Author(s): Pierre, Adrien | Advisor(s): Arias, Ana Claudia | Abstract: Light and image sensors are ubiquitous and used in a wide variety of applications ranging from consumer products to healthcare and industrial applications. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from a photodetector element increases with larger photoactive area, which is costly to scale up using silicon wafers and wafer-based microfabrication. On the other hand, the performance of solution-processed photodetectors and transistors is advancing considerably. It is proposed that the printability of these devices on plastic substrates can enable low-cost areal scaling for high SNR light and image sensors.This thesis advances the performance of printed organic thin film transistor (OTFT), pho- todiode (OPD), and phototransistor (OPT) devices optimized for light and image sensing applications by developing novel printing techniques and creating new device architectures. An overview is first given on the essential figures of merit for each of these devices and the state of the art in solution-processed image sensors. A novel surface energy-patterned doc- tor blade coating technique is presented to fabricate OTFTs on flexible substrates over large areas. Using this technique, OTFTs with average mobility and on-off ratios of 0.6 cm^(2)/Vs and 10^(5) are achieved, which is competitive with amorphous silicon TFTs. High performance OPDs are also fabricated using doctor blade coating and screen printing. These printing processes give high device yield and good controllability of photodetector performance, enabling an average specific detectivity of 3.45×10^(13) cm·Hz^(0.5)·W^(-1) that is higher than silicon photo- diodes (10^(12-13)). Finally, organic charge-coupled devices (OCCDs) and a novel OPT device architecture based on an organic heterojunction between a donor-acceptor bulk heterojunction blend and a high mobility semiconductor that allows for a wide absorption spectrum and fast charge transport are discussed. The OPT devices not only exhibit high transistor and photodetector performance, but are also able to integrate photogenerated charge at video frame rates up to 100 frames per second with external quantum efficiencies above 100%. Applications of these devices include screen printed OTFT backplanes, large-area OPDs for pulse oximeter applications, and OPT-based image sensors.


This study sought to identify the surface exposed antigenic components of Cowdria ruminantium elementary body (EB) by biotin labeling, determine effect of reducing and non-reducing conditions and heat on the mobility of these antigens and their reactivity to antibodies from immunized animals by Western blotting. Six surface exposed antigens of the C. ruminantium EB were identified by biotin labeling with molecular masses of 21kDa, 28kDa, 31kDa, 62kDa, 74kDa and 115kDa and are therefore outer membrane proteins. The effect of reducing agents was to increase the number antigens bands, indicating there may be 2-5 antigenic (polypeptides) on the surface of the EB. On the other hand, heating did not affect the number of antigen bands. The identification of six surface exposed antigens of C. ruminantium and the successful purification of two of these antigens, makes it possible to use them for immunization so as to determine which of them induce protective responses.
Keywords: Cowdria ruminantium, Elementary body, biotin-labelling, surface antigens, mobilities, ruminants
[IJARD Vol.3 2002: 78-86]


Research work on the living arrangement preferences of the elderly in the Indian context is very scanty. A few studies dealing with the living arrangement preferences of the elderly concentrates on the elderly living in households, leaving out the institutionalised elderly. This study, therefore, looks into the living arrangement preferences of the institutionalised elderly in Odisha. This paper is based on the data collected from the three old age homes in Odisha covering 50 respondents. Data was collected through a survey of the inmates of the old age homes and through detailed case studies. This study shows that the elderly residing in these old age homes are poor, helpless, destitute majority are from the vulnerable sections of the society. Older-olds, widowed, economically dependent, childless and sick elderly are more vulnerable compared to others. Family conflicts, lack of money and ill health are the major reasons for the elderly to depend on old age homes. Lack of children is not the major reason for the elderly to depend on institutions as majority of the residents had children. Most of the elderly live in institutions due to various compulsions rather than by choice. The living arrangement preferences of the elderly clearly show that most of them to live with family. Since majority prefers to live with family, large proportions that stay in the old age homes are not in concordance with their living arrangement. The incidence of poor health and disability is higher among the institutionalised elderly. Overall, the elders preferred to live with the family but also considered old age homes as an alternative for care in the event of family conflict. The old age homes may be the next and alternative especially for those who are poor, sick and have no family


This study covers the maintenance department at SKF in Gothenburg, which is divided in two units,
namely preventive maintenance and urgent maintenance. SKF is currently applying individual, and
self-organized production channels in order to enhance the productivity. This way of working has
proven to be efficient regarding production output and quality, but the maintenance department's work
across production channels has been hampered.
SKF was noticing a large variation in the key performance indicators (KPIs), which the maintenance
groups are measured by. Why it was necessary to investigate how different areas influence the
performance that results in the large variation in KPI's between the production channels. And by this
locate where changes and standardizations can be made in order to improve their current maintenance
approach. The purpose of this study was to reveal what aspects that influence the variation in
maintenance KPI's between the production channels, and to locate key aspects in order to enhance the
overall maintenance work at SKF Gothenburg.
By applying a Six Sigma structure to the study, the initial problem regarding variation between, and
within, the different production channels was systematically investigated. The DMAIC structure
supported the interventional study that was used. In order to capture influencing parameters, the study
was divided into three major areas; with a qualitative perspective, a quantitative perspective, and a
theoretical perspective. These three areas were then combined into a matrix in order to map their
correlations and find patterns of synergies.
The outcome of this study was four major areas of improvement to lower both the internal and
external variation between production channels. The four areas comprise; ways of working,
knowledge transfer and creation, interactive operator driven reliability, and use of key performance
indicators. The order of implementation is depending on the organizations' current situation and the
size of each initiative.
Improved ways of working refers to an enhanced planning of work tasks, improvement of
maintenance analysis, efficient allocation of resources, and clarification of authorities and
responsibilities.
Knowledge transfer and creation concerns a guide to improve the way that knowledge is created and
diffused into the organization. It is constructed to spread the ways of working between the individual
production channels, and to reduce the variation between the channels.
Interactive Operator Driven Reliability, iODR, is a conceptual solution to improve the use, and
updating, of maintenance instructions through the implementation of a mobile solution.
Key Performance Indicators, KPIs, can't be used to their full extent due to a lack of reporting. After
being improved, the KPIs shall be divided into leading and lagging measures, i.e. predetermined
maintenance and condition based maintenance, in order to control the maintenance activities and
enhance the motivation for using performance measures.


Abstract. Multi-frequency range imaging (RIM) has been operated in the Chung-Li
very high-frequency (VHF) radar, located on the campus of National Central
University, Taiwan, since 2008. RIM processes the echo signals with a group
of closely spaced transmitting frequencies through appropriate inversion
methods to obtain high-resolution distribution of echo power in the range
direction. This is beneficial to the investigation of the small-scale
structure embedded in dynamic atmosphere. Five transmitting frequencies were
employed in the radar experiment for observation of the precipitating
atmosphere during the period between 21 and 23 August 2013. Using the Capon
and Fourier methods, the radar echoes were synthesized to retrieve the
temporal signals at a smaller range step than the original range resolution
defined by the pulse width, and such retrieved temporal signals were then
processed in the Doppler frequency domain to identify the atmosphere and
precipitation echoes. An analysis called conditional averaging was further
executed for echo power, Doppler velocity, and spectral width to verify the
potential capabilities of the retrieval processing in resolving small-scale
precipitation and atmosphere structures. Point-by-point correction of range
delay combined with compensation of range-weighting function effect has been
performed during the retrieval of temporal signals to improve the continuity
of power spectra at gate boundaries, making the small-scale structures in the
power spectra more natural and reasonable. We examined stratiform and
convective precipitation and demonstrated their different structured
characteristics by means of the Capon-processed results. The new element in
this study is the implementation of RIM on spectral analysis, especially for
precipitation echoes.


Civil aviation is developing rapidly, and the number of domestic and international operations is increasing exponentially every year than the previous one. Airline companies with increased air traffic and the number of passengers increase the demand of new aircrafts. An aircraft needs not only fuel but also pilot and aeronautical information (charts, digital navigation information, flight plan, and etc.) to perform flight operation. One of the most important components in aeronautical information is the terminal chart. Authorized institution in every state is responsible to publish their terminal charts for certain periods. Although these charts are produced in accordance with ICAO's Annex 4 and Annex 15, cartographic representation and page layout differs in each state's publication. This situation makes difficult to read them by pilots. In this paper, standard instrument departure (SID) charts are analysed to produce by use of cutting-edge and competitive technologies instead of classical computer-aided drawing and vector based graphic applications that are currently used by main chart producers. The goal is to design efficient and commercial chart management system that is able to produce aeronautical charts with same cartographic representation for all states.


OBJECTIVE--To assess right and left ventricular systolic function in normal human fetuses by cross sectional Doppler echocardiography to calculate the force developed by myocardial shortening. DESIGN--Cross sectional echocardiographic images of the aorta and pulmonary arteries were obtained prospectively in order to measure great vessel diameters and calculate their cross sectional areas. Doppler velocity signals were recorded from the proximal aorta and the proximal pulmonary artery and digitised to obtain peak velocity, acceleration time, flow velocity time integral during acceleration, and the flow velocity time integral for the whole of ejection. Right and left ventricular force development was estimated by Newton's equation in which force is defined as the product of mass and acceleration. PATIENTS--58 normal human fetuses at a gestational age of from 20 to 42 weeks. RESULTS--The cross sectional area of the pulmonary artery was 20% greater than that of the aorta. Aortic acceleration time was longer than that in the pulmonary artery, and peak blood flow velocity in the aorta was consistently greater than that in the pulmonary artery. Right ventricular stroke volume was significantly greater than left ventricular stroke volume. The force developed by the right and left ventricles was, however, similar throughout the gestational period studied, increasing tenfold from 20 weeks' gestation to term (r = 0.74, p less than 0.0001; r = 0.75, p less than 0.0001) respectively. CONCLUSION--The development of right and left ventricular force in the human fetus is similar in spite of the greater volume handled by the right ventricle. This index of ventricular performance does not require calculation of ventricular volume and because it varies independently of ventricular geometry and heart rate it should prove useful in assessing cardiac function in the normal human fetus and in fetuses with ventricular dysfunction.


Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is present at high concentrations in ascites from ovarian cancer patients and has potent mitogenic properties in vitro. Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), a critical component of the metastatic cascade, is also found at high concentrations in ovarian ascites and ovarian cancers, and the levels of uPA correlate inversely with prognosis. Because LPA stimulates the invasion of both hepatoma and lung cell lines, we investigated whether LPA could induce uPA secretion by ovarian epithelial cells and whether this process was associated with malignant transformation of ovarian epithelial cells. As indicated by zymography and Western blotting, physiologically relevant concentrations of LPA equivalent to those present in ovarian cancer ascites stimulated uPA secretion in the ovarian cancer cell lines OVCAR-3, SKOV-3, OVCA 429, OVCA 432, and OVCA 433, but not from established normal ovarian epithelial (NOE) cells as indicated by normal epithelial cell lines NOE 033 and NOE 035 or from SV40 large T antigen-immortalized normal epithelial cell lines IOSE 29 and IOSE 80. 18:1 LPA, but not 18:0 LPA, 16:0 LPA, or lysophosphatidylcholine, induced uPA secretion, concordant with previous studies of LPA receptor selectivity. Expression of the edg-2 LPA receptor was not consistently different between normal epithelial cell lines and ovarian cancer cell lines. In contrast, expression of the edg-4 LPA receptor was markedly increased in ovarian cancer cell lines as compared with NOE cell lines, raising the possibility that the edg-4 LPA receptor contributes to the ability of ovarian cancer cells but not NOE cells to produce uPA in response to LPA. LPA induced a consistent increase in uPA promoter activity and mRNA levels, suggesting that increased uPA production is, at least in part, transcriptional. Malignant transformation may alter LPA-induced cell activation by altering the pattern of LPA receptors present and may possibly lead to more aggressive behavior by up-regulating LPA-mediated uPA secretion and stimulating extracellular stromal breakdown and invasion.


: We studied the time-course of serum theophylline concentration after a 30-minute intravenous infusion of aminophylline (6 mg/kg) in 18 traumatic tetraplegic (nine smoking, nine nonsmoking) and in six control (nonsmoking) subjects. All study subjects were healthy men with normal renal function. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated from a linear regression analysis of the terminal log-linear portion of the log serum theophylline concentration-time curves. The terminal elimination kinetics of theophylline in this study were best characterized by first order elimination from a one compartment-open model. A statistically significant difference (P less than .05) was demonstrated between the means and variances of theophylline clearance (Cl ml/kg/min) and hours of half-life (t1/2) for control subjects and smoking tetraplegics. Total body clearance of theophylline was greater in all tetraplegic subjects, the greatest difference in total clearance of theophylline adjusted to body weight being observed between tetraplegic smokers and nonsmoking controls with an intact central nervous system (P less than .05). Theophylline volume of distribution (Vdarea) did not differ significantly from Vdarea in able-bodied subjects. Tetraplegic individuals have multiple disorders and marked pharmacokinetic variation, which might be expected to make serum concentration and toxicity of theophylline unpredictable using population averages.


As a woman and a Muslim, with a hijab, who works in engineering, specifically in academia, I am a minority from many perspectives. As such, I have always been asked at events, and on a personal level, how did I manage to survive all the differences and succeed. That was why I would like to take the time to reflect on some key points that are useful for minorities and racialized communities as well as for anyone navigating the workplace. Here are five main guidelines on how to navigate through life challenges.


The authors recently presented new values for the octet baryon sigma terms. These were extracted using the Feynman-Hellman theorem from a chiral perturbation theory fit to octet baryon mass data from the PACS-CS collaboration. Of particular interest is the precise determination of the strangeness sigma term $\sigma_s = 21 \pm 6$ MeV. In this work, we elaborate on the critical effect which the choice of scale setting has on this value. We discuss the prospect that the comparison of direct and 'spectrum' determinations of the sigma terms from the lattice can provide insight not only into scale setting on the lattice, but into QCD itself.


Summary Background/Aim: Potentially malignant oral lesions (PMOL) are lesions that have an increased risk of malignant transformation concerning healthy oral mucosa. This research aimed to assess the knowledge of students of final years of study on the potentially malignant lesions of the oral cavity. Material and Methods: 120 students of the fourth and fifth years of study participated in this research,60 respondents were fourth-year students, 60 respondents were fifth-year students. All of the respondents signed informed consent.According to the type of research, this is a cross-sectional study which was conducted by completing a 15-item questionnaire. The results were statistically analyzed and processed in the SPSS Statistics 21.0 program. Results: The results indicate that during the clinical examination the fourth and fifth-year students examine the oral mucosa as well. 61% of the students find themselves poorly informed on the PMOL. In the fourth year of study, only 5,5% of students responded that they were well informed, while in the fifth year that number totaled 28,5%. When knowledge self-assessment is concerned the difference has shown itself to be statistically significant between the fourth and fifth-year students. When asked what knowledge on the prevention of oral cancer they expect to receive during their studies, 78% of the students expected more knowledge than at that moment – 36% of which were fifth-year students, and 42% were fourth-year students. Conclusions: Even though the oral cavity is easily accessible to examination, the discovery of oral cancer occurs quite late. Ours, as well as results of other studies, impose the need for better theoretical and practical education of the students.


Specialized enemies, such as predators and parasitoids, play an important role in the population cycles of small animals by generating delayed density dependence. We investigated the role of predation in population cycles in an undisturbed large-mammal system using long-term data on the sustained density fluctuations of wolves and moose on Isle Royale (Michigan, USA). Nonlinear time-series analysis revealed that wolves display phase-dependent dynamics with stronger density dependence during the decline phase than during the increase phase. This phase dependence was also reflected in predation rates: the number of moose killed daily by wolves was greater during the wolf increase phase than during the wolf decline phase. Accordingly, moose displayed multi-annual cycles generated by an interaction between weak self-regulation and strong delayed density dependence during periods of wolf increase, and strong self-regulation with negligible delayed density dependence during periods of wolf decline. This constitutes, to our knowledge, the first formal documentation of population cycles in large mammals. By making use of long-term data at both trophic levels, as well as data on predator behavior, this analysis may shed light on the mechanisms through which predators contribute to population cycles of prey in other taxa.


This article describes a system which allows administrators, physicians, and other health care managers to do the following: develop pricing strategies for current and future services to be offered, establish human resource needs to meet predetermined service objectives and monitor productivity on a regular basis, investigate the impact of program changes on business profitability prior to the implementation of such changes, and identify operational problems with direction for corrective action.


Domestic servitude blurs the divide between family and work, affection and duty, the home and the world. In "Cultures of Servitude", Raka Ray and Seemin Qayum offer an ethnographic account of domestic life and servitude in contemporary Kolkata, India, with a concluding comparison with New York City. Focused on employers as well as servants, men as well as women, across multiple generations, they examine the practices and meaning of servitude around the home and in the public sphere. This book shifts the conversations surrounding domestic service away from an emphasis on the crisis of transnational care work to one about the constitution of class. It reveals how employers position themselves as middle and upper classes through evolving methods of servant and home management, even as servants grapple with the challenges of class and cultural distinction embedded in relations of domination and inequality.


As part of Caribbean–wide initiatives to modernize agriculture, the formal education system for agriculture in Trinidad is coming under scrutiny. This paper investigates the perceptions students have about agriculture, the likelihood of those in the secondary school system (n=300) to pursue a formal education in agriculture, and the likelihood of those in the tertiary system (n=100) to continue in a career in agriculture. Likert–type scales were used to assess perceptions, and the likelihood of students in the formal education system in Trinidad to pursue agriculture as a profession was measured on a rating scale. Relationships were examined between school location (North, South, and Central), students' residential area (Rural, Urban), gender, and the likelihood to pursue a career in agriculture. Data were presented as descriptives and correlations. Results show that in schools where agriculture is not taught, while students firmly believed that agriculture is very important, very few would make it a career–choice. In secondary schools where agriculture is taught, students were generally favorable in their overall attitudes to agriculture, but there was only moderate indication that they would pursue the field further as a career. There were significant relationships between gender, school's location, and students' residential area and the likelihood to pursue agriculture. At the tertiary level, there was very strong indication that these students would continue in a career in agriculture. However, they were most likely to seek higher education and research in the field or seek out salaried positions in the public service. Female students were more likely to continue a career in agriculture than males. Recommendations included policy actions to introduce agriculture as a science to all students in the formal education system, a re–engineered curriculum based on modern technology use and specially developed career days, exhibitions and field visits to attract young people to the discipline.


