In this paper, a new contactless conveyor system based on an original aerodynamic traction principle is described and experimented. This device is able to convey without any contact flat objects like silicon wafer, glass sheets or foodstufff thanks to an air cushion and induced air flows. A model of the system is established and the identification of the parameters is carried out. A closed-loop control is proposed for one dimension position control and position tracking. The PID-controller gives good performances for different reference signals. Its robustness to object change and perturbation rejection are also tested.


— The mobility inside a city is an indicator of the life quality of his population. When the technological infrastructure in whish are supported the traffic systems hasn't enough capabilities, makes a deterioration in the individual capabilities for travel inside his environment, The traffic lights system in Bogota needs a upgrade process because it count whit technological platforms with more than 30 years of service. This article shows the techniques characteristics of the traffic computers and local traffic control equipment in existence in the traffic lights system of Bogota and projected a minimal requirement for the integration of the infrastructure of the traffic lights inside a traffic intelligent system (SIT)


This paper analyzes the creation of the Historical and Pedagogical Museums network in the State of Sao Paulo between 1956 and 1973, mainly taking into consideration the concept for creation, the program, and the role of the museum in society. This work covers a period until the end of the 1990's, when the curators of the museums, which belonged to the State until that time, was transferred to the municipalities by means of a "municipalization" process coordinated by the Department of Museums and Archives of the State Department of Cultural Affairs (DEMA-SEC). It also shows that the implementation of this museums network - among other initiatives in the fields of education and of culture - addressed earlier needs of asserting an identity, emphasizing through projects of this type the hegemonic character of the State. This allowed to align the initiative of creating the museums with others actions carried out by the State before, and also enabled that this topic was take out from its long isolation from the study of State history. It also considers the web of relationships existing among the various sectors with which museums were connected, such as education, culture, and the Sao Paulo Historical and Geographical Institute, the Government, and Society. The implementation of Historical and Pedagogical Museums by means of State action, through its Departments of Education (from 1956 to 1968) and Cultural Affairs (from 1968 to 1998) was one of the ways through which the Government orientated its activities during those years in the fields of history, education and culture. The central thesis is that the implementation of these museums has fully addressed the aspirations of society at the time, while, at the same time, underscoring the logic behind the ideation that has oriented the characteristic mode of operation of museums during the years in which their curatorship was exercised by the Government, and proposes to consider them as a paradigm for "historical museums of the State of Sao Paulo".


A revised lithostratigraphy and glacial history of north Hertfordshire and south Bedfordshire is based upon detailed textural data in the clay to fine gravel fraction, carbonate content, small clast lithological data and macrofabrics, derived from laboratory and field analyses of tills from 30 sites. These include four deep boreholes sunk within the Hitchin Gap. A range of statistical procedures was used, including multivariate analysis of the petrographic properties, enabling the identification of tills from two separate incursions into the Gap. A further till-type was identified in south Bedfordshire indicating an ice advance from the northwest/NNW extending at least as far east as Milton Bryan. Statistical comparison with tills in the neighbouring Vale of St. Albans suggested the presence of the Ware Member till within the Gap. Two hypotheses are suggested to explain variations in lithological content of tills north of the Chalk scarp. The first envisages ice entering the study area along the different trajectories suggested by Fish and Whiteman (2001). During the early part of the glaciation, ice reaching the west of the study area would approach from the north, crossing a shorter distance over Chalk bedrock and collecting less chalk and flint than ice moving into the eastern part of the study area. The second hypothesis invokes an incursion of ice from a northwest NNW direction into the west of the study area, depositing a chalk-free till. This is subsequently assimilated by ice from the northeast, resulting in the final deposition of a homogeneous mixture of debris from the two advances, with a lower chalk content than tills found to the east. The outcome of either of these scenarios is a till with a low acid-soluble content and low flint/quartz ratio in the west of the study area, as found during this work. Within the Hitchin Gap, a lobe of ice, probably an early part of the northeasterly advance, deposited a lower till. This is considered to be earlier than the Ware Member till and has more variable lithological characteristics and a finer matrix that the higher tills. The latter are mainly melt-out, flow or slumped tills with occasional instances of lodgement and deformation. They represent in situ wasting of dead ice within the Gap. Surface tills in the Gap form a continuum with tills to the north and comprise mainly deformation tills, deposited by the final northeasterly re-advance of ice responsible for widespread coverage of the region, with the exception of the Chiltern Hills southwest of Hitchin. No evidence is found of more than one lithostratigraphic unit of till outside the Hitchin Gap.


Genomic and antigenic characterization of the Salehabad virus, a species of the genus Phlebovirus, and four other unclassified phleboviruses (Arbia, Adria, Arumowot and Odrenisrou) demonstrate a serological and genetic relation to one another and are distinct from the eight other recognized species within the genus Phlebovirus. We propose to incorporate these four unclassified viruses as part of the Salehabad species complex within the genus. The known geographical distribution for the members of this species group includes southern Europe, Central Asia and Africa.


Clouds have a decisive impact on the Earth's radiation budget and on the temperature of the atmosphere and surface. In global weather and climate models, however,
cloud-radiation interaction is treated in an approximate way that contributes to the large uncertainty due to clouds in climate predictions. One of the simplifications is to only consider radiative transfer in one vertical dimension and neglect horizontal radiative transfer. This thesis provides the first systematic estimates of the global impact of 3D cloud-radiation interactions in the shortwave and longwave. We show that 3D cloud effects consist of both horizontal transfer through cloud sides and horizontal transfer within regions. We develop the longwave part of the SPARTACUS radiation scheme that incorporates treatment of these 3D effects in a one-dimensional radiation calculation at a numerical
cost suitable for a global weather and climate model, and validate the scheme. SPARTACUS includes the effects of cloud internal inhomogeneity, of horizontal in-region
transport and of the spatial distribution of in-cloud radiative fluxes. Algorithm evaluation is facilitated by an exact theoretical benchmark: for idealised optically thick cubic clouds, we can reason analytically that neglecting longwave 3D cloud side effects leads to an underestimation of cloud radiative effect (CRE) by exactly a factor of three. We introduce a new measure of the cloud geometry information relevant to radiation
in the "effective cloud scale" CS, which only depends on cloud type. Analysis of the effective cloud scale of various cloud types demonstrates that CS = 1.0 ± 0.4 km is a good estimate for the cloud scale of boundary-layer clouds, irrespective of their cloud type and of data source. More variety of cloud types at middle and high levels leads to a greater uncertainty range of CS = 5 to 20 km for clouds above the boundary layer, with a best estimate of CS = 10 km. We conduct offline radiation calculations on atmospheric states from a year of ERAInterim re-analysis. We estimate that overall 3D cloud effects warm the Earth by about 4 W m−2, with warming effects in both the shortwave and the longwave, of 3 W m−2 and 1 W m−2 respectively at top-of-atmosphere and both about 2 W m−2 at the surface. Longwave heating and cooling in vertical layers is increased by up to 0.2 K d−1 and −0.3 K d−1 respectively. In the shortwave, we have separated two different 3D effects. We find that
the effect of transport through cloud sides has a cooling effect of around −1 W m−2. This cooling is dominated by the previously rarely investigated effect of in-region horizontal transfer that significantly decreases cloud reflectance and warms the Earth's system by 5 W m−2. These 3D effects are neglected by current models, but are noticeably stronger than the effect of anthropogenic greenhouse gases and therefore definitely worth considering in climate simulations. We have shown for the first time how this can be achieved in a computationally affordable way.


The interactive whiteboard is a fairly recent technical device, which has become an increasingly important teaching aid. The interactive whiteboard is supposed to have a positive impact on English Language Teaching, due to its interactivity and the unlimited opportunities it creates for language teaching. However, findings still show that the interactive whiteboard is used more as a traditional whiteboard to write and show information on rather than as an interactive teaching and learning device. This study seeks to investigate English language teachers' integration of the IWB in ELT. A qualitative approach was used to collect data for this study. Four English Language Teachers at a lower secondary school in southern Sweden were interviewed. The result from this study shows similarities to previous research. The decisive factors for the participants' incorporation of the IWB in ELT, such as attitude, knowledge and time, were comparable to previous studies. The result also implies that the participants saw the interactive whiteboard as a useful tool in English Language Teaching and as a regular part of their teaching. Nevertheless, there was a desire among the teachers to learn more about the interactive whiteboard and its possibilities and also to develop their skills in order to improve their teaching and the pupil's language proficiency. Although the teachers in the study used the interactive whiteboard frequently and interactively, the result shows that the most frequent usage was to display information non-interactively.


