In this study, we examine state PUCs' implementation of the FCC's rules regarding the pricing of "Unbundled Network Elements" (UNEs), i.e., the portions of the network which the FCC requires be made available to competitors. We find that variations in costs among the states explain only about half of the variation in the rates set by state PUCs. Furthermore, the typical deviation of state-set rates from costs is at least 15% from the levels that would be implied by a systematic approach. These results suggest that the current regime has not resulted in consistent application of the FCC's regulatory framework.


Biometric authentication involves various technologies to identify individuals by exploiting their unique, measurable physiological and behavioral characteristics. However, traditional biometric authentication systems (e.g., face recognition, iris, retina, voice, and fingerprint) are at increasing risks of being tricked by biometric tools such as anti-surveillance masks, contact lenses, vocoder, or fingerprint films. In this article, we design a multimodal biometric authentication system named DeepKey, which uses both Electroencephalography (EEG) and gait signals to better protect against such risk. DeepKey consists of two key components: an Invalid ID Filter Model to block unauthorized subjects, and an identification model based on attention-based Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) to identify a subject's EEG IDs and gait IDs in parallel. The subject can only be granted access while all the components produce consistent affirmations to match the user's proclaimed identity. We implement DeepKey with a live deployment in our university and conduct extensive empirical experiments to study its technical feasibility in practice. DeepKey achieves the False Acceptance Rate (FAR) and the False Rejection Rate (FRR) of 0 and 1.0%, respectively. The preliminary results demonstrate that DeepKey is feasible, shows consistent superior performance compared to a set of methods, and has the potential to be applied to the authentication deployment in real-world settings.


Important differences exist between perfused and incubated (or perifused) skeletal muscle preparations with regard to their metabolism and control. A growing body of evidence suggests that the differences may be due to the role played by the vascular system. In the constant-flow perfused rat hindlimb preparation, a group of vasoconstrictors has been identified that enhance muscle metabolism and aerobic contractility. Another group of vasoconstrictors decrease muscle metabolism and aerobic contractility even though perfusate flow remains constant. All effects of both groups of vasoconstrictors are opposed by vasodilators. Because none of the vasoconstrictor effects is evident when isolated muscles are incubated or perifused, involvement of an active vascular system is indicated. Although some hormones may act directly on muscle by purely endocrine effects, a vascular component of their actions is now emerging. Mechanisms to account for vascular control of perfused skeletal muscle metabolism may involve 1) functional vascular shunts where the proportion of flow processed by these is regulated by site-specific vasomodulators, 2) a direct response to a change in the rate of supply of nutrients and removal of products, and 3) a signal substance released by vascular tissue in association with vasoconstriction that interacts with surrounding skeletal muscle cells. Impaired control at the level of the vascular system may have implications for long-term access of nutrients and hormones and therefore the control of skeletal muscle metabolism and contractile performance.


We propose a simple yet effective instance segmentation framework, termed CondInst (conditional convolutions for instance segmentation). Top-performing instance segmentation methods such as Mask R-CNN rely on ROI operations (typically ROIPool or ROIAlign) to obtain the final instance masks. In contrast, we propose to solve instance segmentation from a new perspective. Instead of using instance-wise ROIs as inputs to a network of fixed weights, we employ dynamic instance-aware networks, conditioned on instances. CondInst enjoys two advantages: 1) Instance segmentation is solved by a fully convolutional network, eliminating the need for ROI cropping and feature alignment. 2) Due to the much improved capacity of dynamically-generated conditional convolutions, the mask head can be very compact (e.g., 3 conv. layers, each having only 8 channels), leading to significantly faster inference. We demonstrate a simpler instance segmentation method that can achieve improved performance in both accuracy and inference speed. On the COCO dataset, we outperform a few recent methods including well-tuned Mask RCNN baselines, without longer training schedules needed. Code is available: https://git.io/AdelaiDet


ABSTRACT Immunoglobulin GM and KM allotypes—genetic markers of γ and κ chains, respectively—are associated with immune responsiveness to several infectious pathogens and with survival in certain viral epidemics. We hypothesized that GM and KM allotypes affect the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. To test this hypothesis, we serologically allotyped 100 persons with well-documented clearance of HCV infection and 198 matched persistently infected persons. None of the GM or KM phenotypes by itself was associated with the clearance or persistence of HCV infection. Particular combinations of these phenotypes, however, were significantly associated with the outcome of HCV infection. Subjects with GM 1,17 5,13 and KM 1,3 phenotypes were over three times (odds ratio [OR], 3.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.44 to 8.87) as likely to clear the infection as the subjects who lacked these phenotypes. This GM phenotype had a similar association with clearance in the absence of KM 3 (OR, 2.75; 95% CI, 1.21 to 6.23). The presence of GM 1,3,17 23 5,13 phenotype (in the absence of KM 3) was associated with persistence (OR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.06 to 0.77), while its absence (in the presence of KM 1,3) was associated with the clearance of infection (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.16 to 3.54). These results show epistatic interactions of genes on chromosomes 14 (GM) and 2 (KM) in influencing the outcome of an HCV infection. Further investigations involving candidate genes (GM, KM, HLA, and Fcγ receptors) and cellular and humoral immune responses to HCV epitopes are needed to understand the mechanisms underlying these associations.


