The beige (bgJ/bgJ) mouse is a well-described murine model of Chediak-Higashi syndrome. Platelet function was examined in normal and beige mice to better characterize the defective aggregation response in platelets from mice with Chediak-Higashi syndrome. Platelet aggregation after collagen, thrombin, and phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate stimulation was significantly (P less than 0.025) decreased in platelets from beige mice, relative to platelets from normal mice. Compared with beige and normal mice, those heterozygous for the bg trait had intermediate responses to collagen and thrombin, but not phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate. The defect(s) in aggregation of platelets from beige mice was associated with a dense granule storage pool deficiency and decreased stores of serotonin and adenine nucleotides in platelets. Mice heterozygous for the bg trait had normal platelet serotonin and adenine nucleotide concentrations. Platelets from beige mice were approximately 10 times more sensitive to prostacyclin inhibition of collagen-induced aggregation than were platelets from control mice. However, a significant difference in platelet cyclic AMP concentration was not apparent between beige and normal mice after prostacyclin stimulation. Platelet endoperoxide synthesis measured by quantification of thromboxane B2, was normal in beige mice. Protein phosphorylation patterns in mouse platelets were similar to those seen in human platelets. Thrombin and collagen-induced [32P] phosphorylation of 40- and 20-kD proteins in platelets from normal and beige mice was similar. Results indicate that the biochemical defect(s) in platelet function in beige mice is partially attributable to storage pool deficiency and does not result in an absolute defect in phosphorylation of 40- and 20-kD proteins.


Kho-Bwa, Hrusish, Mishmic, Tani, and Tshangla are language clusters that have been recurrently proposed as
 subgroups of the Trans-Himalayan (also known as Tibeto-Burman and Sino-Tibetan) language family. Nonetheless, their internal
 classification, as well as the relation with each other and with other linguistic groups in the family, is hitherto unresolved. We
 use lexical data on these groups and dated phylogenies to investigate such internal classifications. We base our examination on
 previous research into the language family in the Tibet-Arunachal area, and follow a computer-assisted approach of language
 comparison to perform Bayesian phylolinguistic analysis. As earlier phylogenetic studies on this family included little data
 related to this geographic area, we took a subset of the best available dataset and extended it with vocabularies for the Kho-Bwa
 and Hrusish clusters, also including one Mishmic, two Tani, two Tshangla, and five East Bodish languages to cover the major
 languages and linguistic subgroups neighboring these clusters. Our results shed light on the internal and external classification
 of the Kho-Bwa, Hrusish and Bodish languages, and allow us to share valuable experience on the extent to which similar approaches
 can be applied to the phylogenetic analysis of the Trans-Himalayan language family.


Objectives HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are major global health threats and can result in household financial hardships. Here, we aim to estimate the household economic burden and the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) incurred by HIV and TB care across income quintiles in Ethiopia. Design A cross-sectional survey. Setting 27 health facilities in Afar and Oromia regions for TB, and nationwide household survey for HIV. Participants A total of 1006 and 787 individuals seeking HIV and TB care were enrolled, respectively. Outcome measures The economic burden (ie, direct and indirect cost) of HIV and TB care was estimated. In addition, the CHE incidence and intensity were determined using direct costs exceeding 10% of the household income threshold. Results The mean (SD) age of HIV and TB patient was 40 (10), and 30 (14) years, respectively. The mean (SD) patient cost of HIV was $78 ($170) per year and $115 ($118) per TB episode. Out of the total cost, the direct cost of HIV and TB constituted 69% and 46%, respectively. The mean (SD) indirect cost was $24 ($66) per year for HIV and $63 ($83) per TB episode. The incidence of CHE for HIV was 20%; ranges from 43% in the poorest to 4% in the richest income quintile (p<0.001). Similarly, for TB, the CHE incidence was 40% and ranged between 58% and 20% among the poorest and richest income quintiles, respectively (p<0.001). This figure was higher for drug-resistant TB (62%). Conclusions HIV and TB are causes of substantial economic burden and CHE, inequitably, affecting those in the poorest income quintile. Broadening the health policies to encompass interventions that reduce the high cost of HIV and TB care, particularly for the poor, is urgently needed.


Structural states of Al-Sc, Al-Hf and Al-Zr alloys rapidly quenched from the liquid state have been studied. Features of structures in dependence on the nature of alloying elements, on the quenching temperature and the cooling rate by the crystallization of ribbons have been investigated. Fractal structures are formed by the quenching from the certain temperature-concentration region. The change of the morphology of structures has been researched during the aging process.


VOLKMANN, H., ET AL: Electrophysiological Evaluation of Tachycardias Using Transesophageal Pacing and Recording. Programmed electrical stimulation of the heart to initiate and terminate tachycardia has been useful in the evaluation of supraventricular and ventricular tachyarrhythmias. A wide use of these procedures, however, failed because of the expense of the invasive approach as well as the lack of physician experience in smaller hospitals. These disadvantages of the invasive proceeding can be abolished by transesophageal pacing. In our study, supraventricular tachycardias were initiated by programmed transesophageal atrial stimulation in 251 patients [AV node reentry in 75 patients, orthodromic AV reciprocating tachycardia using accessory pathway in 97 patients, antidromic AV reciprocating tachycardia in 11 patients, and atrial reentry in 39 patients). The stimulation protocol included one and two extrastimuli during sinus rhythm and after a pacing drive at different cycle lengths. The electrophysiological mechanism of tachycardias was determined by surface ECG, VA interval (esophageal lead), initiation mode at programmed transesophageal stimulation and by behavior of AV conduction and refractoriness. In 29 patients the mechanism of tachycardia was not clear. Invasive electraphysiological study was done in 219 of these 251 patients. In only nine patients, the supported mechanism of tachycardia was not confirmed by invasive investigation. In 11 patients, the etectrophysiological mechanism remained uncertain. In conclusion, the noninvasive transesophageal pacing is an appropriate method for evaluation of supraventricular tachycardia. It allows serial drug testing in a simple manner for finding an effective antiarrhythmic treatment.


Nutrient mining in rice-rice cropping system due to inadequate amount of chemical fertilizer applied is one of the reasons for low rice yield in Ghana. To address this challenge, a field trial was initiated to determine the best nutrient management option to improve yield of rice and soil fertility. The field experiment was conducted at the University of Ghana's Soil and Irrigation Research Centre - Kpong during 2014 and 2015 cropping seasons to evaluate the influence of composted organic waste and urea fertilization on rice yield, Nitrogen-use efficiency and soil chemical characteristics. The study was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and six treatments as follows; N1: Control (no nitrogen application), N2: 100% N from compost, N3: 50% N from compost + 50% N from urea, N4: 70% N from compost + 30% N from urea, N5: 30% N from compost + 70% N from urea, N6: 100% N from urea. N fertilization through compost or urea increased grain yield, yield components, N uptake, N use efficiency and also improved the chemical properties of the soil than the control. Although grain yield under 100% Urea N, and combination of compost N + Urea N at ratio of 50:50 and 30:70 were at par, the soil chemical property significantly improved through integrated compost- urea application. The study indicated that substituting 30 or 50% of the required urea N with the same amount of N through compost improved both soil chemical property and rice yield.


Synthetic biologists seek to design, build and modify organisms at the genetic level. One category of engineered organisms, or devices, sense changes in the environment and respond by producing a change in state, such as colour. Two such 'biosensors' are in development within the Flowers Consortium, and both are envisaged to address threats to human health in the Global South. Biosensors are at an early stage in development, meaning that there is scope to shape their future trajectories. Accordingly, researchers at King's College London convened a one-day interdisciplinary workshop with 30 experts working insynthetic biology, regulation, global health, international development and the social sciences. The workshop's purpose was to investigate the two biosensors and draw lessons for researchers and policy makers working in synthetic biology, especially when intervening in global health contexts. Part one of the report summarises the discussions of the day. This executive summary outlines the overarching analytic themes from the workshop, which can be found in part two.


This paper analyses the paths of technology development among regions with heterogeneous economic and technological characteristics, focusing on the case of China. It finds that intra-national technology transfer, that is, the technology transfer from technologically advanced provinces to less advanced ones, is more important than that taking place through FDI in the backward regions. In technologically advanced areas, learning by doing, indigenous R&D and technology transfer from FDI all play a significant role in technical progress. The relationship between the strength of interprovincial technology transfer and technological distance is U-shaped, with the technology threshold falling outside the upper bound of technology distance. This suggests that technology transfer takes place more effectively when technological distance is small. The paper finds that learning by doing and R&D are important internal routes to technical progress. R&D plays a key role in the assimilation of foreign technologies, whereas learning by doing is relevant for the absorption of interprovincial technology transfers.


A large section from a hitherto unknown Hebrew grammatical text, written in the tenth century by the Karaite scholar 'Abū Ya'qūb Yūsuf ibn Nūh of Jerusalem, is analysed in detail. The volume includes an annotated English translation.


There are many negative misconceptions tied to addiction that prevent addicts from receiving proper treatment. One of the most common misconceptions is that any type of drug consumption will result in addiction, or that all drug users are addicts. One of the challenges that is faced when discussing addiction is that every discipline may have a different perspective on addiction. An interdisciplinary perspective more holistically investigates a person's decision to consume drugs. Biologists view addiction as a chronic relapsing brain disease characterized by changes in the structure and function of the brain that results in behavioral changes. Similarly, psychologists believe that addiction is a behavioral manifestation of the malfunction of the brain's normal processes, resulting from chronic drug consumption. Economists, in accordance to some psychologists, argue that a person can be identified as an addict given their rational behavior. These specific disciplines were chosen because biology focuses on chronic consumption, economics focuses on behavioral consumption and psychology provides a strong bridge between the two. We conclude with a discussion of how these disciplines might jointly inform a discussion on the efficacy of drug prevention and drug treatment. Relapses are common, and a good treatment outcome should be a significant decrease in drug use with only occasional, if any, relapses. To achieve this, the most effective treatment might be a combination of multiple approaches stemming from each discipline.