16. Abstract Data streams are emerging everywhere such as Web logs, Web page click streams, sensor data streams, and credit card transaction flows. Different from traditional data sets, data streams are sequentially generated and arrive one by one rather than being available for random access before learning begins, and they are potentially huge or even infinite that it is impractical to store the whole data. To study learning from data streams, we target online learning, which generates a best–so far model on the fly by sequentially feeding in the newly arrived data, updates the model as needed, and then applies the learned model for accurate real-time prediction or classification in real-world applications. Several challenges arise from this scenario: first, data is not available for random access or even multiple access; second, data imbalance is a common situation; third, the performance of the model should be reasonable even when the amount of data is limited; fourth, the model should be updated easily but not frequently; and finally, the model should always be ready for prediction and classification. To meet these challenges, we investigate streaming feature selection by taking advantage of mutual information and group structures among candidate features. Streaming feature selection reduces the number of features by removing noisy, irrelevant, or redundant features and selecting relevant features on the fly, and brings about palpable effects for applications: speeding up the learning process, improving learning accuracy, enhancing generalization capability, and improving model interpretation. Compared with traditional feature selection, which can only handle pre-given data sets without considering the potential group structures among candidate features, streaming feature selection is able to handle streaming data and select meaningful and valuable feature sets with or without group structures on the fly. In this research, we propose 1) a novel streaming feature selection algorithm (GFSSF, Group Feature Selection with Streaming Features) by exploring mutual information and group structures among candidate features for both group and individual levels of feature selection from streaming data, 2) a lazy online prediction model with data fusion, feature selection and weighting technologies for real-time traffic prediction from heterogeneous sensor data streams, 3) a lazy online learning model (LB, Live Bayes) with dynamic resampling technology to learn from imbalanced embedded mobile sensor data streams for real-time activity recognition and user recognition, and 4) a lazy update online learning model (CMLR, Cost-sensitive Multinomial Logistic Regression) with streaming feature selection for accurate real-time classification from imbalanced and small sensor data streams. Finally, by integrating traffic flow theory, advanced sensors, data gathering, data fusion, feature selection and weighting, online learning and visualization technologies to estimate and visualize the current and future traffic, a real-time transportation prediction system named VTraffic is built for the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Abstract Data streams are emerging everywhere such as Web logs, Web page click streams, sensor data streams, and credit card transaction flows. Different from traditional data sets, data streams are sequentially generated and arrive one by one rather than being available for random access before learning begins, and they are potentially huge or even infinite that it is impractical to store the whole data. To study learning from data streams, we target online learning, which generates a best–so far model on the fly by sequentially feeding in the newly arrived data, updates the model as needed, and then applies the learned model for accurate real-time prediction or classification in real-world ap-plications. Several challenges arise from this scenario: first, data is not available for random access or even multiple access; second, data imbalance is a common situation; third, the performance of the model should be reasonable even when the amount of data is limited; fourth, the model should be updated easily but not frequently; and finally, the model should always be ready for prediction and classification. To meet these challenges, we investigate streaming feature selection by taking advantage of mutual information and group structures among candidate features. Streaming feature selection reduces the number of features by removing noisy, irrelevant, or redundant features, and selecting relevant features on the fly, and brings about palpable effects for applications: speeding up the learning process, improving learning accuracy, enhancing generalization capability, and improving model interpretation. Compared with traditional feature selection, which can only handle pre-given data sets without considering the potential group structures among candidate features, streaming feature selection is able to handle streaming data and select meaningful and valuable feature sets with or without group structures on the fly. In this research, we propose 1) a novel streaming feature selection algorithm (GFSSF, Group Feature Selection with Streaming Features) by exploring mutual information and group structures among candidate features for both group and individual levels of feature selection from streaming data, 2) a lazy online prediction model with data fusion, feature selection and weighting technologies for real-time traffic prediction from heterogeneous sensor data streams, 3) a lazy online learning model (LB, Live Bayes) with dynamic resampling technology to learn from imbalanced embedded mobile sensor data streams for real-time


Understanding team viability --- a team's capacity for sustained and future success --- is essential for building effective teams. In this study, we aggregate features drawn from the organizational behavior literature to train a viability classification model over a dataset of 669 10-minute text conversations of online teams. We train classifiers to identify teams at the top decile (most viable teams), 50th percentile (above a median split), and bottom decile (least viable teams), then characterize the attributes of teams at each of these viability levels. We find that a lasso regression model achieves an accuracy of .74--.92 AUC ROC under different thresholds of classifying viability scores. From these models, we identify the use of exclusive language such as 'but' and 'except', and the use of second person pronouns, as the most predictive features for detecting the most viable teams, suggesting that active engagement with others' ideas is a crucial signal of a viable team. Only a small fraction of the 10-minute discussion, as little as 70 seconds, is required for predicting the viability of team interaction. This work suggests opportunities for teams to assess, track, and visualize their own viability in real time as they collaborate.


Background: The evaluation of the chronological age is a practical method in crime investigation field that assists in identifying individuals to treat them as underage or adult. This study aimed to assess the stages of third molars mineralization in relation to chronological age of Iraqi individuals, determine the gender differences and arches (maxillary/mandibular) differences. Materials and Methods: A total of 300 orthopantomograms of orthodontic patients were collected according to specific criteria and evaluated visually. The developmental stages of maxillary and mandibular third molars were determined according to Demirjian method. The chronological age was recorded according to the particular mineralization stages at which it reached considering genders, sides and jaws. Comparisons were done using paired sample and independent sample t-tests. Results: Results showed that there was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05) between maxillary and mandibular third molars. The maxillary third molars reached earlier than mandibular one in stages F and G. There was no significant difference between the mean ages of males and females at each given developmental stage in the maxillary and mandibular third molars except for the stage D in the maxilla and stages D and E in the mandible. The development of third molar teeth on the right and left sides was similar except for the maxillary arch in males when there was a significant difference in stage C and D and stage E in the mandibular arch. Conclusion: The Demirjian method is an excellent approach for age assessment using Orthopantomogram. All of the differences between the current study and other studies could be because of the difference in the populations who were chosen from different geographical areas.


Experiments were conducted to investigate ozone generation (DBD) at different frequencies. A cylindrical DBD ozone generator with a discharge gap of 0.3 mm has been developed. 50 Hz AC power was used to provide power density of 44.2 W/m2. 2.6 kHz and 20 kHz AC energisation frequencies were employed to provide power densities of 2.37 kW/m2 and 19.08 kW/m2 respectively. Discharge current, optical emission signals and discharge power were obtained under three frequencies. Ozone concentration and production efficiency at different feed gas flow rates were measured and calculated. It was found that discharge mode was different for positive and negative half-cycle of the applied voltage. Results show that ozone production efficiency rises with an increase in the ozone concentration at 50 Hz, however this efficiency drops with an increase in the ozone concentration at 2.6 kHz and 20 kHz. For the same ozone concentration level, 2.6 kHz is more efficient than 20 kHz. The highest ozone production efficiency achieved in this work is 191.5 g/kWh at 50 Hz and the highest ozone concentration is 271 g/Nm3 at 2.6 kHz.


Saponification equivalent values of Dasamula taila are very useful for the technical and analytical work. It gives the mean molecular weight of the glycerides and acids present in Dasamula Taila. Saponification equivalent values of Dasamula taila are reported in different packings.


In this paper, we investigate the perceptions of various stakeholders in relation to the benefits stated in the new capital markets authority law (CMAL) to be achieved when Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) is demutualized. We use a survey questionnaire to solicit their agreement on the achievement of specific benefits after six years of activation. Factor analysis was used to extract four new constructs from the collected responses. Market harmony is the construct elected to be the independent variable affecting three dependent variables: stability, corporate governance and attractiveness variables. The results indicate that the different stakeholders have the same perception that privatization of KSE will lead to the achievement of all benefits promised. Furthermore, all three dependent variable are found to be significantly affected by market harmony. These results contradict with the results of an earlier study of the same research project on the relationship between firm performance and market reforms. We provide discussions of the results and further implications.


Abstract:
The last centry was characterized by the rapid expansion of the crimes
generally and precisely the international crimes; because of the development of the
new technologies and the net communication which contribute and help in
extending crimes worldwide. And for stopping this increasing risk; members of the
international group worked to set a series of treaties, whereas; more than 316
international treaties which are concerned 24 sects of crimes were sited between
1815 – 1989, in addition to that many other contemporaneous international treaties
were sited under the united nations.
And because the faet that the ratification of these international treaties
obliges all the concerned countries to execute them both at the international and
national level, they become implemented in every country which accepts and adopts
them.And the countries will be obliged to apply them through its legislative,
juridical and executive powers and in some cases even through people directly.
And because the Algerian legislator already adopts the principle of the
international treaties exaltedness than the internal law; according to the article 132
from the constitutional modification of 1996, this international treaty itself which is
authenticated by the president of the government will be merged automatically in
the internal juridical system.
But in the penal field which is characterized by the limitation of the penal
judge with the penal legitimacy principe, which obliges the later to be restricted by
the penal law. for posing the judge in a critic position, if he abstains to apply the
international treaties for realizing the penal legitimacy principle, that'll lead to the negligence of the international obligation, so that the country will take the
international responsability.
On the other side if the judge applies the international treaties he will break
of the penal legitimacy. So the question which we want to answer through this
research is : how does the Algerian penal judge apply the international treaties? To
propose the appropriate solutions through which the Algerian penal judge will be
able to get rid of the juridical dilemma when he is solining a conflict related with an
international treaty that is agreed by the Algerian authorities, meanwhile he is
constricted by the penal legitimacy principle.


