Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen with increasing relevance in nosocomial infections. They cause a wide range of clinical complications, such as pneumonia, septicemia, urinary tract infection, wound infection, and meningitis, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Treatment of A. baumannii infections is often complicated by their resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents available.Carbapenem has remained as the effective antimicrobial agent for the treatment of A. baumannii infections. However, carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii is increasingly reported worldwide. In Malaysia, detailed information on the epidemiology and the mechanism of antimicrobial resistance of A. baumannii is still lacking. Hence, the objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance,mechanisms of carbapenem resistance among the A. baumannii isolates and to provide sound scientific evidence of epidemiologic spread of A. baumannii in the hospital setting.
In 2006-2009, a total of 189 A. baumannii isolates wereisolated from patients(n=171), environment (n=9) and hands of healthcare workers (HCWs) (n=9) in intensive care unit, University Malaya Medical Centre. One-hundred and eighty-five isolates (170 clinical; 7 environmental; 8 HCWs) were identified as A. baumannii by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). All the clinical, 7 environmental and 1 HCW A. baumannii isolates were multidrug-resistant to at least 3 groups of antimicrobial agents, with high resistance rates to the aminoglycoside, penicillin, cephalosporin, quinolone, carbapenem and foliate inhibitor. All the 2006
isolates appeared susceptible to cefoperazone/sulbactam. However, resistant isolates were detected in 2007 to 2009 isolates. Polymyxin B has remains effective against the
A. baumannii isolates. None of the 175 carbapenem-resistant isolates was metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) iii producers based on phenotypic screening and PCR detection of the MBL genes. blaOXA- 51 gene which is intrinsic to A. baumannii was present in all the isolates and ISAba1- blaOXA-23 gene was detected in 174 isolates. Resistance to imipenem was mainly due to overexpression of the OXA-23 induced by the promoter sequences located in insertion element, ISAba1 upstream of the blaOXA-23 gene. Polymerase chain reaction detection of integrons showed class 1 integrons were predominant among the 185 isolates, with 17 isolates were also harbouring class 2 integrons. The integron gene cassettes contained the most number of resistance determinants to aminoglycosides (aadB, aadA, aadDA1, aacC1 and aacA4). There was no correlation between the blaOXA-23 gene and integrons, suggesting that integrons were unlikely involved in the mobility of blaOXA-23 gene in the A. baumannii isolates. Of the 175 carbapenem-resistant isolates, 164 (93.7%) isolates harboured 1-15 plasmids each, ranging from 1.6 kb to 125.1 kb. A total of 98 plasmid profiles were
defined, with P49 (44.8 kb, 21.6 kb, 6.8 kb), P52 (44.8 kb, 6.8 kb) and P53 (44.8 kb, 16.1 kb, 6.8 kb) the predominant plasmid profiles, harbouring the common plasmids, 6.8 kb and 44.8 kb. Southern hybridisation analyses revealed that blaOXA-23 gene was dispersed on diverse locations on the plasmids and chromosome among multiples isolates. However, the blaOXA-23 gene was not transferable. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the plasmid- and chromosomal-mediated OXA-23-producing carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii in Malaysia. PFGE and REP-PCR typing had successfully discriminated all the A. baumannii isolates. The non-multidrug-resistant had high genetic variability and were distinct from the multidrug-resistant isolates. However, the carbapenem-susceptible isolates could not
be distinguished from the carbapenem-resistant isolates by both typing methods. The OXA-23-producing clinical, environmental and HCW isolates shared similar resistance
phenotype and had closely related PFGE and REP-PCR profiles, indicating a possible iv transmission route may occur between the environment, HCW and patients. OXA-23-
producing A. baumannii isolates were observed in the ICU area throughout 2006-2009,indicating the endemicity of the isolates. In addition, an occurrence of new A. baumannii clone was observed in 2009 based on PFGE analysis.In conclusion, the dissemination of the carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii within the ICU, UMMC from 2006-2009 was of OXA-23-producing isolates. PFGE and REPPCR molecular typing were useful in discriminating the nosocomial related A.
baumannii isolates. A. baumannii is able to obtain resistance genes, thus could confront the extensive exposure to antimicrobial agents and persisted in the ICU. Therefore, evaluation of effective antimicrobials and infection control measures are important to control the dissemination of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii isolates within the hospital.


Introduction This case report illustrates the effective use of a continuous subcutaneous infusion of baclofen to improve spasticity in a patient approaching end of life. Report The patient was a 56 year old lady with a diagnosis of motor neurone disease (spinal onset; 'definite' by the El Escorial research criteria). She was admitted to the hospice for end of life care. She was severely dysarthric. She had a flicker of movement in her left hand, but no movement in her limbs otherwise. She communicated by nodding or shaking her head. She did not have a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube in situ, and she was too frail for consideration of same. At the time of admission, she was taking baclofen 10 mg po tds for spasticity. As she weakened, she couldn't swallow her oral medications, necessitating discontinuation of her baclofen. Three days later, she developed painful spasticity of her temporomandiibular joint muscles. She was very distressed by this symptom. It persisted over the following five days despite opioid analgesia and benzodiazepines. A literature review revealed a case report demonstrating the effective and well tolerated use of subcutaneous baclofen in a patient who could no longer take his medications via PEG. A decision was made to commence a continuous subcutaneous infusion with bacofen 10 mg over 24 hours and NaCl as the diluent. The intrathecal formulation of baclofen was used. The following day, the patient reported improvement in her spasticity, and she was able to open her mouth. The improvement was sustained over the following four days, and she experienced no skin reactions at the infusion site. At this time she could no longer communicate, and she was beginning to die. The baclofen was discontinued as she was no longer benefitting. Conclusion This case illustrates the effective and well-tolerated administration of baclofen via subcutaneous infusion. If appropriate, we may consider this route again.


Leaf litter is a growing concern for cities. Due to adherent dirt such biomass is rarely utilized nowadays but may constitute a renewable energy source for communities or private households. Leaf litter from main roads, residential areas and city centres collected by the vacuum technique or the sweeper technique was sampled and analysed for ash content and chemical composition. Ash content of leaf litter collected by the sweeping technique was higher (21.6%–40.1% dry matter, DM) than in material collected by the vacuum technique (12.0%–21.7% DM). Leaf litter from residential areas had the highest contamination (21.7%–40.1% DM), followed by main roads (20.8%–26.2% DM) and city centres (12.0%–21.6% DM). Ash content was reduced by up to 60% with a washing treatment and reached values comparable to those achieved by multiple manual rinsing, which was conducted as a reference treatment. The chemical composition of washed leaf litter could be further improved by mechanical dehydration treatment due to a reduction in harmful elements for combustion such as K, Cl, Mg and S. Heating value of leaf litter increased and the risk of corrosion and ash melting during combustion were reduced.


Gendered processes and outcomes are pervasive in organizational life. They shape how individuals perceive their career prospects, which types of opportunities they pursue, how they get work done within organizations, and how they balance this work with the rest of their life. Organizations themselves also shape and are shaped by gender dynamics, from the ways they design jobs and performance evaluation systems to the assumptions managers make about individuals' preferences and motivations. This virtual special issue collects together 14 papers published in Organization Science that challenge common understandings about the sources of gender differences in career outcomes, the effects of balancing work–life obligations, and the ways that gender dynamics play out in teams and organizations. An important insight that emerges from a comparison of these studies is that demand effects are often confused for supply effects. What looks like a supply problem—we think that women choose not to aspire to top positions or to jobs in top paying fields—might actually be a demand problem—organizations or jobs look unappealing to women because of past histories of not hiring or promoting women into leadership roles or of making work–life balance appear to be impossible. These studies suggest that essentialist explanations that attribute gendered outcomes to inherent characteristics or choices of women might be too simplistic or inaccurate. Instead, future research would benefit from examining the complex interactions between supply-side and demand-side drivers of gender inequality.


This paper presents a Lyapunov based controller to stabilize and manipulate an observed quantum system. The proposed control is applied to the stochastic Schrodinger equation. In order to ensure the stability of the system at the desired final state, the conventional Ito formula is further extended to the un-differentiable random processes. Using this extended Ito formula, a novel stochastic stability theorem is developed. Continued by another convergence theorem, which ensured the convergence of the state trajectory to the desired final state, a complete Lyapunov based controller design scheme is developed for the observed open quantum systems


Hypotheses were developed to capture the dynamic capabilities that result from interfirm partnerships during the joint new product development (NPD) process — the ability to build, integrate, and reconfigure existing resources to adapt to rapidly changing environments. These capabilities, in turn, were proposed to have a positive impact on NPD performance outcomes: (a) proportion of new product success and (b) superior new product commercialization. In contexts where the locus of innovation is rapidly changing, the impact of interfirm NPD dynamic capabilities was hypothesized to be diminished in high-technology contexts, especially for buyers (original equipment manufacturers) and to a lesser extent for suppliers. Still, technology-based interfirm NPD partnerships were predicted to ultimately outperform low-technology ones in both NPD performance outcomes. Finally, information technology (IT) support for NPD was hypothesized to influence the interfirm NPD partnership's dynamic capabilities. Using survey data from 72 auto company managers and their suppliers, the proposed model in which IT support for NPD influences the success of interfirm NPD partnerships through the mediating role of interfirm NPD partnership dynamic capabilities in high- and low-technology contexts was generally supported. The results shed light on the nature of technology-based interfirm NPD partnerships and have implications for their success. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.