Importance Advances in surgical techniques, the advent of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), and the use of concurrent chemotherapy in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have led to improvement of locoregional control (LRC), but not distant control (DC). Moreover, the development of distant metastases (DM) in OSCC has a dismal prognosis. Objective To determine the characteristics and risk factors of DM following postoperative IMRT in OSCC, and to identify the clinicopathological features that could be associated with distant-only failure (DOF). Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective study of 300 OSCC patients (192 [64%] men and 108 [36%] women) treated with surgery and postoperative IMRT between 2005-2012 in a tertiary cancer center. Interventions All patients underwent initial primary curative-intent resection with postoperative IMRT with or without concurrent chemotherapy based on predefined risk features. Main Outcomes and Measures Locoregional control, DC, overall survival (OS), and Radiation Therapy Oncology Group grade of 3 or higher late toxic effects. Multivariable analysis identified predictors for DM. Results Overall 300 patients were identified (histological grade 2-3 [G2-3], 285 [95%]; pT3-4, 121 [41%]; pN2-3, 141 [47%]). Positive resection margin was present in 64 of 300 (21%) patients and extracapsular extension in 89 of 281 (32%) neck dissections. Median IMRT dose was 66 Gy and concurrent chemotherapy was used in 73 patients (24%). Median follow-up was 41 months. The 5-year local, regional, and distant control and OS were 85%, 82%, 86%, and 69%, respectively. On multivariable analysis, pN2-3 (hazards ratio, 5.7; 95% CI, 2.2-14.7) and G2-3 (HR, 4.9; 95% CI, 2.8-8.9) were predictive of DM. Thirty-nine patients developed DM, of which 20 (51%) were DOF and 12 (31%) were oligometastatic (⩽5 lesions). The clinicopathological characteristics in DOF were similar to patients with DM subsequent to locoregional failure. In patients with G2-3, pN2-3, and extracapsullar extension (all together), the 5-year cumulative incidence of DOF was 22%. Conclusions and Relevance Surgery and postoperative IMRT with or without concurrent chemotherapy achieved encouraging outcomes. The clinicopathological characteristics of DOF and DM with locoregional failure were similar. Patients with G2-3, pN2-3, and extracapsullar extension (all together) have higher risk of DOF. Both pN2-3 and G2-3 were independent predictors of DM. Patients with these risk factors may be candidates for prospective clinical trials of intensified therapy or surveillance strategies.


The effects of price changes on irrigation technology transitions and potential agricultural water conservation in the Pacific Northwest are analyzed using Parks' (1980) modified multinomial logit model. Results indicate that commodity price effects are statistically significant, but they are relatively small with nonprogram crop price effects greater than program crop price effects. Locational factors are also found to affect technology transitions. In the absence of water policy changes, continued irrigation technology adoption by year 2005 will result in average annual water savings of approximately 404,000 acre-feet in the Pacific Northwest.


The aim of the present study is to compare the calculated midline dose map with the in vivo measured midline dose map, using portal detectors in conjunction with a pair of diodes. Measurements were performed in 10 patients treated for head/neck cancer and irradiated with lateral opposed 6 MV X-ray beams. The relative exit dose map, derived from transmission dose data of a portal film combined with the absolute entrance/exit dose measured by the diodes, can be used to derive the corresponding midline dose map by applying appropriate algorithms. Midplane dose values were estimated in eight relevant anatomic positions and compared with the corresponding calculated values with our three-dimensional (3D) treatment planning system using two-dimensional (2D) (Batho) and 3D (ETAR) inhomogeneity correction algorithms. In vivo estimated midplane doses agree within +/-3.5% relative to treatment planning calculations in 89 of 116 measurements points, with only 4 of 116 points outside +/-5%. A variation between measured and calculated dose can be found according to anatomical location. For air inhomogeneity, mean deviations were +2.2% (1 standard deviation (SD) approximately 1.7%) for both Batho and ETAR algorithms; for bone structures, mean deviations were approximately -0.6% (1 SD approximately 2.7%) for both algorithms. The worst agreement was found in the anterior neck where the mean deviation between measured and calculated midline dose was +3.1% (1 SD=1.4%) and +3.4% (1 SD= 2%) using Batho and ETAR, respectively. Sufficiently accurate 2D midplane dose maps may be simply obtained in vivo in the irradiation of head/neck cancer by using a portal detector in combination with a pair of diodes, in order to verify the dose actually delivered during treatment.


Summary: Neutral L-amino acids were added to liquid cultures of Pseudomonas syringae pv. atropurpurea that were entering the exponential phase of growth. For each amino acid addition experiment the production of the usual coronafacoyl compounds, coronatine and N-coronafacoyl-L-valine, was diminished and a new product was detected. This was isolated and purified, and established by mass spectrometry and GC analysis of the amino acid released by acid hydrolysis to be the N-coronafacoyl amide of each L-amino acid added to the culture. Coupling was established to occur between coronafacic acid and the L-amino acids alanine, α-aminobutyric acid, norvaline, isoleucine, alloisoleucine, leucine and norleucine. These results suggest that an intracellular enzyme system is operating which lacks an overall rigid specificity in the coupling (amide bond formation) between coronafacic acid and aliphatic neutral amino acids.


Discovering why adolescents take sexual risks, despite knowing the consequences, is a vital first step in combating the problem. Optimistic bias, the misperception that one is less likely than others to experience negative consequences from health behaviors, offers a promising explanation for adolescents' sexual risk taking. Unfortunately, optimistic bias research has neglected adolescents and minorities, relying heavily on European American college students as study subjects. Results from a small-scale survey of "at-risk" youth indicate that African American adolescents exhibit optimistic bias, believing they are less likely than peers to become pregnant (or cause a pregnancy). Findings indicate that optimistic bias is linked to sexual risk taking in youth, sexual intentions, and attitudes toward sexual activity. Although the current study is one of the first to include minority youth and one of the first to confirm a relationship between optimistic bias and risk behaviors, the findings suggest a promising course of action in reducing risky sexual practices among youth and, eventually, teen pregnancies.


The standard Bond method is the most acceptable method for designing and selecting ball/rod mills described by their basic parameter called work index (Wi). The standard Bond method is a tedious time consuming procedure requiring at least 7 - 10 grinding cycles, so that many researchers have tried to simplify this method to be able to perform a rapid calculation of a work index. This study aims to develop a new approach toward estimating the Bond ball mill work index (BBWI) by applying a series of kinetic grinding tests with Bond standard mill. Establishing a series of relationships between grinding parameters and Bond equation parameters, this approach is fast and practical due to eliminating laboratory control steps while reducing the number of milling steps. In this scope, thirteen ore samples were used to compare Wi values obtained by standard Bond method with those of the proposed kinetic approach. The kinetic periods were determined as 0.33, 1, 2, 4 and 8 minutes. The results of kinetic tests were found to be logical and acceptable as they were so close to the values obtained by Bond standard method, for all samples error was ≤ 2.60%. It was therefore concluded that the proposed approach could be considered as a simple yet practical alternative for the standard Bond method.


The interstitial microwave antenna array hyperthermia (IMAAH) system produces a pattern of specific absorption rate (SAR) that is nonuniform within a 2-cm square array when driven in phase at 915 MHz. It was found that phase modulation makes the time-averaged SAR pattern significantly more uniform in planes perpendicular to the antennas. To drive antennas in phase at 433 MHz similarly improves SAR uniformity when the antennas are of resonance length. >


Insulin regulates glucose uptake into fat and muscle by modulating the subcellular distribution of GLUT4 between the cell surface and intracellular compartments. However, quantification of these translocation processes in muscle by classical subcellular fractionation techniques is confounded by contaminating microfibrillar protein; dynamic studies at the molecular level are almost impossible. In this study, we introduce a muscle-specific transgenic mouse model in which HA-GLUT4-GFP is expressed under the control of the MCK promoter. HA-GLUT4-GFP was found to translocate to the plasma membrane and T-tubules after insulin stimulation, thus mimicking endogenous GLUT4. To investigate the dynamics of GLUT4 trafficking in skeletal muscle, we quantified vesicles containing HA-GLUT4-GFP near the sarcolemma and T-tubules and analyzed insulin-stimulated exocytosis at the single vesicle level by total internal reflection fluorescence and confocal microscopy. We found that only 10% of the intracellular GLUT4 pool comprised mobile vesicles, whereas most of the GLUT4 structures remained stationary or tethered at the sarcolemma or T-tubules. In fact, most of the insulin-stimulated exocytosis emanated from pretethered vesicles, whereas the small pool of mobile GLUT4 vesicles was not significantly affected by insulin. Our data strongly suggest that the mobile pool of GLUT4 vesicles is not a major site of insulin action but rather locally distributed. Most likely, pretethered GLUT4 structures are responsible for the initial phase of insulin-stimulated exocytosis.


Approach: Literature review of the multifaceted interactions between platelets, coagulation and cancer. Results: Over the years, the links existing between cancer development, progression and occurrence of metastasis on one side and coagulation on the other have become obvious. Tumors seems to activate platelets whereas, platelets, on the other hand, through their capacity to activate and release soluble factors and microparticles, interact with tumor cells and influence immune regulation. They appear to be key regulators of many cancer events. Furthermore, coagulation with its different facets also interplays and significantly crosstalks with malignancy. The objectives of this article are to review the mechanisms through which cancer interacts with platelets and the coagulation, triggering thrombosis and the role played by platelets and coagulation factors in the regulation of cancer and to underline the perspectives that are now open in the development of novel diagnostic tools and new cancer treatment strategies. Conclusion/Recommendations: Challenging issues and unresolved questions still need to be addressed to understand the complexity existing between coagulation factors and platelet components and the different stages of cancer progression. Recent discoveries are leading clinicians to consider new therapeutic applications of anticoagulant therapies or new drugs targeting specific platelet functions in cancer patients' management. Furthermore, markers of coagulation and platelet activity may prove to serve as biomarkers for dormant tumors.