Dementia is one of the most prevalent diagnoses for elders causing strain and debilitation of their social, mental, physical, emotional, behavioral and psychological faculties. Due to the nature of this condition, treatments for dementia have been structured to aid and improve the well-being and quality of life for those afflicted. Some of the goals that assisted-living services establish include reducing anxiety, increasing levels of comfort, improving mood, memory care and bettering verbal processing. Music therapy has been an intervention that assists with establishing these goals and implementing strategies resulting in short-term and long-term effects for those receiving treatment for dementia. This paper explored how the literature based on music therapy for elders with dementia has been defined and evolved over time and what could be done to explore more social aspects of the work within an assisted-living setting on many levels (i.e. peer to peer, client to therapist, client to assisted living staff). The literature detailed the results from studies that have explored short-term and long-term effects of music therapy and the varying theoretical approaches developed and implemented. Additionally, the literature presented describe how music therapy treatments are introduced to programs seeking out non-pharmacological measures to treat elders with dementia. In so doing, music therapy is presented as assisting elders to be individually empowered through use and acknowledgement of their personal narratives as well as socially empowered through efforts of clients working and interacting with one another in the same setting along with staff and caregivers who work to improve their lives. ASSISTING ELDERS WITH DEMENTIA 3


In the Flint River basin, traditional water supply resources are not reliably able to sustain future water demands of the agricultural and environmental interests. Cardno ENTRIX investigated the feasibility of applying aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) to help man- age the water resource potential of the Flint River. The objective of the project was to find an alternative method of supplying water to new beneficial users without the need to increase dry-season withdrawals from the river or the Floridan aquifer in order to support new industry and growth in the region. This presentation focuses on three key findings of the recently completed ASR feasibility assessment (for the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center) of the Flint River basin: 1) ASR technology could be used to store large volumes of surface water during the rainy season when surface-water discharge rates are high. An ASR sys- tem could provide for seasonal storage of approximately 1.5 billion gallons of water to help mitigate drought im- pacts. Development of ASR facilities on even a larger scale might ultimately be feasible. 2) The potential sources of water to recharge the ASR system are the Flint River in the area of Lake Chehaw and Kinchafoonee Creek near Lake Worth or other alternative locations. 3) The most cost-effective approach to capturing and storing the river flows is to tap the high-stage river flows by use of shallow wells adjacent to the stream, and to store the water in a deeper, confined aquifer. This method of cap- turing the water will save considerable pre-treatment costs because any water that would be injected must meet pri- mary drinking-water standards. Using wells to tap the surface flows via "bank filtration" eliminates the need to construct treatment facilities. This approach could poten- tially reduce source-water treatment costs and Operation & Maintenance requirements. This approach also mini- mizes the potential for metals leaching to occur during aquifer storage.


Fiscal audits may be considered as the guardian of public revenue and as a deterrent factor against financial mismanagement in public organizations. Fiscal auditing is an immensely broad discipline with strategic importance for society. In that sense, this paper aims to demonstrate the role of fiscal auditing conducted by the Hellenic Court of Audit (HCA), as a motivation tool towards the general improvement of public administration practices. The research focuses on exploring the perceptions of critical people in audited organizations, stemming mainly from financial/administrative or other departments that are directly associated with the Court's auditing procedures. It is considered that this research view, based on the perceptions of auditees, provides reliable and compelling evidence and can contribute significantly to the discussion on the implementation of good practices in public audits. For the research, primary data was collected through questionnaires addressed to public organizations that are obliged to fiscal auditing, under the rationale mentioned above. A statistical analysis followed, in terms of the relevant provisions, and an inferential process on the data was attempted. The research provided exciting results based on auditees' perceptions.


The seamless incorporation of electronics in textiles have the potential to enable various applications ranging from sensors for the internet of things to personalised medicine and human-machine interfacing. Graphene electronic textiles are a current focus for the research community due to the exceptional electrical and optical properties combined with the high flexibility of this material, which makes it the most effective strategy to achieve ultimate mechanical robustness of electronic devices for textile integrated electronics. An efficient way to create electronic textiles is to fabricate devices directly on the fabric. This can be done by coating the textile fabric with graphene to make it conductive. Here we discuss successful and efficient methods for coating graphene nanoplatelets on textile substrates of nylon, polyester and meta-aramid using ultrasonic spray coating technique. These coatings are characterised by scanning electron microscopy, contact angle and electrical conductivity measurements in order to identify the optimal textile electrode. Our study provides the foundation for the large-area fabrication of graphene electronic textiles.


Exploration of how Australia and Asia are intertwined in everyday culture, and in the imagined worlds of Australians of all backgrounds. Investigates Asian cultural production of art, literature, media and performance that embody Asian social and cultural experiences. Includes endnotes, bibliography and index. Ang and Chalmers work in the School of Cultural Studies at University of Western Sydney. Law and Thomas are Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellows at Australian National University and the Research Centre in Inter-communal Studies respectively.


The gantry-moving boring-milling machining tools that adapts dual linear motors drive is a high precision and fast motion system, the factors that influence the synchronous performances of the system are not only unknown bounded disturbances but also have parameters variation, unmodelled dynamic and the nonlinear uncertainty. These factors will make the performance of the servo system worse, so they must be considered in servo drive system of high precision, tiny-feed numerical control machine. A new self-tuning regulator control method is presented in the paper. Recursive least squares identification algorithm with insensitive region and projection tuning is applied for parameters real-time identification of the controlled plant, and H_\infty robust control algorithm is used for parameters real-time calculation of the regulator. H_\infty robust selftuning controller is applied for the unknown and bounded disturbance, parameter uncertainties and unmodelled dynamics. The system will automatically tune the controller parameters so that the influences can be suppressed. The simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme is effective, has stronger robustness, and meets demand of speed synchronized control as well as position synchronized control for the system.


[1] High-quality satellite observations of water and deuterated water in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) are used to map global climatological behavior. Spatial and temporal variability in these data suggest that convection plays a significant role in setting water vapor isotopic composition in these regions. In many instances, enhancements in HDO/H2O (i.e., dD) are closely tied to patterns of climatological deep convection and uncorrelated with water vapor, although convection appears to have different isotopic effects in different locations. The ACE-FTS data reveal seasonal variations in the tropics and allow mapping of climatological regional structure. These data reveal strong regional isotopic enhancement associated with the North American summer monsoon but not the Asian monsoon or the western Pacific warm pool. We suggest that the isotopic effects of deep convection near the tropopause are moderated by the ambient relative humidity, which controls the amount of convective ice that evaporates. Local convective signals can in turn affect global behavior: the North America monsoon influence introduces a Northern Hemisphere–Southern Hemisphere asymmetry in water isotopic composition in the lower stratosphere that extends into the tropics and influences the apparent seasonal cycle in averaged tropical UTLS data. Seasonal variation in tropical lower stratospheric water isotopic composition extends up to 20 km in ACE retrievals, but in contrast to previous reports, there is no clear evidence of propagation beyond the lowermost stratosphere. The reliability of these observations is supported by the broad consistency of ACE-FTS averaged tropical profiles with previous remote and in situ dD measurements.


This Article presents a theory of the economic value of companion animal life. Under the existing United States torts regime, the standard damages award available to an owner for an action arising from a companion animal death is its fair market value. This approach implicitly assumes that pet owners are irrational, given that they generally invest more in their pets than the animal's fair market value. This Article suggests that, based on an economic model that conceptualizes companion animals as an employee-investment hybrid, the value of a companion animal is higher than its fair market value. This model has implications for economic damages calculations in wrongful death lawsuits and for companion animal welfare.


Doctor of Philosophy Exploring Spacetime Phenomenology: From Lorentz Violations to Experimental Tests of Non-locality by Alessio BELENCHIA This thesis deals primarily with the phenomenology associated to quantum aspects of spacetime. In particular, it aims at exploring the phenomenological consequences of a fundamental discreteness of the spacetime fabric, as predicted by several quantum gravity models and strongly hinted by many theoretical insights. The first part of this work considers a toy-model of emergent spacetime in the context of analogue gravity. The way in which a relativistic Bose– Einstein condensate can mimic, under specific configurations, the dynamics of a scalar theory of gravity will be investigated. This constitutes proof-ofconcept that a legitimate dynamical Lorentzian spacetime may emerge from non-gravitational (discrete) degrees of freedom. Remarkably, this model will emphasize the fact that in general, even when arising from a relativistic system, any emergent spacetime is prone to show deviations from exact Lorentz invariance. This will lead us to consider Lorentz Invariance Violations as first candidate for a discrete spacetime phenomenology. Having reviewed the current constraints on Lorentz Violations and studied in depth viable resolutions of their apparent naturalness problem, the second part of this thesis focusses on models based on Lorentz invariance. In the context of Casual Set theory, the coexistence of Lorentz invariance and discreteness leads to an inherently nonlocal scalar field theory over causal sets well approximating a continuum spacetime. The quantum aspects of the theory in flat spacetime will be studied and the consequences of its non-locality will be spelled out. Noticeably, these studies will lend support to a possible dimensional reduction at small scales and, in a classical setting, show that the scalar field is characterized by a universal nonminimal coupling when considered in curved spacetimes. Finally, the phenomenological possibilities for detecting this non-locality will be investigated. First, by considering the related spontaneous emission of particle detectors, then by developing a phenomenological model to test nonlocal effects using opto-mechanical, non-relativistic systems. In both cases, one could be able to cast in the near future stringent bounds on the non-locality scale.