Cocaine self-administration by male rats results in neuronal and behavioral alterations in offspring, including responses to cocaine. Given the high degree of overlap between the brain systems underlying the pathological responses to cocaine and stress, we examined whether sire cocaine taking would influence fear-associated behavioral effects in drug-naïve adult male and female progeny. Sire cocaine exposure had no effect on contextual fear conditioning or its extinction in either male or female offspring. During cued fear conditioning, freezing behavior was enhanced in female, but not male, cocaine-sired progeny. In contrast, male cocaine-sired progeny exhibited enhanced expression of cue-conditioned fear during extinction. Long-term potentiation (LTP) was robust in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), which encodes fear conditioning, of female offspring but was completely absent in male offspring of cocaine-exposed sires. Collectively, these results indicate that cued fear memory is enhanced in the male progeny of cocaine exposed sires, which also have BLA synaptic plasticity deficits.


The vast majority of acquired amputees report persistent and vivid sensations of their missing limb, with most amputees reporting that these sensations are painful. Neuroimaging work has demonstrated the preserved representation of the phantom limb in the sensorimotor cortices, and the extent of preservation (i.e. activation) has been linked to the incidence of phantom limb pain (PLP), with movement of the phantom hand engaging activity in typical pain processing areas. This body of literature suggests that an interplay of preserved representation in phantom hand motor control and pain processing may be involved in the generation of PLP. However, it is still uncertain how these factors relate to one another and whether phantom pain lies at one end of a phantom sensation spectrum. With this project we aim to develop new paradigms in order to probe the mechanisms underlying the generation of phantom sensations and PLP both within and beyond the sensorimotor system. This will involve a range of techniques from functional MRI, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, high-density EMG, OPM-MEG and computational modelling (drift diffusion modelling, reinforcement learning). We are specifically interested to test (using pre-registered reports) the plausibility of using a predictive coding framework to account for inter-individual differences in PLP.


The anti-aging property of wood residues composite is an important indicator for measuring the service performance of products. And the aging problems of these composite materials have attracted more and more attention from people. So we had a research on such problems. By means of experiments, this paper analyzed the reasons for the aging of wood residues composite. Through contrast experimental methods, we analyzed the way to accelerate the aging of them. At last, we adopted the 6-cycle accelerated aging method of ASTM D1037and the aging instrument detecting method according to their characteristics and available experimental conditions. Based on actual conditions, we analyzed the aging factors of wood residues composite such as temperature, humidity, specimen size ,surface decoration and so on.


Young accreting stars drive outflows that collimate into jets, which can be seen hundreds of au from their driving sources. Accretion and outflow activity cease with system age, and it is believed that magneto-centrifugally launched disk winds are critical agents in regulating accretion through the protoplanetary disk. Protostellar jets are well studied in classical T Tauri stars (M⋆ ≲ 2 M⊙), while few nearby (d ≲ 150 pc) intermediate-mass stars (M⋆ = 2−10 M⊙), known as Herbig Ae/Be stars, have detected jets. We report VLT/MUSE observations of the Herbig Ae/Be star HD 100546 and the discovery of a protostellar jet. The jet is similar in appearance to jets driven by low-mass stars and compares well with the jet of HD 163296, the only other known optical jet from a nearby Herbig Ae/Be star. We derive a (one-sided) mass-loss rate in the jet of log Ṁjet ∼ −9.5 (in M⊙ yr−1) and a ratio of outflow to accretion of roughly 3 × 10−3, which is lower than that of CTTS jets. The discovery of the HD 100546 jet is particularly interesting because the protoplanetary disk around HD 100546 shows a large radial gap, spiral structure, and might host a protoplanetary system. A bar-like structure previously seen in Hα with VLT/SPHERE shares the jet position angle, likely represents the base of the jet, and suggests a jet-launching region within about 2 au. We conclude that the evolution of the disk at radii beyond a few au does not affect the ability of the system to launch jets.


Although incomplete because of the imperfect and somewhat random sampling of rock types by the Apollo and Luna missions (1969–1976), the history of lunar magmatism has been reconstructed by numerous researchers over the past three decades. These reconstructions have illustrated the continuous nature of lunar magmatism (from 4.6 to ∼2.0 Ga) and the large influence of early differentiation and catastrophic bombardment on lunar mantle dynamics, magmatism, and eruptive style. In this review, we group magmatism into multiple stages of activity based on sampled rock types and evaluate the models for each stage. Stage 1 is early lunar differentiation and associated magmatism. Partial melting of the Moon soon after accretion was responsible for producing an anorthositic crust and a differentiated lunar interior. The extent of lunar melting and mantle processing depends strongly on the mechanisms that induced melting. Estimates for the time over which melting and crystallization occurred range from tens to hundreds of millions of years. Stage 2 is the disruption of lunar magma ocean cumulates. Soon after the crystallization of most of the lunar magma ocean, the cumulate pile experienced gravitational overturn. This resulted in transport of late-forming cumulates into the deep lunar mantle and mixing of magma ocean cumulates on a variety of scales. Stage 3 is the post-magma ocean highland magmatism. Whereas the ferroan anorthositic crust was probably produced during the crystallization of a magma ocean, the slightly younger Mg suite and alkali suite plutonic rocks may have been generated by decompressional melting of early magma ocean cumulates during cumulate pile overturn. A KREEP and crustal signature was incorporated into these primitive basaltic magmas through assimilation near the base of the lunar crust or through melting of a hybridized mantle. The alkali suite could represent either the differentiation products of Mg suite parental magmas or a separate, but contemporaneous episode of basaltic magmatism. Stage 4 is pre-basin volcanism. Sample analysis and remote sensing data indicate that early lunar volcanism (KREEP basalts and high-alumina basalts) was contemporaneous with periods of highlands plutonism and catastrophic bombardment of the lunar surface. The relationship between early stages of lunar volcanism and the contemporaneous plutonism is not clear. The KREEP basalts may be volcanic equivalents to both the Mg suite and alkali suite. Stage 5 is the late remelting of magma ocean cumulates and eruption of mare basalts. Basin-associated eruption of mare basalts occurred during and following the late stages of catastrophic bombardment. This volcanic activity was possibly an extension of the thermal event that initiated pre-basin volcanism. Mare basalts exhibit a wide range of composition resulting from nearsurface fractionation of chemically distinct primary basaltic magmas. Most likely, mare basalts were produced by small to moderate degrees of partial melting of hybrid cumulate sources in the deep lunar mantle. Alternatively, the mixed chemical signatures observed in many mare basalts may be interpreted as indicating assimilation of late-stage, evolved cumulates by melts produced deep in the cumulate pile. The wide range of compositions exhibited by the mare basalts compared with earlier episodes of basaltic magmatism may reflect the thermal regime in the lunar mantle that limited the extent of partial melting and melt-source homogenization. *E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Magmatic evolution of the Moon C.K. SHEARER* AND J.J. PAPIKE Institute of Meteoritics, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-1126, U.S.A. INVITED REVIEW American Mineralogist, Volume 84, pages 1469–1494, 1999 0003-004X/99/0010–1469$05.0


Pots of orchid-growing media augmented with pollen-cap mite, Tyrophagus neiswanderi, and its predator, Hypoaspis sp., were drenched with carbaryl, deltametrin, dimethoate and methiocarb to compare their efficacy for mite control with natural predation. Mite populations were monitored by heat extraction from 50 ml of potting media on days 0, 2, 7 and 14 after treatment and compared with water treated controls. All pesticide treatments initially reduced pollen-cap mite numbers (P<0.05), but after 14 days only methiocarb sustained this reduction to a similar level achieved by the predation of Hypoaspis sp. in the controls. Dimethoate gave the least effective control of pollen-cap mite and caused the greatest reduction in Hypoasis sp. populations. The ability of these four pesticides, plus taufluvalinate, acephate and methamidophos, to reduce movement of pollencap mite was assessed. Flower stems (350 mm), with double-sided sticky tape encircling the top, were dipped in pesticide and stood in media with pollen-cap mite. After 48 h only methiocarb reduced (P<0.05) the number of mites moving up the flower stem.


In recent years, the paradigm of multiple modernities has spurred a growing interest in theoretical, empirical and comparative studies. Among these, the relationships between religious traditions and social dynamics have received particular attention. Counter to evolutionary accounts of modernisation processes, Eisenstadt studied the persisting and evolving links between religion, politics and modernity in different national and civilisational settings. Indeed, the collective incidence of culture, of religion and of tradition was placed at the very heart of Eisenstadt's thought – hence the many 'cultural programs of modernity'. It is the originality of this understanding of societies in modernity that we wish to underline and help explain by his interest for small nations and the religio-political. I first advocate Eisenstadt's version of multiple modernities, highlighting the paradigm's specific knowledge interest. Secondly, we turn our attention to the often ignored importance of 'Jewish civilisation' in Eisenstadt's thought. In so doing, we underline Israel's 'smallness' and its characteristics as a 'small nation'. Lastly, we stress the elective affinity between multiple modernities and small nations in the study of politics and religion. As is the case for small nations, religion constitutes the 'other half of modernity', too rarely genuinely considered in (large nation) modernists' accounts.


Aim: The objectives of this investigation were to develop gastroretentive floating bioadhesive drug delivery for simvastatin to increase gastric residence time and reduce the dose frequency. To explore Badams gum's sticking property in floating bioadhesive drug delivery of simvastatin. Materials and Methods: Floating bioadhesive tablet was formulated with Badam gum and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) K 15 M polymers, sodium bicarbonate, and citric acid as the gas generating agents to reduce floating lag time. Tablets were prepared by direct compression method. Optimization study was conducted using 32 factorial design. The concentration of polymers was considered as independent variables whereas swelling index, bioadhesive strength and % drug release at 10 h, of the tablets were utilized as dependent variables. Results and Discussions: Preformulation study suggests powders blends shows acceptable flow properties. Simvastatin floating- bioadhesive tablet found to be good without chipping, capping, and sticking. Comparing all the formulations, A5 optimized formulation exhibited 98.10 ± 2.10% of drug release in 12 h, floating lag time of 34 ± 3 s, with appropriate bioadhesive property, and total floating time of over 12 h. It was observed that increasing percentage of polymer in formulation the drug release decreased. Developed formulations were stable during stability studies. Conclusion: Based on these findings, it was concluded that Badam gum can be used as a bioadhesive as well as release retarding polymer for the floating bioadhesive dosage form of other drugs.