A technique is described for the fast recording of the information about both spatial and spectral details of an optical radiator. The recorded information is transformed into a spectral image that is easy to apprehend. The principle of spectral-image formation is based on the Fourier-transform relationship between the three-dimensional spatial coherence function of radiation and the radiator geometry, including its position-dependent spectral contents. Relations to other techniques are mentioned, and a result of a preliminary experiment is presented.


This paper describes a minimally guided approach to automatic domain model creation. The first step is to carve an area of interest out of the Wikipedia hierarchy based on a simple query or other starting point. The second step is to connect the concepts in this domain hierarchy with named relationships. A starting point is provided by Linked Open Data, such as DBPedia. Based on these community-generated facts we train a pattern-based fact-extraction algorithm to augment a domain hierarchy with previously unknown relationship occurrences. Pattern vectors are learned that represent occurrences of relationships between concepts. The process described can be fully automated and the number of relationships that can be learned grows as the community adds more information. Unlike approaches that are aimed at finding single, highly indicative patterns, we use the cumulative score of many pattern occurrences to increase extraction recall. The relationship identification process itself is based on positiveonly classification of training facts.


Musculoskeletal disorders in the elderly have significantly increased due to the increase in an ageing population. The treatment of these diseases necessitates surgical procedures, including total joint replacements such as hip and knee joints. Over the years a number of treatment options have been specifically established which are either permanent or use temporary natural materials such as marine skeletons that possess unique architectural structure and chemical composition for the repair and regeneration of bone tissue. This review paper will give an overview of presently used materials and marine structures for hard tissue repair and regeneration, drugs of marine origin and other marine products which show potential for musculoskeletal treatment.


The problem of finding a minimum spanning tree connecting n points in a k-dimensional space is discussed under three common distance metrics -- Euclidean, rectilinear, and $L_\infty$. By employing a subroutine that solves the post office problem, we show that, for fixed k $\geq$ 3, such a minimum spanning tree can be found in time O($n^{2-a(k)} {(log n)}^{1-a(k)}$), where a(k) = $2^{-(k+1)}$. The bound can be improved to O(${(n log n)}^{1.8}$) for points in the 3-dimensional Euclidean space. We also obtain o($n^2$) algorithms for finding a farthest pair in a set of n points and for other related problems.


G. A. Cohen was one of the leading political philosophers of recent times. He first came to wide attention in 1978 with the prize-winning book Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence. In subsequent decades his published writings largely turned away from the history of philosophy, focusing instead on equality, freedom, and justice. However, throughout his career he regularly lectured on a wide range of moral and political philosophers of the past. This volume collects these previously unpublished lectures. Starting with a chapter centered on Plato, but also discussing the pre-Socratics as well as Aristotle, the book moves to social contract theory as discussed by Hobbes, Locke, and Hume, and then continues with chapters on Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche. The book also contains some previously published but uncollected papers on Marx, Hobbes, and Kant, among other figures. The collection concludes with a memoir of Cohen written by the volume editor, Jonathan Wolff, who was a student of Cohen's. A hallmark of the lectures is Cohen's engagement with the thinkers he discusses. Rather than simply trying to render their thought accessible to the modern reader, he tests whether their arguments and positions are clear, sound, and free from contradiction. Throughout, he homes in on central issues and provides fresh approaches to the philosophers he examines. Ultimately, these lectures teach us not only about some of the great thinkers in the history of moral and political philosophy, but also about one of the great thinkers of our time: Cohen himself.


This study was conducted to confirm whether bupivacaine-epinephrine test dose and total dose of bupivacaine induce a decrease in heart rate when injected through a correctly placed caudal needle. Fifty paediatric patients (≤12years) undergoing infra-umbilical surgery were recruited in the study. After inhalational induction of anaesthesia and placement of caudal epidural needle the baseline heart rate was recorded. Caudal epidural test dose (0.1mLkg-1 of 0.25% bupivacaine with 0.5μgkg-1 epinephrine) followed by total dose (1 mLkg-1 of 0.25% bupivacaine) were administered. The change in heart rate, with respect to baseline heart rate, one minute following the injection of test dose and during the injection of total dose was recorded. Caudal block was successful in 45 (90%)children. Successful block was associated with significant decrease in heart rate following test dose injection (mean difference[MD], 95% confidence interval [CI]), 5 beats per minute (bpm) [4bpm to 6bpm] (P=0.000) and during total dose injection (mean [95%CI], 9bpm [8bpm to 10bpm]) (P=0.000). In the failed block group, heart rate remained similar to the baseline values during administration of test dose and total dose (MD [95% CI], 0.4bpm [-2bpm to 3bpm] and 0.4bpm [-4 to 5bpm] respectively) (P>0.05).The decrease in the heart rate following the injection of the bupivacaine-epinephrine test dose and the total dose of local anaesthetic, is a reliable test to predict the success of paediatric caudal block.


The purpose of this paper is to make a new trial to explore the influence factors of loan default in Internet finance loan business. A facial feature extraction and classification model is proposed. The optimal facial feature extraction algorithm is obtained by comparing four commonly used facial feature extraction algorithms and certain facial features based on physiognomy are selected and classified in 117, 507face images. An experimental study with the help of the proposed model is conducted to explore the correlations between loan defaults and Internet finance loan users' classified facial features based on physiognomy. The findings are as follows: among male Internet finance loan users, short eyebrows are related to default and eye angle, nose height-to-width ratio (nHWR), lip thickness and facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) are positively related to default behavior and the mouth length is negatively related to default; among female Internet finance loan users, eyebrows angle, eyes angle, lip thickness and facial width-to-height ratio are positively correlated to default and mouth length is negatively correlated with default. Additionally, the conclusion of that male fWHR is positively related to default of the proposed study is echoed with the research results of [1] and [2].


Channel allocation is a crucial concern in variable-width wireless local area networks. This work aims to obtain the stable and fair nonoverlapped variable-width channel allocation for selfish access points (APs). In the scenario of single collision domain, the channel allocation problem reduces to a channel-width allocation problem, which can be formulated as a noncooperative game. The Nash equilibrium (NE) of the game corresponds to a desired channel-width allocation. A distributed algorithm is developed to achieve the NE channel-width allocation that globally maximizes the network utility. A punishment-based cooperation self-enforcement mechanism is further proposed to ensure that the APs obey the proposed scheme. In the scenario of multiple collision domains, the channel allocation problem is formulated as a constrained game. Penalty functions are introduced to relax the constraints and the game is converted into a generalized ordinal potential game. Based on the best response and randomized escape, a distributed iterative algorithm is designed to achieve a desired NE channel allocation. Finally, computer simulations are conducted to validate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed schemes.


We present real-time optical microscopy observations of the pattern evolution in self-destruction and subsequent dewetting of thin polymer films based on experiments with polydimethylsiloxane films sandwiched between silicon wafers and aqueous surfactant solutions. A clear scenario consisting of four distinct stages has been identified: amplification of surface fluctuations, break-up of the film and formation of holes, growth and coalescence of holes, and droplet formation and ripening. Besides a linear dependence on film viscosity and surface tension, the time τ for film rupture varied significantly with film thickness h (τ ~ h5), as expected from theory. While the role of long-range forces is dominant only in the first stage, the later stages are controlled by the combination of interfacial tensions resulting in the contact angle characterizing the three-phase contact line. During the first stage, the characteristic distance of the pattern remains constant, represented by a time-independent wavevector. In all subsequent stages, this wavevector decreases with time as a consequence of hole opening, coalescence, and ripening on droplets. The later stages of evolution are a function of the contact angle at the three-phase contact line. Only a clear distinction between stages before and after film break-up allows a correct interpretation of the observed pattern evolution in unstable thin films.


It is understood that the interaction between sediment supply and discharge drives first-order behaviour of :::::: alluvial deposits. The influence of the grain size distribution shape over the mobility and resultant evolution is, however, unclear. Four experiments were conducted in a scaled physical model for two grain size distributions, analogous to a one-dimensional selfformed alluvial fan. We demonstrate the unsuitability of the median grain size as a predictor of deposit behaviour at flows when the material is not equally mobile. The results instead suggest, during conditions of unequal mobility, that largest grains control 5 the transport efficiency of the overall sediment mixture, and thus also the morphodynamics of the deposit and its tendency to store or evacuate material. Deposits appear to show a dependence upon the rate of material supply more strongly when the likelihood of its motion is less equally distributed (i.e., under partial transport conditions). If the coarse fraction (e.g., greater than 84 percentile) is instead mobile due to increased discharge or because of their relative size, transport rates will increase and the behaviour of the mixtures converge to a common state, with morphology influenced by the material's mobility. 10


The study investigats the impact of terrorism activities on five economies (Developing and Developed) financial stock markets. Spain, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, America and France were chosen for the analysis. The variables considered were terrorist activities and market return of the financial stock markets. Daily time series data for the period from 1st Jan 2001 to 31st Dec 2018 was analyzed by applying simple linear regression model to estimate the effects of terrorist activities on financial stock market returns of the selected countries. The results suggest that the market return is affected by the terror events and the model is overall statistically significant. The results of this study are consistent with findings of Freytag et al. (2009) and Basuchoudhary and Shughart (2010). Significant influence of terrorist activities on financial market returns offer financial markets stakeholders not only an understanding of the direction of market swing following terror factors on stock market but also offers guidance towards investment decision making and timing. Study further discussed how terrorism activities influence the overall market return.


