This paper analyzes counterparty exposures in the credit default swaps market and examines the impact of severe credit shocks on the demand for variation margin, which are the payments that counterparties make to offset price changes. We employ the Federal Reserve's Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) shocks and estimate their impact on the value of CDS contracts and the variation margin owed. Large and sudden demands for variation margin may exceed a firm's ability to pay, leading some firms to delay or forego payments. These shortfalls can become amplified through the network of exposures. Of particular importance in cleared markets is the potential impact on the central counterparty clearing house. Although a central node according to conventional measures of network centrality, the CCP contributes less to contagion than do several peripheral firms that are large net sellers of CDS protection. During a credit shock these firms can suffer large shortfalls that lead to further shortfalls for their counterparties, amplifying the initial shock.


Thermal radiation calorimeters have been constructed with relatively thick receivers which permit the direct recording of integrated thermal energy dose as a function of time. However, it is shown that with proper receiver design the rate of change of recorded temperature can be made proportional to the rate of delivery of energy within a reasonably short time constant. Thus, differentiation of the recorded temperature data will give an accurate picture of the irradiance-time history of an impinging pulse. Several hundred calorimeters have been successfully used, both in the laboratory and in the field, to measure, with a time constant of 20 milliseconds or less, radiant energy pulses up to 100 cal/sq cm with peak irradiances up to 200 cal/sq cm/sec. The primary advantages of the instruments are that they are small, simple, rugged, and that they provide a signal which may be recorded without complex amplification equipment directly on a high speed oscillographic recorder.


Maximum a posteriori (MAP) adaptation and its discriminative variants, such as MMI-MAP (maximum mutual information MAP) and MPE-MAP (minimum phone error MAP), have been widely applied to acoustic model adaptation. This paper introduces a new adaptation approach, fMPE-MAP, which is an extension to the original fMPE (feature minimum phone error) algorithm, with the enhanced ability in porting Gaussian models and fMPE transforms to a new domain. We applied this approach to the SRI-ICSI 2007 NIST meeting recognition system, for which we ported our conversational telephone speech (CTS) and broadcast news (BN) models to the meeting domain. Experiments showed that the proposed fMPE-MAP approach has comparable or better performance than simply training the fMPE transform on combined data, in addition to the obvious speed advantage. In combination with MPE-MAP, we obtained about 20% relative word error rate reduction on a lecture meeting evaluation test set, over the models trained with the standard MAP approach.


One of the original motivations for identifying p-adic physics as a possible correlate for cognition, imagination and  intentionality was that p-adic differential equations allow pseudo constants as integration constants -  piecewise constant functions depending on finite number of pinary digits have vanishing p-adic derivatives. The naive idea about the realization of intentional action is that a quantum phase transition changes p-adic space-time sheet representing intention to a real one representing action. This idea was too simplistic and in the following a more refined mathematical realization based on strong form of holography is proposed. Imaginations are identified as being represented by string world sheets and partonic 2 -surfaces which can be continued to p-adic preferred extremal for various p-adic primes but not necessarily real ones. Only realizable intentions can be continued also to the real preferred extremals.


We propose a stereo correspondence method by minimizing intensity and gradient errors simultaneously. In contrast to conventional use of image gradients, the gradients are applied in the deformed image space. Although a uniform smoothness constraint is imposed, it is applied only to nonfeature regions. To avoid local minima in the function minimization, we propose to parameterize the disparity function by hierarchical Gaussians. Both the uniqueness and the ordering constraints can be easily imposed in our minimization framework. Besides, we propose a method to estimate the disparity map and the camera response difference parameters simultaneously. Experiments with various real stereo images show robust performances of our algorithm.


We consider coverage problems in robot sensor networks with minimal sensing capabilities. In particular, we demonstrate that a "blind" swarm of robots with no localization and only a weak form of distance estimation can rigorously determine coverage in a bounded planar domain of unknown size and shape. The methods we introduce come from algebraic topology. I. COVERAGE PROBLEMS Many of the potential applications of robot swarms require information about coverage in a given domain. For example, using a swarm of robot sensors for surveillance and security applications carries with it the charge to maximize, or, preferably, guarantee coverage. Such applications include networks of security cameras, mine field sweeping via networked robots [18], and oceanographic sampling [4]. In these contexts, each robot has some coverage domain, and one wishes to know about the union of these coverage domains. Such problems are also crucial in applications not involving robots directly, e.g., communication networks. As a preliminary analysis, we consider the static "field" coverage problem, in which robots are assumed stationary and the goal is to verify blanket coverage of a given domain. There is a large literature on this subject; see, e.g., [7], [1], [16]. In addition, there are variants on these problems involving "barrier" coverage to separate regions. Dynamic or "sweeping" coverage [3] is a common and challenging task with applications ranging from security to vacuuming. Although a sensor network composed of robots will have dynamic capabilities, we restrict attention in this brief paper to the static case in order to lay the groundwork for future inquiry. There are two primary approaches to static coverage problems in the literature. The first uses computational geometry tools applied to exact node coordinates. This typically involves 'ruler-and-compass' style geometry [10] or Delaunay triangulations of the domain [16], [14], [20]. Such approaches are very rigid with regards to inputs: one must know exact node coordinates and one must know the geometry of the domain precisely to determine the Delaunay complex. To alleviate the former requirement, many authors have turned to probabilistic tools. For example, in [13], the author assumes a randomly and uniformly distributed collection of nodes in a domain with a fixed geometry and proves expected area coverage. Other approaches [15], [19] give percolationtype results about coverage and network integrity for randomly distributed nodes. The drawback of these methods is the need for strong assumptions about the exact shape of the domain, as well as the need for a uniform distribution of nodes. In the sensor networks community, there is a compelling interest (and corresponding burgeoning literature) in determining properties of a network in which the nodes do not possess coordinate data. One example of a coordinate-free approach is in [17], which gives a heuristic method for geographic routing without coordinate data: among the large literature arising from this paper, we note in particular the mathematical analysis of this approach in [11]. To our knowledge, noone has treated the coverage problem in a coordinate-free setting. In this note, we introduce a new set of tools for answering coverage problems in robotics and sensor networks with minimal assumptions about domain geometry and node localization. We provide a sufficiency criterion for coverage. We do not answer the problem of how the nodes should be placed in order to maximize coverage, nor the minimum number of such nodes necessary; neither do we address how to reallocate nodes to fill coverage holes.


The study aimed at assessing the influence of workplace stress on employee's performance at Mbeya Regional Hospital, Tanzania. The objectives of the study were to assess the employees' performance, to assess the stress levels among employees, and to determine the extent to which employees' performance is related to their stress levels. A cross sectional survey research design was used on a sample of 120 respondents attained through stratified sampling and convenience sampling techniques. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistical and multiple regression analysis were used in analyzing the data with the aid of SPSS version 20. Findings reveal that majority of doctors; nurses and medical attendants experience high level of job performance accompanied with moderate level of work stress. The total work stress scores were statistically significantly positively related to employees' performance. However, the results also showed that workplace stress subscales were insignificantly positively related to employees' performance. The results suggest that work place stress keeps employees on their toes leading to better performance. It is recommended therefore that for the hospital to maintain the current and future performance levels, its management should moderate stress levels in order to harness the positive side of work place stress, short of which the negatives side of work place stress may prevail. Keywords:
Employee performance/ job performance, work place stress/occupational stress, doctors, nurses, medical attendant Tanzania.


Shackle was a tireless opponent of both Keynes and the Keynesian revolution. He was a 100% Austrian subjectivist. He never was a disciple of Keynes at any time in his life. Shackle was successful in a tricky sleight of hand and legerdemain due to the support of Joan Robinson and Paul Davidson, neither of whom had any idea of the concept of the weight of the evidence from the A Treatise on Probability that was the foundation for Keynes's uncertainty analysis in both the A Treatise on Probability and General Theory.
Shackle successfully substituted his rival and directly conflicting definition (See for example, pages 162-164 of Epistemics and Economics) of uncertainty, which meant total and complete ignorance. Shackle's concept of total and complete ignorance goes under the synonyms irreducible uncertainty, fundamental uncertainty, unquantifiable uncertainty, utter uncertainty and radical uncertainty. None of Shackle's analysis holds except in the special, but important, case of investment in long lived, physical durable capital or producer goods that are subject to innovation, technological change and advance, and obsolescence over time. Keynes's treatment in the A Treatise on Probability and General Theory is superior to Shackle's, so there is no need for any consideration of Shackle's convoluted approach based on possibilities (not probabilities), imagination and the entrepreneur's private dreams.
Keynes was the first to put forth an original IS-LP (LM) model in October, 1933. This model appeared in the 1934 draft copy of the GT. This original model is very inferior to the final model constructed in chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 of the GT. It was presented in its entirety in chapter 21 in sections IV, V and VI and briefly in Section IV of chapter 15. The investment multiplier and marginal propensity to consume are both missing. Keynes had not yet integrated Y, Aggregate realized or actual Income, into the LP equation because he had not yet formulated his D-Z model, which allowed him to present an elasticity analysis in Section VI of chapter 21.
There is no Shackleian interpretation of the GT. There is a deliberate, Shackleian misinterpretation of the 1937 QJE article, in which Shackle tries to sabotage the Keynesian revolution by attempting to claim that Keynes was really an Austrian Subjectivist like Shackle.
Fitzgibbons was not able to come to the correct conclusion regarding Shackle simply because his belief in a Shackleian interpretation of Keynes makes no sense because Keynes had always rejected Austrian Subjectivism.
King's 2002 "history" is a version of Shackle's claim that Keynes was an Austrian Subjectivist. King's "History" is completely contradicted by the 1937-38 Keynes-Townshend correspondence, where Keynes agrees with Townshend's tentative conclusion that the Theory of Liquidity Preference, as presented in the General Theory, is based on Keynes's TP concepts of weight of the evidence and non numerical probabilities, which are interval valued probabilities that can be indeterminate or imprecise. The Keynes-Townshend correspondence represents a complete rejection of Shackle's and Joan Robinson's claims about radical uncertainty being the foundation of the GT.
The Uncertainty fraud is the foundation upon which Post Keynesianism and Institutional economics is founded. This foundation is composed of the myths made up by Joan Robinson and GLS Shackle about Keynes and the GT. These myths were then passed on to hundreds of thousands of readers by way of Paul Davidson during the 37 years, from 1978-2014, that he was the editor of the Journal of Post Keynesian Economics.