This essay is about two single-channel digital video artworks by Auckland artist Stella Brennan, South Pacific (2007, 11 minutes), made with David Perry, and The Middle Landscape (2009, 10.30 mins). In rather different ways, these meditative works, which combine imagery, on-screen text and sound, speak to, from and of the necessary but historically necessarily tragic ordering of the world that every human and technical action produces. Art is charged with imagining and perhaps putting into practice orders other than those we inherit. For moving image media, the inherited order is inescapably tied up with the heritage of classical Hollywood cinema, directly in the case of South Pacific with Rogers and Hammerstein's musical, more loosely through the cinema's fascination with landscape from the Western to Middle Earth. Brennan's art reconsiders the order of the world, re-orienting it around a Pacific perspective, from which order no longer appears as static structure, but as a imagination of other futures.


A Riemannian manifold is called geometrically formal if the wedge product of any two harmonic forms is again harmonic. We classify geometrically formal compact 4-manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature. If the sectional curvature is strictly positive, the manifold must be homeomorphic to S^4 or diffeomorphic to CP^2. This conclusion stills holds true if the sectional curvature is strictly positive and we relax the condition of geometric formality to the requirement that the length of harmonic 2-forms is not too nonconstant. In particular, the Hopf conjecture on S^2 x S^2 holds in this class of manifolds.


Background Obesity in adolescents is associated with their mental as well as physical health. Adolescents tend to have negative or distorted perceptions about their body weight; however, the effects of such weight misperception on mental health remain unclear. This study investigated the association between weight misperception and mental health in Korean adolescents. Methods The analysis was based on the Korea Youth Risk Behavior web-based survey 2017 dataset, which included data from 62,276 middle and high school students at 800 schools throughout Korea. The students were divided into three groups according to whether they overestimated their body weight, underestimated it, or had no misperception. The mental health characteristics of the overestimation and no misperception groups were compared through multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Based on their body mass index, male adolescents were more likely to be overweight than female adolescents (p < 0.001) and less likely to have weight misperception. The female adolescents were more likely to overestimate their body weight and less likely to underestimate it (p < 0.001). The male adolescents and female adolescents who overestimated their body weight had significantly lower levels of subjective happiness than their peers had and were more likely to experience subjective stress, sadness/despair, suicidal ideation, and suicide planning. Compared with their peers who have no misperception, male adolescents with overestimation were less likely to drink alcohol (odds ratio [OR], 0.903) or smoke (OR, 0.871), whereas female adolescents with overestimation were more likely to drink alcohol (OR, 1.107) and smoke (OR, 1.130). Conclusion Male and female adolescents who overestimated their body weight experienced more psychological problems. Thus, interventions to assist adolescents to gain realistic weight perception may be beneficial. Particularly, more attention needs to be given to female adolescents, who are more likely to overestimate their body weight compared with their male counterparts.


Conventional cyber defenses typically respond to detected attacks by rejecting them as quickly and decisively as possible; but aborted attacks are missed learning opportunities for intrusion detection. A method of reimagining cyber attacks as free sources of live training data for machine learning-based intrusion detection systems (IDSes) is proposed and evaluated. Rather than aborting attacks against legitimate services, adversarial interactions are selectively prolonged to maximize the defender's harvest of useful threat intelligence. Enhancing web services with deceptive attack-responses in this way is shown to be a powerful and practical strategy for improved detection, addressing several perennial challenges for machine learning-based IDS in the literature, including scarcity of training data, the high labeling burden for (semi-)supervised learning, encryption opacity, and concept differences between honeypot attacks and those against genuine services. By reconceptualizing software security patches as feature extraction engines, the approach conscripts attackers as free penetration testers, and coordinates multiple levels of the software stack to achieve fast, automatic, and accurate labeling of live web data streams. Prototype implementations are showcased for two feature set models to extract security-relevant network- and system-level features from servers hosting enterprise-grade web applications. The evaluation demonstrates that the extracted data can be fed back into a network-level IDS for exceptionally accurate, yet lightweight attack detection.


: Speech recognition system has been widely used by many researchers using different methods to fulfill a fast and accurate system. Speech signal recognition is a typical classification problem, which generally includes two main parts: feature extraction and classification. In this work, three feature extraction methods, namely SLT, DWT Db1 and DWT Db4, were compared. The dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm is used for recognition. Twenty three Arabic words were recorded fifteen different times in a studio by one speaker to form a database. The proposed system was evaluated using this database. The result shows recognition accuracy of 93.04%, 92.17% and 94.78% using DWT Db1, DWT Db4 and SLT respectively.


The potentials of automotive radar for autonomous driving have not been fully exploited. We present a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) radar transmit and receive signal processing chain, a knowledge-aided approach exploiting the radar domain knowledge and signal structure, to generate high resolution radar range-azimuth spectra for object detection and classification using deep neural networks. To achieve waveform orthogonality among a large number of transmit antennas cascaded by four automotive radar transceivers, we propose a staggered time division multiplexing (TDM) scheme and velocity unfolding algorithm using both Chinese remainder theorem and overlapped array. Field experiments with multi-modal sensors were conducted at The University of Alabama. High resolution radar spectra were obtained and labeled using the camera and LiDAR recordings. Initial experiments show promising performance of object detection using an image-oriented deep neural network with an average precision of 96.1% at an intersection of union (IoU) of typically 0.5 on 2,000 radar frames.


This study evaluated whether a participatory action research intervention with nursing staff on acute care older people NHS wards in the UK was effective for increasing work engagement. Mediation analyses between job resources, (social support, influence in decision-making), job demands, work-related needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), and work engagement explored the presumed psychological mechanisms underlying the intervention. A nonrandomised, matched control group, pre-test, post-test design involved three intervention and five control wards. A significant decrease in relatedness, and a borderline significant decrease in competence, was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group, with no effect on work engagement (N=45). Work-related needs mediated between resources and work engagement, supporting the Job Demands-Resources model and Self-Determination Theory as an underlying explanatory theory. Intervention implementation was difficult, highlighting the need for participant and organisational readiness for change, and strong management support. This is the first known study to apply participatory techniques to increase work engagement in nursing staff and explore the underlying explanatory psychological mechanisms, offering a novel means of taking work engagement research forward. Crucially, it highlights the challenges involved in intervention research and the importance of including evaluations of intervention implementation alongside statistical evaluations to avoid erroneous conclusions.


We have been developing host–guest chemistry for separation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) according to diameter, metallicity, and even handedness. The host molecules named "nanotweezers" consisting of a rigid core and two receptors were designed and applied to CNT separation. To apply this methodology for separation of a wider range of CNTs with better selectivity, "nanocalipers" have been designed, which include a core, two corners, and two receptors. In this review, we focus on "nanocalipers", new host molecules next to the nanotweezers, from their molecular design and synthesis to CNT separation.


SUMMARY . Even though coagulopathy is a familiar entity in trauma, its relationship to burn injury remains unclear. Literature appears inconsistent as to the conclusions of the use of coagulation assays, either routine methods or newer viscoelastic coagulation assays (VCAs), thromboelastography (TEG) and rotational throm-boelastometry (ROTEM), for prediction of patients' coagulation status and mortality. The use of diagnostic assays as mortality markers will be of great importance, since they would recognize at early stages patients with great medical demands and objectify burn injury severity. The aim of this study was to review the literature and evaluate burn patients' characteristics and coagulation markers in the early post burn period. The secondary outcome was to investigate the role of different coagulation assays in mortality prognosis. Literature search was performed using PubMed, ScienceDirect, Wiley Online Library, Google Scholar, Proquest Dissertation and Theses Global, Scopus and Cochrane Library databases. All types of articles referring to adults with any type of burn injury admitted in the first 24h assessing coagulation and mortality were included. PRISMA guidelines ensured the evidence-based process. Eleven studies met the eligibility criteria. This review demonstrated the indubitable relationship of coagulopathy with burn injury and its significant impact on mortality. The rapid and dynamic process of coagulation makes standard coagulation assays unable to detect short-lived haemostatic changes. More susceptible markers such as VCAs need to be applied to the routine assessment of burn patients in order to obtain an overview on coagulopathy and standardize the gained knowledge.


LibraryH3lp is an integrated IM and web chat system designed specifically for Virtual Reference services in libraries. The software was designed for, and is currently used by, a night-time chat reference collaboraton between several large academic libraries. LibraryH3lp is designed for the workflow of chat reference, supporting multiple simultaneous operators and routing to queues of operators in a particular service area. It also supports web page embeddable chat ?widgets?, as well as simultaneous gateways to multiple IM protocols. This article discusses the motivation for the development of the software, and provides an overview of LibraryH3lp?s features and technical architecture. Parts of LibraryH3lp are available as open source. The complete application is available as a low-cost hosted service, and will eventually be available to be licensed for local hosting.


In the field of the development of Information Technology solutions, web applications are the most used tools for the businesses commercial management in their different scales. However, in the company "JM" Advertising, located in the city of Quevedo, Ecuador, does not have a digital medium in this regard, which supports the commercial management. That is, it does not have a digital catalog of products and services, nor orders online or online collections. In this context, web usability plays a key role in the process of developing successful websites. This paper proposes a methodology that allows the evaluation of the usability of two prototypes of web portals in the 'JM' advertising company. This methodology is applicable to other companies of similar functions. The methodology contains tools such as neutrosophic TOPSIS and neutrosophic AHP. Evaluation in the framework of neutrosophy incorporates the indeterminacy that is typical of decision-making processes, while the combination of AHP with TOPSIS allows us to take the advantages of both techniques.