Vowel hyperarticulation in infant-directed speech (IDS) has been found consistently across both tone (Mandarin [1]) and non-tone (Russian, Swedish, American [2] and Australian English [3]) languages and has been posited as a possible bootstrapping mechanism for early language development in infancy [1]. Here we investigated (1) IDS in Cantonese to examine whether tones, like vowels, are hyperarticulated in a tone language and (2) the interaction of F0 measures (mean and range) in tone and intonation. Our results show there is tone hyperarticulation in Cantonese IDS compared to Cantonese adult-directed speech (ADS). Regarding the interaction of tone and intonation, F0 mean was elevated in IDS compared with ADS especially for level tones. F0 range is greater in intonation over utterances than in tones in words, and greater in ADS than IDS. These results suggest that pitch in IDS tone hyperarticulation and IDS intonation is manipulated relatively independently and tone fidelity is not affected by the exaggerated intonation of IDS.


Adult worms of Rhadinorhynchus dorsoventrospinosus (Acanthocephala: Rhadinor-hynchidae) were collected from the small intestine of the red spot emperor Lethrinus lentjan (family Lethrinidae) from locations along the Red Sea at Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia. Twenty three out of 70 fish specimens (32.9%) were found to be naturally infected. The parasite was described using photo research Zeiss microscopy and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Light microscopic studies revealed that the adult worm possessed a proboscis which was long, cylindrical with a uniform width measured 0.44 +/- 0.02 (0.38-0.46) mm in length and 0.1 +/- 10.02 (0.09-0.15) mm in width. Proboscis hooks observed by scanning electron microscopy were large, uniform in size (14-16 rows of 26 hooks each) with a row of longer hooks at the base. Comparison between the present described species and four species of the same genus was done, it was observed that there was only one comparable species, R dorsoventrospinosus resembled the present parasite in the general morphology and differed from others, so the present studied species is classified as R. dorsoventrospinosus with new host and locality records.


Eating behaviors, including unhealthy snacking or excessive snacking leading to excess calorie consumption, may contribute to obesity among adolescents. Socioeconomic status (SES) also significantly influences eating behaviors, and low SES is associated with increased risk for obesity. However, little is known regarding the relationship between snacking behavior and SES among adolescents and how this may contribute to obesity-related outcomes. The primary objective of this scoping review was to review the literature to assess and characterize the relationship between SES and snacking in adolescents. The secondary objective was to assess weight-related outcomes and their relation to snacking habits. Included articles were published between January 2000 and May 2019; written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish; and focused on adolescents (13–17 years). In total, 14 bibliographic databases were searched, and seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Preliminary evidence from the seven included studies suggests a weak but potential link between SES and snacking. Additionally, these dietary patterns seemed to differ by sex and income type of country. Finally, only three of the included studies addressed weight-related outcomes, but the overall available evidence suggests that snacking does not significantly affect weight-related outcomes. Due to the small number of included studies, results should be interpreted with caution.


The optimal dietary level of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1,25-(OH)2D3] for eggshell quality was established. White Leghorn hens, 59 wk of age, were fed one of eight diets that contained the same basal ingredients, including 3.1% calcium, but different levels (microgram/kg) or forms of calciferol supplements: no calciferol supplement of any form (56 hens); 27.5 (control) or 55.0 micrograms of cholecalciferol (56 hens each); 3, 5, or 7 micrograms of 1,25-(OH)2D3 (28 hens each); 5 micrograms of 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [24,25-(OH)2D3] with 28 hens; 5 micrograms each of 1,25-(OH)2D3 and 24,25-(OH)2D3 (28 hens). All groups were fed the control diet prior to the 21-wk treatment. The group fed 5 micrograms 1,25-(OH)2D3/kg diet ranked first in specific gravity (SG), e.g., 1.081 versus 1.077 for the control group at Week 21 (P less than .05). The group fed 7 micrograms 1,25-(OH)2D3/kg consumed 30% less feed and laid 20% fewer eggs than the control, but shell quality was not affected. The groups receiving no calciferol supplement or receiving only 24,25-(OH)2D3 laid eggs with significantly lower SG than the control after 2 wk of treatment (1.072 or less versus 1.082 at Week 2). The rest of the treatment groups mentioned were comparable to the control in eggshell quality and egg production. Groups fed the combination of 1,25-(OH)2D3 and 24,25-(OH)2D3 per kilogram of feed, or 1,25-(OH)2D3 alone at 5 micrograms/kg, had significantly higher tibial weights relative to the control group. All groups receiving the diets without cholecalciferol supplementation had markedly reduced hatchability. It was concluded that the optimal dietary level of 1,25-(OH)2D3 for improving eggshell quality without affecting egg production was approximately 5 micrograms/kg and the toxic level was 7 micrograms/kg.


A number of studies have shown that accompanying lexical items of a foreign language with gestures leads to better results when it comes to memorizing them. This article examines the effect of emblematic gestures on second language memorization by learners immersed in the target culture. Fifteen immigrants took part in an experiment aiming to assess active knowledge on new vocabulary. They had to learn 27 Greek multi-word expressions and two different teaching methods were applied. The control group was taught multi-word expressions included in everyday communicative situations by reading and listening, while the gesture group was taught the same expressions in the same way, in addition to being exposed to the use of relevant gestures. Results have shown that gestures indeed influence the memorization of L2 lexical items and leave a richer trace in the memory of students.


The learning organization is a concept that is becoming an increasingly widespread philosophy in modern organizations, from largest multinationals to the smallest ventures. As initially conceived by Senge (1990), the learning organization has a strongly humanist orientation, being a place where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together. In order to implement learning organization techniques, public universities should tackle the five disciplines essential to a learning organization ‐ team learning, shared vision, mental models, personal mastery and systems thinking. This paper poses the following questions: how are public universities committed to the following: creating continuous learning opportunities; promoting inquiry and dialogue; encouraging collaboration and team learning; est0ablishing systems to capture and share learning; empowering people towards a collective vision, and connecting the organization to its environment? The paper proposes the need for radical rethinking and re-engineering of the core functions of public universities in developing countries.


In this paper we use the idea of Application Level Active Networks to implement an efficient and easily deployable solution for the distribution of e-commerce services using cache servers which can hold dynamic content. The resulting system is an application of the ALAN concept and framework to a real and complex application (an electronic bookstore that makes use of dynamic document caching schemes). Our experiments show that significant performance gains can be obtained by e-commerce sites that use this model, improving the scalability of the target service by distributing the load among the dynamic caches. Results show reductions of server CPU load by up to 64% and improvements of client perceived response time of up to 70% under heavy load.


AIMS
MRP-1, LRP and TOPO-II are all associated with protection of the cells from the adverse effects of various chemotherapeutics. The aim of this study was to measure the expression of these proteins in Wilms' tumor (WT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
TMA block was constructed from 14 samples of WT's and from xenografts derived from them. Sections of the TMA were used for immunostaining against MRP-1, LRP and TOPO-IIa.

RESULTS
All normal kidneys expressed MRP-1 but were either weakly or negatively stained for LRP and TOPO-IIa. In WT samples, MRP-1 was universally expressed, exclusively in the tubular component, while there was no expression of LRP and TOPO-IIa showed heterogeneous distribution. The xenografts varied in their MRP-1 and TOPO-IIa expression and exhibited weak/negative staining of LRP.

CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that although all the proteins evaluated, had different expression patterns in the tumor samples, the most prominent changes in expression were found for MRP-1. The exact clinical implications of these changes in expression and their relevance to the resistance of these tumors to chemotherapy requires further investigation. The finding of different expression profiles for the multidrug resistance proteins in the original WT's and their xenografts suggests that the results of animal cancer models may be difficult to interpret.


Introduction Early postoperative hypoxemia may occur when patients breathe room air during their initial recovery period. Prolonged hypoxemia can result in delirium, dysrhythmia, and cardiac arrest. Aim The aim of the present study was to compare the performance of face mask compared with that of the nasal prong in the management of early postoperative hypoxemia. Patients and methods All procedures were performed using standard anesthetic and surgical techniques modified to the specific procedures. All patients had peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) at least 97% before being transferred to the recovery room. On arrival to the recovery room, 120 patients whose SpO2 decreased up to 94% were randomly allocated to either the face mask or nasal prong groups. They were commenced on oxygen therapy at 4 l/min through either device. A modified visual analogues scale was used to evaluate the level of comfort during oxygen therapy. Results Early postoperative hypoxia occurred in 18.1%. The increase in oxygen saturation after commencement of oxygen therapy was significantly faster with nasal prongs (0.63±1.42 min) than with face mask (1.78±1.10 min) (P=0.001). The maximum SpO2 obtained was significantly higher with nasal prongs (98.77±1.29%) than with face mask (97.63±1.89%) (P<0.001). There was no significant association found between early postoperative hypoxemia and site or duration of surgery, as well as the volume of intravenous fluid (crystalloids) administered intraoperatively (P>0.05). Nasal prongs (91.7%) were significantly more comfortable compared with face mask (61.7%) (P=0.001). We have demonstrated that the use of nasal prongs was more efficient and comfortable compared with face mask in the management of early postoperative hypoxemia.