Depriving homing pigeons of olfactory information by spraying an 18 % zinc sulphate solution onto their olfactory ephithelium results in anosmia that persists for at least 5 days (tested using the 'orienting response'). To study whether anosmic zinc-sulphate-treated pigeons (ZnSO4-pigeons) were able to compensate for their loss of olfactory information by using familiar landmarks, we made releases from two different distances (9–24 km, 54–70 km). The birds had homed once before from each release site. At shorter distances, ZnSO4-pigeons, sham-treated controls and untreated super controls were well oriented. At the longer distances, the anosmic pigeons and the sham-treated controls did not show any directional preference whereas the super controls were oriented towards home. In all cases, however, fewer anosmic pigeons homed successfully and their homing speed was slower than the speed of either control group. In order to determine whether experience during ontogeny affects the orientation behaviour, a group of young pigeons was reared anosmically by application of ZnSO4 solution once a week. A second group of experimental pigeons was made anosmic just before the critical release. When released at unfamiliar sites located between 15 and 24 km from home, all but the group of short-term ZnSO4- pigeons were well oriented. Neither permanently nor temporarily anosmic ZnSO4-pigeons showed good homing performances. These data indicate that homing pigeons determine their home direction by relying on the navigational factors they have collected during rearing. The paradoxical finding that anosmically reared pigeons were oriented towards home but did not home successfully leads to the questions of whether intra-nasal irrigation with ZnSO4 solution results in extensive brain damage or whether initial orientation and the rest of the homing process are based on different mechanisms.


Abstract. Introduction of parallel manipulator systems for different applications areas has influenced many researchers to develop techniques for obtaining accurate and computational efficient inverse dynamic models. Some subject areas make use of these models, such as, optimal design, parameter identification, model based control and even actuation redundancy approaches. In this context, by revisiting some of the current computationally-efficient solutions for obtaining the inverse dynamic model of parallel manipulators, this paper compares three different methods for inverse dynamic modelling of a general, lower mobility, 3- P RS parallel manipulator. The first method obtains the inverse dynamic model by describing the manipulator as three open kinematic chains. Then, vector-loop closure constraints are introduced for obtaining the relationship between the dynamics of the open kinematic chains (such as a serial robot) and the closed chains (such as a parallel robot). The second method exploits certain characteristics of parallel manipulators such that the platform and the links are considered as independent subsystems. The proposed third method is similar to the second method but it uses a different Jacobian matrix formulation in order to reduce computational complexity. Analysis of these numerical formulations will provide fundamental software support for efficient model-based designs. In addition, computational cost reduction presented in this paper can also be an effective guideline for optimal design of this type of manipulator and for real-time embedded control.


The phenotypic adaptation of membrane lipids in seven strains of the food-poisoning bacterium Bacillus cereus, isolated from Bangladeshi rice, is reported in relation to their ability to grow under conditions of low water activity (a(w)), reduced temperature and the presence of soluble rice starch. The strains have different membrane phospholipid head-group and fatty acyl compositions, and they display individual differences in their responses to both low a(w) and reduced temperature. The extent of the increase in anionic membrane lipids in response to low a(w) varies from strain to strain, is solute specific and in one strain does not occur. Growth is stimulated by the presence of soluble rice starch and results in a large rise in the proportion of diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG) at the expense of phosphatidylglycerol (PG), without any change in the proportion of total anionic phospholipids. Growth at 15 degrees C compared with 37 degrees C increases the proportions of DPG and phosphatidylethanolamine at the expense of PG. At the lower temperature there are changes in phospholipid fatty acyl composition characteristic of those expected to maintain membrane fluidity, including increases in the amount of total branched fatty acids and the anteiso-/iso-branched ratio, and a decrease in the equivalent chain-length, but there are strain differences in how those changes were achieved. In contrast to some other bacilli, there are persistent large increases in the proportions of unsaturated fatty acyl chains in phospholipids during growth at 15 degrees C.


Quantification of organic N mineralization during the corn (Zea mays L.) growing season should improve the precision of fertilizer N recommendations. The Illinois soil N test (ISNT) has shown promise in some regions as a useful tool for estimating mineralizable soil N; however, the procedure needs to be modified for use in routine soil testing labs that must process hundreds of samples per day. The assay determines alkali hydrolyzable N by treating 1 g of soil with 10 mL of 2 mol L -1 NaOH in a 473-mL wide-mouth Ball jar, and heating for 5 h at 50°C on a hot plate to liberate (NH 4 + + amino sugar)-N as gaseous NH 3 , which is collected in H 3 BO 3 solution and subsequently determined by acidimetric titration. The objectives of this study were to determine if variance in measurement values could be reduced and sample throughput increased while maintaining accuracy by using an incubator to replace the hot plate as the heat source. Thirty-five soils collected from N-response trials in Virginia were used in this study. Jars were heated in an incubator at 50°C for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 15 h. Soil samples were also analyzed with the unmodified method for comparison. All determinations were conducted in triplicate. Use of an incubator set to 50°C reduced the total recovery of N from the samples, but increasing the diffusion period increased N recovery. The 15-h diffusion period resulted in quantitative recovery of ISNT-N with significantly (P < 0.05) improved measurement precision compared with the unmodified method (CV = 4.3 vs. 7.4, respectively). Modifying the ISNT by using an incubator instead of a hot plate increases measurement precision and allows greater sample throughput.


In summary there currently exist techniques to discover miRNA however both require many calculations to be performed during the identification limiting their use at a genomic level. Machine learning techniques are currently providing the best results by combining a number of calculated and statistically derived features to identify miRNA candidates, however almost all of these still include computationally intensive secondary-structure calculations. It is the aim of this project to produce a miRNA identification process that minimises and simplifies the number of computational elements required during the identification process.


Introduction. In market economy, the internal and external processes of educational organisations are becoming more complex. There is a need to identify managerial practices, which can be delegated to external consultants. The process of defining such practices is not completely studied. The application of expert support from leaders and management teams is often situational.The aim of the present research is to identify the range of managerial problems of educational organisations, which cause the need to resort to external consulting support.Methodology and research methods. The application of the method of cluster analysis of text data of periodicals allowed the authors to investigate a potential market for consulting services, to identify the modern management needs of educational organizations and the experience of their solution by external organisations. The analysis of open data of consulting organisations was carried out to identify real practices.Results. The main management problems of educational organisations and the types of consulting services necessary for their solution are considered and classified. The main approaches to defining the framework of educational consulting are highlighted. The authors have developed the method for monitoring the prospective market for consulting services. It was determined that the growing demand for consulting services and the expansion of the range of these services are associated with the formation of a market environment in the education system and the desire of management of educational organisations to provide a competitive advantage. The cases of Russian and foreign consulting organisations were analysed and grouped in accordance with the proposed typology.Scientific novelty. In academic literature, the study of this issue is mainly limited to defining the boundaries of educational consulting. The authors have made an attempt to identify typical situations, in which managers of educational organisations need to request the services of external experts.Practical significance. The results of the current research can serve as a guideline for the management of educational organisations, when making managerial decisions. It will allow the managers to determine the cases, in which it is possible to turn to external consultants according to the supply conditions on the market, and to identify the issues, regarding which it is desirable to rely solely on internal resources.


Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of tuberculosis, an ancient disease which, still today, represents a major threat for the world population. Despite the advances in medicine and the development of effective antitubercular drugs, the cure of tuberculosis involves prolonged therapies which complicate the compliance and monitoring of drug administration and treatment. Moreover, the only available antitubercular vaccine fails to provide an effective shield against adult lung tuberculosis, which is the most prevalent form. Hence, there is a pressing need for effective antitubercular drugs and vaccines. This review highlights recent advances in the study of selected M. tuberculosis key molecular determinants of infection and vulnerable targets whose structures could be exploited for the development of new antitubercular agents.


Idiopathic scoliosis that is present in childhood or adolescence and progresses into adulthood to become symptomatic represents a challenge for surgeons considering correction of the deformity to help patients with pain relief and improved function. Classifications of adult idiopathic scoliosis have helped to differentiate deformity types into categories that can be compared and analyzed both radiographically and clinically. Treatment and outcome measures are being refined to help determine the appropriate surgical management based on these radiographic and clinical parameters. Although further research is needed, the ultimate goal is to provide validated evaluation and management guidelines.