Inventory management (IM) is an important area in logistics. The goal is to manage the inventory of a vendor as efficiently as possible. Its practical relevance also makes it an important real-world application for research in optimization. Because inventory must be managed over time IM optimization problems are dynamic and online (i.e. they must be solved as time goes by). Dynamic optimization is typically harder than non-dynamic optimization. Much research in IM is devoted to finding specific algorithms that solve specific abstractions. For each new aspect to be taken into account, a new algorithm must be designed. In this paper, we aim at a more general approach. We employ general insights into online dynamic problem solving. A recently proposed framework is also employed. We point out how IM problems can be solved in a much more general fashion using evolutionary algorithms (EAs). Here, time-dependence (i.e. decisions taken now have consequences in the future) is an important practical type of problem difficulty that is characteristic of practical dynamic optimization problems. Time-dependence is usually not taken into account in the literature and myopic (i.e. blind to future events) algorithms are often designed. We show that time- dependence is automatically tackled by our novel approach. We extend the common definition of IM problems with time- dependence by introducing customer satisfaction. We show that customer satisfaction for IM problems with superior solutions can be achieved when this form of time-dependence is properly taken into account. This also demonstrates our conclusion that taking into account the existence of time-dependence in practical online dynamic optimization problems such as IM is very important.


Two bumetanide-sensitive ion cotransporters that carry Na+, K+, and Cl- in a coupled fashion have been identified. One type, the "absorptive" isoform, carries these ions across the apical plasma membrane of the thick ascending limb of Henle's loop. Another isoform, the "secretory" cotransporter, has been identified in a number of epithelial tissues by physiological means, but its sites of expression in the kidney have not been fully characterized. Complementary DNA believed to code for the secretory isoform (called "BSC2" or "NKCC1") have recently been cloned. This study used a specific affinity-purified antipeptide antibody to this protein for immunolocalization in the rat kidney. Immunoblot studies using this antibody show abundant immunoreactivity against bands of 140-190 and 120 kd in the parotid gland, colon, and stomach, sites where the secretory form of the cotransporter has been identified by physiological techniques. This distribution supports the hypothesis that this isoform represents the secretory form of the cotransporter. Studies in the kidney revealed that the same bands are associated with membrane fractions chiefly in the outer medulla. Immunolocalizations show that immunoreactivity is selectively and intensely localized to the basolateral plasma membrane of a subfraction of outer medullary collecting duct cells. An independently produced monoclonal antibody (T4) specific for Na-K-Cl cotransporter displays the same localization. Dual localizations of cotransporter antibody with respect to antibody specific for principal cells (aquaporin-2) and intercalated cells (band 3 and H(+)-ATPase) show that cotransporter immunoreactivity is localized to alpha-intercalated cells of the outer medullary collecting duct in the rat. This distinctive localization suggests that the secretory form of the cotransporter may play a role in renal NH4+ and/or acid secretion by this cell type.


Soil erosion is one of the most devastating problems in Sri Lanka, which threatens the sustainability of Agriculture. To design future policy and effective outreach, this study examines the factors behind farmers' decision making attitude of soil conservation. The study was conducted in Ratnapura District. Hundred tea smallholder farmers were selected by following multistage random sampling, and primary data were collected through administrating a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Pearson correlation coefficient was employed between soil conservation attitude which was measured on a scale that consisted of 15 soil conservation measures, and farmers' socio-economic and other factors considered in the study. Results obtained that age, level of education, income, property size, and, awareness on soil erosion, and associated problems with it were influencing on decision-making attitude of soil conservation while gender was not a significant factor. The study suggested obtaining farmers' decision-making in soil conservation practices will require the use of various implementation tools such as subsidy, technical assistance, teaching, and extension efforts as well as it should facilitate regional social capital formulation to enable and thrive in the collective decision of soil conservation.


This dissertation is a contribution to the history of Ukrainian immigration to Quebec from 1910 to 1960. It describes this immigration chronologically and deals with its intellectual evolution, which helped shape its institutional structure. Louis Hartz's theory of colonial history attempted to explain phenomena associated with the founding of new societies in the New World. This study adopts the Hartzian approach to ethnic history and describes the historical conditions which pushed three intellectually distinct fragments of Ukrainian immigrants to establish a visible Ukrainian community in Quebec. The first fragment arrived before 1914; the second after World War I and the Russian Revolution; the third after World War II. Using disposition to Marxist thought and the Russian Revolution as a test, the mentalities of the three fragments of Ukrainian immigrants to Quebec are described as first on the left, then in the centre, and finally on the right. The mentality of each fragment led to different initiatives in the community and to the emergence of separate, competing Ukrainian institutional frameworks in Quebec. World War I and the internment of Ukrainians as enemy aliens created a Ukrainian socialist-Communist movement in Quebec during the inter-war years. The second-fragment immigrants who came after 1920 bolstered the anti-socialist group, which split into Catholic and Orthodox factions in 1925 and created a network of competing secular and religious institutions in Quebec before 1939. World War II led to some unity when Ukrainian institutions (except Communist ones) federated in the Ukrainian Canadian Committee (UCC), formed in 1941. After 1945, a third fragment of nationalists arrived with a new mentality, adding to the division and complexity of the Ukrainian community in Quebec. Although the third-fragment refugees were mostly anti-Communist nationalists, the rift in the OUN in 1941 divided them into Melnykites and Banderites. The preponderant majority of those who came to Quebec had sided with Stepan Bandera and were "men of the right." By the time Quebec was on the eve of its "Quiet Revolution" in the early 1960s--a revolution aimed at modernizing the province by making it over into a progressive welfare state--the three successive fragments of Ukrainian immigrants to the province were being guided in the opposite direction


As a vital role in the processes of the energy balance and hydrological cycles, actual evapotranspiration (ET) is relevant to many agricultural, ecological and water resource management studies. The available global or regional ET products provide ET estimations with various temporal ranges, spatial resolutions and calculation methods (algorithms, inputs and parameterization, etc.), leading to varying degrees of introduced uncertainty. Northern China is the main agriculturally productive region supporting the whole country; thus, understanding the spatial and temporal changes in ET is essential to ensure water resource and food security. We developed a synthesis ET dataset for Northern China at a 1000 m spatial resolution, with a monthly temporal resolution covering a period ranging from 1982 to 2017, using an in-depth assessment of several ET products. Specifically, assessments were performed using in situ measured ET from eddy covariance (EC) observation towers at the site-pixel scale over interannual months under the conditions of different land cover types, climatic zones and elevation levels to select the most optimally performing ET products to be used in the synthesized ET dataset. Eight indicators under 21 conditions were involved in the assessment sheet, while the statistics of the different ET product occurrences and corresponding ratios were analyzed to select the best-performing ET products to build the synthesis ET dataset using the weighted mean method. The weights were determined by the Taylor skill score (TSS), calculated with ET products and EC ET observation data. Based on the assessment results, the Penman–Monteith–Leuning (PML_v2), ETWatch and Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) datasets were selected for implementation in the synthesis ET dataset from 2003 to 2017, while Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) v3.3a, complementary relationship (CR) ET, and Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group (NTSG) datasets were chosen for the synthesis ET dataset from 1982 to 2002. The weighted mean synthesized results from 2003 to 2017 performed well when compared to the in situ measured EC ET values produced under all of the above conditions, while the synthesized results from 1982 to 2002 performed well through the water balance method in Heihe River Basin. These results can provide more stable ET estimations for Northern China, which can contribute to relevant agricultural, ecological and hydrological studies.


The heat transfer during pool boiling incorporates a higher rate of heat dissipation capability at low-temperature differences. This technique is widely used in the nuclear industry for thermal management. In this study, the effect of tube diameter and length on critical heat flux (CHF) at atmospheric conditions in saturated water during pool boiling is analyzed. The tubes of SS 304 are kept in the vertical orientation. The diameter of the tubes ranges from 1.2 mm to 9 mm. The tube lengths varying from 50mm to 1000mm. It has been noted that tubes of smaller diameter show a greater magnitude of CHF for the given length. For a given diameter, a longer tube is found to have lower CHF than the ones having lesser length. The variation in the CHF magnitude is negligible for tubes with a diameter of more than 2.5 mm beyond a length of 200 mm. The location of occurrence of CHF is near the bottom end of the vertical tube. The study illustrates the behavior of bubble nucleation for various tube dimensions and heat fluxes. The inception and detachment of bubbles for different tubes are analyzed. The pool boiling regime is categorized and studied basing the behaviour of the incepted and departed bubble. A mathematical relation that empirically accounts for the effect of tube dimensions i.e. length and diameter on pool boiling CHF is proposed. The experimental CHF data obtained during pool boiling are tabulated towards contributing to the CHF databank.


Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the secular trends of incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and insulin treatment for GDM in a Korean population and to determine the factors that contribute to the trends in the incidence of GDM. Study Design We used data collected by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service of Korea and analyzed data from women who had given birth from 2006 to 2010. We evaluated the trends in the incidence of GDM and GDM requiring insulin treatment and the changes in risk factors. Results There were 1,824,913 births during the study period, which included 129,666 cases of GDM, an incidence of 7.11% over this period. The incidence of GDM increased from 3.86% in 2007 to 11.83% in 2010, with a continuous increase after adjustment for age. However, the number of GDM cases that required insulin treatment decreased significantly from 13.87% in 2007 to 5.94% in 2010. The proportion of patients who were at an older age and multiparity, 2 GDM risk factors, increased during the study period. Conclusions In Korea, the incidence of GDM, especially mild GDM, increased dramatically during the period from 2006 to 2010. Further efforts are needed to monitor this trend and to identify associated factors.