Gene editing technology has been a hotspot in the field of biotechnology. CRISPR/Cas systems are efficient gene editing tools because of its specificity, simplicity and flexibility, these features enabled the rapid application of CRISPR/Cas systems in a variety of organisms. Moreover, the combination of transcriptional activator with dead Cas protein can achieve specific regulation of gene expression at the transcription level, which has made important contributions to the development of biotechnology in medical and agriculture. Overexpression of foreign genes is a common method to verify gene function and regulation. However, due to the limitation of vector capacity, it is difficult to achieve overexpression of multiple genes. CRISPR/Cas9 activation system can regulate the expression of multiple genes under the guidance of different guide RNAs to verify gene functions at the regulatory level. This review summarizes the composition of the CRISPR/Cas9 activation system and different activation strategies, and summarizes solutions for excessive activation. It may facilitate the application of CRISPR/Cas9 activation system in genetic improvement of cotton and herbicide resistance research.


The C-POD logger is a widely used instrument for passive acoustic monitoring of harbor porpoises, but the absence of a continuous recording in this device makes it difficult to verify its performance. An alternative but more labor-intensive approach is to use a wideband sound recorder and off-line detection software. Here we compare the performance of the C-POD with that of a HF SoundTrap recorder analysed with PAMGUARD software. Seven deployments were made with C-PODs and SoundTraps in the Danish Great and Little Belts between June and November, 2015. There was a positive but generally poor correlation between PAMGUARD and C-POD detections, with the C-PODs detecting only about 21-94% of the click trains detected by PAMGUARD based on the broadband recordings. The main explanation behind this poor correspondence is likely that PAMGUARD performs classification on single clicks, whereas the C-POD classifies groups of clicks ('trains') collectively. Such poor correlation between two common methods can have severe implications for conclusions reached in effect and abundance studies.


Abstract Park, H.J., Lyons, J.C., Griffin, R.J., Limm, B.U. and Song, C.W. Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Progression in an Acidic Environment after Irradiation. Apoptosis and cell cycle progression in HL60 cells irradiated in an acidic environment were investigated. Apoptosis was determined by TUNEL staining, PARP cleavage, DNA fragmentation, and flow cytometry. The majority of the apoptosis that occurred in HL60 cells after 4 Gy irradiation took place after G2/M-phase arrest. When irradiated with 12 Gy, a fraction of the cells underwent apoptosis in G1 and S phases while the rest of the cells underwent apoptosis in G2/M phase. The apoptosis caused by 4 and 12 Gy irradiation was transiently suppressed in medium at pH 7.1 or lower. An acidic environment was found to perturb progression of irradiated cells through the cell cycle, including progression through G2/M phase. Thus it was concluded that the suppression of apoptosis in the cells after 4–12 Gy irradiation in acidic medium was due at least in part to a delay in cell cycle progression, particularly the prolongation of G2/M-phase arrest. Irradiation with 20 Gy indiscriminately caused apoptosis in all cell cycle phases, i.e. G1, S and G2/M phases, rapidly in neutral pH medium and relatively slowly in acidic pH medium. The delay in apoptosis in acidic medium after 20 Gy irradiation appeared to result from mechanisms other than prolonged G2/M-phase arrest.


People with severe mental illnesses have dramatically reduced life expectancy compared with the general population, which is largely attributed to physical comorbidity. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions offer a safe and viable therapeutic resource for multi-disciplinary mental health care teams. The accumulating evidence supporting the role of these interventions has changed the focus of mental health strategy in some countries, with new developing roles for certain mental health professionals in this field. However, in Ireland the absence of specialised exercise practitioners places a leadership role for mental health nurses in this regard. National mental health strategy in Ireland should prioritise physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions, make recommendations for the integration of specialised exercise practitioners in all mental health multidisciplinary teams, and recommend the provision of training and awareness for mental health nurses and other multidisciplinary professionals who are already well placed to address this issue.