Brain accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides (resulting from a disrupted balance between biosynthesis and clearance) occurs during the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aβ peptides have diverse posttranslational modifications (PTMs) that variously modulate Aβ aggregation into fibrils, but understanding the mechanistic roles of PTMs in these processes remains a challenge. Here, we chemically synthesized three homogeneously modified isoforms of Aβ (1-42) peptides bearing Tyr10 O-glycosylation, an unusual PTM initially identified from the cerebrospinal fluid samples of AD patients. We discovered that O-glycans significantly affect both the aggregation and degradation of Aβ42. By combining cryo-EM and various biochemical assays, we demonstrate that a Galβ1-3GalNAc modification redirects Aβ42 to form a new fibril polymorphic structure that is less stable and more vulnerable to Aβ-degrading enzymes (e.g., insulin-degrading enzyme). Thus, beyond showing how particular O-glycosylation modifications affect Aβ42 aggregation at the molecular level, our study provides powerful experimental tools to support further investigations about how PTMs affect Aβ42 fibril aggregation and AD-related neurotoxicity.


As one type of pavement distresses, potholes are important clues indicating structural defects of the asphalt road, and accurately detecting these potholes is one of important tasks for determining proper strategies of asphalt-surfaced pavement maintenance and rehabilitation. However, manually detecting and evaluating methods are expensive and timeconsuming. Thus, several efforts have been made for developing a technology which can automatically detect and recognize potholes, which may contribute to improvement of survey efficiency and pavement quality through prior investigation and immediate action. In this study, we investigate and analyze pothole detection methods which have developed and propose a potential direction of developing a pothole detection method to accurately and efficiently detect potholes.


This article is intended as a contribution to the current debates about the relationship between politics and the philosophy of science in the Vienna Circle. I reconsider this issue by shifting the focus from philosophy of science as theory to philosophy of science as practice. From this perspective I take as a starting point the Vienna Circle's scientific world-conception and emphasize its practical nature: I reinterpret its tenets as a set of recommendations that express the particular epistemological attitude in which both the Vienna Circle's (doing) philosophy of science and its political engagement were rooted. Regarding politics, and referring to new primary sources, I reconstruct how the scientific world-conception placed the Vienna Circle within a neoliberal-socialist political network that pursued concrete political aims. In light of my reconstruction I shall argue that neither the Vienna Circle's alleged ethical noncognitivism nor its alleged adhesion to the Weberian ideal of a value-free science rules out the possibility of ascribing to the Vienna Circle a politically engaged philosophy of science: the case of the Vienna Circle shows how philosophy of science, as a public activity, can itself become a form of political engagement, even without necessarily entailing a theory of objective values.


The software art installation 're|Traces of Search' probes human-software relationships by examining in detail a specific and situated action: searching on the web. This work exposes the inner workings of this human/non-human connection; the software - the keystrokes, the scripts and function calls occurring during the exchange - are revealed as a tangible artifact and interactive sonification. We invite guests to explore this non-human representation and touch the software, as it touches us back. As well as highlighting a hidden complexity, this work touches upon questions of transparency and privacy of search engines, and to what extent our relationship with software is rooted in control, in contrast to care.


Food security strategy is the major component of the Agricultural Development Led Industry (ADLI) strategy of Ethiopia. So far, no systematic study has been undertaken on food security status of female-headed household in Ambo district. Thus, identifying the determining factors of female-headed households` food security is crucial for pertinent interventions. Accordingly, this study was carried out to identify factors influencing food security of female-headed households. To achieve the objective of the study, cross sectional survey was employed using 104 female-headed households. Structured household survey questionnaire, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used for data collection, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. The result of binary logistic regression model revealed that age of household head, productive labor force, access to credit, number of oxen owned, use of chemical fertilizer, location of the household, share cropping, livestock holding, participation in social organization and non-farm income were found to be positively and significantly influencing the status of female-headed household food security. The study further indicated that the mean value of the energy available for food insecure and secure households was 1,843 Kcal/AE/day and 2,943 Kcal/AE/day respectively with the mean energy intake of all sample households 2,560 kcal. As female-headed household spent much of what they have for food than male-headed households, female-headed households are engaged in insecure livelihood system. Thus, it necessitates to improve female-headed household`s decision making power, resource allocation and control, access to markets, and asset ownership issues, which is likely to be a more powerful tool for poverty alleviation policies.


Introduction: In this series, we used five parameters according to the Juhana Leppilahti Modified scoring system to assess final outcome of surgical repair of open achilles tendon repair : the ability to stand on affected tiptoe unsupported, range of motion of affected side of the ankle, power of plantar flexion, calf muscle wasting.
Methods: The study was designed as a prospective experimental study conducted at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and one private hospital of Rajshahi from January 2006 to December 2019. The study was carried out on 50 patients irrespective of age and sex. Pulling down the proximal tendon was the operative procedure. Follow-up was undertaken at the private chamber, the outpatient department and in the orthopedic ward.
Result: Among 50 patients, 38(76%) were male, and 12(24%) were female. The mean delay of repair was 6 hours 7 minutes, with a standard deviation ± 2.362 minutes. The mean age was 30.02 years with SD± 7.7. In our study, median level of cut was 3.0 cm proximal to the insertion of tendon Achilles and where the interquartile range was 2.5 to 3.5 cm. The mean follow-up period was six months with a standard deviation of 2.37. Common complications were superficial skin infection in four cases (37%), mild swelling in four cases (36%), ugly scar in two cases (18%), and wound gap in one case (9%). In our study, no major complications occurred, but minor complications like superficial skin infection and delayed wound healing were effectively dealt with an oral antibiotic with no long-term sequelae.  At 16 weeks of follow-up, among 50 patients, 90% (45) can stand on affected tip toes unsupported, around 4 cases (8%) cannot stand on tiptoes of affected foot can't support but able to stand on affected foot with unsupported. Around 2% (1 case) failed to stand on the affected foot without support due to severe infection and wound gap. The eventual outcomes were excellent in 28 cases (56%), good in 16 cases (32%), fair in 4 cases (8%), and poor in 2 cases (4%). In this study, satisfactory Result was obtained after immediate repair of acute open tendon Achilles tendon injury cases. According to Juhana Leppilahti Modified Score at 95% confidence interval, satisfactory outcome was 78.99% to 97.00%.
Conclusion: Early repair of open tendo Achilles injuries, complete or partial, provided an effective outcome, which was comparable with the Result described in others.
TAJ 2021; 34: No-2: 15-23


A central element in the shift to a 'personalised' care system in the UK is the opportunity for disabled people to hold and manage budgets for the purchase of care and support, to replace local authority services. The delivery mechanisms of 'Direct Payments' and 'Individual Budgets' have allowed many disabled people to control their care and support better, and have promoted their social inclusion. However, the particular contexts and issues for people with learning disabilities in holding personal funding have been little considered. The paper sets out the broad themes of the introduction of personalised care, and examines the limited use by people with learning disabilities of Direct Payments and the subsequent development of Individual Budgets. The paper considers the challenges to the nature, spaces and relations of care commonly used by people with learning disabilities that personal budgets present, in particular for those with more severe disabilities. The paper concludes by suggesting ways in which people with learning disabilities can use personal budgets, whilst maintaining the collective relations and spaces of caring desired by many.


of cells with 22Na, washed them, and after resuspending the cells in serum measured sodium efflux rate constants while noradrenaline was no longer present. In contrast, we used Ringer-phosphate-bicarbonate-buffer (pH 7 6), not serum, and adrenaline or noradrenaline was present while the flux rates were measured. Possibly the serum preparations became more alkaline during the experiment (no evidence was presented), since on standing serum becomes considerably more alkaline within 30 minutes, even at 250C. We have shown that pH significantly affects Na>, K+-ATPase activity,9 and it is therefore important that flux rates are measured at constant pH in all experiments. Moreover, Nat, K+-ATPase activity is affected by changing the concentration of sodium, potassium, and magnesium, and it would be more difficult to ensure the same concentration of all these substances in all experiments if serum (and not buffer) is used. Serum also contains many substances that may affect leucocyte ion flux, alone or in synergism with catecholamines, such as triiodothyronine (Khan and Baron, in preparation).


Abstract All growers prefer to obtain a first harvest as soon as possible. The aim of this study was to identify an effective tree training system for new Latvian plum cultivars, which provides the highest yield and fruit quality. The trial was established in 2012 at the Institute of Horticulture (formerly Latvia State Institute of Fruit-Growing) and included cultivars 'Ance', 'Adelyn', and 'Sonora'; and the controls 'Victoria' and 'Jubileum'. Planting distances were 4 × 2.5 m, and the rootstock was Prunus cerasifera. Tree training was done using four systems: two systems with branch bending (Heka espalier and spindle); and two systems without bending (standard (round) and flat crown). Evaluation of average fruit weight and yield per trunk cross section area (TCSA) was done from 2015 to 2017. The Heka espalier and spindle systems had first yield in 2015, but systems without bending had first yield only in 2016. Average yield per TCSA was significantly higher for the Heka espalier system (0.49 kg·cm−2) than for the spindle system (0.24 kg·cm−2), standard crown system (0.17 kg·cm−2), and flat crown system (0.30 kg·cm−2). Cultivar 'Victoria' had the highest yield among all systems. Average fruit size showed the same results: the biggest fruits were obtained with the Heka espalier system, and the smallest for systems without bending in the standard crown.