We present the first scattered-light images of the debris disk around 49 Ceti, a ∼40 Myr A1 main-sequence star at 59 pc, famous for hosting two massive dust belts as well as large quantities of atomic and molecular gas. The outer disk is revealed in reprocessed archival Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS-F110W images, as well as new coronagraphic H-band images from the Very Large Telescope SPHERE instrument. The disk extends from 1.″1 (65 au) to 4.″6 (250 au) and is seen at an inclination of 73°, which refines previous measurements at lower angular resolution. We also report no companion detection larger than 3 MJup at projected separations beyond 20 au from the star (0.″34). Comparison between the F110W and H-band images is consistent with a gray color of 49 Ceti's dust, indicating grains larger than ≳2 μm. Our photometric measurements indicate a scattering efficiency/infrared excess ratio of 0.2–0.4, relatively low compared to other characterized debris disks. We find that 49 Ceti presents morphological and scattering properties very similar to the gas-rich HD 131835 system. From our constraint on the disk inclination we find that the atomic gas previously detected in absorption must extend to the inner disk, and that the latter must be depleted of CO gas. Building on previous studies, we propose a schematic view of the system describing the dust and gas structure around 49 Ceti and hypothetical scenarios for the gas nature and origin.


At the request of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, this report analyses the potential market impacts and budgetary effects of different strategies of selling EU public intervention stocks of skimmed milk powder (SMP). A gradual phasing out of the EU's SMP stocks over a two-year period is likely to have a negative impact on the EU's SMP prices. The use of alternative market outlets reduces the negative price impacts on the regular SMP market, but implies that a significant loss in sales value of SMP stocks has to be accepted. When the stocked SMP ages, at a certain moment there may be no other option than the use of alternative channels to destock and an increasing budget expenditure will then be unavoidable.


Proposes a new approach for computing multidimensional DFTs that reduces interprocessor communications and is therefore suitable for efficient implementation on a variety of multiprocessor platforms including MIMD supercomputers and clusters of workstations. Group theoretic concepts are used to formulate a flexible computational strategy that hybrids the reduced transform algorithm (RTA) with the Good-Thomas factorization and can deal efficiently with non-power-of-two sizes without resorting to zero-padding. The RTA algorithm is employed not as a data processing but rather as a bookkeeping tool in order to decompose the problem into many smaller size subproblems (lines) that can be solved independently by the processors. Implementation issues on an Intel iPSC/i860 hypercube are discussed and timing results for large 2D and 3D DFTs with index sets in Z/MP/spl times/Z/KP and Z/N/spl times/Z/MP/spl times/Z/KP respectively are provided, where N, M, K are powers-of-two and P is a small prime number such as 3, 5, or 7. The nonoptimized realizations of the new hybrid RTA approach are shown to outperform by as much as 70% the optimized assembly coded realizations of the traditional row-column method on the iPSC/860. >


Real-world, multiple-typed objects are often interconnected, forming heterogeneous information networks. A major challenge for link-based clustering in such networks is its potential to generate many different results, carrying rather diverse semantic meanings. In order to generate desired clustering, we propose to use meta-path, a path that connects object types via a sequence of relations, to control clustering with distinct semantics. Nevertheless, it is easier for a user to provide a few examples ("seeds") than a weighted combination of sophisticated meta-paths to specify her clustering preference. Thus, we propose to integrate meta-path selection with user-guided clustering to cluster objects in networks, where a user first provides a small set of object seeds for each cluster as guidance. Then the system learns the weights for each meta-path that are consistent with the clustering result implied by the guidance, and generates clusters under the learned weights of meta-paths. A probabilistic approach is proposed to solve the problem, and an effective and efficient iterative algorithm, PathSelClus, is proposed to learn the model, where the clustering quality and the meta-path weights are mutually enhancing each other. Our experiments with several clustering tasks in two real networks demonstrate the power of the algorithm in comparison with the baselines.


We have investigated the interaction of IL-1 and its receptor on a murine osteoblastic cell line, MC3T3.E1, with regard to binding, internalization, and the fate of the receptor-ligand complex following internalization. Binding experiments indicated that this cell line possesses a high affinity receptor (Kd 1.02 x 10(-10) M) that binds both IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta, and has approximately 6500 receptors per cell. Cross-linking experiments indicated that the receptor has a molecular weight of 100,000 daltons. Binding of IL-1 to the receptor is inhibited by the Interleukin Receptor Antagonist Protein (IRAP). These characteristics suggest that the murine osteoblastic receptor resembles that found on T lymphocytes and fibroblasts. Internalization experiments showed that this process is fairly rapid and results in degradation of the ligand and subsequent loss of degraded IL-1 from the cell. In this respect, processing of the receptor-ligand complex mimics that observed with IL-1 receptors on murine bone marrow cells, pre-B cells, and macrophages. Although the reasons for these differences are unclear, it may be that, unlike fibroblasts, osteoblasts may function as an effector cell which rapidly removes IL-1 from the immediate environment via ligand degradation while at the same time initiating bone resorption via stimulation of osteopontin biosynthesis.


Natural" Igs, mainly IgM, comprise part of the innate immune system present in healthy individuals, including antigen-free mice. These Igs are thought to delay pathogenicity of infecting agents until antigen-induced high affinity Igs of all isotypes are produced. Previous studies suggested that the acquired humoral response arises directly from the innate response, i.e., that B cells expressing natural IgM, upon antigen encounter, differentiate to give rise both to cells that secrete high amounts of IgM and to cells that undergo affinity maturation and isotype switching. However, by using a murine model of influenza virus infection, we demonstrate here that the B cells that produce natural antiviral IgM neither increase their IgM production nor undergo isotype switching to IgG2a in response to the infec- tion. These cells are distinct from the B cells that produce the antiviral response after encounter with the pathogen. Our data therefore demonstrate that the innate and the acquired humoral immunities to influenza virus are separate effector arms of the immune system and that antigen exposure per se


Thioredoxin reductase (TR) from Drosophila melanogaster (DmTR) is a member of the glutathione reductase (GR) family of pyridine nucleotide disulfide oxidoreductases and catalyzes the reduction of the redox-active disulfide bond of thioredoxin. DmTR is notable for having high catalytic activity without the presence of a selenocysteine (Sec) residue (which is essential for the mammalian thioredoxin reductases). We report here the X-ray crystal structure of DmTR at 2.4 A resolution (Rwork = 19.8%, Rfree = 24.7%) in which the enzyme was truncated to remove the C-terminal tripeptide sequence Cys-Cys-Ser. We also demonstrate that tetrapeptides equivalent to the oxidized C-terminal active sites of both mouse mitochondrial TR (mTR3) and DmTR are substrates for the truncated forms of both enzymes. This truncated enzyme/peptide substrate system examines the kinetics of the ring-opening step that occurs during the enzymatic cycle of TR. The ring-opening step is 300-500-fold slower when Sec is replaced with Cys in mTR3 when using this system. Conversely, when Cys is replaced with Sec in DmTR, the rate of ring opening is only moderately increased (5-36-fold). Structures of these tetrapeptides were oriented in the active site of both enzymes using oxidized glutathione bound to GR as a template. DmTR has a more open tetrapeptide binding pocket than the mouse enzyme and accommodates the peptide Ser-Cys-Cys-Ser(ox) in a cis conformation that allows for the protonation of the leaving-group Cys by His464', which helps to explain why this TR can function without the need for Sec. In contrast, mTR3 shows a narrower pocket. One possible result of this narrower interface is that the mammalian redox-active tetrapeptide Gly-Cys-Sec-Gly may adopt a trans conformation for a better fit. This places the Sec residue farther away from the protonating histidine residue, but the lower pKa of Sec in comparison to that of Cys eliminates the need for Sec to be protonated.


In total, more than 550 objects within the fields of five open clusters were investigated in order to find classical chemically peculiar stars. One bona-fide CP candidate was detected in each of the open clusters NGC 3960, NGC 6192 and NGC 6451. All three objects seem to be members of the corresponding cluster, taking the results from our photometry as well as from the literature. For NGC 6192 and NGC 6451 we found widely different interstellar reddening values and therefore distances and ages in the literature. From an analysis of published Johnson UBVRI photometry, we were able to rule out a rather old age for NGC 6451. This is also supported by the finding of one peculiar object in this cluster with spectral type of about A2. Five variable objects within the field of NGC 6134 were detected. The variability exceeds 10 times (or typically 0.03 mag) the standard deviation of the weighted individual measurements. But since our observations were obtained mostly within one hour (typical integration times of five minutes per filter) on several nights within 45 days, no light curves could be derived. For this cluster, some Am candidates were reported for which we were not able to detect a significant positive $\Delta a$-value.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of resident duty-hours restrictions on teaching faculty, patient care, and the institutional climate at a single center.

METHODS
An anonymous questionnaire was provided to all teaching faculty (N = 606) at a single institution from March through October 2006. The questionnaire focused on perceptions of job satisfaction, workload changes, and effects on patient care and the institution.

RESULTS
Overall response rate was 41% (n = 248). More than half of faculty (n = 140 [56%]) feel they have less time for teaching, 33% report less time for extracurricular activities, and 42% report increased work hours. Forty-three percent of respondents (n = 106) were less satisfied with their jobs after implementation of resident duty-hours restrictions, while only 2% (n = 5) were more satisfied. Of the respondent faculty, surgeons were more likely than nonsurgeons to report increased work hours (54% vs 34%; P = .002), decreased time for teaching (66% vs 51%; P = .03), lower job satisfaction (55% vs 35%; P = .003), and negative effects on their personal relationships outside of work (24% vs 12%; P = .01). Although most responses suggest that the restrictions on resident duty hours have not adversely affected patient care or the institutional climate, 33% of respondents (n = 82) felt that patient care was worse.