This paper presents an analytical model to estimate the impact of using Web services as middleware technology. Explicitly, queueing networks (QN) are used to model a distributed application that use a Web Services middleware layer, with support of a set of open source and multiplatform tools for testing and modeling purposes. The model is used to foresee the overall system performance, taking into account both the service provider and the service consumer side. The results demonstrate that the proposed QN model produces accurate estimates of the response time and scalability, and can be used to evaluate and compare different hardware and software configurations


A neoclassical theory of gyroviscous radial momentum transport and poloidal and toroidal rotation has been compared with experiment in DIII-D discharges in different confinement regimes, with a range of neutral beam powers and with coand counterinjection, and with various types of dominant impurity species present. Calculated central toroidal rotation velocities and momentum confinement times agreed with experiment over a wide range of these conditions, with one notable exception in which a drift correction may be needed to reduce the gyroviscous toroidal force. Radial distributions of toroidal rotation velocities and radial electric field, calculated using the radial distribution of toroidal angular momentum input density, agreed with measured distributions. PACS 52.25.Fi, 52.25.Vy


We consider the problem of locating a point-source heart arrhythmia using data from a standard diagnostic procedure, where a reference catheter is placed in the heart, and arrival times from a second diagnostic catheter are recorded as the diagnostic catheter moves around within the heart. We model this situation as a nonconvex feasibility problem, where given a set of arrival times, we look for a source location that is consistent with the available data. We develop a new optimization approach and fast algorithm to obtain online proposals for the next location to suggest to the operator as she collects data. We validate the procedure using a Monte Carlo simulation based on patients' electrophysiological data. The proposed procedure robustly and quickly locates the source of arrhythmias without any prior knowledge of heart anatomy.


Wafer-level testing (wafer sort) is used in the semiconductor industry to reduce packaging and test cost. However, a large number of wafer-probe contacts lead to higher yield loss. Therefore, it is desirable that the number of chip pins contacted by tester channels during wafer sort be kept small to reduce the yield loss resulting from improper contacts. Since test time and the number of contacted chip pins are major practical constraints for wafer sort, not all scan-based digital tests can be applied to the die under test. We propose an optimization framework based on mathematical programming (integer linear programming, nonlinear programming, and geometric programming) and fast heuristic methods. This framework addresses test-access mechanism (TAM) optimization and test-length selection for wafer-level testing of core-based digital system-on-chips (SoCs). The objective here is to design a TAM architecture and determine test lengths for the embedded cores such that the overall SoC defect-screening probability at wafer sort is maximized. Defect probabilities for the embedded cores, obtained using statistical yield modeling, are incorporated in the optimization framework. Simulation results are presented for five of the ITC'02 SoC Test benchmarks.


We investigated the extent to which emotionally valenced words automatically cue spatio-motor representations. Participants made speeded button presses, moving their hand upward or downward while viewing words with positive or negative valence. Only the color of the words was relevant to the response; on target trials, there was no requirement to read the words or process their meaning. In Experiment 1, upward responses were faster for positive words, and downward for negative words. This effect was extinguished, however, when words were repeated. In Experiment 2, participants performed the same primary task with the addition of distractor trials. Distractors either oriented attention toward the words' meaning or toward their color. Congruity effects were increased with orientation to meaning, but eliminated with orientation to color. When people read words with emotional valence, vertical spatio-motor representations are activated highly automatically, but this automaticity is modulated by repetition and by attentional orientation to the words' form or meaning.


This thesis investigates and analyzes, with the help of the theoretical concept of Communities of Practice (CoP) the communication practice of an environmental organization in Sweden. The practice under investigation is a unit which is part of a municipal organization that works strategically with environmental issues, in order to achieve environmental goals set by the politicians of the municipality. Civil servants, that is, the members of the practice, have an ambition to increase and improve their communication. The problem is that the members of the practice perceive the communication that they carry out and their communication skills to be insufficient. With the concept of CoP and by focusing on two central components of the concept of "practice" and "meaning" this thesis investigates how the civil servants view their practice and what meanings they create on communication. This is in order to highlight what underlying assumptions the civil servants might have when it comes to their practice and their task to carry out communication. Furthermore, this thesis finds out what aspects of their meaning of communication that are reified and what aspects that are open for new meaning creation.
The study reveals that there exist diverse meanings within the environmental unit, on what communication means. Moreover, the study identifies a norm within the practice, indicating that to be a member of the practice it is important being ambitious and passionately engaged in environmental issues. The study also reveals a dominant aspect of an underlying assumption implying that an increased communication will turn the environmental unit´s practice into a more effective and successful one. A conclusion that is drawn is that the meaning of communication, created by the members of the practice is reified. Nevertheless, the norm and assumption that exist in the practice, implying that every member has to be engaged in environmental issues is open for new meaning creation, it is problematized by the members of the practice themselves. These findings might be helpful for the members of the practice in order to clarify and identify what obstacles they need to manage in order to develop and improve their communication practice. The study contributes to the research of focusing on communication practices within municipal organizations and presents a picture of what obstacles civil servants working within the environmental field have to tackle in their practice.


Expression of the bacterial gene for cytosine deaminase (CD; EC 188.8.131.52) in mammalian cells was evaluated as a negative selection system or suicide vector for potential use in gene transfer studies and therapies. Mammalian cells, unlike certain bacteria and fungi, do not contain the enzyme CD and do not ordinarily metabolize cytosine to uracil. Nor do they metabolize the innocuous compound 5-fluorocytosine to the highly toxic compound 5-fluorouracil. The Escherichia coli CD gene underwent PCR oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis to enhance its expression in a eukaryotic system and it was then cloned into an expression vector, pLXSN, that also contains a neomycin-resistance gene. Murine fibroblast lines were transfected with the plasmid and subjected to brief selection in the neomycin analogue G418. Lysates from these cell populations exhibited significant CD activity detected by conversion of radiolabeled cytosine to uracil. In clonogenic assays transfected cells expressing CD were selectively killed by incubation in 5-fluorocytosine, whereas control cell lines were not. Dose-response studies evaluating [3H]thymidine incorporation or cloning efficiency demonstrated profound inhibition at and above 65 micrograms of 5-fluorocytosine per ml. Mixed cellular assays showed that CD-positive cells could be eliminated without bystander killing of other cells. Retrovirus-mediated CD gene transfer into various tissues was also demonstrated. Thus CD, with its ability to produce the toxic antimetabolite 5-fluorouracil from 5-fluorocytosine, may be useful as a negative selection system for studies and treatments employing gene transfer techniques.


Abstract A practical clinical information system used in a hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is described, demonstrating its utility to automatically provide required regulatory reports and potential clinical performance improvement, in an easy-to-use way. Its use demonstrates how physician's workflow can be left unimpeded, while centralizing scribe activity to translate textually based documentation to structured data, to improve functionality within its departmental activity. The ability to easily view clinical trends from the collected data continues to demonstrate the value of structured data.


In their recent work, Bruno Latour and Isabelle Stengers propose that scientists, like politicians, practice "representation" in what Latour calls the "its ancient political role (Latour 2004, 41, 248; cf. Stengers 2000, 87). To propose this likeness is to utter an absurdity in the terms of the modernist world view (which Latour calls variously the 'Modern Constitution' or 'Modern Settlement') which cleaves the problem of representation in two - epistemological and political representation. By their insistence that science and politics both represent in the "ancient" political sense, Latour and Stengers mean to counter the governmentalist fiction of facts that speak for themselves and experts who transmit them. They propose a more pragmatic picture of science, one in which scientists design an experimental apparatus to "stage" a phenomenon as a "reliable witness" (Stengers 2000, 84; 1997, 88). This staging, or mediation, is where science and politics, the laboratory and the assembly, connect. This is what makes their argument so captivating: Latour and Stengers unfold a conception of representation that takes its definition from the assembly but its practice from the laboratory. What would it mean for representative democracy to take its model from science? This is a provocative suggestion but is it viable? This essay takes up the challenge that Latour and Stengers' work poses to theories of representative democracy, first tracing their line of argument, then considering what political theorists might have to learn from their core concepts of "spokespersonship," "reliable witness," and experimental risk.


Author(s): Le Guyader, Clare Lee Matilda | Advisor(s): Gianneschi, Nathan C | Abstract: Nanoparticles are the hallmark of nanomedicine, proving clinically relevant for the delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic drugs. Nanomaterials are highly versatile, with the ability for scientists to tailor composition and function to suit the desired application. Herein, two types of nanocarriers are investigated in the context of magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents: polymeric nanoparticles and protein carriers. A key research focus in applying nanoparticles for drug delivery is in understanding physicochemical properties affecting in vivo fate. Shape or morphology of a particle is a vastly underutilized property in the design of nanoparticles, and is difficult to predictably control in the context of polymeric nanoparticles. Investigations of block copolymer nanoassemblies evaluate effects of the polymer structure and the self-assembly process to form interesting and diverse structures.In this work, ring-opening metathesis polymerization is employed to prepare and study block copolymer amphiphile self-assembly. First, a small library of amphiphiles are prepared in which the hydrophobic block functionality is varied. In varying the polymer structure and the solvent for assembly, different morphologies are produced, including small and large spheres, cylinders, y-junctions, and rods. In several cases, one polymer can take on different morphologies depending on the organic cosolvent used during micellization, highlighting the importance of assembly conditions and dynamics in forming kinetically trapped structures versus thermodynamically stable structures. These are important considerations when designing, synthesizing, and formulating polymeric nanoparticles for in vivo applications. Next, direct incorporation of a gadolinium based contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging is studied. A novel monomer and chain transfer agent of a gadolinium-chelate are used to directly incorporate the contrast agent in to a polynorbornene polymer backbone. The resulting spherical and fibrillar nanoparticles exhibited enhanced relaxivity and are studied as MRI contrast agents using live imaging in murine models. Finally, a fatty acid ligand is conjugated to a gadolinium-based contrast agent is prepared and formulated with human serum albumin. In formulation with HSA, the agent exhibits high relaxivity and prolonged blood circulation. In addition, therapeutic conjugates formulated with HSA are evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity and found to be effective in tumor growth suppression in vivo.