Surgical telementoring can prove very effective in a military surgical paradigm where less experienced surgeons deployed at forward sites can be mentored by more experienced specialists from a rearward remote site, thus enhancing in-theater surgical options by bringing scarce expertise into play. However, lack of sufficient bandwidth in active military theaters limit the ability to implement real-time video communication capability, and hence render such clinically beneficial programs undeliverable. Region-of-interest (ROI) video-coding presents a possible solution to this problem. By allocating more bits to the ROI as compared to the rest of the frame (also known as background (BG)), ROI encoding of surgical videos can increase the bandwidth perceived by the telementoring application. In this paper, we introduce a flexible and interactive ROI in a low-complexity, H.264-compliant and diagnostically lossless (DL) fashion to enable remote mentoring of surgical procedures in very low-bandwidth scenarios. Further, subjective evaluations by surgeons indicate that ROI-encoded videos are preferred over the uniformly-encoded videos for the purpose of surgical evaluation and telementoring.


This thesis describe our work in developing a movie archive system for students of Film Studies in Dublin City University. In particular, our system uses several recent multimedia technologies to automatically process digital video content but at the same time we use the usability engineering process to relate to the real tasks of real users in their real environments.
We investigate how real users take advantage of technologies in a movie browsing system. By designing, building, deploying and assessing the usage of a technology in a user-focused way, the overall impact of a movie browsing system can be determined holistically.
The application domain we work in is film studies where students need to study movie contents and analyse movie sequences. Our work began by identification of user
needs through observations, focus groups and usability testing, followed by sketching and prototyping a web-based system. We then deployed the system to film study classes over a semester, monitored usage and gathered quantitative as well as qualitative data. Focused experiments were carried out to assess students' performance and satisfaction levels. Our findings show expected patterns of usage of a real-user setting outside the lab, but at the
same time highlighted issues that need to be further investigated. In general, students found most of the provided features were beneficial for their studies. Findings from the experiment shows better performance in the essay assessments and higher satisfaction levels.
An interesting finding shows students are more engaged with the newly-introduced software application and take longer time to complete the same task than without the advanced
features of the application. This phenomenon was rationalized from established learning theory from the psychology domain. In a technologically-oriented multimedia field today, we attempted to bring in a user-centred approach of end-user interactions throughout a 3-year development process, and we identified benefits and challenges in trying to align the technical perspectives of novel multimedia features to real-world setting.


Workforce diversity is a multi-faceted phenomenon that will continue to evolve as the world becomes a global marketplace. No doubt many believe workforce diversity is fundamental for employee performance. This study sought to find out the effect of workforce diversity on employee work performance, using the County Government of Mombasa. In the context of this study the term workforce diversity was defined as the similarities and differences among employees in terms of ethnic background, gender and education. These similarities and differences formed the independent variables of this study. Literature review was done and an attempt was made to link the various published studies with this study with a view to discovering how each variable impacted on employee work performance at the CGM. The study described the target population which comprised of employees of the CGM working in the County Assembly. Judgmental sampling technique was used to get respondents within the County Assembly. The researcher targeted 30 out of 59 employees of the County Assembly of the CGM. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires and was descriptively analyzed. Data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed statistically by using the Software Package for Social Science (SPSS). It was then summarized using tables. The summarized responses were used to examine the effect of each variable on employee work performance. Correlation Coefficient analysis showed a significant level of association between performance and the tested variables of diversity. Interviews and observations were also used to gather information to aid the study. It became clear from the data analysis that workforce diversity is a well-accepted phenomenon at the CGM and that there was no discrimination detected resulting from ethnic, gender or educational background. The workforce was harmonious but without expectations of high or low performance based on an employees demographic background. An employees ethnic, gender and educational background did not have any contributory effect on performance. The objectives of the study were fulfilled with negative results for all the tested variables. It became evident that workforce diversity does not influence employee work performance at the County Government of Mombasa. This study could be a guideline for future studies. While diversity is an acceptable phenomenon, its variables of ethnicity, gender and educational background do not portray significant effect on performance, positively nor negatively. It is therefore important for the County to realize the need to capitalize on these demographic categories in order to stay ahead of other Counties. In order to fully understand the scenario at the CGM, further studies need to be conducted in order to unearth the challenges of employee work performance with a view to discovering what needs to be done to enable the County increase efficiency and make better, its service delivery to the residents.


Abstract. Quantification of regional greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes is essential for establishing mitigation strategies and evaluating their effectiveness. Here, we used multiple top-down approaches and multiple trace gas observations at a tall tower to estimate regional-scale GHG fluxes and evaluate the GHG fluxes derived from bottom-up approaches. We first applied the eddy covariance, equilibrium, inverse modeling (CarbonTracker), and flux aggregation methods using 3 years of carbon dioxide (CO2) measurements on a 244 m tall tower in the upper Midwest, USA. We then applied the equilibrium method for estimating CH4 and N2O fluxes with 1-month high-frequency CH4 and N2O gradient measurements on the tall tower and 1-year concentration measurements on a nearby tall tower, and evaluated the uncertainties of this application. The results indicate that (1) the flux aggregation, eddy covariance, the equilibrium method, and the CarbonTracker product all gave similar seasonal patterns of the regional CO2 flux (105−106 km2, but that the equilibrium method underestimated the July CO2 flux by 52–69%. (2) The annual budget varied among these methods from −54 to −131 g C–CO2 m−2 yr−1, indicating a large uncertainty in the annual CO2 flux estimation. (3) The regional CH4 and N2O emissions according to a top-down method were at least 6 and 2 times higher than the emissions from a bottom-up inventory (Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research), respectively. (4) The global warming potentials of the CH4 and N2O emissions were equal in magnitude to the cooling benefit of the regional CO2 uptake. The regional GHG budget, including both biological and anthropogenic origins, is estimated at 7 ± 160 g CO2 equivalent m−2 yr−1.


Ductile damage often occurs during metal forming processes due to the large thermo-elasto (visco) plastic flow localisation. This paper presents a numerical methodology, which aims to virtually improve any metal forming processes. The methodology is based on elastoplastic constitutive equations accounting for nonlinear mixed isotropic and kinematic hardening strongly coupled with isotropic ductile damage. An adaptive remeshing scheme based on geometrical and physical error estimates including a kill element procedure is used. Some numerical results are presented to show the capability of the model to predict the damage initiation and growth during the metal forming processes.


The ultra-slow Gakkel Ridge is the lowest spreading velocity end member of theglobal mid-ocean ridge system. Still it hosts a number of active vents and volcanoes.During 1999 one submarine volcanic complex at around 85 N, 85 E was home to aseries of earthquakes above magnitude 4 which to this day is the best example of aglobally recorded swarm at a volcano with more than 200 events registered in the ISCbulletins. In order to better constrain the locations and mechanisms of these events wecross-correlated all of them and introduced inter-event delay times for similar eventswhich were used to update the existing bulletins. Similar waveforms were only foundclose (i.e. < 3000 km) to the source and vary from station to station. Only 3 eventsare similar at more than 4 stations at the same time. Using modern global hypocenterlocation algorithms such as HYPOCENTER from SEISAN, HYPOSAT and NON-LINLOC we limited the lateral extent of the swarm, its depth and associated deptherrors by varying the velocity model. Most of the events seem to be focussed between0 and 30 km depth and ascent paths of seismicity and thus maybe magmatic dykesappear to be traceable.


BACKGROUND
Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) is a responsive method for individual goal setting and treatment evaluation. However, current knowledge about its reliability when used in paediatric rehabilitation treatment is insufficient and depends highly on standardization of the GAS method. A training programme was developed to introduce GAS to a team of 27 professionals from five disciplines. The purpose of the paper is to share the experiences of professionals and parents during this training.

METHODS
The training consisted of three 2-h general discussion sessions and intensive individual feedback from the study leader (i.e. the first author). Feedback was given until the GAS scales met predetermined criteria of ordinality, described specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic abilities and activities in a single dimension, used the 'can-do' principle and could be scored within 10 min. Therapists and parents were asked to give their opinion by completing a questionnaire.

RESULTS
One hundred and fifteen GAS scales were developed and scored by professionals. The development of a GAS scale remained a time-consuming procedure, despite the training: 45 (SD = 27) minutes per scale. The content criteria of GAS were found to be useful by all participants. Common issues requiring revision of the initial scales were equal scale intervals, specificity, measurability and selection of a single variable. After the training, 70% of the therapists and 60% of the parents regarded GAS as a suitable tool to improve the quality of rehabilitation treatment. Examples of GAS scales developed by the various disciplines are presented and discussed.

CONCLUSIONS
The experiences reported in this paper support the further development of training procedures for GAS before it can be used as an outcome measure in effect studies. The findings may be helpful in introducing GAS in the field of childhood disability.