CONCLUSIONS
Surgeons reported a particularly negative effect from resident duty-hours reform, especially within the areas of job satisfaction, time for teaching, and workload. Efforts to counteract these effects will be critical to maintain and recruit teaching faculty.


Resistance in specific gram-negative bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is of great concern, for there are growing numbers of reports of how these microorganisms have become resistant to all available antibacterial agents used in therapy. A descriptive study was conducted in a teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran, in 2008. A Total of 295 clinical gram negative species were isolated at Microbiology Laboratory Hospital from patients' specimens. Anti-biograms were done on Mueller-Hinton agar plates with disk diffusion method according to Kirby-Bauer method. Among 295 isolated gram-negative, Escherichia coli was the most common organism then followed by K. pneumoniae, Enterobacter, P. aeruginosa, Acinetobacter, Proteus and Citrobacter. Multi-drug-resistant (MDR) gram negative strains were detected in 162(55%) of isolates. These included E. coli [67(41.35%)], K. pneumoniae [35(21.6%)], P. aeruginosa [27(16.7%)], Enterobacter [19(11.73%)], Acinetobacter [14(8.65%)]. Ten patients were identified to have infection due to pandrug-resistant (PDR) gram-negative bacteria including: P. aeruginosa [3 cases (30%)], A. baumannii [3 cases (30%)], Enterobacter [2 cases (20%)], K. pneumoniae [1 case (10%)], E. coli [1 case (10%)]. Presence of MDR and PDR resistance and reduced susceptibility to third generation cephalosporins, carbapenems and fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, and Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is considered a serious clinical problem.


Abstract. Path finding solutions are becoming a major part of many GIS applications including location based services and web-based GIS services. Most traditional path finding solutions are based on shortest path algorithms that tend to minimize the cost of travel from one point to another. These algorithms make use of some cost criteria that is usually an attribute of the edges in the graph network. Providing one shortest path limits user's flexibility when choosing a possible route, especially when more than one parameter is utilized to calculate cost (e.g., when length, number of traffic lights, and number of turns are used to calculate network cost.) K shortest path solutions tend to overcome this problem by providing second, third, and Kth shortest paths. These algorithms are efficient as long as the graphs edge weight does not change dynamically and no other parameters affect edge weights. In this paper we try to go beyond finding shortest paths based on some cost value, and provide all possible paths disregarding any parameter that may affect total cost. After finding all possible paths, we can rank the results by any parameter or combination of parameters, without a substantial increase in time complexity.


The taxonomic position of a novel actinobacterium (designated SBS-12(T)), which was isolated from beach sand on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, was determined following a polyphasic taxonomic characterization. Cells of the organism were Gram-positive, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative and non-motile rods. The organism contained ll-diaminopimelic acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan and MK-8(H(4)) as predominant menaquinone, and had a polar lipid profile containing phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol, iso-C(16 : 0) as the major fatty acid and a DNA G+C content of 73.1 mol%. A neighbour-joining tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the organism occupies a distinct phylogenetic position within the radiation including representatives of the family Nocardioidaceae. High levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity were found with Nocardioides kribbensis (97.2 %), Nocardioides aquiterrae (96.9 %), Nocardioides pyridinolyticus (96.6 %) and Nocardioides aquaticus (96.3 %). The combination of morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics was consistent with classification in the genus Nocardioides, but the isolate can be differentiated from all Nocardioides species with validly published names by a range of physiological properties. The name Nocardioides marinisabuli sp. nov. is proposed for this novel organism, with the type strain SBS-12(T) (=JBRI 2003(T)=KCCM 42681(T)=DSM 18965(T)).


Information is the key to democracy. Information technology measures social integration, participation and performance valuables in any development. Emerging digital techniques, new network alternatives including intelligent networks, high bandwidth communication technology and state-of-the-art software for network functions and services, are the new technology trends evident in the development of electronic communication systems. Yet most of world's population remains untouched by this revolution. The paper discusses the need to focus on Kenyan rural communities to empower them to access information, knowledge and poverty alleviation among them by deploying the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Analyses the factors preventing rural communities from reaping the benefits of ICT s, Kenyan initiatives to overcome the factors, ways and means of poverty alleviation and sustainable development; identifies the bottlenecks and solutions, and lessons learned. The paper will analyze the integration of media and technology in pushing development agenda. Perhaps the inclination of ICT and media as an information resource will bring enormous and diversification in developmental models. Keywords: ICT, MEDIA, DEVELOPMENT, RURAL AND KENYA


When encountering something unfamiliar, it is natural to describe and understand it by reference to what is familiar. Commentary on Chinese landscape painting usually relies heavily upon analogies with Western art. James Elkins, concerned to understand the implications of this procedure, asks whether in seeing and writing about this art we ever can escape our Western perspectives. His problem is not just that he himself does not know Chinese. Even bilingual specialists or native Chinese speakers employ this vocabulary, for the vocabulary of contemporary art history, developed in the West, now is the language of academic art history everywhere. We know that we are distorting our descriptions of this Chinese art, even though we don't know how to "get it right." In the history of European painting from Cimabue to the present, it would be hard to find any Western paintings that could be confused with any art made in China, so the frequent reliance of scholars upon such comparisons seems problematic. Of course, in the near future this situation might change. Perhaps in fifty years, as China becomes more prosperous, art history will become a hybrid discipline. At that point, the situation, which Elkins analyzes, will be reversed. But such a change is a long way in the future.


Unlike in animal experiments, the pump orientation of a total artificial heart (TAH) can change remarkably in humans with the recipient's posture (upright, supine, or prone), thus affecting its filling characteristics. The left master alternate control mode of the Cleveland Clinic-Nimbus (CC-N) TAH adjusts beat rate by maintaining the left pump at 90% filling, producing a Frank-Starling like preload sensitivity. In order to verify that the CC-N TAH functions properly regardless of the gravity effects on pump filling, the preload sensitivity curves of the CC-N TAH were evaluated on a mock circulatory loop with the simulated supine (right pump up) and prone (left pump up) positions in humans. The right preload sensitivity was slightly higher when the right pump was up versus down, and likewise the left preload sensitivity was higher when the left pump was up versus down. Despite these gravity effects on pump filling, right and left preload sensitivity remained within physiologic range and the automatic control of the CC-N TAH functioned properly without significant postural effects.


Between 1876 and 1879, young Japanese elites in the field of construction were selected by the government and sent to France to study at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris (hereafter ÉCAM). This study discusses the features of technical education at ÉCAM during that period and reconsiders its impact on the planning history of Japan through the practices of its students after their return. It focuses on the activities of Hanroku Yamaguchi (1858-1900) who finally drafted the Plan for Ō saka in 1899, unrealized but one of the pioneering Japanese city plans. The Plan was strongly associated with public works which was to be supervised by his Paris colleagues—K ō i Furuichi and Tadao Okino—and with his practice on industrial buildings in Ō saka. Its distinguished feature was industry-oriented design associated with his learning in France. Moreover, this paper discusses the limitations and scope of the transmission and localization of planning ideas.


What is the least surface area of a shape that tiles Ropfd under translations by Zopfd? Any such shape must have volume 1 and hence surface area at least that of the volume-1 ball, namely Omega(radicd). Our main result is a construction with surface area O(radicd), matching the lower bound up to a constant factor of 2radic2pi/eap3. The best previous tile known was only slightly better than the cube, having surface area on the order of d. We generalize this to give a construction that tiles Ropfd by translations of any full rank discrete lattice Lambda with surface area 2piparV-1parfb, where V is the matrix of basis vectors of Lambda, and par.parfb denotes the Frobenius norm. We show that our bounds are optimal within constant factors for rectangular lattices. Our proof is via a random tessellation process, following recent ideas of Raz in the discrete setting. Our construction gives an almost optimal noise-resistant rounding scheme to round points in Ropfd to rectangular lattice points.


Abstract:
The protective effects of bark powder of Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna) was assessed against L-ISO Proternol HCL induced myocardial infarction in rats and the effects were assessed on biochemical parameters and histopathological and ECG findings. The ECG findings showed that the drug significantly checked the rise of heart rate in comparison to control group and there were less appearance of number of Q wave, ST segment elevation and T wave inversions as well as decrease in QRS complex voltage in comparison to control group. Histo-pathological findings indicate that the dug provided moderate protection to rats against L-ISO Proternol HCL included MI. On the basis of ECG and histopathological findings, it is concluded that Arjuna Ksheera Paak showed pro cardio protective effect in comparison to control group against the L-ISO Proternol HCL induced myocardial infarction.
Keywords: L-ISO Proternol HCL induced myocardial infarction, Arjuna, Terminalia arjuna, myocardial infarction


Narcissister's performances in masks and merkins question the fluctuating status of objecthood and subjectivity in popular renderings of the black female body. Embracing a DIY aesthetic, Narcissister scavenges material and image. Her citation of dance functions as the active disavowal of virtuosity, shifting attention from climax to aspiration, delineating an aesthetic of dramaturgical disavowal that performs an alternate imaginary for the racialized, gendered American body.


Abstract This paper reports on physical principles and the relations between extinction cross section and geometrical properties of silver and gold nanostructures. We introduce some simple relations for determining geometrical properties of silver and gold nanospheres based on the situation of their plasmonic peak. We also applied, investigated and compared the accuracy of these relations using other published works in order to make clear the effects of shape, size distribution and refractive index of particles' embedding medium. Finally, we extended the equations to non-spherical particles and investigated their accuracy. We found that modified forms of the equations may lead to more exact results for nonspherical metal particles, but for better results, modified equations should depend on shape and size distribution of particles. It seems that these equations are not applicable to particles with corners sharper than cubes' corners i.e. nanostructures with spatial angles less than π/2 sr.