Rats were fed with food of different caloric densities by addition of kaolin or groundnut oil to the normal food powder. The food intake, caloric intake and body weights were noted. These observations were compared before and after bilateral destruction of mid-dorsal caudate nucleus. The food intake before caudatal lesion varied appropriately with the caloric density of food thus maintaining caloric intake and body weight. After mid-dorsal caudatal destruction this feedback mechanism of maintaining body weight was operative with low caloric density diet but not with high caloric diet.


The COVID-19 pandemic is dangerous to people's lives and livelihoods, creating immediate obstacles for organizations that support impacted populations. This research concentrates on the consequences for local microfinance institutions in Pakistan, which is a well-developed sector that has pulled many households out of the poverty trap. Microfinance programs in Pakistan provide financial resources to vulnerable and deprived people to engage in income-generating practices on more favorable terms. As a result, this study addressed and assessed the financial dimensions of managing poverty reduction in rural Pakistan through the microfinance segment and its effectiveness on poverty-reduction programs in Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary data were collected through a questionnaire survey to determine the views of the households, beneficiaries, and non-beneficiaries on the outcome and efficacy of poverty-reduction programs during the pandemic to meet the study objectives. The Mann-Whitney U test of the non-parametric method and Cronbach's alpha of the data reliability test have been applied for the empirical analysis. According to the non-parametric findings, programs, marital status, working women members, and resources such as land, livestock, business assets, shares, and loans have all been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Education, wages, gender, size, child dependency, and district variables are significant factors related to poverty, but they fell into second position during COVID-19. These findings suggests that the small loan system must be improved and made efficient during the pandemic. This could be a practical tool to maintain poor people's current economic and poverty position.


New products improve competitiveness through their creativity and innovativeness. Creativity and innovativeness are parallel yet non-identical concepts; newly introduced products are either somewhat thematically similar or taxonomically similar to the existing products. There is a need for the explication of creativity and innovativeness as separate or as unified concepts in newly developed products, in particular, thematic products. A mixed-method design was adopted to establish definitions and components of creativity and innovativeness in the ideas presented at the innovation summit through 489 perceptual reports on 14 feature-based and theme-based product ideas. On the whole, three components—originality, value, and commercial appeal—were derived and tested. Results revealed the significance of originality as a major component of creativity and innovativeness in all products. Perceived value was significantly related to originality in both taxonomic and thematic products. Originality and value predicted creativity whereas innovativeness was predicted by commercial appeal along with originality and value in all products. The underlying purchase intention in taxonomic and thematic product ideas was the product's relatedness with lifestyle. A product idea to be implemented in business as innovation was found to be dependent on its creativity and commercial appeal. This asserted three factors mandatory at the Fuzzy Front End (FFE), namely, originality, value, and commercial appeal. Discussion includes the interpretation of results and future directions.


A list of selected sources of statistical information for Maryland available in the University of Maryland Libraries, the Maryland Room, and on the Internet.


The population of the world is getting older. In 2010, worldwide, there were about 524 million people over the age of 65; by 2050, over 1.5 billion people will be in this age group. This shift in population will not affect only developed countries, however—much of this increase in the elderly population will occur in lowand middleincome countries. As populations age, low-income countries will need to invest in health care for older adults and in disease prevention programs to prevent or delay the onset of non-communicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer). Past research on population-level health in the developing world has been widely hindered by a lack of high-quality longitudinal data. My dissertation uses recently-collected longitudinal data to gain insight into overall trends in health in lowand middle-income contexts. My first chapter uses a multi-state life table approach to investigate the overall level of health and functional ability (the ability to carry out tasks of daily life) among the rural population in Malawi. I find that this population experiences a substantial burden of disability in later life, and that these high levels of disability greatly limit work efforts among older individuals. In my second chapter, I conduct a cross-national comparison of health and disability-free life expectancy using data from recent longitudinal surveys in Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the US. I find that current disability-free life expectancy at age 65 is comparable across these populations, though future trends are uncertain. My third chapter investigates how Malawi's 2008 rollout of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) to rural clinics affected overall population health and mortality. I find that the introduction of ART led to substantial declines in mortality and an increase in adult life expectancy, and that population morbidity also decreased after the introduction of ART. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Demography First Advisor Hans-Peter Kohler


Kenfig NNR (National Nature Reserve) is a coastal sand dune system in south Wales, UK. The site is an important location for the conservation of the fen orchid Liparis loeselii, a significant proportion of the UK population is found solely on the site. Approaches to the mapping and monitoring of the habitats at Kenfig NNR using EO (Earth Observation) meth ods are investigated. Typical airborne EO missions over such sites produce more than a single source of EO data; these may include various optical imaging sensors with different spectral ranges, film cameras and ranging devices to measure topography. Conservation managers are thus presented with the problem of which sources of data to use when producing a land cover map of the site of interest. Using a data set gathered over the Kenfig NNR site, we investigate land cover mapping methods for conservation. The land cover types of interest typically cover small areas within a much larger site so they present a hard problem for the EO data and associated classification methods to solve. Land cover classifications produced from the data sets provide a set of competing hypotheses of land cover type for the site. Methods we use to resolve this competition between the data sets include voting methods, data fusion methods and a method utilising fuzzy logic to aggregate information. This paper is intended to act as an introduction to some of the issues involved in using EO data for habitat mapping in highly heterogeneous coastal dune environments and to present some preliminary results of the performance of each method.


Michel Beaudin is a professor of political and socioeconomic ethics in the Faculty of Theology of the Université de Montréal since 1985 and a specialist in the moral implications of market globalization. He has written extensively on the neo-liberal economy and the role of the Church, both in Quebec and elsewhere. He was also responsible for research on education program for Development and Peace, from 1974 to 1985. This article is a translation of an excerpt from the address that Mr. Beaudin gave at the annual convention of the Catholic Health Association of Canada.


This paper presents a time domain model of a HVDC-VSC system suitable for real-time simulations and its application to a wind energy conversion system (WECS). The HVDC-VSC model comprises two voltage source converters (VSC) linked together by a DC-link cable, their control systems and interfacing transformers. The operations of the VSC are based on pulse width modulation (PWM). The WECS is represented by a scaled-down system comprising a three-phase induction machine driven by a controllable DC servomotor running at a speed that corresponds to a full-size asynchronous wind generator. The mathematical model of the HVDC-VSC system is implemented in the real-time simulation environment using a commercially available real-time station (RTS). The power output profile of the scaled-down WECS is entered into the HVDC-VSC model residing in the RTS and fed to an external load using the digital-to-analogue converters (DAC) of the RTS. The effect of fluctuating wind speed is simulated in the scaled-down WECS and the response of the HVDC-VSC system to maintain voltage regulation to the load is assessed. The detailed implementation and configuration of the test environment is described in the paper.


To improve computational efficiency, it may be advantageous to transfer part of the intelligence lying in the core of a system to its sensors. Vision sensors equipped with small programmable processors at each pixel allow us to follow this principle in so-called near-focal plane processing, which is performed on-chip directly where light is being collected. Such devices need then only to communicate relevant pre-processed visual information to other parts of the system. In this work, we demonstrate how two classical problems, namely high dynamic range imaging and auto-focus, can be solved efficiently using two simple parallel algorithms implemented on such a chip. We illustrate with these two examples that embedding uncomplicated algorithms on-chip, directly where information acquisition takes place can replace more complex dedicated post-processing. Adapting data acquisition by bringing processing at the sensor level allows us to explore solutions that would not be feasible in a conventional sensor-ADC-processor pipeline.


Background Opioids are commonly used in the management of pain, diarrhoea, cough and dyspnoea. However, their ability to modulate the ubiquitous endogenous opioid system can lead to many side effects. A potentially covert side effect which has been attracting increasing interest relates to opioid-induced immune suppression. This may be of particular importance in patients with cancer or infection. The immunomodulatory effects of opioids require an increased awareness within palliative care given that patients are potentially living longer with a palliative diagnosis. Aims To systematically evaluate the in vitro effects on opioids on human immune system. Methods Peripheral blood was obtained from healthy volunteers and the influence of clinically relevant concentrations of morphine, tramadol, fentanyl, buprenorphine, methadone oxycodone codeine and diamorphine on innate and adaptive immunity were evaluated. These tests included investigation of neutrophil and monocyte bacterial defence mechanisms, the capacity of natural killer (NK) cells to kill tumour cells and T cell responsiveness to stimulation. Results None of the opioids had a consistent effect on any of the immune parameters tested when analysed on a group basis. However, there was marked variability between individuals, both in their baseline and the effect of opioids. This was particularly evident with respect to the influence of morphine, tramadol, fentanyl and buprenorphine on neutrophil and monocyte bacterial defence mechanisms. Conclusion These in vitro findings suggest that although morphine, tramadol, fentanyl and buprenorphine have little direct effect on anticancer or antiviral protection they could influence the susceptibility to bacterial infection. Clinical studies aimed at assessing the in vivo effects of opioid administration on innate and adaptive immune capacity in relevant patient groups are required in order to assess the potential clinical significance of opioids used for palliation.