The present study investigated the development of high sugar production by optimization of an enzymatic hydrolysis process using both conventional and statistical methods, as well as the production of ethanol by the selected wastepaper source. Among four sources of pretreated wastepaper including office paper, newspaper, handbills and cardboard, office paper gave the highest values of cellulose (87.12%) and holocelluloses (89.07%). The effects of the amount of wastepaper, the pretreatment method and the type of enzyme on reducing sugar production from office paper were studied using conventional methods. The highest reducing sugar production (1851.28mgL; 37.03% conversion of glucose) was obtained from the optimal condition containing 40mg of office paper, pretreated with stream explosion and hydrolysed with the combination of cellulase from Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride at the fixed loading rate of 20FPUg sample. The effects of interaction of wastepaper amount and enzyme concentration as well as incubation time were studied by a statistical method using central composite design. The optimal medium composition consisted of 43.97mgL, 28.14FPUg sample and 53.73 h of wastepaper, enzyme concentration and incubation time, respectively, and gave the highest amount of sugar production (2184.22mgL) and percentage conversion of glucose (43.68%). The ethanol production from pretreated office paper using Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process was 21.02 gL after 36 h of cultivation, corresponding to an ethanol volumetric production rate of 0.58 g ethanol L h.


We present a method for converting the voices between a set of speakers. Our method is based on training multiple autoencoder paths, where there is a single speaker-independent encoder and multiple speaker-dependent decoders. The autoencoders are trained with an addition of an adversarial loss which is provided by an auxiliary classifier in order to guide the output of the encoder to be speaker independent. The training of the model is unsupervised in the sense that it does not require collecting the same utterances from the speakers nor does it require time aligning over phonemes. Due to the use of a single encoder, our method can generalize to converting the voice of out-of-training speakers to speakers in the training dataset. We present subjective tests corroborating the performance of our method.


&NA; Date Presented 4/1/2017 This presentation analyzes ways in which life is coordinated among transition‐age youth with a spinal cord injury and their caregivers. Data reveal tacit and multifaceted dimensions of caregiving that are critical for occupational therapists to consider in rehabilitative care. Primary Author and Speaker: Carol Haywood Contributing Authors: Mary Lawlor


The results of the experiments make it possible to regard the number of mast in mammary glands as an index correlating with the intensity of the proliferative reaction of the mammary gland epithelium reflecting the course of the pathological process in the tissue. This index is higher to the moment of benign tumor formation. The second more intensive rise of this index characterizes malignant transformation of the epithelium. A decrease of the mast cells level since the moment of malignant transformation and their rather low content in malignant tumors manifest the decompensation of the organism antiblastic system.


Philanthropic financial instruments utilize donated funds or assets in order to deliver social services for society. NGOs may not be able to operate the social services efficiently in the absence of such funds. Lately, there are plenty of organizations that have taken initiatives to render social services for targeted populations in order to curb social problems such as poverty, hunger, crimes, etc., through the use of some forms of philanthropic instruments including Islamic social finance, ethical finance, and others. Today, however, philanthropic financial instruments such as socially responsible investment (SRI), social impact bonds (SIB), and even Waqf are issued by financial institutions rather than socially driven institutions. As such, they have been treated as commercial financial instruments rather than socially driven mechanisms. This paper aims to elucidate the potentials of selected modern financial philanthropic instruments that deal with the healthcare sector. The strengths and weaknesses of the selected instruments will be assessed to explore their potentials in serving the healthcare services sector particularly for the underprivileged. The healthcare sector is highlighted as the focus of this study due to its relevance to the present challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is an exploratory study that adopts the qualitative method whereby a rigorous review of the relevant literature is conducted to examine the potential that philanthropic Islamic financial instruments can offer in providing healthcare services to the underprivileged. The findings elaborate on three important models of philanthropic instruments, namely social impact bonds (SIB), development impact bonds (DIB), and takaful-waqf models. It was also found that these philanthropic instruments have varied strengths and weaknesses that require rectification in the future.


Abstract Background: The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) predisposes 500 000 women to cervical cancer. Host genetic background may facilitate virus persistence in the uterine cervix. Polymorphisms in regulatory and coding regions of cytokine genes have been associated with susceptibility to some human diseases. Aim: This study aims at investigating whether TNFA -308 G/A and IL18 -137 G/C and -607 C/A polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to HPV infection/progression to high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL). Subjects and methods: One hundred and twenty-two HPV infected and 132 HPV negative women (the latter used as healthy controls) were analysed. TNFA -308 G/A and IL18 (-137G/C and -607 C/A) polymorphisms were analysed using specific sequence polymorphism PCR (SSP-PCR). Univariate statistical analysis and a logistic regression were performed. Results: The TNFA -308A allele was associated with susceptibility to HPV infection (p = 0.0008), while the IL18 -607A allele conferred protection against HPV infection (p = 0.0043). TNFA -308 G/A and IL18 (-137G/C and -607 C/A) polymorphisms were not associated with development of cervical lesions (p > 0.05). An association was also observed between smoking and susceptibility to the development of HSIL. Conclusion: The findings suggest an association between two TNFA SNPs and susceptibility to HPV infection in women from Northeast Brazil. The results need to be functionally validated and replicated in other populations with different ethnic backgrounds.


Nowadays, in literature can be found many models of metal oxide surge arrester (MOSA) with the fundamental propose of be able to simulate their dynamic characteristic, differing the equivalent circuits of these proposed models in composition and parameters calculation, obtaining accurate results according to the criteria evaluated by their authors. It is well known that transient with fast form surges produce that the peak of the voltage wave occurs before the peak of the current wave and the residual voltage increases as the discharge current decreases. But the correct representation of the dynamic characteristic (frequency dependency) of the MOSA can't be the only criteria of evaluation of a model. In the present paper it is evaluated the principal models found on the literature attending not only to the usual criteria described above but to other criteria like the apparition of numeric oscillation in the simulation results, the complexity in the models parameters calculation, the increase ratio of the crest of the wave, the energy absorption and the fitting of the wave form. To achieve this goal, it is compared the experimental results obtained from laboratory experiments of 3 different metal oxide surge arrester with the simulation results on the Alternative Transient Program (ATP) of 6 MOSA models, with wave forms 8/20 μs and 2/6 μs, of 4, 6, 8 y 10 kA in both cases, attending to 7 evaluation criteria proposed. KeywordsMetal Oxide Surge Arrester, Model, Transient, Laboratory Experiment, Simulation.


: New partially demineralized Perfoost allografts were used for the treatment of nasal septum defects in 16 patients admitted to the Research and Clinical Otorhinolarygological Centre, Federal Healthcare and Social Development Agency, between January 2007 and November 2008. The length of the follow-up period varied from 6 months to 1 year 10 months. The plastic material manufactured in the form of plates of different size was obtained from the bank of autografts based at the Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics. Long-term monitoring of major physiological functions of the nose and rhinopneumetric studies showed that that Perfoost allografts were well tolerated by the patients; their application ensured excellent functional and aesthetic outcome of surgical correction of the injured nasal septum in all cases under observation.


In the past forty years, the idea of home, which is central to how the law conceives of crime, punishment, and privacy, has changed radically. Legal scholar Jeannie Suk shows how the legitimate goal of legal feminists to protect women from domestic abuse has led to a new and unexpected set of legal practices. In At Home in the Law, Suk argues that the growing legal vision that has led to the breakdown of traditional boundaries between public and private space is resulting in a substantial reduction of autonomy and privacy for both women and men. Winner of the Jacob Prize Book Award for the most outstanding law and society book published in 2009 "A fascinating analysis of our changing conceptions of privacy, gender, and the reach of the law...The book will be just as interesting to lay people as it is to legal scholars." - Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Stuff of Thought


The authors present a comprehensive hydrothermal co-ordination algorithm where a new Lagrangian relaxation based hydrothermal co-ordination algorithm is integrated into an expert system. In this algorithm, the problem is decomposed into the scheduling of individual units by relaxing the demand and reserve requirements using Lagrangian multipliers. Dynamic programming is used for solving the thermal subproblems without discretising generation levels. Instead of solving the hydro subproblems independently as in the standard Lagrangian relaxation approach, hydrothermal scheduling is used to solve the output levels of hydro units. Hydrothermal scheduling uses the commitment status of thermal units obtained from the solutions of the thermal subproblems. The expert system takes care of constraints that are difficult or impractical for implementation in the Lagrangian relaxation based hydrothermal co-ordination algorithm, such as cycling of gas and steam turbine units, etc. It is also applied to check the feasibility of the solution. Extensive constraints such as power balance, spinning reserve, minimum up/down time, must run, capacity limits, ramp rate and hydro constraints are considered. Accurate transmission losses are incorporated. Nonlinear cost function is used, and the hydrothermal scheduling is implemented using a fast and efficient algorithm. Numerical results based on a practical utility data show that this new approach provides feasible schedules within a reasonable time.


In this paper we present a new method to animate the face of a speaking avatar —i.e., a synthetic 3D human face— such that it realistically pronounces any given text, based on the audio only. Especially the lip movements must be rendered carefully, and perfectly synchronised with the audio, in order to have a realistic looking result, from which it should in principle be possible to understand the pronounced sentence by lip reading. Since such a system requires minimal bandwidth and relatively low computational effort, it could e.g. be used to transmit video conferencing data over a very low bandwidth channel, where the lip motion rendering is done at the receiving end, by only transmitting the audio channel, or in extremis even only an orthographic or phonetic transcription of the text together with precise phoneme timing information.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of mechanical loading on the microtensile bond strength (MTBS) of five adhesive systems to dentin.