In the present study a total 107 apparently healthy Malnadgidda animals belonging to individual farmers across eleven talukas of Uttara Kannada district were used. Animals were grouped into male and female, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12 years of age and based on the geographic regions into upper Ghat and lower Ghat/Coastal region of Uttara Kannada district. Blood samples with anticoagulants were collected from these animals and haematological parameters TEC, TLC, Hb, PCV, MCV, MCH, MCHC and PLT were determined. The average value of 7.55±0.18, 12.72±0.41, 8.05±0.17, 31.91±0.69, 45.97±3.00, 10.66±1.17, 26.79±1.91and 221.8±10.12 were observed for TEC, TLC, Hb, PCV, MCV, MCH,MCHC and PLT respectively. Significantly higher TLC values was observed in the Malnadgidda as compared to Deoni and but did not differ significantly with Khillar and Krishnavalley breed. The established haematological values in present study could be used as reference values in Malandgidda breed


OBJECTIVE
To determine common features of posterior ankle impingement in fast bowlers in the West Indies and to compare modes of treatment with respect to return to play without pain.

METHODS
Retrospective analysis of ankle impingement injuries treated in fast bowlers in the West Indies.

RESULTS
Six fast bowlers had evidence of os trigonum in the front foot only. Pain was felt on forced plantar flexion and dorsiflexion on front foot landing; no pain was felt with running. Four had large os trigonum on radiographs, and one was only detectable on Magnetic Resonance (MRI) Imaging. The condition resolved in two bowlers with low workloads who had injections with steroid. The remainder had surgical excision which led to recovery.

CONCLUSION
This injury is being seen increasingly in fast bowlers. Steroid injections are useful in bowlers with low workloads but surgical excision is recommended in bowlers with heavy workloads. Further investigation is required in the biomechanics of bowling to determine the cause for the increase in this condition.


Both genetic programming and neural networks are machine learning techniques that have had a wide range of success in the world of computer vision. Recently, neural networks have been able to achieve excellent results on problems that even just ten years ago would have been considered intractable, especially in the area of image classification. Additionally, genetic programming has been shown capable of evolving computer vision programs that are capable of classifying objects in images using conventional computer vision operators. While genetic algorithms have been used to evolve neural network structures and tune the hyperparameters of said networks, this thesis explores an alternative combination of these two techniques. The author asks if integrating trained neural networks with genetic programming, by framing said networks as components for a computer vision system evolver, would increase the final classification accuracy of the evolved classifier. The author also asks that if so, can such a system learn to assemble multiple simple neural networks to solve a complex problem. No claims are made to having discovered a new state of the art method for classification. Instead, the main focus of this research was to learn if it is possible to combine these two techniques in this manner. The results presented from this research indicate that such a combination does improve accuracy compared to a vision system evolved without the use of these networks.


The objective of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the issues of financial stability. We ask three basic questions, namely, why financial stability: the question of the importance of a stable financial system for different economies. Who must ensure financial stability: it is the question about the place and role of different actors involved in the preservation of financial stability. Finally, how to ensure financial stability: the question of ways and means to preserve the stability of the financial system nationally and internationally. Our analysis shows that a stable financial system is essential to a functioning economy and the successful implementation of monetary policy. Central banks are at the heart of the various strategies for the preservation of financial stability. However, to ensure financial system stability, stakeholder coordination is needed with an important role to play by the government.


A common practice in a system identification exercise is to perturb the system of interest and use the resulting data to build a model. The problem of interest in this contribution is to synthesize an input signal that is maximally informative for generating good quality models while being "plant friendly," i.e., least hostile to plant operation. In this contribution, limits on input move sizes are the plant friendly specifications. The resulting optimization problem is nonlinear and nonconvex. Hence, the original plant friendly input design problem is relaxed which results in a convex optimization problem. We formulate a SemiDefinite Programme using the theory of generalized Tchebysheff inequalities to derive tight bounds on the quality of relaxation. Simulations show that the relaxation results in more plant friendly input signals.


The focus of this study is on furthering our understanding of the relationship between technology and privacy by examining privacy concerns during the innovation process. We begin by exploring the techno-privacy relationship and what it is about technology that so concerns us. Dealing with privacy concerns of already developed and adopted technologies is difficult, and we propose that a focus early on as to how stakeholders deal with privacy concerns during the innovation process could be an effective strategy. We start our investigation by drawing on the work of Introna and Pouloudi (1999), whose principles of representation, access, and power aid the analysis of privacy concerns in the information age. We present a qualitative research case study that followed the efforts of three particular stakeholder groups in dealing with privacy concerns raised during a technology innovation process. The analysis provides empirical evidence for Introna and Pouloudi's principles. We develop two further interrelated concepts, organizational image and timing, which our analysis suggests are specific to understanding how stakeholders deal with privacy during the innovation process.


This chapter argues that the folk-psychological model of the person and responsibility is not challenged by determinism in general or by neurodeterminism in particular. Until science conclusively demonstrates that human beings cannot be guided by reasons and that mental states play no role in explaining behavior, the folk-psychological model of responsibility is justified. This chapter discusses the motivations to turn to science to solve the hard normative problems the law addresses, as well as the law's psychology and its concepts of the person and responsibility. Then it considers the general relation of neuroscience to law, which I characterize as the issue of "translation." The limits of neurolaw are canvassed and the chapter argues that neurolaw poses no radical challenge to the concepts of the person and responsibility. The chapter is cautiously optimistic about the contribution that neuroscience may make to law in the near and intermediate term. The penultimate section examines some of the claims concerning responsibility made in other chapters in this volume followed by a brief conclusion.


The aim of this thesis is to study the discourse that surrounds two common reference terms, 'd/Deaf' and 'hearing-impaired', for the North American d/Deaf community and determine how this group is being represented through that discourse. The field of Deaf Studies has long discussed the two opposing viewpoints on d/Deaf people: the humanistic/cultural view and the medical/pathological view (Lane, 1995; 1999; Lane, Hoffmeister, & Bahan, 1996), each of which provide an understanding of a d/Deaf person's status and social positioning as either a member of a cultural and linguistic minority or of a disabled population. While this provides us insight into the sociological understandings of d/Deaf people, which have been highly contested on both sides, there has been little to no focus on the linguistic realization of these opposing viewpoints. In this thesis, I investigate contemporary American discourse between the years 1990—2015, including a range of genres, within which the reference terms 'd/Deaf' and 'hearing-impaired' are found. In total, I explored the discourse from over 3000 texts, consisting of media, legal, educational, and other genres. The results of my study demonstrate the ways in which the ideologies behind each of the perspectives manifest in discourse, providing evidence to support the view that a choice in reference term ('d/Deaf' vs. 'hearing-impaired') primes a particular discourse that serves the agenda of the ideology within which it is grounded. Overall, this thesis applies the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to the context of Deaf studies, exemplifying the ways in which certain discourses perpetuate the unequal power dynamics that exist between d/Deaf and hearing individuals. Through a combination of corpus analyses, including concordances and collocations, and text analyses following the tradition of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) (Halliday, 1985; 1994a; Halliday & Mattheissen, 2014), including transitivity (Halliday, 1994a; Thompson, 2004, ), social actor representation (van Leeuwen, 1996) and Appraisal (Martin, 2000; Martin & White, 2005), this study explains the intricacies of how the social representation of d/Deaf people is linked with those reference terms and the discourse that surrounds them. It reveals that 'hearing-impaired' carries with it the connotation of pathology and is as such a representation of someone who is defective, incapable, and weak, while 'd/Deaf' has the ability to represent a person as able, competent, and proud. These findings call into question our use of identifying terms and what kind of implications our selections can have on the perception of that individual and the social group of which they are a member.


Abstract Objective: To determine the influence of ambulance motion on head-neck (H-N) kinematics and to compare the effectiveness of two spinal precaution (SP) protocols: spinal immobilization (SI) and spinal motion reduction (SMR). Methods: Eighteen healthy volunteers (7 females) underwent a series of standardized ambulance transport tasks, across various speeds, under the two SP protocols in a balanced order (n = 12 drivers, n = 7 ambulances). Inertial measurement units were placed on participants' heads and sternums, with another affixed to the stretcher mattress frame. Outcome measures included H-N displacement and acceleration. Results: Ambulance accelerations varied across driving tasks (2.5–9.5 m/s2) and speeds (3.0–6.2 m/s2) and resulted in a wide range of H-N displacements (7.2–22.6 deg) and H-N accelerations (1.4–10.9 m/s2). Relative to SMR, SI resulted in reduced H-N motion during turning, accelerating, and speed bumps (1.9–10.7 deg; 0.4–2.6 m/s2), but increased H-N accelerations during abrupt starts/stops and some higher speed tasks (0.4–2.5 m/s2). Ambulance acceleration was moderately correlated to H-N acceleration (r = 0.68) and displacement (r = 0.42). Conclusion: H-N motion was somewhat coupled to ambulance acceleration and varied across a wide range, regardless of SP approach. In general, SI resulted in a modest reduction in H-N displacement and acceleration, with some exceptions. The results inform clinical decisions on SP practice during prehospital transport and demonstrate a novel approach to quantifying H-N motion in prehospital care.