The extant literature on workplace coaching is characterised by a lack of theoretical and empirical understanding regarding the effectiveness of coaching as a learning and development tool; the types of outcomes one can expect from coaching; the tools that can be used to measure coaching outcomes; the underlying processes that explain why and how coaching works and the factors that may impact on coaching effectiveness. This thesis sought to address these substantial gaps in the literature with three linked studies. Firstly, a meta-analysis of workplace coaching effectiveness (k = 17), synthesizing the existing research was presented. A framework of coaching outcomes was developed and utilised to code the studies. Analysis indicated that coaching had positive effects on all outcomes. Next, the framework of outcomes was utilised as the deductive start-point to the development of the scale measuring perceived coaching effectiveness. Utilising a multi-stage approach (n = 201), the analysis indicated that perceived coaching effectiveness may be organised into a six factor structure: career clarity; team performance; work well-being; performance; planning and organizing and personal effectiveness and adaptability. The final study was a longitudinal field experiment to test a theoretical model of individual differences and coaching effectiveness developed in this thesis. An organizational sample of 84 employees each participated in a coaching intervention, completed self-report surveys, and had their job performance rated by peers, direct reports and supervisors (a total of 352 employees provided data on participant performance). The results demonstrate that compared to a control group, the coaching intervention generated a number of positive outcomes. The analysis indicated that coachees' enthusiasm, intellect and orderliness influenced the impact of coaching on outcomes. Mediation analysis suggested that mastery goal orientation, performance goal orientation and approach motivation in the form of behavioural activation system (BAS) drive, were significant mediators between personality and outcomes. Overall, the findings of this thesis make an original contribution to the understanding of the types of outcomes that can be expected from coaching, and the magnitude of impact coaching has on outcomes. The thesis also provides a tool for reliably measuring coaching effectiveness and a theoretical model to understand the influence of coachee individual differences on coaching outcomes.


ABSTRACT Objective: To compare components of inpatient rehabilitation (IR) for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) between Canada and the US facilities. Design: Secondary analysis of the TBI-practice-based evidence dataset. Participants: Patients with TBI who had a higher Functional Independence Measure (FIMTM) cognitive function score (≥21) that were admitted to 1 IR facility in Canada (n = 103) and 9 IR facilities in the US (n = 401). Main measures: demographic and clinical characteristics, type and intensity of activities by discipline, discharge location, FIM-Rasch score, social participation and quality of life. Results: Time from injury to rehabilitation admission was significantly longer in the Canadian cohort and they experienced a longer rehabilitation length of stay (p < .001, Cohen's d > .8). Patients in Canada received a greater total time of individual therapy and lower intensity of interventions per week from all disciplines. They also showed a higher score at discharge in FIM components, while US patients had better cognitive recovery and community participation long-term post-discharge. Conclusions: This study informs stakeholders of the large variation in service provision for patients who were treated in these two countries. These findings suggest the need for robust analyzes to investigate predictors of short and long-term outcomes considering the variation in health-care delivery. List of abbreviations: TBI: traumatic brain injury, CSI: comprehensive severity index, LoS: length of stay, OT: occupational therapy, PT: physical therapy, SLP: speech language pathology, IR: inpatient rehabilitation


The dissertation focuses on interpretations of Islam that claim compatibility with international human rights norms in the context of women's rights. These interpretations are seen as parts of an on-going contemporary international debate on women's human rights and Islam that engages Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Existing UN-formulated international human rights schemes are a basic starting point. Texts by three internationally renowned Muslim scholars – philosopher and religious studies scholar Riffat Hassan, sociologist Fatima Mernissi and legal studies and human rights scholar Abdullahi Ahmed an-Na'im – constitute the main part of the material studied. These three individuals become exponents for what is termed an "accommodation-position" among Muslims participating in the debate. The analysis covers methods used in the attempts to provide interpretations of the basic Islamic religious sources – the Qur'an, the hadith-literature and Muslim historiography – which accommodate international human rights norms in the context of women's rights. Through this activity the exponents produce versions of Islam that compete with other contemporary versions of the religious tradition for general recognition, as the 'correct' representation of the divine will. The study also takes into consideration techniques used in the texts to convince different audiences both of the legitimacy of the interpretations presented, and of the interpreters' authority.

A general overview of the international debate on women's human rights and Islam is provided in order to outline the context of the versions of Islam suggested by Hassan, Mernissi and an-Na'im. The texts are analysed as parts of this international debate, including their social functions within the debate. One of the questions asked concerns why these interpretations receive international attention and what purposes they fulfil in the international debate. They are also analysed as parts of an on-going, worldwide discussion among Muslim religious activists concerning, for example, the role of religion in society and the issue of religious authority. Theoretical inspiration is found in the academic fields of Islamology, the sociology of knowledge, discourse analysis, gender theory and theories on cultural globalisation.


Early detection and preventive management of non-cavitated fissure caries (NCFC) are the standard of care today. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of an optical method, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), in detection of NCFC and discriminating its stages of severity on the occlusal surface. Objective: Firstly, to evaluate the accuracy of OCT in detecting sound fissure and NCFC using qualitative OCT analysis and to determine the lesion dimension agreement between OCT and PLM. Secondly, to optically characterize Ekstrand (Ek) histological codes 0, 1 and 2 and to identify OCT outcome measures that can differentiate between Ek codes. Thirdly, to validate the identified OCT outcome measures. Finally, compare the diagnostic accuracy of OCT outcome measures and ICDAS-II criteria. Methods: Premolars with sound and naturally occurring NCFC were scan bucco-lingually on the occlusal surface using Swept Source OCT (SS-OCT) and validated using Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) and Micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT). Bespoke software developed with MATLAB (Mathworks Inc) was used for OCT data extraction and processing. Results: OCT qualitative assessment can detect NCFC with high sensitivity (SN) 0.98 and specificity (SP) 0.95. Agreement between OCT and PLM was observed for width of wall and height of slope lesion. Characterisation of OCT signals based on Ekstrand histological classification showed difference in rate of attenuation between Ek codes. Mean depth-resolved intensity attenuated in two phases, in phase I, Ek code 0 had bimodal pattern, where a sudden drop was seen at 30 μm, however, at 40 μm slow attenuation (1.43E+06 a.u./μm) was observed. Ek code 2 exhibited the fastest rate of attenuation (6.43E+06 a.u./μm). Thereafter, in phase II, relatively slower attenuation was observed for all three Ek codes. Area under the curve, partial (AUCP) and total (AUCT) were the outcome measures to detect sound fissure from NCFC and differentiated stages of NCFC respectively. AUCP at cut-off 3.038E+10 (a.u.) showed 0.86 SN and >0.99 SP with 0.95 area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves. AUCT at a cut-off value of 7.031E+10 (a.u.) was limited to SN 0.61 and SP 0.73 with 0.66 AUROC. Validation of AUCP showed no significant difference in detecting sound and NCFC when groove-fossa system was assessed overall compared to groove where both had accurate SN (> 0.99) and good SP (0.79). For differentiation, AUCT showed similar SN at different anatomical locations (0.80), however, SP (0.75) was highest at the occlusal fissure. Quantitative OCT analysis when compared to visual criteria ICDAS-II showed similar SN (> 0.99) for detection of NCFC, whereas higher SP (> 0.99 ) was observed for OCT. OCT was able to accurately delineate ICDAS-Radiological (R)–code 2 versus ICDAS-R-code 1 with high SN (> 0.99) and good SP (0.83) as compared to ICDAS-II criteria. Conclusion: The attenuation characteristics of backscattered intensity and the derived outcome measures AUCP and AUCT can significantly detect sound fissure from NCFC and differentiate stages of severity respectively and can be used for predicting Ek codes 0, 1 and 2 with good accuracy.


Abstract:The second essay of Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality (GM) offers a naturalistic and developmental account of the emergence of conscience, a faculty uniquely responsive to remembering and honoring obligations. This article attempts to solve an interpretive puzzle that is invited by the second essay's explanation of nonmoral obligation, prior to the capacity to feel guilt. Ostensibly, Nietzsche argues that the conscience and our concept of obligation originated within contractual ("creditor-debtor") relations, when creditors punished delinquent debtors (GM II:5). However, this interpretation, which I call the contractualist reading, is incoherent and subject to an insoluble bootstrapping problem. I argue instead that Nietzsche provides two accounts of nonmoral obligation in the second essay, and that the conscience originated in the morality of custom to track rule prohibitions ("I will nots" [GM II:3]), which Nietzsche conceives of as involuntary or reciprocal obligations that, unlike contractual debts, do not require the making of promises.


After rectal cancer surgery, urinary catheterization is required to ensure bladder decompression perioperatively and avoid postoperative acute urinary retention [1]. However, urinary catheterization carries the risk of urinary tract infection and urethral injury and limits the patient's ambulation. For this reason, several studies have investigated the optimal time for urinary catheter removal after rectal surgery [2, 3]. The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) became standard care after colorectal surgery, and most of the surgeons follow the ERAS care program [4, 5]. Within the ERAS program, there may be modifications depending on the patient's condition and the judgment of the care team, as is the removal of the urinary catheter. ERAS guidelines recommend urinary catheter removal on the first postoperative day whenever possible after rectal surgery. However, a suprapubic catheter is recommended for patients at high risk of prolonged postoperative urinary retention, i.e., males, preexisting prostatism, laparotomy, neoadjuvant therapy, large pelvic tumors, and abdominoperineal resection. As recommended by the guidelines, postoperative 1-day removal may quickly reduce patient discomfort and reduce the possibility of urinary tract infection but may lead to urinary catheter reinsertion or ERAS protocol failure due to urinary retention or other complications. In this paper, the authors presented a compromised method within the ERAS program to remove urinary catheters within 72 hours after surgery while using alpha blockers [6]. Also, previous studies with low total mesorectal excision (TME) rates, including inflammatory disease or other benign conditions, are not suitable as a reference for optimal timing for urinary catheter removal after a rectal cancer operation. The present study is valuable as a study on the optimal urinary catheter removal time in a homogenous group with a high TME rate by targeting only rectal cancer patients. This protocol will serve as a good reference for the appropriate timing and method for urinary catheter removal for patients with rectal cancer surgery.