Special education legislation has placed an increased emphasis on early intervention programs for children at risk for early literacy delays and behavioral disorders. Given this trend, it is important to understand the characteristics of students identified and served in at-risk programs. This study presents the findings from a cluster analysis on the early literacy and behavioral characteristics of 195 children screened at risk for behavioral disorders served in an early intervention program. Clustered variables included behavioral measures from the Early Screening Project (ESP; Walker, Severson, & Feil, 1995), Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD; Walker & Severson, 1992), and measures of early reading development from the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests—Revised (WRMT-R; Woodcock, 1998). Split-half procedures and external criteria were used to validate results. Five distinct subgroups were revealed: Broad Risks, Academic Achievers, Primarily Behavior, Primarily Academic, and Extreme Behaviors. Results indicate heterogeneous characteristics and clear areas of behavioral and early reading risk between subgroups within the greater sample. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.


Parallelism in the download process of large files is an efficient mechanism for distributed systems. In such systems, some peers (clients) exploit the power of parallelism to download blocks of data stored in a distributed way over some other peers (servers). Determining response times in parallel downloading with capacity constraints on both the client downloads and server uploads necessitates understanding the instantaneous shares of the bandwidths of each client/server is devoted to each data transfer flow. In this report, we explore the practical relevance of the hypothesis that flows share the network bandwidth according to the max-min fairness paradigm. We have implemented into a flow-level simulator a version of the algorithm which calculates such a bandwidth allocation, which we have called the ''progressive-filling flow-level algorithm''. We have programmed a similar model over NS2 and compared the empirical distributions resulting from both simulations. Our results indicate that flow-level predictions are very accurate in symmetric networks and good in asymmetric networks. Therefore, PFFLA would be extremely useful to build flow-level simulators and, possibly, to perform probabilistic performance calculations in general P2P networks.


The use of computer models and simulation is a widely adopted approach to study complex systems. To this end a diverse set of computational models like Cellular Automata, Artificial Neural Networks, or Agent-based simulation is being used. As a common denominator virtually all of these approaches favor different variations of complex systems and are tailored to support the description of systems that fit the corresponding variation well. Although this form of specialization has its benefits like ease of modeling with respect to the particular subset of complex systems, the drawbacks of this specialization are a lack of comparability between structurally different systems and a diminished expressiveness with respect to systems that do not fit any particular subset of complex systems favored by existing, specialized models. In this paper a generalized computational model for complex systems is proposed which allows for the description of most types of systems with a single model. Furthermore, the proposed model provides a high degree of encapsulation and reduces the amount of shared knowledge needed among the constituents of the system. The paper closes with a set of example applications of the proposed model to further illustrate the involved concepts and to provide an intuition on how this model may be used.


Philip Hendy reviewing Clark et al. 1This prospective open-label study stratifies adenomatous polyp 'miss rates' by means of a second-look colonoscopy according to the quality of bowel preparation (using a validated bowel preparation scoring system). The study defines minimum standards that should be met, thus clarifying which patients should receive an additional colonoscopy due to inadequacy of bowel preparation.

Colonoscopy is routinely used in the screening and surveillance of colorectal cancer and is effective at reducing incidence and mortality (mortality ratio 0.47).2 The aim being to detect cancers at an earlier stage (survival is over 90% when detected early) and to remove adenomas before they progress to malignancy. Inadequate bowel preparation leads to missed lesions, while lack of confidence about what constitutes acceptable preparation leads to inappropriately shortened intervals of colonoscopy. Little work has been done, however, to define the minimum standards needed for an examination to be acceptable and below which repeat investigation would be mandatory.

This prospective, non-randomised, partially blinded study was based in a single medical centre (a veterans' male only hospital) in the USA. Consecutive patients between the ages 50 and 75 undergoing screening …


The selection of relevant features in large databases is one of the most important and challenging problems in data mining. Samples forming a given database are generally described by a predefined set of features, and the situation where not all such features can be used for classification purposes needs very often to be faced in real applications. This situation is very typical when the database is related to a phenomenon whose characteristics are not well known. In this context, the extraction of relevant features can therefore also provide additional information on the studied phenomena. We tackle the feature selection problem from an optimization point of view, by reducing it to the problem of finding a maximal consistent "clustering" grouping together the samples and the features of the database. In this work, we extend this approach to dynamical databases, where features are not represented by only one real value, but they are rather given as sequences of a predefined number of real values. Our main contribution consists in proposing an alternative representation of the database so that it fits with a tridimensional matrix with no missing entries, from which a consistent triclustering can be obtained.


The subject 'Genetics in the Media' is a first-year level subject that involves critical evaluation, by science and non-science students alike, of the portrayal of genetics concepts via the mainstream media. Prior to 2016, this subject drew on different teaching resources, including: scientific-based lectures, which provided students with suitable background on genetics concepts; guest lectures from experts in the media, judicial system and scientific communicators; and discussion around different media excerpts, such as newspaper articles, blogs, movies and televised news. With the support of a Learning and Teaching Initiative grant this subject was converted to principally on-line delivery in 2016 to provide flexibility for both on and off-campus student cohorts. This workshop will discuss the challenges faced in the implementation of accredited on-line subjects and encourage insights and discussion from participants with respect to student engagement, timeliness of completing tasks, assessment, presentation of the on-line materials and other factors associated with on-line and blended learning environments.


The paper by van Marwijk and colleagues1 illustrates the application of propensity scores to the analysis of a cluster randomised trial. This commentary outlines the role of propensity scores in the analysis of non-randomised studies and randomised trials.

Propensity scores in non-randomised studies. Consider the example of a population-based register of angina patients. Suppose that a researcher wishes to compare the long-term survival of patients who received coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) with those who did not receive surgery. Patients selected for CABG can be expected to differ from those that did not receive surgery in terms of important prognostic characteristics including the severity of coronary artery disease or the presence of concurrent conditions, such as diabetes. A simple comparison of the survival of patients who either did or did not receive CABG will be biased by these confounding variables. This 'confounding by indication' is almost invariably present in non-randomised studies of healthcare interventions and is difficult to overcome.

Rosenbaum and Rubin2 proposed the use of propensity scores as a method for allowing for confounding by indication. Propensity may be defined as an individual's probability of being treated with the intervention of interest given the complete set of all information about that individual.2 The propensity score provides a single metric that summarises all the information from explanatory variables such as disease severity and comorbity; it estimates the probability of a subject receiving the intervention of interest given his or her clinical status.3 Individual subjects may have the same or similar propensity scores, yet some will have received the intervention of interest and others will not. For example, women of a certain age, with triple vessel disease and the same comorbidities, may have the same propensity for CABG but only some will receive surgery. An assumption of propensity score analysis is that a fair comparison of treatment outcomes can be made between subjects with similar propensity scores who either did or did not receive the treatment of interest. The propensity score may be estimated for each subject from a logistic regression model in which treatment assignment is the dependent variable. An attractive feature of this approach is that explanatory variables are selected on the basis of their ability to predict exposure to the intervention of interest, their possible associations with outcomes need not be considered.

Three methods are commonly employed to include propensity scores in analyses: matching, stratification, and regression adjustment. Matching requires that each treated individual is matched to an untreated individual with the same or similar propensity score. The process of stratification represents a more general extension of matching in which there is more than one treated or untreated individual per stratum. Once matched pairs or strata have been formed, the association of treatment with outcome is estimated by contrasting outcomes between treated and untreated sets of individuals with similar propensity for treatment. Propensity scores are, however, more commonly included in a regression model as an explanatory variable.

Propensity scores can only balance the observed patient characteristics between treatment groups.4 Imbalances may remain even after propensity score adjustment if relevant subject characteristics were not measured or were only measured imprecisely. It is also advisable to check that propensity score groups are balanced with respect to patient characteristics, rather than assuming that such balance exists.5

Propensity scores in randomised trials. Randomisation is usually considered the optimal method for addressing problems of confounding by indication. However, imbalances in the distribution of subject characteristics between trial arms is especially likely in cluster randomised trials because clusters represent groups of individuals who may share characteristics that differ from subjects in other clusters. Imbalances are also more likely when the number of clusters in a trial is small. Van Marwijk et al have implemented a novel application of propensity scores to control for imbalance of individual subject characteristics between the arms of a cluster randomised trial.1 In their study, subjects who were allocated to the intervention group were less likely to be married, to share a household, or to have higher levels of education or occupation (Table 11). One approach would have been to use the variables in Table 1 to estimate, for each subject, the predicted probability of receiving the trial intervention given the pattern of observed subject characteristics. This propensity score could then be used to adjust analyses in which outcomes were compared between intervention groups. In the Discussion, the report suggests an analysis in which pairs of GPs are matched for propensity. This suggestion raises a question concerning how the levels of the individual subject and the cluster should be considered in the estimation and application of propensity scores.


BACKGROUND
Success in Special Operations Forces medicine (SOFMED) depends on maximizing visual capability without compromising the provider or casualty when under fire. There is no single light that has been deemed "ideal" for all SOFMED environments.