Background: The prevalence of obesity increases during female mid-life and although many factors have been identified, data from Latin America is lacking. Objective: To assess factors related to obesity among middle-aged women and determine the association with depressive symptoms, sedentary lifestyle and other factors. Methods: A total of 6079 women aged 40–59 years of 11 Latin American countries were asked to fill out the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Menopause Rating Scale, the Athens Insomnia Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and a general questionnaire containing personal socio-demographic data, anthropometric measures and lifestyle information. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2. Results: Obesity was observed in 18.5% and sedentary lifestyle in 63.9%. A 55.5% presented vasomotor symptoms, 12.2% had severe menopausal symptoms and 13.2% used hormone therapy for the menopause. Prevalence of depressive symptoms was 46.5% and anxiety 59.7%. Our logistic regression model found that significant factors associated to obesity included: arterial hypertension (OR: 1.87), depressive symptoms (OR: 1.57), sedentary lifestyle (OR: 1.50) diabetes mellitus (OR: 1.34), higher number of individuals living at home (OR: 1.31), sleep problems (OR:1.22), anxiety (OR: 1.21), having a stable partner (OR: 1.20), parity (OR: 1.16) and vasomotor symptoms (OR:1.14). A lower risk for obesity was found among women using hormonal contraceptives (OR: 0.69). Conclusion: Obesity in middle-aged women is the consequence of the interaction of multiple factors. It was associated to hypertension, depressive symptoms, sedentary lifestyle, climacteric symptoms and other factors.


This paper reports results from a study of the design and diffusion of computer-aided production management (CAPM) technologies across four European countries (UK, France, The Netherlands and Sweden). The study combined surveys of members of professional operations management associations in each of these four countries and interviews with operations managers and technology suppliers (software suppliers and consultants). The findings revealed significant differences across countries in the design and diffusion of CAPM. For example, in the UK and France highly objectified 'best practice' technologies, supported by standardized software, had diffused more widely than in Sweden and The Netherlands, where solutions tended to be developed in-house and customized to the local context. This paper explains these findings in terms of differences in the structure and operation of these four professional association networks. These differences in inter-organizational networking encouraged different types of knowledge-sharing related to the design of CAPM in the four countries.


Laminar flow in ducts of irregular cross-sectional shapes is of importance to heat recovery heat exchangers. Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in corrugated sinusoidal ducts with arc lower boundaries are studied for a hydrodynamically fully developed, thermally developing flow under uniform temperature conditions. The numerical method is of high-order accuracy, is numerically implicit, and is unconditionally stable. The cross-derivative term is treated as a source term and is solved by iterations in which a varying axial step size ensures a fast convergence without sacrificing details near the inlet of the thermal entry region. This method allows for the simulation of unevenly distributed nodes on boundaries, in combination with the transformation of the special duct geometry to a rectangular computational domain. The detailed finite difference discretization of the governing momentum and energy equations is provided. The values of(f.Re) and local and mean Nusselt numbers are calculated for different aspect and bending ratios. The velocity and temperature profiles are plotted


Biodiversity is in global decline and around 19% of the world's vertebrate species are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List (Baillie et al. 2010; IUCN 2013). Linguistic diversity is also in decline and it is believed that as many as 90% of the world's 7,000 languages are threatened with extinction this century (Krauss 1992; Nettle and Romaine 2000). It has also been noted that there is a strong similarity in the distributions of terrestrial species diversity and linguistic diversity at the global scale, with the greatest richness found in the humid tropics and the lowest richness in the cold temperate zones (Mace and Pagel 1995; Sutherland 2003; Gavin et al. 2013). The term biocultural diversity has come into use to describe the collective diversity of species, languages and cultures around the world and their ongoing declines (Maffi 2001b; Harmon 2002). One of the papers presented here develops the first national index of biocultural diversity, which confirms the pattern of greatest richness in the tropics, particularly in Southeast Asia (Loh and Harmon 2005).
However, measures of the state of biological, linguistic and biocultural diversity based on richness alone simply record the number of species or languages present and ignore underlying trends in abundance or populations of species or speakers of languages. Extinction risk has been the most widely-used measure of the status of both species and languages, but indicators based on time-series population data offer an alternative and more responsive measure of status and trends. The other papers presented here describe the development of Living Planet Index (Loh et al. 2005; Collen et al. 2009), an indicator which aggregates trends in populations of several thousand vertebrate species worldwide and shows an overall decline of about 30% over four decades since 1970, and the Index of Linguistic Diversity (Harmon and Loh 2010; Loh and Harmon 2014), a closely-related indicator based on trends in speaker numbers of around a thousand languages worldwide, and which also shows a decline of about 30% over the same period. At the regional level, the respective trends diverge. For biodiversity, there was a greater rate of decline in the tropics compared with temperate regions, whereas for linguistic diversity, there was a far higher rate of decline in the Americas, Australia and the Pacific compared with Africa, Asia and Europe. An analysis of the threat status of 1,500 languages using the IUCN Red List criteria reveals that 27% languages are threatened with extinction and confirms the regional pattern in the status of languages apparent in the Index of Linguistic Diversity. The differing regional patterns between the declines in languages and species reflect differences in the proximate drivers of diversity loss, where habitat loss or degradation are the major causes of species population declines (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005), while linguistic diversity is lost primarily through language shift, a process whereby a politically, socially or economically dominant language displaces local or indigenous languages either as a result of colonialization, industrialization or migration (Nettle 1999).


BACKGROUND
Despite the growing interest in haemodiafiltration (HDF), there is no information on the costs and cost-utility of this dialysis modality yet. It was therefore our objective to study the cost-utility of HDF versus haemodialysis (HD).

METHODS
A cost-utility analysis was performed using a Markov model. It included data from the Convective Transport Study (CONTRAST), a randomized controlled trial that compared online HDF with low-flux HD. Costs were estimated using a societal perspective. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to study uncertainty.

RESULTS
Total annual costs for HDF and HD were €88 622±19,272 and €86,086±15,945, respectively (in 2009 euros). When modelled over a 5-year period, the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) of HDF versus HD was €287,679. Sensitivity analyses revealed that this amount will not fall below €140,000, even under the most favourable assumptions like a high-convection volume (>20.3 L).

CONCLUSIONS
Based on accepted societal willingness-to-pay thresholds, HDF cannot be considered a cost-effective treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease at present. Apparently, minor additional costs of HDF are not counterbalanced by a relevant QALY gain.


An indirect fluorescent antibody technique has been developed for the serological diagnosis of gonorrhea. The selected strain(s) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae possesses a heat-labile surface antigen (L-antigen). Sera are diluted 1:10, and an aliquot is hear inactivated at 59 C for 30 min. The treated and untreated aliquots are then examined for human immunoglobulin G anti-L-antigen. In a prelimiary study of 495 sera, 95% of those from women with a bacteriologically confirmed diagnosis of gorrhea and 87% of those from male patients were reactive in this test, whereas only 1.4% fo the sera from presumably normal individuals were reactive.


This paper investigates the enhancement of sensitivity of variable incidence angle LSPR biosensor by monitoring biomolecular interactions of biotin-streptavidin with gold thin film. The investigation is carried out by means of introducing an additional layer of graphene sheet on top of gold layer (graphene biosensor) and using different coupling configuration of laser beam. The sensitivity, which is indicated by the shift of plasmon resonance angle, increases with graphene deposited onto the gold layers and is linearly related with the number of graphene layers. In addition, an investigation of the shift of plasmon dip is carried out for two different analyte interfaces: air and water. It is found that graphene biosensor has better sensitivity for triangular prism, higher prism angle, and water interface. The evaluation approach involves a plot of a reflectivity curve as a function of the angle of incidence while the operating wavelength is kept fixed.


Abstract Understanding the variability of soil properties and their effects on crop yield is a critical component of site-specific management systems. The objective of this study was to employ factor and multiple regression analyses to determine major soil physical and chemical properties that influence barely biomass and grain yield within a field in the arid region of northern Iran. For this purpose, soil samples and crop-yield data were collected from 108 sites, at regular intervals (20×30 m) in a 5.6 ha field. Soil samples were analysed for total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (Pava), available potassium (Kava), cation-exchange capacity(CEC), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, mean weight diameter of aggregates (MWD), water-stable aggregates (WSA), field capacity volumetric (FC), available water-holding capacity (AWHC), bulk density (BD), and calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE). Results of the factor analysis, followed by regression of biomass and grain yield of barley with soil properties, showed that the regression equations developed accounted for 78 and 73% of the total variance in biomass and grain yield, respectively. Study of covariance analysis among soil variables using factor analysis indicated that some of the variation measured could be grouped to indicate a number of underlying common factors influencing barley biomass and grain yields. These common factors were salinity and sodicity, soil fertility, and water availability. The most effective soil variables to barley production in the study area identified as EC, SAR, pH, TN, Pava, AWHC, and FC. In this study, factor analysis was effective to identify the groups of correlated soil variables that were significantly correlated with the within field variability in the yield of the barley crop. Our results also suggest that the approach can be applied to other crops under similar soil and agroclimatic conditions.


We use a coherent fiber bundle to demonstrate the endoscopic absorption imaging of quantum gases. We show that the fiber bundle introduces spurious noise in the picture mainly due to the strong core-to-core coupling. By direct comparison with free-space pictures, we observe that there is a maximum column density that can be reliably measured using our fiber bundle, and we derive a simple criterion to estimate it. We demonstrate that taking care of not exceeding such maximum, we can retrieve exact quantitative information about the atomic system, making this technique appealing for systems requiring isolation form the environment.