The use of antimicrobial substances to combat microorganisms has been in practice for
centuries. Louis Pasteur's germ theory published in 1865 was the first scientific evidence of
the link between microorganisms and infectious disease and brought the implementation of
antisepsis into hospital routines. The interest in antiseptics diminished with the discovery
and introduction of antibiotics in clinical treatment in the 1940s, but the emergence of
antibiotic resistance during the past decades has revived the interest in antiseptic agents as
treatment of infectious diseases.
The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the antimicrobial effect and release kinetics of two
commonly used antimicrobial substances (silver and PHMB) during in-vitro testing of
antimicrobial wound dressings. Experiments with the active substance in solution as well as
experiments with the active substance in the form of antimicrobial wound care dressings
were performed. The antimicrobial effect was evaluated using a two-compartment model by
determining the number of viable cell counts by standard plate count method. The silver
release from wound care dressings was determined by ICP-OES analysis. The PHMB release
was assessed with spectrophotometric measurements and a colorimetric method involving
the anionic dye Eosin Y. The influence of agitation was evaluated at static conditions and at
agitation rates of 50 and 100 rpm respectively.
Experiments with active substance in solution against P. aeruginosa showed no influence of
agitation on antimicrobial effect. Higher PHMB susceptibility was observed for S. aureus
compared to P. aeruginosa, this could be coupled to the outer cell membrane present in
gram-negative bacteria which may act as permeability barrier against the polymeric PHMB.
In contrast, experiments involving wound care dressings showed a clear correlation between
increased antimicrobial effect and increased agitation rates for P. aeruginosa. The
contradictive results of the two types of experiments may be explained by the initial mixing
of inoculated medium and antimicrobial agent for the experiments with active substance in
solution. In the experiments involving wound care dressings no such mixing occurred and
hence, the effect of agitation is likely to be greater.
The silver release during incubation was similar in experiments performed at static
conditions and agitation at 50 rpm, but a significantly higher silver release was detected
when agitation at 100 rpm was employed. As no proper control sample was accessible, the
amount PHMB released during incubation was not possible to determine with analytical
methods available at MHC. Although the presence of interfering substances was indicated in
performed measurements of PHMB concentration it could be concluded that agitation does
not seem to greatly influence the amount PHMB released, even at higher agitation rates.


This article shows the report presented by the Commission on Graduate Education in Economics in 1991 to the American Economic Association, it focuses on the extent to which graduate education in economic may have become too isolated from real economic problems. The report analyzes the first year core program and then fields, and it questions about the excessive emphasis given to mathematical technique versus economic substance. Thereafter the paper describes some perceived deficiencies of coursework as a whole: a lack of creativity on the part of students, and a lack of communication skills. Next, it examines the long process of selecting a dissertation, and shows advantages and disadvantages of mix of graduate schools. Finally, concludes with recommendations to solve the problems described.


ABSTRACT While access to technology presents language learners with a view of the second language (L2) and culture that is very broad and current, foreign language curricula tend to be outdated and much narrower in scope, and they usually do not incorporate critical perspectives. Following the lead of researchers who seek to use education as a bottom-up method of achieving social justice, this case study of two students used Web 3.0 resources (especially Facebook [FB]) to integrate critical pedagogy (CP) and critical discourse studies (CDS) into an intermediate foreign language course. The purpose was to raise students' critical awareness of sociopolitical issues while enhancing their agency and involvement. The students were trained in using CDS to study L2 discourses and in engaging collaboratively in dialogues in class and on FB. Close analysis of four major themes in the two students' nuanced responses on eight data collection tasks over the semester shows that although they did well on the departmental assessments of expected progress, they also became comfortable at different rates and to varying degrees with CP/CDS and the dynamic nuances of language and culture. In this way, they developed a cohesive understanding of the ideologies embedded in L2 discourse.


Academic performance relies, in part, on intelligence; however, intelligence quotient (IQ) is limited in predicting academic success. Furthermore, while the search for the biological seat of intelligence predates neuroscience itself, its findings remain conflicting. Here, we assess the interplay between IQ, academic performance, and brain connectivity with behavioral and functional MRI data collected from undergraduate students as they completed an active learning or lecture-based semester-long university physics course. IQ (i.e., full-scale WAIS scores) increased significantly pre-to post-instruction, were associated with physics knowledge and reasoning measures, but were unrelated to overall course grade. IQ was related to brain connectivity during physics-related cognition, but connectivity did not mediate IQ's association with task performance. These relations depended on students' sex and instructional environment, providing evidence that physics classroom environment and pedagogy may have a gendered influence on students' performance. Discussion focuses on opportunities to improve physics reasoning skills for all students.


This paper focuses on characterization of the sensing performance of a refractometric sensing platform based on multimode interference couplers (MMICs). Platform fabrication exploited a low-cost process using photocurable organic-inorganic hybrid sol-gel materials which were structured to form optical waveguides by direct UV laser writing. The sensing principle is based upon the high sensitivity of the optical field distribution formed in the MMIC toward changes in the refractive index of its environment. Simulations demonstrated the importance of correctly specifying the length of the MMIC section and illustrated that longer platforms are more sensitive due to a greater shift in self-image position. To characterize sensing performance, a porous sol-gel humidity sensing enrichment layer was coated on the MMIC. Relative humidity was detected by the system with a resolution of 0.097%. Refractive index resolution of the platform was determined to be ~ 2 × 10-6 RIU , which is an analyte-independent value and illustrates the generic nature of this platform. As such, this platform has immense potential for future applications as a label-free and real-time biosensor platform.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine individual and organizational factors that influence patient- centered care. Methods: Data were collected through convenience sampling and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) 7.0 was conducted to analyze the effects of individual and organizational factors for patient-centered care. Results: One hundred and thirty five participants were included, of which 42.2% were registered nurses (RNs), 20.0% certified nursing assistants, and 37.8% care workers. Among the 14 nursing homes assessed, the average proportion of registered nurses was 7.6%. Patient-centered care was explained by a power of 2.4% at the individual level and was significantly associated with religion of nursing staff. The explanatory variables were not significant at the organizational level. Conclusion: While previous studies have highlighted the association established between patient-centered care and both individual and organizational characteristics, the same degree of association was not found in the present study primarily due to convenience sampling. Possible avenues for improvement include further consideration of the differences between individual and organizational variables and the addition of more explanatory variables to measure their impact on patient-centered care. Nonetheless the present study provides informative perspectives on the perception of nursing staff regarding elder abuse and human rights sensitivity of nursing staff.


. We study the number of rounds needed to solve consensus in a synchronous network G where at most t nodes may fail by crash-ing. This problem has been thoroughly studied when G is a complete graph, but very little is known when G is arbitrary. We define a notion of radius that considers all ways in which t nodes may crash, and present an algorithm that solves consensus in radius rounds. Then we derive a lower bound showing that our algorithm is optimal for vertex-transitive graphs, among oblivious algorithms.


Bosons (particles with integer spin) above a critical density to temperature ratio may macroscopically populate the ground state of a system, in an effect known as Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC). The observation of BEC in dilute atomic gases was a great triumph of modern physics, a task requiring nK cooling of atoms. Following these demonstrations, a quest for lighter bosons enabling BEC at higher temperatures came to light. Photons in a microcavity were destined to fulfil this quest. Their coupling to semiconductor excitons allowed the condensation of exciton-polaritons at a few K in solid-state, and the condensation of photons was later observed in a liquid-state dye at room-temperature. Distinctly, one of the most actively studied excitations in condensed matter, surface plasmon polaritons - collective oscillations of conduction electrons in metals -, has never been shown or predicted to exhibit BEC. The strong radiative and Ohmic losses in metals, together with the lack of a suitable (e.g. harmonic) potential for thermalisation, are likely the reasons for this. Here we demonstrate BEC in a plasmonic system for the first time. Surface plasmon polaritons in a periodic array of metallic nanorods couple strongly to excitons in a room-temperature solid-state dye acting as a heat bath, and bosonic quasiparticles known as plexcitons are formed. By increasing the plexciton density through optical pumping, we observe the thermalisation and ground state accumulation of plexcitons in the angular spectrum and in real-space. Jointly, polarization build-up of the emission takes place. A new state of light-matter emerges upon plexciton condensation, and a coherent radiation field emanates from this quantum phase transition. We find the plexciton condensate to be the warmest and least massive of any condensate yet reported.


Aluminium borate (Al4B2O9) whiskers were successfully synthesized by the wet molten salt method at 800°C through control the aluminum/boron atomic ratio and synthesis temperature. The as-received Al4B2O9 whiskers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal analysis. A solution-liquid-solid (SLS) mechanism was proposed for the growth mechanism of the whiskers on the basis of the experimental phenomena and the TG-DSC data of the mixed raw materials.


Recall data of consumption of cigarettes, alcohol, fresh fruits and vegetables; visits to recreational sites, doctors' offices, and local businesses; household expenditures; and individuals' perceived probabilities of future events often contain reported numbers that appear to be rounded to nearby focal points (e.g., the closest 5 or 10). Failure to address this rounding has been show to produce biased estimates of marginal effects and willingness to pay. We investigate the relative performance of three count data models used with data of the kind typically found in recreation demand studies. We create a dataset based on observed recreational trip counts and associated trip costs that exhibits substantial rounding. We then conduct a Monte Carlo simulation exercise to compare estimated parameters, the average partial effect on an increase in trip cost, and average consumer surplus per trip for three alternative estimators: a standard Poisson model with no adjustment for rounding, a censored Poisson model, and the grouped Poisson model. The standard Poisson model with no adjustment for rounding exhibits significant, persistent bias, especially in estimates of average consumer surplus per trip. The grouped Poisson, in contrast, shows only slight biases and none at all in estimates of average consumer surplus per trip.