METHODS
We used the Farnsworth-Munsell (FM) hue test to determine color vision of normal subjects under white, red-green, and blue flashlights to determine color discrimination. Then we used a timed color-determination visual test to determine how quickly normal subjects can identify color correctly. We had subjects perform a simulated surgery illuminated by a normal white-light source, then by red-green or blue light-emitting diode (LED) tactical light.

RESULTS
The total error score for white light was 49.714, 272.923 for red/green light, and 531.4 for blue light. The subjective perception of simulated trauma wounds was not substantially different with red-green LED tactical light when compared with white LED light. However, simulated surgery under the blue LED was more difficult compared with simulated surgery under the red-green LED light.

CONCLUSION
Red-green was a superior light source for SOFMED and military first responders in this study, especially, where light was required to allow accurate and efficient application of Tactical Combat Casualty Care to injured personnel.


I shall elaborate on the cytochemical classifications of the rat locus ceruleus (LC) and state how each of these could be identified. In the LC, 80% ( 1,30911,642) of the noradrenergic (NA) neurons are also GABAergic. This is found by demonstrating that two immunoreactivities coexist in adjacent sections alternately immunostained by anti-TH or anti-GABA antibody. Pharmacological manipulations with pargyline (75 mglkg, i.p., 2 h prior to perfusion) and L-tryptophan ( 1 50 mglkg, 1.5 h prior to perfusion) revealed 5-HT-like immunoreactivity (5-HT-LI) in most LC cells (masked 5-HT cells) that produce 5-HT but not other indoleamines. If 5-HTP is applied instead of tryptophan, 5-HT-L1 is shown by the raphe nuclei and a few LC cells (masked indoleamine cells) in the marginal zone. AntiGAD antibody reveals GAD-L1 in 32% of GABA neurons predominantly in the dorsal division. In situ hybridization studies detected tryptophan hydroxylase mRNA and GAD mRNA in many smalland mediumsized neurons. It is concluded that the LC consists mostly of an NA population that is possibly synthesizing multiple transmitters, such as GABA, GAD and 5-HT in single neurons so that the system enables the LC simultaneously to innervate the entire CNS.


: Optical microwave beam-steering (OMBS) is of interest for broadband wireless communication and phased array radar. Traditionally the optical all-pass filter (OAPF) based on micro-ring resonator (MRR) can only be used to manipulate group delay. Moreover, the requirement of lossless condition of the OAPF limits its potential of monolithic integration on InP platform. To overcome this limitation and also to provide freedom for amplitude manipulation, a novel loss-control MRR is proposed for both group delay and amplitude manipulation. A mathematical model is built up for analysis and then a simulation is carried out to study the proposed design.


Kunwar Narain was decorated with the Jnanpith, the highest literary award in 2005 and the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honor in India, in 2009, and was well known Indian poet abroad with many translations of his work. This poem is a pithy way to describe the world we inhabit. It calls attention to the global climate crisis that is manifest in annual catastrophic weather events around the world, at the same time as there are climate change deniers. It also speaks of the ways in which we have organized ourselves into systems of exploitation and oppression. Before reading this poem at a workshop with over sixty tenured professors in the room, I asked if they had ever felt attacked at their place of work. Have you?


Higher education institutions have experienced a huge dramatic shift in instructions and course delivery methods due to swift in technological advancements. Technology-enhanced instruction has become one of the most striking issues persistently debated. The question of 'how' still remains controversial. However, tremendous researches have been conducted proposing practical considerations and framework. Hence, the present study is an attempt to contribute to reveal the myth of 'how' web-based tools and resources could successfully and efficiently foster students reading and writing skills and cultural awareness. Following the imperial research patterns, two discrete sets of instructions were employed among EFL students' at university level. The statistical analysis of the results obtained from the tests conducted and disclosed the reality that EFL students' Reading and Writing Skills remarkably improved in Web-based Instruction environment. The study identifies a number of issues in the favour of Web-based teaching and learning. Derived from the findings, it's strongly recommended that Web-based Instruction could play vital role in fostering EFL students' creativity, efficiency and productivity.


There is no doubt that there is a great interest on aging and its causes from human especially women, this increase scientific researches on aging including this increase research, which detect mitochondrial DNA in relation to aging, where mitochondria is the house of energy in the living cell. Sixty male albino rats were divided into three equal groups 1 st group, young rats (6 months age) as control, 2 nd group, adult rats (12 months age) and 3 rd group, aged rats (21, months age). Rats were sacrificed and the brain and liver tissues were preserved in liquid nitrogen immediately for molecular biological analysis to see the different gene expression in the respiratory chain at different ages. Other samples were taken from the liver, brain and serum for the biochemical and physiological analysis to find out the effect of aging on glutathione peroxidase activity and concentration of reduced glutathione, total antioxidant capacity, nitric oxide and finally malondialdhyde. NADH dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase gene expression, showed a decreased activity in both liver and brain with aging. Glutathione peroxidase showed non-significant decrease in its activity in liver, but a significant decrease in brain in adult rats, and a significant decrease in both liver & brain in aged rats. Reduced glutathione showed non-significant decrease in its concentration in both liver & brain in adult rats but showed a significant decrease in aged rats. Serum total antioxidant capacity showed non-significant decrease in its concentration in adult rats but significantly decreased in aged rats. Liver and brain nitric oxide showed a significant increase in its concentration in both adult and aged rats. Liver malondialdhyde showed a significant increase in its concentration in both adult and aged rats, but in brain, showed non-significant increase in adult rats while, significantly increased in aged rats. All previous results in compared with young rats (control group).


In most schools the dominant supporting technology has been either the stand-alone personal computer or a modest local network. The situation is changing rapidly as a rising number of schools provide access to the Internet for their staff and pupils, opening avenues for communication and networking hitherto not possible. This book reflects on this change. It aims to further the vision of how these new technologies could improve and transform aspects of education. Yet in parallel it asks serious questions about the realities of an interface between the social, cultural and pedagogical contexts of education and the actual affordances that these new information and communication technologies offer. The chapters in this book provide a heady mix of foresight and practical reporting, of planning for the future but at the same time respecting the problems education already has with current technologies. The richness of the points presented here stems in part from the range of experience of the international authors - from academics and administrators, to teachers and curriculum designers. This mix ensures that the central questions on communications and networking in education are considered not simply from a variety of personal perspectives, but also from different cultural and environmental experiences. And yet interest also lies in the commonality of reporting and discussion based on activity in the field. All the contributions draw heavily on research and experience in devising and running projects and experimental activities in a range of schools and teacher-training institutions and environments. The opinions expressed are thus grounded in knowledge gained from work embedded in the reality of today's educational settings. This must be the only sound base upon which to consider the issues of the future. This book is essential reading for all professionals involved in all aspects of information and communication technologies in education. Teachers, lecturers, researchers, students and administrators will find it invaluable.


Bilateral traumatic hip dislocation is rarely seen. A unique case is presented, consisting of asymmetric bilateral hip dislocation with associated segmental fracture femur, resulting from fall from bus. This case represents an unusual, severe combination of injuries resulting from the fall from bus under influence of alcohol. Traumatic hip dislocation represents a true orthopaedic emergency. Given the severity of associated complications, every effort should be made to ensure prompt diagnosis and immediate therapy. We report our experience in the management of this complex injury pattern and review the pertinent literature on this subject.


Trust and trustworthiness are two notions that have been discussed extensively in the computer science community, e.g. trust in online banking services.We argue for a broad view on trust, namely trustworthy behavior of online services. We propose solutions enabling online service developers to reason about, and deal with issues of trustworthy online services, from concerns to actual implementations, and assessments. The view on trust in this thesis involves viewpoints on what stakeholders can have trust in, and the need to exhibit and suggest trustworthiness in online services. Trustworthiness and other relevant theories are also discussed. Three main results supporting design and maintenance of trustworthy online services will be introduced. First, a trust framework in the context of online services is introduced, specifying a number of concepts that enhances and clarifies how trust can be addressed. The framework enables an informed analysis, implementation, and assessment of solutions to trust issues based on identified trust concerns. Secondly we present how the concepts of the framework can be interconnected. The concepts enables us to reason about stakeholders trust concerns in relation to deployable solutions called trust mechanisms that are implemented in order to exhibit proper signs suggesting trustworthiness. These signs, we argue, serve as input for stakeholders trust assessment. The interconnected framework opens up for a discussion on how deployed solutions in an online service correspond to certain stakeholders trust concerns. Finally a tool for online service designers is presented, the trust management life cycle. This is an approach enabling an informed design practice that emphasizes on a trustworthy design of online services. The use of the cycle is illustrated by the use of a deployed online service.


In this paper, we present evidence in favour of a syntactic approach to subject drop in Swiss French text messages. Subject drop in our corpus follows patterns found in various so-called "written abbreviated registers" such as diaries, notes etc.: it occurs at the beginning of main sentences and after preposed adjuncts. Based on a corpus of 1100 text messages, collected in 2009/10 (www.sms4science.ch), we test predictions put forward by two approaches to argument drop in abbreviated registers, i.e. the "Avoid Weak Start" hypothesis by Weir (2012a) and the "Truncated CP hypothesis" by Haegeman (2013). While for our data the first approach cannot be excluded, our results more strongly support the syntactic one, despite the fact that some data, especially preposed strong subject moi without clitic resumption, challenge existing analyses. These data suggest that dropped referential subjects can be analysed as instances of familiar topic drop.