We have recently reported that the homologous Rho kinases, ROCK1 and ROCK2, play different roles in regulating stress-induced stress fiber disassembly and cell detachment, and the ROCK1 deficiency in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) has remarkable anti-apoptotic, anti-detachment and pro-survival effects against doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic drug. This study investigated the roles of ROCK isoforms in doxorubicin-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation which is believed to be the major mechanism underlying its cytotoxicity to normal cells, and especially to cardiomyocytes. Different antioxidants have been shown to provide a protective role reported in numerous experimental studies, but clinical trials of antioxidant therapy showed insufficient benefit against the cardiac side effect. We found that both ROCK1−/− and ROCK2−/− MEFs exhibited reduced ROS production in response to doxorubicin treatment. Interestingly, only ROCK1 deficiency, but not ROCK2 deficiency, significantly enhanced the protective effects of antioxidants against doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity. First, ROCK1 deficiency and N-acetylcysteine (an anti-oxidant) treatment synergistically reduced ROS levels, caspase activation and cell detachment. In addition, the reduction of ROS generation in ROCK1−/− MEFs in response to doxorubicin treatment was in part through inhibiting NADPH oxidase activity. Furthermore, ROCK1 deficiency enhanced the inhibitory effects of diphenyleneiodonium (an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase) on ROS generation and caspase 3 activation induced by doxorubicin. Finally, ROCK1 deficiency had greater protective effects than antioxidant treatment, especially on reducing actin cytoskeleton remodeling. ROCK1 deficiency not only reduced actomyosin contraction but also preserved central stress fiber stability, whereas antioxidant treatment only reduced actomyosin contraction without preserving central stress fibers. These results reveal a novel strategy to enhance the protective effect of antioxidant therapy by targeting the ROCK1 pathway to stabilize the actin cytoskeleton and boost the inhibitory effects on ROS production, apoptosis and cell detachment.


Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has the ability to selectively trigger cancer cell apoptosis and can be used as a target for tumor therapy. However, gastric cancer cells are usually insensitive to TRAIL so reducing this drug resistance may improve the treatment of gastric cancer. In this study, we used Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) experiments to determine the effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and TRAIL on the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. An Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) staining experiment was used to detect apoptosis, and Western blotting was used to analyze the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway proteins. The antitumor effects of 5-FU and TRAIL were verified in vivo using a nude mouse tumorigenesis experiment, and a TUNEL assay was performed to evaluate apoptosis in tumor tissue from the nude mice. We found the combination of 5-FU and TRAIL had a greater inhibitory effect on the proliferation of gastric cancer cells than 5-FU or TRAIL alone both in vivo and in vitro. 5-FU enhanced TRAIL-induced gastric cancer cell apoptosis by inactivating the MAPK pathway. Overall, our analysis firstly provided new insights into the role of 5-FU in increasing sensitivity to TRAIL. 5-FU can be used as a sensitizer for TRAIL, and its administration is a potential strategy for the treatment of gastric cancer.


The rise of behavioral economics has important implications for the study of government regulation. Above all, the endogeneity of preferences offers a large area for positive work. Some environmental outcomes can be explained by status quo bias and the endowment effect. These phenomena help account for the asymmetry between old and new risks and the public antipathy toward strategies that create incentives to decrease use of automobiles. Both private and public behavior in the environmental context are an outgrowth of the fact that environmental preferences are endogenous to available opportunities, to shifting social norms, and to past acts of consumption.


ABSTRACT A series of experiments have been carried out in a laboratory flume to simulate the conditions in a gravel-bed river with a supply of finer, sand-size material under flow conditions where some or all of the material is in motion. The experimental program incorporated three sets of experiments: (1) where flows were just above the theoretical threshold for entrainment of the sand; (2) where flows were at the theoretical threshold for entrainment of the gravel, and (3) where flows were well above the threshold for both transport of sand and gravel. Particle movements were monitored using a new digital photographic and image analysis method that allows detection of motions over periods as small as 0.04 s. The results show that, where flows are capable of moving only the finer material, grain size of the matrix is controlled by a combination of winnowing and particle overpassing. Under these conditions the grain size of the fine material trapped in the pore spaces of the gravel declines downstream. Once the gravel becomes entrained, the processes are very different. Just before the surface gravel layer is eroded, the framework lifts and dilates, causing matrix particles to move down into subsurface pores. Under these conditions matrix grain size increases downstream, because larger matrix particles are more likely to become stuck in pore throats and entrained with the gravel framework. The dilation process is hitherto unreported and has many implications for sediment transport. It appears that lift, not drag, is the important force during the early stages of entrainment and, as a result, fine matrix particles can be less mobile than those of the coarser framework.


In this article, a deep insight into emulsion radiartion-induced graft polymerization (RIGP) was obtained by computing explicit solvation free energies, conformational entropy, monomer radius and dipole moments with the state-of-the-art Conformer-Rotamer Ensemble Sampling Tool (CREST) package primalily at semiempirical GFN-xTB level. By leveraging the robustness of the CREST package, above parameters provided dynamic nature of methacrylate monoers with the consideration of realistic emulsion conditions. With the chemical and physical importance of the above results, CREST-determined explanatory variables sufficiently led to the building of the prediction models for the RIGP of methacrylate monomers. The machine learning model building resulted in effective reactivity predictions and unveiled important factors for the radiation-induced graft polymerization in a chemically interpretable fashion.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of late gestation, age, and parity on material properties of third metacarpal (MCIII) cortical bone in mares.

ANIMALS
8 healthy mares (treatment group) that died or were euthanatized within 24 hours after parturition because of foaling complications and 6 age-matched, healthy, nonpregnant mares (control group).

PROCEDURES
After random assignment for mechanical testing and microradiography, the dorsal half of transverse mid-diaphyseal sections of each MCIII bone was divided into lateral, dorsal, and medial regions. Cylinders of bone from each of the 3 regions were tested in compression in a single cycle to failure. Contact microradiographic views were taken of 100-microns-thick sections prepared from methylmethacrylate-embedded transverse dorsal region specimens, which were further divided into periosteal, intracortical, and endosteal regions for assessment of bone mineral density and porosity.

RESULTS
Postpartum mares had lower yield strain in the dorsal and medial regions and failure strain in the medial region. Increasing parity was associated with decreasing elastic modulus in the dorsal region and yield stress and failure stress in the lateral region. Age and parity were positively correlated (r = 0.865; P = 0.0001), but significant correlations were not found between treatment group and age or between treatment group and parity. Increasing age and parity were associated with increasing porosity in the periosteal region.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
On the basis of the material properties evaluated for MCIII cortical bone in late pregnancy, any increased risk for fractures in mares in late gestation may be related to parity or age or both, and less likely to pregnancy pese.


The policies of the European Communities established for the adjustment of macroeconomic processes have been transformed as consequence of economic development and subsequent enlargement of the EC. The joining of the Mediterranean countries resulted in increasing regional differences from the 1980ies on. For this reason; the main purpose of the policy reforms was the acceleration of the integration process and strengthening the cohesion inside the Community. Major emphasis was put on regional development in terms of policies and financial funds. The latter was given a new framework by enhancing and reforming the Structural Funds. In the next phase of reforms, cohesion problems and expenses resulted by the eastern enlargement of the EU will be considered. In the future, only poorly performing areas and regions suffering from deficiencies of their economic structure or the inadequacy of labour resources may expect assistance from the EU. The new, eastern members for their general backwardness will absorb a substantial part of the available fmancial support. The centres of economic development are the capitals and regions of major cities in the Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The losers of the transition period are rural regions and industrial districts having deficient economic basis. National governments will be the mediators of the EU assistance in diminishing spatial differences. The applicant countries have to face with the need for the adjustment of their regional policies, administration and institutions. Hungary is in the most advanced position in terms of legislative framework, its compatibility with the EU regulations and the establishment of institutions of the regional policy. The weaknesses of the Hungarian system are the lacking division of duties and competence among institutions that should be clarified; the unsettled form of the NUTS II level in regional planning, contradictions of the NUTS IV level and the insufficiency of the professional staff of regional development councils. In the future, reform of financial framework, formation of EU-compatible regions, transformation of recent mechanism of distribution, incorporation of regional policy into goverrimental economic policies and development of the institutional system must be implemented to preserve the favourable position of Hungary amongst the applicant countries.


Recently, evidence has emerged that heptaspanning membrane or G protein-coupled receptors may be linked to intracellular proteins identified as regulators of receptor anchoring and signaling. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, we identified α-actinin, a major F-actin-cross-linking protein, as a binding partner for the C-terminal domain of the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR). Colocalization, co-immunoprecipitation, and pull-down experiments showed a close and specific interaction between A2AR and α-actinin in transfected HEK-293 cells and also in rat striatal tissue. A2AR activation by agonist induced the internalization of the receptor by a process that involved rapid β-arrestin translocation from the cytoplasm to the cell surface. In the subsequent receptor traffic from the cell surface, the role of actin organization was shown to be crucial in transiently transfected HEK-293 cells, as actin depolymerization by cytochalasin D prevented its agonist-induced internalization. A2AΔCTR, a mutant version of A2AR that lacks the C-terminal domain and does not interact with α-actinin, was not able to internalize when activated by agonist. Interestingly, A2AΔCTR did not show aggregation or clustering after agonist stimulation, a process readily occurring with the wild-type receptor. These findings suggest an α-actinin-dependent association between the actin cytoskeleton and A2AR trafficking.


The purpose of this study is to find a practical solution for improving writing skill among Iranian high school learners of EFL. The main question was whether pragmatics had any priority over traditional methods in improving writing or not. Forty high school students were selected on the basis of their performance in PET (2009). In addition the following instruments were also used in this quasi-experimental research: California Standard Test (2008), Writing Discourse Completion Task, and Discourse Self-Assessment Task. The special treatment of the experimental group on the role of pragmatics lasted for about ten weeks, while the control group received only the traditional instruction on writing. The results show that there is a meaningful relationship between the pragmatic competency and the improvement of the EFL learners' writing skill. Paired t-test was utilized for analyzing the data. The study concludes that the teachers can use insights from pragmatics to teach writing skill appropriately and by improving writing skill through pragmatics, EFL learners will be able to communicate in a more appropriate way.