METHODS
Flat dentin surfaces from human molars were divided into five groups and bonded with total-etch self-priming adhesives (Single Bond, Prime&Bond NT and Prime&Bond XP), two-step self-etching primer (Clearfil SE Bond) and an all-in-one adhesive (Etch&Prime 3.0), according to the manufacturers' instructions. Composite build-ups were constructed incrementally with Tetric Ceram. After 24 hours of water storage, half the specimens were load cycled (5000 cycles, 90 N). The teeth were then sectioned into beams of 1.0 mm2 cross-sectional area. Each beam was tested in tension in an Instron machine at 0.5 mm/minute. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Student Newman Keuls multiple comparisons tests (p<0.05).

RESULTS
Clearfil SE Bond and Single Bond attained higher MTBS than the other three adhesives. Prime&Bond NT and Prime&Bond XP performed equally, and Etch&Prime 3.0 resulted in the lowest MTBS. After mechanical loading, MTBS decreased in all groups except Prime&Bond XP. Clearfil SE Bond, Single Bond and Prime&Bond XP obtained higher MTBS than Prime&Bond NT. Specimens bonded with Etch&Prime 3.0 resulted in premature failures and MTBS could not be measured.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
When using Etch&Prime 3.0, bond structures did not withstand mechanical loading, which may have an influence on the long-term success of restorations. If dentin is acid-etched, alcohol-based adhesive systems showed higher bond strength after mechanical loading.


Xylan, the major component of hemicellulose in hardwoods and various grasses, has great potential for bio-refinery applications such as the production of energy and high value-added chemicals. A convenient and environment-friendly catalytic process for the conversion of xylan into furfural in ultrapure water using chromium-loaded perovskite-type oxides as the solid catalyst has been investigated. The crystalline and morphologies of the catalysts were studied by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and scanning electron microscope analysis (SEM), and the reactions were optimized by varying different parameters. It was found that LaCo0.8Cu0.2O3 modified with 1.5wt% chromium had the highest catalytic activity in the transformation of xylan to furfural at a temperature of 433 K in a 1:600 weight ratio of xylan to hyperpure water for 10 h; the corresponding yield was 21.2% for furfural. Furthermore, a possible mechanism for the dehydration of xylan to furfural using Cr-LaCo0.8Cu0.2O3 as a catalyst is proposed.


This paper starts by outlining some key work in ethnomethodology, which understands everyday, unnoticed social and spatial practices as "problematic accomplishments "(Ryave and Schenkein:1974 65-274). Such practices involve a considerable amount of detailed ─ usually seen but un-noticed ─ work in order to maintain the commonplace world where people know what 'anyone' knows and does. We are interested to show how doing 'nothing much' is a socially achieved activity; how such ordinariness has consequence for those who specifically 'cannot be ordinary'; and in the implications for the everyday occupation(s) of built space.
We do this by investigating occupation through the narratives and strategies of diverse disabled people using a tactic that Garfinkel calls breaching. He argues that the underlying practices in commonplace situations are best made visible through their disruption, through 'making trouble' (1967, 37-8). Disabled people are often not perceived as 'anyone' – not because of any particular impairment but because they do not fit the unspoken conventions of what constitutes doing 'being ordinary' (Sacks: 1984 413-429). Here we outline how a disabled-led perspective on occupation can reveal both the amount of work involved in negotiating physical space and how it goes unnoticed as 'nothing much'.
Finally, we look briefly at Milton Keynes Shopping Centre to explore what kinds of descriptions of buildings such an approach might offer. We suggest that rather than simply mirroring what 'anyone' knows or does, the design of a particular built space intersects in complex ways with occupation and doing being ordinary.


There are various possibilities of fruit processing regarding assortments of both semiprocessed and finished fruit products. Within a wide assortment of processed fruit products, there are semi-processed fruit products which can be directly marketed or used as raw materials in further stages of processing, thus causing different economic effects. This paper displays the indicators of economic effects (production value, production costs (especially direct costs), and the difference between production value and total production costs) in all stages of a certain type of fruit processing. The obtained results indicate that advanced stages of fruit processing entail an increase in costs, but these increased costs eventually enable higher revenues. Fruit processing is cost-effective due to the fact that fruit processing value is higher than the market value of fruits. The fruit processing value in compote production is on average 48.87% higher than the fruit market value. In semi-processed fruit production (fruit puree and pitted crushed fruits Rotativa2), the fruit processing value is on average 14.83% higher than the fruit market value.


The following case of hemiplegia developed in a boy during convalescence from scarlet fever. The basis of the cerebral symptoms was a markedly hemorrhage encephalitis focal in the parietal lobes. The reaction is histologicalhy characterized, aside from large areas of hemorrhage and a few superficial or meningeal areas of frank suppuration, by a tremendous proliferation of phagocytes. The phagocytes for the most part contain blood corpuscles and dilate or supplant the pial and adventitial meshes. In places, the phagocytes occupy the space of lost brain substance which has undergone acute fatty degeneration: CLINICAL HISTORY. G. N., an American boy of 5 years, was admitted to the South Department of the Boston City Hospital, Dec. 13, 1902, with a few hours' history of vomiting and sore throat. The boy was well developed and nourished and only moderately prostrated. The roof of the mouth was slightly reddened. The tongue was


In this Master's thesis, data from a pediatric intensive care unit for children and
youth at the Skane University Hospital in Lund, Sweden, are used for predicting
child mortality and investigating if the PIM2 model can be improved using neural
networks and blood gas test results. In the analysis, 1155 patient admissions were
included after removing patients without tests witin the first hour of admission.
Three different multilayer perceptron neural networks were created. To choose the
variables and the parameters for the networks, a grid search and uni- and multi-
variate logistic regressions were used; 5-fold cross validation was applied to ensure
the networks' adequate performance on new data. The results show that neural
networks can predict child mortality in the ICU and are a feasible alternative to
PIM2. Using blood gas variables improves the predictions, especially in addition
to other physiological variables. Further research is needed to conclude if the im-
provement outweighs the extra computational effort, and should focus on a larger
dataset with a wider grid search to find the optimal parameters for the networks


Reimer-Tiemann reaction belongs to the group of the electrophylic substitution reaction (SE), and principally, this reaction consists of three steps reactions, namely: 1. formation of dichlorocarbene from chloroform by action of base (i.e. KOH), 2. reaction of dichlorocarbene as electrophyl to the benzene (or general aromatic) nucleus, 3. hydrolysis of the formed dichloromethyl benzene to the derivative of benzaldehyde. In this work has been carried out the modification of Reimer-Tiemann reaction with the goal to synthesize vanillin from guaiacol (o-methoxyphenol) as well as to compare with the conventional Reimer-Tiemann reaction. By the way, the modification of Reimer-Tiemann by using phase transfer catalyst and ethanol as co-solvent can obviously enhance the yield of vanillin up to 51.2% compared with the yield of conventional Reimer-Tiemann to synthesize of vanillin (up to 24.4%).


Pediatric brain tumors are the leading cause of childhood cancer mortality. Recurring genetic abnormalities play an essential role in the diagnosis and prognosis of pediatric brain tumors. However, clinical workup has not routinely included whole genome assessment. Here, we present high resolution whole genome array results in 11 pediatric brain tumors. Array identified clinically relevant abnormalities in all samples. Copy number aberrations with targeted therapy implication, GOPC-ROS1 fusion, CDK4 amplification, and NF1 deletion, were detected in 3 cases. In addition, array detected recurring genetic abnormalities, including KIAA1549-BRAF fusion, 19q13.42 amplification, i(17q), and monosomy 6, which assisted accurate histological diagnosis in pediatric brain tumors. In conclusion, our results show that whole genome high-resolution array detects diagnostic and treatment-relevant copy number abnormalities in pediatric brain tumors.


In this paper, we design and implement a Webbased Internet/Intranet service management system which can support Quality of Service (QoS) contracted by users and service providers, using Service Level Agreement (SLA) concept. We have analyzed the requirements and management information for Internet/Intranet service management. Based on this analysis, we have defined the suitable QoS parameters for the management of Internet/Intranet services, and developed new WWW service Management Information Bases (MIBs) for QoS management by extending the existing IETF's MIBs. The support of QoS management is done by incorporating the SLA concept, which is measured, monitored and controlled systematically in a multi-domain environment. Finally, we have built a prototype system, and evaluated its performance. The prototype system utilizes Java and CORBA technologies, so that various benefits of these technologies such as platform independence and scalability can be obtained. key words: internet/intranet service management, enter-


Androgens are required for the development and function of the prostate. In a normal human prostate, androgens control the synthesis of proteins such as prostate-specific antigen and human glandular kallikrein. The prostate secretes these proteins as well as a number of other compounds to form the prostatic fluid. Using differential display PCR to detect novel androgen-regulated genes, clathrin heavy chain expression was identified as potentially being up-regulated by androgens in the prostate cancer cell line LNCaP. We report here that the clathrin heavy chain and light chain genes are regulated by androgens. Clathrin heavy chain messenger RNA was up-regulated by androgens in a concentration- and time-specific manner in the LNCaP cell line. Translation of clathrin heavy chain messenger RNA was stimulated by androgens. Steady state levels of clathrin light chains a and b were up-regulated in the presence of androgen in LNCaP cells. Clathrin gene expression was examined in normal rat prostates, and similar results were found. Clathrin heavy chain protein levels in the rat prostate are also affected by the androgen status of the animal. We hypothesize that clathrin may be involved in the exocytosis of androgen-regulated secretory proteins such as prostate-specific antigen and human glandular kallikrein.