It is now upwards of five years since you formed yourselves into an Association, not merely to discuss topics relative to the regulation of your concerns as iron-masters, but also, to make a reciprocal communication of your several experience in the art of smelting and manufacturing iron, through all its different branches: that a more perfect knowledge thereof might be promoted, and the certain advantages resulting therefrom obtained.

To accomplish this desirable object, it was well proposed by your then president, (Mr. Dawson,) that essays should be written by each member in rotation; and questions proposed for discussion upon subjects relating to the art, at each quarterly meeting: and it was with much pleasure we witnessed your president follow up his proposals with an introductory dissertation, furnishing hints abundantly sufficient to ground essays upon, from that period to the present; and also with a copious, entertaining and instructive essay upon the effect of air and moisture upon Blast Furnaces: in which he evinces at least a disposition of inquiry highly commendable, and gives an example of industry and perseverance in observing, collecting, and arranging facts, well deserving the gratitude of every ironmaster.

From that author's well known abilities, opportunities, and other ample, and more than ordinary sources of information, any opinion he may adopt certainly assumes a very imposing authority; and it is therefore with much diffidence, that we venture to differ from him in our views of the effect of air and moisture upon blast furnaces.

He appears to ...


Introduction and Objectives Diminished efficacy of salmeterol for improving asthma control is increased in children with asthma homozygous for arginine-16 (Arg16) allele of the ADRB2. Concerns have been raised regarding the efficacy and safety of long-term salmeterol use in patients with asthma. We investigated whether there is a genotype-specific difference in long-term asthma control with montelukast compared to salmeterol in individuals homozygous for Arg16 of ADRB2. Methods In this pragmatic randomised controlled trial, 62 children (5–18 years) with asthma, carrying Arg/Arg16 genotype and exacerbation of asthma at least once within the previous year, were randomly assigned to receive Flixotide® (fluticasone propionate) via accuhaler (Diskus) dry powder inhaler device plus oral montelukast (Group I); or Seretide® (salmeterol plus equivalent dose of fluticasone) via accuhaler dry powder inhaler device plus placebo for montelukast (Group II). No effort was made to blind the prescribed inhaler. The primary end point was school absence, prospectively measured as individual events over the period of 1 year. Results No significant difference was observed in school absences (p=0.097) between the treatment groups. The use of reliever medication was significantly decreased in Group I compared to Group II (p=0.004). Total exacerbations were reduced in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (p=0.049). Self-reported symptoms were significantly improved in Group I compared to Group II (morning cough p=0.018; morning wheeze p=0.001; morning dyspnoea p=0.008; night wheeze: p=0.004; night dyspnoea: p=0.001). A significant improvement in quality of life as per the Juniper paediatric asthma quality of life questionnaire was observed in Group I compared to Group II (activity limitation score (p=0.004), symptom score (p=0.009), emotional function score (p=0.002)). Conclusion In individuals homozygous for Arg16 of the ADRB2 locus, montelukast is an effective step up medication compared with salmeterol. Montelukast, as an asthma controller added on to inhaled steroid, improved asthma symptoms and quality of life, while reducing the use of reliever medication, in comparison to salmeterol. A larger randomised controlled trial is required, comparing asthma control with salmeterol versus montelukast in the genotypic sub-groups in ADRB2, and to explore the cost-effectiveness of genotype-specific controller therapies in children with asthma.


The paper presents an unconventional method of determining joint diagrams for foundation bolted joints of heavy machinery and equipment, with bolts anchored in a concrete block using special polymer material EPY. It includes a continuation and development of the problems discussed in Part I, which shows the specificity of these joints that distinguishes them from conventional bolted joints. It also shows a way of determining a joint diagram for an assembly state of these joints. Part II of this elaboration is devoted to the determination of a joint diagram for the examined bolted joint under operating conditions. This joint diagram is different from that designated for the assembly state. It has been obtained on the basis of many separate numerical calculations, performed with ANSYS FEM system. A practical way of using this diagram is also shown, and finally conclusions of cognitive and practical meaning were formulated.


Pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) is the coenzyme of various decarboxylases involved in the formation of monoamine urotransmitters such as y-aminobulyric acid (GAE3A), serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine. 1-lowever; in the pyridoxine-deficient rats GABA and 5-HT are decreased in various brain areas including the hypothalamus, with no change in the catecholamine levels. Serotonin and GABA are known to be involved in blood pressure control mechanisms. In this study adult Sprague-Dawley rats placed on a pyridoxine-deficient diet for 8 weeks showed significant hypertension compared with pyridoxine-supplemented controls. This was associated with a general sympathetic stimulation. Treatment of deficient rats with a single dose of pyridoxine (10 mg/kg body weight) reversed the blood pressure to normal levels within 24 h, with concomitant restoration of hypothalamic 5-HT and GABA, as well as the return of plasma norepinephrine to nornr;l levels. The results indicate that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between pyridoxine deficiency and hypertension.


Author(s): Fofie, Emmanuel Agyekum | Advisor(s): Asa-Awuku, Akua A | Abstract: Aerosols have a direct effect on climate, through reflection of solar radiation and indirectly as seeds for cloud formation; cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). There is however, a large uncertainty in our understanding of the contributions of aerosols to climate change. It is therefore imperative to explore the chemical and physical properties of aerosol that influence CCN activity and droplet kinetics. This dissertation investigates the effects of aerosol mixing states, chemical composition and photochemical aging on the CCN forming potential of ambient salts and combustion aerosol. Using customized instrumentation and algorithms, the CCN droplet kinetics of inorganic salts and photochemically aged combustion aerosol is also evaluated. The droplet growth of inorganic and organic salts and the effects of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations on the final droplet sizes were explored with a modified, higher sensitivity optical particle counter (OPC). From the higher sensitivity OPC data, the final droplet diameters of CCN appear independent of aerosol hygroscopicity but strongly dependent on the CCN concentration. We also evaluated the effects of excess non-condensable gases on the CCN activation and droplet kinetics in a cloud condensation nuclei counter (CCNc). Excess, heavier gases increased mass transfer of water vapor and modified the supersaturation in the CCNc column. The CCN activity and droplet kinetics of aged anthropogenic primary and biogenic aerosol was evaluated. CCN activity and droplet kinetics of α-pinene SOA formed in an atmospheric reactor and mixed with diesel or motor oil-fuel primary organic aerosol (POA) was characterized by the single parameter κ-hygroscopicity. Results showed that a similarity in the CCN activity of organic aerosol may indicate a propensity for mixing. An empirical model developed using unit mass resolution (UMR) aerosol mass spectrometer data captures the complex CCN activity of the mixed systems. The hygroscopicity and droplet kinetics of fresh and aged emissions from new generation gasoline direct injection engines retrofitted with a gasoline particulate filter (GPF) was also evaluated. Photochemical aging and subsequent condensation of the SOA formed from the co-emitted gas phase SOA precursors increased the hygroscopicity of gasoline emissions. This body of work provides new insights into the current understanding of the effects of aerosol chemical composition, mixing state and hygroscopicity. The findings will help reduce the prevailing uncertainty in estimating anthropogenic radiative forcing


An interesting contemporary research question in trade theory deals with the possibility of rising wage inequality across the globe. A few possible explanations have been provided so far. We provide a natural explanation and a rigorous proof of the phenomenon by arguing that liberalizing trade in skill-linked intermediate product is likely to increase skilled-unskilled wage gap across the globe. Our model has the feature that a trade-induced shock can reduce the price of the skill-intensive traded good and raise the skilled-unskilled wage gap at the same time.


The authors present an accurate one-dimensional device model for the simulation of nMOS transistors with hot-carrier-induced oxide damage. The model uses a realistic charge density distribution profile to account for the localization of the oxide-interface charge near the drain. Model simulation results obtained for nMOS transistors with hot-carrier-induced oxide damage demonstrate good agreement with the experimental data. The amount and the location of the hot-carrier-induced oxide damage are simulated by using only a few parameters, which simplifies the implementation of the model in a reliability simulation environment. The proposed model has been implemented in the iSMILE circuit simulator, and the capabilities of the model have been explored by various circuit simulation examples. The damaged-MOSFET model presented offers a simple and accurate approach for simulating the circuit behavior after hot-carrier damage. >


Plant and arthropod communities interact closely with one another, therefore, invasive plants can alter not only plant communities, but may also have direct and indirect effects on arthropod communities. Here, we focus on the exotic giant ragweed, which is a serious invasive weed in Japan. Recently, the exotic plant invaded and has dominated part of a semi-natural grassland in Sugadaira Montane Research Center (Nagano Prefecture, Japan). We attempted to evaluate the potential impact of the invasive plant on both plant and arthropod communities by comparing the community composition, abundance, species richness and diversity indices of plants and arthropods between areas where the exotic giant ragweed had and had not invaded, referred to as the invaded and reference areas respectively. We found significant differences in plant and arthropod community compositions between the areas. Plant species richness was lower in the invaded area as predicted. However, the abundance of arthropods including herbivores was higher in the invaded area compared to the reference area in contrast to the expectation that plant invasions reduce arthropod abundance and diversity. We discuss potential causes of the unexpected results.