In spite of Nigeria's vaunted claims to leadership of the African continent and the entire black race, the country tragically suffers from an enduring self leadership deficit that has had a negative impact on its development. The masses of the people had been alienated by the ruling class from governance and a lot of ethnic groups had been marginalized and excluded from participating in democratic power. This has manifested in different typologies of conflicts and systemic failure which had served to undermine development planning since the country's independence. This paper explores some existing but unexplored linkages, immediate and mediate, between Catholic Social Teachings and some particular school of leadership, human values and conflict resolution frameworks, which could, in the future, generate sustainable solutions to the problems of the Nigerian leadership and development challenge in the twenty first century. After a brief survey of community participatory leadership and interactive leadership theories under the framework of transformational leadership concept, we will look at the critical recurring components in community participatory leadership, the five human values, and conflict resolution theories as contained in the Catholic Social Teachings. Our examination of Catholic Social Teachings will be drawn primarily from the social encyclicals beginning with Pope Leo XIII's Rerum nova rum and continuing through the social encyclicals of Pope John Paul II. These critical recurring components we have noted include: 1) a transforming vision; 2) community participation in decision-making; 3) power; 4) affirmation of others' human values such as need for truth, integrity, love, peace, non-violence, worth, or dignity; and 5) conflict resolution. The paper argues effectively that human value concepts are reflected in both the frameworks of transformative leadership, a fundamental content of the catholic social teachings, seen as a veritable answer to the problems of leadership in Nigeria. The article will use analytical and dialectical expositions to explore these theoretical linkages and draw enduring lessons for Nigeria.


A B S T C T Objectives: This study aimed to explore psychological distress, lifestyle, and demographic factors, as well as their relationship to discretionary choices in women of reproductive age during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Australia. Methods: Reproductive-aged women (18 (cid:1) 50 y) in Australia participated in a national online survey. Psychological distress score (using a validated 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale questionnaire) was the primary exposure of interest, and key outcomes were frequencies of discretionary choices (sugar-sweetened beverages [SSBs], alcohol, and discretionary foods). Sociodemographic and physical activity data were also collected. Logistic regression was used to report adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% con fi dence interval to predict SSBs (less than weekly; most days/daily), total discretionary foods (none/ < 2 times/d; (cid:1) 3 times/d), and alcohol use (never/less than monthly; most weeks/daily). Results: A total of 1005 women were included in the study, of whom 40% had a high level of psychological dis- tress. Women with high psychological distress (aOR: 1.96; 95% CI, 1.32 (cid:1) 2.91) and those who gained weight during the pandemic (aOR: 1.71; 95% CI, 1.10 (cid:1) 2.65) were more likely to consume discretionary foods (cid:1) 3 times/d. There was no association between psychological distress and SSB intake or alcohol; however, Australian, New Zealander, or Paci fi c Islander background (aOR: 1.68; 95% CI, 1.21 (cid:1) 2.33) and more hours of sitting time (aOR: 1.88; 95% CI, 1.07 (cid:1) 3.29) were associated with SSB consumption on most days/daily. Older age (aOR: 1.70; 95% CI, 1.00 (cid:1) 2.89), higher household income (aOR: 1.44; 95% CI, 1.08 (cid:1) 1.92), and moderate or high physical activity (aOR: 1.75; 95% CI, 1.10 (cid:1) 2.80) were associated with alcohol intake on most weeks/daily. Conclusions: Public health messaging to promote healthy eating should take into account the effect of psy- chological distress on health behavior. Messages aimed at maintaining a positive relationship between food intake and mental wellbeing, particularly among vulnerable groups, are warranted. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. an overall estimate. Variables selected togo into themultivariable regressions were sociodemographic and lifestyle variables related to food intake. An alpha level of 0.05 was used for statistical signi fi cance.


Forensic DNA analysis is widely used to determine kinship and the identity of evidence from the crime scene and it is especially important in the identification of human remains after different types of exposure (water, heat, etc.). Currently, there are no official recommendations for forensic scientists as to which bones and tissues are the most reliable among degraded DNA samples. Since 2014 more than 350 fragments of unidentified corpses have been examined in the Forensic Biological Department (Republic Bureau of Forensic Medicine, Kazan, Russia). Based on our experience, the most reliable and reproducible DNA profiles are obtained from lower limber bones (in 90% cases), muscles (in 85% cases) and ribs (in 80% cases). However, we discovered a new source of DNA – the odontoid process of the 2nd cervical vertebra, which contains a high amount of DNA with a better state of preservation than many other bones. According to our results, when a complete skeleton or unidentified corpse is found, it is advisable to provide bones with soft tissue remnants in the absence of deeply embedded putrefactive changes. When working at the crime scene, special attention should be paid to separating small bones and fragments from skeletal remains.


In this paper, transparent conducting thin films based on both undoped and vanadium (V) doped zinc oxide Zn1−xVx O (x = 3, 5, 7 at.%), were studied. The thin films were prepared using a simple low cost deposition technique called spray pyrolysis (SP). The layers were deposited onto preheated glass substrates at 450 °C. The effect of vanadium on the microstructural, the morphological and the optical properties of ZnO material was carried out using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), micro Raman spectroscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive analysis by X-ray (EDX) and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. We have demonstrated that doping with 3 at.% of V enhances the crystallinity of the films by estimating the grain size value, the dislocation density and the residual stress. Also, the SEM images have demonstrated that the vanadium concentrations do effect in the thin films morphology, from hexagonal-shaped grains to rounded crystals for higher doping concentrations. The optical analysis revealed that doping with 3 at.% of vanadium shows a remarkable enhancement in the average transmittance in the visible range 89% and in the band gap energy (3.3 eV). Moreover, the disorder inside the samples was estimated using Urbach equation. Therefore, the microstructural, the morphological and the optical results approve that doping with 3 at.% of V in ZnO lattices gives interesting results for the optical window material for solar cells application.


Significant percentage of today's knowledge of ancient Egyptian medicine has been acquired from papyri left behind from various periods of Egyptian history. The longest and the most comprehensive is the Ebers papyrus, kept at the University Museum of Leipzig, which was written more than one thousand years before Hippocrates (c. 460-377 BC). One of the riddles among the prescriptions of the Ebers papyrus Eb20 has been used in order to remove the so called "wemyt" weremit from the abdomen with the help of a drink, which consists of "jnnk", Conyza dioscoridis in milk or sweet beer. The authors assume that the disease could be an infection of Schistosoma haematobium and/or Schistosoma mansoni. Nowadays the tea of Conyza dioscoridis is widely used as an important part of traditional medicine against rheumatism, intestinal distention and cramps, as well as an antiperspirant, and with external use for wound healing. The authors' intent is to interpret the efficacy of the above-mentioned ancient prescription with the help of modern medical and pharmaceutical knowledge.


Abstract Outstandingly well-preserved benthic foraminiferal successions from upper Aptian-lower Albian sediments at Site 1049 (Leg 171, Blake Nose escarpment, western North Atlantic) provide a detailed record of the faunal turnover across Oceanic Anoxic Event 1b (OAE 1b). Changes in abundance, diversity and species composition reflect strong fluctuations in carbon flux and bottom-water oxygenation. Before the onset of black shale sedimentation, the originally diverse assemblages are replaced by low-diversity associations, dominated by species inferred to be opportunistic phytodetritus feeders and thriving on an enhanced carbon flux to the sea floor. The 46 cm thick laminated black shale horizon corresponding to OAE 1b is virtually devoid of benthic formainifers or contains highly impoverished assemblages, suggesting that intense eutrophication and/or strong stratification triggered near anoxia at the sea floor during black shale deposition. Above the black shale, reoccurrence of the pre-black shale fauna points to relatively rapid bottom-water reoxygenation. The benthic formainiferal record of Leg 171 provides clear evidence that no major extinctions occurred across OAE 1b, as most of the species occurring below the black shale reappear above it. In contrast to other Cretaceous anoxic events, OAE 1b may have been more limited in duration or in geographical and water-depth extent, allowing recolonization from adjacent, more hospitable areas, once local conditions improved at the sea floor. Prolific radiation within the suborder Rotaliina and diversification of Textulariina with calcareous cement appear to have started in the Aptian time before OAE 1b, and continued into early Albian time to give rise to many of the modern lineages.


Background: Women who are homeless during pregnancy may be exposed to poor nutrition, violence and substance use, yet the health status of their newborn infants has not been systematically evaluated. We undertook a study to provide preliminary estimates of the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes among Canadian women who are homeless or marginally housed during pregnancy, and the effect of concomitant substance use. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at a single downtown hospital from October 2002 to December 2004, involving women who, during pregnancy, were homeless or underhoused (n = 80), substance users (n = 59) or neither (n = 3756). We noted neonatal measures such as birth weight and gestational age; the main study outcomes were preterm birth before 37 weeks' gestation, birth weight less than 2000 g and small for gestational age at birth. Results: Homelessness or inadequate housing was associated with an odds ratio (adjusted for maternal age, gravidity and being a current smoker of tobacco) of 2.9 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4–6.1) for preterm delivery, 6.9 (95% CI 2.4– 20.0) for infant birth weight under 2000 g and 3.3 (95% CI 1.1– 10.3) for delivery of a newborn small for gestational age. Adjusted odds ratios for substance use during pregnancy were similar. In the combined presence of an underhoused or homeless state and maternal substance use, the adjusted risk estimates were 5.9 (95% CI 1.9–18.5), 16.6 (95% CI 3.5–79.3) and 5.6 (95% CI 1.1–28.7), respectively. Interpretation: Homelessness and maternal substance use may reduce neonatal well-being through prematurity and low birth weight.