Abstract Given recent actions to increase sustained yield of moose (Alces alces) in Alaska, USA, we examined factors affecting yield and moose demographics and discussed related management. Prior studies concluded that yield and density of moose remain low in much of Interior Alaska and Yukon, Canada, despite high moose reproductive rates, because of predation from lightly harvested grizzly (Ursus arctos) and black bear (U. americanus) and wolf (Canis lupus) populations. Our study area, Game Management Unit (GMU) 20A, was also in Interior Alaska, but we describe elevated yield and density of moose. Prior to our study, a wolf control program (1976–1982) helped reverse a decline in the moose population. Subsequent to 1975, moose numbers continued a 28-year, 7-fold increase through the initial 8 years of our study (λB1 = 1.05 during 1996–2004, peak density = 1,299 moose/1,000 km2). During these initial 8 hunting seasons, reported harvest was composed primarily of males (x̄ = 88%). Total harvest averaged 5% of the prehunt population and 57 moose/1,000 km2, the highest sustained harvest-density recorded in Interior Alaska for similar-sized areas. In contrast, sustained total harvests of <10 moose/1,000 km2 existed among low-density, predator-limited moose populations in Interior Alaska (≤417 moose/1,000 km2). During the final 3 years of our study (2004–2006), moose numbers declined (λB2 = 0.96) as intended using liberal harvests of female and male moose (x̄ = 47%) that averaged 7% of the prehunt population and 97 moose/1,000 km2. We intentionally reduced high densities in the central half of GMU 20A (up to 1,741 moose/1,000 km2 in Nov) because moose were reproducing at the lowest rate measured among wild, noninsular North American populations. Calf survival was uniquely high in GMU 20A compared with 7 similar radiocollaring studies in Alaska and Yukon. Low predation was the proximate factor that allowed moose in GMU 20A to increase in density and sustain elevated yields. Bears killed only 9% of the modeled postcalving moose population annually in GMU 20A during 1996–2004, in contrast to 18–27% in 3 studies of low-density moose populations. Thus, outside GMU 20A, higher bear predation rates can create challenges for those desiring rapid increases in sustained yield of moose. Wolves killed 8–15% of the 4 postcalving moose populations annually (10% in GMU 20A), hunters killed 2–6%, and other factors killed 1–6%. Annually during the increase phase in GMU 20A, calf moose constituted 75% of the predator-killed moose and predators killed 4 times more moose than hunters killed. Wolf predation on calves remained largely additive at the high moose densities studied in GMU 20A. Sustainable harvest-densities of moose can be increased several-fold in most areas of Interior Alaska where moose density and moose:predator ratios are lower than in GMU 20A and nutritional status is higher. Steps include 1) reducing predation sufficient to allow the moose population to grow, and 2) initiating harvest of female moose to halt population growth and maximize harvest after density-dependent moose nutritional indices reach or approach the thresholds we previously published.


It has for long been debated whether 50 or 100Hz is the proper lower frequency limit when evaluating airborne sound insulation between dwellings. Although 100Hz is the lowest third-octave band within most regulations, there is an ongoing interest in paying more attention to lower frequencies. In Sweden, evaluation from 50Hz became mandatory already in 1999 wherefore unique experiences are available by now. In this paper, extensive data in terms of fi eld measurements and questionnaire surveys from in total 46 building objects of various constructions have been compiled. A number of single number quantities, standardized by ISO as well as alternatives, are compared concerning their correlation against the subjectively rated annoyance responded by the residents. The statistical evidence for a 50Hz limit was found to be small con-sidering the total database but when the lightweight buildings were analyzed by their own, the importance of frequencies below 100Hz became clearer. The overall recommendation is to include frequencies from 50Hz in order to achieve good sound protection against a broad variety of sound sources, including music and other possible items generating low frequencies.


A large body of evidence indicates that genome annotation pipelines have biased our view of coding sequences because they generally undersample small proteins and peptides. The recent development of genome-wide translation profiling reveals the prevalence of small/short open reading frames (smORFs or sORFs), which are scattered over all classes of transcripts, including both mRNAs and presumptive long noncoding RNAs. Proteomic approaches further confirm an unexpected variety of smORF-encoded peptides (SEPs), representing an overlooked reservoir of bioactive molecules. Indeed, functional studies in a broad range of species from yeast to humans demonstrate that SEPs can harbor key activities for the control of development, differentiation, and physiology. Here we summarize recent advances in the discovery and functional characterization of smORF/SEPs and discuss why these small players can no longer be ignored with regard to genome function.


Italian villas are generally regarded as beautiful havens where a privileged elite, fleeing the harsh realities of the city, found peace and harmony amid buildings and gardens framed upon classical ideals of proportions, balance, and the natural. In her interdisciplinary book, Dianne Harris presents a view of villa life as it developed during the 18th century on the vast estates dominating the fertile Lombard plain. Governed by Vienna by a Habsburg regime bent upon increased tax revenues, the great landowning families lived lives fraught with tensions and contradictions. Although they retained many privileges and indulged in shows of wealth and social distinction, they faced mounting demands for reform and progress froman absolutist state. This book employs what Harris calls "panoramic history" to trace the mingling of enlightened reform and a culture of display in the design and functioning of villas and villa life in eighteenth-century Lombardy. Cadastral maps are juxtaposed with Marc Antonio Dal Re's famous prints of the "delights" of villa life; both are woven in to a wide-ranging investigation of the villas, their gardens,and crop-bearing fields and their representation in visual and written sources from agricultural treatises to books of etiquette. Combing this diverse material with a sharp focus upon the organization of space and class privilege, Harris shows how the villas served as centres of complex cultural and sociopolitical transactions, fashioning a landscape that was once a beguiling vista and a tool in the enforcement of a strict hierarchy of use and value. The book aims to reveal the complicity of landscape in the formation of culture and the structures of everyday life. It also elucidates the significance of Lombardy as a testing ground for Habsburg policies of enlightened reform in the social and natural orders.


A senior project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Psychology science, Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Academic year 2013


The aim of this study was to check effectiveness of drug-eluting stents for prevention of restenosis resulting from neointimal hyperplasia. Twenty-one sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) and bare metal stents (BMSs; control) were compared by implantation into left and right balloon-injured external iliac arteries of New Zealand White rabbits, respectively. Under general anesthesia and angiography, using 3-mm coronary balloon catheters, stents were successfully deployed. Anticoagulant therapy was not given to any animal. Rabbits were allotted into three groups at 7, 14, and 21 days (7 rabbits in each group). Each stented vessel of sacrificed rabbits was subjected to a resin-embedding technique and methyl methacrylate sections were obtained using a tungsten carbide knife for staining. In histological examination, SESs showed marked reductions in almost all parameters. Morphometric results showed that arteries with SESs had a larger luminal area (P < 0.0001), lower intimal (P < 0.001) and medial (P < 0.001) thickness, and lower intimal index (P < 0.003) as opposed to arteries stented with BMSs. Luminal narrowing in SESs was 0% and reendothelialization was similar in both stented groups (90.48%). SESs showed marked reduction in nonocclusive peristrut fibrin deposition versus BMSs. Thus, the SES was more effective for prevention of restenosis than the BMS in rabbit.


This paper examines the dynamic causal relationship between financial depth, inflation and economic growth in India and Pakistan using an autoregressive distributive lag bounds testing procedure and vector error correction modeling approach. The paper uses three proxies for financial depth: broad money supply; domestic credit to private sector; and domestic credit provided by the banking sector. The results of this study prove that financial depth, inflation, and economic growth are cointegrated, indicating the presence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between these variables. The study also finds that financial depth, inflation, and economic growth are Granger-causing each other. It is therefore recommended that both India and Pakistan should intensify their financial depth in order to increase economic growth and reduce inflation.


BACKGROUND
Many chronic respiratory conditions are associated with mucin hypersecretion induced by underlying inflammation.

OBJECTIVE
To analyse the results of a preclinical study assessing the pathogenic mechanisms of mucin hyperproduction and the consequent in vivo and in vitro effects of fudosteine, a mucoactive agent.

METHODS/RESULTS
Both LPS and TNF-alpha increased MUC5AC mucin production in vivo and in vitro, respectively, and fudosteine was found to reduce it by partially interfering with the kinase-mediated inflammation pathway that activates the MUC5AC gene.

CONCLUSIONS
Further preclinical testing in animal models with chronic airways inflammation is necessary.


For the current lack of convenient, reliable and safe lifting of the fire escape equipment, design a device along the rope, using functions with self-locking worm gear structure. Then assess the strength of the contact state and reliability of the structure, use ANSYS to analysis the contact stress and dynamic characteristics. Finally, improve the winch device design to increase the safety factor. The check calculation and experiments showed that the device can be safely hoisting the target.


Undoped ZnO and Ga:ZnO films deposited onto Si wafer substrates have been prepared and characterized in order to investigate the suitability of Ga:ZnO as a transparent and conductive material. A comparative study between ZnO and Ga:ZnO properties using a wide variety of experimental techniques has been carried out. Our results prove the improvement of electrical and optical properties of Ga:ZnO films with respect to an undoped ZnO one. The interface between the film and the Si substrate has been explored in order to detect specific problems that could hinder an optimum electric contact between them. A very thin and abrupt Si/ZnO interface is observed using different characterization techniques, independently of doping. In spite of a dopant enrichment at the interface, the ZnO electronic band structure seems to smoothly adapt to the Si one.