Solo Rambak Crackers Factory is a home industry. The production process often occurs problems with raw material supplies. If the supply of raw materials in the form of oil is stored for a long period of time and used repeatedly, the problem that occurs is that the oil will experience discoloration, odor and is not good for food that is managed with the oil. This causes the company to be faced with the amount of raw material inventory costs. The purpose of this study is to make an application to compare the calculation of raw material inventory and test which method is appropriate to be implemented in the company in terms of the cost efficiency aspects of inventory. The method used in this study is the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Just In Time (JIT) methods. This raw material inventory calculation is used to minimize inventory costs. To get the maximum results and the right calculation in accordance with the formulas that are set, it requires a comparative system between computer-based EOQ and JIT methods in order to get detailed and accurate results on the calculation and comparison of the results of the value of the raw material inventory. The existence of this comparative system no longer needs to manually calculate and compare values using only the system. From the results of the comparison of the two methods, in an effort to increase the efficiency of raw material inventory costs, the company can use the Just In Time method, purchases are made in small quantities and shipments are in scale, so as to reduce the occurrence of storage costs.


Variation of gender expression and cone production is described quantitatively for Juniperus phoenicea L. populations in southern Spain and Morocco. The species is monoecious, but most populations showed a dichotomy of gender expression at flowering, with predominantly "male" and predominantly "female" plants and few "monoecious" individuals, a functionally subdioecious breeding system. The proportion of female plants in the Spanish populations ranged from 31% (R. B. Donana) to 40% (Cda. Sabinas, 1988) and did not exceed 10% in Morocco. Most plants with femaleness values < .40 failed to set full-sized seed cones or produced very small crops. Individual plants showed a significant constancy of gender expression in consecutive years. Most inconsistencies in sexual behavior involved transitions between the male and female expressions and their respective "inconstant" conditions. Between-year variations in seed-bearing cone production largely reflected changes in female flowering gender of the individual plants; years with large crop production were characterized by increases in average female gender expression for a given gender category and, as a result, a greater percentage of the population producing female cones. Plants differing in gender expression showed no significant differences in size. Male plants always produced fewer than 10 female cones per crop, and inconstant males rarely exceeded 200 female cones; female plants usually had crop sizes above 100 cones, except in the seasons of cone crop failure. Individual plants also differed in annual shoot growth, but these differences were unrelated to both gender expression and cone production in the previous season. Differences among populations accounted for 52% of total variance in female cone size, while the effect of the individual plant accounted for 26%; only 22% was attributable to within-plant variation. A nested model with gender category as the main effect and plant as a nested effect accounted for 88% of total variation in five cone characteristics, but gender effect accounted for ≤ 2%.


One of the activities to attract the interest of library users, need to use the service marketing triangle which includes internal marketing, external marketing and interactive marketing. Currently, the UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Library Center is conducting socialization as part of an external marketing effort to attract service users. In terms of service dissemination activities to new students, the main target is the increased utilization of library services by students. So far there has been no measure of whether this outreach activity really reaches its goals or not. In addition, information must also be obtained from users, especially new students about what are their needs and expectations so that their interest in utilizing library services is getting higher. Research is carried out by survey methods for new students who have received service socialization. The respondents were 282 people determined by the Slovin method. Based on the results of the research, it can be concluded that socialization activities have a positive effect on the level of access of users to library services. In terms of satisfaction with socialization activities, more than 70% of respondents were satisfied and the information submitted was adequate, but respondents felt the facilities used still needed to be improved, especially the availability of internet access.


The PhD Thesis develops a pre-quantitative methodology to define the direct and indirect effects of policy choices concerning the environment. The main purpose has been to contribute to the solution of some of the problems affecting expert-based judgements: in particular, the dependence on the observer's goals and beliefs (Reflexivity) and the possibility of making prevalent and accepted an extraneous and non-sustainable solution (Perspectivity).
"Policy Choices Analysis and Synthesis System 42" (PoChASSy42) methodology provides a framework which describes the environment through all the possible interactions between: "Individuals Interests", identified as the normative values of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights; "Collective Interests" identified through the economic activities classified by the NACE system of EuroStat; "Ecosystem Services", identified through the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment studies.
The elements which make up these spheres of interests are considered as virtual stakeholders, i.e. the representatives of the existence, intentions, motivations and interests that make up the environment. Both the virtual stakeholders and the possible interactions among them are represented in the PoChASSy42 through the development of an Adjacency Matrix and a Narrative Structure (graph). Using these tools, the expert can: find the virtual stakeholders involved in a given policy choice and exclude, declaring the motivations, those which are not present in the particular geographic context. A final report with the results allows for a transparent communication, which is fundamental in order to further counteract the side effects (Perspectivity and Reflectivity) of a reductionist vision of the environment and to accept the challenge of complexity.


Korean American women have substantially greater incidence rates of cervical cancer and the lowest rates of cervical cancer screening in the United States. However, there has been minimal research to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among this population. A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate preliminary effectiveness of a storytelling video intervention using mobile, Web-based technology. One hundred and four Korean American college women were randomized to the experimental group (storytelling video) or the comparison group (information-based written material). The effects of the intervention were assessed immediately postintervention and at the 2-month follow-up. Both groups improved in knowledge of and attitude toward the HPV vaccine at the postintervention. At the 2-month follow-up, the experimental group was twice as likely to receive the HPV vaccine compared to the comparison group. This preliminary evidence supports the use of a storytelling video intervention and shows substantial promise for further development and testing in larger scale studies.


Recombinant viruses based on modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) are vaccine candidates against infectious diseases and cancers. Presently, multiplication of MVA has been demonstrated in chicken embryo fibroblast and baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cells only. The multiplication and morphogenesis of a recombinant (MVA-HANP) and non-recombinant MVA strain in BHK-21 and 12 other mammalian cell lines have now been compared. Rat IEC-6 cells were fully permissive to MVA infection. The virus yield in IEC-6 cells was similar to that obtained in BHK-21 cells at low as well as high multiplicities of infection. Vero cells were semi-permissive to MVA infection. Mature virions were produced in supposedly non-permissive cell lines. The multiplication and morphogenesis of non-recombinant MVA and MVA-HANP were similar. These results are relevant to the production and biosafety of MVA-vectored vaccines.


When $W$ is a finite Coxeter group acting by its reflection representation on
$E$, we describe the category ${\mathsf{Perv}}_W(E_{\mathbb C},
{\mathcal{H}}_{\mathbb C})$ of $W$-equivariant perverse sheaves on $E_{\mathbb
C}$, smooth with respect to the stratification by reflection hyperplanes. By
using Kapranov and Schechtman's recent analysis of perverse sheaves on
hyperplane arrangements, we find an equivalence of categories from
${\mathsf{Perv}}_W(E_{\mathbb C}, {\mathcal{H}}_{\mathbb C})$ to a category of
finite-dimensional modules over an algebra given by explicit generators and
relations.
 We also define categories of equivariant perverse sheaves on affine
buildings, e.g., $G$-equivariant perverse sheaves on the Bruhat--Tits building
of a $p$-adic group $G$. In this setting, we find that a construction of
Schneider and Stuhler gives equivariant perverse sheaves associated to depth
zero representations.

 Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures. v5 processed for publication in Epiga


ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. food dyes, forensics, ITS region, DNA staining SUMMARY. One of the most frequently used tools in plant biotechnology, which includes genomics and proteomics, is gel electrophoresis. Our experience with middle and high school students as well as teachers and undergraduate students is that they have very little, if any, hands-on experience with this technique. These exercises were developed to demonstrate the principles of electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting in middle and high school and university laboratories with minimal expense and equipment. The experiments have been tested by middle and high school students, as well as by teachers, and undergraduate and graduate students. The first exercise, electrophoresis of common food dyes, is primarily designed for secondary and undergraduate students, but can be used as an inexpensive means for introducing the main concepts of electrophoresis to anyone who has little or no experience, including graduate students. Popular brands of food dyes (red, blue, yellow, and green) purchased at local markets are mixed into a 60% glycerol/water solution and are separated on 1% agarose gels using 100 V for 35 min. Mixed colors are separated into primary colors (e.g., green into blue and yellow) and some apparently single dyes often have extra ''surprise'' components. A simple exercise illustrating forensic use of gel electrophoresis with dyes is also included. Over 100 students and teachers have completed this experiment successfully. The second laboratory exercise requires more extensive equipment and a more advanced set of skills; however, the exercise has been completed successfully by middle school-level through graduate-level students and by teachers. In this exercise, the internally transcribedspacerregionoftheribosomalsubunitforafungus,plant,andinsectare amplified and separated electrophoretically on agarose gels. A simple crime is solved using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA fingerprinting. The experiment protocol provides students with hands-on activities that include assembling master mixes for PCR, practice using pipettes, and performing the various steps involved in PCR amplification. Instructions for both exercises are formatted in easy-to-follow procedure boxes, and a downloadable presentation is available on the web. The cost of the expendables is about $1 per student, making these exercises relatively inexpensive to conduct, assuming that hardware and DNA are available.


Chitosan microparticles were synthesized by crosslinking chitosan and glycidyl trimethylammonium chloride modified chitosan inside the reverse micelles of Span and Tween 80. The particles were of uniform size with the average diameter of 10 μm. The particles swelled almost twice the original size in 20 min when dispersed in a buffer solution of pH 7.4.  The feasibility of chitosan microparticles as drug sequestrant was tested using propafenone as the model drug.  The particles sequestered free propafenone from a buffer solution of pH 7.4. In 20 min unmodified chitosan and modified chitosan microparticles sequestered 53% and 51.5% of the free drug respectively. The amount of drug sequestered increased with increase in the initial free drug concentration. The presence of normal saline also improved propafenone sequestration.