INTRODUCTION: Vascular tree formation and their network organization has previously been shown to be sensitive to the mechanical environment in vitro, yet the specific relationship between the mechanical factors such as geometry, shape, pressure, flow characteristics and vascular organization in vivo is not well understood. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of yolk shape on vascular network organization, within developing chicken embryos cultured in containers with different geometries, resulting in a different mechanical environment of the egg yolk. Using both laser speckle contrast (LSCI) and laser doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) techniques, the spatiotemporal changes of heart rate and flow velocity in the vascular networks within developing chicken embryos were determined. METHODS: PDMS based artificial egg shell systems: 3D geometric (cube, cylinder and triangular prism shaped) containers based on oxygen permeable thin polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes were assembled using soft lithographic templates. 3D printed poly(lactic acid) frames were used as mechanical support. Fertilized white leghorn chicken eggs were incubated with 38°C and 65% humidity under regular rotation. After 3-days of incubation, chicken embryos were transferred to the artificial geometric culture systems as shown in the figure. RESULTS & DISCUSSION: Results showed that the heart beat rate (figure -right) and vascular network density were influenced by changing the local mechanical environment of egg yolk. Further, LSCI revealed changes in the perfusion rates within the chick vasculature. Changes in vascular organization with respect to differences in the local microenvironment of the yolk were observed. CONCLUSIONS: With the ultimate goal to understand in vivo vascular organization, fluid flow and growth factor gradient patterns adjacent to the developing chicken blood vessels will next be introduced in the PDMS systems. This 3D integrated platform offers the possibility to evaluate the effect of multiple signals towards vascular organization in a single system. Figure1: (left) chicken embryos exposed to different mechanical environments and (right) variations in perfusion rates of chick vasculature subjected to different mechanical environments ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This work is supported by an ERC Consolidator Grant under grant agreement no 724469 and NWO Dutch funding with project number 14538.


Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology exhibits significant performance advantages over conventional bulk silicon technology in both electronics and optoelectronics. In this chapter we present an overview of recent applications on light emission from SOI materials. Particularly, in our work we used SOI technology to fabricate light emitting diodes (LEDs), which emit around 1130 nm wavelength with an external quantum efficiency of 1.4 × 10−4 at room temperature (corresponding to an internal quantum efficiency close to 1 %). This is almost two orders of magnitude higher than reported earlier for SOI LEDs. This large improvement is due to three carrier confinement mechanisms: geometrical effects, quantum-size effects, and electric field effects. Our lateral p+/p/n+ structure is powered through two very thin silicon slabs adjacent to the p+/p and n+/p junction. Such use of thin silicon films aims to reduce the p+ and n+ contact area and to confine the injected carriers in the central lowly doped p-region. With this approach, we realized an efficient compact infrared light source with high potential switching speed for on-chip integration applications.


We present the results obtained with BeppoSAX observations of the three Composite Seyfert/star-forming galaxies: IRAS 20051-1117, IRAS 04392-0123 and IRAS 01072+4954. These sources belong to an enigmatic class of X-ray sources detected in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (Moran et al. 1996) which is composed of 6 low redshift galaxies. Their optical spectra are dominated by the features of HII galaxies while their X-ray luminosities (≥ 10 42 ergs/s) are typical of Seyfert galaxies. IRAS 20051-1117 shows a 2-10 keV spectrum well described by a power-law with Γ = 1.9 and low intrinsic absorption. This result, the ratio Flux(2-10 keV)/Flux([OIII]λ5007) and the significant X-ray variability detected, clearly rule out a Compton thick nature of this source. IRAS 04392-0123 and IRAS 01072+4954, instead, have a BeppoSAX flux a factor of ∼ 50-80 smaller than in the previous ROSAT observations, resulting in poor statistics, that prevents detailed modeling.


Family planning records were analyzed for 18 urban and rural clinics throughout Papua New Guinea. From the record cards of 7443 women, contraceptive continuation rates for the first method used were calculated. Continuation rates after one year are 92 per cent with the IUD (intra-uterine device), 41 per cent with oral contraceptives and 54 per cent with injections. Differences associated with age, parity, and rural-versus-urban clinics are discussed. Continuation rates are used to give an estimate of current contraceptive use of less than seven per cent of Papua New Guinea women. Improvement in access to services for rural women is needed, as is better communication in the initial interview with a new acceptor.


ABSTRACT This article addresses the relation between the current proliferation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) goods and services and the development of different kinds of risk assessments and policy documents. The ambition is to shed light on a, hithertho, less-discussed aspect of the development of risk assessments and policy documents, namely the time span between the development of new technologies and the development of regulatory frameworks. The concept of risk and danger can be seen as a potential means through which we can start to think about the consequences of the delay between the increased generation of electronic waste (e-waste) and the regulations to manage this increase. By using e-waste as a case study, this article provides the basis for a more general understanding of the relation between the development of new technologies and the development of regulatory frameworks. While it might be difficult to pin down the effects that this delay had/has for the subsequent development of ICTs, this article highlights the importance of taking into account not only how and by whom risk assessments and policy documents are developed, but also when they are developed in relation to the technologies that they serve to regulate.


Silver-impregnated carbon (SIC) and its precursor (un-impregnated) derived from an easily available low cost plant material Prosopis spicigera L. wood (PSLW) carbon was investigated for their ability to remove arsenic from aqueous solutions in batch and column experiments. Arsenic uptake has no regular trend with increasing pH; contains two adsorption maxima, the first adsorption maximum at pH 4.0 and a second adsorption maximum at pH 10.0. The extent of As (III) removal increased with increase in temperature. As (III) sorption kinetics was well fitted by pseudo second order with pore diffusion as rate determining step. The applicability of Langmuir isotherm suggests the formation of monolayer coverage of As (III) at the outer surface of the adsorbent. Thermodynamic parameters show that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. Column experiments were done using Thomas model, the maximum adsorption capacity of SIC was found to be 9.36 mg/g. Keywords: Adsorption, Arsenic, batch adsorption, langmuir isotherm, silver-impregnated carbon (SIC), Thomas model


In this study, a preliminary economic feasibility study of the project of wind power at the site of Al-Shehabi (Wasit-Iraq) was conducted using measured wind data at altitudes of 10, 30, 50 and 52 m per 10 minutes. For the purpose of comparison, data from NASA were used at the same location at 50 m height. The lowest unit cost of electricity from wind energy was found to be 0.028 $/Kwh and 0.0399 $/Kwh by using the standard methodologies of Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) equation and Net Present Value (NPV) procedure, respectively. Furthermore, RETScreen software was used to perform the economic prefeasibility study of a proposed wind farm. The study concludes that this site is economically feasible if a wind farm with 5.0 MW of ten wind turbines (EWT DW54) was established, with an NPV of $11,309,956, after-tax IRR of 24.7%, a simple payback period of 6.1 years, and a capacity factor of 38.34%. Finally, this wind farm development will result in a reduction in greenhouse gases of 31876 tCO2 per year. The sensitivity and risk analysis were performed and guarantee the safety of specified financial input parameters values.


Recently, organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites have been intensively studied for use in solar cells because of their low cost and high performance. Most of the efficient perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) need layer-dependent high-temperature treatment for each layer of the multilayered structures, increasing the fabrication complexity. In addition, high temperature processes hinder their applications in flexible devices. Therefore, it is highly desirable to develop room-temperature processed methods for controllably forming perovskite films which can simplify the complicated device process and promote emerging flexible device technologies. In this work, we propose a room-temperature scheme of ligand-promoted formation of high quality perovskite films through the judicious design of nanostructured PbI2·(L)x intermediates, where L denotes the ligand. The high quality perovskite films are free of pinholes and impurities, and have high crystallinity. Using our room-temperature crystallization of perovskite films, we have fabricated highly efficient room-temperature solution-processed PVSCs with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.21% (the current best PVSCs based on perovskite fabricated at room temperature have a PCE of <16%). Meanwhile, we have experimentally investigated the effects of different ligands on building the nanostructured PbI2·(L)x intermediates, and thus the purity, morphology, and optoelectronic performances of the resultant perovskite films. Through thermodynamic and kinetic studies, we theoretically study the reactivity of nanostructured PbI2·(L)x intermediates, thus elucidating the possible mechanism of ligand-promoted perovskite formation. Furthermore, with the experimental and theoretical studies, we establish the selection rules for identifying ideal ligands for the formation of high-quality perovskite films. This work offers a fundamental understanding of ligand effects on the formation of perovskite films for the future design of high-performance and low-cost perovskite-based optoelectronic devices.


Summarizing Interactive Digital Narratives (IDN) presents some unique challenges to existing text summarization models especially around capturing interactive elements in addition to important plot points. In this paper, we describe the first IDN dataset (IDN-Sum) designed specifically for training and testing IDN text summarization algorithms. Our dataset is generated using random playthroughs of 8 IDN episodes, taken from 2 different IDN games, and consists of 10,000 documents. Playthrough documents are annotated through automatic alignment with fan-sourced summaries using a commonly used alignment algorithm. We also report and discuss results from experiments applying common baseline extractive text summarization algorithms to this dataset. Qualitative analysis of the results reveals shortcomings in common annotation approaches and evaluation methods when applied to narrative and interactive narrative datasets. The dataset is released as open source for future researchers to train and test their own approaches for IDN text.