User control is increasingly prominent in the discourse surrounding the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However, alongside user control, the GDPR also tries to achieve what will be called controller responsibility. Is this unjust paternalism or does it correctly place the responsibility for data protection with the controller and its supervisory authority? This paper argues that the question of responsibility should be evaluated in light of the overarching objective of the GDPR to protect the fundamental rights of natural persons. It describes the problems of a focus on the "choice" of data subjects, but also takes seriously the charge of paternalism which more protective data protection laws are faced with, tying the resulting dilemma to the objectives of data protection and ultimately to the debate on the nature of rights. Does data protection law seek to protect certain interests, such as secrecy and seclusion, or does it seek to give data subjects control over their data, and thereby political power regarding the substance of their fundamental rights? The paper concludes that a further exploration of will theories and interest theories of rights would shed light on the appropriate roles for user control and controller responsibility.


Dear Editor: I am writing in response to the article "Lase r Surgery of the Larynx: The Cause for Caution" by Sataloff et al (Ear, Nose, and Throat Journal Volume 71, pages 593-595). Al though most of the infor mation give n by the authors is approp riate, the tenor of the article por trays the use oflaser for laryngeal surge ry in a very negative tone. All otolaryngo logis ts, indeed surgeons, know that any technique requires caution. Routine and injudicious use of cup forceps can cause severe injury to the laryngeal struc tures , particularly the underlying submucosa and muscular support. I have seen such effects more ofte n than with laser surgery. The concern with the preservation of maximum struc ture and function has brought about the development of the new instrumentation, such as microsurgical instruments for phonosurgery, as well as microspot lasers. Consi dering that most of the content of the article is va lid, the conclu sions drawn, such as the risk of potential hazards, as well as "the laser should be used for cases that ca nnot be treated equally well with trad itional instruments" is inappropri ate. It should be up to the well-trained laryngologist so that the choice of instrumentation is made on what is best suited for the disease and mos t efficacious in the hands of the surgeo n. We should not limit the otolaryngologist's array of instrumentation by such conclu sions but rather seek methods to achieve optimal results. These issues can be addressed by the development of a mult i-institut ional study in which laser versus conventional treatm ent is compare d with standard ized preand post-operative voice measurements and strict control of the study design. Th en true comparisons can be made.


For decades, computer simulation professionals have taken numerous routes to improve the performance of their simulation systems. These measures have included, but are not limited to improved data and behavior representations, advanced development architectures, and enhanced graphics technologies. Another remarkable concept used to improve the performance and capabilities has been the use of distributed computing techniques, dubbed distributed simulation. A new and potentially high impacting expansion of distributing simulation involves tying that methodology with that of selective fidelity, a concept that allows a simulation system to modify its own level of fidelity based on what aspects of the simulation are important or interesting to a user or observer. Using multiple simulation systems tied together by a run-time infrastructure (RTI), the software implementation of the high level architecture (HLA), a selective fidelity federation can be implemented by changing ownership of simulation objects between federates, depending on what aspects of the simulation are important. This paper describes the theoretical and implementation details involved with building such a system. Included in this description are explanations of the concepts of fidelity and selective fidelity, a summary of HLA and the RTI, a detailed account of the architecture necessary to implement such a scheme, and a section predicting possible applications for such an idea.


A nanofabrication technique based on self-assembling of polystyrene nanospheres is used to obtain magnetic Ni80Fe20 nanoparticles with a disk shape. The free-standing nanodisks (NDs) have diameter and thickness of about 630 nm and 30 nm respectively. The versatility of fabrication technique allows to cover the NDs surface with a protective gold layer with a thickness of about 5 nm. Magnetization reversal has been studied by room-temperature hysteresis loop measurements in water-dispersed free-standing nanodisks. The reversal shows zero remanence, high susceptibility and nucleation/annihilation fields due to spin vortex formation. In order to investigate their potential use in biomedical applications, the effect of nanodisks coated with or without the protective gold layer on cell growth has been evaluated. A successful attempt to bind cysteine-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) derivative to the gold surface of magnetic NDs has been exploited to verify the intracellular uptake of the nanodisks by cytofluorimetric analysis using the FITC-conjugate.


The amount of data generated by social media users is increasing exponentially mainly produced by the high number of users connected everyday that interacts with each other through the Social Network (SN). As a result, SNs has become an interesting domain for research due to the wide variety of problems that can be solved. Among these problems, this work is focused on Community Finding Problems (CFP) whose goal is to group the different users in several clusters in such a way users belonging to the same cluster are similar (according to a specific metric) whereas they are different from the users of the other clusters. In this work, we describe the algorithm proposed in [1]. This algorithm for CFP is based on Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm, and it uses the information regarding the topology of the network, i.e. the connections of the users in the SN. For the experimental phase, we have compared the performance of the described algorithm against the performance of some well-known algorithms extracted from the State-of-theArt. The results reveal that the proposed Topology-based ACO algorithm is a good approach to solve the community finding problem and it provides competitive results against the analyzed algorithms.


This paper describes the similarities and differences between two widely publicized methods for analyzing oscillator phase behavior. The methods were presented by Adler (1946) and Hajimiri and Lee (1998). It is pointed out that both methods are almost alike. While Alder's one in can be shown to be, mathematically, more exact, the approximate method of Hajimiri and Lee is somewhat simpler, facilitating its use for purposes of analysis and design. In this paper, we show that, for stationary input noise sources, both methods produce equal results for the oscillator's phase noise behavior. However, when considering injection locking, it is shown that both methods yield different results, with the approximation of Hajimiri and Lee being unable to predict the locking behavior. In general, when the input signal causing the oscillator phase perturbations is non-stationary, the exact model produces the correct results while results obtained using the approximate model break down.


The global Vision Zero approach aims to reduce work-related injuries, diseases, and deaths as much as possible. Proactive planning of work and the working environment as well as early identification of emerging risks and workload factors will promote the occupational safety and health (OSH) of employees. In the future, climate change may both directly and indirectly influence OSH. This study investigates the OSH effects that have been identified in interdisciplinary studies related to climate change. Moreover, it examines various ways of adjusting to climate change. The methods consist of a literature review and a qualitative content analysis of documents. This interdisciplinary study expands on the current knowledge of future challenges concerning OSH with respect to climate change. Practical means of adapting to climate change have rarely been suggested at the organizational level. Future studies should explore approaches to adapting to climate change and develop related practices.


Freeze-thawing of blood infected with malaria parasites is a technique which brings about the destruction of all stages except the merozoites and makes possible investigations on the behaviour of these merozoites and the schizogonic rhythm of each species. Merozoites of Plasmodium y. yoelii remain in the blood during the 24 hrs. following inoculation; it is concluded that their penetration in the erythrocytes occurs gradually during this time. Synchronism is poor. Merozoites of P. vinckei petteri penetrate rapidly inside the erythrocytes independently of the time of inoculation. Infection is therefore synchronous and does not follow the circadian rhythm of the host. Penetration of merozoites of P. c. chabaudi is predominant at midnight when rodents are maintained with a normal circadian rhythm (light from 8 am to 8 pm) and predominant at noon when the rhythm of the host is inverted (light from 8 pm to 8 am). Infection is therefore synchronous and follows the host rhythm. The three species of plasmodia coexisting in Thamnomys rutilans from CAR show the same periodicity of 24 hrs. but, because of differences in the biology of the merozoites, they occupy three distinct niches. These notions have great practical implications in chronotherapy, as many data lead to the idea that merozoites are drug resistant.


Estimations of the size and development of the shadow economy for 145 countries, including developing, transition and highly developed OECD economies over the period 1999 to 2003 are presented. The average size of the shadow economy (as a percent of ?official? GDP) in 2002/03 in 96 developing countries is 38.7%, in 25 transition countries 40.1%, in 21 OECD countries 16.3% and in 3 Communist countries 22.3%. An increased burden of taxation and social security contributions, combined with a labor market regulation are the driving forces of the shadow economy. Finally, the various estimation methods are discussed and critically evaluated.


Streptokinase-human plasmin complex (Sk-hPm) reacted rapidly with purified mouse alpha 2-macroglobulin (m alpha 2M) in vitro at 37 degrees C. Approx. 98% of the plasmin in Sk-hPm bound covalently to at least one m alpha 2M subunit. Most of the streptokinase dissociated (95%). The rate of Sk-hPm inactivation clearly depended on the m alpha 2M concentration. With 1.2 microM-m alpha 2M, 50% of the Sk-hPm (0.02 microM) reacted in less than 50 s. A double-reciprocal plot comparing pseudo-first-order rate constants (kapp.) and m alpha 2M concentration yielded a second-order rate constant of 2.3 x 10(4) M-1.s-1 (r = 0.97). This value is an approximation, since Sk-hPm preparations are heterogeneous. Sk-hPm reacted with human alpha 2M (h alpha 2M), forming alpha 2M-plasmin complex (98% covalent). More than 99% of the streptokinase dissociated. The rate of reaction of Sk-hPm with h alpha 2M did not clearly depend on inhibitor concentration. The kapp. values determined with 0.6-1.2 microM-h alpha 2M were decreased 10-20-fold compared with m alpha 2M. In order to study the effect of Sk-hPm heterogeneity on the reaction with alpha 2M, the proteinase was incubated for various amounts of time at 37 degrees C before addition of inhibitor. The enzyme amidase activity was maximal within 5 min; however, reaction of Sk-hPm with m alpha 2M or h alpha 2M was most extensive after 20 min and 2 h respectively. After incubation for more than 1 h, Sk-hPm acquired fibrinogenolytic activity, suggesting plasmin dissociation. Therefore the enhanced reaction of h alpha 2M with 'older' Sk-hPm preparations may have resulted in part from dissociated plasmin or 'plasmin-like' species. By contrast, the reaction of Sk-hPm with m alpha 2M was most rapid when the proteinase preparation was free of plasmin, indicating direct reaction of Sk-hPm with m alpha 2M as the only major mechanism. Finally, streptokinase-cat plasminogen complex reacted more extensively with m alpha 2M than with h alpha 2M, suggesting that m alpha 2M may be a superior inhibitor with this class of plasminogen activators in general.