This book deepens the understanding of the right to specific performance in contract law. It brings together 16 contributions on various aspects of this important action and on its place in the system of contractual remedies. The volume integrates insights from a more classical ('dogmatic') approach with comparative, historical, and economic analysis. It includes overviews of the national law of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Scotland, and South Africa, and of the international regimes created by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980), Unidroit Principles, Principles of European Contract Law, and the European Directive 1999/44. In addition, various aspects of specific performance in these and other jurisdictions are considered. These aspects include inter alia judicial procedure, the duty to carry on negotiations, and the enforcement of side-letters.


Speed cameras reduce numbers of road traffic crashes and deaths, finds new research carried out by a team based at Australia's Queensland University.

The findings, published by the Cochrane Library ( Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010;(10):CD004607, doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004607.pub3), show that when speed cameras are in place the number of vehicles that exceed local speed limits is lower, and the number of collisions and the number of people killed or injured are also reduced.

The results are topical because the United Kingdom's coalition government has claimed that local authorities have relied too heavily on speed cameras to reduce numbers of road crashes. Earlier this year the government announced that it would be cutting the road safety budgets it gives to English and Welsh local authorities by £38m (€44m; $60m) and cutting central funding for speed cameras as part of its wider efforts to reduce public spending.

Announcing the funding cuts, the …


Taking medicines is a fundamental aspect to cure illnesses. However, studies have shown that it can be hard for patients to remember the correct posology. More aggravating, a wrong dosage generally causes the disease to worsen. Although, all relevant instructions for a medicine are summarized in the corresponding patient information leaflet, the latter is generally difficult to navigate and understand. To address this problem and help patients with their medication, in this paper we introduce an augmented reality mobile application that can present to the user important details on the framed medicine. In particular, the app implements an inference engine based on a deep neural network, i.e., a densenet, fine-tuned to recognize a medicinal from its package. Subsequently, relevant information, such as posology or a simplified leaflet, is overlaid on the camera feed to help a patient when taking a medicine. Extensive experiments to select the best hyperparameters were performed on a dataset specifically collected to address this task; ultimately obtaining up to 91.30\% accuracy as well as real-time capabilities.


With the dawn of a new century, the federal government introduced a healthcare agenda designed to capture the spirit of the American public by emphasizing the need for patient safety. Cloaked under the guise of consumer protection, it won the support of Congress and a new era of mandatory reporting was implemented. Nurses share a common goal with other healthcare professionals of identifying provider error, understand its causes, and making system wide changes to reduce risks. Error reporting is a crucial component of this goal. Recent public policy discussions in the United States have explored the risks and benefits of mandatory and voluntary reporting systems to identify the most effective ways to promote candid disclosure of provider error. American healthcare has not accomplished its agenda to reach zero-disparities and the fact remains that we may have moved further away from our goal by implementing the blame and shame game through mandatory reporting. The majority of provider errors do not result from individual recklessness, but from basic system flaws in the way that healthcare delivery is organized (Powers, Maurer, & Wey, 2002). Despite increasing evidence that systems fail, institutions are continuing to assign and emphasize individual blame for errors. Hospital culture demonstrates that an accepted way to deal with the complexity of provider error is to manage the healthcare provider through oversight and discipline as opposed to identifying and resolving the contributing problems (Brown, 2002). In order for healthcare professionals to be able to grow from novice to expert, the healthcare system must undergo a transformational change from a punitive environment to one that internalizes an ongoing quality improvement process. Professionalism is not perfectionism. The notion of a safety culture approach requires commitment to three values: a) continuous quality improvement, b) transformational change and leadership, and c) appreciation for the influence that organizational change can have whether positive or negative. The theoretical framework, which guided this investigation, is Patricia Benner's theory (1984) From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power In Clinical Nursing Practice. Reason's (2000) Incident Analysis model, and Bass's (1985) theory of Transformational Leadership. The purpose of this investigation was to further explore the possibility of a correlation or relationship between the concepts of transformational leadership and nursing peer review systems in a Midwestern rural acute care facility. The results of the analysis of the presented data suggest that there was not a statistically significant level of correlation between the concepts.


We treated 17 female patients of melasma by using ultra-sonic equipment with 20% L-ascorbic acid, which contain 2%kojic acid gel. Each patient received a treatment of 15-minute sonophoresis twice weekly for 5 weeks. Regular photographs and UV photographs were taken before and after the course of treatment. The dermatologist read the result finally. All patients completed a questionnaire to evaluate the improvement of pigmented lesions, skin color, skin texture, wrinkles at the end of the treatment course. Photographs noted no significant improvement of pigmented lesions but improvement of skin texture and skin color. No patient complained of adverse reactions during or after the treatment. Through our patients' evaluation, the satisfaction of treatment for the skin texture is better than that for pigmented lesions, skin color, and wrinkles. The method provides an alternative for people seeking better skin texture. Patients may feel facial skin color lightening if skin texture improved. Thus, it may be also an adjunctive therapy for melasma.


The management of greenhouse gas emissions is an increasingly important focus of land management in northern Australia. Indigenous people own and or manage much of the tropical savanna estate across WA, NT and Queensland and are well placed to provide services in the form of greenhouse gas sequestration and abatement. The emerging carbon offsets market provides new livelihood opportunities for Indigenous people such as through savanna fire abatement, forest management and avoided deforestation, grazing land management and revegetation. How these opportunities are realised will be strongly influenced by climate change policy developments at the international and national levels and the quality of science underpinning offset estimation and verification. In particular, a framework to replace the Kyoto Protocol post 2012 should seek a more comprehensive approach to accounting for land based mitigation activities, and permit greenhouse gas accounting rules and definitions that are more regionally appropriate to the tropical savannas. Further uncertainty surrounds the introduction of a carbon price into Australian climate change policy, and the future of domestic offsets under the proposed Carbon Farming Initiative. It is important that stakeholders in northern Australia understand the implications of negotiations at the national and international level and the risks associated with different policy scenarios. Similarly, climate change policy needs to manage the goal of emissions reduction with Indigenous aspirations, making necessary the full engagement of Indigenous land managers in the planning and implementation phases of policy development and offset projects. Ethically, it is important that government agencies seeking to meet emissions reductions targets through constraining land use development, adequately support and compensate Indigenous people for any opportunity costs associated with development forgone on their lands. This thesis examines the current settings and future scenarios for climate change policy in savannas of northern Australia, and explores some of the opportunities and risks for Indigenous land managers wishing to engage in the carbon offset market.


Systemic changes of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), neutrophil elastase (ELT) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) during mechanical ventilation (MV) in horses anaesthetized for surgery are evaluated. Thirty-four client-owned ASA I-II horses randomly received mechanical ventilation (MV) with either a peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) of 30 cm H2O and tidal volume (VT)>10 mL kg-1 (high pressure-volume MV) or PIP of 15 cm H2O and VT ≤ 10 mL kg-1 (low pressure-volume MV) in dorsal or lateral recumbency. Horses were premedicated with acepromazine (0.1 mg kg-1 IM) and xylazine (0.6 mg kg-1 IV), induced with midazolam (0.06 mg kg-1 IV) and ketamine (2.2 mg kg-1 IV) and maintained with isoflurane in oxygen 70% plus ketamine-midazolam infusion (1 and 0.02 mg kg-1 h-1, respectively). Anti-inflammatory drug and antibiotics were administered before surgery. Plasmatic proinflammatory mediator concentrations were estimated by ELISA at the beginning (T0) and after 60 minutes (T1) of MV. Mean plasmatic TNF-α, MPO, and ELT concentrations at T1 were significantly (p<0.05) lower than T0. Mean plasmatic concentration of IL-6 did not significantly change with time. The reduction in plasmatic concentration of proinflammatory mediators at T1 was not linked to ventilation strategy or recumbency. None of the ventilation protocols enhanced systemic inflammatory response during surgery after 1 hour of MV. The anti-inflammatory properties of drugs included in the anaesthesia protocol may have contributed to the overall decreased systemic inflammatory mediator concentrations, despite MV and surgery.


The treatment of end-stage renal failure was studied in southern Connecticut from 1967 to 1975 by (1) calculating survival rates for center and home dialysis patients and cadaver and living related donor transplant recipients and (2) assessing the quality of life with structured interviews and psychological tests. While the survival rate for our home dialysis and transplant recipients were similar to previously reported data, mortality for our center dialysis patients was slightly higher than previously reported. Quality-of-life testing, disclosed that dialysis patients had a substantial impairment in all parameters. Transplant recipients achieved a better degree of rehabilitation. Physicians and patients should be aware of the problems that they are likely to face; otherwise, expectations and goals may be raised to unreachable and ultimately frustrating levels.


A space of pseudoquotients $\mathcal{B}(X,S)$ is defined as equivalence classes of pairs $(x,f)$, where $x$ is an element of a non-empty set $X$, $f$ is an element of $S$, a commutative semigroup of injective maps from $X$ to $X$, and $(x,f) \sim (y,g)$ if $gx=fy$. In this note we consider a generalization of this construction where the assumption of commutativity of $S$ by Ore type conditions. As in the commutative case, $X$ can be identified with a subset of $\mathcal{B}(X,S)$ and $S$ can be extended to a group $G$ of bijections on $\mathcal{B}(X,S)$. We introduce a natural topology on $\mathcal{B}(X,S)$ and show that all elements of $G$ are homeomorphisms on $\mathcal{B}(X,S)$.