This book deals with the intricate issue of intermediation. Intermediation is a central concept in the marketing channel literature where it is used for analyzing how specific firms – intermediaries - connect producers and users, thus increasing transaction efficiency. However, current changes of business reality in terms of postponement, specialization, customization and outsourcing call for an extended perspective on intermediation. As a supplement to the previous focus on intermediation between actors, this book explores intermediation also in the activity and resource layers of business networks. A qualitative case study in the textile and clothing industry is used to empirically address intermediation, taking its starting point at a Swedish shirt manufacturer, SM. The intermediating challenge for SM is to balance the flexibility requirements on its demand side with the call for stability on its supply side. The analysis shows that each layer – activities, resources and actors – brings its prerequisites and constraints regarding intermediation. Thus, this broadened scope of intermediation contributes to improved understanding of current conditions in business reality.


Nonisothermal melt crystallization kinetics of syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP)/alumina nanocomposites were investigated via differential scanning calorimetry. The addition of alumina nanoparticles significantly increases the number of nuclei and promotes the crystallization rate of sPP. Nonisothermal melt crystallization kinetics was analyzed by fitting the experimental data to a Nakamura model using Matlab. The average values of Avrami exponent n are 1.7 for both sPP and sPP/Al2O3 nanocomposites during slow cooling, which implies a two-dimensional growth is the predominant mechanism of crystallization following a heterogeneous nucleation. The two nanocomposites give n values equal to 2.3 during faster cooling, indicating that the main growth type taking place for sPP/alumina nanocomposites is also the two-dimensional growth. The subsequent melting behavior shows that the presence of alumina nanoparticles changed both the cold crystallization and the recrystallization of sPP. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012


Objectives: The study presents a bibliometric assessment of COVID-19 vaccine research publications to understand the current and up-to-date scenario of COVID-19 vaccine research and to track important research players and identify the current areas. Materials and Methods: The global literature on COVID-19 vaccine research published during 2020 were searched in the Scopus database, using the keywords "COVID-19 vaccine" or "Coronavirus 19 vaccine" on 12 September 2020. The 343 global records on COVID-19 vaccine research were obtained which received 2636 citations and were published in 66 countries involving 280 organizations, 259 authors and 191 journals. The publication records obtained were statistically analyzed by using various bibliometric indices: document type, country, collaboration patterns, affiliation, journal name, and citation patterns. Results:Among top 12 countries, USA, U.K and China were the most productive and China, South Korea and USA were the most impactful. Nearly 51% publications of these top 12 countries were international collaborative. The top most productive organizations were Harvard Medical School, USA (12 papers), University of Washington, Seattle, USA (10 papers) and Fudan University, China (with 12, 10 and 8 papers. Th. top most impactful organizations in terms of citation per paper and relative citation index were Tongji Medical College, China (56.0 and 7.28), Shanghai Medical College, China (33.2 and 4.32) and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China (23.5 and 3.06). The most productive journals were Nature, Science and Vaccine (24, 18 and 18 papers each) and the most impactful journals in terms of citations per paper were: Journal of Medical Virology (66.5), Cell (27.2) and New England Journal of Medicine (23.4). Conclusion: This results and findings emerging from the study shed new light on the major progress in the present time on hot topics on COVID-19 vaccine research.


Background Triptans are the most commonly prescribed acute treatments for migraine; however, not all triptan users experience adequate response. Information on real-world resource use and costs associated with triptan insufficient response are limited. Methods A retrospective claims analysis using US commercial health plan data between 2012 and 2015 assessed healthcare resource use and costs in adults with a migraine diagnosis newly initiating triptans. Patients who either did not refill triptans but used other non-triptan medications or refilled triptans but also filled non-triptan medications over a 24-month follow-up period were designated as potential triptan insufficient responders. Patients who continued filling only triptans (i.e. triptan-only continuers) were designated as potential adequate responders. All-cause and migraine-related resource use and total (medical and pharmacy) costs over months 1–12 and months 13–24 were compared between triptan-only continuers and potential triptan insufficient responders. Results Among 10,509 new triptan users, 4371 (41%) were triptan-only continuers, 3102 (30%) were potential triptan insufficient responders, and 3036 (29%) did not refill their index triptan or fill non-triptan medications over 24 months' follow-up. Opioids were the most commonly used non-triptan treatment (68%) among potential triptan insufficient responders over 24 months of follow-up. Adjusted mean all-cause and migraine-related total costs were $5449 and $2905 higher, respectively, among potential triptan insufficient responders versus triptan-only continuers over the first 12 months. Conclusions In a US commercial health plan, almost one-third of new triptan users were potential triptan insufficient responders and the majority filled opioid prescriptions. Potential triptan insufficient responder patients had significantly higher all-cause and migraine-related healthcare utilization and costs than triptan-only continuers.


Our industrial world produces huge quantities of fly ash, which is a waste and need to be disposed safely or else it can cause disastrous consequences. The disposal of fly ash has been causing a headache to the environmentalists across the globe. Fly ash is a high pozzolanic industrial waste which has the substantial potential to substitute Portland cement, a major producer of CO2 and thereby decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. The production of fly ash is increasing in every year but the utilisation of fly ash is not even half of the production of fly ash. The effective utilisation of fly ash is restricted only to manufacture of bricks, producing fly ash based pozzolanic cement and use in pavements. To utilise the fly ash in high volume the innovative idea is fly ash used as a replacement material for cement and fine aggregate in structural concrete like RCC beam, concrete paver blocks, making fly ash pellets and fly ash angular aggregate.

Concrete paver blocks are being used for various purposes like paving of approaches, paths, parking places and footpaths. They also find their application in roadways or pavements. The increasing costs of construction or building materials and the need to meet sustainable development, different alternative construction methods, techniques and materials are being used extensively to replace old conventional methods. So as to enhance and improvise the applications of concrete paver blocks, proper knowledge and understanding of the products produced with materials, which are available locally and mineral admixtures, which are produced indigenously is essential.

This paper discusses sand replacement with fly ash, coarse aggregate replacement with fly ash pellets in low grade concrete, cement and sand replacement with fly ash in high grade concrete paver blocks. For low grade of concrete, the mix design was prepared for M20 concrete as per IS method. Sand was replaced partially with fly ash up to 60% by weight. To know the effect of sand replacement compressive strength, flexural strength, split tensile strength at 7 and 28 days are studied and optimum percentage of replacement noted. Then RCC beam casted with optimum percentage of sand replacement for flexure failure and behaviour compared with control concrete beam. Again the 10mm coarse aggregate were replaced up to 100% and compressive strength of cubes were studied. The mix design was done for M20 grade of concrete for light weight concrete beam with fly ash pellets without granite aggregate, compressive strength of cubes and behaviour of flexural failure of RCC beam studied and compared with conventional concrete beam.

Finally, the mix design was done for high grade concrete paver block by considering medium traffic. For the medium traffic the grade of concrete considered is M40. The shapes of the paver block considered in this project are Zig zag (60mm), Zig Zag(80mm), Dumbel (60mm), Rectangle(60mm), I(60mm), Pentagon(80mm). Sand replaced by fly ash source of steel plant sambalpur up to 40% and the corresponding 7 and 28 days compressive and flexural strength, water absorption, Durability (Freeze thaw test) characteristics were studied and compared with conventional control mix concrete. Similarly cement replaced by fly ash source of steel plant Dhenkanal up to 40% and the corresponding 7 and 28 days compressive and flexural strength, water absorption, characteristics were studied and compared with conventional control mix concrete.

The experimental results indicate there is significant improve in strength characteristics over control concrete when sand replaced by fly ash source of Bushan steel plant sampalbur up to 30% in low grade concrete and sand replaced by fly ash source of Bushan steel plant sampalbur upto 30% and cement replaced by fly ash source of Bushan steel plant Dhenkanal up to 40% in high grade concrete paver block. Since the fly ash is used for sand replacement it reduces the depletion of mineral resources and used for cement replacement it reduces the production greenhouse and makes sustainable environment.


Objectives: Few studies have considered how providers make decisions to prescribe buprenorphine to new patients with opioid use disorder. This study examined the relative importance of patients' clinical, financial, and social characteristics on physicians' decision-making related to willingness to prescribe buprenorphine to new patients and the number of weeks of medication that they are willing to initially prescribe after induction. Methods: A national sample of 1174 current prescribers was surveyed. Respondents rated willingness to prescribe on a 0 to 10 scale and indicated the number of weeks of medication (ranging from none to >4 weeks) for 20 hypothetical patients. Conjoint analysis estimated relative importance scores and part-worth utilities for these 2 outcome ratings. Results: The mean rating for willingness to prescribe was 5.52 (SD 2.47), indicating a moderate willingness to implement buprenorphine treatment. The mean prescription length was 2.06 (SD 1.34), which corresponds to 1 week of medication. For both ratings, the largest importance scores were for other risky substance use, method of payment, and spousal involvement in treatment. Illicit benzodiazepine use, having Medicaid insurance to pay for the office visit, and having an opioid-using spouse were negatively associated with these outcome ratings, whereas a history of no risky alcohol or benzodiazepine use, cash payment, and having an abstinent spouse were positively associated with both ratings. Conclusions: Reticence to prescribe to individuals using an illicit benzodiazepine and individuals with a drug-using spouse aligns with practice guidelines. However, reluctance to prescribe to patients with Medicaid may hamper efforts to expand access to treatment.