Remote sensing techniques in the exploration for petroleum have not moved from the small-scale, limited-study-area, experimental state to full-scale, large-area, operational status. Remote sensing techniques will have come to maturity when total basin surveys for known and potential hydrocarbon anomalies are common-place. As with much of petroleum exploration, remote sensing is primarily an indirect technique limited to the development of drillable petroleum prospects. Remote sensing techniques include spectroscopic analysis, which offers the potential for airborne geochemical surveys. Research toward the latter objective is still in early phases. The most commonly used wavelengths are the visible part of the spectrum (0.3-0.7 µ), infrared film emulsions (0.3-1.1µ), and thermal infrared (8-14µ). Equipment and materials covering these spectral bands are the best developed and the most widely available. Exploration in areas of consistently poor illumination because of meteorologic conditions will bring about increased use of the longer wavelength (microwave) equipment. Cloud penetration is a function of wavelength; passive microwave radiometers, side-looking radar, and scatterometers possess this capability. Currently, airborne microwave instrumentation is not widely available, but indications are that it will come into wider use. Educational opportunities to orient exploration personnel to the uses and limitations of this new tool appear adequate. In addition to the proliferation of short courses on remote sensing at numerous universities, industry-sponsored seminars have been conducted. Service companies prepared to perform multisensor data collecting on a global scale are now operational. They offer, on a contract basis, sophisticated equipment in advanced aircraft, with or without interpretation packages. In addition to petroleum companies, their clientele includes mining companies, widely diversified agricultural interests, and domestic and foreign government agencies. End_of_Article - Last_Page 857------------


ABSTRACT This article is a case study of a program designed by INTACH for Teaching Comparative Religions and Heritage. The purpose of the program was to evolve a creative and educational experience for students to study the different faiths of India through the exploration of their artistic contributions in architecture, sculpture, painting, and music and other performing arts. The program resulted in the production of a film called Heritage and Harmony that is being used as a teaching aid for heritage education in INTACH teacher training program throughout India. In this film a group of students explore various tangible and intangible aspects of Islamic culture including philosophy, architecture, music, food, traditions, and festivals. The film depicts interesting ways to study heritage through walks with an expert to a monument or museum, interviews and discussion with members of the local community, workshops on a craft or living tradition (painting, calligraphy, music, dance, etc.), recording information, creative writing and poetry exercises, drawing, photography, and film making. The experiment in making a film on comparative religions and heritage education proved to be informative. It was clear that students in India wanted to know more about the world, other religions, and philosophies. The multidisciplinary approach appealed to the different abilities and talents of students. Most important students commented that this program had offered them their first, real experience in understanding the cultural context in which they live.


Glioblastoma is the most common primary tumor of the CNS in adults, representing approximately 50% of all gliomas and 15% of primary brain tumors. The current standard of care for GBM is safe maximal surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and concurrent Temozolomide (TMZ), but median survival continues to be 15–16 months. Temozolomide is a second-generation DNA alkylating agent that induces thymine mispairing during DNA replication resulting in tumor cell G2/M phase arrest and autophagy, a standard care of therapy against GBM. While the success of TMZ in clinical trials showed great promise for its overall efficacy, emerging TMZ resistance make us to think more for the combination therapy. CD47, a tumor cell surface marker, plays as "don9t eat me signal" through binding its receptor SIRPα on macrophages and the antibody against CD47, which blocks interactions of CD47 with SIRPα, has been shown to lead to tumor destruction. Furthermore, CD47 is a prognostic marker as its expression predisposes cancer patients to a poorer survival outcome. This has significant clinical implications since approximately more than 80% of patients with the most GBMs, overexpress CD47. Overexpression of CD47 is also associated with a decreased probability of survival in clinical cohorts of GBM. Our work and that of others demonstrate that CD47 blockade enables tumor cell phagocytosis by antigen presenting cells (APC), establishing this molecule as a viable therapeutic target in GBM. We additionally investigated the combinatorial effect of CD47 blockade with temozolomide. DNA alkylating agents induce sporadic tumor cell necrosis associated with the extracellular release of damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) such as calreticulin, a pro-phagocytic protein whose interaction with low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) facilitates recognition by professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and acts as a critical molecular component in promoting immunogenic cell. Our results showed that tumor cell treatment with temozolomide induces plasma membrane expression of calreticulin. Combination therapy resulted in amplified tumor cell phagocytosis and antigen presentation by APC. In addition, preclinical assessment of combination therapy in a syngeneic murine model of GBM resulted in significantly improved survival, characterized by increased intra-tumor penetration of APC cells. These results suggest that the combination of CD47 blockade with temozolomide may enhance tumor immunogenicity, and can improve clinical outcomes demonstrated by mono-therapeutic approaches with conventional chemotherapy. Citation Format: Yaqing Qie, Christina Von Roemeling, Yuanxin Chen, Kevin Shih, Xiujie Liu, Wen Jiang, Joshua Knight, Charles Chan, Irving Weissman, Betty Kim. CD47 blockade with temozolomide can enhance the therapy in glioblastoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-208. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-LB-208


Clinicians in the emergency department are often confronted with coma patients due to poisoning. A systematic general approach involving early consultation with a neurologist is of paramount importance. A high index of suspicion, a systematic first assessment already in the prehospital phase and early stabilisation of vital functions are the essential first steps. Specific antidotes like hypertonic glucose and thiamine are part of a "coma cocktail". The opiate antagonist naloxone should be used only when clinically indicated and in a titrated way. Flumazenil should only be used with caution and in restricted cases. Clinical neurological evaluation and technical investigations like CT-scan and laboratory tests should make part of a careful diagnostic plan. Toxicological tests deserve their place in the diagnostic work up of a coma patient with suspected poisoning. Knowledge of the possibilities of the toxicology lab and optimal communication with the clinical toxicologist is important for optimal patient care.


The recent launch of Google Wallet has brought the issue of technology solutions in mobile payments (m-payments) to the forefront. In deciding whether and when to adopt m-payments, senior managers in banks are concerned about uncertainties regarding future market conditions, technology standards, and consumer and merchant responses, especially their willingness to adopt. This study applies economic theory and modeling for decision-making under uncertainty to bank investments in m-payment systems technology. We assess the projected benefits and costs of investment as a continuous-time stochastic process to determine optimal investment timing. We find that the value of waiting to adopt jumps when the related business environment experiences relevant shocks. Also, when the rate of benefit flows, the time horizon for decision-making, and the time value of money change, the recommended investment timing and optimal investment value will change too. We also consider how network effects influence decision-making for this IT investment context.


The greatly enhanced fields near metal nanoparticles have demonstrated remarkable optical properties and are promising for applications from solar energy to biosensing. However, direct experimental study of these light-matter interactions at the nanoscale has remained difficult due to the limitations of optical microscopy. Here, we use single-molecule fluorescence imaging to probe how a plasmonic nanoantenna modifies the fluorescence emission from a dipole emitter. We show that the apparent fluorophore emission position is strongly shifted upon coupling to an antenna and that the emission of dyes located up to 90 nm away is affected by this coupling. To predict this long-ranged effect, we present a framework based on a distance-dependent partial coupling of the dye emission to the antenna. Our direct interpretation of these light-matter interactions will enable more predictably optimized, designed, and controlled plasmonic devices and will permit reliable plasmon-enhanced single-molecule nanoscopy.


The difference in density and wave velocity causes distinct wave impedance between air and wood, resulting in complex acoustic emission (AE) signals due to reflection on the wood's surface. This study explores the suppression of AE signal reflection by modifying the structure of thin wood panels, utilizing the theory of acoustic black holes (ABH). Initially, aone-dimensional ABH structure was created by forming a wedge structure on one side of thespecimen. Pencil-lead break (PLB) tests simulated sudden AE sources on the specimen's surface. AE signals were collected using three equidistant sensors on the upper surface, with asampling frequency of 2MHz. The AE signal was then segmented into frequency bands using the differential method and analyzed in both time and frequency domains. Comparisons were made to understand the impact of the one-dimensional ABH on AE signal propagation. Results demonstrated that the one-dimensional ABH effectively suppressed AE signal reflection on thewood's surface, reducing the high-frequency components by 18.31%, 20.83%, and 12.09% for each sensor, respectively. Furthermore, the experimental cut-off frequency of 0.98 kHz surpassed the theoretically calculated value of 0.39 kHz due to the disparity between the ABH structure's thickness and the theoretical prediction.


Self-efficacy and adherence are important factor in improving the quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to determine the relationship between self-efficacy and adherence to the quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study was a cross-sectional, with sample of 125 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy (DMSES), the Diabetes Activities Questionare (TDAQ), and the Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) were employed as instruments. The results showed that self-efficacy (0.0005), and adherence (0.0005) were significantly associated with quality of life and the most dominant variable is adherence. Multivariate test results indicate that the variable self-efficacy, adherence, depression, and education level determines quality of life of diabetic patients. This study suggestion the need for nursing assessment and interventions that focus on the self-efficacy and adherence diabetes mellitus patient. Keywords : self efficacy, adherence, quality of life, diabetes type 2


The dried root of Ardisia gigantifolia Stapf. (RAG) is mainly used as a Chinese folk medicine. A clear understanding of its major components is very important in their rational clinical use and pharmacological research. To find more of the major components in RAG, a high performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization and quadrupole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry method (HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS) was proposed. The components were characterised based on their accurate mass and MS/MS data provided by the QTOF-MS as well as by comparison with information from the literature. In this study, 27 phytochemical components were tentatively characterised. Notably, out of the 27 components, 8 triterpenoid saponins are new and their chemical structures have been proposed for the first time in RAG. These results showed that the HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS method was a powerful tool for a comprehensive research of RAG, which could provide a meaningful basis for further quality control and pharmacological as well as toxicological research studies.