We contend that humans, as living organisms, evolved to sequester resources to maximize reproductive success, and that many basic aspects of human behaviour reflect this evolutionary history. Much of the environment with which we currently deal is evolutionarily novel, and much behaviour which is ultimately not in our own interests, persists in this novel environment. Environmentalists frequently stress the need for 'sustainable development', however it is defined (see Redclift, 1987), and we contend that a knowledge of how humans are likely to behave with regard to resource use, and therefore a knowledge of what kinds of programmes are likely to work in any particular situation, is necessary to achieve sustainability. Specifically, we predict that issues which are short-term, local, and/or acute, such as an immediate health-risk, will be much easier to solve than issues which are broad, and which affect individuals other than ourselves, our relatives, and our friends. The bigger the issue is, the less effective is likely to be the response. Hence, the biggest and most troublesome ecological issues will be the most difficult to solve — inter alia because of our evolutionary history as outlined above. This may not appear to bode well for the future of the world; for example, Molte (1988) contends that there are several hundred international environmental agreements in place, but Carroll (1988) contends that, in general, none of them is particularly effective if the criterion for effectiveness is a real solution to the problem. There are countless examples of 'aggressors' (those nations causing the problem) not complying with an agreement, slowing its ratification, or reducing its effectiveness (e.g. the US versus Canada, or Great Britain versus Sweden, with regard to acid rain legislation: Fig. 1, cf. Bjorkbom, 1988). The main problem in these cases is that the costs are externalized and hence discounted by those receiving the benefits of being able to pollute. Any proposed change is bound to conflict with existing social structures, and negotiations necessarily involve compromise in a quid pro quo fashion (Brewer, 1980). We contend, along with Caldwell (1988) and Putnam (1988), that nations are much too large to think of as individual actors in these spheres. Interest groups within nations can affect ratification of international environmental treaties; for example, automobile industry interests versus those of environmental NGOs in the USA on the acid rain issue. It may even be that our evolutionary history is inimical to the entire concept of the modern nation state. Barring major, global, socio-political upheaval, we suggest that a knowledge of the evolution of resource use by humans can be used to solve at least some resource-related problems in modern industrial societies. In some cases, these can probably be solved with information alone, and in other cases, the problems can probably be solved by playing on our evolutionary history as social reciprocators; environmental problems which tend to be relatively local and short-term may be solvable in these ways. Economic incentives can provide solutions to many other types of problems by manipulating the cost and benefits to individuals. We suggest that broader, large-scale environmental problems are much more difficult to solve than narrower, small-scale ones, precisely because humans have evolved to discount such themes; stringent regulations and the formation of coalitions, combined with economic incentives to use alternatives and economic disincentives (fines) not to do so, may be the only potential solutions to some major, transboundary environmental issues. In preparing this argument, we have reviewed literature from many scholarly fields well outside the narrow scope of our expertise in behavioural ecology and wildlife conservation. Our reading of many works from anthropology, economics, political science, public policy, and international development, will doubtless seem naïve and simplistic to practitioners of those fields, and solving all environmental problems will ultimately take expertise from all of these fields and more. In general, however, we have found agreement for many of our ideas from these disparate disciplines, but much of their literature does not allow for a rigorous, quantitative hypothesis-testing approach to analysing the main thesis presented here — an approach that we, as scientists, would encourage. We hope to challenge people interested in environmental issues from many perspectives, to consider our arguments and find evidence, pro or con, so that we (collectively) may come closer to a better analysis of, and ultimately to solutions for, our most pressing environmental problems.


Background and Aims: Bariatric surgery is increasing worldwide; however, standard techniques, for example, gastric bypass, are often insufficient in super obese patients, body mass index > 50 kg/m2. Duodenal switch, a more powerful procedure, is often considered technically demanding and is, therefore, underutilized according to some authors. This might result in nonoptimal surgical care for super obese patients, not having the possibility to obtain massive weight loss. Material and Methods: In this report, we present our open duodenal switch technique, which we have found durable in an academic center performing 30–40 cases annually, parallel to other upper abdominal surgery. The present technique, performed through a short upper midline incision, consists of a gastric tube, a 1.5-m alimentary limb, and a 1-m common limb of the distal ileum. Conclusion: With correct follow-up to reduce the risk of malnutrition, we encourage the use of duodenal switch and see no rational surgical obstacles.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile of ritonavir-boosted lopinavir in HIV-infected patients during rifabutin-based anti-mycobacterial therapy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A longitudinal, cross-over pharmacokinetic evaluation of lopinavir with and without rifabutin in HIV-infected subjects with mycobacterial disease was done. All received lopinavir/ritonavir (400/100 mg twice a day) + an adjusted rifabutin dose of 150 mg every other day. Twelve-hour lopinavir pharmacokinetic sampling occurred at 2 weeks (T1) and 6 weeks (T2) after starting combined therapy and 10 weeks after completion of adjusted rifabutin (T3). Plasma was assayed using an HPLC method; lopinavir plasma concentration-time data were analysed using non-compartmental methods.

RESULTS
In 10 patients with complete lopinavir curves at T1, T2 and T3 pharmacokinetic values were, respectively: AUC(0-12), 187.5, 161.8 and 121.1 μg · h/mL; C(trough), 13.2, 10.0 and 7.7 μg/mL; C(max), 18.7, 15.9 and 13.3 μg/mL; and apparent oral clearance (CL/F), 0.035, 0.037 and 0.045 L/h/kg. Lopinavir C(trough) and AUC(0-12) were significantly higher at T1 compared with T3 while CL/F remained unchanged throughout. Combined treatment was well tolerated and none of the patients experienced moderate to severe lopinavir-related adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS
Lopinavir serum concentrations are not reduced when the drug is administered together with an adjusted dose of 150 mg of rifabutin every other day.


ABSTRACT The reform of vocational education and training (VET) policy along competence‐based lines, with responsibility for the definition of competences vested in employer‐led Industry Lead Bodies, can be contextualised as part of a wider process of decollectivisation in employment relations. This is most apparent in the decline of trade unions which occurred during the 1980s and 1990s. This article briefly describes the way in which VET has been characterised by decollectivisation, after which it goes on to show in more detail the degree to which the competence‐based reforms are part of this process in a number of important respects. Nevertheless, despite the clear ideological assumptions underpinning the reforms, it is also evident that the principle of competence‐based VET has attracted a broad range of support. It will be argued in this article – which is principally discursive – that this was on account of the ostensibly rational, neutral and anti‐elitist aspects of the reforms


Recently, red seaweed attacks growing interests as 3rd generation biomass due to their notable characteristics e. g. no lignin, high CO2 fixation ability as well as high carbohydrate contents such as galactan and glucan. Seaweed may belong to one of the several groups of multicellular macro algae (the red algae, green algae, and brown algae). The ecology of seaweeds is dominated by two specific environmental requirements, that is the presence of seawater and light sufficient to drive photosynthesis. Seaweed is currently being researched as a potential source of biofuel in the form of bioehtanol. Especially, Gelidium amansii known as one of the red seaweed can be depolymerized to produce mixed monosugars such as glucose and galactose. We describe here the polysaccharide extract conditions using G. amansii to maximize the total yields of polymers and their conversion rate into monosugars which are able to be converted into bioethanol.


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Surf and swash zone hydrodynamics are complex, being composed of a highly energetic water-air mixture under periodically unsteady motion. Wave-current interactions have a major effect on the results of hydrodynamic simulations, and consequently on predictions of mixing and sediment transport processes. An Euler-Euler air-water two-phase flow model was used to simulate hydrodynamic processes under waves and currents in the nearshore zone. The flow field was computed with the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with the Volume-Of-Fluid method and RNG turbulence closure scheme. Different flow fields were simulated and compared (wave, current, wave+current). The results indicated that the characteristics of oscillatory flow were affected by the combined current and wave motions, especially near the bed, which is important for sediment transport. This study demonstrates that currents modify the hydrodynamics of wave-driven motion in the surf and swash zones. The kinetic energy magnitude was much improved in the wave breaking process and the breaking point occurred further offshore than for purely wave-driven motion. The effects of currents on the flow field were found to be different depending on their magnitudes. Vertical variations of the velocity distribution (undertow), turbulence characteristics, void fractions, and non-hydrostatic pressure were used to assess the hydrodynamics of the nearshore zone and wave-breaking processes under different combinations of wave and current. These numerical studies simulate the different types of wave breaking and accompanying nearshore zone hydrodynamics that affect the physical processes in surf and swash zones.


Assuming that regarding young adults "being autonomous" means, in most cases, that they be financially independent, this article intends to analyse the terms and limitations of this financial autonomy by focusing on the relationship between the youth and banks. From an interview survey and observation, we show that banks offer autonomy in exchange for a new kind of heteronomy. The way young people are socialized to banks' practices is marked by a constitutive ambiguity. The second part of the article, based on interviews with "young qualified urbans", explores how they adapt to the standards imposed by banks and the high costs of possible resistance.


1. Rat-liver microsomes, ribonucleoprotein particles and a fraction mainly consisting of microsomal membranes were tested for their ability to incorporate amino acids into protein in the presence of ATP, GTP, phosphoenolpyruvate and pyruvate kinase. Addition of polyuridylic acid or of ribonucleic acid from rat-liver nuclei stimulated the incorporating activities. 2. These protein-synthesizing systems were found to be susceptible to ribonucleic acid from chick-liver nuclei as well. The biological activity of the ribonucleic acid from chick liver was measured by its capacity to stimulate amino acid incorporation. 3. In the presence of chick-liver ribonucleic acid, the ribonucleoprotein particles from rat liver showed an increased radioactivity in ribosomal units with a sedimentation constant higher than 70s. 4. This was investigated by sucrose-gradient centrifugation or by column chromatography on agarose suspensions.